long time Et vita ipsa si scias vti longa est Vir bonus bis viuit saith the Spaniard Amâ—liat at at is spatium sibi vir bonus hoc est viuere bis vita posse priore frui He liues twice that leades his first life well Alexander had a good account of his age reckoning by victories not by dayes So should Christians count their dayes by euery sinne they conquer in that day Numbring of dayes saith Saint Austine is not numerus dierum quis sit but quî sit Tres sunt dies hominis saith Saint Hierom Dies Conditionis dies Conuersionis dies Resurrectionis One day certifieth another saith Dauid Time lent vs flyes away in the time that is lent euery moment comming being the death of that is past But weigh well euery moment for it is of so great moment as that vpon it depends eternity of time to come Vnto dying well there are three things most requisite Three things requisite to dying well First to bee often meditating vpon death Secondly to be dying dayly Thirdly to dye by little and little Often meditation of Death The first step to dying well brings you to die in ease alleuiates paines expels feares eases cares cures sinnes corrects death it selfe Quo modo non morimur cùm viuitur mortuis wee liue with so many deaths about vs that wee cannot but often thinke of dying Euery humour in vs engenders a disease enough to kill vs so that our bodies are but liuing graues and we die not because wee are sicke but because wee liue and when we recouer sicknesse wee escape not death but the disease Doe then as the Preacher counsels what you haue to doe that doe quickely For in the graue whither thou goest there is neither worke nor discourse nor trauaile nor wisedome nor conuersation nor fruition of any thing all is entombed in silence darkenesse ouershadowing it Measure not life spatio sed actu because life is ordained for Action not for fruition If thou hast any good to doe for the Church the Commonwealth or thy Friends doe it quickly Hast thou much goods laid vp in store make thee friends with thy Mammon but sing not a requiem to thy soule say not vainely Viuamus dum viuimus sors fortuna vt volet ordinet vita iam in tuto est Remember Hac nocte know that after the day of vanitie comes the night of Iudgement then both light and delight goe out together Sadly and suddenly shalt thou find all worldly pleasures turned into waking dreames Et quae parasti cuius erunt All the towers in the ayre that thou hast built Vno ictu prosternentur On the other side doest thou eate the bread of carefulnesse and drinke the water of wearisome affliction Heere is Manna bread from heauen and water after which non sities There is no such cordiall to comfort cares or temper sorrows as often and seriously to thinke of death and to be acquainted with it betimes Priuacie with death a souereigne cordiall against death for through acquaintance death will leese his horror like vnto an ill face though it be as formidable as a Monster yet often viewing will make it familiar and free it from distaste It is said that Philostrates liued seuen yeeres in his tombe that hee might be acquainted with it against his bones came to lye in it Some Philosophers haue beene so rapt in this Contemplation of Death and Immortalitie that they discourse so familiarly and pleasingly of it as if a faire death were to bee preferred before a pleasant life This is well for Natures part Where the power of death lyeth and Moralists thinke it enough for their part but Christians must goe further and search deeper They must search where the power of death lies They shall finde that the power of euery particular mans death lyes in his owne sins that death neuer hurts a man but with his owne weapon it alwayes turnes vpon vs some sin it findes in vs. The sting of death is sinne Plucke out the sting death cannot hurt Quid huius viuere est diû mori Dye often and you shall be sure to dye well The second step to dying well The second step is to dye dayly Morior ne moriar I dye dayly saith S. Paul Singulos dies singulas vitas putae qui enim â—mnes dies tanquà m vitam ordinat crastinum nec optat nec timet The old saying is as good Doe that euery day which thou wouldest doe the same day that thou dyest Bonum est consumere vitam ante mortem Make that voluntarie which is necessarie and yeeld that quickly as a gift which you must pay as a debt at last Did men know that death were onely an end of life and no more euery man for his owne ends would bee a disturber of the worlds peace while hee liued and seeke to make his owne but when he dyed Hee that dies daily seldome dies deiectedly so he that will liue when he dies must dye while hee liues The widow that liues in pleasure said Saint Paul is dead while shee liues Liue holily you shal die happily Studeto talem esse in vita qualem velis reperiri in morte A liuing man is subiect to a double death Two sorts of death where to euery man liuing is subiect The one naturall the other spirituall Naturall death doth but separate the bodie from the soule But the spirituall death separates the soule from God Of all other it is the most desperate state of life to liue naturally and to bee dead spiritually Thou hast a name to liue but thou art dead said Saint Iohn but of the Prodigall child returned from his euill wayes it is said This my sonne was dead but is now aliue Wee count it a fearefull thing for a man to bee author of his owne death A sinfull life slayes the soule and so while we liue we kill or lose our better life The commandement that sayes Thou shalt d ee no murder specially forbids the murthering of our owne soules but certainly that which depriues vs of our better life makes of all other the worst death It is therefore a holy wisedome for a man to let his sins go before him Moriantur ante te vitia They to die actually thou heere virtually and so to liue that when thou art to die thou haue nothing to doe but die Atchieuement of riches pleasures honours haue beene painefull yet if these things leaue not vs by accident we leaue them by death and at our death we shall plainely tell them as Iob said Miserable comforters are you all If life delight then vse it yet so as a Traueller doth his Inne for a night and away and in thy iourney follow not the common tracke Nam ad Deum faciens iter per trita si itur longiùs abitur But do as the doubtful passenger aske questions of euery one you meete that can set you in your
stiled Ladie mistresse of the world that will not bee courted nor yet cast off Yet is she but vox tantum a thing next to nothing Solo timenda sono Better is it called a transfiguration or transmigration from life by death to life againe Exitus non transitus Transitus quem ire non intelleximus transissesentimus The graue is but a withdrawingroome to retyre in for a while a going to bed to take rest sweeter then sleepe And when it is time to rise cum expergiscar then I shall bee satisfied saith the Prophet Dauid In the meane time it is common to all Death common to all Mors etiam saxis nominibusque venit Yet this fauour nature hath done Quod grauissimum fecit fecit commune vt crudelitatem fati consolaretur aqualitas Who liues and shal not see death Quisquis ad vitam nascitur ad mortem destinatur it respects none Equat omnes cinis It is as naturall to die as to be borne Licet impares nascimur pares morimur No sooner borne but hastening to die Orimur morimur We come into the world with a sheete about vs as no sonner borne but going to bee buried For all this man is euen with Death Nunquam enim magnis ingenijs cara in corpore mora est nay the good Soule aegre fert has angustias Therefore what great thing doth death in hastening dayes This shewes infirmitie rather then power Age doth more nil enim non longa demolitur vetustas Death onely shortens time not life for lifes time shortens by lengthening Morimur quòd mortibus viuimus morieris non quia aegrotas sed quia viuis This all men are to know that mortis meritum is peccati debitum Both imposed on man for sinne Sith then Life but a dying death it is a Statute made in heauen omnibus semel mori and that life is so momentanie and death so certaine splendemus licèt Hêu quà m citò frangimur corpora vitrea Since life it selfe is no true liuing but a dying being and such a being as euery day pants for breath which nature fawnes vpon it for a while Mors fugacempersequitur virum And since death is no death but a going vnto heauen and heauens comming vnto vs How can a man but thinke it a well spent life alwayes to be meditating vpon death But saith Zenophon Cur vitam contemnendamputas habes I will not inquire nor require more of death but death Err as enim qui in terrogas Quid sit mors Et propter quod mortempetam Quaeris enim aliquid supra summum But if a man dye shall he liue againe saith Iob. Yes Life after Death saith Saint Paul we that are in this Tabernacle sigh and are burthened because we would not be vnclothed but cloathed vpon that Immortalitie might bee swallowed vp of life Phoenix sponte crematur Vt redeat proprioq solet pubescere letho Ste tu corpus coactum Discere mutatâ melior procede figurâ The bright dayes die into dark nights but rise againe a mornings Though the body sleepe awhile in the dust yet shal it arise after thy likenesse The Soule which departed for a season shall as Saint Paul said of Onesimus come againe and bee receiued for euer That bodie which was sowen a naturall body shall rise a spirituall bodie Sow in teares reape in ioy who so goe forth weeping and carrie precious seede shall returne with ioy and bring their sheaues with them Yet caro ista Pulueries this clod of earth must lye a while in Dust Sed resurget tandem as the Queenes daughter all glorious within For if in this life holinesse maketh the face of a man to shine by an Irradiation from the heart what shall be the beauty of the bodie glorified Surely though it be not deifyed yet shall it be purified perfected and immortalized Our vile bodies shall be changed saith Saint Paul and fashioned like vnto his glorious body Such glory haue all his Saints If the exchange bee such who would not be willing yea glad to die Nilminus est hominis occupati quam viuere Quos autem felicitas grauat exclamant illi Mihi viuere non licet It is a good minde to bee content to dye and willing to liue But to be willing to dye and content to liue is the mind of a strong Christian Diligimus mortem pariter pariterque timemus Ipse metus te noster amat When the Senator Cato was asked a question concerning Death Si Deus inquit ille mihi largiatur vt repuerascam valde recusem Nec tum me vixisse poenitet quia bene vixi nec timeo mori quod ex hospitio non domo discedam Wherefore though death be not to be sought in the errour of youth as the Preacher saith respects it may bee desired Death desireable for three respects Portus est aliquando petendus nunquam recusandus As first that sowe may betimes leaue off to sinne since sin liues in vs and leaues vs not till Death Dixit Socrates Appropinquante morte multò es diuinior Secondly the Soule that soone departs facilius ad superos iter facit quia minùs facis ponderisque traxit In this passage betweene life and death what 's the distance So little as with the Ancients the Embleme of life was oculus apertus Mortis clausus but not extinctus nec plus interesse putauerunt inter mortem vitam quam ictum oculi Man is onely a winke of life his life and death ioyned as neere as ioy and griefe where teares expresse both Thirdly that we might the sooner come to liue indeede Vita aeterna est illa vita vitalis ista est tantùm mortalis For this cause saith Bernard praecipitat quisque vitam suam fuiuri desiderio laborat praesentium taedio Men commonly say There is nullum tempus praeter Nune. But this present is not that which contents the Soule Nimis angustat gaudia qui praesentibus acquiescit They are onely creatures of inferiour nature that are pleased with the present Man is a future creature his soule lookes at what is beyond this life Scrutatur quod vltra mundum futura praeterita illum delectant Haec expectatione illa recordatione It would make a man heauenly proud but to thinke of how Diuine a nature and qualitie his Soule is The Heathens could say it was Diuinae particula Aurae Epicurus makes it a Spirit mixt of fire and ayre Others define it to bee a selfe-mouing number Seneca said Quid aliud est anima quam Deus in corpore humano hospitans Neuer could any giue it such a definition that either an other or himselfe could conceiue it And no wonder that a man cannot conceiue what his Soule is Because it suffered a composure before it selfe was Therefore Admiration rather then Search becomes a man in such a secret Tully said Mihi quidem nunquam persuaderi potuit animos dum in corporibus essent
mortalibus viuere cum exijssent ex ijs emori Let mee euer worship the great God of this little god my Soule Et ne plus vltra Onely this I know That to no creature else God hath giuen a liuing soule nor is there hope in any creature else but man and this hope is giuen for sustentation of his soule Hee that contemplates these things wil beare himselfe too loftily and thinke himselfe too good to looke so low as vpon the sublunarie things of this life Angustus est animus quem terrena delectant How then can this Beautie bee pleased to inhabit long contubernio isto All it needs to care is but Sepulture to that body which once had the Honour to be the Temple of such a ghest But because many times the houses of the dead and the vrned bones doe meete with foule hands for this also Nature hath prouided vt disertè ait Maecenas Nec tumulum quaero sepelit Natura relictos It is one of the daily petitions of euery good Soule Adueniat Regnum tuum Thy Kingdome come O Lord Yet saith Ambrose Hoc nitimur reluctamur For Quis sine querela moritur Quis non gemens quis non recusans exit Quis cum accesserit non tergiuersatur timet plorat In all things else Mans crosse Nature obserue how contrarily wee carry our selues The labourer from his work hasts to his bed The Mariner rowes hard to gaine the Port. The Traueller is glad when hee is within kenning of his Inne yet we when Death comes to put vs into our Port shun it as a rocke Wee feare what wee should wish and wish what we should feare O fortunatiorem Marcellum eo tempore quo exitum suum Bruto approbauit Mans better choice quà m quo populo Romano consulatum Heare O Christian what the Pagan saith Quid ni non timeat qui mori sperat It is harder to make a true Philosopher patient of life then of Death Hic spe mortis patienter dolet taedio doloris libenter moritur Hunc fert illam expectat sed expectata Mors tardè venit I am in a straight betwixt two said Saint Paul whether to liue in the flesh were profitable for mee and which to chuse I wote not Yet at last resolued liue or die Christ was to him aduantage Therefore to bee loosed and to bee with Christ was best of all Till then God grant that I may haue vitam in patientia mortem verò in desiderio So shall I fulfill my course with ioy life not deare nor death grieuous In elder times both wise men great men Life and death compared and vaine men had Death in such estimation and so vndervalued life as they fondly said Had man beene worthy to know what life was before he receiued it hee would haue beene loth to accept it Nemo vitam acciperet si daretur scientibus Life would haue kept vs in slauerie but that Death freed vs. They counted death but the retreite of life optimum Naturae inuentum for by it euery man might make himselfe happy no man be longer miserable then he will Placet no vita viue Non placet licet co reuerti vnde venisti They thought no state miserable but that which Death could not remedy Wherefore say they a wise man liues but so long as he should not so long as hee can If Death were not in our power wee should desire it more then now wee feare it Magistra rerum ratio taught them that common safety lay in Death inuitum qui seruat idem facit occidenti Life was subiect to many fortunes sed in eo qui scit mori nil posse fortunam This made them cherish these desperate conceits Nil referre faciatne finem an accipiat For though life be not yet Death is at a mans command Mori nihil aliud est quà m velle in which respect no man could complaine of life Quia neminem tenet If any man did complaine this was their wish Mors vtinam pauidos vitae subducere nollet sed virtus hanc sola daret In scorne some said Egone expectem vel morbi crudelitatem vel hominis cum possim medio exire tormento aduersa discutere But their brauest conceit was worst that it was genus mortis generosum for a man to be author of his owne death say they if permitted to desire death why ill to giue it to themselues Sed furor est ne moriare mori They seemed thus to maintaine their assertion by reason as wellas courage Death is naturall therefore we come Viuere noluit qui mori non vult hee is sorry that he was a man that is not glad to dye It is ineuitable therefore we must be resolute feras non culpes quod vitari non potest Fooles fly it old men attend it wise men wish it Nay some so prided themselues in this way that for Care Feare or Griefe they would not dye Non inferam mihi manus propter dolorem nor yet for feare stultum est timore Mortis mori Nor yet the threats of torments Sic mori vinciest Sed si coeperat suspecta esse Fortuna si multa occurrebant molesta tranquillitatem turbantia then it was Fortitude to dispatch themselues How or with what it mattered not Scalpello aperitur ad illam magnam libertatem via puncto securitas constat said Seneca when he bled to death Cato will die because the Commonwealth declined Nerua because the lawes were not kept Siluianus because he would not liue at the mercy of his enemy Lucretia to couer a dishonour But Plato and his Socrates were of another minde Death was to be expected till Nature called for it or Iustice tooke it For Religions sake men may ponere animas but suas not for ostentation nor in discontent Inde facult as fuit non ponendi animam sed pendendi Bona res est mori suâ morte Life was giuen to manage to the vtmost and to make the best of it Euery one was heere set sentinell not to depart the place till his Captaine calls him off Non est optima quae placet sed quaedecet That Death was best which was well recollected quietly suffering what it could not possibly preuent Fortiter ille facit qui miser esse potest It is not enough to die with a Romane courage nor that the cause of Death be iust but it must bee also necessarie vnsought ineuitable But let goe this discourse my Contemplation lyes another way The kindes of Death as of life are two The one bodily The kinde of death the other spirituall As bodily life is the coniunction of body and soule So bodily Death is the separation of soule and body And as a godly man hath three degrees of life The first in this life when Christ liues in him for the soule of a good mans soule is the Spirit of God within The second when his body returnes
whose strength faileth that is now in his last age and vexed with all things and to him that despaireth and hath lost patience But contrariwise O death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that lyeth at rest in his possessions vnto the man that hath nothing to vexe him and that prospereth in all things yea to him that is yet able to receiue meate Certainly to this man that thus liues at ease in delicacie with affluence of all things for euen to vse happinesse is as difficult as to forbeare it to him it is a sad and bitter meditation to thinke that death must take him from all these ioyes wherein his heart tooke pleasure O quam amara mors mundum amantibus Euery poore contentment glues his affections to that he likes When as the best of this worlds contentments are but contemptible If thy heart bee set on Heauen thy soule will haue no pleasure in these low things looke vpward Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri The minde contemplating Heauen walkes beyond eye sight and at so farre a distance discernes God as if hee were at hand there is his true solace to conuerse with God Who euer they bee that dwell in Contemplation of heauenly things goe off rich in thoughts satisfied in their expectation For an antidote against Death hate sinne and the pleasures thereof then will death bee delightfull nor life dolefull nay death it selfe looking thee in the face knowing thy heart will change countenance looke vpon thee facie non horrendâ sed blandâ non terribili sed amabili This very day of death Dies iste quem tanquam extremum aliqui reformidant tibi aterni natalis erit The good mans hope is euen in death the world-louer ends both hope and happinesse when he dyes Plato discoursing vnto one de contemptu mortis and speaking strangely vpon it was answered Fortiùs loqueris quà m viuis At ille dicebat non quemadmodum viueret sed quemadmodum viuendum esset How euer the Contemplation of death pleases yet the sufferance of death pinches A man satisfied that death is nothing but a bridge to passe him ouer to an other shore where life stands and lookes for his landing yet while hee is vpon the Bridge which is but a short step betwixt two liues his vertiginous braine wil grow giddie and hee will before troubled in the passage Did not the word Ibis ad Patres sweeten the contemplation as did that wood cast by Moses into the the waters of Marah turning bitternesse into sweetnesse the thought of death though it be but a gathering to our Fathers would be an vnpleasing contemplation But feares being past which are but shadowes set off ioyes the better Therefore now to see What ioyes death brings OVt of the bitter came sweet The ioyes brought by death said Sampson When wee thinke vpon the separation of bodie and soule then it is a sweet contemplation to consider the coniunction of our bodies and soules with Christ which being once made by the bond of the Spirit in this life shall neuer afterwards be cancelled For let death wilde beasts or birds deuoure and teare the body from the soule yet neither body nor soule are thereby seuered frō Christ Non curo saith Ignatius si ferarum dentes me moluerint modo pura fiam farina Christo. And yet the body thus consumed liues not in the graue or belly of the beast nor yet receiues life or sense from the soule while it is in this seate vntill the great Assizes that generall Venite comes But then looke what the condition of Christ was in his death the like shal be of his members The body soule of Christ were seuered as farre as Heauen and the Graue were distant and yet neither of them were seuered from the godhead but both existed in his person so likewise our bodies and soules though rent and pulled in sunder millions of miles distant yet neither of them is seuered or disioyned from Christ our head Qui praedixit reuixit this serues to work it Humane wisedome cannot comprehend this Weake faith lookes for meanes and is put to shifts when shee sees meanes faile But omnipotency workes by improbabilities and tels vs. There is no faith where there is either meanes or hopes Difficulties and improbabilities are the obiects of Faith Through the Spirit saith S. Paul wee waite for the hope of righteousnesse in faith Yet in nature we see that in winter season trees which seeme as dead reuiue againe in the Spring because the body graines armes of the trees are ioined to the root where the sap lyes all the Winter and by meanes of coniunction it conueyes vegitation to all parts of the tree euen so mens bodies haue their winter when they are turned into dust Homo arbor inuersa cuius Radix in caelis rami in terra Their life is hid in Christ with God Yet in the day of resurrection by reason of this mysticall coniunction diuine and quickening vertue shall streame from Christ to his Elect and cause them to resurge from the graue to life eternall For the head wil not be without the members where he is there they shall be also It is noted how in that transfiguration the body of Moses which was hid in the valley of Moab appeared in the hill of Tabor which assures that this body of ours lodge it where you will is not lost but layed vp to bee raised in glory as it was laid downe in corruption The incineration and dissipation of this dust shall haue a recollection in that day of resurrection In the valley of dead bones did not the Spirit say to Ezekiel Prophesie vpon these bones and say O ye dry bones I will cause breathto enter into you I will lay sinewes vpon you and will bring vp flesh and you shall liue If any thinke The difference betwixt the resurrection of the vngodly and the iust this Resurge againe which is so wonderfull is not peculiar but common vnto all both good and bad as good men loue not to bee happy alone its truth yet it is not by the same cause nor to the same end For the wicked rise by the power of Christ to be iudged and condemned But the godly rise by the vertue of Christs resurrection to receiue eternall life Vita mortem assumpsit vt mors vitam assumeret Therefore they collect truely who say that the rotting of our bones is no death but a being asleepe and that sleepe must needs be sweet which hath peace with rest and rests in safety Awake then thou that sleepest arise come and liue hee whom thou louest sleepeth but thou wilt come to awake him till when his couch of ease is his coffin the graue his bed wherein he lyes neuer troubled with dreames or fancies what shall become of his bodie till it rise againe I am the resurrection and the life saith Christ He that beleeueth though hee were dead yet shall
hee liue the arrest of Death shall not alwayes keepe him Well said S. Austine The bodies of Saints shall bee raised tanta falicitate quanta felicitate with as much ease as happinesse Nam mors tantum intermittit vitam non eripit death doth not disanul but discontinue life By our rising wee are remitted to our better right a life which neuer dyes a morning which hath no Eue nor ending Me thinkes I heare death say of life as Iohn the Baptist said of Christ He that commeth after mee is before me Which is life O sweet word Life The best Monasyllable in the world Gods owne Attribute Deus viuit And my soule saith Iob shall liue for my Redeemer liueth And is this life but the child of this word Death then blessed also bee the word Death the mother of life I will no more call thee Marah but Naomi for thou art not bitter but sweet more pleasant though swifter in thy gate then the Row or Hinde The Stoike could say Mors est quae efficit vt nasci non sit supplicium But what saith S. Iohn I heard a voice from heauen saying Write Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord whose workes follow them they die no more death hath no more power ouer them all teares are wiped from their eyes Compare together the benefits of life and death and you shall clearely see how that death which seemes to dispossesse vs of all puts vs in possession of more thē that al. Per varios casus per tot discrimina rerū Tendimus in Latium sedes vbi fata quietas Ostendunt It is but being which wee haue by Nature or by Birth our better being is by Grace but our best being is in glory there wee cannot bee till death haue conueyed vs thither Esse naturae est benè esse gratiae optimum esse gloriae Better therefore is our last being by death then was our first being by birth Dicique beatus ante obitum nemo Birth brought mee into the world but that was misery allowing no vacation to sorrowes Ne natalem quidem excipit For crying was the first note of my being Calamitatis futurae propheta Death carries me from a world of miseries to a world of felicities Dies mortalis est fatalis Natiuitas Heere I dwell in a house of clay whose foundation is dust Death brings to an habitation made without hands euerlasting in the heauens Ad excelsa sublatus inter felices currit animus excipitque illum coetus sacer Birth brought mee to conuerse and haue commerce with men death brings mee to haue communion with Saints and fellowship with Angels yea to enioy visionem illam beatificam The immediate fruition of God and Christ Old father Iacob when he was told of his sonne Iosephs power in Egypt was not satisfied to heare of his honours but enquires of his life intimating that life to come is better then all the honours that are in Egypt or fortunes that are on earth nor yet did Iosephs life content him without being present with him and therefore said I will goe downe and see him counting it better to behold with the eye and yetmost sinnes begin and creepe in at the eyes then to walke in desires Implying that the best things that are pleasure vs not in their being but in our enioying them What then shall bee the ioy The ioy soule dy at the meeting when soule and body separated for a season shall meete againe in ioy and mutually enioy one the other The sense of this delight and contentment did well appeare in that meeting betwixt Iacob and Ioseph whom mutuall losse and separation for a while did more endeare each to other Intermission of comfort hath this aduantage that it sweetens our delight more in the returne then was abated in the forbearance And was Iacob glad to leaue his countrey the land of Promise to see his yonger sonne Ioseph though in Egypt What then shall bee the soules ioy to end a pilgrimage in a strange land and goe to see his elder brother Christ in heauen an inheritance more pleasant then that land of Goshen freed from all the encombrances of this Egypt Therefore said S. Paul I desire to be dissolued that I may bee with Christ For this tedious mortalitie pleasant it how man can will be intollerable if death doe not disburthen it because long liuing so loads vs with sinne as the burthen thereof tyres euery man at last It is such an inmate as will roost in vs as long as life affords it house-roome nor wil it lodge alone but still one sinne will call in another but through death the very body of death and burthen of sinne are both cast out together Sith then the life I now enioy is beset with death tends to death and ends in death I will no longer mistake tearmes calling that death which is life and that life which is death Hanc esse mortem quam nos vitam putamus Illam vitam quam nos pro morte timemus said Lactantius More diuinely said S. Austine Per vitam ad mortem transitus est per mortem ad vitam reditus est Therefore the Pagans did not ill to celebrate the day of their death with mirth and the day of their birth with mourning For although the soule be then infused when man is made Death the regeneration of the soule yet it is new borne when man dyes His bodie being the wombe and death the midwife which deliuers that to sorrow this to glory The Prophet Ieremie so little ioyed in his birth that he said Let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed Quis pauet quis flet quis eget quis errat Solus heusortes homo sperat optat alget voluit explorat queritur Malorum omnia plena said a diuine Poer But to assure there are ioyes in death What saith the Scripture vnto well dying men Reioyce and lift vp your heads for now your Redemption draweth neere The third generall diuision III. When Death is to be prepared for and how IT was the saying of the diuine Philosopher Plato There is nulla salutar is Philosophia The time when but perpetua mortis meditatio and sine ista meditatione tranquillo esse animo nemo potest Scipio was wont to say Mortis meditatio Is vita sapientis and that it was the most honourable Philosophy to study a mans mortality Politiques say Totâvitâ discendum est viuere But saith Seneca Hoc magis miraberis Totâ vitâ discendum est mori Fooles would faine doe in the end that which wise men doe in the beginning Prepare for their end but carelesse men thinke that the signiory and gouernment of times is at their commands to doe what they list when they list We haue little power ouer the present much lesse ouer the future Therefore King Dauid cryed betimes Lord let me know mine end and the measure of my daies what it is and