day be depriued before the darke night of death steale vppon you and ere your féete be entrapped or ye stumble at that foule blacke hillocke Therefore take the time and day whilest ye haue it for it shall be turned into darknesse And our Lord himselfe who better then any other knoweth the deapth of this daunger aduertiseth vs hereof in his Euangelist saying Luke 11. Take héed that your hearts be not opprest with too much meate drinke and with ouermuch care and turmoyle of this world least that dreadfull day catch you at vnwares which will steale vpon you like a théefe and vpon all those which inhabit vpon the face of the earth Therefore watch and pray continually that you may be deliuered from these huge heapes of calamities which hereafter will happen that you being cleane and vndefiled may be presented before the sonne of the pure Virgin the promoter of all our auaile and profit The Argument Those which haue loued God and liued according to his will shall be rewarded in Paradise which is the glory and merit that good men do respect Which notwithstanding any difference that is among the elect bringeth a common comfort and pleasure to them all because there is perfect charitie and God is all in euery thing Wherfore no other exercise is vsed there or no other paine or trauaile then to loue God to laude and glorifie him incessantly for euer CHAP. IIII. NOw that we haue declared the coÌ„demnation and sharpe sentence to be pronounced vpon the wretched sinner it followeth consequently that we treat likewise of the glorious recompence wherewith the righteous shall be endued which is nought else but that happie life and kingdome which God hath ordeined for his chosen people euen from the creation of all things which is such and so excellent that neither with the tongue of men nor Angels it can be expressed But that ye may haue some taste of this heare what S. Augustine briefly saith in commendation hereof in a certaine meditation of his in this sort O life alotted by God to them that loue him a liuing life a life voide of care a blessed life a quiet life a pleasaunt life a pure life a chaste life a life enemie to death a life that knoweth no gréefe voyd of molestation of smart of anxietie voyd of all corruption voyd of perturbatioÌ„s not subiect to varietie change or mutabilitie A life full of beautie and perfection where no enemie shall molest thée nor no trespasse offend thée when is perfect vnitie vnfeigned and holie loue where all feare is far away where is one eternall day without alteration where God is séene face to face which is the foode of all that there abive Swéet GOD with an vnsatiable heart and greedie minde I couet thy hidden treasures and the more I long after them the more I luste and burne in desire considering thée my delight my life and Sauiour in contemplation whereof I féele my selfe excéedingly refreshed and reuiued O moste happie life O very blessed kingdome altogither with out death and without ende which doest not yéelde to any succession or alteration of times where is bright day continually without interruption of night there it is not knowne what mutation meaneth where the tryumphant Souldiour accompanied with a glittering crewe of Angelles singeth vnto GOD without ceasing the passing praise of Sion hauing gotten the crowne of euerlasting felicitie I would to God that my sin my gréeuous guilt were forgiuen me Thrise blessed were my soule if after this painefull pylgrimage I might be worthy to sée and beholde thy glory the beatitude the beautie the walles and the gates of thy Citie thy stréetes thy pallaces thy noble Citizens thy worthie King setled in his throne of magnificence Thy walles are made of precious stones thy gates are beautified with shining Pearles thy stréetes are paued with pure gold which resounde and ring aloude with the peales of perpetuall praises Thy houses are buylded with quadrant stones adorned with Saphyrs thy beames and rafters are of golde where no corruption can abide nothing may enter that is defiled O Hierusalem our mother thou art braue and pleasaunt in thy deuises the force of no aduersitie is felte in thée neither any of those discommodities are susteyned whiche here we find Thy ioyes are farre aboue any which this wretched life can yéelde vs. In thee is neuer founde night darkenesse nor chaunge of times Thy light issueth neither from lampe nor from the Moone nor yet from the stars but God the light of all lightes is ho which lightneth thée The supernall Emperour kéepeth continuall residence in the middest of thée enuironed and assisted with many millions of his ministers There the angelicall quires answere each to other melodiously there the frutes of true nobilitie doo yéelde a pleasaunt sent and spectacle to the beholders there is celebrated the feast of those who being safely arriued from the bottomlesse sea of these miseries and mishappes are incorporate in one societie with those which possesse eternall life There is the company of the Prophets the royall ranke of the Apostles the inuincible hoast of innumerable Martyrs there is the sacred conuent of graue Confessors there are the true religious the deuout women who despising all delights and dalliance haue conquered their fraile inclination There are the virgins and younglings which with their vertuous indnstry haue shunned she allurements of this vile deceitfull world There are the innocent lambs who robbing themselues of all earthly pleasures doo now skip and leape for ioy in theyr propper and peculiar houses And whatsoeuer difference there be in glory amoÌ„g them notwithstanding the solace and contentation is common to all There charitie ruleth béeing entire and perfect for that god is all in all whom they alwaies sée and séeing him continually are euer enflamed with his loue therefore they louing praise him and praysing loue him all their exercise all their endeuour is to magnifie him without ceassing or intermission O how happie were I and most happie if after the dissolution of this corporall prison I might heare the swéete musicall songs of that celestiall harmony and sing Psalmes of coÌ„mendation to the eternall king of al the woorthy company of the most happie Cittie Now happie shoulde I be yea twise blessed if I might attaine to this felicitie to sing stand before my King my God my guide and to behold him in his glorie as himselfe hath promised to be séene Ioh. 7. wheÌ„ he said O father my desire is that all those may be with me which thou hast giuen me that they may see the cleare brightnesse which I had with thée before the foundation of the world And all this is vouched out of S. Augustine Now tell me then what a chearefull day shall that be which shall so illuminate and clarisie thy courage if at the full consummation of this pilgrimage thou passe from mortalitie to immortalitie and in the same time that otherâ—
of our Lord shall enuiron thée on euery side that thou mayest be honoured in the sight of God and men Then shalt thou call vpon the name of our Lorde and he will heare thée because thou louedst him and shall say vnto thée behold me here prest to accomplish whatsoeuer thou canst aske Then in the middest and déepe darkenesse of the tribulation and distresse of this life the comfortable beames of diuine fauour shall shine vpon thée and thy tribulation shall be as the middest of the day for that our Lord had ordeyned that thy miseries themselues and thy transgressions passed should accumulat vnto thée greater felicitie presenting alwayes to thy minde assured peace and firme tranquilitie And in the time of scarcitie and famine he shall féede thee full and shall supply thy wantes aboundauntly and thy bones shall be deliuered from death and from the flames of eternall fire and thou shalt be like vnto a moyst garden and as a fountaine which runneth incessantly and in thée that shall be accomplished which many yeares hath bene vnfinished to the ende thou maiest stand vpon a sure foundation from generation to generation and if thou wilt endeuour to celebrate my festiuall daies not contriuing them in foolish delightes nor in preferring thy will before mine obseruing carefully my will and behest in this voyage then will I create thée a Lord and will giue thée such solaces as shall farre surpasse all pleasures of the worlde And I will exalt thée aboue the highest turrets of the earth to a most blessed state of life wherevnto neither fortune nor humaine nature can adde or detract ought at all And after all this I wil enstal thée into the precious inheritaunce that I promised to Iacob thy father which is the benediction of glorie because the mouth of God hath spoken it These are the rewards which God promised to his seruantes of which although some are yet to come notwithstanding many of them pertaine to this present life As is that new light and heauenly brightnesse that abundance of all things that assured trust in GOD that diuine assistance to al petitions and demands that peace and securitie of conscience that diuine prouidence and protection that flourishing Gardein which is the deo king and garnishment of grace the fountaine which floweth continually which is the great plentie of all things those supernall ioyes which excéede the capacitie of man that lifting vp of the spirite which cannot be augmented by assistance of humane nature These fauours and prerogatiues promised by God are all the workes of his mercy the influence of his grace the testimonies of his loue the effect of the fatherly prouidence he extendeth to his seruaunts Vpon euery one of these I could say much more then the breuitie of this volume will permit for that euery of them would aske a seuerall Treatise Wherefore the iust shall reioyce of all these good thinges both in this life and in the life to come whereof the vniust shall be vtterly destitute By which meanes marke what oddes is betwixt the one part and the other nowe that these are so fauoured from heauen and those in such distresse and penury for if thou consider aduisedly all things before treated of doest weigh the estate and condition both of the iust and vniust thou shalt finde that the lot of the righteous is in the fauour of God but that of the vngodly in vtter disgrace The estate of the good and of the euill these are his friendes the other his professed foes these enioy the light the other dwell in darknesse these participate in delight with Angels those with dririe swine these are frée indeed and masters of themselues those other the thrals and vassalls of Satan these liue in vnitie those other in deadly discord the trust and testimonie of a false conscience delighteth these and to the other mindes resorteth alwayes the guilt of their filthy facts these with a resolute minde abide the brunt of tribulation in their accustomed place those other as light chaffe are repelled by the winde these depende vpon the anker of hope those other haue no stay to leane vnto being obiected to euery chaunce and chaunge of fickle fortune the prayers of these are acceptable to the eares of the Lord the other petitions are odious and execrable The death of these is quiet and glorious with diuine honour and that of the others troublesome defamed fraught with a thousand feares Finally these liue as children vnder the guard and gouernment of God they sléepe securely vnder the winges and shadow of his prouidence but the others excluded from this diuine protection wander too and fro as scattered beasts without head or guide thrust out to apparant perils and alaroms of fortune Then if such and so excellent perfections doo accompany vertue what restraynt can there be why thou shouldest not imbrace so soueraigne a thing what canst thou alleage for thy excuse herein To wrangle and say this is not true cannot extenuate thy guilt séeing thou seest howe it is founded vppon the infallible word of God and testimonies of the scripture To say these perfections are of small price auayleth not for that as I haue before mentioned they excéede all that mans heart can wish for To alleage that thou art thine owne enemie herein and that thou doest not desire these good things is most vntrue for a man is by nature a friende to himselfe and humaine will hath felicitie for his subiect which is the ende of his desires To affirme that thou hast no sence nor taste hereof sufficeth not to acquite thy crime considering thou beléeuest them to be true although thou canst not taste them Originall sinne bereaued thée of thy taste herein but not of thy faith and faith is a testimonie more sure more secure and more doubtlesse then all other experiences witnesses and warrants of the worlde Wherefore then doest thou not preferre this testimonie before all the other allegations Why doest thou not attribute more to fayth then to thine owne sottish séeming and iudgement O that thou wouldest determinately commit thy selfe into the handes and armes of God and trust to him onely how suddenly shouldest thou perceiue in thy selfe the accomplishment of these prophesies shouldest soone see the greatnesse of these treasures shouldest sée how senslesse and blinde all worldlings are which doo neither féele nor fancy this felicitie and shouldest sée with howe iust reason God commaunded vs this kinde of life saying Come vnto me al ye that are laden and weary and I will ease your gréefe Receiue my yoke vppon you and then ye shall finde comfort in your soules for it is full swéete and delectable God is no deceyuer his promises are neither false nor fraudulent Which sith it is so indéed why doest thou flée or faynt why doest thou abandon peace and pleasure Wherefore despisest thou the allurementes and swéete soundes of thy Pastor How darest thou to chase vertue from thée hauing such
begin to droope to doubt and dread thou shalt beginne to lifte vp thy head be cause the wished day of thy redemption approacheth neare Lifte vp th◠minde a little said S. Hierome vnto th◠virgin Eustochia out of the dungeon o◠this corrupt bodie and setling thy self before the gate of the heauenly tabernacle scan and consider well the mer◠of this thy present distresse and whatglorious day that day shall be vnto thée wherin the virgin Mary garded with a troope of pure virgins shall be prest to receiue welcome thee and wherin thy Lord spouse himselfe with all his holy Saints shall méete thée saying Can. 2. Come away and follow me quickly my loue my delight my doue for now the wofull winter is passed the sharp showres are ceased the tempests whirlwindes are appeased and here spring vp swéete fragrant flowers in this lande of behest This shall be then the delight consolation that thy soule shall receiue before the high throne of that most blessed trinitie before the angels but specially by him to whose custodie thou were earst committed whē these all the rest shall declare the sundry tribulations the trauels persecutions that thou hast suffered for the loue of Christ S. Luke sheweth Act. 9. that when the charitable Tabita deceased all the widowes poore people besought the apostle Peter in her behalf shewing him their garmēts which she had made the Apostle being moued thereat praied vnto God instantly for so mercifull a woman whereby shee was restored againe to life What a singular comfort shalt thou then perceiue in thy soule when those blessed spirits shall take thée and set thée before the diuine consistorie of God publishing thy deserts and reciting orderly thy almes thy prayers thy fasting the integrity of thy life thy susteining of wrong thy patience in affliction and temperance in delights with all thy other vertues and good déeds whatsoeuer O what delectation shalt thou then reape of euery good action here atchieued howe shall the force and valure of vertue bee manifested vnto thée There humble obedience shall triumph with victorie There vertue shal be rewarded and the wel disposed shall be regarded according to theyr desert Besides this what inward and secret solace shal that be vnto thée when thou séeing thy selfe arriued in so assured an harbour shalt haue regard towards the course of thy dangerous nauigation passed and shalt sée the troubles and torments wherein thou liuedst earst she wyles the ambushes of the enemy the cruell incurtions of théeues which new thou hast escaped There it is where resoundeth this song of the Prophet Psal 93. Were it not that the Lord was mindfull of mée my soule should haue hardly auoyded the infernall habitation But specially when thou shalt perceiue how in this worlde offences are multiplied how daily so many soules descend to hell and damnation how among such a multitude of castawayes God would associate thée into the fellowship of his chosen people which shall be the inheritours of such a renowmed kingdome But that which passeth al this is to sée the solemne feasts and tryumphes which there are helde day by day for the welcome of their newe brothers who hauing ouercome the world finished and performed the race of their pilgrimage come to receiue the crowne of eternitie O what ioy shall it be to behold the accomplishment of that which doo appertaine to the setting vp and new erection of the walles of the noble Hierusalem with what swéete embracing's and cullings shall they be welcomed by all the celestiall court séeing them come laden and lugged with the spoiles of the vanquished foe There they shall enter with the victorious barons with those worthy women which haue conquered the world togither with theyr brickle nature There likewise the vncorrupt virgins murthered and martyred for their spouse sake Christ Iesu shall enter with double triumph that is with conquest of the flesh and of the worlds adorned and crowned with Garlandes fraught with roses and freshe gréene flowers all about their heads In like maner there litle boyes and gyrles mastering their tender yeares with discretion and vertue shall come in to receiue the hyre and guerdon of their integritie Where they shall finde theyr fréendes knowe their ministers recognise theyr parents and culling and kissing them affectionately shall heare the glad tydings to bee made possessors of eternall felicitie O how then shall the fruite of bertue taste deliciously although in times past the roote thereof séemed sowre and vnsauery Swéete is the shadowe after noone the fountaine is pleasaunt to the thirsty wearied waifaring man sléepe and rest yéelde great comfort to him that hath trudged and toiled all day but farre greater contentatiō peace bringeth to the saints after their weary war securitie after perils and perpetuall repose after infinit trauailes The broyle of battaile is now appeased to be armed it néedeth not neither on the right fide nor on the lest The children of Israel were armed when they went to the land of promise but after they had conquered the countrey they laide aside their weapons and euery of them forgetting quite the feare and trouble of warre they all were lodged in the harbor of rest and quietnesse and enioyed the fruition of long desired peace There may the eyes wearied with lōg watching receiue their quiet sléepes Now may the subtil serpent attending to entrap vs come out of his ambush now may the happy Hierom betake him to rest who made the night and day one in lamenting his defaultes and trespasses encountering couragiously the cruell conflicts of our auncient enemie there the horrible armours doo neuer sound of that bloudie beast there is no place forth crooked craftie Serpent there the venomous Basiliske dooth not effende the sight nor his hissing is not heard but the breath and sweete sounde that distils loth from the loue of the holy Ghost here raungeth rounde about Where is clearely discerned the royall magnificence of God himselfe This is the region of rest and securitie scaled aboue all the elements where the dark cloudes and filthie vapours doo not ouerlappe the bright and pure aire What happie things are said of thée O Citie of God happie are they saith Tobias which loue thée Psal 147. and enioy thy peace O my soule extol and magnifie God who hath deliuered Hierusalem his holy city from troubles and vexation Nowe blessed should I be if hereafter in the remnant of my time I might sée the beautie and brightnesse of Hierusalem whose gates shall be of Saphyrs and of pollished Smaredges the circuite of whose wall shall be of pearle and precious stone the stréetes shall be of white marble interlaced with pure Alabaster and euery place resoundeth with Alleluia and voices of gratulation O mery swéete velectable counsaile O high renowmed glory O blessed societie who shal be those happie Christians picked or sorted out to dwell in thée It seemeth a hard thing to desire
thée that this burthen should be pleasaunt séeing God dooth helpe to sustaine it But wilt thou sée both these contrarieties to concurre in one person Heart what Saint Paule saieth Rom. 5. We suffer aduersitie in sundrie sortes yet are we not impatient wée liue in extreme penurie nor for this are we ouercommed wée abide persecutions yet are we not destitute we are humbled yet not confounded oppressed euen to the earth yet not reiected vtterly Now regarde on the one side the loathsome loade of labours and on the other side the delight that is therin by the benefite of grace Esay 40. which yet the Prophet Esay sheweth more manifestly saying They which trust in the Lorde shall chaunge their strength shall ruime swiftly without sweating shall goe still and neuer be weary Sée héere the yoke made easie by the vertue of grace Beholde the fury of the fleshe abated and conuerted to the force of the spirite or to tearme it more rightly the might of men turned into strength of God Heare how the Prophet did not restraine himselfe neither from labour nor from rest nor from the commoditie he gat of the one and other where he saide They ranne and it gréeueth them not they went forth still and were neuer weary Wherefore welbeloued brother thou oughtest not to diuert from this way though it séeme somewhat harde and sowre sith God and his grace are thy guides therein For it is no reason that nature should more preuaile then grace nor Adam to bee of more power then Christ nor the diuell to be greater then God nor yet the custome and long vse of euill then the habit of vertue and well dooings The Argument A man should not prognosticate his conuersion to God nor his repentance and auersion from those offences whereby hee hath displeased the diuine maiestie of God and his neighbour for the more he is spotted and infected with the filth of vice and the slower hee is in cleansing and curing thereof so much the more hee doth aggrauate the burthen of his penance CHAP. XIII WHerefore if the causes bee so many and so great which of the one part dooth moue thée to change the course of thy life to a better race and on the other side haue no sufficient excuse to withhold thée from so dooing Tell me I pray thée when wilt thou be ready to reuolt from sin Turne back thy eye brother a litle towards the life that is passed and consider of what yéeres thou art now for now is the time for the houre of enterance is passed and the beginning to vnloade thy selfe from thy former faultes Beholde that thou being a Christian regenerate with the water of holy baptisme hauing God for thy father and the Church for thy mother which God formed and framed with the lawe of his Gospell and with the doctrine of the Apostles and Euangelists and that more importeth with the foode of Angels and yet thou liuest so loosely as thou were an Infidell altogither and neuer knewest God But tell me what sort of sinne what follie can bee founde wherein thou art not culpable what forbidden trée is there wherein thou hast not fixed thy eyes what gréene medowe where at least in thought thou hast not glutted thy lasciuious lust what pleasaunt accident hath béene obiected to thy sight wherevnto thy desire hath not bene extended What appetite of thine haste thou not assayed to accomplish Calling God to thy minde and how thou art a Christian what more couldest thou doo then to haue a fayth without expectation of the other life and feare of future iudgement What hath thy life bene else then a webbe of wickednesse a sinke of sinne a pathe of pleasure a perpetuall disobedience to God How hast thou ledde thy life hitherto but as thy appetites hath guided thée as best fancied thy fleshe in exalting thy selfe and in the glorie of the worlde These haue béene thy Goddes these the Idols wherevnto thou haste kneeled and crowched whose hestes thou haste fully performed But in thē meane time what account haste thou kept with the diuine lawe of God and thy allegeaunce due vnto him Perchaunce thou hast estéemed him no more then if hée had bene a God made of wood for many Christians there bee which will as easily beléeue that there is no God as they thinke to offende him scotfrée For they doo no lesse beléeuing the one then they woulde if they beléeued the other What greater wrong what greater despite may there bee to so greate a Prince then thou beléeuing all that the Christian religion instructeth thée liuest no otherwise then if it were a fable But art thou not appalled at the multitude of thy former offences done without gruge of conscience Dooth not his omnipotencie cause thee to quake against whome thou haste committed such enormous crimes Lift vp thy eyes and regard the immeasurable greatnesse of that supernall Lorde adored of all the Potentates of Heauen before whome the whole circuite of the world lyeth prostrate in whose presence all that is created is as light chaffe tossed with euery puffe of winde And consider what a thing it is that such a silly worme as thou art hast so oft pronoked the wrath of that eternall God Looke vppon the excéeding greatnesse of his iustice and the sharpe punishments which hitherto he hath vsed in the world against sinne not onely in particular persons but in Citties Nations Kingdomes Prouinces and in the vniuersall world and not only in the earth but in heauen and there not in sinners only but in his owne innocent sonne Then if this were executed vpon gréene wood and for the faultes of others what shall be done in withered wood ouercharged with the weight of proper offences Wherfore what can be more vndecent and intollerable then that suche a vile vermine should delude a Lorde so puissaunt that with a becke or a word can detrude thée into the deapth of hell and damnation Looke in like sort vpon the patience of this Lorde who nowe so long hath looked for thy returne as thou hast béene an offendour If after so long sufferance thou wilt still abuse this merde in incensing him to anger hee will vnloade his bowe will emptie his quiuer and powre vppon thée the dartes of damnation View the profoundnesse of his déepe iudgements whereof wee reade and sée daylie things worthie to be wondred at We may see a Salomon after all his wisedome his parables and profounde mysteries of the Cantickles to forget God and to fall downe in renerence of Idols We may sée one of the first seuen Deacons of the Church which were enspired with the holy ghost not onely became an heretick but also a teacher and a father of heresie Wee may sée day by day many starres to fall from Heauen into the earth with a miserable fall to tumble in durt and to bee fedde with the draffe of swine which earst at the table of our Lorde were susteined with the bread
Prophet saith they shall cry vnto the hilles Math. 25. saying O ye hilles fall vpon vs and close vs in your Caues that we may not shewe our selues with such excéeding shame But wo worth ye wretches your hope is frustrate ye toyle against the tide weighing the force of that sentence definitiue Go ye caitiues into euerlasting fire long since prepared for Satan and his adherents What shall that cursed generation imagine then will become of themselues hearing this for if as Iob saith we can scarce abide to heare his mildest wordes Iob. 4. who can abide those thundring threats of his omnipotencie These words shall be so sharpe and so pearsing that at the verie instant the earth shall open it selfe wide and large and into the bottome and bowels thereof shall be whirled topsie turuie all those who Iob. 2 as the same Iob saith here haue had their paradise and pleasures in sundry sortes of Musicke and harmony trifleling out their time and yeares in all kinde of mirth and iollitie This fall and cracke of the earth S. Iohn describeth in his Apocalips in this maner I saw an Angell descending from heauen with great power and with such brightnesse that all the earth was lightned therewith and hée cryed aloude saying The great Cittie of Babilon is fallen downe and is made of the habitation of diuels and the cage of all filthy and abhominable fowles And further hée sayd I sawe another mightie Angell lifting vp on high a great stone much like to a mylstone and did cast it into the sea saying With such a violence shall the great Babylon bee throwne into the bottomlesse pitte and shall neuer recouer his estate againe In this sort shall the vngodly fall into the blacke and gastly prison full of confusion and vtter desolation Esay 66. But what tongue can expresse the innumerable sundrie sorts of torments in that place addressed for the wicked There their bodies shall be broyled with furious flames cōtinually there their soules shall be consumed with the worme of conscience which will neuer cease his gréenous gnawing There shall be that incessant howling and gnashing of téeth whereof the Scriptures treateth in so many places There these vnhappie wretches surseysed with cruell dispaire and rage shall waxe wood against GOD and themselues in suche dispiteous wise that they shall deuoure their owne fleshe and in a franticke moode rent it with their nayles crashing their téeth togither and spilling their Intrailes with sorrowe and sighing blaspheming and denying continually their creator that hath adiudged them to such sharpe punishments There euery of them shall crie out vpon his cursed condition and vnfortunate byrth estsoones repeating those pittifull bewaylinges and wofull wordes of patient Iob Iob. 3. but with a minde and intent farre contrarie to his These bee the wordes Curst be the day wherin I was borne and the night in whiche it was sayd A man is come into the worlde let that day be turned into darknesse let it not be reckoned of God nor beautified with light let it be ouerwhelmed with darknesse and shadowe of death let it be full fraught with obscuritie and bitternesse let that night be ouercast with a black cloude let not that day be numbred among dayes and moneths of the yeare Why did not death receiue me so soone as I was issued out of my mothers wombe why was I not carried from the place of my byrth straight to my graue why was I lulled in my mothers lap or why did she giue me suck This shall be their melodie their mydnight mattens their morning and euening prayer O filthie tongues which babble of nothing else but brawling and blasphemie O wretched cares which heare no other things but wofull mourning O vnhappie eyes whose obiect is miserie vppon miserie O wretched bodies who haue for your harbour a fierie fornace In what case shall they then be who héere earst wallowed in wealth and wantonnesse O what fléeting delight hath wrought continuall gréefe O what wofull habitations are addressed for you Now gone is all your gallant glée and iollitie wherein you delighted for a moment for which ye now lament eternally Now what doo your treasures auayle you where is your pompe and pleasure become the seuen fertile yeares are now ended quite and in place thereof are now succéeded the seuen barren yeares which shall so consume the abundance of those which are passed that there shall not remaine any one shadow or shewe thereof Therefore all your former felicitie is drenched and wrapped vp in the waues of wretchednesse and are now driuen to such straights and scarcitie that not so much as one droppe of water shall be granted vnto you wherwith ye might somwhat asswage the raging thirst which vexeth you so furiously neyther shall your wonted prosperitie reléeue your miserie but rather thereby ye shall be more fiercely afflicted For therein is accomplished this saying of Iob Iob. 21.24.25 that the sugred soppes of the vngodly shal be at the last deuoured with wormes Which S. Gregory in his Moralls expoundeth in this sort The memory of their wonted ioyes maketh their present paine to séeme more bitter by calling to minde how braue and frolike they haue bene and how base and vile they now are come and howe for loue of that which so soone slipte away they suffer that which neuer shall haue end Then shall they perceiue euidently the subtil slights of the enemie and being called to their account shall mutter too late these sayings of Salomon Sap. 5. Woe vnto vs wretches howe apparaunt is it now vnto vs that wée haue strayed from the trade of trueth that the light of instice hath not shined vpon vs and that the sunne of intelligence hath not risen ouer vs. Wée haue wasted and wearied our selues in the crooked and crabbed way of wickednesse but we haue not stepped one foote in the plaine and easie path which leadeth to righteousnesse What are we now abettered by our Princely traine and treasure All these thinges are now vanished as the fléeting shade and as the swift Courser chased vppon the spurre as a shippe driuen with the tide and tempest which leaueth behinde no print of his passage This and such like in the infernall pitte shall bee the talke of those which haue bene offendors For that the hope and trust of sinne is like vnto chaffe chased with the winde or as the skumme and froath of the Sea dispearsed with the waues as the smoke sodeinly dissolued into the ayre or as the remembraunce of a pylgrime passing by the way These be there the complaintes and this the perpetual penance of the vngodly which shall not assist them at all because the time is passed wherein they might haue bene reléeued hereby Come therefore in the time of grace and repentaunce and you that haue eares receiue the sounde aduise of our Lorde vttered by the Prophet saying Iere. 13. Serue and glorifie God before the
did euer hurt the man that did them good Saint Ambrose writeth that a dogge all one night howled and bewayled his maister which was slaine by his enemie whither repairing many the next morning to view the dead corpes amongst whom the murtherer also made his appearance whome so soone as the dog beheld furiously ranne vpon him in such wise that the malefactour was detected thereby Wherefore if a dogge for a péece of bread did shewe such loyall loue to his maister howe canst thou become so vngratefull to suffer thy selfe in the lawe of reason and humanitie to be inferiour to a dogge If that beast was wroth against him that had slaine his maister what wilte not thou bee wroth against them that haue killed thy Lorde and Soueraigne and who are those that haue killed him but only thy offences these are euen they that tooke him that bounde him that whipped him that nayled him to the Crosse For all the torments had not bene sufficient for this exployt had they not bene assisted by thine offences Wherfore then doest thou not waxe wood against these so cruell murderers which haue bereaued thy Lord of his life Wherefore séeing him dead in thy sight doth not thy affection increase towards him and thy wrath towards sin which hath killed him knowing that whatsoeuer in this world hee hath said done or suffered was to imprint such an hatred in our hearts against sin that we should detest it vtterly To slay sinne he dyed himselfe and to binde it hand and foote hath suffered himselfe to be bound vpon the crosse Why then wilt thou make frustrate all the labours and paines of Christ Wilt thou run headlong into the thraldome and bondage frō whence Christ hath deliuered thée with the ransome of his precious blood why doest thou not tremble and shiuer at the onely name and sounde of sin now that thou hast séene the extremities that Christ vsed in the remoouing thereof what could GOD doo more to restraine vs from sinne then to set himself before vs bowed pitifully vpon a crosse who durst displease God if hee saw heauen and earth open before him yet much more it is to sée God stretcht vppon a crosse then all this Wherfore whosoeuer is not stirred with this motiue there is nothing in the wide world whereby he may be reduced from the fonde and perillous iourney wherein he is entred The Argument God doth not suffer those to want any thing necessarie to this world which bee righteous and do keepe his cōmandements but doth comfort them with his graces and gifts infinitly as well temporall as spiritual present as those to come Whereof the vngodly haue exceeding great scarcitie for that noble vertue is euermore associated with all good things and contrariwise vice with mischiefes and miseries CHAP. VII BUt peraduenture thou wilt say that all these things before treated of are right iust as well the good things as the evil yet desirest to sée some present motine which should serue to eleuate thy heart fithe the thinges obiected to our daily viewe doo moue vs more forcibly Of these things also we will giue thée thy glut and thou shalt haue thy sacietie of that thou desirest For admit our Lord had kept the best wine and meate fill the ende of the banket yet for all this he will not that his seruants should faints with famine by the way for he knoweth very well if they should be so scanted they cannot continue in their iourney Wherefore he said vnto Abraham Feare not O Abraham for I am thy defendour and thy rewarde shall be great By these words two things are promised one in this present life as he was his defendour in all things perteyning therevnto the other in the life to come which is the guerdon reserued for him But howe great the first promise is and howe many swéete solaces it conteyneth no man knoweth but he that hath read the Scriptures diligently which inculketh and repeateth nothing more then the singular prerogatiues which our Lorde hath promised to his seruaunts in this life Reade the holy Psalme of the Prophet Psal 25. Psal 91. Psal 18. Dominus regit me Reade Qui habitat in adintorio Regarde with thy vnderstanding Diligam te domine fortitudo mea reade the benedictions and the curses of Deuteronomium finally reade the new and old Testament and thou shalt sée apparantly what fauour and friendship is promised to the iust and righteous in this life Heare the verdit of Salomon in his Prouerbes vpon this matter Blessed is the man that hath found wisedome for it auayleth more to-possesse that then all the heapes of golde and siluer be it neuer so fine and precious it is of greater price then all the riches of the world and all that can be wished for and desired in the heart of man is nothing comparable therevnto The length of his daies are in his right hand and in his left are riches and glorie his wayes are faire and his pathes peaceable and to all them that obtaine it and to euery one that with perseueraunce shall enioy it shall be happie Marke then my sonne the constitutions and counsailes of God for this shall be likings and life to thy soule Then shalt thou take thy iourney voyde of care and thy feete shall not fayle thée if thou sléepe thou shalt not be affrighted and if thou betake thée to rest thou shalt haue a quiet repose This deare brother is the solace and quietnesse that the righteous haue in their wayes but consider howe much the wayes of the wicked differeth from this by the sentence of the Scriptures vnhappinesse and lucklesse chaunce is euer in their way neyther know they what it is to tread the steps of peace and tranquilitie And againe Ecclesiastick sayth The path of the vniust is ful of lets and obstacles and at the ende of their iourney for an harbour is addressed for them hell darkenesse and paine Doth it séeme now good vnto thée to diuert from the way of God to follow the way of the world béeing so contrary each to other not onely in the and but also in the midway and at euery step Which then is the greater inconuenience to endeuour through one torment to get another torment or else with one repose to atchieue an other repose But that thou mayest discerne more clearely the manifolde benefites which presently doo accompanie this good thing bee attentiue to the promise that GOD himselfe made to the Prophet Esay to the obseruers of his commaundements in these woordes according to the intent of diuers Interpreters When thou shalt be sayth hée such and such as I haue willed thée to be vnwares shall come vpon thée the dawne of bright day that is the light of iustice which shall cast out and bannish quite the dryerie darknesse of thy errours and defaultes and shalt quickely knowe true health and the equitie of thy well dooings shall stande before thée as a burning lampe and the glory