to the earth and his soule to God that gaue it The third at the end of the world when body and soule revnited shal enioy heauen So likewise a wicked man hath three distinct deaths Dead in sinne while he liues dead in soule when hee dyes dead in body and soule when both are adiudged to eternall condemnation Malis fit mors sine morte fin◠fine fine defectus sine defectu Quia mors viuit fints semper incipit desicere defectus nescit To labour not to lye is labour in vaine it is to deferre not to auoid To forget to dye and hope to liue is dangerous securitie This let a wise man doe quod ne cesse est ne timeat quod incertum est semper expectet Seeke not consolation against death but let Death bee thy consolation for there is no comfort against death but in death Supremum necoptes nec metuas diem Mortem optare malum timere peius Now to make Death easie Thinke of the glory that followes it Who will not endure a few pangs for infinite pleasures The bitter pill promising health is swallowed willingly Mors non anfert vitam sed in melius transfert That the aspect of Death may not trouble thee looke not vpon Death in death but looke beyond it Thinke not so much of it as of the happinesse that comes by it Erit somnus dilectis initium refrigerij scala montis haereditas secura Ianua vitae ingressus in tabernaculum Therefore saith Iob From sixe troubles it deliuereth thee in septima that is at point of death non tanget te malum Fit your selfe for it and you will neuer feare it doe by it as you doe in other things when you would goe sleepe you put off your cloathes you draw the curtaines and goe to bed Thus as it were acting sleepe before you goe to sleepe So addresse your selfe to death before hand Bring your selfe acquainted with it that when it comes you may entertaine it non vt hostis sed vt hospes not as a foe but as a friend not as a stranger but as a guest that you had long looked for and bid welcome Death more blessed then thy Birth What a griefe is it to see some great men build stately houses as if they should alwayes liue and yet they to liue as if they had but mortall soules It is good counsell Effice mortem tibi familiarem vt possis cum sors tulerit illi laetus alacriter obuiam exire Those Philosophers were more mortified who had their graues alwayes open before their gates that going out or comming in they might alwayes thinke of Death Good Ioseph of Arimathea built his Sepulchre in the middest of his garden So doe thou amid all thy pleasures and delights thinke of death and that wil coole and temper all thy vaine desires It will so qualifie thee to the world and the world to thee as thou wilt not much care for it In this world wee are all Benonies the sonnes of Sorrow The way to Heauen is by weeping crosse Hi motus animorum atq haec certamina tanta Pulueris exigut tactu cōpressa quiescunt It is obserued that most of other creatures liue long but dying perish all to nothing Man that is short-liu'd he dying liues eternally Thinke but of this and you will thinke as S. Bernard did that life was little better then hell were it not for the hope of Heauen Surely Christ would not haue dyed but that wee might die with safety Hee by death in death did deliuer vs from death And did Christ dye for mee that I might liue with him I will not therefore desire to liue long from him It is a token of little loue to God to be loth to goe to God All men goe willingly to see him whom they loue Our brother Ioseph liueth therefore though with Iacob I cannot say I will goe see him before I dye Yet Lord let mee dye that I may see him whom my soule loueth Liuing I cannot but dying I shall Let no difficulties hinder for since Adams fall none passeth vnto Paradise but by burning Seraphims The way to Canaan is cumbersome but knowing that our iourney leades to the land of promise wee passe it pleasantly Yet before wee come at Hierusalem we take in our way the valley of teares The swift Riuer of Iordan must be crossed before wee come to the sweet Waters of Siloam Let no delights tempt you prosperous fortunes may hinder a cheerefull dying but if pleasures of life allure not feares of death will neuer trouble Neminem aduersa conuincunt nisi quem secunda decipiunt Adam was set vpon in Paradise Iob on the dunghill yet Iob fortior in stercore quam Adam in Paradiso The very place of pleasure is dangerous In Paradise Adam could not be innocent but out of Paradise he was a good man For any thing in life lose not the cause of life nor iudge not of things by the face of things For life and death haue deceiueable vizards vnder the faire face of life lurkes griefe vnder the foule feature of death which is but fancy lies felicity Take off the mask and you shall change your minde loath that you loued and loue that you loathed Vita habitu casto cum non sit casta videtur Mors praeter cultum nil meretricis habet Now for the freedomes that come by Death Freedo by deat First it frees from all worldly iniuries Mors multorum malorum finis nullius boni Heere good men doe but liue and suffer benè agere male pati It is their portion and it is good for mee saith Dauid that I haue beene afflicted Non sentire mala non est hominis sed non ferre non esset viri Sufferings are greater trials then actions Secondly it ends all miseries Man in misery saith Iob longs for death and digs for it more then treasure Mors finis est non poena Nay saith one Nec finis nec paena bonis lex est non paena perire Death ends sinnes not life it reformes but doth not destroy Nature Vitiorum est Sepultura virtutum Resurrectio Thirdly it frees vs from all corporall infirmities Mors omnium dolorum solutio Life it selfe is a disease and we dye by corruption of humours whether they be of body or manners who thinke to heale all infirmities with an easier plaister then Death Delineamenta potius quam remedia podagraesuae ponunt Fourthly it frees vs from all bodily labours So saith the Spirit Blessed are they that die in the Lord they rest from their labours Adeo iuuat occupatum mori Fiftly it eases vs of all troubles Refrigeries est animae Refection to the Soule Were wee but in a throng wee thinke that man at ease who gets out first Noah when hee had beene tossed but a yeere vpon the waters Mount Ararat was to him a gladsome place for there the Arke rested So likewise miscrable man after many wearisome
whose strength faileth that is now in his last age and vexed with all things and to him that despaireth and hath lost patience But contrariwise O death how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that lyeth at rest in his possessions vnto the man that hath nothing to vexe him and that prospereth in all things yea to him that is yet able to receiue meate Certainly to this man that thus liues at ease in delicacie with affluence of all things for euen to vse happinesse is as difficult as to forbeare it to him it is a sad and bitter meditation to thinke that death must take him from all these ioyes wherein his heart tooke pleasure O quam amara mors mundum amantibus Euery poore contentment glues his affections to that he likes When as the best of this worlds contentments are but contemptible If thy heart bee set on Heauen thy soule will haue no pleasure in these low things looke vpward Os homini sublime dedit coelumque tueri The minde contemplating Heauen walkes beyond eye sight and at so farre a distance discernes God as if hee were at hand there is his true solace to conuerse with God Who euer they bee that dwell in Contemplation of heauenly things goe off rich in thoughts satisfied in their expectation For an antidote against Death hate sinne and the pleasures thereof then will death bee delightfull nor life dolefull nay death it selfe looking thee in the face knowing thy heart will change countenance looke vpon thee facie non horrendâ sed blandâ non terribili sed amabili This very day of death Dies iste quem tanquam extremum aliqui reformidant tibi aterni natalis erit The good mans hope is euen in death the world-louer ends both hope and happinesse when he dyes Plato discoursing vnto one de contemptu mortis and speaking strangely vpon it was answered Fortiùs loqueris quà m viuis At ille dicebat non quemadmodum viueret sed quemadmodum viuendum esset How euer the Contemplation of death pleases yet the sufferance of death pinches A man satisfied that death is nothing but a bridge to passe him ouer to an other shore where life stands and lookes for his landing yet while hee is vpon the Bridge which is but a short step betwixt two liues his vertiginous braine wil grow giddie and hee will before troubled in the passage Did not the word Ibis ad Patres sweeten the contemplation as did that wood cast by Moses into the the waters of Marah turning bitternesse into sweetnesse the thought of death though it be but a gathering to our Fathers would be an vnpleasing contemplation But feares being past which are but shadowes set off ioyes the better Therefore now to see What ioyes death brings OVt of the bitter came sweet The ioyes brought by death said Sampson When wee thinke vpon the separation of bodie and soule then it is a sweet contemplation to consider the coniunction of our bodies and soules with Christ which being once made by the bond of the Spirit in this life shall neuer afterwards be cancelled For let death wilde beasts or birds deuoure and teare the body from the soule yet neither body nor soule are thereby seuered frō Christ Non curo saith Ignatius si ferarum dentes me moluerint modo pura fiam farina Christo. And yet the body thus consumed liues not in the graue or belly of the beast nor yet receiues life or sense from the soule while it is in this seate vntill the great Assizes that generall Venite comes But then looke what the condition of Christ was in his death the like shal be of his members The body soule of Christ were seuered as farre as Heauen and the Graue were distant and yet neither of them were seuered from the godhead but both existed in his person so likewise our bodies and soules though rent and pulled in sunder millions of miles distant yet neither of them is seuered or disioyned from Christ our head Qui praedixit reuixit this serues to work it Humane wisedome cannot comprehend this Weake faith lookes for meanes and is put to shifts when shee sees meanes faile But omnipotency workes by improbabilities and tels vs. There is no faith where there is either meanes or hopes Difficulties and improbabilities are the obiects of Faith Through the Spirit saith S. Paul wee waite for the hope of righteousnesse in faith Yet in nature we see that in winter season trees which seeme as dead reuiue againe in the Spring because the body graines armes of the trees are ioined to the root where the sap lyes all the Winter and by meanes of coniunction it conueyes vegitation to all parts of the tree euen so mens bodies haue their winter when they are turned into dust Homo arbor inuersa cuius Radix in caelis rami in terra Their life is hid in Christ with God Yet in the day of resurrection by reason of this mysticall coniunction diuine and quickening vertue shall streame from Christ to his Elect and cause them to resurge from the graue to life eternall For the head wil not be without the members where he is there they shall be also It is noted how in that transfiguration the body of Moses which was hid in the valley of Moab appeared in the hill of Tabor which assures that this body of ours lodge it where you will is not lost but layed vp to bee raised in glory as it was laid downe in corruption The incineration and dissipation of this dust shall haue a recollection in that day of resurrection In the valley of dead bones did not the Spirit say to Ezekiel Prophesie vpon these bones and say O ye dry bones I will cause breathto enter into you I will lay sinewes vpon you and will bring vp flesh and you shall liue If any thinke The difference betwixt the resurrection of the vngodly and the iust this Resurge againe which is so wonderfull is not peculiar but common vnto all both good and bad as good men loue not to bee happy alone its truth yet it is not by the same cause nor to the same end For the wicked rise by the power of Christ to be iudged and condemned But the godly rise by the vertue of Christs resurrection to receiue eternall life Vita mortem assumpsit vt mors vitam assumeret Therefore they collect truely who say that the rotting of our bones is no death but a being asleepe and that sleepe must needs be sweet which hath peace with rest and rests in safety Awake then thou that sleepest arise come and liue hee whom thou louest sleepeth but thou wilt come to awake him till when his couch of ease is his coffin the graue his bed wherein he lyes neuer troubled with dreames or fancies what shall become of his bodie till it rise againe I am the resurrection and the life saith Christ He that beleeueth though hee were dead yet shall
violently both by destinie all men by Decree Quē dederat cursum natura peregi said the Poet. But the Diuine tels vs though Moses dyed vpon one Hill Aaron vpon another Hill yet both where they might see the land of Promise How familiarly did Moses heare of Death when there was no more betwixt God and him But Moses goe vp and dye With such a sociable compellation are good men inuited to Death as to a Feast Nec mihi Mors grauis est posituro morte labores Mors mihi merces erit The assurance of life after Death ALthough my flesh bee eaten with wormes Assurance of life after death these wormes turned to dust this dust blowne through the earth yet after thou hast turned all to destruction Againe thou sayest Come againe you children of men Redemptor meus is the word of assurance My Father and your Father saith the Gospel Meum and tuum are words of Assurance to mens soules though in mens states they make all Controuersies I know that my Redeemer liueth How doe I know it not by Opinion but by Faith Fides non creditur sed cernitur Things are not so because we are perswaded they are so but because they bee so therefore wee are so perswaded The woman with child knowes shee is with child when shee feeles it stirre liuely So the Spirit of God assures our spirit when wee feele his Spirit in vs. Holy Iob saith Though after the skinne wormes destroy the body yet in my flesh I shall see God for my selfe and mine owne eyes shall behold him and not an others Which numerall Identity giues certaintie that this soule of mine impersonated anew and so inanimating my body againe shall giue a new being and a better being vnto both That soule the lost pearle which to finde a man would haue giuen all that he had shal there be found ingrauen in gold where as heere it was found set but in clay The fourth generall diuision IIII. What our last thoughts should be AS in greatest extremities good Physicians leaue drugges and minister onely Cordials so deale by thy soule when death approaches cast away all worldly cares entertaine onely thoughts that will animate thy weake body and refresh thy thirstie soule as did that dew of Hermon falling vpon the Hill of Sion nor will I feare how this body of mine shall appeare an other day For I am promised by him that will performe it shall not be found naked But this couering of flesh being cast off I shall take this body againe cloathed with glory as with an other garment This doth Saint Paul most elegantly and diuinely expresse saying Wee know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle bee destroyed wee haue a building giuen of God that is a house not made with hands but eternall in the heaueus For therefore wee sigh and desire to be cloathed with our house which is from heauen Because that if wee be cloathed wee shall not be found naked For indeede we that are in this Tabernacle figh and are burthened because we would not be vncloathed but cloathed vpon that immortalitie might be swallowed vp of life And hee that hath created vs for this thing is God who also hath giuen vs the earnest of his Spirit Therefore we are alwayes bold though we know that whilst we are at home in the bodie wee are absent from the Lord. For wee walke by faith and not by sight Neuerthelesse we are bold and loue rather to remoue out of the body and to dwell with the Lord. 2. Cor. 5. This is so promising and so sweet as it seemes to transport a man aliue from earth to Heauen Hîc in via es sed illic eris in Patria Therefore baite not too long vpon pleasures by the way All the while I liued said a good man I was going on my iourney towards my countrey but now that I am dying I finde my selfe neere home I am now come to Mount Sion the Citie of the liuing God the heauenly Hierusalem I will not therefore sit downe on this side Iordane but hasten to the Citie whither when I come I shall there see my God face to face Heare my Sauiour say Euge bone serue It is my Fathers will to giue thee a kingdome Is it not enough that my God is gone vp to prepare a place for me but will hee giue mee a kingdome also And shall not I bee glad when God shall come and fetch mee to inthrone mee in this kingdome Absit Now mee thinkes I heare my soule say Cur non accedis Domine Quid moraris I haue too long dwelt in this sepulchre of earth And woe is me that I still remaine in Mesech and dwell in these tents of Kedar It is enough Lord as Elias said in the wildernesse Take now away my life for I am no better then my Fathers were Nay my soule is now growne so high minded that shee saith Maior sum ad maiora genitus quà m vt mancipium sim huius corporis Thus rich in thoughts and great in expectation doth diuine Contemplation make vs. God hath not giuen a soule to any creature else but Man Therefore it is but duety in Man to know the dignitie of his Soule which is so heauenly ambitious as it will not let heauen alone till it may see as it is seene Grauata est anima mea my bodie is a burthen to my soule It hath had honour enough to haue beene so long companion with my Soule wherefore now as Saint Hierome said Egredere anima egredere The Hermite sitting on his turft said to his soule Sexaginta annos seruiuisti Deo nunc mori times Goe out of this Arke of flesh O my soule for I smell the sauour of rest Celeritas nunc in desiderio mora est Though my soule as a bird for necessitie sake hath been faine to stay awhile heere vpon earth yet willingly would she be soring in the skies But I finde that ista vita est mihi impedimento ad id propter quod viuitur Specially when I heare my Sauiour say Father I will that those whom thou hast giuen mee be with mee also where I am That they may behold my glory To him that is faithfull vntill death I will giue a Crowne of life Therefore desiderio desideraui ergastuli huius egressum that I may see facie ad faciem him whom my soule loueth and to bee Lord where thou enioyest thy selfe and glorified spirits enioy thee Entertaine thy last houres with such like thoughts Et hatibi dabunt ad aeternitatem Iter in itinere subleuabunt They will Angelize thy body and imparadise thy soule before thou commest into Heauen yeeld a sweetnesse farre beyond the bitternesse of Death Certainely a good soule thus imploying it selfe in ista hora will not leaue the felicitie it shall haue in such a transmigration from death to life for all the ioyes that life past did euer render her Good Saint Austine
in a high speculation endeuouring to expresse this heauenly ioy was asked by a graue old man Father Austine quid agis A man may as well draw in all the ayre in the world with one breath as expresse to the life that which thou art now about Though this ineffable ioy cannot bee expressed yet it is res generosa conari alta mente maiora concipere quà m quae effici possunt Therefore this wee may doe some way sample that which wee can no way expresse Looke as a Bird that hath been long encaged then chants it most merrily when she gets loose into the open ayre Nititur in syluas quaque rediresuas Or as a sicke man that hath wearily tossed and turned himselfe in his bed all night is them comforted when hee sees the day breake and the sunne beames guild the morning Or as a prisoner that feeles his chaines heauy vpon him longs for releasement Liberaque â ferris crura futura velit So it will bee with thy Soule when thou shalt heare thy Sauiour say I am thy saluation Come vnto mee thou that art weary and heauy laden and I will refresh thee Poenitentibus petentibus pertinet Regnum Coelorum To them that are weary of this durance and sue for deliuerance belongeth the kingdome of heauen Wherefore as a wearied traueller that hath passed a long iourney though perhaps met with some delights by the way is then gladdest when hee comes within kenning of his countrey Natale solum dulcedine cunctos ducit Euen so thy soule after many yeeres pilgrimage in the wildernesse of the world being come with Moses to Mount Nebo and beholding the pleasant land of Canaan from the top of Pisgah will then laugh for ioy as doth the Horizon to see the Sunne comming as a Bridegroome out of his chamber Dilectus meus descendit ad hortum suum ad areolam aromatum Of this ioy thy dazled eyes might haue some glimpses when thou wast in health but then it was as the blind mans visiō in the Gospel to whose first sight men seemed to walke like trees But in this thy new state thou shalt see clearely men and Angels stand before the Lambes Throne and heare thy selfe inuited to the Lambes Supper where thou shalt be brought into the wine seller and loue will be the banner ouer thee Come then O Shunammite stay me with flagons and comfort me with Apples for I am sicke of loue Kisse me with the kisses of thy mouth for thy loue is better then wine Shew mee O thou whom my soule loueth where thou feedest where thou lyest at noone Thus with Solomon in a Canticle and with Dauid in a Psalme let be the Raptures of thy Soule which as in trance shall bee caught vp to Heauen as was Philip by the Spirit or Abdias by the Angel And with an Heroicall alacritie tempered with a gracious humilitie giue vp thy soule to God and bid farewell to the world It was S. Bernards I shall neuer truely ioy till I heare this word Come you blessed Nor cease to sorrow till this be past Goe ye cursed Dying Saint Stephen before his eyes were closed had a faciall fight of his Sauiour looked stedfastly into heauen and saw the glory of God and Iesus standing at the right hand of God And old Simeon after hee had seene his Sauiour then reioyced to say Lord now lettest thou thy seruant depart in peace for mine eyes haue seene thy Saluation Hoc videā moriar Morior vt videam THE RAPTVRE OF THE SOVLE RApitur anima cùm coelestia Contemplatur contemplando iucundatur And because sight increases delight Therefore Rapture would faine ascend to vision But that 's a priuiledge for Saint Paul It so diuinely rauishes as it raises in man towring thoughts irradiates his soule with high apprehensions yea so it eleuates mans soule to God as it takes him out of himselfe to liue aboue himselfe The Soule being thus powerfully attracted by the faire inducements of so diuine delight She on her party corresponds and with a willing assent glides after these attracts And as a vapour exhaled by the Sun shee goes out of her selfe would willingly draw the body with her but that substance is too sad wherefore shee quitts it as not agil and spritefull enough to soare so high It is an admirable thing to consider that the eye of a man so weake a creature should looke vp euery day to heauen so wonderfull in height and yet neuer bee tyred by the way But by this I see that heauenly Contemplation if it be strong enough and not ouer-clogged with earthy thoughts is able to carry vs with case to heauenly extasie but then there must be application of the will and vnderstanding from things sublunarie to things heauenly For the will takes pleasure to perceiue the vnderstanding taken into Rapture and when as the faculties both of will and vnderstanding doe intercommunicate their rauishments then are we sweetly brought into diuine extasie Of this sacred extasie the Seraphical Diuines make diuerssorts One of Vnderstanding a second of Affection a third of Action Action is well added for a man is not to bee aboue himselfe in Contemplation and vnder himselfe in Conuersation The first of the three is in Splendore The second in Feruore The third in Labore The one caused by Admiration the other by Deuotion the last by Operation In these Raptures the Fathers who were stiled Saints had such a complacency as they stroue to act this as the way of a new life sometime before their Death insomuch as the Votaries would say Neuer was Saint but had Extasie and rauishment of life before his death They laboured by a liquefaction of their soules into God to Insoule themselues in God to put their foules out of the naturall comportment of the body and so to liue in diuine extasie without liuing in the body Some so liued as it was doubted whether they were liuing-men dead or dead-men liuing nay some with feruency of spirit were transported into such Extasie that their soules being wholly conuersant in diuine Contemplation they cared not to afford common assistance to Nature and so haue dyed through exinanition and want of strength Thus did loue performe the office of Death Loue is as strong as Death saith Solomon nay with them it wrought more then death could doe For death onely performeth by effect that which loue operated by affection Death did but separate their bodies from their soules But loue separated their soules from their bodies In such a trance they report Saint Austine to say O God thou onely art all mine when shall I bee wholly thine S. Bernard to say What is there in heauen or what desire I on earth but thee O Lord Thou art the God of my heart and my eternall portion my Soule is satisfied with nothing but to be with thee S. Ambrose to say The soule of Ionathan was knit to Dauid but my soule is glued vnto
mortalibus viuere cum exijssent ex ijs emori Let mee euer worship the great God of this little god my Soule Et ne plus vltra Onely this I know That to no creature else God hath giuen a liuing soule nor is there hope in any creature else but man and this hope is giuen for sustentation of his soule Hee that contemplates these things wil beare himselfe too loftily and thinke himselfe too good to looke so low as vpon the sublunarie things of this life Angustus est animus quem terrena delectant How then can this Beautie bee pleased to inhabit long contubernio isto All it needs to care is but Sepulture to that body which once had the Honour to be the Temple of such a ghest But because many times the houses of the dead and the vrned bones doe meete with foule hands for this also Nature hath prouided vt disertè ait Maecenas Nec tumulum quaero sepelit Natura relictos It is one of the daily petitions of euery good Soule Adueniat Regnum tuum Thy Kingdome come O Lord Yet saith Ambrose Hoc nitimur reluctamur For Quis sine querela moritur Quis non gemens quis non recusans exit Quis cum accesserit non tergiuersatur timet plorat In all things else Mans crosse Nature obserue how contrarily wee carry our selues The labourer from his work hasts to his bed The Mariner rowes hard to gaine the Port. The Traueller is glad when hee is within kenning of his Inne yet we when Death comes to put vs into our Port shun it as a rocke Wee feare what wee should wish and wish what we should feare O fortunatiorem Marcellum eo tempore quo exitum suum Bruto approbauit Mans better choice quà m quo populo Romano consulatum Heare O Christian what the Pagan saith Quid ni non timeat qui mori sperat It is harder to make a true Philosopher patient of life then of Death Hic spe mortis patienter dolet taedio doloris libenter moritur Hunc fert illam expectat sed expectata Mors tardè venit I am in a straight betwixt two said Saint Paul whether to liue in the flesh were profitable for mee and which to chuse I wote not Yet at last resolued liue or die Christ was to him aduantage Therefore to bee loosed and to bee with Christ was best of all Till then God grant that I may haue vitam in patientia mortem verò in desiderio So shall I fulfill my course with ioy life not deare nor death grieuous In elder times both wise men great men Life and death compared and vaine men had Death in such estimation and so vndervalued life as they fondly said Had man beene worthy to know what life was before he receiued it hee would haue beene loth to accept it Nemo vitam acciperet si daretur scientibus Life would haue kept vs in slauerie but that Death freed vs. They counted death but the retreite of life optimum Naturae inuentum for by it euery man might make himselfe happy no man be longer miserable then he will Placet no vita viue Non placet licet co reuerti vnde venisti They thought no state miserable but that which Death could not remedy Wherefore say they a wise man liues but so long as he should not so long as hee can If Death were not in our power wee should desire it more then now wee feare it Magistra rerum ratio taught them that common safety lay in Death inuitum qui seruat idem facit occidenti Life was subiect to many fortunes sed in eo qui scit mori nil posse fortunam This made them cherish these desperate conceits Nil referre faciatne finem an accipiat For though life be not yet Death is at a mans command Mori nihil aliud est quà m velle in which respect no man could complaine of life Quia neminem tenet If any man did complaine this was their wish Mors vtinam pauidos vitae subducere nollet sed virtus hanc sola daret In scorne some said Egone expectem vel morbi crudelitatem vel hominis cum possim medio exire tormento aduersa discutere But their brauest conceit was worst that it was genus mortis generosum for a man to be author of his owne death say they if permitted to desire death why ill to giue it to themselues Sed furor est ne moriare mori They seemed thus to maintaine their assertion by reason as wellas courage Death is naturall therefore we come Viuere noluit qui mori non vult hee is sorry that he was a man that is not glad to dye It is ineuitable therefore we must be resolute feras non culpes quod vitari non potest Fooles fly it old men attend it wise men wish it Nay some so prided themselues in this way that for Care Feare or Griefe they would not dye Non inferam mihi manus propter dolorem nor yet for feare stultum est timore Mortis mori Nor yet the threats of torments Sic mori vinciest Sed si coeperat suspecta esse Fortuna si multa occurrebant molesta tranquillitatem turbantia then it was Fortitude to dispatch themselues How or with what it mattered not Scalpello aperitur ad illam magnam libertatem via puncto securitas constat said Seneca when he bled to death Cato will die because the Commonwealth declined Nerua because the lawes were not kept Siluianus because he would not liue at the mercy of his enemy Lucretia to couer a dishonour But Plato and his Socrates were of another minde Death was to be expected till Nature called for it or Iustice tooke it For Religions sake men may ponere animas but suas not for ostentation nor in discontent Inde facult as fuit non ponendi animam sed pendendi Bona res est mori suâ morte Life was giuen to manage to the vtmost and to make the best of it Euery one was heere set sentinell not to depart the place till his Captaine calls him off Non est optima quae placet sed quaedecet That Death was best which was well recollected quietly suffering what it could not possibly preuent Fortiter ille facit qui miser esse potest It is not enough to die with a Romane courage nor that the cause of Death be iust but it must bee also necessarie vnsought ineuitable But let goe this discourse my Contemplation lyes another way The kindes of Death as of life are two The one bodily The kinde of death the other spirituall As bodily life is the coniunction of body and soule So bodily Death is the separation of soule and body And as a godly man hath three degrees of life The first in this life when Christ liues in him for the soule of a good mans soule is the Spirit of God within The second when his body returnes