death for death is the path of life a Gaole-deliuery of the soule a perfect health the hauen of heauen the finall victory of terrestriall troubles an eternall sleepe a dissolution of the body a terrour to the rich a desire of the poore a pilgrimage vncertaine a thiefe of men a shadow of life a rest from trauell an Epilogue to vaine delight a consumption of idle desires a scourge for euill a guerdon for good it dis-burdens vs of all care vnmanacles and frees vs from vexation solicitude and sorrow Of all those numberlesse numbers that are dead neuer any one returned to complaine of death but of those few that liue most complaine of life On earth euery man grumbles at his best estate The very elements whereby our subsistence or being as the secondarie cause is preserued conspire against vs the fire burnes vs the water drownes vs the earth annoyes vs and the aire infects vs our dayes are laborious our nights comfortlesse the heat scorcheth vs the cold benummes vs health swels vs with pride sicknesse empaleth our beauties friends turne Swallowes they will sing with vs in the Summer of prosperitie but in the winter of tryall they will take wings and be gone Enemies brand our reputations with deprauing imputations and the enuious man hurleth abroad his gins to ensnare our liues who would then desire to liue where there is nothing that begets content for this world is a Theater of vanities a Chaos of confusions an Embassador of mischiefe a Tyrant to vertue a breaker of Peace a Fauorite of Warre a friend of Vices a coyner of Lies an Anuile of Nouelties a table of Epicurisme a furnace of Lust a pit-fall to the rich a burthen to the poore a Cell of Pilgrims a den of Theeues a calumniator of the good a renowner of the wicked a cunning Impostor and a deceiuer of all How is the progresse of poore proud mans life violently agitated like the riuer Euripus with contrarious motions The pleasure of the wyly world thus inueigles him Come vnto mee and I will drowne thee in delight The corruption of the luxurious flesh thus ingles him Come vnto me and I will infect thee the Diuell he whispers this in his eare Come vnto mee and I will cheate and deceiue thee But our sweet and sacred Sauiour Iesus Christ with perswasiue inducements thus intreates him Come vnto me I pray thee that art heauy laden and I will receiue and exonerate thee and with the mighty arme of my mercy and compassion lift off that vnsupportable loade which crusheth downe to Hell thy groaning soule Study then to liue as dead to the world that thou maist liue with God for the iust man is said neuer to liue till after death Endeuor thy selfe to march faire through this worlds Labyrinth not to squander and looke asquint vpon the Circean allurements thereof But without turning either to the right or left hand runne straight on in that Eclipticke line which will conduct thee to that celestiall Ierusalem where with that immaculate Lambe Iesus Christ thou shalt enioy pleasure without pain wealth without want rest without labour ioy without griefe and immensiue felicitie without end Moreouer the contempt of the world born of the loue of God shall at length grow to hatred of the world when that besides the vanity and misery of it he shall contemplate the mischiefe and enmitie against the Almighty vvhich there raigneth when besides that vanity which some doe lay open to the view of all hee will represent to himselfe the iniquities which are closely kept and the Treasons Adulteries Murthers which are priuately and lurkingly committed when he shall consider the vials of Gods wrath and displeasure powred generally vpon all man-kinde for in the consideration of this world it behooueth vs to leaue out no part of it but to obserue all manner of nations and people amongst which there are many Pagans which not onely by a consequent but also by expresse profession adore the deuill The East Indies dedicate their temples to him and reuerence him with all respect The West Indies are afflicted and tormented ordinarily with euill spirits In most part of the North lurking deceits and assuming strange shapes are very common among the Inhabitants Sorcery is there an ordinary profession and the Diuell reigneth without contradiction In that Countrey which did once flourish where the Apostles had planted so happily the holy Ghost the Churches are now changed into Mosques and Temples of Idolatry In the West the head of the visible Church is become an earthly Monarch and banks are erected in those places where in times past was the House of God Amongst those erroneous and enuious people are scattered the Iewes which blasphemed against Iesus Christ and hauing persecuted him in his life doe iniuriously wrong him after his death The Countrey from whence came Decrees and Orders for Religion hath in it publike Brothel-houses and Sodomy is there an vsuall custome Here it is also where doubts in Religion that concerne a mans faith are decided in the middest of corruption There onely remaineth in the world a handfull of people which serue Iesus Christ in truth and verity and they can scarce receiue breath in this ayre which is so contrary to them beeing here as fishes without water as the remainders of great Massacres as pieces of boords scattered after the breaking of a great vessell and yet neuerthelesse among these few that are substracted out of the rest of the world corruption doth increase as a Canker or Vlcer Quarrels Vanity Superfluity in Apparell Auarice Ambition Sumptuousnesse which spendeth foolishly doth infect the one part of this small troupe for GOD is ill serued in priuate families their almes are cold they pray seldome and reade neuer IN briefe a contagion of vices by conuersing with our aduersaries doth infect vs which is the first steppe to superstition for errour creeps in to vs by vice and spirituall fornication by corporall If therefore where God is most purely knowne hee bee there ill serued how much more amongst the rest of the world If vices doe harbour in the Sanctuary how much more in the body of the church and habitation of the wicked Therefore Christ doth rightly call Satan The prince of the world and Peter doth iustly write in the second of the Acts Saue your selues from that peruerse generation for Satan lieth in ambush for vs all This age is infectious vices are like vnto glue temptations strong our enemies mighty our selues feeble and ignorant and the way of saluation narrow and full of thornes And few there bee saith Christ that finde it And those which finde it doe not alwayes keepe it but many hauing knowne the trueth doe leaue it and returne to their vomit Let vs know then a place so dangerous that wee may passe by as strangers which doe not onely passe but also runne from it flying from the world to come vnto God for wee shall neuer haue repose vnlesse wee rest
any thing is to disproue the same There are two sorts of people in the Court which hate one the other each knowing of it notwithstanding there is alwayes an emulation betwixt them which should first attempt any point of Honour to doe the other seruice and bee the last that should end it But such ridiculous complements are like vnto Anticke actions Enuy which doth supplant and deceiue his neighbour or that doth snarle in secret is there perpetually and to appease it there is no way but by miserie Vices and degenerate actions are esteemed among Courtiers as precepts and part of their composition Not to bee corrupted by them there requireth more faith then a graine of Mustard-seed As Crowes build their nest among the highest boughes so doth the diuell among the highest of men where spreading his wings he clocketh for his little ones which are his Vices because there they remaine more exposed to the sight and neuer appeare but vvith authoritie There also shall you see Caualiers who out of their gallant disposition will kill one the other vpon the interpretation of a word a manifest confession that their life is not much worth sith they will sell it so good cheape Notwithstanding these kinde of men that are in these occasions so valiant do fly away when they should suffer the least thing for Gods cause Surely many such are required to make one good Martyr for the holy Gospell There be some kinde of Courtiers so subtill and crafty that they doe play as the Fisherman who as soone as he hath gotten any thing in his Net giueth ouer the Court and goeth his way Other some there be that play all out and other that remaine vntill they become wondrous rich and in the end they are made to restore all backe againe There are also others that doe nothing but inuent meanes to inlarge their owne treasures and become vvealthy with spoiling poore people Princes doe by them many times as wee doe by our hogges wee let them fatten to the end we may eate them afterwards so likewise are they suffered many times to enrich themselues to be disposed afterwards when they are fat and one that is new come oftentimes is preferred in their places By this you may see that Courtiers oftentimes doe sell their liberty to become rich for they must obey all commandements they must frame themselues to laugh when the Prince laugheth to weepe when hee weepeth approue that which hee approueth and condemne that which he condemneth They must alter and change their natures to bee seuere with those that are seuere sorrowfull with those that are sorrowfull and in a manner transforme themselues according to the nature of him whom they will please or else they shall get nothing To bee briefe they must frame themselues according to his manners nature and yet many times one little offence stayneth all the seruice they haue done in the life before Many in Princes Courts put off their caps to them whom they would gladly see cut shorter by the head and often bow their knees to do them reuerence whom they wish had broken their neckes Here you may see the life of a great number of vicious Courtiers which is no life but rather a lingring death heere you may see wherein their Youth is imployed which is no youth but a transitory death for when they come to age they bring nothing from thence but gray heads their feet full of Gouts their backes full of paine their hearts full of sorrow and their soules filled with sinne CHAP. V. The life of Magistrates and wicked Iudges NOw our discourse of Courtiers being past it is requisite we speake of things done in the ciuill life and to how many miseries it is subiect For although it be at this day a degree most noble necessary for the peace of mans life yet shall we finde that it deserues to haue his part in this Pilgrimage as well as others and if there be any delectation pleasure or Honour depending thereon yet it is transitory and inconstant First knowing that all the actions of Magistrates passe before the eyes of the common people whose iudgements in matters of State be but simple yet haue they a certaine smell or sauour to know the good from euill Wherefore those that be Iudges and Magistrates be subiect as in a Play to bee hissed at and chased away with shame and confusion For the haire-brain'd people vvhich is compared to a Monster with many heads are mutable vncertaine fraudulent apt to wrath and mutinie ready to praise or dispraise without wisedome or discretion variable in their talke vnlearned and obstinate Therefore it behooueth that the life of a Iudge or Magistrate bee sincere and vertuous For as he iudgeth openly so shall hee be iudged of the people seuerally not onely in matters of waight and importance but in those of small consequence For alwayes the rude people will find somewhat to reforme as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at their Law-maker Licurgus for that he went alwayes holding downe his head The Venecians defamed wise Cato in his eating and accounted Pompeius vnciuill for that he would scratch with one finger onely yet these are but few in comparison of other good men that the common sort haue persecuted banished and in the end put to death If that great Oratour Demosthenes were aliue hee could say some-what who after he had a long time been a iust and faithfull Gouernour of the Common-wealth of Athens was in the end without cause vniustly banished Moses and many other holy men haue so many times tasted the fury of the common people that if they were this day liuing they would powre out most grieuous complaints against them Now wee haue shewed and set forth the miseries that proceede from common people so must wee in like sort put into the ballance the errours and corruptions that are found in wicked Iudges of the which sort some are corrupted with feare for such feare they haue that rather then they will displease a Prince or a great Lord will violate Iustice like Pilate that condemned Christ for feare that hee had to displease the Emperour Tiberius Other Magistrates are corrupted by loue as was Herod who for to please the foolish loue of a Damsell that danced condemned Saint Iohn Baptist although that hee knew that hee was iust and innocent Some are many times corrupted by hatred as was the chiefe Priest that condemned Saint Paul to bee stoned to death though he deserued it not Some Magistrates are corrupted by siluer and gold and other gifts presents as were the children of the Prophet Samuel and this disease is so contagious that I feare at this day many are infected with it They all loue rewards saith the Prophet they all looke for gifts they doe not right to the Orphane and the Widdowes complaint commeth not before them And in another place Woe be to you that are corrupted by money by hatred
is a happinesse in regard of the torments of eternall death which doth swallow the most part of men It is a large way which leadeth to perdition and few doe find the way of Saluation Death commeth here to leuy soules for Hell and doth enroll great and small learned and ignorant rich and poore yea many which are esteemed holy and liue couered vnder the cloake of Hypocrisie to the end that they might goe to Hell with the lesse noise and not be stayed by the way This Hell is a place of flames and yet there is perpetuall darknesse where soules doe waxe old and yet neuer die and where they liue continually to die Where they burn without consuming where they mourne without compassion are afflicted without repentance where torment is without end and past imagination There the vnpappy rich man which refused to giue poore Lazarus a crumme of bread doth now beg of him a drop of water although whole Riuers bee not sufficient to extinguish his heat What if the rods that God doth punish his Infants withall doe sometimes make them almost despaire and euen curse the day of their Natiuitie as Iob and Ieremy did What are those afflictions that hee doth oppresse his Aduersarie withall It is a horrible thing saith the Apostle to fall into the hands of the Liuing God For because hee saith in his anger as it is written in the 32. Chapter of Deuteromie I haue lifted my hands towards heauen and said I am the euerliuing God If I whet my glittering sword and my hand take hold on iudgement I will execute vengeance on mine enemies and will reward them that hate me Praised be God which hath deliuered vs and drawne vs from that burning furnace of hell by his Sonne Iesus Christ who as S. Paul saith to the Galatians was reuiled for our sakes hath called vs our of perpetual darknes to his maruellous light 1. Pet. 2. 9. Is it possible for vs to be ignorant what that torment is not know how much he hath suffred for to retaine vs in feare and to make vs know the greatnesse of the grace of God and the excellence of our Redemptiō in Iesus Christ his Son who is also God eternally blessed This precedent discourse hath led vs through all ages and through all the most ordinary conditions of humane life yet in this voyage we haue knowne nothing but vanity and torment of spirit And it hath chiefely appeared when we haue cast our eyes vpon the diuine prouidence of God which doth from the highest Heauens view all the actions of man not as an idle spectator but as a wise Conductor and iust Iudge And there from aboue he laughes at the designes of great men frustrateth their enterprises destroyeth their tongues spirits of Babylonian builders ruineth their greatnes and breaketh their Scepters into shiuers teaching man that he is nothing but dust and his wisedome but meere blindnes to the end that hee may learne to contemne the world aud transport his hopes from earth to heauen that hauing seene some beames of this terrestriall splendour which vanisheth as Lightening he doth say with S. Peter It is good that we be here let vs make our selues heere Tabernacles Happy is that man which hauing well knowne the vantiy of this world doth retire towards God thot he beeing in a sure Hauen a farre off and that being vnder his shaddow as vnder a sure couered place may contemplate the ruine of the wicked the instability of their designes the folly of their hopes and the effects of the Iudgement of God Thereupon the Prophet Dauid in Psal 92. saith also O LORD how glorious are thy workes and thy thoughts are very deepe an vnwise man knoweth it not and a foole doth not vnderstand this When the wicked grow as the grasse and all the workes of wickednes doe flourish then they shall be destroyed for euer It behoueth vs heere to note carefully that this Psalme is intituled A Song for the Sabbath day for by it hee doth aduertise vs that this meditation requireth a quiet and resting spirit which beeing restrained from the presse of humane actions doth retire it selfe into the House of God according to that which hee saith in the 73 Psalme where he doth confesse that the prosperity of wicked men hath offended him and that hee could hardly digest it vntill that he had entred into the Sanctuary of the Almighty and considered the end of such men For to vnderstand what the true happinesse is and to vnmaske himselfe to the imaginary felicitie of this world it is not necessary to goe to Philosophicall schooles or to build his resolutions vpon the opinion of the Vulgar but to enter into the holy House of God and there learne what the difference is betweene the riches which he scattereth vpon this great multitude and that which he reserueth for his little ones what the vncertainty of this worldly prosperitie is in respect of the certainty of Gods promises But vvith what insensible chaines doth Satan lead men into perdition How doth he triumph ouer those which triumph in this world how they that thinke themselues most sure are vpon the point of their ruine and perpetuall destruction Let vs furthermore consider how vaine the glory of man is in that some one doth boast of his particular strēgth wherein it is impossible for him euer to equall a Bull. Some other doe glory in their beauty when as it is onely a superficiall colour which couereth the bloud bones and braines hideous things to see It is also a thing that age and many maladies haue power to deforme Some other doth glory of his honour and greatnesse when indeed he is possest in this state with most trouble and feare and lesse liberty besides he is mounted so high that he cannot fall but with breaking of his owne necke Some other doth glory to bee more drunke then his companions but if his belly bee greater in capacitie then others notwithstanding it will neuer exceed a Barrell These former things are generall for vanities and miseries are common to all men since that sinne hath subiected mankinde to them But notwithstanding there are some more then other which are made examples of extreme misery As poore beggers which are constrained through necessitie to lye vpon the bare pauement as Gally-slaues and as those miserable slaues which are made mercenaries The hundreth part of humane kinde doth imperiously and impiously torment the rest and those that are feeble and meane serue as preyes to the mighty Amongst the Turkes and Pagans which possesse three parts of the world men are bought and sold in the same fashion as horses in a Faire for the buyer marketh their fight maketh them shew their teeth and feeleth the sinnewes of their armes and legges Great Princes keepe millions of chained Slaues for to labour in making of Sugar in working of Mines to serue in Gallies
shew it selfe in Religion for what he thinketh touching the seruice of God doth manifestly appeare by his exteriour actions In matters of newes wee doe sooner beleeue one that hath seene it then the common report But in matters of Religion it is contrarie for most doe follow the vulgar opinion which is as much as to maintaine that which is most absurd and then to hide himselfe amongst the multitude Obserue many other things which any may easily perceiue to be most ridiculous As to cloath in Silke and Gold the images of men while that a poore Begger goeth naked which is the Image of God To weare a Crosse hanging downe vpon the belly while that the belly is an enemy to the Crosse of Christ In going to a Bawdy-house or returning from some wicked fact to say certaine Pater-nosters To kneele downe at the boxe which keepeth the Host when it returneth empty from some sicke body as when it went full To adore the Host passing by a little boxe and not to respect it in a mans bodie which is come newly from receiuing it To make their Creator with words and presently to deuoure him vvith their teeth To bee insolent and deboshed one day before Lent and the next day following to bee very graue and sorrowfull To imploy their blessed Beades for to obtaine remission of their sinnes After the death of any great Personage to cloath with blacke the Image of our Lady to the end that shee may participate of their griefes To whip themselues in publique for to content God or to release a soule out of Purgatory In honour of the Saints to burne Candles in the midst of the day To conclude man hath forged many strange things in his braine and would haue God to approue them Nay he is come to that passe that hee doth assume to himselfe the distribution of Offices in Paradise making one Protector of a Countrey another a healer of some particular disease as if little Ants had power to dispose of affaires belonging to the Crowne of France This is also a vanity of vanities and an extreme imbecilitie of iudgement Our selues which haue the true Word of God for a rule to frame our actions by are not exempted and our folly and vanity doth mixe it selfe with our best actions For in our ciuill actions if we haue need of counsell wee presently addresse our selues to some friends But in matters of Gods diuine seruice we take counsell of our minds and concupiscences which are our domesticall enemies If money be due vnto vs from one we had rather alwayes haue the money then his promise in celestiall matters it is contrary For the holy Gospell is an obligation by which God hath promised vs saluation and hath sealed it with the bloud of his Sonne but we had rather keepe the obligation then receiue the paiment which is due at the day of death nay wee doe endeuour to prolong the date of it Some doe record in the Emperor Honorius a great simplicitie and childish weakenesse that hauing a Hen nominated by him Rome which he did cherish and so infinitely affect that when one came vnto him and said that his Rome was lost he answered very sorrowfully Alas she was here but euen now But the other replying said And it please your Highnes I speak not of a Hen but of your Citie of Rome which hath beene surprized and sacked by Alario Goth. The Emperor hearing this was somewhat comforted thinking that losse to bee more tolerable Such is our simplicitie wee will not suffer one to touch our riches but we will indure any to entice vs to Vice to seduce vs into errour and to poison our soules It is a great folly to refuse a medicine because the Physician is not eloquent Why doe wee not then make account and estimation of the preaching of the Gospell if the Preacher bee not eloquent seeing that the holy Gospell is the medicine of our soules Is it not then an extreme brutishnes for some vicious person to slighten the holy Writ because it is not adorned with Flowers of Rhetoricke What is the reason then that the Word of God doth please vs if it be not decked with Flowers and composed with Art seeing that it is that sacred worke and Doctrine of Reconciliation with God Wee doe not receiue willingly the correction of our Parents if it bee not very milde This is also a vanity distaste and childish humour Touching our Iudgement which we haue of others either in esteeming or contemning them it is most vaine and ridiculously ignorant For if there be a question about burthens wee account him most strong which can carry the heauiest On the contrary about quarrels wee esteeme him the most valiant which can beare nothing attributing force and valour to weakenesse and impatience In matters of ornament we doe not iudge of the goodnesse of a sword by the beauty of a scabberd nor of the metall of a Horse by the fairenesse of a Bridle and Saddle Why doe we then measure our estimation of a man either by his good or bad apparell And if it be necessary that we salute one for the stuffe of his cloathes which he weareth why doe wee not salute the same stuffe in the Shops Why doe wee iudge discreetly in the estimation of vaine and triuiall things when as in a matter of such importance as of the estimation of man we are most voide of reason So some doe respect a Merchant or Rent-gatherer because hee summeth vp exactly his accounts when hee liueth in such fashion that he cannot giue an account vnto God Some labour to till their Gardens and other grounds and by it winne much praise when as themselues are barren bring forth no fruit of good workes Wee are much vaine and childish in our feares as in any other thing For as little Infants doe play with fire burne themselues but feare when they see their Father comming masked with a frowning countenance towards them So men desiring to dally with pleasures because of their lustre at the length lose themselues amongst them yet notwithstanding they feare God their Father when he commeth vnto them vnder the maske of afflictions or death Also man doth ingender in himselfe either foolish or pernicious feares Some one being iealous that his wife doth affect others endeuoureth to espy and search out that which he feareth to finde and by this meanes angreth her so that she seeketh to be reuenged in such nature which hee formerly suspected Some other fearing to liue without honour committeth such things as subiect his body to some cruell torment and staineth the memory of him with perpetuall infamy Some other feareth the want of riches but hee shall want it and dye without it Some againe feareth he shall die before marriage but God well obserues that time and by wedlocke will make him twice miserable When I consider what humane wisedome is I finde it
Pill Within a sweet and ciuet lurking body often is imprisoned a loathsome stinking soule Murther is accounted but manly reuenge and the desperate Stabber cares no more to kill a man then to cracke a Flea Vsurie and Extortion are held laudable vocations Couetousnesse is stiled thrift Luxury and whoredome are reputed but youthfull trickes And as for Drunkennesse why that 's a tolerable recreation Doe not men pursue it with such inordinate affection that they oft neglect their functions bid farewell to that domesticke care they ought to entertaine dislodge that humane prouidence which should be shut vp in the Cabinet of their reasonable part and solely prostitute themselues to quotidian carousing till their breaths smell no sweeter then a Brewers apron whilest their families are wrung and grip't in the clutches of pouerty lockt vp and imprisoned from those necessarie supplements which should keepe both breath and body together at vnion This is a worthy Fathers opinion That a man possessed with a Diuell may be thought to be in a more hopeful state then a Drunkard for albeit that he be possessed yet is it compulsiuely and against his will but the Drunkard wholly adopts and dedicates himselfe with all the powerfull faculties of his soule voluntarily to the seruice of Satan S. Augustine likewise describes three fearefull properties in a Drunkard It confounds nature saith he loseth grace and consequently incurres Gods wrathfull indignation to be powred out vpon the imbracer thereof Swearing and blaspheming Gods great and glorious Name is reckoned for a morall vertue the grace of birth and honour the cognizance of an high-bred spirit What Christian can refraine that hath any sparke of Diuine intellect in him to vnsluce the flood-gate of his eyes and let his melting heart gush through with teares when in the streets he shall heare little Children scarce able to goe or speake to be vnderstood volley foorth most fearefull oathes and with such procliuitie as if they had bin tutored in their mothers wombes whilest their parents standing by offer not to check them with so much as a sowre reproofe but seeming rather to solace themselues in their Childrens sinnes and delight in their owne damnations like those who dye in a Sardinian laughter If the penall Law of Lodovicus were put in practice who hearing one sweare seared vp his lips with an hot iron scarce ten in as many Parishes but would be glad to be in league with the Apothicaries lippe-salue How many miraculous Iudgemēts hath God shot out against the blasphemers of his sacred Name whose instances would be too prolixious What sinne can be more damnable yet more practised None can sooner plunge the soule into the implacable gulfe of perdition and yet no sinne by intentiue endeuour more easie to be cropt off and weeded vp for that it is no incidentall issue of naturall corruption but an accidentall monster inegndred of corrupted custome A learned Father confesseth That at euery other word he once vsed to sweare but at length endeuouring to locke vp the doore of his lips to set watch before his tongue imploying diuine assistance therein and entreating moreouer his friends to smite him with the rod of reprehension in forty daies he vtterly lost the abusiue vse thereof So that now saith he nothing is more easie to me then not to sweare at all It is recorded that Lewis the 7. King of France diuulged an Edict that whosoeuer was knowne to warr against heauen with oathes should be branded in the forehead as a capitall offender Should not then euery Christian labour to set a watch before his mouth keep the doore of his lips that no rebellious words salley forth against his Creator If not for feare of temporall Iustice yet lest the God of Iustice should brand his soule with the dreadfull stigme of eternall damnation which no salue can heale Haliacmons Floud wash out nor length of time weare off O lamentable when the Turkes and Ethnicks out-strip vs in their cloudy and ignorant zeale they will dispute in the heart of their highest Streets about their Alcoran and Mahometish religion with holy intended deuotion But what voice is heard in our Streets Nought but the squeaking out of those obsceane and light Iigges stuft with loathsome and vnheard-of ribauldry suck't from the poisonous dugges of sinne-swelled Theaters controuersall conferences about richest beere neatest wine or strongest Tobacho wherein to drowne their soules and draw meager diseases vpon their distempered bodies And tell them moreouer that by their nocturnall superfluities and insatiable quaffings they set but feathers in Times wings and as a worthy home-bred Author saith spurre but the gallopping horse hasten on their speedy deaths and digge their owne vntimely graues More haue recourse to playing houses then to praying Houses where they set open their eares and eyes to sucke vp variety of abominations bewitching their minds with extrauagant thoughts and benumming their soules with insensibility whereby sinne is become so customary to them as that to sinne with them is deem'd no sinne at all consonant to that Theologicall Maxime The custome of sinning taketh away the very sense and feeling of sinne And semblable to Pythagoras his conceipt of the Sphericall harmony Because saith he we euer heare it wee neuer heare it Many set faire out-side colours vpon their professiō of religious honesty but beeing strictly lookt into by the penetrating eye of practise and performance proue seldome di'de in graine Some glitter like gold in their conuersation but put once to the Touch are found but counterfeit Alcumy Others will needs seeme a substantiall body in integrity of life but shaken and sifted with the hand of tryall become but an Anatomy of bones To giue almes is thought but a phantasticall ceremony and to refresh the comfortlesse Lazarus is deem'd but the maintenance of idle and exorbitant vagabounds O where is Charity fled Is she not whipt foysted out of great mens Kitchens glad to keepe Sanctuary in straw-cloath'd Cottages Are not larger beneuolences often distributed at the doore of one russet-clad Farmer then at ten mighty mens Gates The Magnificoes of this world reare vp sumptuous buildings onely for shew and ostentation whiffing more smoke out of their noses then their chimneys and it begets more wonder to see them shake downe their bounty into the poore mans lap then to see a Court-Lady vnpainted or to finde an open-fisted Lawyer that without a Bribe will faithfully prosecute his Clients cause Notwithstanding al this so parcimonious are they in their domesticke prouision that not a Rat of any good education but scornes to keepe house with them In those golden times of yore Charitie was the rich mans Idoll for they did emulate each other in supplying the Widdowes want in comforting the Orphanes misery and in refreshing the Trauellers wearinesse And it was their earthly Summum bonum to be open-hearted and handed to each hungry stranger This inscription commonly engraued vpon the front of their gates O gate
thee O thou Vsurer and thou that grindest the faces of the poore thy gold cannot ransome thee Then thou mighty man that rackest the Widdow and circumuentest the Orphane of his successiue right thy honour cannot priuiledge thee then thou murtherer adulterer and blasphemer thy colourable excuses will not purge thee Then O thou vncharitable Churle who neuer knewest that a rich man treasures vp no more of his riches then that he contributes in Almes Thou that neuer imbracedst the counsell of that reuerend Father who cryes Feede him that dies for hunger Whosoeuer thou art that canst preserue and wilt not thou standest guilty of famishing then I say in that day shalt thou pine in perdition Then O thou luxurious Epicure that through the fiue senses which are the Cinque-Ports or rather sinner-ports of thy soule gulpest downe delightfull sinne like water they will bee to thee like the Angels bookes sweet in thy mouth but bitter in thy bowels Then O thou gorbellied Mammonist that pilest vp congestest huge masses of refulgent earth purchased by all vnconscionable courses yet carriest nothing with thee but a Coffin and a winding sheete Thy faire pretences will be like Caracters drawne vpon the Sands or Arrowes shot vp to Heauen-ward they cannot release thee from Satans inexpiable seruitude Then O thou Canker-worme of Common-wealthes thou Monster of Man thou that puttest out the eye of Iustice with Bribes or so closely shutst it that the clamorous cry of the poore mans case cannot open it Thou that makest the Law a nose of Waxe to turne and fashion it to thine owne priuate end to the vtter disgrace of conscionable Iustice and to the lamentable subuersion of many an honest and vpright cause thy quirkes dilatory demurres conueyances and conniuences cannot acquit thee but thou shalt be remoued with a Writ into the lowest and darkest dungeon of damnation No no the Lord of heauen and earth who is good in infinitenesse and infinite in goodnesse will winnow garble and fanne his corne the choyce wheate he will treasure vp in the garners of eternall felicitie but the Chaffe and Darnell must bee burnt with vnquenchable fire There must you languish in torments vnrelaxable there must you fry and freeze in one selfe-furnace there must you liue in implacable and tenebrous fire which as Austin defines shall giue no light to comfort you Then will you wish though then too late that you had beene created loathsome Toades or abhorred Serpents that your miseries might haue clozed vp with your liues but you must bee dying perpetually yet neuer dye and which enuirons mee with a trembling terrour when you haue languish't in vnexpressible agonies tortures gnashings and horrid howlings ten thousand millions of yeeres yet shall you bee as farre from the end of your torments as you were at the beginning A confused modell and misty figure of hell haue wee conglomerate in our fancy drowzily dreaming that it is a place vnder earth vncessantly Aetna-like vomiting sulphurious flames but we neuer pursue the meditation thereof so close as to consider what a thing it is to liue there eternally For this adiunct Eternall intimates such infinitenesse as neither thought can attract or supposition apprehend And further to amplifie it with the words of a worthy Writer though all the men that euer haue or shall be created were Briareus-like hundred-handed and should all at once take pens in their hundred hands and should doe nothing else in ten hundred thousand millions of yeeres but summe vp in figures as many hundred thousand millions as they could yet neuer could they reduce to a Totall or confine within number this Trisillable word Eternall Can any Christian then vpon due cōsideration hereof forbeare to prostrate himselfe with flexible humility before the glorious Throne of Grace there with flouds of vnfaigned teares repentantly abiure and disclaine the allurements of carnall corruption the painted pleasures of the world and the bitter sweetnesse of sinne which is the death's wound of his soule for a Weapon wounds the body and sinne the soule For what profits it a man to winne the whole world and lose his owne soule The soundest Method therefore to preuent our exclusion from the Throane of Gods mercy is to imagine we still see him present in his Iustice whatsoeuer or when soeuer we attempt any blacke designe Let vs but adumbragiously fancy as one hath it the Firmament to bee his Face the all-seeing Sunne his right Eye the Moone his left the Winds the breath of his Nostrils the Lightening and Tempests the troubled action of his Ire the Frost and Snow his Frownes that the Heauen is his Throne the Earth his Footstoole that he is all in all things that his omnipotence fils all the vacuities of Heauen Earth and Sea that by his power hee can vngirdle and let loose the Seas impetuous waues to o'rewhelme bury this lower vniuerse in their vast wombs in a moment that hee can let drop the blue Canopy which hath nothing aboue it whereto it is perpendicularly knit or hurle thunder-bolts thorow the tumorous cloudes to pash vs precipitate through the center into the lowest dungeon of Hell These allusiue cogitations of Gods omnipotent Maiestie will curbe in and snaffle vs from rushing into damnable actions if we vnremoueably seat them in our memories Make then a couenant with thine eyes and heart O man lest they dote on earthly grasse surfeit on the sugared Pils of poysonous vanities and so insensibly hurle downe thy better part into the gulph of irreuocable damnation if not for thy selfe sake yet iniure not thy Creatour who halh drawne thee by his owne patterne moulded thee in his owne forme and to make thee eternally happy hath infused his owne essence into thee for thy soule by the Philosophers confession is infusion celestiall no naturall traduction and in that respect another calls it an arrachment or cantell pulld from the celestiall substance which cannot terminate it selfe within a lumpe of flesh Euen as the beames of the Sunne though they touch the earth and giue life to these inferiour creatures yet still reside in the body of the Sunne whence they are darted So thy soule though it bee seated either within the filme of the braine or confined in the center of the heart and conuerseth with the sences yet it will still haue beeing whence it hath its beginning Remember then thy Creatour in the dayes of thy youth call vpon him while it is called to day for as the Poet no lesse sweetely then discreetly sung Who knowes ore night that hee next morne shall breathe Then take Dauids Early in the morning not the Deuils Stay till to morrow for thou knowest God will bring thee to Iudgement yet thou knowest not when nor in what yeere nor in what moneth of the yeere nor in what weeke of the moneth nor in what day of the weeke nor in what houre of the day nor in what minute of that houre nor in what moment of
more tormenteth those whom he doth possesse then when he knoweth that he must depart But now when Man hath passed the bitter anguish of Death where is then become his glories Where are his pomps and triumphs Where is his Voluptuousnesse and Wantonnesse Where is his Maiestie excellency and holinesse They are vanished as the shadow and it is chanced to them as to the garment that the wormes haue eaten or as the wooll that the moth hath deuoured Let vs behold Man when hee is in the graue Who euer saw a Monster more hideous then the dead carkasse of Man behold his excellency Maiestie and Dignity couered with a lumpe of earth Heere you may see him that was cherished reuerenced and honoured euen to kisse his hands and feet by a sodaine mutation become a creature most abominable and to them it happeneth as Salomon writeth in his booke of Wisedome What hath it profited saith he the pride and great aboundance of riches All these things are passed as is the Arrow shot to the white or as is the smoke that is dispersed with the winde The sole memory of Death mournfull Funerals and the reading of Inscriptions engrauen in Sepulchers doth make the very haire to stare and stand an end and strikes Man with an horrour and apprehension of it Some represent Death terrible to the aspect and depriued of flesh other consider it with compassion mixt with dread Some particular man which not long since was clad in Silke and shined with Diamonds is now assaulted with troupes of Wormes and breathes forth intolerable sents while that his heyre doth laugh in secret and enioyeth the fruit of all his labour which he himselfe neuer enioyed And neuerthelesse in this his very dust corruption doth appeare an Ambition and pride doth rest within his Tombe For then behold stately Sepulchers engraued stones that report some famous actions and proud titles vpon his Tombe set out with false Narrations to the end that Passengers by may say Here lyeth a goodly stone and a corrupted body CHAP. XIV Of the terrible Iudgement Seat of God BEing dead in this world hee must then appeare before the Iudgement Seat of God with such a terrour to those that consider it well that there is no member but trembleth It is the Day that the Lord will come like a tempest when euery ones heart shall faile them and all the world shall bee astonied for euen as Lightning which riseth from the East and extendeth to the West so shall the comming of the Sonne of Man be Tribulation shal then be so extreme and great as the like hath not beene seene since the beginning of the world till now nor euer shal be the like The Sunne shall be darkened and the Moone shall giue no more light the Starres shall fall from Heauen and the waues of the Sea shall rage men shall bee amazed with feare and the powers of Heauen shall moue Woe shall be in those dayes to them that are with child and to them that giue sucke For as it was in the dayes before the Flood they did eate drinke marry and were married euen vnto the day that Noah entred into the Arke and knew nothing till the Flood came and tooke them all away So shall the comming of the Lord be and then all kinreds of the earth shall mourne and shall hide themselues in Dens and Caues and in the Mountaines and shall say vnto them Fall vpon vs hide vs from the face of him that sitteth vpon the Throne Blow out the Trumpet saith the Prophet Ioel that all such as dwell in the world may tremble at it for the Day of the Lord commeth and is hard at hand a darke day a gloomy day yea and a stormy day Before him shall be a consuming fire and behinde him a burning flame Then the dead that are in the graues shall rise and come forth the bones and the other parts shall finde out their ioynts for to ioyne againe together with the body that the earth hath putrified and corrupted All those that the Beasts and Birds of the ayre haue deuoured all those that the Sea hath swallowed vp all those that are vnvapoured in the earth and all those that the fire hath consumed shall bee reduced and brought to their former estate All the bloud that Theeues Pyrats Murderers Tyrants and false Iudges haue vniustly shed shall then appeare before the Maiestie of God So that there shall not one drop of bloud bee lost from the time of Abel that was the first slaine of men vnto the last so that there shall not one haire perish If the vaile of the Temple did breake with the Earthquake the Sunne darken and change his brightnesse for the wrong that was done vnto IESVS CHRIST being on the Crosse although in nothing he did offend what countenance may the poore sinners shew that haue offended him innumemerable times who then shall abide the shining brightnesse of Gods Maiestie sitting vpon his Throne of glory It is the dreadfull houre when wicked Monarkes Kings and Princes shall giue account of their vnlawful exactions that they haue made vpon their Subiects and of the bloud that they haue wrongfully spilled It is the houre wherein Merchants and such as haue traded in the circle of the world that haue beguiled and sold by false weights and measures shall render a iust account of the least fraud that they haue committed It is the houre that couetous men and Vsurers that haue beguiled some vndone others shall pay themselues the cruell interest of that which they haue ill gotten It is the houre when Magistrates and wicked Iudges that haue corrupted violated and suspended Iustice shall be accountable for their corruption and iniquities It is the very houre wherein Widdowes Orphanes and other afflicted persons shall make their complaints before God of the wrong and oppression that haue beene shewed them It is the houre wherein the wicked shall say repenting in themselues troubled with horrible feare Behold these which in times past we had in derision infamy reproach are now accounted among the children of God whose portion is amongst the Saints It is the houre wherein foolish and dumbe persons shall be more happy then the wise eloquent Many Shepheards and Carters shall bee preferred before Philosophers many Beggers before rich Princes and Monarches and many simple and ignorant before the witty and subtile Let vs therefore that are Christians looke to our selues and take heed wee bee not counted vnder the iudgement and sentence of the most greatest miseries of all miseries The which sentence is recited in the 25. Chap. of S. Mathew where it is said Goe yee cursed into euerlasting fire CHAP. XV. Of HELL MAny and great are the miseries which man suffreth in this world but yet all of them are but as Roses in respect of the Thorns which follow for the vanity and trauaile of the temporall life