would yee bee amazed if yee must necessarily appeare before God Allmighty within a moment to vndergoe the sentence of his judgment Which of either ought to bee more deere vnto yee the beauty of your bodyes or your soules healthes Your bodyes conceiu'd of corruption and borne vnder the imperfection in which they liue can they eleuate themselves to make comparison with 〈…〉 created by the hand 〈…〉 â—llmighty through his 〈…〉 charity and for his 〈…〉 Yet and againe Oh! prodigalls of misery of infirmity of meere weaknes indeed who misprise nothing els but your soules safety and are not passionatly tender for aught els but for your bodyes Them you adorne oftentimes with new clothes with nice robes without weighing that they consume all which they toutch and ruine all which decke them Yee doe well to bestow on them haire to adorne their bald heads with a perrewig The wrinckles on their foreheads make appeare atlenght the borowed gally pot of roses to shew vs clearely the thornes wherewith their age is stated in Conserue your beautyes with the art of limbeck renew your teeth each yeare hidet your limber and flaggy brests vnder a handkercher allsoe shrowd somwhat which may make them seeme round and hard the default of such vprisings would bee valiew'd as a most apparant deformity It would destroy all Then and Time who trayleth along all things who spareth none maketh an other breach such a ruine which can never bee repair'd I referre it to your quickned to your more liuely spirits hitherto drowned with sleepe to the recovery of your better reason long since strayed Whither this condition of life which yee lead on Earth can conduct yee to Heaven The third hower is even at hand at it's period in all which time yee haue been mervaillously serious but in what to put on your new clothes and your bands according to the fashion May I bee bold to enquire of yee what therein yee meane If it bee to shew your selues at the Revells and there to dance make not hast It was tould mee that shee who mooved for that meeting is surprised by a continual fever and the smale pox Alas what a chang of Medaile Yet faile not to visite her Her affrighting malady will teach yee to despise the baits inticements and beautyes which yee valiew soe highly Yesterday morning shee contended for the golden apple with the fairest found amongst yee this euening the curtaine of her bed is drawen to hide her for feare least that shee hurt her adorers Oh rare Beauty It 's to flatter thee too much to compare thee to the wind and to the smoke for thow art as it seemeth vnto mee much less in valiew The Revells yet goe on I meane the dancing to which Nature even from your cradles invited yee and to which Time is the violin for by it's continuall motion it trayleth vs all together to our sepulcher I much doubt least the aire of this dance bee dissonant to your eares but how soeuer yee must dance to it there is no gainesay Further it 's time must bee kept strictly it 's all in cadence it 's musically compos'd indeed Oh! obserue well it's burthen there hath been much care employed on it Each thing flitteth and glydeth without ceasing beauty leadeth in cheif as the most fraile most brittle Yee may plainely see your shares your lotts yet must yee of necessity pass the residue of the day in somwhat which may seeme to please yee but I pray yee what is it Yee are euen now very busy Yee court your selues in the lookinglass as did the wife of Nero Oh! sayd this Princess that I might dye first rather then haue the least diffigure on my face shee considered not what then shee did how she liv'd nor what shee say'd when shee dayly made this prayer that each moment of each hower insensibly depriu'd her and robd her of parcell of her rare beauty Ladyes it 's not expedient that yee craue earnestly on Heauen for that dessigne since that all the instants of your liues are soe many secret theeues who subtlely rob yee of the principall and most curious enticing draughts of your faces I say subtlely beginning in the bud dawning or rather call it Sun-rising of your age yet thereof yee take noe heed By serious attention on their actions is raised suspition and hence are they partly detected to be theeues but in the evening they are expressly found no less then publick Pyrats who cary with them all away together with your selues Oh! is it not even so what I now relate that theise trueths ought to be sensible vnto yee in such sort and manner as that yee should not euer meditate on aught else since of such like serious and tender speculations depend your safetyes for if yee present vnto your selues this variability this incessant circumvolution wherewith all things heere below are chained and to be buried one after an other within this whirlepoole of Time which devoureth all and that yee turning the other side of this medaile would ponder that soules onely are eternall would it bee even possible that yee shall not bee fully taken vp with the loue of Eternity It 's more then six thousand yeares since the Creation of this World and it scarcely seemeth to bee one day It 's very true that what 's pass'd is suddainely forgott But Ladyes this Eternity where God is the limit and measure is it which solely ought to entertaine all your affections all your desires and apportion all your hopes Bee yee pleased that even now I shew yee the meanes It 's allwayes to lend the eares of your phantasyes most attentiuely to this dreadfull Doomes Trumpet where the share of your happy Eternity or vnhappy is to bee seen determinatly Hope not a jot for favour there Iustice will beare the Scepter Trust not to your consanguinityes or affinityes your vertues will bee your fastest freinds Yee haue a great catch of them indeed yee haue a rare plea to say that yee are the daughters of a Prince the wife 's of Kings and the mothers of Emperours all theise circumstances serve you to your sepulchers Your works solely accomplish all your honours or your infamyes all your felicityes or your miseryes Oh! Ladyes how it 's to bee great persons and happy on earth yet there to pretend not aught Those who are borne who are destined for Heaven naturally haue such a disgust of Earth that thereon they spinne out their time as if they had no beeing there at all still lifting vp their spirits and their thoughts to this Eternity as to the onely good the sole Sanctuary The fruition of it is able to satisfy their desires compleately O Eternity thou art singularly gracious vnto mee that thou receivest favourably my good intentions my well meanings I will never cease to meditate on thee Oh Eternity how benigne hast thou been to mee in particular well may I say in making mee applye all the abilityes all the
Were yee awakened then would resound the direfull Trompet which call's yee to the day of Doome where each one must appeare in proper person and answeare for himself in particular Set before yee now the confusion and disorder yee shall bee brought vnto Is it not likely that yee will blush for shame as often as yee haue lay'd white on your faces will they not become pale with feare as often as yee haue lay'd on them red therein yee will betray your selues publiquely discovering the secrets of your guilty slights I excuse Narcissus in the fable where as it 's found that there hee became his own enamoured the adorer of himself How was hee deceived Alas poore Narcissus thou never didst discover thy self in that guise and manner But how can one pardon yee or in any wise conniue at the errours found in yee of the like nature Can yee make the least question of your defects since that yee are fully fraught with them And for your forgettfulness of your miseryes it 's strang What yee fe'ele a thousand times a day can not butt make yee confess that yee are not pasted of aught else nor formed of any other matter Awake yee then speedily redeeme your selues out of this earthly sloth wherewith your soules are burthned are indeed heavily oppressed and lending an attentiue eare vnto the dreadfull sound of this Trumpett which summoneth the Vnivers to judgment ponder seriously that it giveth not a vaine warning since that each moment an infinity of soules come thither in troupes See in what case yee would bee found if death should surprise yee even then when your faces are painted your phantasyes charged with vanityes and your soules soyled with a thousand kinds of crimes Oh God of justice who will not feare thee at the day of thy vengeance Belieue me Ladyes since that your death's are inevitable since that yee must expressely dye indeed sollicitously note your dayly demeanours It seemth to any one who observeth the care which yee employ on your faces that you liue for them onely The fairest of your company who yesterday dyed suddainely to day affrighted her vassals and though yee bee tender to maintaine her former beauty yet I assure mee that yee defye to come nigh her without stopping your noses Enstyle yee those horrours graces which appeare on her face those her eyes suncke those her wanne lippes I tell yee truely that hew of death that it's tincture would as it where even make mee hate your sexe were I not a fruite of the same tree The rootes and body of the tree are of the self same stamp The leaues and flowers are of the self same nature there is not a pinne to choose To apply my self more nigh vnto yee I will state it thus that there is amongst yee one who is the flower the mirrour the wonder of this age what honour what lucre what returne of profitt will hence accrew vnto her were it that one sing her praises in each tongue there will not be found aught but aire in diuers fashions Should one erect and consecrat vnto her Altars she must bee the sacrifice for having been the Idole Were it that shee could impose lawes to all mortalls she can not exempt her self from beeing subject to all their miseryes Were that courtly Fortune led her by the hand to the height of thrones the self same may occasion her to fall into the precipice of a lamentable prison there to dye through greif as it was to Darius his wife I l'e goe further namely that herrenowned beauty had the vant in the judgment of many ages what then where may be found her aduantag therein A thousand honours will bee ascribed vnto her What will the world render vnto her where shee is no more nor ever shall bee and likely shee shall then burn in Hell there so remaine eternally Her body I say shall bee food for wormes Her soule for the flames and somtimes her name and fame shall bee celebrated heere below Where lyeth the honour now My spirits doe suffer in theise contemplations through their conceiu'd feare and astonishment Ladyes in what a miserable condition are they who solely haue beauty for their share for their part What rate set yee on beauty alone I say it 's no other then to haue a gay posy of flowers wherewith one may deck and dress one's self trimmely in the morning during the space that they are fresh butt about noone indeed so soone one leaueth the regard as well of the flowers as stemme even so at the approach of night this admired obiect the self same ment is misprised of the Vnivers Truely what soever is say'd I find nothing good but Vertue the rest passeth by and vanisheth One of tall and comely stature stoopeth A cleere voice changeth And a polite wit sometimes looseth it self through Vanity Vertue is it which is solely stable solely permanent on it's one ground never giving vs over to our ruine Bee yee then Ladyes since so yee will needes haue it as faire as was Cypris say'd to bee in the fable yet yee will gaine but an apple for your recompense Admitt yee bee as beautifull as was Lucretia famed to bee in the History yet dyed shee through greif All the beautyes who haue appeared on the earth since the instant of it's hauing beeing make but à hillock of it's gross dust It 's vertue solely which lead's vs beyond our tombs But whither goe yee now so well accoutred so neately dressed If it bee to Confession to make that desseigne your good morrows since that it 's the first Sunday of the moneth then reflect how yee haue prepared your selues In lieu of examining your consciences before a Crucifixe yee haue been curious to enquire the state and being of your faces before a lookinglass Yee goe to craue pardon for your offences and a new trangress yee in the same which calls for justice Yee part I say from the Confession chaire to the Altar there to receiue your Saviour with soules more disposed to offend heere after then resolu'd to repent of what is passed in your former liues Is not this to crye for vengeance against your selues Me thinckst I see the rare sainct Francis to appeare with that perfect charity which enflamed him on earth and by the self same fire wherewith the Seraphins are surrounded and entertained happily in Heauen and yet hee thought himself vnworthy to take vpon him the order of Preisthood Yet will yee bee so audacious so shameless as to receiue your owne Creatour with impure mouths and prophane hearts the sole thought of this crime doth put my spirits out of frame caused through confusion and astonishment AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The second Dayes Worke. I Warne yee Ladyes in the name of God for it's himself who giveth yee notice that yee neither know the day nor hower when this Trumpet which calleth yee to his judgment will giue the last summon How is it with yee Thinck
dances and feasts each of them flitte incessantly it 's sure that death approatcheth nigh howerly Were all your dayes spent in the solemnityes which frequently are found when so that marriages are pompously celebrated Oh! how direfull would your last day appeare vnto yee since then must yee render account of your time past in laughter and dance Reflect a while how many are the dances and feasts wherein you haue entertained your times hence take counsaile secretly of your memoryes then vse your judgments and see what is left vnto yee yee shall never haue other for your pleasures And what will it not bee reproach vnto yee that yee sould your portions for nothing which yee pretended for Heauen I haue heard say that Lysimachus did exchang his Crown for a glass of water but when Ladyes obserue then it was so with him at that time when hee was even as it were reduc'd to ashes by the same heate of thirst which burn'd his entrailles in so much as beeing in such plight in rendring his dying spirit hee chang'd naught else but wind but breath for water But to see how remissely yee giue over your pretensions of eternall consolations of everlasting joyes for toyes such I may truely terme them which beare no other titles then of meere deprauations of your phantasyes of your imaginations Where is that self affection whence yee seeme to become so passionate Is it not to hate your selues that you affect not aught else but what doth flit it's not it when yee dye what will bee left yee of your passed time but a present greif and too late such whose anguishes will never cease Yee never dreame of other thing then to enquire after new pastimes to the ruine of your times Alas Nor consider yee aright that Time doth ruine yee for in seeking to pass it yee must find death How so is it possible that yee striue to pass over it which so swiftly glideth by yee as doe your phantasyes light though they bee they can not over take it And what more seriously yee ought to ponder is that all the time of your liues hath for its terme its limit a sole moment on wich though such doth depend for ever and a day your calamityes or your felicityes that 's a misery in torment which hath no end this a bliss in glory which will be permanent beyond all ages illimited indeed Oh! how pretious are the contemplations of the last period of our liues How is it so that thou art not as inseparable to our soules as is the shaddow to the body Oh! how sweet is the memory of our death Why is it so that our memory is not for the most part in such sort all taken vp with thee as that it never forget thee Oh Deuine is the meditation on Eternity Art thou not as sensible of our soules as our respiration is of the preseruation of our hearts How Dauid liketh mee well when hee cryed out aloud that hee had often meditated and that seriously indeed on the dayes for ever where God Allmighty is solely the light Oh faire dayes I wonder not that yee haue no night the Sunne which sheweth it self on yee is bright and borroweth not it's light no. Oh dayes most happy say no more or thus I am not one whit astonished if so bee it that yee remaine for ever the Planet which gaue yee a beeing possesseth Eternity in cheif in proper Truely my soule is extasyed rapt as it were in this sweet contemplation with such singular content it 's in such guise as that really it hath no desire to be otherwise Ladyes in a word it 's so that yee must arriue to the dayes end and returne thither from whence yee came in the morning for it 's but one dayes iourney Yee haue a fine time of it to bee lazing The Sunne who sendeth forth his beames for yee will that yee goe as fast as doth hee Dance laugh sleepe vntill noone day the shippe of your liues leaueth not it's cours it sayleth evermore incessantly on the sea of it's proper miseryes onely by the wind of your respirations it cannot stay it self vntill it arriue at the hauen of the sepulcher Ladyes it 's the hauen to which Doomes Trumpet doth summon yee Take yee heed least it bee not found a rock vnto yee where yee may encounter too dreadfull a shock the calamity thereby is for Eternity and repentance vnprofitable In good earnest at what time soever I think of Eternity nothing that 's wordly doth please mee I am not bold to say so much that each parcell of the Vniuers made such by a Soveraigne power and absolute from it having it's soule it 's beeing it 's life is not in it self admirable and adorable in it's Creatour but as there are so many obiects of change or of corruption my heart not well appeas'd sigheth after the fountaine of the lesser springs as after it which is onely capable to quench the thirst of my desirs Ladyes would yee but distast the word's pleasures yee haue a ready way to fill your best thoughts on the delights of Eternity for such is the inequality that common sense will lead yee will suffise to make yee misprise them and earnestly desire theise AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The fift Dayes Worke. COME to my ayde my Lord cryed out Saint Hierome a thousand times a daye I dye for feare at the resound of that Trumpet which doth summon mee to thy judgment Ah Ladyes if this glorious Saint amydst the deserts and amydst the austerityes of a life all devoted to pennance found himself reduced at a bay at a stand for feare and dread can yee frame with the vanityes of the world when yee doe but once meditate on the necessity of your deaths from which there 's not one exempt This innocent doth tremble at it and are yee not aught sensible of it This harmeless quakes persist yee senseless This just man I say againe cryed out incessantly for help and succour though hee where soe pure yet will yee not bee awakened though infirme by the example of his astonishment Can yee take rest in the ships of your bodyes and on the world 's tempestuous sea 's without fore discerning that Time who is the Pilott puts yee one the shore of your sepulcher Awake your selues then suddainely and as your liues are but dreames at your waking dreame againe what trades yee intend to vse whilst yee are in this long Eternity to which yee make your howerly approatch God hath giuen yee and each one of yee since the time wherein yee haue been of reason a pencill in your hands as to Zeuxis that renown'd Painter who painted according to his beleif n'aught else but Eternity this is a paterne for yee such as it sheweth yee that all your works should haue for object and ayme no other thing In summe all which yee meditate on say and doe is painted in oile colours of Eternity I would yee vnderstood mee aright all
bee for ever Then rouse your selues and since yee can not gainesay this eternall necessity to dye dye valiantly with armes in your hands The benefit thereby had is companion of glory Amidst all the tortures which cruelty hath invented ever it 's esteemed that thereis never any of more rigour then that it of watching What an vnquietness is it to sleep never But if so bee it that for having slept too much in this world yee prooue condemned to watch incessantly in the other what affliction say I is it to bee kept awake I meane not on your downe beds your delicate coutches well made and in curious order but rather on beds of fire of flames which by Devine vertue will burne without consuming yee I tremble for feare yea even to horrour each time wherein I meditate heeron I find not any thing of less worth in life then is sleep and they who haue compared it to death therein haue found as pregnant reason as proportion It 's true wee daily dye but when the new death of fleep doth sursurprise vs can not wee say that wee dye twice at once Our soules haue somewhat to doe to handle in their follies the life of dreames wherewith they are then all taken vp it 's a kind of death vnto them as prooveth the light of reason which doth onely rule their facultyes in so much as that they who sleep much are more sottish then others and also more subject to a suddaine death as if so that their continuall action dying twice did conferre vnto this heavy accident I returne vnto yee At lenght God bee thank'd yee are awakened How meane yee to pass the rest of the dayes journey I am assur'd that yee ought to haue leisure to bee dress'd atleast consider amidst theise vaine entertainements the deplorable manner of life yee liue vnder day and night namely to cloth and vncloth your miserable carcasses whilst Time hath prepared each one's sepulcher I l'e tell yee yet againe that the trade vnder which yee are ever apprentises is a lamentable state and beeing Liue yee not a strange life to change your clothes very often there 's each day somewhat to say for the manner of them differ in so much as what is now in fashion hardly will suite with yee and serue your turnes to morrow so certaine is the world in it's inconstancy as are your humours Ladyes there are not found other clothes which change not fashion but your winding sheetes they allwayes are the same but as each one chooseth the colour's they best like of if your mournefull one 's agree not with your present humours yet accustome your selues therevnto taking your measures of them each night in your beds the ground therein to be found and the necessity will render vnto yee in the end an object which will suite with yee not distast yee a jot Ah no. I neither enquire whither nor to what places yee direct your steps your paces in your carotches the weither is so faire that it inviteth yee to goe abroad and take the aire I will attend yee with my thoughts according to my wonted manner to know the subiect and ground of your time's enternainement what it may prooue to bee Behould yee in a curious garden there seated nigh a fountaine vnder the shaddow of many trees whose branches on their tops are joyned together or very nigh Your intentions in so doeing are to lend your gracious eares a while vnto the nightingale but the letter's sense of her warblings I must declare vnto yee shee telles yee in her language in her manner such as it is that it's good to salute the Sunne each morning likewise in the evening To tender vnto the Moone some curious musick or other Theise maling Planetts desist not by the influences of their cours to giue a speedy end vnto her Kingdome in such sort that her shouts her turnes her divisions her quaverings and redoublings are so many griefes on the vnhappiness of her state since that shee hath no voice but to invite the world to her funerall rites hence is shee constrain'd to dye the sooner through the necessity of her singing Likewise the Turtell who seeketh in vaine her companion lamenteth her misfortune in an other tune which doth shew vnto yee that Time is greedily gaping after the ruine of each thing And though that the Eccho bee but a sound a voice Time beeing vnable to make it cease by degrees devoureth the rockes which giue it a rebound No no Ladyes Time doth not forbeare any thing What though Time were decev'd once as it is mention'd in the fable when Orpheus requir'd of Him Euridices Time hath had memorable reveng as may bee seen in the Historyes of all the Poets who to that end gaue him their counsailes But how well are yee placed it seemeth to mee that it 's to meditate at your ease and repose on that all which God Allmighty hath created heere below and that it all doth participate of the same nature that doe the flowers and fountaines which yee see since that all glideth like to the swiftness of their waves passages their currants Yes Ladyes the World is a garden of flowers various in their graces their beautyes colours and their odours but all theise according to Nature are of the same matter I l'e declare my self more clearely God Allmighty in the space of his Creation planted all what soever yee admire heere below in the garden of the Vnivers namely flowers of diuers colours allso of valiew but all of the same matter for there is not one of them exempt from corruption Theise truely are the flowers disclos'd in the morning displayd at midday faded in the evening and of which Time who is the gardener croppeth what hee will and then when it best pleaseth him Certes Ladyes the world is a fountaine and whatsoever it 's composed of are its waues which properly haue nothing in their nature but swiftness passing by This is essentiall to what soever that 's heere below Yee may please your selues to cast your eyes on all the objects which yee find every where about yee There is not one onely which doth not returne yee the like adieu which yee giue them since that yee runne the same race all together though diversely and by different wayes and manner into the gulphe of the tomb For all that hitherto hath been say'd make vnto yee a posy of flowers but in gathering those flowers-deluces those roses those pincks and gilly-flowers thinck that Time likewise is daily busy in the gardens of your faces there cropping sometimes the flower-deluce of your paintings other times the roses of your cheekes then the gilly-flowers of your lipps Whereof hee composeth a nosegay of your inconstancyes Yee sensibly apprehend this verity other proofes are not requisite How now Ladyes All theise will fade in your sights like a flower All theise will glide before your selues as waues and yee as if insensible will not stirr a jot no