Linguistic DNA - Concept Modelling Demonstrator

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	day_n	night_n	time_n	11,545	5	3.7585	3	false

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A10553	The redemption of lost time	Powel, Daniel.	1608 (1608)	STC 20825; ESTC S105744	52,135	280

set termes and prefixed times for their triall whether they would stand or fall very short spaces and moments as som say they were but two or three momeÌ„ts othersome extendes them more largely to foure which in truth to them sufficed because of their quick apprehensions and perfection of their natural inclinations but to slowe vnconstant and changeable man God hath granted many yeares and ages Howbeit not to liue idle and secure nor to waste and consume it in play delights iestes pleasures meriments pastimes and carnall sports much lesse in sinne and the hurt of himselfe but that it be imployed in good workes in lawfull exercises honest recreations should labour in the vineyard Math. 20.2.4.6 c. and painefully in the sweat of his browes gaine his daily food and stipend which is the workemans wages and the reward of his good aduenture Whereupon the Apostle saith Gal. 6.9.10 Doing of good works and vsing the Time in such things for which it is lent vs. Let vs therefore neither deceiue our selues nor be dismayed nor be wearie to reape and mowe Time and we shall gather our haruest and fruit in due season For which in all that time we enioy let vs performe what good wee may And Seneca Seneca though an heathen man saith that Time was not so liberally so bountifully bestowed vpon vs that wee should loose anie part of the same which by the Apostle is called the acceptable time 2. Cor. 6.2 and the day of saluation Wherfore my good bretheren imploy the same for your soules health to doe workes acceptable and grateful vnto God And therefore also the time of this life is called the Fayre time or Market time For as in the same wares are solde and bought most cheape and at a small rate So in this life great marchandizes iewels of infinite value may be bought at a small rate 2. Cor. 4.17 and for one momentanie and light tribulation or affliction may be caused an eternall weight of glorie as the same Apostle S. Paul saith which in Heauen is to bee possessed and enioyed And by the way let vs heere note how by that holy and blessed Apostle it is tearmed a waight because that with the weight and greatnesse thereof it maketh light and easie all the difficulties and troubles of this life and that which we suffer and abide here in the same makes vs to waigh all which in coÌ„parison is as easie and as light to beare as one straw or chaffe Euen as a great heauie waight in one end of a paire of scales doth highly lift vp out-waigh the other end wherein there is but one single strawe or chaffe So the waight of our reward being put in the one end of the ballance doth lift vp the other end wherein our labours and worldly businesses are weyed Wherevnto agreeth that which the same Apostle in another place hath written namely That the passions and tribulations of this life Rom. 8.18 are neither comparable nor equall to the glorie to come which heereafter shall be reuealed and manifested in vs till such time by all coÌ„parison they are very smal light and of no waight And vpon that similitude of the Fayors for application sake to our present purpose it seems our Sauiour CHRIST hath meant and vsed it Luc. 19.13 when he compared the kingdome of Heauen to a man trafficking merchandizing in this worlde Math. 13.45 considering when he spake to all the faithfull as to men full encombered with many businesses Occupie till I come for heereafter there will be no place Furthermore the time of this life is called Time of vacation from all other businesses whereby man may solly wholy addict and imploy himselfe in the seruice of our Lord. It is called Time of imployment according to those wordes of our Redeemer spoken by the mouth of his Euangelist S. Iohn Now is the time to worke Io. 9.4 while it is day the night commeth when no man can worke It is likewise called the time of sowing and the time of mowing and gathering of the Haruest because it is the time of grace and faith wherby the reward of heauen is to be wonne obtained And therefore by the example of the heedefull diligent and carefull Emmet the Holy Ghost sendeth to reproue confound the idle and sloathfull person Prou. 6.6 Goe and behold the Emmet saith hee in the Prouerbs of Salomon Shee prepareth her meate in the Sommer Verse 8. and gathereth her foode in haruest which shee layeth vp and keepeth in her storehouse or granarie for her prouision against Winter which season is counted no time to get but to eate and spend that which before was gathered and layd vp Time was bestowed on vs by the Lord saith Laurence Iustinian for to lament bewaile vs of our sins Lau. Iustin to be very penitent to purchase vertues to increase in grace to atchiue faith to discharge vs from hellish torments and to obtaine heauenly glorie And it is so true that Time was giuen vs to be imployed in good works as onely that which we spend about the same and in vertuous and necessarie exercises is most properly OVRS and onely entereth within the reckoning of our lyues and account of our dayes For all the rest there is neither respect nor memorie therof in Heauen nor in the booke of life albeit the world makes reckoning of them records and inrolls them for long continuance but our Lord knoweth no such at least hee saith that hee acknowledgeth no such as a thing which neither pleaseth delighteth nor yet contenteth him but rather much vexe and sore offend him So Origen Orig. in Psal 37.18 expounding the words of Dauid The Lord knoweth the dayes of the vndefiled which are the Iust saith thus In the sacred Scripture it is saide That God knoweth but onelie good things and that he is ignorant of the euill and them hee forgets not in that his knowledge cannot comprehend all things both good and bad but in regarde the euill are vnworthie of his sight notice I knowe you not Math. 25.12 saide he to the foolish Virgines and as much againe to the workers of iniquitie The Lord knoweth the wayes of the iust sayed that kinglie Prophet Dauid Prou. 4.18 And Salomon saith that the Lord knoweth the way of the right hand And so saith Dauid that the Lord knoweth the houres and the dayes and the Time of them that liue without spot of sinne but is ignorant of the dayes of Sinners The holy Scripture makes no reckoning of the time of Sauls raigne saue onely of two yeares 1. Sam. 13.1 though hee raigned 40. yeares because onely two yeares hee liued well and without blemish of sinne and the residue were dayes stayned and tainted therewith So of S. Paul Act. 20. verse 31. Dion Cassius writeth Dion Cassius that in a Citie of Italie was sound an auncient

The REDEMPTION of lost Time Ephes 5.16 Redeeme the Time for the daies are euill LONDON Printed by N.O. for Richard Sergier 1608. TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR EDWARD COKE KNIGHT LORD chiefe Iustice of the Kings Maiesties Court of Comon Plees VOuchsafe my good Lord to patronage this small Treatise of the Redemption of lost Time which heere I present vnto your Honor as an vndoubted token of my dutifull affection towards you not presuming thereby to instruct your Lo. in any thing you learned not before being a Person wel known to haue deepe insight in the due value and worth of TIME and wisely to vnderstand how to estimate imploy and diuide the same rendring to euery action his due Time and to euery Time his right function But that vnder the shadowe of your wings and protection I may bee freed froÌ„ that Taxe whereof the best Bookes now adayes imprinted cannot escape censure And verily if they bee commended whoe bring vs any commodities drugges or delights fashions or fruits from forraine Countries how can I be iustly reproued if after long pursuit in a strange land J bring home a dish of rare dainties profitable and necessary a pretious Iewell richer then the gold of Ophir the Redemption of lost Time Thus ceasing to interrupte your Honors waightier businesses I coÌ„mend this vnto your Lordsh fauour and your Lordsh to the Almightie his protection London the 10. of May. 1608. Your Lordsh humbly to command Daniel Powel To the Reader IT is true which is spokeÌ„ in the Castilian Prouerb El bien no es conocido hasta que es perdido The good is not knowen vntill it be lost as I haue at last found by experience in my selfe who haue but since my late Trauels neither apprehended what TIME is nor vnderstood the power and value thereof which verily doth not a little griue and vexe me in that all this while I lost so much good Wherefore I could hartily desire with the Poet O si praeteritos referat mihi Iupiter annos That if it wre possible I might once againe enioy the yeares that are already past whereby I might imploy them as I ought and redeeme them from the captiuitie wherein they haue beene detained But he who once so little regarded to knowe and estimate the Time as appertained is nowe well worthy to wish and want that which sometimes he had in aboundance and vainely mispent Yet notwithstanding I hold it for a speciall gift and grace giuen me of GOD that now at length he hath vouchsafed me this knowledge that henceforth I may better imploy the time which the Lord in mercy shall hereafter graunt vnto me and that now I throughly vnderstand what it is to come out of Babylon to know God in Christ to worship him only to read the Scriptures to heare Gods word to be partaker of the Sacraments and to pray in a knowne tongue which I speake not as if I had beene at any time affected otherwise then now I am but because I neuer heretofore esteemed either TIME or any of these benefites according to their iust value and worth as now I do And in this respect I could wish all men to constitute me their Proctor Aduocate aswell to sue for their ransome as also to teach and instruct such negligent Sinners as detaine Time captiuated how they ought to Redeeme the same how much it concernes and imports them to admonish secure and carelesse Christians rightly to waigh the Benefites which in great abundance GOD hath mercifully bestowed vpon this Church and Common wealth and to beseech all others that they loose neither houre nor moment of any Time or Season For accomplishment whereof I desire all men to peruse this small Manual wherein they may plainely vnderstand learne both how and from what TIME is to be redeemed and afterwards in what sort they ought to imploy the same And though haply some men may thinke that in discoursing of TIME much Time may be spent which though otherwise I acknowledge may be true yet hold I not the Time imployde in this Treatise either lost or ill spent I hartily pray and beseech our Lord GOD euen for his most precious bloud sake which was the price of our Redemption that euen as I wish and desire so this Redemption of Time lost may be beneficiall and profitable to the Reader D. P. The Contents of the Chapters which are contained in this Treatise CHAP. 1. What a precious Iewell TIME is Fol. 1. CHAP. 2. That we are Lords of Time and to what end GOD did bestow it vpon vs and wherein we are to imploy the same Fol. 17. CHAP. 3. How GOD in his iust Iudgement cutteth off sinners from inioying the benefit of Time who before made no reckoning thereof to profit themselues thereby as they ought and might haue done Fol. 29. CHAP. 4. He that now inioyeth the Benefite of TIME must with great feruencie and zeale labour to imploye it altogether well Fol. 41. CHAP. 5. How worthy of reproofe idle Persons are and who they be Fol. 57. CHAP. 6. How the BODY detaineth in captiuitie the Time which is properly the SOVLES and how it exalts it selfe and rebelleth against the SOVLE Fol. 72. CHAP. 7. That lay persons may lawfully enioy some recreations and intertaynements of mirth solace and pleasure Fol. 84. CHAP. 8. That likewise it is lawfull yea very necessary for religious and ecclesiasticall persons to vse some honest exercise which may serue for intermission recreation and rest Fol. 96. CHAP. 9. How TIME is to bee redeemed and who they be that detaine the same in captiuity Fol. 108. CHAP. 10. How it is to bee vnderstood that the dayes are euill and howe that therefore TIME is to be redeemed Fol. 119. EPIGRAMMA PRimus vt antÃ¨ liber docuit sperare salutem Tarda tui quamuis fuerit moestitia cordis Dum syncera tamen promit sic docta secundus Dogmata quÃªis discas Ã¢ primo flore iuuentae Subdere colla Deo rocteque impendere Tempus Tempus obrizo longÃ¨ praestantius auro Cui magnae cedat famae Carbunculus atque Arcana quaecunque iacent tellure reclusa Non si sorte tibi non applaudente reperta Diuitia pereant spes est reuocare volantis At non est horae fas instaurare ruinam Obseruat natura vices rapidusque polorum Tempore transigitur cursus fit circulus atque Vertitur in gyrum rursus rursusque recursat Nec tamen vna redit transacti temporis hora. Resnullareuocanda prece preciÃ³ue beatum Quae faciat stygios aut certÃ¨ mergat in amnes Si tibi currenti fructus cum tempore cedit OtiÃ¡ declinas remanent te praemia verÃ¹m Si teris incautÃ¨ Tempus quando vltima tandeÌ„ Hora aduentÃ¢rit fueritque occasio cassa Virtutis lugens inferni claustra subibis Ergo agÃ¨ quando datuÌ„ est virtuti insistere cura Vt tutus Christum valeas audire vocantem G. B. THE Past the

of glorie And therefore the Holy Ghost counsaileth vs Eccli 4.20 to preserue and keepe Time as we doe gold so shall we depart from euill which is as if he had told vs that we should vse imploy it in good works not loose the least moment thereof Againe he willeth vs to be aduised by the same Ecclesiasticus Eccli 14.14 saying Defraud not thy selfe of the good day and let not the portion of the good desires ouerpas thee One traÌ„slation hath Particula bonae diei others as likewise in the vulgar editioÌ„ Boni doni One while he saith let no part of the good day ouerpas thee for nought another while he saith of the good gift or desires The meaning is to admonish vs that we spend wel the Time and the Day yea all days for he that can wel order redres one day may by the same ameÌ„d and reforme al his life in the same man ought to do all the good he can for him selfe for his neighbors exercising himself in works of Pietie and mercie King Dauid so much feared to loose the least particle of Time so farre indeuored wholy to imploy the same wel that he striued conteÌ„ded with the sun for early vprising to praise God which at leÌ„gth the king preuented according to those words Psal 11â— ver 147.148 PraeueneruÌ„t oculi mei ad te diluculo Early in the morning do I cry vnto thee Mine eies preueÌ„t the morning watch that I might meditate in thy words for before the Sun was vp I was occupied in the same Which according to the exposition of S. Ambrose is as much as if more clearely hee had spoken Rise earlier thou ChristiaÌ„ before the Sun be vp for I hold it great negligeÌ„ce carelesnesse most culpable in thee that the beames of the Sunne when it riseth should find thee idle and sleeping in thy bed Thou art ignorant perhaps that thou oughtest euery day to render vnto God almighty the first fruits of thy toung and heart See thou haue a daily haruest and daily fruite in like maner And in another Psalme the Prophet saith Psal 77.4 Anticipauerunt vigilias oculi mei My eyes preuented and awaked before the watch-men and gard of the citie that is to say as S. Ierome declareth before that any body went to watch or did awake I awaked and watched at midnight and in the morning at mid-day in the euening and finally seuen times a day doe I laud my Lorde yea alwayes and at all houres haue I his prayses in my mouth Hee well knew how to obserue Time hee duely acknowledged what it was and what stood him auaileable as of a thing so pretious hee knew how to make profite thereof without loosing one iot either of the Good day or of the good gift Time saith Theophrastus is a most costly Theophrast expense Seneca Epist 1. And Seneca in his first Epistle which hee wrote to his friend Lucilius saith thus What man is he that will suffer me to set price on his Time How much thinkes hee is the day worth admitting that euery day hee were to die wherfore we do much deceiue our selues herein because we fix not our eies vpon death a great part whereof is already past all that of our age life which yet remaineth behinde death holdes in possession Wherfore my deere friend Lucilius persist still in doing of that which thou thy selfe in thy Letters didst write vnto me thou doest being a person that so well knowest the due estimation of Time imbrace al the houres so shalt thou depend lesse vppon the morrowe pointing as it were this day with thy finger not permitting the same to ouerpasse thee idlely for the life putting it selfe off with prolonging flies away passeth at random And all things els beeing estrainged alienated froÌ„ vs onely Time is ours and very naturall reason hath infourmed vs that we obtaine the possession of a very swift thing which runneth away so fast and slideth amaine yea flyes apace from betweene our hands The knowledge and discretion of mortall men is so litle and weake that they impute it a great losse incase they leaue vndone the least vilest thing or smallest trifle being indeed reuocable and amendable though pretermitted none thinkes that hee oweth or is indebted any thing for hauing receiued Time coÌ„sidering that Time is but one sole thing which yet the gratefull maÌ„ can make no due satisfaction for that which he receiued as hee ought in regard of the high price and for that the debt is great in vndertaking the day vpon himself And in his booke of the shortnesse of life Idem lib. de breuit vitae he saith There is no man that will forgoe or part with his patrimonie or substance nor disinherite himselfe but rather will keepe it and augment it as for Time and his course of life hee will with great facility impart and bestow them many times on diuerse vaine things They are very niggard of their wealth but for Time they are most prodigall and lauish when as indeed their honest and laudable couetousnesse should be onely of Time because most truely as in the same Booke then presently after hee saith Time is the most precious thing that is and yet for al that they dispraise it and hold it of no esteeme for nought and of no worth as though it were right nought indeed bearing no price at all Not one makes reckoning of it when they haue it but if any be sicke then shall you see bowing of knees crouching before the Physitian and if hee feare the sentence of death that man will waigh him with gold for to ransome his life That blessed holy man Laurentius Iustinianus Laur. Iust de vitae solit 6.10 treating of Time and the value thereof sayeth thus Who hath that power to coÌ„prehend or conceiue in his heart what a precious thing Time is O what grace eloquence or sweet flowing speach of man is able to declare it None knowes it but such as now want and misse the same Then all the goods of the world honours dignities and prelacies the pompe of this age corporall delights and bodily pleasures yea and all maner recreations sports and pastimes ioyes and intertainements whatsoeuer they be which are vnder the cope of heauen would bee giuen in boote and exchanged for one houre of Time if it were possible to bee obtained because in this most short space they would appease the diuine Iustice they would make glad and reioyce the Angels they would eschewe from that fearefull sentence of eternall damnation and gaine yea without al doubt they would procure life euerlasting And they are most vnhappie vpon whom the Sunne of mercie is already set who most irreuocably shall descend into that lake of miserie where there is neither order nor good course Iob. 10.15 22 but fright and horror perpetuall and with good reason shall

Sepulchre wherein vpon the Tomb or vpper stone therof were written or ingraued these words Here lieth Simil the Romaine Capitaine whose life though it were long yet for all that is reputed to liue but onely seauen yeares because in them hee retired himselfe from the Court and being freed of the cares and charge in Office which formerly was imposed vpon him he addicted himself to the studie of vertue to his owne meditations and godly exercises Damascen in his historie of Barlaam and Iosaphat reporteth Damasc histor Barla cap. 18. that when Iosaphat demanded of Barlaam of what age hee was of he made him this aunswere if I be not deceaued I am fourty and fiue yeares of age and so many yeares there are since I was borne What doest thou answere mee replied Iosaphat for thou seemest to mee that thou art past seauentie I mary sayed Barlaam if thou reckonest my yeares euer since I was borne into this world thou sayest right and art not deceaued for that I am past seauentie But those yeares doe by no meanes seeme vnto me yeares of life nor can such be reckoned in the Account which were spent and consumed in the vanities of this world because then as seruant to my sinnes I liued after the taste of my sensuality and appetite of my flesh and outward man being then without all doubt dead according to the inward maÌ„ and so I may not call them yeares of life which rather were yeares of death But after that by the grace of God I was crucified and dead to the world and the world to me and haue put off the olde man then liued I no more after my sensuality nor after the flesh being enemie to the Spirit but onely to Iesus Christ and those yeares I call yeares of life and saluation And I beleeue that all those who remaine in sinne and obey the diuell and consume their lyues in delights and vaine concupiscences are departed this life and dead because that Sin is the death of the soule Rom. 6.19.21 as affirmeth the blessed Apostle S. Paul Rom. 6.21 Godly S. Ierome expounding the first Chapter of the Prophet Haggai sayth Hieron in Agg. cap. 1. All that Time wherein we giue place to Sinne and serue our owne vices perisheth and will be lost and as though it had neuer beene shall be reputed for nought It is reported of Titus Vespasian that being one day at supper and calling to minde that in that day hee had shewed no curtesie nor rewarded any body nor had performed any good turne or done any good deede to any person hee spake with great feeling sorrow of heart to all them that were then present Oh my friends how grieuously sorie am I to haue lost this day Then let a Christian man holde for lost that day which by him is ill imployed and make that reckoning that hee shall haue nothing for it For manifestatioÌ„ of this truth that the yeares spent and consumed in vices and wickednesse are not properly OVRS Seneca saith Seneca That there are many who first must leaue to liue before they caÌ„ begin to liue Time sayeth that famous Doctor Thomas de Kempis was bestowed vpon vs Tho. de Kemp. 1. pag. Serm. ad Nouit cap. 7. to performe good works not for idlenesse nor to heare or rehearse olde tales fables vanities nor things of no value Wherefore my good Sonnes speaking to the Nouices in Religion let neither houre nor anie time ouerpasse you without some fruit and profit And when you are freely licensed to speake you are not permitted to talke or conferre about any other thing but what shall be commodious necessarie and profitable For as you are to giue reckoning to God almighty for euery idle word Mat. 12.36 so are you bound to yeeld a straite account for all the Time which you haue lost and ill imployed Ludouicus Blosius amongst other his exhortations which he giues to such as Lud. Blos purpose to leade a spirituall life aduiseth and sayth That he should regard and weigh the estimation and value of Time and esteem the least part thereof if ill spent how litle soeuer it be for a very great losse And that mysticall Thaulerus Io. Thauler amongst other documents admonitions hee giues to religious persons sayth Take heede and beware as from the most pestiferous poyson that is of the least losse of Time And so one of the Offences whereof the Remembrancers or Chequer-officers and our Accusers at the day of Iudgement shall accuse and taxe vs withall will be losse of Time according to that which the Prophet Ieremie in his Lamentations doth giue vs to vnderstand Lame 1.21 Vocauit aduersum me Tempus The Lord called Time to be witnesse against mee The which place Thomas of Aquine expoundeth of the day of iudgement Tho. de Aquin Sap. 5. because amongst other things wherof we are there to be charged burthened one will be Time Where all the whole orbe of the earth in defence of Gods honour will commence hard suite against all sottish senselesse sinners accusing theÌ„ requiring Iustice against them for the wrong and hurt they did against both their Creator the creatures by abusing and misimploying them and halling them by the haire against their wills to serue their owne lusts wicked appetites CHAP. 3. How GOD in his iust Iudgement cutteth off sinners froÌ„ enioying the benefit of Time who before made no reckoning thereof to profit themselues thereby as they ought and might haue done NOTwithstanding that solemne Oath of the Angell whereof wee spake in the first chapter that on some day Time should finish make an end of all in generall at the day of vniuersall Iudgement after which there should be no more Time to deserue either wel or ill or to make any sauing repentance And that euery man in particular in the last day of his life is to expect his owne peculiar Iudgement yet for all that it is greatly to be feared considered That God accustometh for the punishment of the heedlesse and negligent sinner to cut off Time from him to shorten his life least he should profit himselfe thereby as he ought and might haue done considering that hee hath ill imployed and mis-spent the same So teacheth that famous Bernardine de Sena S. Bern. art 3. cap. 4. and for proofe thereof citeth that place of the Apocalipse Apoc. 3.3 Si non vigilaueris veniam ad te tanquam fur If thou watch not I wil come on thee as a thiefe and thou shalt not know what houre I wil come vpon thee WhereupoÌ„ God threatneth the carelesse sinner who froÌ„ day to day deferreth prolongeth his conuersion and amendment dreaming imagining that he shall haue Time enough yea to spare sayeth thus Be not negligent and carelesse neither iest nor dally thou with Time neither esteem the same so certaine so sure so long nor so at thy

in olde and decrepit age and is not so secure nor of such confidence and assurance Yet others expound them to the purpose we now treate of that is to say in other tearmes O Lord I feare and tremble that for my demerits and sinnes and for hauing so ill imployed my Time my life be cut off or shortened which is a punishment thou art wont to inflict vpon some who runne on in their wickednesse not regarding the exceeding infinite finite worth of Time And therefore do I earnestly entreate thee that I be not vnseasonably cut off taken away in the middest of my dayes but that thou suffer and permit me to inioy fully to accomplish the residue of my yeares which thou in thy determination hast appointed I should liue if I persisted obedient in thy seruice as I ought That holy and blessed man Iob the mirrour and patterne of all patience also saith speaking of the sinfull man Iob. 15.32 Antequam dies eius impleantur peribit c. Before that hee accomplish his dayes hee shall die and his hand shall be cut off as the vine in the bud that is to say God will take him away and shall cut him off in the blade being young and tender and shall fade and wither away before his time and in the middest of his dayes shal be bereaued of his life as being an vnworthie and vniust possessour thereof Ouer besides THIS being a great punishment in this life in the other the remembrance of Time which they enioyed suffered to passe away without any profit shall be a great paine and grieuous torment to the condemned ones and therfore shall then though all to late beholde and bewaile the lack and want of so precious a iewell Holy S. Bernard Bern. ser de fallâ—â— praesentis vitae Sap. 2. in a Sermon intituled of the fallacie and deceipt of this present life very elegantly declareth how it bewitcheth and deceiueth Sinners sometimes protracting and making their lyues long large whereby they might so defer and prolong their conuersion and amendement in such sort as they neuer afterwards amend indeede or are reclaimed and othertimes abridging it and making it short whereby they may truly say That life is short is but a blast and therefore let vs make hast to glut our selues with all maner of delights pleasures of the worlde Wherupon he saith that God amongst other things cutteth off such persons in the middest of their greedie appetites and licentiousnes for their impudencie in offending and bereaueth theÌ„ both of Time and of their lyues because such who of their owne accord haue no regard to leaue their wicked wayes GOD cutteth off before their time and chargeth them with death and by force constraineth them to forbeare to sinne any further And for that respect many sinners die verie improuidently vnwillinglie which the worlde iudgeth to happen vnto them by some accident or hidden indisposition or for some manifest casuastie pretending besides that those daies wherein they liued not in sinne were not true daies nor the life that they leade true life but painted and appearing Whereupon they are called in the holy Scripture Dead sinners 1. Tim. 5.6 Apoc. 3.1 The Widdowe saith the Apostle who liueth in pleasure is dead while she liueth And our Sauiour saith in the Reuelation vnto a certain Bishop who liued not as he ought Thou hast a name that thou liuest and the world thinkes no lesse but thou art not liuing but dead and for such I repute thee to be coÌ„sidering that thy soule remaineth dead within that liuing body of thine So as the sinner hath no life in deed but onely a name that he liueth To conclude therefore if that Time which the wicked vainely misspend and abuse cannot properly be termed a Time of life and that God oftentimes shorteneth the life and dayes of the wicked then doe they not nor shall LIVE as the worlde imagineth but shall be very poore sparing of dayes that is They shall die very timeously and speedily Contrariwise vpright and iust men shall be full of dayes and shall liue farre longer then the world supposeth for the Lord will not gather them into his barne vntill it be due season CHAP. 4. He that now inioyeth the benefit of TIME must with great feruencie and zeale labour to imploy it altogether well IF Time bee such a precious iewel bestowed vpon vs to do good workes and to labour in the vineyard of our Sauiour all the day long vntill Sunne set And if we profit not our selues therewith we may feare and tremble that it will be taken away from vs and that we shall want the same when we most desire and haue neede thereof It is good reason therefore that we imploy it well and that in the meane time with great earnestnes and zeale we labour in our vocation So Ecclesiastes aduiseth vs saying Eccles 9.10 Let thy hand labour ALL that it may and that with earnestnesse diligence feruencie and hast he sayth All as if he had sayd Let no good thought or imagination ouerslippe thee which thou mayst obtaine nor any good word which thou mayest heare Omit not any thing thou oughtest to vtter nor any good worke thou mayest performe forgoing neither occasion opportunitie nor time to do good And further he saith That which THY hand and not that which a stranger or another mans hand doth because thou must not rely or repose thy saluation vpon the hands power or streÌ„gth of any other neither oughtest thou imagine that thy seruant or thy friend or any other worldly person ought to gaine Heauen for thee thy selfe playing the Trewant and continuing lazie Thy hand and thy arme are to performe it and are to labor with greedinesse earnestnesse carefulnesse and zeale because life flits away and when thou least suspectest Thy Sun will set Reioyce that thou hast laboured much because thy rest and reward shall be so much the greater And the reason which the Preacher yeeldeth for al aboue sayd is because that after this life no worke either of reason or of vnderstanding or any act of will or of any other power shal be of worth nor of profit to gaine thereby grace or glory The seuen fertile yeares prefigured by the seuen fat kine Gen. 41.2 which king Pharao saw in his dreame do signifie the time of this life which by weekes whereof euery weeke comprehendeth seuen dayes goeth on with an alternatiue continuation succession wheeling about prosequuting his path but afterwards will come other seuen yeares which wil be al that which shall remaine in the other life which is without end prefigured by the seauen leane and hunger-starued kine Vers 3. barren and without fruit of desert For which cause in imitation of that discreet and wise man Ioseph Exod. 16.16 Now Brother fill thy granarie and storehouse make prouision against the time of want and famine because if thou

world shall sport it selfe Io. 16.20 shall laugh and be merrie but you shall weepe and walke sadly and pensiuely Christ was crucified and buffetted for thy Sins and thou desirest to passe this life in Donayres c. Merry Iests fond delights mirth laughter and vaine pastimes CHAP. 8. That likewise it is lawfull yea very necessary for religious and Ecclesiasticall persons to vse some honest exercise which may serue for intermission recreation and rest THERE were certaine Heretickes Alph. de Castro aduers haeres lib. 11. verbe Oratio who misinterpreting these words of the Euangelist S. Luke where it is sayd that men ought alwayes to pray Luc. 18.1 and neuer to waxe faint brought into the Church that false and new coyned doctrine teaching that no other thing was to be done and performed neither night nor day but onely to pray and that without any manner of intermission interruption or ceasing howsoeuer For man ought onely to bee occupied and imployed therein But these Heretickes were sithence not without great reason condemned and banished out of the Church because it was not possible that our weaknesse and feeblenesse should endure and be able alwayes to pray in such sort as they haue affirmed Neither are the words of the Euangelist so to be vnderstoode and expounded neither hath the infallible Veritie spoken them in that sense That which by these wordes 1. Thes 5.17 It is expedient alwayes to pray and by those of the Apostle Salmeron Pray continually without ceasing is meant is this when as necessitie compelleth vs to aske any thing of God or when we are driuen to any straitnesse tribulation or aduersitie or doe feare any such thing then are wee to entreate and beseech with earnestnesse and perseuerance once twise thrise till hee shew mercy vpon vs reward assist and fauour vs without faile or fraud not ceasing nor being dismayed though presently hee doe not sensibly bestow or grant that which we demaund but that wee knock and call at the gate of his bountiful mercy vntill it be opened for vs and that if he please he bestow vpoÌ„ vs our desires because of our importunacie euen as the Lord in the Parable of the widdowe and wicked Iudge doth teach vs the same which then to that purpose he propounded after he had said Luc. 18.2 seqq Men ought alwayes to pray who with meere importunacie and perseuerance came to wearie the Iudge for the grace and fauour she desired And this is confirmed by the example of the Church who prayed without intermission for the Apostle S. Peter while hee was detained in prison Act. 12.5 vntil he was deliuered theÌ„ce and that she saw him safe Moreouer that saying Pray continually is as much to say as Pray at houres time conuenient wherfore Dionysius Carthusianus sayeth Dionys Carthus Let him that prayeth pray without intermission in due times and he prayeth alwaies who prayeth when he may and hath occasion and fit opportunitie thereunto Simon de Cassia declareth it thus Simon de Cass in Iob. 7 All the life of man is a continuall triall and warfare and all the time he continueth and abideth here our enemies wage battell against vs both night day without ceasing or intermissioÌ„ And of our selues or by our owne proper strength and might wee are not able to ouercome or coÌ„quer them nor to withstand their force and therefore it behoueth vs to pray continually and to entreate for aide and succour of that LORD who onely is able to graunt our requests for which cause the Spaniard saith En todas maner as es oportuna la oracion importuna that is By all meanes an importunate prayer is alwaies opportune and fitting And therfore it is not to be so intended that there must be no ceasing nor intermission of any Time in prayer considering that our sleepe our eating and drinking do often constraine vs as also our apparrelling and somtimes we must rest and ease our selues and men must haue time to prepare them selues to their seuerall offices and ministeries somtimes to recreate and repaire themselues for performance of corporall and spirituall works of mercie but that which is sought expected of vs is that our intention be wholy setled towards God and that all our workes be onely directed and intended to his glory that at times and houres conuenient our hearts and thoughts be lifted vp vnto him to pray begge that which we lacke and haue need of So as all our life time it behooueth to pray continually because throughout the whole course thereof there is neither day nor houre wherein man may say that there is no neede or can leaue vndone so necessarie and so important an exercise But euer and alwayes to continue in prayer meditation there is no head can beare it nor body endure it nor any Lawe of God that coÌ„mandeth any such thing nor obligeth or bindeth vs to anie such taske because his yoke is easie pleasant and his burthen light and there are other thinges wherein wee ought to be imployed which charitie and necessitie demaund and require at our hands And for the accomplishment of all things how spiritual or holy soeuer a man be it is very needfull and requisite that he haue and exercise some lawfull occupation and honest exercise or some other function which may serue him for recreation and ease to lighten the heart because that variety as saith Theodoretus takes away the irkesomnesse and loathing Theodor. li. de prouid and causeth fresh desires and new appetite to spring and grow in vs and so afterwards man will returne with better liking greater abilitie with a more feruent desire and earnestnesse to his spirituall exercises Wherefore 3. Reg. 3. euen as the Wiseman in that his discreet Salomon iudgement and sentence 1. King 3.25 which hee gaue for satisfaction of the two women who sued for the child each of them affirming that it was hers where he commanded that it should be diuided parted in the middest and so distributed betwixt them both So the wise prudent spiritual maÌ„ is to part and diuide his Time betweene the Soule and Body yeelding rendring to either of them the part due to the same And as true husband Iacob with his two wiues Rachel and Leah Genes 29.23 ver 30. was wont by turnes to exercise himself in both lyues namely actiue and contemplatiue giuing the most he could to the most perfect and most excellent And because that in this miserable and wretched life the soule is not able to attend alwayes on spiritual things therfore all authors that write of spirituall life say that some interposition of Time is very necessarie whereby the spirituall man might exercise himselfe in some honest and lawfull trade or occupation which should neither withdrawe nor auert the soule nor restraine the spirit but such as should strengthen and comfort them and serue for

Present and the Time to be Could a man tell or were there mortall wight So farre aboue earth raised to that hight That heauens dimensions he could clearly see Better that man were to report from thee The Benefites mortallity might raise From thy iust labours then th' vncertaine praise Attending books which not their worth can free From the Taxation which foule Enuie laies On Vertues faire-selfe and with hellish spight Is euer blasting the deserued Bayes That should adorne her But receiue this right From TIME it selfe that must thy fortresse be Whose perfect vse is onely taught by thee M. Drayton The Authors besides sacred Scriptures who are cited in this present Treatise A Alphonsus de Castro S. Ambrose Andreas Bishop of Caesarea Aristotle S. Augustine B S. Basil Bede the venerable Bernardinus de Sena S. Bernard Bonauenture C Cassianus Cesarius Helisterbacchensis S. Chrysostome D Dion Cassius Dionysius Carthusianus E Elianus Euthymius G Gregory Nissen Gregory the Pope H Haymo Horace I S. Ierome Iohn Chrysostome Iohn Damascen Iohn Orozeus Iohn Stobeus L Laertius Laurence Iustinian Ludouicus Blosius M Maldonatus N Nicholas Diukespu O Origen Ouid. P Plutarch S Salmeron Seneca Simon de Cassia Suarez T Thaulerus Theodoret. Thomas Aquinas Thomas Kempis V Viegas Virgil. Z Zedrenus CHAP. I. What a precious Iewel TIME is IT is the maner and stile of the sacred Scripture that wheÌ„ any notable cause of importancie is shewed and noted vnto vs some wonderfull vision or miraculous type euer goeth before which doth awake stirre vp our spirits and senses for attention leauing them in suspense and admiration as very ordinarily may bee seene in the booke of the Prophets and specially in the Reuelation of the blessed Euangelist Saint Iohn where amongst many other admirable visions strange figures chiefely that is to bee noted which hee hath vvritten in the tenth Chapter which together with those wordes of the Apostle in his Epistle to them of Ephesus Ephes 5 16. Redeeme the Time because the dayes are euill shall bee the very Theame or ground of this our Treatise and exhortation saying Reue. 10.1 that then hee sawe a mightie Angell come downe from heauen cloathed with a cloude and that hee wore vpon his heade in steede of a Dyademe the rainebow and his face shined as the Sunne in midday His feet were as pillers of fire And he had in his hande a little Booke open Ver. 2. and hee put his right foote vpon the Sea and his left vpon the earth 3. And cried with a loud voice after the maner of a Lyon when he roareth 5. and lifting vp his finger towards heauen 6. sware by him that liueth for euermore which created heauen and the earth and the Sea all things in them conteined That from the daies of the seauenth Angell there should neuer be any more TIME And briefly to manifest the mysteries which here are comprised Refert illos Viegas in Apoc. cap. 10 Andreas Episc Cesareae in c. 5. Apoc. Act. 1.2 This Angell according to the exposition of many Authors is Christ our Lord the Angell of the great Councell or els is one of the blessed Angels which representeth his person and executeth the office of Legat-ship as his Imbassadour He came downe from Heauen because visibly he is to discend from thence in a cloude shining with great power and maiestie to iudge the whole world Howbeit his comming clothed with a cloud doth signifie the confusion and turmoile which shall happen as well in those last dayes as also in that space and time in which the persecution of Antichrist shall indure when specially they shall behold those hideous signes and terrible tokens which are to happen before the day of the vniuersall Iudgement are euery moment to expect that fearfull presence of the Iudge The Raine-bow signifies peace and the Fire wrath furiousnesse and punishment and in those two extremities of mans body which are the feet and the head both the end and beginning thereof viz. both top toe are pourtrayed both the commings of our Sauiour CHRIST into the world The first was of meere mercie to make peace and attonement betweene God and men and because of that for his Escutchion and speciall difference hee bare vpon his head the Raine-bow of heauen in token that the Deluge of his former anger displeasure and passed punishment were now ceased And in the latter comming hee shall come as Iudge and therefore hee shall carrie feete of fire which betokens inflexible rigour and terrible wrath Ignis ante ipsum praecedet Psal 50.3 saith Dauid There shall goe before him a consuming fire The Forme and shape of the Pillars signifies the mighty strength and force he shall haue for the execution of his final sentence and last Iudgement The Booke open in his hand in respect of his God-head representeth the eternal wisdom he hath for the which he appropriateth to himselfe the office of Iudge in respect of his Manhood it signifieth the absolute knowledge he apprehendeth to vnderstaÌ„d the worth worthines of the causes processe and actions of all the sonnes of Adam and the scroll or proclamation of the diuine lawe wherevpoÌ„ they are to be iudged The putting of one foote vpon the Sea the other vpon the Land is as much to say as that he imbraceth coÌ„passeth comprehendeth all things sea and land earth and water that nothing can escape his hands free it selfe froÌ„ his power Psal 139. ver 3. 8. nor be hid from his presence The roaring as of a Lyon signifieth the wrath and vengeance wherewith hee shall pronouÌ„ce sentence against the condemned ones And the solemne oath signifieth the infallible certaintie assurednesse he shall haue in the accomplishment and execution of those things before prophecied preached to the people which in the dayes of the seuenth Angell when they shall heare that fearefull Trumpet sounding and summoning all the sonnes of Adam to Iudgement shall ende and finish the Time for euer afterwardes and they who made no profit thereof when they had it but haue deferred their good works vntill the vttermost day last houre of their liues shall eternally remaine without it And that publike sounding and proclamation of the Angell with such and so many circumstances That on some day Time should ende and cease when that should be is to giue vs intelligence that wee may vnderstand of what price value and estimation and what a great benefite of God bestowed vpon vs it is that hee hath made vs Lords of the same all the dayes of our liues And on the contrary what a great crosse and punishment is it for othersome to bee absolutely bereaued therof and to haue it quite taken away from theÌ„ as a thing by them mispent and ill imployed To manifest what a pretious thing Time shall be it sufficeth onely to know that in one instance of time one may gaine infinite eternitie

bee denyed of their pardon because of their contempt and disdaining of Time when it was offered them who respected neither coÌ„sideration nor the experience of the validitie and worthinesse of the same nor yet the great necessitie lacke therof which one day they should feele liuing after the taste of their pallats and proofe of their appetites as though they should neuer dye Oh I would to God that they who imploy the time wickedly and liue most idlely securely did know how to estimat that which they ouerpasse and looke without consideration and due regarde For what thing is it that is more valuable then Time what thing more excelleÌ„t what thing more seemly cheerfull what thing of more fruit and better profite or what thing more louely amiable and beautifull But out alas great dolour woe and griefe There is not any thing more vilipended nor at least worse respected nor more basely reputed nor more indignely and opprobriously vsed then Time is whereas indeede men are able to gaine and obtain heaps of eternal reward in whatsoeuer small portion of Time Wherefore they who well know the due value of Time will not ouerslip any space or quantity thereof be it neuer so litle without some profit and for which they are to yeeld to God a most strait account And the famous S. Bernard saith Ber. ser ad Schol. That hee reckoned nothing more pretious then Time but in these daies nothing more base nor more contemptible They let goe the dayes of health and none considers of them as though by right and equitie a man should not be greeued to loose that day which is neuer to returne againe But let men note and be assured that as one haire of the head shall not perish Luc. 21.18 much lesse shall anie one moment of Tyme without rendering good reason account for the same Let none of you my Bretheren esteeme that Tyme for nought which you consume away and spend in idle talke Words flye away irreuocable Tyme runnes on irremediable and the ignorant doth not vnderstand what hee looseth It is lawfull say some to chat a litle and to hold conference till one houre be past O! but how long will that houre endure That very houre which our Lord hath granted thee to repent to sue and prosecute for thy pardon to purchase grace and to procure glory O! but how long will that Tyme continue That verie time wherein thou art to procure fauour mercie of the diuine Pietie and to make all possible speede to accompanie the Angels to sigh and desire feruently for that euer-during Inheritance to waken that slowe and luke-warme wil and to bewaile all wicked fellowship and impious iniquitie Thus farre the Diuine Bernard I would to God saith Bernardine de Sena if that traffique and marchandise of Time Bernardin tom vlt. ser 13. art 3. 4. Et tom vlt. ser 18. p. 1. princip might be caried into Hell to be solde where for one onely halfe houre would be giuen a thousand worldes if they had them But Time surpasseth all things that are in the worlde it is so gainefull that men enioying the same may reape and obtaine such grace as that they may come to possesse and enioy euen God himselfe goods treasure infinite And if the Diuell might obtaine to himselfe but a small space of Time wherein hee might repent him then would hee saue himselfe and recouer that good which now without remedie he hath lost That thing is most pretious saith the same man wherof a small parcell valueth so much as a great quantitie of another thing And therefore that is the gold because that with a litle thereof one may buy manie and large waights of any other thing or mettal Considering all which marke well what a thing Time is and how auaileable in respect that in one instance of the same if thou knowest how to traffique wel thou mayest win heauen life euerlasting in such sort as the good Thiefe hath done That holy Arsenius wel knewe the estimation of Time Dion Carth. in Opusc who after he had retired himselfe froÌ„ his ordinary deuotioÌ„s was so greedie in spending the time that hee was wont to say That a few houres of sleep was sufficient for a religious minde And whereas on a time perceiuing himselfe to be stung and conquered of Time hee called it vnto him saying Come now come my violent enemie then setting himselfe downe did sleepe a litle And if it be lawfull to speake of Gentiles Heathen men for the confounding of ill liuers and bad Christians Plutarch Plutarch writeth of Marcus Cato censorius that three thinges hee greatly abhorred The first was to repose secrets in women The second To go by water when one might trauaile by land And the third was that hee should ouerpasse any day wherin some good were not done Plinie the great seeing one day a Nephew of his walking for pleasure sore chid and reprehended him saying well thou mayest doe not to loose them houres Sertorius the Proconsull Capitaine generall of the Romaine Forces Plutarch in Sertorio at such time as hee was forced to redeeme and buy his Passage for money of certaine barbarous people some of his company murmured and took that action in verie ill part for that it appeared vnto them as Tribute giueÌ„ by the Romains he made them this answer I haue neither redeemed nor bought any other thing saue onely Time which is a Treasure most pretious of all the best and richest thinges that are in the eyes of the most greediest and most couetous persons that be To conclude then if the Heathen haue so reputed thought of Time how much more ought a Christian man to estimate thereof considering that in and by Time hee may gaine eternall wealth and endlesse glory CHAP. 2. That we are Lords of Time and to what end GOD did bestowe it vpon vs and wherein wee are to imploy the same THE learned and deuout Laurentius Iustinianus reporteth the same which Seneca said before Laur. Iust de vita solitar that all other things are strange vnto vs but Time is properly tearmed OVRS and that wee are Lords of the same because it is in our hands and lieth in our power to imploy it as we please which is no small fauour and benefite that GOD doth for vs in bestowing as our owne one sole thing so pretious and speciallie by graunting it so bountifully and so long though the longest be but verie short Hereupon saith Seneca Seneca the Time we enioy is no small matter and without reason it is that men do complaine of the shortnesse of their lyues but rather should esteeme that losse to be very great wheÌ„ they loose Time The life is long enough for performance of special and commendable actions incase the whole be well imployed In the Angels God proceeded so determinatelie and with such limitation that for instances hee gaue them

commaund as thou imaginest watch and sleepe not be euer warie well aduised If otherwise hee will come vnto thee as accustometh the thiefe to come to rob and spoile will on a suddaine at vnawares catch apprehend thee before thou canst know or perceiue on what houre he is to come The thiefe comes to steale and to carie away the treasure which he shall finde heedlesly layed vp and which is not kept with that due regard and carefulnesse as behoued and such is Time in the house of the sinner And therefore with good and iust reasons will the Lord cut it off because it was not regarded and imployed to that end whereby good gaine and profitable exchange yea great riches blessings and eternall happinesse might haue bin had and obtained Conformable to this sayeth our Sauiour by his Euangelist S. Matthew Mat. 25.29 He that hath shall haue more and from him that hath not shall be taken away that which hee hath or seems to haue The iust man apprehends Time as his owne and is Lord thereof for that hee well knoweth how to vse it and to him that hath time at the end of his life more time and space shall be giuen him to examine himselfe to purifie his conscience and shall haue aboundance because hee shal obtaine full remission and compleat pardon of all his sinnes plentifull grace and glory infinite And hee possesseth no Time who while hee liueth doth not well imploy the same but being seduced and deceiued by the Diuell with prolonging of amendment thinkes that he shall enioy sufficient by the iust Iudgement of God shall be bereaued of his vaine expectation and shal want space to repent either by some sodain death or by some other disgracefull and vnfortunate accident Thus farre Bernardin Senensis And for that cause doth our Lord and Sauiour admonish vs so often Mat. 25.13 that wee watch because we knowe not the day nor the houre wherein Time will make an end of vs. And the holy Church semblably like a louing and coÌ„passionate Mother doth aduise vs the very same saying Let vs reforme and amend that which hitherto we haue most ignorantlie or wilfully transgressed considering that no Time of repentance will be hereafter left vs which though we seeke for yet shall not we obtaine the same And to this purpose as God cuts the thrid of life before the time from him who profited not with Time in his seruice Bern. de Sena Bernardinus de Sena reporteth a most terrible and fearefull accident which in his time happened in a certain village of Catalunna neare to the kingdome of Valencia A young man of the age of eighteene yeares hauing beene most rebellious disobedient towards his Parents did many times loose and forget the regard and respect due vnto them In punishment whereof God leauing him to himselfe came to be a most notorious Thiefe for robberies being apprehended and condemned to die was brought to be hanged to the market place of his owne Towne And the young man being dead hanging vpoÌ„ the gallowes and all the whole Towne present they saw and perceiued his beard to sprout out much haire to grow to remaine with a wrinkled brow a writhen face full of gray haires with the aspect and semblance of a man of ninety yeares a thing whereat all were astonied and wonderfully amazed which accident being brought to the knowledge of the Bishop who then resided in that Village commanded that all should prepare themselues to prayer himselfe performing the same most humbly beseeched Almightie God that he would bee pleased to reueale vnto them the mysterie of so rare an accident and after a pretie while intreated silence and speaking with a loud voyce sayd thus You see my Sonnes that this young man died of the age of eighteene yeares who afterwards appeared and seemed with the visage and countenance of a man of ninetie yeares whereupon you are to note what God would haue vs to be instructed of namely that after the course of nature he was vndoubtedly to liue ninety yeares and so would haue done had he beene obedient to his Parents but in regard of his sins and disobedience the Lord hath permitted him to die a violent death cutting off from his life so many yeares as are from eighteen to ninetie And because this might be manifest and apparant to al men he hath wrought this miracle S. Ierome saith Hieron Epist 21. that the shortnesse of life is a punishment and iudgement against sinners and therefore because of sinne the Lord from the beginning of the world hath shortened and cut off the life and yeares of men Once God withdrew from Hezehiah fifteene yeares of his life Isaiae 38.1 which according to the course of nature he was to liue but afterwardes by meanes of his Teares and hartie repentance Ver. 3. they were restored and granted vnto him againe And so Haymo vpon those words of the Prophet Isaiah Haymo in Isaian 38.5 The Lord hard thy Prayer and hath seene thy teares and will adde vnto thy dayes fifteene yeares saith thus euen as he spake to Adam that he should be immortall conditionally so as he continued obedient to the diuine precept so by God his eternall Decree those years were granted to King Hezechias conditionally if he liued faultlesse and blamelesse and would not suffer himselfe to be puft vp with pride For those yeares which for his pride should haue bene taken from him nowe because of his humility and lowlinesse were restored againe Psa 55.23 Viri sanguinum dolosi non dimidiabunt dies suos saith Dauid The bloudy and deceitfull men shall not liue halfe their daies That is as if more plainely he had sayd They shall not liue the one halfe of the dayes they should haue liued in case they had beene godly Sinners are not the men whom they think and imagine they are For as our Sauiour sayd to the Iewes Auferetur a vobis regnum Dei c. Mat. 21.43 The kingdome of God shall be taken from you and shall be giuen to a Nation which shall bring foorth good fruit and shall better know how to acknowledge and estimate thereof So will God bereaue sinners of Time because they yeelde no fruit of good workes in the same and will bestow it on such as will yeeld good fruite and likewise knowe how to imploy the same well Those words of Dauid in his 102. Psalme Nereuoces me in dimidio dierum meorum Psal 102.24 wherein he beseeched the Lord that he would not take him away out of this life in the middest of his dayes albeit according to some interpreters are as much to say as Oh my God I hartily beseech thee not to take me away in the middest of my dayes because that time and age is the very gulfe wracke of life the nest of cares and pretensions and more dangerous to die in then

waite to gather Manna for the Sabbaoth day of the other life it will profit thee no whit but rather will be conuerted into wormes For therby wil remain in thy Soule whereof we now speake a perpetuall worme and sting of conscience Rachel was most faire Gen. 30.1 and beautiful aboue measure but barren withall and though Leah was not so well fauored yet was she fruitfull The other life is most beautifull and excellent but is sayd to be barren because there is no place for repentance good works proper vnto this present life the which though in comparison it be browne duskish foule laborious yet notwithstaÌ„ding is fruitfull and fertile and apprehendeth that soueraigntie which causeth and produceth works both good and acceptable vnto God with the encrease of grace and assured hope of glorie and he who at first doth not respect these things and with alacritie and patience vnder go his labour and suffer griefe and tribulation and daily busie himselfe about good exercises cannot hope hereafter to enioy the exceeding and excellent beautie of Rachel the other life Matt. 20.7 Then be carefull thou Christian to labour and worke heere All that thou canst because hereafter thou canst not possibly doe it We are mercenarie workemen and hirelings and therefore there is no reason we should passe away our liues idlely nor in delights pleasures and dainties as though wee were great Magnificoes or Gentlemen of high reputation Before Adam had sinned GOD placed him in the Paradise of pleasure Gen. 2.15 the which he ordained for him that he should labour in that gardeine that in that lodge or pallace of pleasure he should be intertained spend his time and solace himselfe But after he had sinned he was banished out of Paradise and was made a labourer and a workeman of the terrestriall vineyard Considering therefore the case standeth thus labour and make speed my friend if thou beest desirous to liue without staine or spot of sinne and to end thy dayes in all ioy and spiritual happinesse Because this is not rightlie vnderstoode or rather because few indeauour or care to vnderstande and consider the same as they ought men now a dayes conuert this vineyard into gardens places of mirth and pleasure and passe away their lyues in all kind of sensuality and delight Who are rightly compared vnto king Ahaz of whoÌ„ it is written 2. Reg. 16. that as hee beheld the Altar of Damascus he sent from that Citie the true patterne and platforme therof vnto Vriah the priest that thereby hee might frame and make an Altar according to the kings order and direction but the Altar of brasse and of mettall Ver. 8. which stoode till that day before the Lord hee took away out of the Temple and from before his presence That I say manie Christians now adayes doe practise who embrace Religion worship God but vpon the Altar of the Gentiles liuing as though they were Gentiles or heathen men enioying so much so many dainties pleasant tastes and delicates they can procure and attaine vnto they fall straightwayes to all such things as their appetites can wish and demaund without making of anie maner resistance they labour to fulfill and perform what their sensualities shal long and lust after Correct and chastice thou Christian man that body of thine tame subdue it busie thy selfe in the workes of a Christian labourer worke in thy vineyard dresse and prune it digge and delue it plough it tyll and manure the inheritance of thy soule and thou shalt see how thy sensuality will forgoe and forget her heady wilfulnesse her gallant brauerie and wantonnesse there shall not be found in the same such store of bryer-bushes nor so many thornie brambles and sharpe pricking thistles of Sinnes as otherwise there should So because the children of Israel should not be multiplied Exod. 1 1â— nor recouer any head or strength but that they should be kept vnder and solde Pharao made them worke and labour and appointed them ordinarie tasks which were not smal Knowe and acknowledge thou Christian the good time and the good day hourd them vp in store reserue them in thy store-house whereby that may not be said of thee which was spokeÌ„ of the Hebrues The Kite the Storke Isaix 10. and the Swallow do know their times and seasons and well vnderstand the due value thereof and profit thereby But Israel neither knoweth nor regardeth the time of his visitation nor vnderstandeth how to profit by the occasion thereof and therfore shall some day weepe and lament most bitterly and shall much long for wish euen that which now hee neither esteemeth nor regardeth The people of Israel perceiuing the riuer of Iordan to be dry were therefore secure in the passage and least they should loose so good an opportunitie they made hast to passe ouer Iosuae 4.10 and indeede passed ouer most safely But if they had deferred their iourney till another day peraduenture they should haue come short found the passage shut vp We cannot secure to our selues the morrow and if this day thou mayest deferre it not let it not ouerpasse thee but conuert thy selfe to God for it may bee that to morrow thou shalt not be able or canst not Psal 95 7. To day saith Dauid if you will heare the voyce of the Lord who inuiteth and calleth you to repentance and to amendment of life poast it not ouer so hardening your harts Verse 8. and defer not till another day Consider thou miserable wretch thou blinde and ignorant Sinner that the Diuell to deceiue and delude thee saith Bestow vpon mee this day and the morrow thou shalt giue to God and to morrow hee will reiterate and say vnto thee the very same and so hee will cosen and vndoe thee S. Basil saith Basil hom 13 exhort ad Bapt. That he noted a most meruailous subtle shift of a certaine litle Bird which according to Elianus is the Partridge which perceiuing the Fowler to draw neere towards her nest where her young lay fearing that if hee had come any nearer he would haue made a pray of them all wherefore in respect they could not well flie she skipt out of her neast and lighted hard by him putting him in hope that hee might speedily catch her hauing her yong ones as he now imagined sure in his hands of purpose to make him to follow her into by-pathes and whereby he might forget to finde againe her litle young ones When the Fowler drew neare towardes the Partridge and thought himselfe sure of her shee suddainly flurted vp and alighted som short distance before him and after that maner alwayes flying and staying or rather limping and hopping still neare abouts him shee deceaued the Fowler by intertaining and withdrawing him aloofe so farre till at length her young ones by litle litle with short leapes and easie flight had prouided for themselues and digged

small holes in the ground and had hid them all in safety And afterwards the wylie and cunning dam soared aloft and quite flew her wayes leauing the Fowler deceiued ashamed considering he could lay hold neither of her self nor vpon any of her young ones In the same maner goeth the Diuell about to delude and entrappe thee thou blinde and foolish Sinner and so detayneth entertaineth and draweth thee on with vaine pleasures and deceiueable delights froÌ„ one day to another and from one yeare to another yea many yeares together with one false hope that hereafter thou shalt haue Time sufficient to repent thee that if thou neglect it this day thou mayest performe it to morrow or some other day as though the dayes and times were in thine owne hands Act. 10. which the eternall Father hath reserued for himselfe whereby thus alwaies loosing Time and the occasion present thou mightest hereafter come to want lacke all good opportunitie or seasons then shalt thou haue cause to bewaile and mone for euer If it be good to conuert our selues to God almightie saith S. Augustine let vs do it quickly let it be done instantly Aug. ad fraet in Eremo wilt thou say I will conuert and turne me to morrow yea too morrowe And wherefore not this day Considering the morrowe is neither sure nor certaine Happens there not oftentimes many suddaine deaths Die there not an innumerable multitude without acknowledging their sins and repentance TheÌ„ sayest thou God help me what harme haue I spoken by saying that to morrow I will conuert mee and begin a new reckoning when of necessitie it should be done this day Then God helpe mee likewise Brother mine answered S. Augustine what hurt haue I spoken by saying it should be done this day That being much more safe and better and so I speak better then thou doest considering thou hast not for thine owne but onely this day and yet not all this day saue onely the present moments or minutes How much better were it if it might be that all thy life were good for thou wishest and desirest that it were amended and reformed then that some part therof be good though as little as may be Thou wilt haue or at least indeuorest to obtaine thy meate thy wife thy house thy apparell thy hose and shoes all throughly neate and of the best Esteeme and respect therefore thy Soule in much more account then thy shoes Thus farre Saint Augustine The life saith Seneca is diuided into three seasons or times namely Seneca in that that is past present and to come and of them the Time present is the shortest and that to come is most doubtfull but Time past is most sure and certaine and thereof now Nature it selfe hath lost the dominion and Ruledome neither is it possible that it can be recalled by anie humane facultie Then if we suffer the Time present to ouerpasse we indanger our selues to be bereft for euermore without it but to coÌ„tinue in eternall condemnation How much more thou sottish Sinner Open thine eares listen to mee I say how much more better were it that in all the Time of this life yea from the very first moment that thou hast the vse of Reason thou yeeld forth good fruite and prepare thy selfe and be in a readinesse against such Time as when the Maister Lord thereof doth come to demaund it for there is neither momeÌ„t nor houre wherein hee cannot come and call vs to particular Iudgement wherein he rewardeth the labourers and workemen of his vineyard according to euery ones labour and industrie All which out of S. Ierome In confirmation whereof that Parable of the Fig-tree commeth neere this purpose Mat. 21.19 which our Sauiour Christ had planted as our Lord drew neare the same being hungry and desirous to eate some figs and finding no figges theron did curse the same Mar. 13.28 And the holy Euangelist well noteth that as then it was no time of fruite bearing And therefore did not inflict that punishment properly vpon the Figge tree but vpon fruitlesse barren men voyde of good workes signified by the same tree Because that man at all times is bound to yeeld and render fruite for which cause our Lord when hee comes to seeke and findes none he will inflict vpon him the paine of his eternall malediction euerlasting curse All things saith Salomon haue their determined and precise times Eccles. 3.1 and after that sort and maner That all Time is neither opportune nor seasonable for all thinges for that which is peculiar and naturall for one thing is not fit for other businesse but verie preiudiciall and hurtfull As if one should sowe wheÌ„ hee should reape fall and grub vp trees when time were to plant To speake when one should keepe silence To laugh when hee ought to weepe Furthermore for man to doe good works and to labour in the vineyard of our Lord there is no precise nor limitted Time it is alwayes fitte Time It will be euer seasonable in what houre so euer in what age so euer admitting that at no time it be lawfull to sinne and offend and that no Time was giuen bestowed on man to doe euill or to execute wickednesse According to those words of Ecclesiasticus Ecclus 15.20 God commaunded no man to doe vngodly neither hath hee giuen any man licence to sinne but rather aduiseth and admonisheth all men to preserue and keepe Time Ecclus 4.20 and that they depart from euill because it was lent and giuen them for no other end but to do good to imploy the same wel The being of a man idle and carelesse Matth. 20 7 as well the workeman as the hireling is reproued by the goodman of the family yet such an idle standing and carelesse liuing of him that is most in yeares and most aged deserueth and is worthy of most blame And so compareth that royall Prophet Dauid in the beginning of his Psalmes the Iust man Psal 1.3 with the Tree that was planted neer the running waters which yeelded fruite in due time By which he meant not to say that as the tree rendreth no fruite saue onely in one moneth or at one speciall time of the yeare not in others so the iust man is to yeeld his fruit vpon certain dayes or moneths or in some precise and determined yeares and not in others But rather saith thus euen as the tree yeelds his fruite in his due time season if it did not theÌ„ would the owner cut it downe to the very ground So man ought to render fruite according to his estate and profession in his time And his time is all the time of his life And he aduiseth and warneth him on Gods behalfe that it behoueth him alwayes to pray Luc. 18.1 and neuer to cease and to be alwayes watching as it were with a candle in his hand because he knoweth not at

what houre his Lord and Master will come Luc. 12.40.46 and that he be alwayes prouided in a readines with the accounting Booke of Receipts and Defrayments of Charges and Allowances against the Time he shall come to demaund an account of the Talents Mat. 25.19 which were vppon trust committed vnto his charge and deliuered to be kept that now they should be restored and of the increase and profite of the Vineyard which was rented and farmed vnto him and of his traffique and imployment All which is a manifest argumeÌ„t or signe that at all times the Lord expecteth that man beare fruite and be prepared as a faithfull and wise Seruant And he calleth his Time all the time of his life because that after the same as the Angell most solemnly hath sworn it There should be no more Time Apoc. 10.6 The tree which the Euangelist S. Iohn in his Reuelation did see which alwayes coÌ„tinued with fruit and euery moneth yeelded his owne Apoc. 22.2 all which was wholesome and profitable yea the very leaues therof represent the iust man who alwayes beareth fruite at all times and in all the moneths of the yeare and throughout his whole age and all that is in him is good profitable as well thoughts words as deedes CHAP. 5. How worthy of reproofe idle persons are and who they be Seneca de breuitate vitae AMongest all men saith Seneca they onely are deemed idle who imploy and addict themselues to the studie and exercise of wisedome and knowledge albeit indeed they onely doe liue seeing they doe not onely preserue and liue out their own yeares and ages but also adde vnto their dayes the fore-passed times of former ages because they haue the fruition of that which in those dayes was registred for the behoofe of insuing posteritie whereof they reape great commodity and profit Which Idlenesse hauing bin so well imployed is laudable and prayse-worthy but excepting this al other idlenes which properly is idlenes indeed is most worthily to be reprehended For as the Bird was created to flie Iob. 15. so was MÃ¡n borne to labour And touching that Idlenes the same Seneca saith that it is the liuing mans sepulchre and that the healthful idle person loyterer that followeth nothing but idlenesse being as it were interred and buried therein is in great danger of falling into many offences against God Wherefore Ecclesiasticus saith Eccle. 33.26 That Idlenesse hath taught much malice and enuie A certaine Schooleman termeth Idlenesse Fr. Francis in sua regula the Enemie of the Soule Aug ad fra tres in Eremo ser 19. And S. Augustine writeth that no friend of idlenesse shall or can be any Citizen in the kingdome of Heauen Chrysost hom 8. in cap. 4. ad Ephes S. Chrysostome affirmeth that Idlenesse is a part of vice or rather no part at all but a most wicked peruerse root yea the very cause and occasion of all vices whereof Idlenesse is the Ringleader and Mistris That great Anthonie with lowde shrikes and sorrowfull lamentation to God almighty cried out in the wildernesse saying O my God and my Lord thou true Samaritane and right keeper and protectour of Soules and of bodies raise in me thy grace afford me such fauour and bestowe vpon thy Seruant so much mercy as that thou permit me not to be idle one iote in this Desert whereunto in like maner as the storie reporteth a voyce from heauen made him this answere Anthony thou hast rightly desired to please God Then pray when thou canst not pray labor and do some handy-work and alwayes imploy thy selfe in some one thing or other performing such thinges which on thy part are to be performed and done and then shalt thou neuer faile or misse the diuine fauour It was the opinion of the Fathers who liued in Egypt Cassian lib. 10. collat c. 3. That one onely Diuell tempted a labouring Monke but many the idle Howbeit because many thinges are written concerning and against that kinde of idlenesse my principall intent and chiefe purpose is not to intreat thereof so much as of spirituall Idlenesse Against which I will proceede freeing many of errour in that point who in their owne conceipt and imagination are much occupied manifesting and prouing with sufficieÌ„t reasons how they are idle and how they with-holde Time captiuated imprisoned For which purpose I say hee is idle who vseth not Time conformable to that end whereto by our Lord it was graunted vnto vs but rather imployeth it in things vnlawfull and vniust which neither tendeth nor can be directed to his seruice nor to the benefit or profit of his Neighbour or about some other businesses which caÌ„not be perfected or brought to passe for any honest or laudable end And so all Officers Labourers Marchants Tradesmen Workmen Hirelings Kings Princes Counsailors Aduocates Ministers Seruants and all maner of persons that are such doe as it were couer heaueÌ„ with their Mantles and with-holde Time captiuated when they occupy and busie themselues in and about workes actions exercises and seruices which are vnlawfull and prohibited by the Lawes Decrees Constitutions diuine or not to that end and intent they ought or else doe liue so secure and retchlesse that they do no worke that is good or acceptable vnto God And therefore as before wee haue spoken Time was bestowed on man not to doe euill nor to be idle and he that is ill occupied is reckoned and accounted as idle before God In vaine hath he receaued a Soule Psal 15. who alwayes offendeth GOD with the same In vaine hath euery Sinner had all that Time wherein he liued in sinne and in vaine haue all those now the same who continue therein and for all the time their soules haue remained idle within them notwithstanding that they haue profited as touching the world and reaped benefit thereby and enioy the vse of their strengthes powers for other works actions exercises and seruices but as for the principall end whereto GOD graunted the same which was that they should serue him as acknowledged Seneca at length when hee said Seneca That God created all other thinges of the world for the vse of humane body the body for the fiue senses and the Senses for the Soule and the soule to contemplate and loue the diuine Beauty All the Time they spend and wast sinfully or doe not imploy theÌ„selues in thinges about the seruice of God is idle and vaine And yet for all that you will say that the King is busie or a Counsailour or some Officer or Minister c. But I will terme such a one an idle Christian a loyterer or idle workman in the house of God millions of persons do remaine in hell for their idle loytering in that kinde of Idlenesse who in their owne imagination thinke themselues greatly occupied in this world All houres spent and consumed in vnlawfull playes murmuration

detraction in writing reading of lasciuious letters and profane books which vsually make chast mindes dishonest And those times likewise which are spent in registring sentencing and iudging of other mens lyues and actions without deliuering to the partie grieued any Copie of his owne cause and without any mature or full hearing thereof nor yet well knowing it and before the Iudges haue throughly vnderstoode the truth thereof nor as yet haue receiued the Informations they ought and yet proceede to Iudgement or acquite by proclamation Who can leaue such persons vncondemned for idle ones who wickedly imploy and imprison all good Time And all those houres which either thy selfe or bad vaine and naughty women haue wasted which are not a few in number in decking trimming and adorning themselues for to ensnare and intangle mens hearts to captiuate Soules and bring them in subiection to make free and set at liberty them that are bound May such tell me be ouer-past without the same censure and sentence And the time and houres which the ambitious sort wherein they are puffed vp as another Ephraim doe spend and consume in erecting and building of their lofty Towers windie Turrets and in purtraying in the ayre the dreames and inuentions of their fickle fantasies speaking to theÌ„selues like vnto that proud King Cyrus the type and figure of that proud Lucifer saying I will sitte in the mountaine of my testameÌ„t northward I will place my seate and my throne so high that my feete may be aboue the starres What wise or discreete man will say That such Time is not lost misspent and bound as it were in fetters and imprisoned The time and houres which the couetous person spendeth in plodding of his Accounts and Reckonings imagining and compassing how and by what meanes and with what intelligence he may hourd and receiue stil greater gaine vse and interest by way of trucke or barterie by changing and exchanging by vsurie or without vsurie adding and extracting with himselfe watching wallowing and cumbring himselfe therein and wholy reposing all his care indeauour and industrie in his owne resolute appetite to procure and get all that hee may come to by lawfull or vnlawfull wayes and meanes either by hook or by crook requiring good and sufficient Securitie to be answerable for sure vndoubted payment and satisfaction as well of the principall Summe as of the interest thereof and vse of Time at the day limitted and prefixed But what man is hee that can secure himselfe that that day wherein hee shall demaund or expect an Account with consideration for Time shal passe for currant and good I neede not discourse anie further hereof nor manifestly expresse any more estates or coÌ„ditions of people for by so doing my memorie might faile mee and I should put my selfe to excessiue paine trouble Wherefore Is the world so ignorant or so sottish being so wide and so spacious but that hence anie vnderstanding Christian may collect and gather all the rest which here may be specified and condemned if he please as well by the Sermons which hee hath heard the books that hee hath read and by the holy inspirations and inward enlightening which the Lord hath giuen him as by that which his owne coÌ„science being his owne loyall witnes faithfullest friend except hee be an Atheist hath many times admonished and inwardly accused himselfe of And that more credite may be giuen to that I say it will not bee amisse for confirmation thereof to auouch the authority of the sacred Scripture Dauid in one of his Psalmes saith of the good and iust Psal 73. Dies pleni inuenientur in eis That in them will be found full dayes and not empty It is a very vsuall speech in the old Testament that they died full of daies as it is said of Abraham Isaak and of other Saints and friends of God Gen. 25.8 35.29 Iob. vlt. ver 17. Thou shalt go to thy graue in a full age as a ricke of corne commeth in due season into the barne Iob. 5.26 Wherupon if that be spoken of the iust then contrariwise may we say that neither the dayes nor years of Sinners are full but emptie and voyde yea for number few lessened diminished and vain their howers diminished howers and by consequence will not dye full but empty of dayes Dion Carth. in Iob 5. And Dionysius Carthusianus expounding those wordes of Iob. Menses vacuos enumeraui mihi Emptie moneths dayes haue I reckoned to my selfe saith That the penitent sinner may wel say so namely that he hath wasted spent and consumed without fruit or profit his time and dayes and so for good workes they were voyd and empty idle and full of vanity and all vice which is as good as right naught And thereupon S. Ambrose saith S. Ambr. that the life of the iust is full and the dayes of the wicked are voyd vaine and naught they apprehend saue only an appearance and shewe much like vnto a greene Reede without either marrow substance or pith Of the same opinion is Gregorie in his Moralls Greg in moral sup c. vlt. Iob. treating vpon the last Chapter of Iob. Now that all persons who haue so liued and presently do so liue are most worthie of reprehension doth already appeare most manifestly out of the former chapters Then considering Time to be a most precious Iewel as may well be vnderstood out of the first Chapter and that it was bestowed vppon vs whereby we might win and gaine heauen by a liuely faith working by loue as is proued in the second and that God suddenly accustometh to abridge and cut it off from such who do not well and worthily imploy the same as they ought as may bee seene written in the third Chapter and notwithstanding regard not to accept the aduise counsell which by the illumination of the holy Spirit we haue shewed and directed them in the fourth Chapter but beeing altogether forgetfull and all feare and care being set aside do by their vnsauorie morsels and bitter tastes though outwardly guilt and canded wickedly imploy Time the which they dispraise and commit outrage against in steed of good dealing or well handling thereof or profiting themselues thereby they grieue and vexe it and do withhold the same in prison and captiuity without any maner of consideration of what they loose or might thereby obtaine nor of what they owe to God who at his owne cost so redeemed them and whom for such and so many innumerable respects obligations and rewards they ought to serue both day and night and to loue and reuerence withall their hart and withall their soule Such may be compared to Merchantmen who on Markets and Fayor dayes not respecting the present gaine they might there obtaine doe occupie themselues about childish toies and imbrace fopperies of ieasts and deceite and by hearing of Ballad singers or blind folkes rehearsing of old tales and fables or by seeing

of stage-plaies or Comedies or other vaine pastimes at Beare or Bullgarden and afterwards do find their purses emptie the occasions to merchandise traffique and to get to be ouerpast Likewise they are like those mariners who comming a shore out of their Ship or Galley to prouide them of things necessary for the accomplishment of their voyage and arriual to their wished port and desired hauen doe linger and busie themselues in beholding the curiosities which are about the streets and in shops or by walking in curious gardens whereby Time ouerpasseth them without perceiuance and forget themselues of that they principally came for and that their Ship Galley or vessel was ready at hand vpon a set determined time to launch forth to strike saile and so remaine destitute of necessaries poore comfortlesse and miserable in a strange land because they came too late and vnprouided It may seeme to those who so without remorse or feeling do loose time that they possesse so much that they shall haue sufficient and inough for all things yea Time to spare to repent and amend their liues Whereas indeed it appeareth plainely that their vnderstanding knowledge do faile them considering Zeno Cliticus being an heathen man as Laertius reporteth did say Laert. in vita Philosopho That men had no such lacke or want nor such penurie of any thing as they had of Time and truly with good reason and sound probability because wee apprehend not that which is past nor that to come and Time present is so fleeting successiuely following on and so short that in one moment it is past A certaine deuoute holy man maruailing with himselfe and bewailing the estate of those idle persons who so fruitlesly without griefe and compunction of hart permitted Time to ouerpasse them did say The slothfull looseth both this and the other life blessed is he that spendeth his life his powers in the seruice of God I pray thee tell me If a well of wine or a fountaine of oyle were freely giuen thee which for the space of one whole day should continually runne in thy house wouldest thou being poore consume that one day in play or rather in looking out Barrels and vessels wherein to saue and preserue the same where by to become rich Without doubt if thou wert not mad thou wouldest do the latter So did that wise and discreete Widdow of whom mention is made in the second Book of the Kings by gathering vp and sauing of the oyle which the Prophet Elisha most miraculously procured for her to pay the debts of her late husband 2. Reg. 4,5 least the Creditors would take away her two sonnes for slaues till she had discharged that she owed But out alas saith that holy man our blockishnes and madnesse is such and our discretion so little that wheras God giueth vs Time and the life present whereby in the same through his diuine grace manifold blessings exceeding fauors we might with that maine and principal stocke he bestoweth vpon vs make our selues rich and satisfie that we owe least hereafter we be made slaues to the Diuell without remedy and without end yet we lauishly spend and consume the same in vanities and trifles Agreeable to which bee these wordes of most pariend Iob saying Iob. 24. Dedit ei locum poenitentiae God gaue man place of repentance and time for the same but hee hath conuerted the good vse to an abuse and in sinnes of Pride CHAP. 6. How the BODY detaineth in captiuitie the Time which is properly the SOVLES and how it exalts it selfe and rebels against the SOVLE THE Body after the fall so lifted vp it selfe withstood rebelled so much against the Soule as the flesh like another bondslaue Hagar towards her Mistris hath lost all awfull respect Gen. 16.4.5 and would seeme to be Lady and Mistris and that the Soule is but a slaue or seruant suggesting that all the Time of this life is only for the Body for his owne gallantnesse and recreation for the accomplishment of his sinfull lusts greedie appetites and further that the Body sheweth great fauour yea doth a very good turne vnto the poore Soule by yeelding it so much time as himselfe pleaseth who by reason of her deiection for sinne was brought vnto this miserable thraldome Wherupon shee may say vnto God counting her troubles and anguishes that which IerusaleÌ„ in her great griefes and sorrowes hath vttered Lam. 1.11 Vide Domine coÌ„sidera c. Behold Lord and coÌ„sider how I am become vile considering that my bondslaue esteemeth so litle of me and offereth violence vnto me And therein doth the Flesh greatly iniurie the Soule with a Stranger exalteth it selfe against all reason and iustice and is therefore bound to restore vnto the Soule that which properly is hers vpon paine least wheÌ„ he shall haue neede of the Soule Body both of them doe faile to attaine their finall Saluation For prosecution of this point there can be no better doctrine written then that of S. Bernard in his Sermon of the Aduent Ber ser 6. de Aduentu Domini a great part whereof I will here rehearse The time of this life sayeth hee is not for the Body but for the Soule and for her onely was it assigned and appointed because the Soule is far more worthy then the Bodie and that which first fell and transgressed is first to be repaired and remedied and therefore because the Soule was first in the transgression came the Bodie to incur in the punishment and to participate thereof But incase we desire to be made liuing and true members of our head who is IESVS CHRIST wee are to manifest the same and to conforme our selues vnto him wherein our first thought and chiefest care should be concerning our Soules for whose behoofe most principally HE came into this world hath suffered the paines and tormeÌ„ts of the Crosse and therefore let vs reserue and keepe the care of the Body against that day and time when our Lord shall come to reforme it as the Apostle saith Philip. 3.20 Saluatorem expectamus Dominum nostrum c. Wee looke and expect for a Sauiour who is Iesus safegard and preseruation dependeth vpon hers Be therefore somewhat curteous ciuill and discreet to giue place and preferre so honorable a guest Thou art in thy house and vpon thy ground for thou hast bene earthly and of earth thou art but the Soule is lodged in thy house and home as a stranger a pilgrime banished as an exile from her owne dwelling Tell me thou Body what rude rusticall Clowne or countriman though neuer so grosse or doltish block-headed fellow If a Prince or an Earle should come to lodge in his house would not he with hart and good-will retire and withdrawe himselfe to the worse part thereof whereby to suffer that Nobleman to enioy the best roome or chamber yea if it were necessary would go and sleepe

he answered not to the purpose yet did he answer most admirably like a most holy wise and discreet Saint amending and secretly correcting the demaund and question propounded vnto him euen as the Maister is accustomed to doe with his Disciple when he demaundeth not aright who gaue Pharao to vnderstand that the yeares of mans life are not yeares but dayes and the dayes be not dayes but houres and the houres not houres but moments and that the life of the Seruants of God is no steedfast or permanent life but only a peregrination and pilgrimage towards the heauenly Ierusalem They are passengers and strangers and thereafter they vse the goods of this world and sayde further that the daies he liued were few being a hundred and thirty yeares because these and many more are indeed but few Gen. 29. 31. Iob. 7. likes as the longest life is but short And finally he cals his dayes euill because of the manifold perils wherein he remembred himselfe oftentimes plunged and of the corporall and spirituall trauels which vsually hee suffered For the life of man is a temptation and tryall euen all the time that he liues vpon the earth And because of the misery and troubles the mischances and disgraces which befall and happen vnto men in their dayes happen and befall men in their time the dayes are called euill as likewise in the sacred scripture they are so tearmed Therefore also is the day of Iudgement called the euill and the bitter day Psalm 50. in respect of the wicked and from hence we may vnderstand the sence and meaning of those words of our Sauiour written by S. Matthew Matth. 6.34 Be not ouer carefull for the morrow for the morrow shall care for it selfe the day hath inough with his owne griefe That is Simon de CassiÃ as if more plainely he had sayde Too day yee haue sufficient to do namely to carke and care for this present day and for all the labors turmoyles occupations necessities businesses therof without doubling the waight or ouer-charging your selues in taking vpon you too day the anguish vexation and burthen of the morrowe imagining that then you may do it or that then such a thing may happen vnto you for I assure you that to morrow will be very carefull of it selfe And therefore the meaning of that which the Apostle wrote to them of Ephesus when he sayd Redeeme the time because the dayes are euill Ephe 5.16 was this Behold that the dayes are troublesome full of miserie difficulties and lets occupations temptations impediments of your saluation and health For the which and for many other things and affaires whereinto the necessities of this body and life our owne ill inclined naturall disposition after the fall haue leade vs much part of time is often lost without fruite and is sold morgaged impawned pledged and captiuated And therefore I hartily beseech and exhort you and do highly commit to your charge that you take speciall care and regard that it be not ill imployed any longer nor withheld imprisoned but that you cause and procure to your vttermost power and endeuor that thereby you may reape profit that it be redeemed repurchased and ransomed and that you will duly esteeme therof and negotiate therewith So as when our Sauiour shall come to demand an Account thou mayest be able to make it good And so are all of vs to do and performe considering besides that the dayes are most short vncertaine and irreuocable we should be couetous of Time endeuoring and procuring to recouer that which is lost and to pacifie them vnto whome we haue done any harme by making of great hast to recouer and saue that which is to come to serue God in and to repaire our former negligences and passed heedlessnes with present diligence and care renewing and augmenting our repentance mortifications and charitable deeds Euen as accustometh the Trauellor to doe when he hath any long iourney to make and perceiuing the time to be short and that by his owne negligence rechlesnes and carelesnes he is much behind he indeauoreth afterwards to runne in such sort that hee goeth in two houres so much way as that otherwise hee would not haue gone in sixe and for that purpose lookes for neerer wayes and shorter cuts he sweats and toyles and runs on headlong a thousand rugged wayes without resting or pawsing though necessitie much require it and if he hap to eate it will be but a bit and that with much celerity and quicke speed So did the same Apostle for the redeeming of the Time which he had lost withheld captiuated Sequor si quomodo comprehendam Phil. 3.12 1. Cor. 9.24 As if he had sayde Now in respect I captiuated and lost so much time and erred so farre and continued so backwards in the right path of Gods seruice and was so negligent in gaining and procuring the glorie of the life to come I will now giue double diligence and bestir my selfe apace and runne without any looking backe because I make no reckoning of all that I haue already iourneyed and traced but rather will commit all that to obliuion as if I had not trauelled it at all crowding and thrusting my selfe forward as it were through the middest of all that stand before me hauing alwayes an eye to that which I haue to go and not to that which I haue already trauelled King Dauid did the same after that God had amplified and enlarged his heart with his loue and feare and tooke away those gifes or fetters which he had on his feet as himselfe confesseth saying Psalm 119. Viam mandatorum tuorum cucurri c. When as by thy great mercy O my Lorde God thou thoughtest good to drawe me out of my sinne and miserie wherein I detained spent so much time and hast bene pleased to burst the chaines where with I was tied and bound refreshing and comforting my heart with the water of thy superabundant grace more then of Angels I begunne for the redeeming of Time captiuated to runne and haue runned as farre forth as I could with all diligence without reaching as it were one breath or other the way of thy precepts The deuoute and mysticall Thaulerus with whom we wil conclude this Treatise did aske Thauler how lost and passed Time might be redeemed and raunsomed considering wee haue no moment of time which we owe not to God and as Gregory Nissenus saieth when all the life is imployed in Prayer Greg. Niss in orat Dominie in giuing thanks to God with much ado do we accomplish as we ought what at the present ouerrunnes vs how much lesse that of the Time past and to come maketh answer thus Let euery one depart and retire himselfe withall possible power and strength from all and euery place and time and betake himselfe wholy vnto that present Nuno which properly cannot be sayd in the vulgar language of eternitie where God is essentially always coÌ„tinueth in one Being and in one firme stability without respect of any thing that is Past or To come but all Present and in one perperualestate vniforine perdurable fixed permanent constant vnchangeable vnmoueable hauing no time to ouerpasse him In whom remaineth is al preseÌ„t past future all beginning and end of time without beginning without end And there in God are fouÌ„d all the treasures which by the wicked are vilified despifed conteÌ„ned yea infinit moe And they who accustome many times to lift them aboue themselues aboue all things created to hide themselues and make their nests and dwelling with God who abideth in the Soules of all present such without doubt do make themselues rich and shall finde in him much more of that which otherwise they might haue lost And in this introuersion or conuersion to God ought euery one of vs wholy entirely and perfectly to transforme himselfe into him and from the very bowels of his heart say vnto him after this manner Oh my euerlasting God If all the TIME which hath bene from the beginning of the world and which shall be till the end were granted vnto me I would liue wholy for thee and in thy seruice and from henceforth I would God I might liue and continue so loyal faithfull obedient in all kind of vertue as all as many men as haue bene borne and liued though it be in all manner affliction tryall misery tribulation I would to God that all the waters of the Sea might be distilled through my eies to remedy al them that are poore and in necessitie and to comfort them that are sad and heauie and to loue thee my God to praise thee to extoll thee to magnifie thee and to glorifie thee so much as all thy Saints and Angels of thy soueraigne Court For without all doubt I would doe and performe all those things very willingly and with all my heart And certainely he that retaineth and feeleth in his hart that will and liuely affection shall be so assured that he shal be accepted of that most iust and rightfull Iudge as if he had put it in effect because the seeking with an vnfained will to accomplish and performe any thing Chrysost homil 19. in Matth. S. Tho. 1.2 qu 20. art 4 2. Cor. 8.12 and the reall doing and fulfilling thereof is all one and the very same with God For as S. Paul saith if there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not FINIS

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