all highest perfections What meruaile therefore though her vehement loue to so louely a Lord being after the wrecke of his life now also depriued of his dead body feele as bitter pangues for his losse as before it tasted ioyes in his presence and opē as large an issue to teares of sorrowe as euer heretofore to tears of contentment And though teares were rather oile then water to her flame apter to nourish then diminish her grief yet being now plunged in the depth of paine shee yéelded her selfe captiue to all discomfort carrying an ouèrthrowen mind in a more enfeebled body and still busie in deuising but euer doubtfull in defining what shée might best doe For what could a seely woman doe but weepe that floating in a Sea of cares founde neither eare to heare her nor tongue to direct her nor hand to helpe her nor heart to pitty her in her desolate case True it is that Peter and Iohn came with her to the tombe and to make triall of her report were both within it but as they were speedy in comming and diligent in searching so were they as quick to depart and fearefull of farther seeking And alas what gained shee by their comming but two witnesses of her losse two dismaiers of her hope and two paterns of a new despaire Loue moued them to come but their loue was soone conquered with such a feare that it suffered them not to stay But Mary hoping in dispaire and perseuering in hope stood without feare because shée now thought nothing left that ought to be feared For shée had lost her maister to whom shée was so entirely deuoted that hee was the totall of her loues the height of her hopes and the vttermost of her feares and therefore beside him shée could neither loue other creature hope for other comfort nor feare other losse The worst shee could feare was the death of her body and that shée rather desired then feared sith shée had already lost the life of her soule without which any other life would be a death and with which any other death would haue ben a delight But now shée thought it better to die then to liue because shée might happely dying finde whome not dying shee looked not to enioy and not enioying shée had little will to liue For nowe shée loued nothing in her life but her loue to Christ if any thing did make her willing to liue it was onelye the vnwillingnesse that his Image should die with her whose likenesse loue had limmed in her heart and treasured vp in her swéetest memories And had shée not feared to break the Table and to breake open the closet to which shée had entrussed this last relique of her lost happinesse the violence of griefe would haue melted her heart into inward bleeding teares and blotted her remembraunce with a fatall obliuion And yet neuerthelesse shée is no we in so imperfect a sort aliue that it is proued true in her that Loue is as strong as Death For what could death haue done more in Mary then Loue did Her wittes were astonied and all her senses so amased that in the end finding shée did not know séeing shée could not discern hearing shée perceiued not and more then all this shée was not there where shée was for shée was wholly where her Maister was more where shée loued then where shée liued and lesse in her self then in his body which notwithstanding where it was shee could not imagine For she sought and as yet found it not and therefore stood at the Tombe weeping for it being now altogether giuen to mourning driuen to misery But O Mary by whose counsaile vppon what hope or with what hart couldest thou stand alone when the Disciples were departed Thou wert there once before they came thou returnest againe at their comming and yet now thou staiest when they are gone Alas that thy Lord is not in the Tombe thy own eies haue often séen the Disciples hands haue felt the empty Sindon doth auouch and cannot al this winne thée to beléeue it No no thou wouldest rather condemne thy owne eies of error and both their eies and handes of deceite yea rather suspect all testimonies for untrue then not looke whom thou hast lost euen there where by no diligence he coulde be found When thou thinkest of other places and canst not imagine any so likely as this thou séekest againe in this and though neuer so often sought it must still bee a haunt for hope for when things dearely affected are lost loues nature is neuer to be weary of searching euen the oftenest searched corners being more willing to thinke that all the senses are mistaken then to yéelde that hope should quaile Yet now sith it is so euident that he is taken away what should moue thee to remaine here where the perill is apparent and no profite likely Can the witof one and shée a woman wholly possessed with passion haue more light to discerne daunger then two wittes of two men and both principall fauorites of the parent of all wisedom Or if notwithstanding the danger there had béene iust cause to encounter it were not two together being both to Christ sworne companions each to other affied friends and to all his ennemies professed foes more likely to haue preuailed then one feminine heart timorous by kinde and already amased with this dreadfull accident But alas why doe I vrge her with reason whole reason is altered into loue and that iudgeth it folly to follow such reason as should any way impair her loue Her thoughts were arrested by euery thredde of Christs Sindon and shée was captiue in so many prisons as the Tombe had memories of her lost maister Loue being her Iailor in them all and nothing able to raunsome her but the recouery of her Lord. What maruaile then though the Apostles examples drew her not away whome so violent a loue enforced to remaine which prescribing lawes both to witte and wil is guided by no other lawe but it selfe Shee could not thinke of any fear nor stand in feare of any force Loue armed her against all hazardes and being already wounded with the greatest griefe shée had not leisure to remember any lesser euill Yea shée had forgotten all things and her selfe among al things onely mindefull of him whom shée loued aboue all thinges And yet her loue by reason of her losse drownev both her mind and memory so déepe in sorrow and so busied her wittes in the conceite of his absence that al remembraunce of his former promises was diuerted with the throng of present discomforts and shée séemed to haue forgotten also him besides whome shée remembred nothing For doubtlesse had she remembred him as she should shée should not haue now thought the Tombe a fitte place to séeke him neither would shée mourne for him as dead and remoued by others force but ioy in him as reuiued and risen by his owne power For hee had often foretold both the manner of
MARIE MAGDALENS FVNERAL TEARES Ieremiae CAP. 6. VERSE 26. Luctum vnigeniti fac tibi planctum Amarum LONDON Printed by I. W. for G. C. 1591. To the worshipfull and vertuous Gentlewoman Mistres D. A. YOur vertuous request to whiche your deserts gaue the force of a com mandement won me to satisfie your deuotion in penning some little discourse of the blessed Mary Magdalen And among other glorious examples of this Saints life I haue made choise of her Funeral Tears in which as shee most vttered the great vehemency of her feruent loue to Christ so hath shee giuen therein largest scope to dilate vppon the same a theame pleasing I hope vnto your self and fittest for this time For as passion and especially this of loue is in these daies the chiefe commaunder of moste mens actions the Idol to which both tongues and pennes doe sacrifice their ill bestowed labours so is there nothing nowe more needefull to bee intreated then how to direct these humors vnto their due courses and to draw this floud of affections into the righte chanel Passions I allow and loues I approue onely I would wishe that men would alter their obiect and better their intent For passions being sequels of our nature and allotted vnto vs as the handmaides of reason there can be no doubt but that as their author is good and their end godly so ther vse tempered in the meane implieth no offence Loue is but the infancy of true charity yet sucking natures teate and swathed in her bandes which then groweth to perfection when faith besides naturall motiues proposeth higher and nobler groundes of amitye Hatred and anger are the necessary officers of prowesse and Iustice courage being colde and dull and Iustice in due reuenge slacke and carelesse where hate of the faulte doth not make it odious anger seteth not edge on the sword that punisheth or preuenteth wrongs Desire hope are the parents of diligence and industry the nurses of perseueraunce and constancy the seedes of valour and magnanimity the death of sloth and the breath of all vertue Feare and dislike are the sconces of discretion the herbingers of wisedome and pollicy killing idle repentance in the cradle and curbing rashnesse with deliberation Audacity is the armour of strength and the guide to glory breaking the ice to the hardest exploites and crowening valour with honourable victory Sorrowe is the sister of mercy and a waker of compassion weeping with others teares and grieued with their harmes It is both the salue and smart of sin curing that which it chasticeth with true remorse and preuenting neede of new cure with the detestation of the disease Dispaire of successe is a bitte against euil attempts and the herse of idle hopes ending endlesse things in their first motion to begin True Ioy is the rest and reward of vertue seasoning difficulties with delight and giuing a present assay of future happinesse Finally ther is no passion but hath a seruiceable vse eyther in the pursuite of good or auoydance of euill and they are all benefites of God and helpes of nature so long as they are kept vnder vertues correction But as too much of the best is euill and excesse in vertue vice so passions let loose without limmits are imperfections nothing being good thatwanteth measure And as the sea is vnfit for traffick not onely when the windes are too boisterous but also when they are too still and a middle gale and motion of the waues serueth best the sailers purpose So neither too stormy nor too calme a minde giueth Vertue the freest course but a middle temper betweene them both in which the well ordered passiōs are wrought to prosecute not suffered to peruert any vertuous indeuour Such were the passions of this holy Sainte which were not guides to reason but attendantes vpon it and commanded by such a loue as could neuer exceede because the thing loued was of infinite perfection And if her weakenes of faith an infirmity then common to all Christes disciples did suffer her vnderstanding to be deceiued yet was her will so setled in a most sincere and perfect loue that it ledde all her passions with the same bias recompensing the want of beliefe with the strange effectes of an excellent charity This loue these passions are the subiect of this discourse which though it reach not to the dignity of Maries deserts yet shal I thinke my indeuors wel apaide if it may wooe some skilfuller pennes from vnworthy labours eyther to supply in this matter my want of ability or in other of like piety wherof the scripture is full to exercise their happier talents I know that none can expresse a passion that hee feeleth not neyther doth the penne deliuer but what it coppieth out of the minde And therefore sith the finest wits are now giuen to write passionat discourses I would wish them to make choise of such passions as it neither should be shame to vtter nor sinne to feele But whether my wishes in this behalf take effect or not I reap at the least this reward of my paines that I haue shewed my desire to answer your courtesie and set forth the due praises of this glorious Saint Your louing friend S. W. To the Reader MAnie suting their labors to the popular vaine and guided by the gale of vulgar breath haue diuulged diuerse patheticall discourses in which if they had shewed as much care to profite as they haue done desire to please their workes woulde much more haue honoured their names and auailed the Readers But it is a iust complaint among the better sorte of persons that the finest wittes loose themselues in the vainest follies spilling muche Arte in some idle phansie and leauing their workes as witnesses howe long they haue beene in trauaile to be in fine deliuered of a fable And sure it is a thing greatly to bee lamented that men of so high conceite should so much abase their habilities that when they haue racked them to the vttermost endeuour all the prayse that they reape of their employment consisteth in this that they haue wisely tolde a foolish tale and carried a long lie verie smoothlie to the ende Yet this inconuenience might finde some excuse if the drift of their discourse leuelled at anie vertuous marke for in fables are often figured morall trueths and that couertly vttered to a common good whiche without a maske woulde not finde so free a passage But when the substance of the worke hath neither trueth nor probabilite nor the purport thereof tendeth to anie honest end the writer is rather to bee pitied then praised and his bookes fitter for the fire then for the presse This common ouersight more haue obserued then endeuored to salue euerie one being able to reproue none willing to redresse such faultes aucthorised especially by generall custome And though if necessitie the lawlesse patrone of enforced actions had not more preuailed then choise this worke of so different a subiect from
the vsuall vaine should haue beene no eye-sore to those that are better pleased with worse matters Yet sith the copies therof flew so fast and so false abroad that it was in danger to come corrupted to the print it seemed a lesse euill to let it flie to common viewe in the natiue plume and with the owne wings then disguised in a voate of a bastard feather or cast off from the fist of such a corrector as might happily haue perished the sound and impedâ—n some sicke and sory fethers of his owne phansies It may be that courteous skill will recken this though eourse in respect of others exquisite labors not vnfit to entertaine well tempered humours both with pleasure and profit the ground therof being in scripture and the forme of enlarging it an imitation of the ancient doctours in the same and other pointes of like tenour This commodity at the least it will carie with it that the reader may learne to loue without improofe of puritie teach his thoughts eyther to temper passion in the meane or to giue the bridle onely where the excesse cannot be faultic Let the work defend it self and euerie one passe his censure as he seeth cause Manie Carpes are expected when curious eyes come a fishing But the care is alreadie taken and the patience waiteth at the table readie to take away when that dish is serued in and to make roume for others to set on the desired fruit S. VV. MARY MAGDALENS Funerall Teares EMONGST other mourneful accidents of the passion of Christ that loue presenteth it selfe to my memory with which the blessed Mary Magdelen louing our Lord more then her life followed him in his iourney to his death attending vppon him when his Disciples fledde and being more willing to die with him then they to liue without him But not finding the fauour to accompany him in death and loathing after him to remaine in life the fire of her true affection enflamed her heart and her enflamed hart resolued into vncessant teares so that burning and bathing betwéen loue and griefe shee led a life euer dying and felt a death neuer ending And when hee by whome shée liued was dead and shée for whom he died enforcedly left aliue shée praised the dead more then the liuing and hauing lost that light of her life shee desired to dwell in darkenesse and in the shadow of death choosing Christs Tombe for her best home and his corse for her chiefe comfort For Mary as the Euangelist saith Stoode without at the Tombe weeping But alas how vnfortunate is this woman to whome neyther life will afforde a desired farewell nor death alow any wished welcome Shée hath abandoned the liuing and chosen the company of the dead and now it seemeth that euen the dead haue forsaken her sith the corse shee séeketh is taken away froÌ„ her And this was the cause that loue induced her to stand and sorrow enforced her to wéepe Her eie was watchful to séek whom her heart most longed to enioy and her foote in a readinesse to runne if her eie shoulde chaunce to espy him And therefore shée standeth to be still stirring prest to watch euery way and prepared to goe whether any hope should call her But shée wept because shée had such occasion of standing and that which moued her to watch was the motiue of her teares For as shée watched to finde whom shée had lost so shée wept for hauing lost whom shée loued her poore eies being troubled at once with two contrary offices both to be clear in sight the better to séeke him and yet cloudy with tears for missing the sight of him Yet was not this the entrance but the increase of her griefe not the beginning but the renewing of her mone For first shée mourned for the departing of his soule out of his body and now shée lamented the taking of his body out of the graue being punished with two wreckes of her onely welfare both full of misery but the last without all comfort The first originall of her sorrow grew because shée could not enioy him aliue yet this sorrow had some solace for that shée hoped to haue enioyed him dead But when shée considered that his life was already lost and now not so much as his body could be found shee was wholly daunted with dismay sith this vnhappinesse admitted no helpe Shee doubted least the loue of her master the onely portion that her Fortune had left her would soon languish in her cold brest if it neither had his wordes to kindle it nor his presence to cherishe it nor so much as his dead ashes to rake it vp Shee had prepared her spices and prouided her ointments to pay him the last Tribute of eternall dueties And though Ioseph and Nichodemus had already bestowed a hundred pounds of Mirthe and Aloes which was in quantity sufficient in quality of the best and as well applied as art and deuotion could deuise yet such was her loue that shée would haue thought any quantity too little except hers had béene added the best in quality too meane except hers were with it and no diligence in applying it inough except her seruice were in it Not that shée was sharpe in censuring that which others had done but because loue made her so desirous to doe all her selfe that though all had béene done that shée could deuise and as wel as shee could wishe yet vnlesse shee were an Actor it would not suffice sith loue is as eager to bee vttered in effects as it is zealous in true affection Shee came therefore now meaning to enbalme his corps as shee had before annointed his feet and to preserue the reliques of his body as the only remnant of all her blisse And as in the spring of her felicitie shee had washed his feete with her teares be wailing vnto him the death of her own soule so nowe shee came in the depth of her misery to shedde them a freshe for the death of his body But when she saw the graue open and the body taken out the labour of embalming was preuented but the cause of her wéeping increased and he that was wanting to her obsequies was not wanting to her teares and though shée founde not whom to annoint yet found she whom to lament And not without cause did Mary complaine finding her first anguishe doubled with a second griefe and being surcharged with two most violent sorrowes in one afflicted heart For hauing setled her whole affection vppon Christ and summoned all her desires and wishes into the loue of his goodnes as nothing could equall his worthes so was ther not in the whole world either a greater benefit for her to enioy then himselfe or any greater domage possible then his losse The murdering in his one death the life of all lifes left a general death in all liuing creatures and his disease not onely disrobed our nature of her most roiall ornaments but impouerished the world of
his death and the day of his resurrection But alas let her heauinesse excuse her and the vnwontednes of the miracle plead her pardon sith dread and amazement hath dulled her senses distempered her thoughts discouraged her hopes awaked her passions and left her no other liberty but onely to wéepe Shée wept therefore being onely able to wéepe And As shee was weeping shee stouped down and looked into the Monument and she saw two Angels in white sitting one at the head and an other at the feete where the body of Iesus had beene layd They said vnto her Woman why wepest thou O Mary thy good hap excéedeth thy hope and where thy last sorrow was bred thy first succour springeth Thou diddest séeke but one and thou hast found two A dead body was thy errand and thou hast light vppon two aliue Thy wéeping was for a man and thy téars haue obtained Angels Suppresse now thy sadnes and refresh thy heart with this good Fortune These angels inuite thée to a parlée they séem to take pitty of thy case and it may be they haue some happy tidinges to tell thée Thou hast hitherto sought in vaine as one either vnséene or vnknown or at the least vnregarded sith the party thou séekest neither tendereth thy teares nor aunswereth thy cries nor relenteth with thy lamentings Either he doth not heare or hée will not helpe he hath peraduenture left to loue thée and is loath to yéelde thée reliefe therefore take such comfort as thou findest sith thou art not so lucky as to finde that which thou couldest wish Remember what they are where they sitte from whence they come and to whom they speake They are Angels of peace neither sent with out cause nor séen but of fauour They sit in the Tombe to shew that they are no straungers to thy losse They come from Heauen from whence all happy newes descend They spake to thy selfe as though they had some speciall Embassage to deliuer vnto thée Aske them therfore of thy maister for they are likeliest to returne thée a desired aunswere Thou knewest him too well to thinke that hell hath deuoured him thou hast long sought and hast not found him in earth and what place so fit for him as to be in heauen Aske therefore of those Angels that came newly from thence and it may be their report will highly please thée Or if thou art resolued to continue thy séeking who can better helpe thée then they that are as swift as thy thought as faithfull as thy owne heart and as louing to thy Lord as thou thy selfe Take therefore thy good hap least it be taken away from thée and content thée with Angels sith thy maister hath giuen thée ouer But alas what meaneth this change how happeneth this strange alteration The time hath béene that fewer teares would haue wrought greater effecte shorter séeking haue sooner found and lesse paine haue procured more pitty The time hath ven that thy annointing his féete was accepted and praised thy washing them with teares highly commended and thy wyping them with thy haire most curteously construed How then doth it now fall out that hauing brought thy swéete oiles to annoint his whole body hauing shed as many teares as would haue washed more then his féet and hauing not only thy haire but thy heart ready to serue him he is not moued with all these duties so much as once to affoorde thée his sight Is it not he that reclaimed thee from thy wandring courses that dispossessed thee of thy damned inhabitants and from the wildes of sinne recouered thee into the folde and family of his flocke was not thy house his home his loue thy life thy selfe his Disciple did not hee defend thée against the Pharisee pleade for thée against Iudas and excuse thée to thy sister In summe was not hee thy patron and protector in all thy necessities O good Iesu what hath thus estranged thée from her Thou hast heretofore so pittied her teares that séeing them thou couldest not refraine thine In one of her greatest agonies for loue of her that so much loued thée thou diddest recall her dead brother to life turning her complaint into vnexpected contentment And we knowe that thou doest not vse to alter course without cause nor to chastice without desert Thou art the first that inuitest and the last that forsakest neuer leauing but first left and euer offering til thou art refused How then hath shée forfaited thy fauour Or with what trespasse hath shée earned thy ill will That shée neuer left to loue thée her heart will depose her hand will subscribe her tongue will protest her teares wil testify and her séeking doth assure And alas is her particular case so farre from all example that thou shouldest rather alter thy nature then shée better her Fortune and be to her as thou art to no other For our parts since thy last shew of liking towardes her we haue found no other faulte in her but that shée was the eareliest vp to séeke thée readiest to annoint thée and when shée saw that thou wert remoued shée forthwith did wéepe for thée and presently went for helpe to finde thée And whereas those two that shée brought being lesse careful of thée then fearefull of themselues when they had séene what shée had sayd sodainely shrunke away behold shée stil staieth shée still séeketh shée still wéepeth If this be a fault we cannot deny but this shée doth and to this shée perswadeth yea this she neither meaneth to amend nor requesteth thée to forgiue if therfore thou reckōnest this as punishable punished shée must be sith no excuse hath effect wher the fact pleadeth guilty But if this import not any offence but a true affection and be rather a good desire then an euil desert why art thou so hard a Iudge to so soft a creature requiting her loue with thy losse and suspending her hopes in this vnhappinesse Are not those thy wordes I loue those that loue mee and who watcheth earely for me shall finde mee Why then doth not this woman finde thée that was vp so early to watch for thée Why doest thou not with like repay her that bestoweth vppon thée her whole loue sith thy word is her warrant and thy promise her due debt Art thou lesse moued with these tears that shée sheddeth for thée her onely Maister then thou wert with those that shée shed before thée for her deceased brother Or doth her loue to thy seruaunt more please thée then her loue to thy selfe Our loue to others must not be to them but to thée in them For he loueth thée so much the lesse that loueth anything with thée that he loueth not for thée If therefore shée then deserued wel for louing thée in an other shée deserueth better now for louing thée in thy selfe and if in déede thou louest those that loue thée make thy worde good to her that is so far in loue with thée Of thy selfe thou hast
and the losse is manifest My eies haue answered them with teares my brest with sighes and my heart with trouble what néed I also punish my toonge or wound my soule with a newe rehear sall of so dolefull a mischance They haue taken away O vnfortunate worde They haue taken away my Lord. O afflicted woman why thinkest thou this word so vnfortunate It may be the Angels haue taken him more solemnly to entombe him and sith earth hath done her last homage happily the Quires of heauen are also descended to defray vnto him their funerall duties It may be that the Centurian and the rest that did acknowledge him on the crosse to be the sonne of God haue béene touched with remorse and goared with the pricke of conscience and being desirous to satisfie for their heinous offence haue nowe taken him more honourably to interre him and by their seruice to his bodie sought forgiuenesse and sued the pardon of their guiltie soules Peraduenture some secret Disciples haue wrought this erploit and maugre the watch taken him from hence with due honour to preserue him in some fitter place and therefore being yet vncertaine who hath him there is no such cause to lament sith the greater probabilities march on the better side why doest thou call sorrowe before it commeth without which calling it commeth on thee too fast yea why doest thou create sorrow where it is not sith thou hast true sorrowes inough though imagined sorrowes helpe not It is follie to suppose the worst where the best may be hoped for and euerie mishappe bringeth griefe enough with it though wée with our friendes doe not goe first to méete it Quiet then thy selfe till time trie out the trueth and it may be thy feare will proue greater then thy misfortune But I know thy loue is litle helped with this lesson for the more it loueth the more it feareth and the more desirous to enioy the more doubtfull it is to loose It neyther hath measure in hopes nor meane in feares hoping the best vpon the least surmises and fearing the worst vppon the weakest grounds And yet both fearing and hoping at one time neither feare withholdeth hope from the highest atteÌ„pts nor hope can strengthen feare against the smallest suspitions but maugre all feares loues hopes will worke to the highest pitch and maugre al hopes loues feares will stoupe to the lowest downcome To bidde thée therefore hope is not to forbid thée to feare and though it may be for the best that thy Lord is taken from thée yet sith it may also be for the worst that wil neuer content thée Thou thinkest hope doth inough to kéepe thy heart from breaking feare little enough to force thée to wéeping sith it is as likely that he hath béen taken away vpon hatred by his enimies as vpon loue by his friendes For hitherto saiest thou his friends haue all failed him and his foes preuailed against him as they y t would not defend him aliue are lesse likely to regard him dead so they that thought one life too litle to take from him are not vnlikely after deathe to wreake new rage vpon him And though this doubt were not yet whosoeuer hath taken him hath wronged me in not acquainting me with it for to take away mine without my consent can neither be offered without iniurie nor suffered without sorrow And as for Jesus he was my Jesus my Lord and my maister Hée was mine because he was giuen vnto me and borne for me he was the author of my being and so my father hée was the worker of my wel doing and therefore my Sauiour hee was the price of my ransome and thereby my redeemer Hee was my Lord to command me my maister to instruct mée my pastor to féede mée He was mine because his loue was mine and when he gaue me his loue hee gaue me himselfe sith loue is no gift except the giuer be giuen with it yea it is no loue â—â—lesse it be as liberall of that it is as of that it hath Finally if the meat bee mâ—â—â— that I eate the life mine wherewith I liue or he mine all whose life labours and death were mine then dare I boldly say that Iesus is mine sith on his bodie I feede by his loue I liue and to my good without any neede of his owne hath hee liued laboured and died And therefore though his Disciples though the Centurion yea though the Angels haue taken him they haue done me wrong in defeating mee of my right sith I neuer meane to resigne my interest But what if he hath takeÌ„ a way himself wilt thou also lay vniustice to his charge Thogh he be thine yet thine to command not to obey thy Lord to dispose of thee and not to be by thée disposed and therefore as it is no reason that the seruant should be maister of his maisters secretes so might hee and peraduenture so hath he remoued without acquainting thee whether reuiuing himselfe with the same power with which he raised thy dead brother and fulfilling the wordes that he often vttered of his resurrection It may be thou wilt say that a gift once giuen cannot bee reuoked and therefore though it were before in his choise not to giue himselfe vnto thée yet the deede of gift being once made he cannot be taken from thee neyther can the doner dispose of his gift without the possessors priuitie And sith this is a rule in the lawe of nature thou maiest imagine it a breach of equitie and an impeachment of thy right to conuey himselfe away without thy consent But to this I will aunswere thée with thine owne ground For if he be thine by being giuen thée once thou art his by as many gifts as daies and therefore hee being absolute owner of thée is likewise full owner of whatsoeuer is thine and consequently because he is thine hee is also his owne and so nothing liable vnto thée for taking himselfe from thée Yea but he is my Lord saiest thou and in this respect bound to kéepe me at the least bound not to kill me and sith killing is nothing but a seuering of life from the body he being the chiefe life both of my soule and body cannot possibly go from me but he must with a double death kill me And therefore he being my Lord and bound to protect his seruant it is against all lawes that I should be thus forsaken But O cruel tongue why pleadest thou thus against him whose case I feare me is so pitifull y t it might rather moue all tongues to plead for him being peradueÌ„ture in their hands whose vnmercifull hearts make themselues merrie with his miserie and build the triumphes of their impious victorie vpon the dolefull ruines of his disgraced glorie And now O griefe because I know not where he is I caÌ„not imagine how to helpe for they haue taken him away and I knowe not where they haue put him Alas Mary why dost thou consume
place where he is trouble thée sith it cannot be worse then his graue and infinite coniectures make probability that it cannot but be better But suppose that he were yet remaining in earth and taken by others out of his tombe what would it auail thée to know where he were If he bée with such as loue and honor him they will be as wary to kéepe him as they are loth he should be lost and therfore will either often change or neuer confesse the place knowing secresie to be the surest locke to defende so great a treasure If those haue taken him that malice and maligne him thou maist wel iudge him past thy recouery whē he is once in the possession of so cruell owners Thou wouldest happely make sale of thy liuing and séek him by ransome But it is not likely they woulde sell him to be honoured that bought him to be murdered If price would not serue thou wouldest fall to praier But how can praier soften such flint hearts and if they scorned so many tears offered for his life as little will they regard thy intreaty for his corse If neither price nor praier would preuaile thou wouldest attempt it by force But alas séely souldier thy arms are too weak to manage weapons and the issue of thy assault would be the losse of thy selfe If no other way would helpe thou wouldest purloine him by stealth and thinke thy selfe happy in contriuing such a theft O Mary thou art deceiued for malice will haue many lockes and to steale him from a théefe that could steale him from the watch requireth more cunning in the art then thy wāt of practise can affoorde thée Yet if these be the causes that thou enquirest of the place thou she west the force of thy rare affection and deseruest the Laurell of a perfect louer But to féele more of their sweetnes I will pound these spices and dwell a while in the peruse of thy resolute feruour And first can thy loue enrich thée when thy goods are gone or dead corse repay the value of thy ransome Because he had neither bed to be borne in nor graue to be buried in wilt thou therefore rather be poore with him then rich without him Againe if thou hadst to sue to some cruell Scribe or Pharisée that is to a heart boyling in rancor with a heart burning in loue for a thing of him aboue all things detested of thée aboue all thinges desired as his enemie to whome thou suelt and his friend for whom thou intreatest canst thou think it possible for this sute to speed Could thy loue repaire thée from his rage or suche a tyraunt stoupe to a womans teares Thirdly if thy Lord might be recouered by violence art thou so armed in complete loue that thou thinkest it sufficient harnesse or doth thy loue indue thee with such a ludithes spirite or lend thée such Sampsons lockes that thou canst breake open huge gates or foyle whole armies Is thy loue so sure a shield that no blowe can breake it or so sharpe a dint that no force can withstand it Can it thus alter sexe change nature and excéed all Arte But of all other courses wouldest thou aduenture a theft to obtaine thy desire A good déede must be well done and a worke of mercie without breath of iustice It were a sinne to steale a prophane treasure but to steale an annointed prophet can be no lesse then a sacriledge And what greater staine to thy Lord to his doctrine and to thy selfe then to sée thée his Disciple publikely executed for an open theft O Mary vnlesse thy loue haue better warrant then common sence I can hardly sée how such designementes can be approued Approoued saith shee I would to God the execution were as easie as the proofe and I should not so long bewaile my vnfortunate losse To others it séemeth ill to prefer loue before riches but to loue it séemeth worse to preferre any thing before it selfe Cloath him with plates of siluer that shiuereth for cold or fill his purse with treasure that pineth for hunger and sée whether the plates will warm him or the treasure féed him No no he will giue all his plates for a wollen garment and all his mony for a meals meate Euerie supply fitteth not with euery néed and the loue of so swéete a Lord hath no correspondēce in worldly wealth Without him I were poore though Empresse of the worlde With him I were riche though I had nothing else They that haue moste are accounted richest and they thought to haue moste that haue all they desire and therfore as in him alone is the vttermost of my desires so hee alone is the summe of all my substance It were too happie an exchaunge to haue God for goodes and too rich a pouerty to inioy the only treasure of the world If I were so fortunate a begger I woulde disdaine Solomons wealth and my loue being so highly enriched my life shoulde neuer complaine of want And if all I am worth would not reach to his ransome what should hinder me to saek him by intreaty Thogh I were to sue to the greatest tyrant yet the equitie of my sute is more then halfe a grant If many droppes soften the hardest stones why shoulde not many teares supple the moste stonie heartes what anger so fiery that may not be quenched with eye water sith a weeping suppliant rebateth the edge of more then a Lions fury My sute it selfe woulde sue for me and so dolefull a corse woulde quicken pitie in the moste iron heartes But suppose that by touching a ranckled sore my touch should anger it and my petition at the first incense him that heard it he would percase reuile mée in wordes and then his owne iniurie would recoyle with remorse and be vnto me a patron to procéed in my request And if he should accompanie his wordes with blowes and his blowes with wounds it may be my stripes would smart in his guilty minde and his conscience bléede in my bléeding wounds and my innocent bloud so entender his adamant heart that his owne inward feelings would plead my cause and peraduenture obtayne my sute But if through extremity of spite he should happen to kill me his offence might easely redound to my felicity For he would be as carefull to hide whom he had vniustly murdered as him whom he had felonously stollen and so it is like that he would hide me in the same place wher he had layd my Lord and as he hated vs both for one cause him for challenging and me for acknowledging that he was the Messias so would he vse vs both after one manner And thus what comfort my body wanted my soule should enioy in séeing a part of my selfe partner of my Maisters miserye with whome to be miserable I reckon a higher fortune then without him to be most happy And if no other means would serue to recouer him but force I sée no reason why it
hope aliue which was that for a small reliefe of her other afflictions she might haue annointed thy body that hope is also dead since thy body is remoued and shee nowe standeth hopelesse of all helpe and demandest thou why shée wéepeth and for whome shee séeketh Full well thou knowest that thée onely shee desireth thée onely she loueth all things besides thée she contemneth and canst thou find in thy heart to aske hir whom she séeketh To what end O sweet Lord doest thou thus suspend hir longinges prolong hir desires and martir hir with these tedious delaies Thou onely art the fortresse of hir faint faith the anker of her wauering hope the very center of her vehement loue to thée she trusteth vpon thée she relieth and of her selfe she wholly dispaireth She is so earnest in seeking thée that shée can neither seeke nor thinke any other thing and all her wittes are so busied in musing vppon thée that they draw all attention from her senses wherewith they should discerne thée Being therfore so attentiue to that she thinketh what maruell though shee marke not whome shée séeth and sith thou hast so perfect notice of her thought and she so litle power to discouer thée by sense why demandest thou for whome shée séeketh or why shee wéepeth Doest thou looke that she should answer for thée I séeke or for thée I wéep vnlesse thou wilt vnbend her thoughtes that her eyes may fully sée thée or while thou wilt be concealed doest thou expect y t she should be able to know thee But O Mary not without cause doth he aske thée this question Thou wouldest haue him aliue and yet thou wéepest because thou doest not finde him dead Thou art sorie that hee is not here and for this verie cause thou shouldst rather be glad For if he were dead it is moste likely hee should bee héere but not being héere it is a signe that hée is aliue Hee reioyceth to be out of his graue and thou wéepest because hee is not in it Hee will not lie any where and thou sorrowest for not knowing wherehe lieth Alas why bewaylest thou his glorie as an iniurie the reuiuing of his bodie as the robberie of his corse Hee being aliue for what dead man mournest thou and he being present whose absence doest thou lament But shee taking him to be a Gardiner said vnto him O Lord if thou hast carried him from hence tell me where thou hast laid him and I will take him away O woonderfull effectes of Maries loue if loue be a languor howe liueth she by it If loue be her life how dieth shée in it if it bereued her of sence how did she sée y e Angels if it quickned her sense why knewe shee not Jesus doest thou séeke for one whome when thou hast found thou knowest not or if thou doest know him when thou findest him why doest thou séeke when thou hast him Behold Jesus is come and the partie whom thou seekest is he that talketh with thee O Mary call vp thy wittes and open thine eyes Hath thy Lord liued so long laboured so much dyed with such paine and shedde such showres of bloud to come to no higher preferment then to bee a Gardiner And hast thou bestowed suche cost so much sorrow and so many feares for no better man then a silly Gardiner Alas is this soarie Garden the best inheritāce that thy loue can affoord him or a Gardiners office the highest dignitie that thou wilt allow him It had bin better he had liued to béen Lord of thy castle then with his death so dearly to haue bought so small a purchase But thy mistaking hath in it a farther mistery Thou thinkst not amisse though thy sight bee deceiued For as our first father in the state of grace innocency was placed in the garden of pleasure the first office allotted him was to be a Gardener so the first man that euer was in glorie appeareth first in a Garden and presenteth himselfe in a gardeners likenes that the beginnings of glory might resemble the entrance of innocencie and grace And as a Gardener was the foyle of mankind the parent of sinne and author of death so is this Gardiner the raysor of our ruines the ransome of our offences and the restorer of life In a Garden Adam was deceiued and taken captiue by the diuell In a Garden Christ was betraied and taken prisoner by the Jewes In a Garden Adam was condemned to earn his bread with the sweate of his browes And after a frée gift of the bread of Angels in the last supper in a Garden Christ did earne it vs with a bloudy sweat of his whole body By disobedient eating the fruite of a trée our right to that Garden was by Adam forfeited and by the obedient death of Christ vpon a trée a farre better right is nowe recouered When Adam had sinned in the garden of plesure hee was there apparelled in dead beastes skinnes that his garment might betoken his graue and his liuerie of death agrée with his condemnation to die And nowe to defray the debt of that sin in this garden Christ lay clad in the dead mans shrowd and buried in his Tombe that as our harmes began so they might ende and such places and meanes as were the premises to our miserie might be also the conclusions of our misfortune For this did Christ in the canticles inuite vs to a heauenly banquet after hee was come into this garden and had reaped his myrrh and his spices to forewarne vs of the ioy that after this haruest should presently insue namely when hauing sowed in this garden a body the mortalitie whereof was signified by those spices he now reaped the same neither capeable of death nor subiect to corruption For this also was Mary permitted to mistake that we might be informed of the mystery and see how aptly the course of our redemption did answere the processe of our condemnation But though he be the gardiner that hath planted the Trée of grace and restored vs to the vse and eating of the fruites of life Though it be he that soweth his gifts in our souls quickning in vs the seedes of vertue rooting out of vs the wéedes of sinne Yet is he neuerthelesse the same Jesus he was the borowed presence of a meane laborer neither altreth his persō nor diminisheth his right to his diuine titles Why then canst thou not as well sée what in trueth he is as what in shew he séemeth but because thou seest more then thou diddest beléeue findest more then thy faith serued thee to seeke and for this though thy loue was worthy to sée him yet thy faith was vnworthy to know him Thou diddest seeke for him as dead and therfore dost not know him seing him aliue and because thou beléeuest not of him as hée is thou doest onely sée him as he séemeth to be I cannot say thou art faultlesse sith thou art so lame in thy beliefe
sweetnesse therefore it is that maketh this word so sweet and for loue of him thou repeatest it so often because hee in the like case said of thy brother where haue you put him O how much doest thou affect his person that findest so sweete a feeling in his phrase Howe much desirest thou to see his countenance that with so great desire pronouncest his wordes And howe willingly wouldest thou kisse his sacred feet that so willingly vtterest his shortest speeches But what meanest thou to make so absolute a promise and so boldly to say I will take him away Ioseph was afraid and durst not take downe his body from the crosse but by night yea and then also not without Pilats warrant But thou neyther staiest till night nor regardest Pilat but stoutly promisest that thou thy selfe wilt take him away What if hee be in the Pallace of the high Priest and some suche mayd as made Saint Peter denie his maister to beginne to question with thée wilt thou theÌ„ stand to these words I wil take him away Is thy courage so high aboue thy kinde strength so far beyond thy sexe and thy loue so much without measure that thou neither remembrest that al women are weak nor that thou thy selfe art but a woman Thou exemptest no place thou preferrest no person thou speakest without feare thou promisest without condition thou makest no exception as though nothing were impossible that thy loue suggesteth But as the darknesse could not fright thée from setting foorth before day nor the watch feare thee from comming to the Tombe as thou diddest resolue to breake open the seales though with danger of thy life and to remoue the stone from the graues mouth though thy force could not serue thée so what maruell though thy loue being nowe more incensed with the fresh wound of thy losse it resolue vpon any though neuer so hard aduentures Loue is not ruled with reason but with loue It neither regardeth what can be nor what shall be done but onely what it selfe desireth to doe No difficultie can stay it no impossibilitie appale it Loue is title iust enough and armour strong enough for all assaultes and it self a reward of all labours It asketh no recompence it respecteth no commodity Loues fruits are loues effects and the gaynes the paynes It considereth behoofe more then benefite and what in dutie it shoulde not what in deede it can But how can nature be so mastered with affection that thou canst take such delight and carrye such loue to a dead corse The mother how tenderly soeuer shee loued her childe aliue yet shée can not choose but loath him dead The most louing spouse can not endure the presence of her deceasâ—d husband and whose embracements were delightsom in life are euer most hatefull after death Yea this is the nature of all but principally of women that the very conceite much more the sight of the departed striketh into them so fearful and vgly impressions and stirreth in them so great a horrour that notwithstanding the most vehement loue they thinke long till the house be ridde of their very dearest friends when they are once attired in deaths vnlouely liueries How theÌ„ canst thou endure to take vp his corse in thy handes and to carry it thou knowest not thy selfe how far being especially so torne and mangled and consequently the more likely in so long time to be tainted Thy sister was vnwilling that the graue of her owne brother should be opened and yet he was shrowded in shéetes embalmed with spices and died an ordinary death without anye wound bruse or other harme that might hasten his corruption But this corse hath neither shroud nor spice sith these are all to be séene in the Tombe and there is not a part in his body but had some helpe to further it to decay and art not thou afraide to see him yea to touch him yea to embrace and carry him naked in thy armes If thou haddest remembred Gods promise that His Saintes shoulde not see corruption If thou haddest beléeued that his Godhead remaining with his body could haue preserued it from perishing thy faith had ben more worthye of praise but thy loue lesse worthy of admiration sith the more corruptible thou diddest conceiue him the more combers thou diddest determine to ouercome the greater was thy loue in being able to coÌ„quer them But thou wouldest haue thought thy ointments rather harms then helpes if thou hadst béene setled in that beléef and for so heauenly a corse embalmed with God all earthly spices woulde haue séemed a disgrace If likewise thou haddest firmely trusted vppon his resurrection I should lesse maruail at thy constant designement sith all hazards in taking him should haue beene with vsury repaid if lying in thy lap thou mightest haue séene him reuiued and his disfigured and dead body beautified in thy armes with a diuine maiesty If thou hadst hoped so good Fortune to thy watery eies that they might haue beene first cleared with the beames of his desired light or that his eies might haue blessed thee with the first fruites of their glorious lookes If thou hadst imagined any likelihood to haue made happy thy dying hart with taking in the first gaspes of his liuing breath or to haue heard the first words of his pleasing voice Finally if thou hadst thought to haue séen his iniuries turned to honours the markes of his misery to ornaments of glory and the depth of thy heauinesse to such a height of felicity what so euer thou hadst don to obtaine him had béen but a mite for a million and too slender a price for so soueraigne a peniworth But hauing no such hopes to vphold thee and so many motiues to plunge thée in dispaire how could thy loue be so mighty as neither to féele a womans feare of so deformed a corse nor to thinke the weight of the burthen too heauy for thy féeble armes nor to bee amated with a world of daungers that this attempt did carry with it But affection can not feare whom it affecteth loue féeleth no load of him it loueth neither can true friendshippe be frighted from rescuing so affied a friend What meanest thou then O comfort of her life to leaue so constant a well willer so long vncomforted and to punish her so much that so well deserueth pardon Dally no longer with so known a loue which so many trials auouch most true And sith shée is nothing but what it pleaseth thée let her taste the benefite of being onely thine Shée did not follow the tide of thy better Fortune to shift saile when the streame did alter course Shée began not to loue thee in thy life to leaue thée after death Neither was shée such a guest at thy table that meant to be a straunger in thy necessity Shée lefte thee not in thy lowest ebbe shee reuolted not from thy last extremity In thy life shee serued thee with her goods In thy death shee departed
disperpling the cloudes of melancholie cured the letargie and breaketh the dead sleep of her astonied senses Shée therefore rauished with his voice and impatient of delaies taketh his talke out of his mouth and to his first and yet onely worde aunswered but one other calling him Rabboni that is Maister And then sodaine ioy rowsing all other passions shée coulde no more procéed in her own then giue him leaue to goe fore ward with his spéech Loue would haue spoken but feare enforced silence Hope frameth the words but doubt melteth them in the passage and whē her inward conceits striued to come out her voice trembled her tongue faltered her breath failed In fine teares issued in liew of words and déep sighes in stead of long sentēces the eie supplying the mouths default and the heart pressing out the vnsillabled breath at once which the conflict of her disagréeing passions would not suffer to be sorted into the seuerall soundes of intelligible speeches For such is there estate that are sicke with a surfet of sodaine ioy for the attaining of a thing vehementlye desired For as desire is euer vshered by hope and waited on by feare so is it credulous in entertaining coniectures but hard in grounding a firme beliefe And though it be apt to admitte the least shadow of wished comfort yet the hotter the desire is to haue it the more perfect assurance it requireth for it which so long as it wanteth the first newes or apparaunce of that which is in request is rather an Alarum to summon vp all passions then a retraite to quiet the desire For as hope presumeth the best and inuiteth ioy to gratulate the good successe so feare suspecteth it too good to be true calleth vp sorrowe to bewaile the vncertainety And while these enterchange obiections and answeres somtimes feare falleth into despaire and hope riseth into repining anger and thus the skirmishe still continueth till euidence of proofe conclude the controuersie Mary therefore though shée sodainly aunswered vpon notice of his voice yet because the nouelty was so strāge his person so chaunged his presence so vnerpected and so many miracles laid at once before her amazed eies shée found a sedition in her thoughts till more earnest vewing him erempted them from all doubt And then though wordes woulde haue broken out and her hart sent into his the dueties that shée ought him yet euery thought striuing to be first vttered and to haue the first roome in his gracious hearing shée was forced as an indifferent arbitrer among thē to seal them vp al vnder silence by suppressing spéech and to supplye the want of words with more significant actions And therefore running to the haunt of her chiefest delights and falling at his sacred feete shée offered to bath them with teares of ioye and to sanctifie her lippes with kissing his once grieuons but now most glorious wounds She staied not for any more words being now made blessed with the word himselfe thinking it a greater benefite at once to féede al her wishes in the homage honour and embracing of his féet then in the often hearing of his lesse comfortable talke For as the nature of loue coueteth not onely to be vnited but if it were possible wholly transfourmed out of it selfe into the thing it loueth So doth it most affect that which most vniteth and preferreth the least coniunction before any distant contentment And therefore to sée him did not suffiss her to heare him did not quiet her to speak with him was not inough for her and except shée might touch him nothing could please her But though she humbly fell down at his féete to kisse them yet Christ did forbidde her saying Do not touch me for I am not yet ascended to my Father O Iesu what mistery is in this Being dead in sinne shée touched thy mortall féete that were to die for her sake being now aliue in grace may shée not touch thy glorious féete that are no lesse for her benefite reuiued Shée was once admitted to annointe thy head and is shée now vnworthy of accesse to thy féete Doest thou nowe commaund her frō that for which thou wert wont to commend her and by praising the déede diddest moue her often to doe it Sith other women shall touch thée why hath shée a repulse yea sith shée her selfe shall touch thée hereafter why is shée now reiected what meanest thou O Lord by thus debarring her of so desired a duty and sith among al thy disciples thou hast vouchsafed her with such a prerogatiue as to honour her eies with thy first sight and her eares with thy first wordes why deniest thou the priuiledge of thy first embracing If the multitude of her tears haue wonne that fauour for her eies and her longing to heare thée so great a recompence to her eares why doest thou not admitte her handes to touch and her mouth to kisse thy holye féete sith the one with many plaintes and the other with their readinesse to all seruices seeme to haue earned no lesse reward But notwithstanding all this thou preuentest the effect of her offer with for bidding her to touch thee as if thou haddest said O Mary know the difference betwéene a glorious and a mortall body betwéene the condition of a momentary and of an eternall life For sith the immortality of the body and the glory both of body and soule are the endowments of an heauenly inhabitant and the rights of an other world think not this fauour to se me here ordinary nor leaue to touch me a common thing It were not so great a wonder to sée the starres fall from their Sphers and the Sunne forsake heauen and to come within the reach of a mortall arme as for me that am not only a cittizen but the soueraign of saints and the sunne whose beames are the Angels blisse to shew my self visible to the pilgrims of this world and to display eternall beauties to corruptible eies Though I be not yet ascended to my father I shall shortly ascend and therfore measure not thy demeanour towardes me by the place where I am but by that which is due vnto me And then thou wilt rather with reuerence fall down a farre off then with such familiarity presume to touch me Doest thou not beléeue my former promises hast thou not a constant proofe by my present wordes are not thy eies and eares sufficient testimonies but that thou must also haue thy handes face witnesses of my presence Touch me not O Mary for if I doe deceiue thy sight or delude thy hearing I can as easely beguile thy hand and frustrat thy féeling Or if I be true in any one beléeue me in all and embrace me first in a firme faith and then thou shalt touch me with more worthy hands It is now necessary to weane thée from the comfort of my externall presence that thou maist learne to lodge mee in the secretes of thy heart and teach thy thoughts to