praise more beeing thus blessedly in contemplation and with so sacred a taciturnity then the glibbest tongue can reache vnto with longest or loudest speeche Because the very subiect it selfe outgoeth the greatest and highest Oratorie What maruayle was it then if Moyses hauing talked with god found an impediment in his tongue and Ieremie knew not how to forme a word and Daniel remained as dumbe when euen the sanctified spirits themselues do hold their peace and are driuen to silence onely by the woonderfull excellency of the obiect Factum est silentium in coelo And so much the rather because those spoken of were but mortall men and the other are both immortall and euer blessed It is a matter oftentimes experimented that the greatnesse of the subiect for or to whome the speeche is prepared dooth daunt the Oratour in such sort as he becomes forgetfull of what he would say albeit the Oration had bin long time before premeditated and conned perfectly by heart as we vse to tearme it Whereof I could alleadge many examples which for ciuilities sake I am enforced to forbeare Onely let me remember you but of the Queene of Saba who departed from her owne royall kingdome to heare the admired wisedome of Salomon Being come to Ierusalem and beholding there the riches of Salomon the adornements of the Temple the pretiousnesse of the vessels the beauty of the Kings Palace the sitting of his seruants their sumptuous preparation their costly foode and variety of viands the Maiesty of the kings person his vnmatchable wisedome and his speeches deliuered with surpassing grace By ouer-abounding amazemēt she was quite caried from her selfe and she had not so much boldnesse left her as but to speak neither strength to go or ability to mooue but stood transported with vnspeakable astonishment euen like a body without a soule So that the holy scripture saith Non habebat vltra spiritū There was no more spirit in her What shall we hold it then to be for vs to see and speake with God himselfe as did Moyses Ieremy and Daniel Can there be any greater amazement to strike dumbe and make the tongue falter be imperfect when euen the blessed themselues do fall into such an extasie why then I may wel say that thus they prayse him more by silence then they can by the Hymne Te decet silentium Deus Which is a thing vnspeakable goes beyond al humane power euen Angelical praise it self Quantum potes tantum aude quia maior omni laude nec laudare sufficis Hereupon and much to this purpose Dauid hath a most excellent sentence Cogitatio hominis confitebitur tibi reliquiae cogitationum diem festum agent tibi As if he wold haue sayd Lord the iust man perceiuing thy greatnesse prayseth thee and in his praysings is filled full of most sweete rauishing thoughts which make so deep an impression into his mind as they cease not to solemnize haile thee for euer Likewise the blessed Saintes singing thy diuine prayses do fall into a merueilous astonishment And this is the silence wherewith pleasing themselues they euermore laude thee and in their lauding contemplate thee the highest Creatour after this manner Non cessant clamare quotidie vna voce dicentes Sanctus Sanctus Sanctus Dominus Deus exercituum And they ceased not dayly to cry with one voyce saying Holy Holy Holy Lord God of Hoasts Claudio If at al houres and euery moment the celestiall spirits do giue prayse both with a contemplatiue silence and yet with voyces also do sing to the soueraigne maiesty diuine as you say what needed Dauid then to haue inuited them to laude him in the Psalme by you so lately alleaged as if otherwise they did not laude him at all His words are these Laudate Dominum omnes Angeli eius laudate eum omnes virtutes eius Praise ye the lord all ye his Angels praise him all his Army Lodouico Saint Augustine answers your demaund concerning that Psalme and that in very gratious manner also saying Although it be most true that the Angels and all the blessed spirits are neuer weary neither can be wearied in their praises to God whereon Saint Iohn sayeth Cantabant quasi canticum nouum They sung as it were a new song not that the Song was new but by the great sweetnesse they receiued in the praises diuine it seemed to them as a new Song onely by the inexplicable dulcitude therein contained Yet notwithstanding Dauid inuites them after such manner as the father of a family vseth to doe Or as a Gardiner who beholding his spade-men to labour lustily euen contending as it were for most speede and agility eache one seeking to out-strip his companion Hee in meere ioye seeing in them such diligent cheerefulnesse sayes to them On gallant spirits on you labour lustily Nor speakes he this as if he thought them to be slothfull and negligent for he plainely perceiues them to worke with courage but as one ouercome with ioy and contentment Euen so spake Dauid to those celestiall spirits Laudate Deum omnes Angeli eius c. But to returne to our own purpose it is not to be maruailed at if by the like or same reason Moyses found a defect to be in his tōgue if Ieremy Daniel were smittē as dumb being al assayled by the excellency of such a subiect glorious maiesty of the highest Creator whereupon the wise man sayd Qui scrutator est maiestatis opprimetur a gloria Saint Paul was a great Preacher and a most eloquent Orator neuerthelesse he being mounted aboue the third heauen there beholding the diuine secrets he knew not what to say but onely that they were inexplicable Audiuit arcana verba quae non licet homini loqui He heard words which cannot be spoken which are not possible for man to vtter VVe may also say in answere of the before named doubt speaking of Moyses and of Ieremy that when we our selues do come to the knowledge of god the more that knowledge encreaseth in vs so much the more will our strength grow enfeebled And perceiuing therby our own lesse aptnesse both to his diuine praises and also to the right cognition of his infinite maiesty we do come euen then to the true knowledge of our own insufficiency and vilenesse Therefore when Moyses had heard God speake to him he found himselfe to be the lesse fit for speaking to men Whereupon grew his excuse that he was vnmeete for the message to Pharaoh but much more need there was that God would make choise of his brother and companion Aaron he being a man most eloquent Obsecro Domine non sum eloquens ab heri nudiustertius ex quo loquutus es ad seruum tuum impeditioris tardioris linguae sum Whence we may learne this celestiall doctrine that by how much the more a man
the glory of god edifying of my neighbour therfore I swept purged and clensed my thoughts from al the filth of malice slattery infamy and trechery Claudio Quite contrary do they that vtter whatsoeuer comes first to mouth lashing it liberally foorth without conceiting and foredeeming whether it be good or euill of whome wee may well speake that saying of Dauid Ecce labia mea non prohibebo Domine tu scistâ—s I will not refraine my lips O Lord thou knowest This is the reason why they commit many errors and become euen vnlike an vntamed horse without a bridle beside oftentimes by defect of the lips the whole body and soule do suffer greeuance dearly repenting what the tongue hath wilfully blabd abroade which if not in this world yet assuredly in the other as Dauid in very significant wordes testifieth in the 140. Psalme Labor labiorum ipsorum operiet eos Let the mischefe of their own lips come vpon them And therfore I think the Latins called the lips Labia à labendo quia per labia homo labitur in praeceps Lodouico Some hold that he would or else might haue sayd Labor labiorum ipsorum angustiabit or rather vestiet eos but in saying that the trauaile of the lippes shall couer them signifieth that there shall bee no parte of the bodie or the soule but it will be anguished by the defect of the lippes Moreouer such will bee the payne of the error committed by the lippes that their rage and choler beeing wasted the damned shall deuoure vp their owne tongues according as of some of them the Secretarie of Christ Saint Iohn telles vs in his Apocalypse Et commanducauerunt linguas suas prae dolore blasphemauerunt Deum coeli prae doloribus vulneribus suis And they gnawed their tongues for sorone and blasphemed the God of heauen for theyr paynes and their sores Be more carefull and respectiue Oh negligent man in thy talking and consider miserable wretche how manye are damned in hell not so much for what they haue doone as for their vile and blasphemous words spoken Claudio Sampson was a man of woonderfull strength yet so soone as he was ouercome by an immodest sillie woman he was bound and deliuered into the hands of his enemies who pluckt our his eyes and made him like a beast to grinde in a mill all which happened to him by beeing ouer carelesse of his tongue and too too readye in the labour of his lippes Dauid exhorteth them that forethinke not well what they woulde saye to lay a punishment on themselues answerable to such neglect thereby to preuente a farre greater detriment Quae dicitis in cordibus vestris in cubilibus vestris compungimini Examine your own harts and in your chambers and be still as meaning to inflict the penaltie there where the crime was committed The heart first contriued it before the tongue spake it the hart first cried guiltie ere the tongue did blab it therefore the heart must haue his due chastisement imposed on it Sacrificate sacrificiuÌ„ iustitiae c Offer the sacrifices of righteousnesse c. This sacrifice of righteousnesse saith old Father Augustine is the very same where of king Dauid speaketh in another place Sacrificium Deo spiritus contribulatus cor contritum humiliatum Deus non despicies The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit a contrite and a broken heart O God thou wilt not despise In the hart was first of all conceiued and committed the sinne of the tongue therfore the Iibbet of death should first be set vp for the hart there the soule dooing her true repentance shee is to endure the iustice of sacrifice on her selfe causing the hart to be intirely sory euen from the very bottom therof to weep bloudy tears in true compunctioÌ„ promising neuer to minister matter more to the tongue without sincere deliberate premeditation Lodouico The flatterer should haue some reason to refrain his glib and oylie tongue because silence is much better then false and coyned lying speeches for that is a sinne against nature because the tongue being the discouerer of the heart in speaking otherwise then then as the hart thinketh it appears to haue some want in his naturall office Pliny affirmeth That the tongue of a man hath two veines one correspondent to the hart the other agreeable to the braine the place where reason makes his abiding It seemeth that the diuine architect did this to instruct thereby that we ought not to haue one thing in the tongue and another in the hart much lesse should wee profer with the tongue all that is hidden and lockt vp in the heart but only those things wherof reasoÌ„ hath first tasted Whereupon the wise man sayd Qui ambulat fraudulenter reuelat arcana qui autem fidelis est celat amici commissum The flatterer praiseth and blameth not according to what he hath in his heart but agreeable to that which hee perceiues pleasing to him whome he would flatter therefore he neuer fastneth on any proper sentence but turnes and windes still euery way not much vnlike the clapper of a bell or like a vane on a house top as the winde bloweth Claudio The Satyrick Poet Iuuenal paints him forth to the life in a Satyre of his Rides maiori cachinno concutitur Flet si lachrimas aspexit amici Nec dolet iguiculum brumae si tempore poscâ—s Accipit endromidem si dixeris aestuo sudat Nocte dieque potest alienum sumere vultum A' facie iactaâ—e manus laudare parat us Plato in his Phedon and in Menexemus calles the flatterer A wilde furie infested in man and au vncleane deuill that with vnhappie meates and hurtfull brutishnesse nourisheth defiled thoughtes He compares him likewise To a Iuggler an Enchaunter or a poysoner who by deceiuing wordes worke mens mindes to their owne willes Hee giues him also the name Of a seperator because he is diuided in himselfe keeping one thing in his breast and vttering another with the tongue The Grashopper bathed in oyle dyeth but afterward being washt with vinegar he comes to life againe Euen so many are slayne by the oyly tongue of a flatterer which afterwarde by a iust reprehension doone with charitie doe recouer life againe This made holy Dauid saye Corripiet me iustus me in misericordia increpabit me oleum autem peccatoris non impinguet caput meum Let the righteous smite me for that is a benefit let him reprooue me and it shall be a pretious oyle that shall not breake mine head The reason heereof his sonne Salomon teacheth vs where hee sayeth Meliora sunt vulnera diligentis quà m frrudulenta oscula odientis The woundes of a louer are better then the false kisses of aâ— eâ—emie Lodouico Let euery such tongue be dumbe in a christian common
grace thou hast euacuated their proper will singular sense and priuate affection which giues them now to know both their own frailtie how much they were subiected to misery But by sending thy sanctified spirit into them thou hast created a new man within them formed according to thine owne diuine will Induimini nouum hominem qui secundum Deum creatus est in iustitia sanctitate veritatis Put on the new man which after God is created in righteousnes and true holinesse The iust man being filled with this spirit speakes holy wordes deliuers heauenly doctrine frames arguments of truth and grounded altogether vpon gods worde Eructauit cor meum verbum bonum My heart will vtter foorth a good matter And as a glasse being full with a very little turning aside doth emptie some part of the licquor contained in it Euen so the iust man with the least breath of an ardent sigh sendes foorth part of his grace receiued vnto vs making vs partakers of his inward blessings and so by the vertue of his good spirit he purgeth and dryeth vp the watrishnesse of our sinne so much as in him lyeth Lodouico How can this doctrine holde If winde be of a colde and moiste qualitie then it hath no drying vertue if we doe presse it according to the letter I speake not this to gaine-say you but rather to learne Claudio Aristotle the Prince of the Peripatecians in his twentie seauenth Probleme and fift particle going about to search by what occasion the winde being of qualitie colde and moiste hath yet notwithstanding a drying vertue answers him selfe thus Because it takes away and euaporates the part more colde As if he would say The winde is of a temperate coldnesse and humiditie therefore it makes the part more colde and moiste to euaporate it selfe as meaning thereby mudde and water The holy ghost is called a spirit and winde Tanquam spiritus vehemâ—â—tis As of a rushing and mighty winde Veni Auster perfla hortum meum fluent aromata illius Arise O North and come O South and blowe on my garden that the spices thereof may flowe outâ— because it cooleth the heate of carnall concupiscences Therefore the Angell speaking of this spirit to the virgin Marie said Spiritus sanctus superveniet in te virtus altissimi obumbrabit tibi The holy ghost shall come vpon thee and the power of the most High shall â—uershadow thee This shadowing is expounded by almost all the doctours that it signifyeth The taking away of all lasciuious or carnall affections and purgeth euerie loose concupiscence When therefore the holy spirit bloweth on the minde of him that listens to the woord of God it causeth to euaporate and vanish by his expulsiue vertue the excessiue coldenesse of sinne which is of such chilnesse as it freezeth vp the heate of all charitie So euacuating this colde it disposeth the soule to quietnesse and to lend attention to the holy doctryne of Christ For Saint Iohn Chrysostome saith That as it is not possible for the earth to fructifie by water only without winde Euen so as impossible is it that the Doctrine of the iust which is as the water celestiall they like pregnant cloudes Qui sunt isti qui vt nubes volant What are these that fly like a cloude that they I say should cause any fruite to growe in the ground of our soules without the sweet breathing winde of the holy ghost which of it selfe disposeth mens hearts to the hearing of gods word and makes them to bloome forth after the manner of the earth Euen as when Zephirus sends his kindely blastes abroad in the month of March according to the Poet Mantuans description The iust man therefore opens his mouth in the middes of the people and the Lord filleth it with the diuine spirit of wisedome and from hence proceede infinite good fruites to the soules of his hearers According as from the Apostle Peter it did who at the very first Sermon he made conuerted to the faith of Iesus Christ three thousand persons or thereabout as is to be read in the Actes of the Apostles the second Chapter Lodouico Yet by your licence my Lord it is necessary for vs to know what wisedome is so much the rather because according to the Prince of Latine Oratorie It is most expedient in an Oratour who without wisedome is tearmed ignorant and his full tide of speech is called loquacity not eloquence Whereupon being once demaunded what eloquence was he answered Nihil est aliud eloquentia nisi copiose loquens sapientia Claudio Iob maketh a long discourse of wisedome searching where it should be and what it was Finally after a long repetition of sententious wordes and a very large inuestigation of them he concludes That God onely knoweth what it is And he reuealing the same vnto man sayth That wisedome is nothing else but the feare of the Lord. Et dixit homini Ecce timor Domini ipsa est sapientia recedere a malo intelligentia And vnto man he said Behold the feare of the Lord is wisedome and to depart from euill is vnde standing And Dauid sayth Initium sapientiae timor Domini The beginning of wisedome is the feare of the Lord. The Peripatecians vsed to say That wisedome is an intellectuall vertue and by the highest and most noble causes makes thinges to be knowen Whereupon in the sixt booke of Ethickes the sixt Chapter and in the first of Metaphysickes the first Chapter defyning a wise man Aristotle saith Sapiens est qui scit omnia difficilia propter certitudinem causam ipsum scire propter se quaerens alios ordinans persuadens And a little after he saith That the wise man ought to be knowen not onely by the cause but also by the highnesse of the the cause According to the Stoickes and moral Philosophers such perhaps as were Seneca Socrates and Boetius wisedome is taken for none other But a masse or a heape of morall vertues which make a man to be vertuous Therefore according to this kinde of wisedome Seneca sayth in his booke of the tranquillitie of the minde That to a wise man there can happen no iniury or offence at all to molest the felicity of his minde which in the Stoicks opinion ought to bee imperturbable and his heart adamantine But according to the sacred Theologians or diuines Wisedome is a gift supernaturally infused whereby a man hath cognition of diuine things and of humane by diuine and spirituall inspiration or by some especiall gratious vicinity to God And because there is none more neerer vnto God then the innocent man so cleane as possible he may be from the foule staines of sinne who by such innocencie is made apt to vnderstand the secrets diuine therefore sayd Iob that wisedome is nothing else but the feare of God and the
cancelling of sinne but yet inchoatiue as Dauid saith Initium sapientiae timor domini Lodouico Let vs then cheerefully open our mouthes and desire of God that he would fill them with this spirit of wisedome so necessarie to our owne soules health and the good of our neighbour Claudio He that partaketh not with this spirit his tongue is like a sharpe swoord his lippes as offensiue weapons his teeth are like arrowes his mouth a most noysome sepulcher his palate full of maledictions his heart of deceipts and his wordes are enuenomed dartes Hence grewe Dauids speeches that they neuer ceased from speaking euill Dixit enim in corde suo Non mouebor à generatione in generationem sine malo Cuius maledictione os plenum est amaritudine dolo sub lingua eius labor dolor He sayth in his heart I shall neuer be mooued nor be in daunger His mouth is full of cursing and deceipt and fraude vnder his tongue is mischiefe and iniquitie Lodouico Perhaps such as these are they of whose stirpe Salomon speaking in his Prouerbes sayth Est generatio quae pro dent ibus gladios habet There is a generation whose teeth are as swoordes Because the wicked tongue is after the manner of a swoord alwayes cutting It cuttes our neighbours good fame diuides separates and teares in peeces the honour of others Wherof the diuine Musition speaking agrees almost with Salomon his sonne Filii hominum dentes eorum arma sagitiae lingua eorum gladius acutus The children of men whose teeth are speares and arrowes and their tongue a sharpe swoord As if he would haue sayd according to the interpretation of Caietanus Such are the sonnes of Adam who haue their teeth like launces which are wont to offend neere at hand and as arrowes to wound afarre off and their tongue is a sharpe swoord to doe harme on all aduauntages And needes must it bee so because the tongue that is not guided by God and the mouth not opened by the Lords owne hand can pronounce nothing but blasphemies and cursings euen like vnto an infernall tongue directed by the diuell Therefore looke howsoeuer it speakes it cannot but commit mortall sinne Sometime by false imposition of infamy Sometime by vaunting of a vile acte performed which notwithstanding he neuer did Sometime by making large addition to other mens offences and conuerting a small sticke to a huge big beame Sometime in reuealing contrary to charitie other mens hidden infirmities to make our poore neighbour infamous among many Sometime by peruerting others intentions iudging sinisterly of mens hearts calling fasting couetousnesse praying hypocrisie and all other good actions whatsoeuer thinking them to be done to euill purpose Sometime in denying the truth when being demaunded concerning other mens good deedes wee answere slaunderously of them to the end that no good account may be made of them Sometime in concealing the good of others wherewith though wee bee truely acquainted yet we continue silent being asked onely because that those goods should neuer be knowen of nor any successe to the right owner ensue by them This cruell silence Gilbertus Porre tanus calleth pilling polling or extortion Grauis rapacitas cùm veram alterius gloriam etsi mendacio non corrumpis silentio praeteris Liuâ—r enim excellentiam propriam seÌ„per cogitans alienam obscurat Sometime in composing infamous lynes verses or songs vpon other mens concealed sinnes or speaking like an impostor on them Sometime in reporting others disgraces for a truth being onely but suspected and neuer in any force yet this is done eyther for hate or enuie Sometime in shewing truely the defectes of others and accusing them thereof yet not for any zeale to iustice nor because being corrected they might be amended or to any other vertuous end but only in meere hatred and to make them generally receiued for infamous Sometime by shewing very ioyfully and recounting in the height of pleasure the errors of other men onely to make but floutes and scornes of them Sometime in giuing commendation that others defamations should bee blazed abroad and taking great delight in the publication of them inuiting others to giue them attention Sometime in blaspheming and detracting the honour dyuine with an hundred nay a thousand other ennormous offences Nor are there so many letters in the Alphabet as the tongue daylie deliuers abuses in diuers and sundry kindes of sinning and yet no account at all is made thereof God therefore of his goodnesse alwaies open our mouthes to the end we may not in such grieuous manner offend thereby both him and our neighbour Claudio The greater part of the world we see doe runne into these defects of the tongue But if first of all they would consider on their owne wordes ere they spake them and poize them before in the ballance of iustice they would not fall into so many offences Lodouico As a remedy for this great defect wee ought to followe the counsell which the great doctour of the Church Saint Ierome giues vs Prius ad limam quà m ad linguam verba veniant as if he would haue said If a man before he speake would conduce the wordes which hee hath to vtter first to the file or touch ere to the tongue as considering whether they were worthy or no to come foorth of his breast whether they be to the dishonour of god or vnchristian preiudice of our neighbour no error at all should be coÌ„mitted Because all those speeches which may otherwise proue superfluous wold thus be abated our words would be much more corrected and adorned Now in regard that our weaknesse is very great and without the diuine assistance all humane diligence is meerly but in vaine let vs doe as we haue already said the blessed Apostles did that is Let vs retyre into the secret closet of our harts and desire the Lord to send vs his sanctified Spirit which puryfying the heart examining the thoughts ruling the tongue moouing the lippes and procuring passage of our words all will bee well Otherwise neuer can the tongue pronounce one onely word except the heart be first made cleane For Saint Paul the Apostle saith that without the diuine helpe we cannot so much as thinke one good thought of our selues Non quòd sufficientes simus cogitare aliquid à nobis quasi ex nobis sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est Not that we are sufficient of our selues to think any thing as of our selues but our sufficiency is of God It behooueth therefore that God doe first of all speake in our hearts and then we may afterward speak the better to others Not of our owne proper will or after our owne peculiar conceipt but as learning of that first spoken by God him selfe in our hearts So shall it not be we that speake but God who speaketh by our meanes and so shall we
be sure not to breake silence Non enim vos estis qui loquimini sed spiritus patris vestri qui loquitur in vobis For it is not yee that speake but the spirit of your Father which speaketh in you This is that whereof God spake by the Prophet Ose speaking to our soule Ducam illam in solitudinem loquar ad cor eius I will bring her into the wildernesse and speake vnto her heart As if God would haue said to the soule of a deuout christian To the end that the soule of my deare and deuout sonne may not erre in talking nor scandalize the conneâ—sation of others I will leade her into the secret desert of holy contemplation there I wil do her so much fauour as to reueale vnto her the secrets of mine own heart speaking in a silent voice to her heart But yet in such sort as when she her selfe by the sound of her voyce would speake to others it shall not be of such mysteries as she goes about thinking on or what words she shall vse nor of the things she is to speake of Because I will minister to her thoughts and I will guide her wordes speaking my selfe within the secrets of her heart Wherfore she shall haue nothing else to doo but onely to be a faithfull deliuerer of what I shall commit to her speaking This is the sending of his holy Angels to inspire our soules with what we haue to doe and they may say to them that they speake to their hearts Loquimini ad cor Ierusalem He calles the soule Ierusalem because she is made a Citizen of the Soueraigne Ierusalem Euen in like manner as the Preacher vseth to doe when hee tearmes his present hearers by the name of the whole Citie saying I speake to thee Roome I speake to thee Millaine or I speake to thee London that is I speake to you which are the inhabitants of Roome or to you Romaines Londoners c. Claudio A very speciall fauour is this which God doth vnto man in speaking to the heart to auoyde breach of silence by importunity of words And most happy is that soule to whom God reuealeth his secrets diuine and gouerneth his words least he shold erre in praying by not fayling in his speeches nor stumbling in reproofe of other mens defects Finis Chap. 23. The Argument From whence it ensueth that man being a creature so noble yet notwithstanding he committeth greater errours then any other creature whatsoeuer How God hath giuen him many helpes to preserue him from sinne and particularly the precept of brotherly correction committed into the power of the tongue The necessitie and excellencie whereof is heere discoursed on And that silence in such a case is prooued great babbling and a grieuous sinne because the tongue may be a safety to our neighbour They also shew the way which we ought to obserue in correcting of our neighbour as also the qualitie of the precept it selfe by approoued sound doctrine and testimonies of holy Scripture Chap. 24. LODOVICO As God speakes vnto the heart thereby most highly manifesting his diuine secrets to his esteemed sonnes seruantes least they should erre in speaking or else in any other humane action Euen â—o ought we also to assist one another with the office of the tongue â—or auoiding of such defects as oftentimes wee doe fondly commit Because christian charitie so requireth and he that diâ—igently imployes him selfe in the duety of charity resembleth God him selfe who seekes very many waies whereby to help man out of his sinne Whereupon it is said by Ieremie Si separaueris pretiosum à vili quasi os meum eris And if thou take away the pretious from the vile thou shalt be according to my word Euen as if he had said Man is by nature fraile apt to erre corrupt and led by giddy sense but thou if by the keene swoord of thy tongue thou wilt seeke to separate the precious soule of thy neighbour from the vilenesse of sinne thou shalt be like vnto me Who to raise man out of misguidance haue layde aside honour life and all other commodities whatsoeuer and to me is giuen in liew thereof death with mine owne bloud standing bound to redeeme him from the cruell obiected articles of sinne and the deuill Well shal it become vs then to labour duetifully for those meanes wherby we might resemble so great a maiesty a beauty so exquisite as without any like that of god is As also for the help of our neighbor we being equal bretheren in christ desceÌ„ded of one stock created by one and the same God redeemed by one most precious bloud nourished by the selfe same sacraments and hoping for one and the very same glory Admit you were trauailing on the way with a freend of yours perchaunce should meete with an enemy of his who drawing forth his weapon attempts al the wayes he can to wound him Would not you lay hand to your sword with your freend defend him to your vttermost Our neighbour is mainly assaulted by sinne the capitall enemie that seekes the slaughter of his soule while we are in this miserable peregrination of this world together We therefore not to see the death of our brother thus assailed by sinne ought to draw foorth the sword of the tongue Lingua eorum gladius acutus and with him help to driue his aduersary to flight striuing to cure his trespasses with humble reprehensions and charitable exhortations Because as there be many sins coÌ„mitted by the tongue so likewise are there as many vertuous actions thereby to be performed in which behalfe strict silence is a fault as hainous as is idle vain needles talking Claudio If insensible creatures by so admirable an order in nature lend help one to another profit each other in their kinde led onely thereto by naturall inclination As the Sunne in most wondrous manner enlighteneth the Moone the Starres and other Planets and she also clearing the ougly darknesse of the night giuing an influence to the earth whereby it yeelds to vs such copious bounty of precious fruites The fire purging the ayre the ayre purifying the water the water bathing and fertiling the earth and they of all these giftes are not scarse or sparing to vs. How much more then ought men being adorned with vnderstanding beautyfied with reason ennobled with senses and endued with discourse bee forward in helpe one to an other especially in so weighty a case as sinne is which robbing vs of grace depriues vs of glory making vs meete for hell by taking the blessed Angels comfort from vs and giues vs in stead thereof the company of deuils Therefore we ought to vse all diligence by being helpfull in this kinde euen to our vttermost and if we finde defect in our own abilitie to call for the more powerfull assistance of others who may binde vp
and a publicane Herein are three things to be obserued namely the place the time and the manner The place is noted when he sayth Si peccauerit in te If thy brother trespasse against thee that is If thy neighbour sinne secretly and thou onely knowest thereof reprehend him in some remote place that no one may know thereof for feare of giuing therby scandale to others and discouering against charity another mans defects To the end also that the delinquent may the more willingly amend by perceiuing that all this is doone vnto him in loue The time also is to be respected because alwayes at all seasons it is not a time for reprehension For it often falleth out that the person offending is incorrigible Which he wel knowing or perceiuing that shold vrge the reproof he stands not bound then to mooue correctiō least the sinner shold fal into greater guilt but ought to take a fitter opportunity Or else if he know it to be no apt season euen immediatly vpon the transgression to strike with reproof his wisedom in forbearāce cannot be therfore impeached yet the sinner in due time may be also chastised Noah patiently awaited seauen dayes together hauing first sent foorth the dooue and seeing her returne to be so quickly without bringing any signe of the waters cessation then he sent her foorth againe and then shee brought back the Oliue braunche with her At illa venit ad eum ad vesperam portans ramum Oliuae virentibus folijs in ore suo Intellexit ergo Noe quòd cessassent aquae super terram And the Doue came to him in the euening and loe in her mouth was an Oliue leafe that shee had pluckt whereby Noah knewe that the waters were abated from off the earth In Noah is figured the christian soule remaining within the Arke of our body The waters of the deluge are our sinnes wherein we like poore wretches are as drowned VVhereof Dauid speaking sayth Saluum me fac Deus quoniam intrauerunt aquae vsque ad animam meam Saue me O God for the waters are entred euen to my soule The Doue representeth brotherly correction and the Oliue branche is the fruit of this brotherly admonition VVhen we behold our brother in the deluge of sin we ought to send foorth out of the Arke of the body by the window of our mouth the doue of mild correction Which returning vnfruitfully and without any signe of amendment at all we ought not therefore to despaire of his recouery But after the example of Noah with patience to attend a time more opportune In which space perhaps the waters of this wretched floud may cease by the want of former proude conceit and better consideration of his own estate VVhereupon sending foorth againe the simple Doue in kind correction and on meere charity doubtlesse she will bring some signe of the great floods fall euen the very fruit of so good an endeauour and so thou hast won thy brother Lucratus es fratrem tuum We must in like sort obserue the manner that is charitably with sweet words and full of loue Dauid draue the tormenting spirit foorth of Saul not with stearn strokes but with mild musique Eliseus the Prophet sent his seruant Gehezie with a staffe to reuiue the son of the widdow which prooued to nothing but when afterward he came himself in person and with his own limbs warmed the dead-benummed limbs of the child being lifelesse he ioyning part to part face to face hands to hands breast to breast and feete to feet thus heating the child he raised him from death to life So when we would reuiue our brother he being mortally wounded with sin and euen almost dead in soule we should not send our seruant with a staffe to doo such correction as Pilate did to Christ Corripiam ergo illum dimittam I will chastise him and let him loose Neither ought we to vse any rough or rigorous words But like to Eliseus warme the delinquents soule with the heate of charity and by compassionating his case euen transforming our selues altogether into him According to the instruction of Saint Paul Fratres si praeoccupatus fuerit homo in aliquo delicto vos qui spirituales estis huiusmodi instruite in spiriu lenitatis considerans teipsum ne tu tenteris Brethren if a man be falne by occasion into any fault you which are spirituall restore such a one with the spirite of meekenesse considering thy selfe least thou also bee tempted Being thus heated with the warmth of christian charity we shal raise the sinners dying soule by the religious meanes and office of the tongue Oh how pleasing is this manner to me and I prayse the true vse therof from time to time because when we goe ouer hastily to the committed euil the offender hauing his senses blinded will not suffer himself to be reprehended but rather in haughtinesse of spirit wil euen approoue and maintaine his sin VVherefore looke how thou blowest the fire then so much the more thou kindlest it whereto if nourishment want it will extinguish of it selfe Euen so is it with thy brothers cholerick and hasty nature being reproued too quickly of his committed error Therfore it shal become vs wel to expect a while in our reprehension to vse no loftinesse because the sinner in this case may very aptly be compared to a sick man When a sick body would feede on delicate and healthfull meates for his disease and yet are to him most displeasing though in their owne nature very wholesome they vse such art in the deliuerance of them labouring to please his weak rellish as he hardly perceiueth what they are The finner by his ouersurfetting on sin abhors all spirituall meates how healthfull or delicate soeuer they be He finds no tast in preaching he hath no delight in praying no mind to the holy Sacraments no pleasure in fasting nor any godly action agrees with his relish Nay he is reduced into such an estate as he hath no feeling of any spirituall matter So that euen as Dauid sayth Omnem escam abominata est anima corū Their soule abhorreth al meat Almost they are ready to leaue their houses drawing on their latest breath euē as next neighbour to eternal death Appropinquauerunt vsque ad port as mortis VVherefore in the administring of this healthfull foode of brotherly correction that it may be willingly and louingly accepted you must shadow it in som substantial manner to make it cary a tast of kind and comfortable words after this or the like obseruation Deare brother so it might not be displeasing to you I would deliuer a few words greatly to your profit wherein God is my witnesse nothing else mooueth me but the honour of God true brotherly charity and vnfeigned regard of your good I know well that such