Nathan propounded to David his owne fault as another mans case how the rich man by force bereaved the poore man of his sheepe having so many of his owne because he knew that Davids iudgement in his owne cause might easily be corrupted the selfesame did the good woman Thecuites to David for the recalling of Absolon And indeede the Passions not vnfittely may bee compared to greene spectacles which make all thinges resemble the colour of greene even so he that loveth hateth or by any other passion is vehemently possessed iudgeth all things that occurre in favour of that passion to be good and agreeable with reason so there scarse can be found any man that hateth or is angry with an other but hee thinketh his hatred and ire to be most iust and reasonable for in very deede while the Passion is afloate the execution and performance thereof is conformable and very convenient vnto our beastly sensuall appetite and therefore all beastes stinged by such passions presently proceede vnto execution but men having vnited in the same sensitive soule reason and discourse are bound both by the lawe of Nature and commaundement of God divers times to represse and resist such vnreasonable and beastly motions Yet I know some subtill witte would gladly vnderstand how it commeth to passe that vehement passions so vndermine the iudgement and suborne it to give sentence in favour of them for why may not the passion beeing in the hearte and inferior parte of the soule permitte the higher portion the tribunall seate of Reason alone without trouble or molestation as we see by experience that fire being drie and hotte by nature although it heateth yet that hindereth not the drying so why may not the witte iudge aright howbeit the passion affecteth a wrong To this obiection three reasons may be rendered The first I have largely delivered in my third Booke of the Ioyes of heaven and in summe this is the substance Our soule being of a determinate power and activitie cannot attend exactly to twoo vehement and intensive operations together as for example wee cannot attend perfectly to sweete musicke perceive daintie smelles or taste delicate meate all three or twoo of them at one time either for lacke of spirites or in regarde of the limitted influence of the soule which cannot impart sufficient activitie to such intensive operations wherefore the soule being possessed of a vehement passion her force is so exhausted in that action that if shee will continue therein shee can not exactly consider the reasons which may disswade her from attending or following such affections the passion therefore which hindereth and stoppâ—th the eyes of the vnderstanding from the consideration of those meanes which might moove the mind to withdrawe it selfe from that action may well bee saide to blinde the witte as hee which shutteth another mans eyes maketh him blindefolde not by taking away the power of seeing but onely by hindering it from action The second reason is not onely a privation of consideration of those thinges which may extinguish the passion but also an inforcement or constraint onely to consider those motives or reasons which tend in favour of that passion for although the mayne parte of the soules activitie bee haled away with the passion yet there remaineth some sparks of light in the vnderstanding to perceive what is represented vnto it as when we heare sweete excellent musicke we may perceyve some dainety smelles howebeit not in that perfection wee might if our soules were not distracted with hearing even so some life is left to be imployed to vnderstanding albeit not so great because the soule is distracted with a Passion the which inforceth the witte onely to consider what may conduce to the continuation and preservation thereof the manner may thus bee declared for whatsoever we vnderstand passeth by the gates of our imagination the cosin germane to our sensitive appetite the gates of our imagination being prevented yea and welnie shutte vp with the consideration of that obiect which feedeth the passion and pleaseth the appetite the vnderstanding looking into the imagination findeth nothing almost but the mother and nurse of his passion for consideration where you may well see how the imagination putteth greene spectacles before the eyes of our witte to make it see nothing but greene that is serving for the consideration of the Passion Furthermore the imagination representeth to the vnderstanding not onely reasons that may favour the passion but also it sheweth them very intensively with more shew and apparance than they are indeede for as the Moone when she riseth or setteth seemeth greater vnto vs than indeede shee is because the vapours or clowdes are interposed betwixt our eyes and her even so the beauty and goodnesse of the obiect represented to our vnderstanding appeareth fayrer and goodlier than it is because a clowdy imagination interposeth a miste And here it falleth foorth as hee which is most studious is best learned and commonly he that is best learned is most studious so hee that once apprehendeth the pleasure of the passion ordinarily followeth it and the passion increaseth the imagination thereof and the stronger imagination rendreth the passion more vehement so that oftentimes they enter but with an inch and encrease an ell whereupon ensueth that a false imagination corrupteth the vnderstanding making it beleeve that thinges are better than they are in very deede And by this meanes the witte two wayes is troubled first in that the vehemency of the imagination causeth a vehement apprehension and iudgement of the witte secondarily the false representation breedeth a false conceite in the minde and by these wee prove the imagination and passions to prevaile so mightily that men in great payne or exceeding pleasure can scarce speake see heare or thinke of any thing which concerneth not their passion And for this same cause when wise men deale with any person wonderfully pensive commonly they endevour with reasons to diminish the cause of their griefe as if a woman hath lost her onely sonne in wars then to mittigate her sorrowe they will shewe her that death apprehendeth all men sooner or later it is a tribute must bee payde this worlde yeeldeth nothing but miserie happier are they that depart from it than those that enioy it his death was glorious for his Countrey for his Prince the which among valiant captaynes and noble mindes hath alwayes beene prized above tenne thousand lives if he had dyed an infarnous death for treason for rapine for iniustice then shee might have iustly lamented but in dying for iustice for obedience for vertue with glory she hath rather an exceeding occasion of ioy than a motive of griefe All which perswasions as you see tende to no other ende but to rectifie her iudgement and to represent vnto the vnderstanding those reasons which might rebate the passion of sorrowe concealed from it by the strong imagination of all those things which might encrease her griefe Besides the vehemencie of the
affections No better proofe we neede of this matter then the infinite experiences in every Countrie are tryed The same I may say of Ire Ambition c. All which Passions consisting in prosecution of some thing desired and bringing with them a certaine sence of delight enforce the mindâ— for fostering and continuing that pleasure to excogitate new meanes and wayes for the performance thereof How Passions seduce the Will CHAP. II. WIthout any great difficultie may be declared how Passions seduce the Will because the witte being the guide the The first reason why passions seduce the will eie the stirrer and directer of the Wil which of it selfe beeing blinde and without knowledge followeth that the wit representeth propoundeth and approveth as good and as the sensitive appetite followeth the direction of imagination so the Will affecteth for the most part that the vnderstanding perswadeth to bee best Wherefore the waves and billowes of apparant reasons so shake the sandye shealfe of a weake Will that they The second reason mingle it with them and make all one Besides the sensitive appetite beeing rooted in the same soule with the Will if it be drawne or flieth from any obiect consequently the other must follow even so the obiect that haleth the sensitive appetite draweth withall the Will and inclining her more to one part than another diminisheth her libertie and freedome Moreover the Will by yeelding to the Passion receyveth some little bribe of pleasure the which moveth her to let the bridle loose vnto inordinate appetites because she hath ingrafted in her two inclinations the one to follow Reason the other to content the Sences and this inclination the other beeing blinded by the corrupt iudgement caused by inordinate Passions here she feeleth satisfied Finally the Will being the governesse The third reason of the Soule and loathing to bee troubled with much dissention among her subiectes as an vncarefull Magistrate neglecteth the good of the Common-weale to avoyde some particular mens displeasure so the Will being afrayde to displease sense neglecteth the care she ought to have over it especially perceyving that the Soule thereby receyveth some interest of pleasure or escheweth some payne By this alteration which Passions worke in the Witte and the Will we may vnderstand the admirable Metamorphosis and change of a man from himselfe when his affectes are pacified and when they are troubled Plutarch sayde they changed them like Circes potions Plutarch in moralib from men into beastes Or we may compare the Soule without Passions to a calme Sea with sweete pleasant and crispling streames but the Passionate to the raging Gulfe swelling with waves surging by tempests minacing the stony rockes and endevouring to overthrowe Mountaines even so Passions make the Soule to swell with pride and pleasure they threaten woundes death and destruction by audacious boldnesse and ire they vndermine the mountaines of Vertue with hope and feare and in summe never let the Soule be in quietnes but ever eyther flowing with Pleasure or ebbing with Payne How Passions alter the Body CHAP. III. ALthough in the ninth Chapter sufficiently was declared how the Passions of the minde alter the humours of the body yet some peculiar discourses concerning that matter were reserved for this place Two sortes of Passions affect all men some as wee sayde before dilate and some compresse and restringe the heart Of the first was sayd Vita carninum est cordis Proverb 14. 3â— sanitas the life of flesh is the health of heart for indeed a ioyfull and quiet heart reviveth all the partes of the body Of the other was written Spiritus tristis exsiccat prb 17. ossa a sadde Spirit dryeth the bones And for that all Passions bring with them ioy or payne dilate or coarct the heart therefore I thinke it not amisse to declare the reason why these two Passions worke such alterations in the body to the end that by the knowledge of them we may attayne to the vnderstanding of the rest Pleasure and Delight if it bee moderate bringeth health because the purer spirites retyre vnto the heart and they helpe marvellously the digestion of blood so that thereby the heart engendreth great aboundance and most purified spirites which after being dispersed thorow the body cause a good concoction to be made in all partes helping them to expel the superfluities they also cleare the braine and consequently the vnderstanding For although while the Passion endureth it blindeth a little the indifferent iudgement yet after that it is past it rendereth the brayne better disposed and apter to represent whatsoever occurreth for speculation From good concoction expulsion of supersluities and aboundance of spirites proceedeth a good colour a cleere countenance and an vniversall health of the body But if the Passion of pleasure bee too vehement questionlesse it causeth great infirmitie for the heart being continually invironed with great abundance of spibecommeth too hote and inflamed and consequently engendereth much cholericke and burned blood Besides it dilateth and resolveth the substance of the heart too much in such sort as the vertue and force thereof is greatly weakened Wherefore Socrates was wont to say that those men which live continently and frugally had more pleasure and lesse payne than those who with great care procured inticements to pleasure because intemperate pleasures besides the remorce of minde infamie and povertie which waiteth vpon them for the most part hurt more the body than delight it And some with too vehement laughter have ended their dayes as Philemon did Plutarch recounteth also howe Erasm lib. 6. Apotheg Plutarch in Hannib the Romanes leesing to Hannibal newes was brought to Rome and specially to two women that their sonnes were slaine afterwards a remnant of the souldiers returning these two afflicted ranne with many more to know the manner of their sonnes deaths and amongst the rest found them both alive who for ioy gave vp their ghosts And vniversally after much pleasure and laughter men feele themselves both to languish and to be melancholy Yet the Passions which coarct the heart as feare sadnesse and despayre as they bring more payne to the minde so they are more dangerous to the body and commonly men proove lesse harme in those than in these and many have lost their lives with sadnesse and feare but few with love and hope except they changed themselves into heavinesse and despayre The cause why sadnesse doth so moove the forces of the body I take to be the gathering together of much melancholy blood about the heart which collection extinguisheth the good spirits or at least dulleth them besides the heart being possessed by such an humour cannot digest well the blood and spirites which ought to be dispersed thorow the whole body but converteth them into melancholy the which humour being colde and drie dryeth the whole body and maketh it wither away for colde extinguisheth heate and drynesse moysture which two qualities principally concerne life These
Disquietnesse there is also which to many happeneth and that welnie vpon a sodayne For some times a man will bee in the prime of his ioy and presently a sea of griefe overwhelmeth him In what a world of ioy lived Baltazar when sitting at his Supper Dan. 5. with his Minions and Concubines hee caused in a Triumph to be set before him for a glympse of his glorie the golden Vessell which his Father had by Conquest brought from the Temple of Hierusalem and yet the Hand which appeared writing vpon the wall drowned all his pleasure in a gulfe of feare and woe Putiphars wife ws inflamed with love when she allured Genes 10. chaste Ioseph to violate both her and his fidelitie vnto her husband and presently the Passion of hatred as vehemently vexed her as the Passion of love had formerly tormented her Insatiabilitie of Passions §. III. HEll earth and a womans wombe saith Salomon are Prou. 30. 15. vnsatiable with these he might have numbred a number of Passions How vnsatiable was the lust of Salomon who had no lesse Queenes and Concubines then a thousand How encreaseth the Passion of couetousnesse 3. Regs 3. with the encrease of riches Crescit amor nummi quantum ipsa pecunia crescit As riches flowe so love doth grow And herein we may resemble our Passions to men affected with the dropsie who the more they drinke the more they thirst for drinke caufeth such a desire and encreaseth it euen so a vehementinordinate Passion inclineth vohemently the soule to embrace or flie the obiect propounded and a stronger Passion causeth a stronger propension and inclination and consequently an insatiable desire of pleasure or an exorbitant abhomination of paine It is well knowne in Scotland how insatiable is the passion of Ire and the appetite of Revenge for their deadly wil never be quenched but with the blood of all their enemies and their adherents In the Citty of Naples not many yeares since the base passionate people wanting corne and imputing the dearth either to the negligence or avarice of a certayne Magistrate came and beset his house killed diverse of his servantes and finally caught the maister and by maine force brought him into the market place ript his belly pulled out his heart and there in presence of all the Cittie eate it with salt Howe the Passions of Pride and Ambition how vnsatiable they be in women and courtiers all the world knoweth and no man is ignorant but he that knoweth nothing Importunitie of Passions § IIII. INordinate Passions either prevent reason or are stirred vp by a corupt iudgement and therefore neither observe time nor place but vpon every occasion would be leaping into action importuning execution Let a man fall a praying or studying or be busie in any negotiation importance and very often he shal feele a headâ—esse Passion to rush in vpon him importuning him even then to leave all and prosecute revenge lust gluttonie or some other vnbrideled desire It is well knowne howe in the sacke of sundry Citties when the vnruly and passionate souldiers should have attended and employed all their forces to keepe the gates or winne the Market places or defend the common passages contrariwise by the importunitie of Passions either distracted with desire of spoyle and riches or drawne with appetite of private revenge or haled with lust to violate Virgins or honest Matrons leese in a moment all they wonne with extreame losse and labour and perhappes also their lives withall Sometimes you shall have a number of greedy Passions like so many yong Crowes halfe starved gaping and crying for foode every one more earnest than another to be satiated to content them all is impossible to content none is intollerable to prosecute one and abandon the rest is to carry so many hungry vipers gnawing vppon the heart-strings of the soule Saint Basil sayth that inordinate Passions rise vp in a Basil hom inebrietat luxnr drunkard like a swarme of Bees buzzing on every side or like wilde horses drawing a coach running with it headlong shaking herrying and herling their Maister at their pleasure for in such men a multitude of Passions most apparantly discover themselves and in regarde that Reason in them is buried and cannot holde the raines of such savage and vnreasonable beastes therfore they breake out debostly and never cease to range and revell till Reason rise out of her cymerian darknesse grave of oblivion and puddle of ignorance and sencelesse beastlinesse Impossibilitie of Passions § V. THere is no man in this life which followeth the streame of his Passions but expecteth and verily beleeveth to get at last a firme rest contentation and ful satiety of all his appetites the which is as possible as to quench fire with fuell extinguish a burning agew with hote wines drowne an Eele with water Rachel well declared Gen. 30. 1. the impossible petitions of her Passions when so importunely she demaunded children of Iacob or else that shee woulde die as though it lay in his power to have children at his pleasure That epicure who wished his throat as long as a Crane yet rather deserved a nose as long as a Woodcocke that his dainty fare might longer feede his gluttonous taste and not passe away almost in a moment well declared that Passions sutes were not onely senslesse but also impossible to be graunted It is woonderfull what passionate appetites raigne in women when they be with childe I have heard it credibly reported that there was a woman in Spaine which longed almost till death to have a mouth full of flesh out of an extreame fatte mans necke I will not heere condemne all women who labour with such frantike fittes yet I can not but approove a sage Philosophers sentence who was my maister in Philosophy that most of these appetites proceeded from women extreamely addicted to follow their owne desires and of such a froward disposition as in very deede if they were crossed of their willes their Passions were so strong as they vndoubtedly wold miscarry of their children for vehement Passions alter vehemently the temper and constitution of the body which can not but greatly preiudice the tender infant lying in the womb And the rather I am perswaded to this opinion for that I never knew any woman very vertuous or well mortified subiect to these fancies Neverthelesse by these preposterous desires and sundry appetites for things impossible or almost impossible to be accomplished wee may well conclude that Passions desires keepe neither sence order nor measure The third Booke of the Passions of the Minde wherein are delivered the meanes to know and mortifie Passions what prudence and Policie may be practised in them Meanes for euery man to know his owne Passions CHAP. I. LIttle it would avayle the Physitian to speculate the causes and effects of infirmities if he could not find foorth some remedies so small profite the knowledge of our Passions would affoorde vs if wee
children should be cast out a doores range like vagabonds and goe a begging Nutantes transferantur filij eius mendicent eijctantur de habitationibus suis And yet not contented Let the vsurer sacke him of all his substance and strangers dispoile him of all his labours Scrutetur foenerator omnem substantiam eius deripiant alieni labores eius Yet more Let no man help him nor take commiseration vpon his infants Non sit illi adiutor nec sit qui misereatur pupillis eius all this is not inough but Let his children die and in one generation cause his name to be buried in obliuion Fiant nati eius in interitum in generatione vna deleatur nomen eius And many more such imprecations hee powreth forth against them which I for breuitie sake omit onely this will suffice that the hater cannot endure to see or suffer the person hated to prosper and enioy any good thing or any thing belongeth him I haue knowne some men so passionat that it was a most bitter corrosiue vnto their hearts to see the children of their enemies but well apparelled and it is held for a good point in policie and apt to moue compassion when the prince is offended with any person that hee appeare not before him in gorgious but mourning attire and so Saint Chrisostome recounteth that diuers noble women deposed all their pompe and Chrisost hom ad populi pride and after a most meane manner and with poore apparell presented themselues before the iudges to sue for their husbands in that lamentable commotion at Antioch and as much the scriptures insinuat that a man should doe to God as Baruch testifieth Anima quae tristis Baruch 2. est super magnitudinem mali incedit curua dat tibi gloriam domine The soule which is sorie for the mightinesse of her euill and goeth crooked O Lord glorifieth thee His meaning is the contrite heart and humble submission and abiect conceit a sinner hath of himselfe caused by true repentance exalt Gods greatnesse and extoll his maiestie the which his mortall enemies so greeue to haue offended Out of this discourse we may collect some practicall points very profitable and know a reason how men commonly carrie themselues towards appassionat persons First for that we say sight stirreth vp passions and not onely the persons we loue but also whatsoeuer releaseth any thing of them Therefore generally among friends which be absent and out of sight affections are colder and rarer for although true friends haue alwayes a secret cabinet in their memories to talke in their minds with them whom they loue although absent yet except the memorie be reuiued by some externall obiect obliuion entreth thoughts are more remisse friendship faileth Wherefore messages letters tokens friends kinsfolkes and such things as concerne vs are to bee sent to our friends to renouat and reuiue our former amitie Secondly if we would not exasperat our enemies it were expedient not onely we our selues but also all these things which any way belong vs appeare not in their sights yea and that is more we must take heed as much as in vs lieth that they vnderstand not any prosperitie or good befallen vnto vs because in all these sights hatred is stirred vp and reuiued anew which lay smothered before vnder the embers of forgetfulnesse and so with silence perhaps enmitie of it selfe will consume and pine away Thirdly to persuade any matter we intend or to stirre vp any passion in a multitude if we can aptly confirme our opinion or intention with any visible obiect no doubt but the persuasion would bee more forcible and the passion more potent Cato was determined to strike the Senat and Romanes with feare of the Carthaginian forces least they should obiect against him that Carthage was farre from them and therefore not so dangerous he presently shewed them greene figges at that instant brought from Carthage so they all conceiued that the countrey was not farre distant for otherwise the figges would haue bene dried or corrupted Galba intending to excite the principal men of Spaine Tacitus lib. 1. against Nero and to moue them the more to wage war against him placed of purpose before his tribunall a many of images of great personages executed or banished in Neroes time and fetched from exile a yong noble man out of the next Iland to stand by his seat while he spoke to his armie Licurgus brought two dogs the one sauage the other trained vp to let the people see the difference betwixt men well brought vp and badly and withall to let them vnderstand the great good of keeping good lawes The Macedonians being once ouercome in battel by their adiacent enemies thought the onely remedie that remained to inanimate their souldiours to battell was to carrie their yong king Philip the first in his cradle to the field thereby stirring vp the zeale of faithfull subiects to defend their innocent prince and this little wherstone so sharpned their swords that indeed they woon the battel The people of Tangia in America in their warres caried alwayes in their campe the corpes and bones of their auntient famous warriers thereby intending to encourage their souldiours with the worthie memorie and valour of their predecessours Agria a citie in Hungaria being besieged the yeere 1562 by Mahomet Bassa with an armie of 60000 Turkes and battered with 50 cannons in the citie were onely 2000 Hungarians who with incredible valour had repelled thirteene most terrible assaults and albeit they were most valiant yet to encrease their valour they expecting another fresh assault sware themselues that vpon perill of death no man should talke or speake of peace or yeelding nor giue other answere to these vnsatiable suckers of Christian blood but with cannons muskets and caliuers and in case the siege endured longer than their victuals lasted then rather to die of hunger than submit themselues vnto the Turkish slauerie And at last when the Bassa had offered them diuers faire and fauourable conditions if they would yeeld they with a visible signe to moue him to dispaire of his intent hanged ouer the wall a coffin couered with blacke betwixt two speares thereby representing vnto him that in that citie they would be buried and so preuailed Among the Iewes the arke of God as a visible signe was borne by the Leuits in the battell as with a present obiect to deliuer them from all feare of enemies thereby conceiuing the infallible assistauce and protection of God ouer them whose cause they handled and defended I haue seene some preachers bring a dead mans scull into the pulpit therewith the better to moue their auditors to contemne the transsitorie pleasures of this world to beat into them a terrour of death to the intent that for the rest of their dayes they might lead a better life Last of all it ought seriously to be considered that the presence of any visible obiect moueth much more
those vigilant virgins which attend with their Matth. 25. lamps lighted the comming of their heavenly spouse these be those carefull housholders which prevent infernall Matth. 24. 43. Luk. 12. 39. theeves lest they should rob their treasures these be those which live ever in peace and tranquillitie of Phil. 3. 20. minde who dwelling in earth converse in heaven The second reason and principall is ill education of the which we have spoken before yet I must say here with holy scripture that as it is impossible for the Ethiopean to change his skin so it is impossible for youth Iere. 13. 23. brought vp licentiously to change their ill maners for vse breedeth facilitie facilitie confirmeth nature nature strongly inclined can hardly be diverted from her common course but followeth her vitious determination It is a wonder to see how custome transporteth and changeth nature both in body and in soule the which may well be proved by the young Maide the Queene of India sent to Alexander the great the which being nourished from her youth with serpents poison had so changed her naturall constitution that if she had bitten any Aristot. ad Alexand. Vide Hieronimum Cagniolum de institutio principis § 7. man he presently died as Aristotle affirmeth that by experience he had proved even so as serpents poyson had changed her body so ill maners alter the soule and as her teeth poysoned that they bit so wicked men those soules with whom they talke Corrumpunt 1. Cor. 15. 33. bonos more 's colloquia prava and acuerunt linguas suas sicut serpentes nature therefore in tract of time Psal 139. 4. over-runne with so many weeds of wickednes abhorreth extreamely to supplant them loathing so long molestfull and continuall labor and therefore contenteth her selfe rather to eate the blacke beries of briers then the sweet cherries of vertue for this cause those children have a double bond to their parents schoolemaisters which distill even with milke into their mouths the sweet liquor of pietie vertue and good manners Quâ— semel est imbuta recens servaâ—it â—dorem testa diu â—laccâ—â— Of liquor first which earthen pot receives The smell it doth retaine for many dayes Whereunto agreeth that vulgare axiome of Philosophers Omnis habitus est difficilè separabilis à subiecte The third reason is present delectation for that we hope is future that pleasure worldlings perceive is present sensible delectation feedeth the corporall substance of sences and therefore we easily perceive it but vertue affecteth the soule not after so palpable and grosse manner therefore they despise it wherefore mens soules by inveterated customes vsed to sensuall and beastly delights either not beleeving or mistrusting or rather doubting of spirituall ioyes they neglect and for the most part care not for them contenting themselves with their present estate not looking any further and so as beasts they live and as beasts they dye according to that saying Home cum in honore esseâ— non intellexit Psal 48. 13. 21. comparatus est iumentis insipientibus similis factus est illis and so become sicut equus mulus in quibus non est Psal 31. 19. intellectus Finally the lacke of preservation hindereth our spirituall profite because I conceive our soules without prayer meditation the Sacraments of Christs church exercise of vertue and works of pietie not vnlike a dead body which for lack of a living soule dayly falleth away by putrifaction leeseth colour temperature and all sweetnesse and becommeth ghastly loathsome and stinking even so the soule without those balmes God hath prepared as preservatives it will be infected with vices and stincking with sinnes therefore those which neglect these benefits are not vnlike sicke men which know where medicines lie but will not seeke for them or receive them These foure causes I take to be the principall enimies Math. 11. 3â— of our spirituall life howbeit I doubt not that Christs yoke is sweete and his burthen easie if men would consider the meanes and accept those helps God hath bestowed vpon them But all meanes and helps which ordinarily we proove may be reiected by a wicked will Prov. 1. 24. Isa c. 5. 62. 2. Matth. 23. 37. and a hard indurated heart may resist the sweete calling of God Quia vocavi renuistis extendi manum meam non erat qui aspiceret By these Scriptures and many more we may easily Acts 7. 51. Mat. 11. 21. inferre that neither lacke of meanes nor lacke of grace hindereth vs from dooing well but our owne perverse and wicked will let vs but runne over two or three examples and we shall even touch with our fingers the certaintie of this veritie Consider but Adams fall how many meanes he had to do well and yet how basely he fell he first by Gods especiall grace was indued with so many internall gifts of vertues and knowledge that easily he might have observed that commandement the inferiour parts were subordinate by originall iustice to the superior so that passions could not assault him he had all beasts and the whole garden of Paradice with all the hearbs and trees at his pleasure therefore the precept was not so rigorous for what difficultie were it for a man to abstaine from one tree having the vse of thousands He knew most certainely how by eating into what a damnable estate he cast himselfe and all his posteritie wherefore the event might have taught him to prevent the cause but above all the perfit knowledge of the sinne he committed against God the extreme ingratitude disloyaltie and treacherie might have bridled his mouth from that poysoned Apple which brought present death of the soule and after a time a certaine death of the body But all these helps countervailed not his negligence in consideration and his ill will seduced with ambition Let vs take an other familiar example which dayly occurreth more common than commendable a woman married which breaketh her fidelitie promised to her husband marke but what helps she hath to restraine her from this sinne I omit the Sacraments of Christs Church the threatnings of death Gods iudgement and hell the enormious offence she committeth against God the abuse of his benefits the breach of his law the contempt of his grace the remorce of conscience the wounding of her soule and spoyling of the same all these and many more common helps graunted to all sinners I will speake nothing of albeit I thinke them sufficient to with-hold any ingenious heart from prevarication only let vs weigh those particular meanes she hath to abstaine and withdraw herselfe from this offence as the great iniurie she offereth her husband the breach of love betweene them the infamie wherevnto she for all her life shall be subiect the stayne of her kinred and friends for her fault redoundeth to their discredit as her good to their reputation the shamefastnesse wherewith God hath