lyfe so vncertaine of lyfe and of it selfe alone no life which so many yeares is a growing and so fewe houres a fading if thou be thus discharged of thy bodily trauell and of the feare of trauell by these thy two speciall friendes Howe much more circumspection and stedfast care and diligence oughtest thou to haue ouer thy soule so incorruptible a thing so eternall so heauenly and vnspeakeable a gift in so short a minute chaunged from sinne to blesse from man to an Aungell from earth to Paradice from momentanie lyfe to vnspeakable thousandes of ages from warre to rewarde from tryall of fayth to triumph for victorie from continuall vexation strife and vnquietnesse to perpetuall consolation securitie and quietnesse Howe much more prouident especiallye in this wonderfull age wherein thy mynde is so mooued and tossed to and fro to see the worlde wonder and the Deuill rage that Christ his true Religion is raysed vppe and published oughtest thou to bee in puruaying for the assured knowledge of the true Tranquillitie stay and confirmation of thy minde a matter sufficient and able to buylde thee a celestiall habitation wherein thou mayest lay vp thy heauenly treasure wherein thou shalt inioy the parpetuall fellowship of Aungelles the continuall contemplation of Gods deuine Maiestie the fruition of euerlasting ioy and felicitie and the liuely fountaine of eternall lyfe If thou with this lightnesse of hearte with this zeale of minde and with these tokens of gladnesse wilt accept and imbrace thy friends which haue shewed thee of so earthly a commoditie of so fraile a thing and as I maye terme it of such a masse of Morter With how much more feruent zeale pure loue and beneuolent minde beloued art thou to accept the Author hereof and Translator of the same who haue presented so singuler a benifite vnto thee as is this booke which may so much further and profite thee for the safetie of thy soule The one of these thy friendes nurst and educated in the beautifull lappe of liberall science the other led till he had seene this booke with delightes and trayned from youth to the intisementes of Courtly vanities The one alwayes fedde with deuine foode of Euangelicall Doctrine the other taught till ere-whilste with prophane knowledge of obscure darkenesse The one practising as well by his life as by his penne to compile and gather togither the deepe and secret wisedome of Tranquillitie of the minde the other beeing scoller to this booke and hauing put in proufe the Lessons therein learned remayneth as a witnesse to the worlde of the manifolde consolation and commoditie reaped by the same The one hauing layde vp in store this maruellous stuffe of building for the edifying of hymselfe and of all those in the vniuersall worlde which vnderstand the Latine tongue the other for the dutie he oweth to hys Countrie hath brought foorth the same and layde it readie before the eyes of all oure Englishe Nation and Countrie All the thanks and recompence which he hopeth to reape of thee is that thou and that for thine owne singuler pleasure comfort and commoditie wylt wholye reade ouer the same especially bycause it is one whole continued stile and Oration depending consequently yet playnly easily and manifestlye one poynt vpon an other And therefore thou must of necessitie so doe if thou wilt learne how to obtaine the true quietnesse of thy mynde This I will assure thee gentle Reader that if thou wylt with attentiue eares pervse this booke in such sort as I haue declared vnto thee of what state condicion or degree so euer thou bee or howe so euer thy bodie bee inclined or thy mynde affected thou shalt reape inestimable and heauenly profite thereby In such sort as if thou be high of dignitie thou wilt not become disdainefull If thou bee base of state ambicious Or if thou bee meane of calling mutable and inconstant Neyther in prosperitie thou wilt shewe thy selfe vngratefull but thankefull not prowde but lowly of spirite In sodaine sadnesse thou wilt lay holde vpon speedie merynesse In vnreasonable merinesse vpon discreete temperaunce In the leaden lethargie and disease of sinne vpon the quicke remembraunce of mercie by Christ In aduersitie thou wilt not become impacient nor pensiue but quiet and ioyfull In sicknesse not murmuraunt and waywarde but pacient and content with Gods visitation Yea such fruite mayst thou finde by some small paynes bestowed herein as I dare speake it thou shalt confesse thy selfe to stand a thousand tymes more afeard of thy three most spitefull aduersaries I meane the worlde the fleshe and the deuill when the worlde most flattreth thee with the glorious and glittering shew of hir vaine giftes bestowed vpon thee and in thy chiefest securitie of welth and happy dayes than in the most troublesome tempestes of trying thy fayth by affliction of the worlde by prouocation of the flesh or by Sathans instigation of thy minde eyther else in the time when God by his owne handes doth lay his gentle correction of sicknesse vpō thee Afeard I say in such safe prosperitie least God make small account of thee glad and ioyfull in pinching aduersity bicause he acknowledgeth thee for his naturall child and not reiecteth thee as a reprobate bastard That thou being thus mortified to the world and renued by Christ to the life to come mayest so long as the blessed will of God is that thy wretched carkasse shal yet remaine vpon the face of the earth be so light and glad of heart so firme calme quiet of minde in the true faith of Iesus Christ and so rauished with angelicall and spiritual cogitation vpon deuine and heauenly treasures as thy verie self may be alredy seperated from thy selfe and thy body no longer seme to beare rule suppresse and Prison the spirit as in euery carnall minded man it doth But the spirite altogither to direct sanctifie subdue and gouerne the bodie and the same to beare leade and carie about with it no lesse than if it were alreadie chaunged and lifted vp to the euerlasting felicitie of Gods eternall kingdome purchased for vs by hys sonne Iesus who with the father the holy ghost one eternall God be blessed praysed and magnified nowe and in the worlde to come Amen An admonition to the Reader ALthough beloued Reader this Treatise be not of those sort of Bookes vvhich are vsually deuided into Chapters eyther short or long yet asvvell by notes in the margent as also by the tytles oboue the heade of euery leafe you are no lesse plainlye directed to euery perticular matter therein than by the other you might be A godly and faythfull Oration full of comfort which intreateth of true tranquillitie of the minde compiled and gathered in Latin by Iohn Barnard englished by Anthonie Marten IT SHALL GOOD people be a thing most profitable and very godly and in all mischaunces the readiest refuge if I shall in déede performe as in hope I haue attempted to shewe with all diligence where the
minde whereof the other is framed and whereto it is semblant And what doth Philosophie promise to bring to passe being adorned with so many high prayses as it is called the guide of our life the schoolemaister of manners the mother of vertues the expeller of vices the tilling of the witte the medicine of the minde doth it not promise a rest from cares delectation of the mindes of such as be trauellers therein And doth she not as in hir owne right challenge the shaking of of vaine carefulnesse quenching of lusts driuing away of feare and the curing or to speake least the moderating of turmoyles of the minde Neyther doth Phylosophie set forth onely in vtter shewe so greate a profession but the héerers also thereof being taught goodly preceptes and instructed with iolly perswasions doe declare both by their life communication the vertue and force therof resting in them Which of the olde Phylosophers was eyther moued with the occasions of sorrowe or was appalled at death when it aproched Socrates fast bounde in prison seased not to dispute of Phylosophie and the very daye of his death reasoned at large concerning the immortalitie of the soule And when in his hande he helde that deadly cuppe he departed this miserable body with so pleasant and iocande a minde as he séemed not to be preased to his death but vsing pleasaunt wordes as if he had gone to a solemne banket of his friendes whome he had not séene a good whyle before Wherefore to such as know not Christ beyng not yet reuealed to all the worlde I woulde iudge no kinde of life comperable to the Phylosophers eyther if they séeke to driue away cares eyther else for the naturall recreation of their mindes For what is there that eyther in welth and riches eyther in pleasure and pastime either in honor and aduancement doth so excéedingly pacifie the minde and poures gladnesse therin as doth the science of Phylosophie and knowledge thereof which hath beene author of those goulden precepts of lyuing and being collected into bookes hath published the same for a memoriall to all the posterities But after that Christ the brightnesse of glorie who being the same light that giueth light to euerie man comming into this worlde shewed himselfe to the earth and opened the secret will of his father and the true knowledge of tranquillitie of the minde both to kingdomes and nations we are commaunded to here his voyce him to obey and serue him to follow as our onely shepherde and maister in whome all treasures of wisedome and knowledge lye hid The Phylosophers were but men and as Saint Paule calleth them but naturall men who coulde attaine no higher from earthly things than the naturall reason of man woulde permitte them But Christ both is and was the sonne of God who of his infinite mercy left the throne of his maiestie in heauen and from the bosome of his father descended downe vpon the earth to open the misteries hid from euery generation since the beginning of the worlde that wherevnto man being but a creature could not attaine by reason of his blindenesse therevnto his minde might ascende being lightned chaunged and regenerated by the spirite of Christ And the Phylosophers doe chiefly exhorte euerye one to that worthye and triumphant victorie which is ment of our lustes and appetites than which they accompt none more greater nor yet more honorable For he that hath ouercome an enimie was of more force than his enimie but he that by restrayning himselfe bridleth his owne lustes such a one hath ouercome himselfe He that hath ouerthrowne his enimie hath vanquished an externe aduersarie but he that subdueth his owne desires conquereth a Rebell and domesticall Traytour There is no euill that is not easier to be resisted than worldly pleasure For of what sorte so euer it be the same is a terror to vs euen at the first sight and for the asperitie thereof striketh vs with a quaking feare For she with hir smiling lookes allureth men vnto hir and with hir sweete motions falling into the senses spéedily winneth fauor no lesse than doth the song of the Marmayde call backe and drawe to hir companie such as passe by Through wanton pleasures was Hanniball vndone at Capua yet could no ouerthrow in battel discomfite him Wherfore he that ouercommeth his lustes doth not only with the olde Troians put away Helene frō him but plainly triumpheth ouer sin doth a greater act than to ouercome the strongest holde in the world Very well therefore sayd Plato A man to ouercome himself is the chiefe and most excellent victory of all others but to be ouercome of himselfe of all others is a most shameful horrible fall With such like exhortation the Phylosophers doe annimate and incorage vs to this difficult hard conflict and teach instruct vs with all the preceptes they can and yet doe they neyther kéepe néere the right course nor rightly set forth the same and are neyther present with their hearers as they shoulde be neyther indue them with diuine powre from aboue neyther yet are able to gyue grace for bearing away of victorie But Christ leadeth vs from all wandring and troublesome crossewayes of error and blindnesse and setteth vs with his doctrine a true and readie way and doth not only sit as Iudge of our doings but furnisheth vs also with the whole armour of God wherewith we being armed and fortified on euerie side maye resist all our aduersaries at once both ouercome the motions of the fleshe and kéepe our soules vndefiled from the worlde And the same Christ being truly present with his spirit in euery place both exhorteth vs to fight indueth vs from aboue with strength to the battell by hys grace helpeth vs to ouercome when wée faint lifteth vs vp and when we get the victorie crowneth vs Moreouer although we willingly imbrace the wholsome admonitions of Philosophers whereby we are called to remember our frailtie and weaknesse and to kéepe downe the pride of man and although we set some store by those excellent disputations which deliuered the minde from perishing and so earnestly endeuored to set the same at libertie yet verie greatly and I knowe not how farre of Philosophie hath béene from the féele and taste of eternall life Euen so much as neyther eie hath séene neyther eare hath heard neyther heart hath imagined Yet some maner of féeling thereof hath God reueled to his elect by his holy spirite But of the exceding greatnesse of that vnspeakable glorie none of the olde Philosophers coulde so much as dreame vpon or make coniecture of Which thing God in his sonne Iesus hath appoynted as a right of inheritaunce to be inioyed of the true worshipers of him euen since the first beginning of the world and creation of all things For others lacked the holy spirit of promise and adoption which God imparteth to the faythfull that desire and call vpon him for the same and
by the inspiration of the same spirite doth regenerate quicken and renue teach rule gouerne sanctifie erect comfort and confirme vs in fayth helpeth our infirmitie maketh vs light and readie to all good workes Through which we crie with boldnesse Abba father which doth beare witnesse with our spirite that we be the sonnes of God and heyres with Christ Who béetng the earnest of our inheritaunce we are sealed to redemption of the possession purchased by him and being lightened in the ioyes of our minde we knowe what the hope is wherevnto we are called and hauing gotten the inheritaunce of the children we obtaine the riche glorie of his inheritaunce vppon the saints Wherefore seeing in all places the way to Christ is so large as he is present euerie where with his elect to their lyues ende and to the last consummation of the worlde we haue no néede eyther to include our selues in Monasteries or houses of Religion vnder a name of holinesse or to take long pilgrimages in hand for the quieting of our minde or to hide and kéepe our selues in secret wildernesse as the maner was of religious sort in olde time vnlesse like persecution of Christians should waxe hote againe as in those dayes it did But euery man abiding in that vocation whiche God hath called him vnto shall reache to the true ioye of the minde and attaine to the true solitarie contempt of the worlde purchasing to himselfe the testimonie of a good conscience if he put on Christ and laye holde of him in such sorte as he hath shewed himselfe in the scriptures and deuorsing from him all preposterous Iewish fashions he preferre the woorkes commaunded by God before mannes ceremonies and inuentions and to ende all at once if hée lyue and behaue himselfe as he ought both towardes GOD and his worde But of Christ and his worde of the maner of good liuing of the testimonie of a good conscience of the sense of eternall life and of the great comfort by learned men shall be spoken of more at large hereafter Now it is necessarie to declare the lets and impedimentes whereby the most part are so plucked from the true tranquillitie of the minde that a very fewe can attayne therevnto And first of all an excéeding number of people giuing ouer their true confidence in God depende vpon the goodes of fortune being once depriued of them they faynt in their mindes by and by and become sorowfull Moreouer others there be which stay themselues vpon the succour of great men and haue a light heart and indifferent mind so long as they are maintayned with reliefe from them But if the mainteyners themselues quaile they streightwayes runne downe hedlong and fall into most bitter mourning yea and further the greater sort themselues for a tyme vaunte and boast of their power and ryches but if they be excluded from theyr seate of honour and diseased of their flourishing fortune they streightway be at wars with themselues and spende all the rest of their life in sorrow and heauinesse All these being disappoynted of their expectation lye in miserie complayning of their crooked fortune and are woont to sing that doolefull verse The earth is full of sinfulnesse The sea is frayght with wretchednesse Some misfortune there happeneth alwayes in mans lyfe to interrupt and subuert our quietnesse vnlesse a man arme his minde to abide all misaduentures and prepare himselfe before hand to beare what soeuer shall happen vnto him Which common state and rule of life Euripides hath prettily set forth in these thrée verses following There is no worde so fearefull spoke nor fatall chaunce so glide Nor mischiefe wrested into man from wrath that tooke his seede But man by nature should put vp and paciently abide Wherfore Plato compared mans life to a Die whose best chaunce euery Dicer desireth to haue but yet howsoeuer it happeneth he must by arte remedie that which chaunceth to him otherwise than he desired For as the Bée gathereth most swéete hony out of the withered Tyme and out of other herbs of more vnpleasant iuice like so may we also out of euil and vnprofitable things picke out that which may turne to our profite and commoditie Euen as shipwracke to Zeno Citius and banishment to Diogenes gaue them occasion to studie Philosophie But let vs procéede to other perillous matters which be lettes of true tranquillitie of the minde There is seldome founde out any one that is content with his calling but thinks an other in happier case than himsefe When as the poore prefers the riche estate the rich the noble man the noble man the King and euery one hauing other states in admiration desires to be in the same case that they be in Hereof groweth so often chaunging of our trade of lyfe which séemes to bring a happie state with it when in déed they differ not much from sickmen which so often doe alter their purpose For euen as the sickeman cannot away wyth the sight of his wife blameth the Phisition is gréeued at his friende that comes to visite him and yet being gone is displeased againe at there going euen so is the wauering way and trade of life and the wandedring and inconstant mutabilitie of the minde which seldome doth ariue at the quiet and desired porte Wherefore euen as they which are quesie stomacked and are disquieted with vomiting doe leape from one ship to another that they maye finde some ease therby vntill they perceiue themselues nothing the better but to doe the same still that they did before carying their vomite as I may say still about with them where euer they go Euen so they which euer betwene whiles choose now one now an other trade of lyfe doe rather intangle themselues in cares and troubles than be discharged and rid therefrom For whilste they studie as it were to lande at next shallowes they are caryed ofttymes into a more huge déepe and as I may say into a bottomlesse poole What if we do not except out of this number the curious tellers of mens natiuities the Mathematricians and the Astronomers who after a sort doe drawe and call backe all things to a fatall lawe and suppose that mans life maners and successes are gouerned by the power of starres and in prognosticating of other mennes misfortunes cannot foresée their owne destruction With these men let vs ioyne the guessing Soothsaiers which by their deuination tell before of thinges to come Also the wicked inchaunters and detestable Nigromancers which rayse vp the soules of deade men or rather call vp Deuils of whome the Lorde doth plainly forbid to aske any question Such men putting confidence in their vnlawfull and abhominable practises and forsaking the true God being led with their owne horrible errors and ouerlong deceyued with lyes neuer remayne in a stayde and quiet minde And there be others which be so inflamed with the loue of themselues as they couet to
He confessed oftentimes that hée was persecuted by his mothers Image and with the cruell scourgis firie whips of the furies in Hell. And moreouer by a detestable deede of the Magis attempted to call vp hir spirite againe to pacifie hir It is sayde that Appollidor thought wyth himselfe in a dreame howe he sawe his owne skinne pulde from him and his members by little and little cut awaye and also that his daughters were all their bodies ouer on a light fire turning and daunsing about a circle Hipparcus also the sonne of Phylastratus a little before his death dreamed that he sawe bloud sprincle vpon his face out of a certaine péece of plate If I should call to remembraunce the reast of the examples which be of lyke sorte Paper woulde not suffice to continue the same Truely an euill conscience in the mynde is lyke a sore in the body It is contriued thorow default not conuayde in by casualtie It mightily dismayeth the minde and continually tormenteth the same with deadly griefes of pensiue remembraunce After that Alexander that noble king and fortunate spoyler of the world had cruelly slaine Calistenes and caused Clytus his familier to be killed the one bycause he refused after the Persian maner to worship him as God and the other bicause he preferred the Actes of king Philip his father before his there entered into him afterward such a sore repentaunce through remorse of his sinnes as hardly it scaped him that he had not killed himselfe What should I speake of Sylla that oppressed the Romaynes of Antiochus that with warres ouercame the Indes eyther of which for the vnhonestie of life which through shedding of bloud and beastly crueltie they stayned and polluted did perishe with the ougly disease of Lice and pined awaye with the grieuous and defestable torment of conscience To this number I maye referre Herod that put Iames to the sworde thrust Peter in prison and to please the Iewes stirred vp persecution against the Christians But at last being striken by the Aungell was eaten of wormes and after grieuous affliction by the wounde of his conscience miserablye gaue vp the ghost I cannot here altogither passe ouer with silence those which dally with God in most graue and weightie matters which wilfully for gaine and honors sake eyther resist or forsake the truth which repeale any thing manifestly agaynst the worde of God and binde their consciences either to the wicked betraying refusing or vtter denying of Christ by othe For euen as peace by the promise of God doth attende vpon the true Israelites who are the constant professours and mainteyners of christian pietie euen so the beguylers false working Epicures enimies to Christes Crosse whose bellie is their God and earthly things their studie bewitching men from beleuing the truth which they resist as Iannes and Iambres did Moyses declining also from the way of glorie and led to the desire of ryches Such doth God with the workers of iniquitie turne into their owne reprobate imagination with a rewarde worthie of such a fault will the iust Iudge once make recompence vnlesse they repent earnestly from the bottome of theyr heart For what for Cannonships Prebendes Deanryes Benifices Bishoprikes or some other temporall commoditie they eyther resist or forsake Christ or else they deale with the preaching of the Gospell which tendeth to the saluation of our soules as with a prophane thing and in a mattter so weighty behaue themselues vnfaythfullye and muche lyke to disloyall fugitiues Or else they will ambiciouslye séeke in the holye scripture which waye to please the vaine appetites of the people vaunting of the pregnancie of their owne wit and learning and boasting of their eloquence and yet in time of persecution will be the first that shall start aside from the knowne truth and so to the great fall of the weaker sort fowly and shamefully betray the doctrine which before they did worthily professe But surely they shall neuer escape frée vnpunished for so great a contumely wherin they go to about beguile god and to dim his eyes as they tearme it neither yet in such sort departing and forsaking the wholsome doctrine they shall euer escape from the handes of the liuing God and his fearefull maiestie whom they haue dishonoured This was felt of Latonius this did wretched Spera both by his wordes teach vs and by his example plainly lay before our eyes if wryters in their bookes haue shewed vs the truth The Apostles in the primatiue Church committed such persons by the word to Sathan that he might haue power to persecute their bodyes who once perceyuing that neyther they should haue rest in their bodyes while they yet lyued neyther in their spirite being departed they might be reclaymed thereby and so through long repentaunce attaine to saluation no greater torment nor vexation more grieuous coulde be imagined then was bidden by them which disloyallie departed from Christ being so vexed with the bitter anguish of conscience as they had no rest neyther day nor night so much as to breath vpon the same or to be at any staye of quiet minde But I will no lenger stand vpon the impedimentes and lettes which hinder the peaceable tranquillitie that all men so busily séeke for Who is he nowe that if he had subdued all Nations vnder heauen if he had gotten all the worlde in possession woulde not lay aside all dominion and willingly surrender vp the empyre of the worlde to the intent he might quiet his afflicted conscience and washe awaye the griefes and blemishes thereof which neuer suffers the minde once to take breath Let vs therefore séeke out where and from whence that excellent quietnesse of the minde is to be looked for which doth not onely appease the carefull cogitations and thoughts of the conscience but also slakes and kéepes vnder the raging affections of the same and besides doth make easie and tollerable whatsoeuer else doth eyther hurt the bodie or any other outwarde chaunce that happeneth to arise Omitting the erronious opinions of the ignoraunt which alwayes throughout euery age as it were swallowed vp a number and led them from the right race of life let vs beginne with an other kinde of stile returning to Christ and his worde to the trade of a good life the testimonie of a good conscience to speake of eternall life and of the manifolde consolation had by the Saints Of which I promised to intreate more at large afterwarde The scriptures declare and in plaine wordes beare record that Iesus doth saue his people from their sinnes That he is the lambe of God which takes away the sinnes of the worlde That he is the blessed séede of Abraham in whom all the generations of the earth shoulde bée blessed who shoulde breake of and treade downe the heade of the Serpent throughe whose subtiltie our first parents were allured to sin That he is the saluation of God from sea to sea and
to the endes of the earth of whome all the Prophets do beare recorde that vnder his name euery one which put their trust of saluation in him should receyue remission of sinnes That he is the mediator spokesman and peacemaker betwéene God and man the throne of grace the head Bishop and high priest to make continuall intercession for vs The propiciation for the sinnes of the worlde Our iustification The Shepehearde and Curate of our soules our hope our life and our resurrection That he is that Emanuel the father of eternall life the Prince of peace the sonne of righteousnesse the light of the Gentiles And to conclude that he is the very Messias in whom be all the promises of God euen yeas and Amen whom the Leuiticall sacrifice and olde ceremonies did represent To him did Moyses lawe tende Of him did the Prophetes before prophecie And euen the verie same did the fathers of the people of Israell wayte for whom the Apostles Martyrs Confessors and all the holy men in their dayes did beleue being shewed and sent among them Christ therefore the reconciler of God and man who deliuered vs from the cursse of the lawe became a cursse for our sakes and as Paule sayth to the Collossians hath put out to them that beleue the hand writing which was against vs and the same being taken out of the way hath fastned vpon the Crosse He for a swéete incense hath offred vp himselfe an oblation and sacrifice vnto God and by death hath vndone him for euer that had the rule of death He pacified the fathers wrath not in part but wholye and perfitely and hath fully deliuered vs from the bonde of sinne and taken vs out of the pitte of hell He hauing conquered Sathan hath borne in token of victorie his dispoyled power and principalitie openly in the sight of the worlde And sumptuously and gloriously hath this mightie conquerour of death and hell triumphed by himselfe ouer those whom he hath conquered He hath made plaine the waye to heauen and ascending vp on high hath led captiuitie captiue and giuen giftes to men He sitting in heauen on the right hande of God the father maketh continuall intercession for vs and beareth the office of a bountifull patrone aduocate and spokesman He dayly renueth in vs the Image and similitude of God which is innocencie righteousnesse and holinesse which were lost in our first parent Adam He among the number of those which were adopted by the heauenlye father to bée the children of God hath made vs copartners with him both of his name and of his kingdome and to be heyres of euerlasting blessednesse He it is that is the true tranquillitie of the minde and quieting of our consciences Hée is the stedfast peace of the hearte and pacient mittigation of our troubles This was the same which was shewed and reuealed in a certaine vision to Elyas the Charret of Israell and the horsemen therof as Elizeus wordes be at what time hée fledde to mount Horeb for feare of Iezabel For the word of the Lorde spake vnto him that he should come out of the caue wherin he rested all night and to stande before the Lorde in the Mount. And beholde the Lorde passed by and a mightie strong wind that rent the mountaynes and brake the rockes before the Lorde but the Lorde was not in the winde After the wynde there came an earth quake but the Lorde was not in the earthquake After the earthquake was a fier neyther yet was the Lorde in the fier And after the fier there came a soft still voyce which when Helias hearde he couered his face with his mantell Why was it the Lords pleasure to appéere in a soft still voyce but to shews plainely that he woulde giue rest and quietnesse vnto such are sadde and afflicted with veration both of soule and minde so as in their whole heart they séeke after God and flie onely to him for helpe as did this Elias when he sat vnder a Iuniper trée in the wildernesse wishing for death Wherfore with this voyce the Lorde in the Gospell doth mercifully call vnto him such as are become weake through desperation as are troubled in conscience and loden wyth cares saying Come vnto me all yée that labour and are heauie loden and I will refresh you Learne of me for I am méeke and humble and yée shall finde rest vnto your Soules For they which with extreme inwarde feare heartily and wyth remorse of their sinnes dreade the payne which they haue iustly deserued and being abashed and amazed for feare of hell fire and of the féendes therin do truely bewaile their sinnes and in this anguished minde through conceyuing of Gods wrath doe humbly flye as it were through this narrowe streight of perpetuall gréefes and afflictions to the vnspeakeable mercye of God through Christ meaning to liue a godly lyfe and asking pardon of their trespasses and remission of their sinnes from such doth the sonne of God wipe cléerely away all teares such doth he beholde wyth a fauourable and louing countenaunce and with the excellent comfort of his holye spirite doth he pacifie and set all their harts at ease and libertie For that place of Esay which sayth The spirite of the Lorde be vpon me for the Lorde hath annoynted me and sent me to preach good tidings to the poore that I might heale those which be contrite of heart that I might preache deliueraunce vnto the captiue and sight to the blinde that I might reuenge the oppressed and comfort them which be in heauinesse that in stéede of Ashes I might giue them plentie of Oyle of gladnesse for sighing pleasaunt oyntment for a mourning spirite a robe of honor the Euangelist expoundeth to be Christ himselfe We were al by nature the sonnes of wrath and as lost shéepe haue gone astray euery one declyning for the right trade of life vnto his own wicked wayes and forsaking God the fountaine of life and of all good things haue purchased to our selues misery death and damnation But Christ of his infinite mercy left the seate of his maiestie in heauen and being sent from aboue came into the worlde and méekelye of the virgin Marie tooke vpon him the nature of man to the intent he might haue pitie vpon our miserable state to saue sinners to call that backe againe which was gone astray to séeke and saue that which was lost and to giue his life for the redemption of manye Who also was wounded and sacrificed for our faultes and buffited for our sinnes all which the father layde vppon him in the name of vs all and by his beating and stripes made vs safe and whole This was he who euen as he drowned Pharao and the Egyptians in the red sea so by his death he querthrew Sathan the continuall enimie of mankinde and set vs at libertie béeyng washed and made cleane through the helthfull sacrament of bloud and water that ranne from him He became the wisedome
of controuersie concerning our fayth and haue intreated of euerie thing in order as matters necessarie for our purpose did fall out There resteth that by all wayes and meanes we can we searche more dilygentlye and when the place serueth better for the purpose to trye out vppon whome Christ is woont to bestowe that excellent peace which he promosed at his departing hence to giue to his Apostles and wyth them to leaue it Shall all persons enioye this peace shall euery one possesse thys so high a benefite I woulde all Christians woulde so wholye dedicate themselues to Christ and so dyligently obserue the rule prescrybed to them by him their onely maister that they might aspire to that most plesaunt ioye of a quyet minde But the way to this so firme a peace is cut off from an infinite multytude through their owne default who starting from the purenesse and integritie of lyfe are defiled in their sinnes and serue their owne lustes Farre from thys are they kept which laying aside the feare of God set great store by themselues which walke in this world according to the tyme according to the spirite that workes in peruerse children and according to their owne concupiscence and which studie not wyth all indeuour and resistaunce to purge the olde leauen but doe whatsoeuer pleaseth the fleshe and their owne fansies To be short all such as are excluded there from as wittingly and wyllingly repugnaunt to the Table of the ten commaundements with all pronenesse of minde rushe hedlong into all mischiefe naughtinesse A great way also are they seuered from thys peace to recken euery sinne more perticularly which be whoremongers adoulterers delicate persons théeues couetous folke drunkardes raylers extorcyoners vniust and wicked men mankyllers lyers periurers enuyers whisperers backbyters spightfull highe minded and glorious men and al vncleane persons which obstinatelye contynue in their sinnes and boldly followe whatsoeuer is enimy vnto the wholsome doctrine of the Euangelist and vnto the glory of the blessed god For those men cannot but tremble in their mindes and quake with inwarde dreade when they vnderstande the wrath and vengeaunce of God towardes them when they perceyue before hande that they shall haue him to be a Iudge and reuenger of their naughtinesse And all those which be prophaners of his temple and runne hedlong into vice the Lorde will destroy and iudge except they repent For he will punishe them with a seconde death casting them into the lake burning with fyre and brimstone and condemning them to euerlasting paine For they obtayned not the spirite of promise eyther by reason of their vnbeliefe pride and wantonnesse eyther for that they were apparelled with no workes of righteousnesse nor practised the worde of God as they ought to haue done but lyued after their owne wayes or rather after the maner of Dogs in gyuing themselues to vncleanesse ryot and other vices And bicause they walked on still after the maner of men in their owne concupiscenses not agréeable to reason therefore hath the Lorde whyle they yet liue called them deade the Apostle named them fleshely and beastlye the Prophete termed them cattell and brute beasts common experience counted them no better than cattell voyde of reason and finally the lawe it selfe hath iudged them vncleane persons Therefore they only are taught by Christ and finde rest vnto their soules which detest sinne and turne to their God by fayth especiallye with the desire of their heart which crucifie the flesh with hir lustes and kill the déedes of the same by the spirite and being deade to sinne liue to righteousnesse and innocencie The which being buried togither with Christ liue againe with him and studie to walke in newenesse of life They which after a sort worke violence to theyr owne nature to take away dominion of sinne in them and they also which reposing their trust in God endeuour to liue in the fleshe as if they were not in the fleshe that the old man being shaken of they may dayly put on the new and the Image that in Adam was lost they may recouer again by renuing the same more more in there mynde euery day They only ascend to that blessed kingdome wherein is ioy and peace in the holy ghost which perceiue the loue of God towardes them and imbrace the same from the bottome of their heart with thankesgiuing helping their poore brethren as farre as their habilitie wil stretch both with their trauell councell and substance They also which spare no labour to serue in their vocation but hauing taken a function in hande do passe through the same to the glorie of god They which couet not riches which compasse not honors nor hunt after pleasures but with a stayde mynde dispise all humaine and earthly things and fixe the same vpon the high and celestiall treasure And they moreouer which in wishing for the Lordes comming doe rather lyke the same should come than dread and abhorre it Such persons as thus renounce all impietie and bestowe the course of this lyfe in godlinesse righteousnesse holinesse and sobrietie of verye right are called men both pure spirituall and liuing to God bicause they haue the spirit of the father which maketh man pure exalteth him to the life of god Whose quietnesse what is it the can impaire when they perceiue féele the louing kindnesse of God so great towards them as he doth not onely of his fatherly affection appoynt them among the number of hys children giues them plentie of his spirite and as the Apostle sayth richely endueth them styrres vp new desires in their harts and such as are correspondent to the will of God inflames vs to loue God and to haue charitie towards our neighbour driues vs to prayse God continually to confesse our sinnes to aduaunce the Gospell to call for helpe to render thankes to haue true and stedfast confidence in God mooues vs moreouer to all dueties of godlinesse to pacience in aduersitie to sobrietie in aboundaunce to dexteritie towardes our neighbor to diligence in our calling to meeknesse in behauiour to the indeuour of peace and concorde to vertues méete for a Christian to liue friendly to the life of man and profitably to the Church of Christ to the reposing of our sure and stedfast saluation in Christ But he also beholdeth vs with hys fatherly countenaunce kéepeth vs carefully as it were the apple of his eie and brings vs to that glorious kingdome where wée being ridde from the burthen of necessitie and turmoyles of this lyfe all the blessed shall inioy the continuall beholding of their god Vnto which blessednesse let no man thinke he shall attaine which vnder the cloke of fayned holinesse and colourable chastitie of life shal for a time bleare mens eyes and hyde his secret filthinesse wyth craftie and hypocriticall dissimulations vnlesse he shall inwardly also before God appeare such a one as he outwardly professeth and shall in déede liue continently temperately soberly
euill and then taking vp the sworde of the spirite we put the whole armour of God vpon vs So with a valiaunt courage let vs enter to the battell and by the Lorde and his strength let vs stedfastly continue in resisting the assaultes of the Deuill Endeuor we now our heartes being made cleane by fayth to passe the tyme of this our pilgrimage vncorruptly and let vs associate our selues with the number of those which Saint Peter calleth the chosen generation the royall Priesthoode and the holy Nation that we maye set forth his vertues with a glad heart who hath plucked vs out of the power of darcknesse and called vs to hys maruellous light that he might make vs fit to be pertakers of the inheritaunce with Saints in the light Let vs giue our bodies a liuely Sacrifice holye and acceptable to God not fashioning our selues lyke vnto this world but transforming our shape by renuing our minde that we may trie what the worde of God is Let vs seperate our selues from such as eyther be addicted to the worlde or be seruants to their lustes Who like vile bondslaues beare the yoke with vnbeleuers and reioyce at all filthie talke refusing not to serue and flatter for suche men as were conuenient that they themselues should haue power and dominion of as Lordes ouer seruauntes Let vs learne our sanctification of our Mayster Christ whose doctrine what else doth it teach than repentaunce than sound and liuely fayth in Iesus our Sauiour than mortifying of our flesh denying our owne selues contemning of the worlde dispising of all things which eyther in the flesh or in the worlde displease God by the same christ our sauior learne to obtayne eternall lyfe Which as here we lay holde of by faith so in that blessed resurrection and redemption of our bodyes which we waite for we shall fully gloriously and perfitely inioy Let vs nowe so finishe the whole course of our lyfe as we may to the last breath obserue charitie procéeding forth of a pure hart good conscience and fayth vnfayned which is the finishing of the commaundement And aboue all things let vs endeuour to kéepe the vnitie of the spirite one with another through the bonde of peace that contention being taken away and abholished as much as is possible we may all togither speake one thing in Iesus Christ and thinke one thing in him in whom onely we increase in godly agréement and consent of friends by wearing out with voluntarie forgetfulnesse the iniuries done vnto vs we maye loue euen our enimies as the Lord hath commaunded vs and prouide to our power both for the safety of their bodyes saluation of their soules From hence shall that ioy in the holye ghost abounde and a quiet conscience shall lighten the minde Hereof it commeth that when at any tyme our minde is eliuated with any godly studie continuing stedfastly in prayer our communication with God becomes so pleasaunt and delectable that in maner forgetting our selues and taking verie little care for the bodie we neyther passe vpon sléepe nor desire meate nor yet séeme at that instant to liue amongst men in the earth but hauing attayned as it were to immortalitie we may séeme after a sort to be in company with Angels Hereof bréedeth so great a quietnesse and securitie as the day of the Lord which to the wicked shall become fearefull and terrible to vs shall be thought ioyfull luckie prosperous and happie And at the approching of the same let vs lift vp our heades and looke vp bicause the fulnesse of our redemption then draweth nigh For from them which haue the testimonie of a good conscience and being sealed with the holy spirit of promise beholde the pleasaunt beautie of the sonne of righteousnesse not with sadde but with chéerefull countenaunce and desirously with a ioyfull minde let in by the window of the hart the shining beames of the worde of God from such I saye doth the pleasaunt taste of eternall life which they perceyue while they liue here wype away all griefe and sorow and ingendring a contempt of the most vaine vanities of thys worlde bringes into them a most delectable ioy but the same ioyned with desire of putting of mortality For as euerlasting life is all wholy perfected in the immortalitye to come so is it at least wise begunne in this present lyfe But how may we attaine to that desired knowledge of perceyuing what maner of life that euerlasting life is which with such vnspeakable vncredible pleasure draweth the minde to God and what kinde of taste hath it among the Saintes that constraynes the children of God to haue such great desire to attaine to heauenly thinges before they be discharged of this mortall tabernacle of the bodie I will recite the wordes of Saint Augustine which do make this matter that we séeke for maruellous plaine vnto vs If the raging of the fleshe sayth he be at rest in a man the imaginations vpon the earth water and ayre be at quiet in him the heauens still and the verie soule it selfe be at rest in it selfe and go beyonde it selfe not in déepe cogitation of it selfe if he be quite voyde of dreames and imagined reuelations if euerie tongue euery signe or other transitory thing whatsoeuer be altogither at quiet forasmnch as if a man giue eare all these things doe say we our selues haue not made our selues but he made vs that abydeth for euer Which being sayde if these thinges then whishe bicause they lifted vp their eare to him that made them and that he alone may speake not through them but by himselfe to the intent we may heare his worde not by the voyce of the fleshe nor by the voyce of an angell neyther through the sounding of a clowde neyther by obscure questions of similitudes but euen him whome in these thinges we loue himselfe without these things let vs heare euen as at this instant we stretcht out our selues with our rauished cogitation attayned to euerlasting wisedome which resteth vpon all thinges If this shall be continued other imaginations which be farre incōparable to these being withdrawne and onely this imagination rauishe swallow vp and repose the beholder thereof among inwarde ioyes that such maye be the life eternall as was thys present moment of vnderstanding him to whome we haue lifted vp our heartes Is not this as much as to enter into the ioy of thy Lorde Wherefore the same Saint Augustine in the last booke of his confessions adioyned this prayer therevnto O Lorde GOD giue vs peace for all things hast thou shewed vnto vs both the peace of rest the peace of a quiet conscience and the peace of eternall rest for all this beautifull order of things very excellent shall passe away when the measure of them is fulfilled and the morow after becommeth the euentide in them And the same is eyther the seuenth day or euentyde and hath no Sunne going
downe bicause thou hast sanctified it for an euerlasting continuaunce that whereas thou after thy most excellent workes didst rest the seuenth day although thou wert at rest when thou madest them the same might be declared to vs by the voyce of thy booke bycause we also in thée might rest in the Sabboth of eternall lyfe after our labours which be very good also for that thou hast appoynted them vnto vs. To this inestimable ioy which this holy man most desirous of the immortalitie to come hath trimly discribed in his bookes to this perpetuall vacation after labour which shall bring such a rest with it as is to bée wished for with all prayer To that most blessed kingdome of ioy wherein dwelleth both righteousnesse peace To the heauenly Countrie to the felowship of Aungels to the most pleasant companie of Saintes in euerlasting life to come by the only meditation and remembraunce whereof wée conceiue an incredible delight in our mind and ioyes pierce our secret breast To all these thinges I saye doe all the children of God desire with longing sighes speedily to attaine and with feruent wishes wayte to haue that same their small taste of euerlasting life to be fully finished and perfected which thing the tumultes of the fleshe attempt to interrupt and the temptations of Sathan labor here to destroy and to plucke from vs For this frayle body being corrupt is heauie to the soule and this earthly mansion kéepeth downe the vnderstanding which is loden with cares And herevpon came that exclamation of S. Paule who tooke it grieuously that his bodie wandred here in a straunge Countrie as a banished man saying O wretch that I am who shall deliuer me out of this bodie subdued to death Againe I desire to be loosed and to be with Christ For the naturall corruption in man which is as it were the roote of all sinne no man hath had any hope to plucke vp quite by the roote or to ridde himselfe from the same in all respectes till death onely by reducing the flesh into dust at length shall remedie so huge an euill Herevpon the feruent desire of the creature abydeth longing that the sonnes of God may appeare And we our selues also which haue the first fruites of the spirite mourne in our selues desiring to bée put on a newe and wayte for the adoption which is the redemption of our bodie that the creature subdued to vanitye shoulde be deliuered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious libertye of the sonnes of god For euen then at the resurrection of the iust and regeneration to come shall sorow griefe anguish sicknesse affliction occasion of sinne yea and sinne it selfe haue an ende Then shall immortality swallowe vp mortalitie vncorruption deuoure corruption and perpetuall ioy consume the bitter calamities of this troublesome lyfe At that time there shall come to the godlye societie of the elect so manye as euer from the first beginning of the world of all ages are ordayned to euerlasting life and they togither with the Patriarks Prophetes Apostles Martyrs Virgins Confessors and with the holye Aungels of God shall contynually sing Halleluya and with ioyfull voyce shall attrybute honor vnto the king of heauen There shall they be satisfied with the plenteousnesse of Gods house and shall be filled with the ryuer of his pleasures There death being swallowed vp to victorie they shall behold the visage of his glorye with vncouered face which the Aungels in heauen are glad to looke vpon They which here did sowe in teares shall there reape with gladnesse They shal not hunger nor thirst any more neyther shall the Sunne or any heate lyght vpon them bicause the Lambe who is in the midst of the throne shall both gouerne and leade them to the liuely Fountaynes of waters and bicause also God hath cléerely wyped from their eyes all teares For as it is here wyshed for desired earnestly prayde and longed for from the very hart so there we shall lay holde of it take pleasure of it praise and magnifie it Here we are at strife and continuall warre with most cruell aduersaries suche as conspire our destruction there the crowne of righteousnesse is brought by the Lorde to the victor that hath fought a good fight the hath finished his course and that hath kept his fayth There there is decréed a most ample tryumph of ioye There are the temporall labours recompenst with the chiefest rewarde of Gods house Who therefore will not cry out with the Prophet How amiable are thy dwellings thou Lord of Hosts My soule is wearie and wasteth with longing after thy habitation Blessed be they O Lorde which dwell in thy house for they shall euermore praise thée There shall they beholde that vnsatiable beautie and being inflamed with perpetuall loue thereof shall neuer cease from lawde and praise When can he be destitute of that peaceable quietnesse of minde which continually day and night is thinking vpon these celestiall and immortall things and which fixeth all his minde care and cogitation in continuall contemplation of heauenly matters Howe can he be out of quiet who with vehement sighes excéeding prayer labours to come to that blessed countrie where the saintes be pertakers of lyfe eternall and truth immutable and who euery day doth indruour to vnburthen himselfe somewhat of earthly cares The very right way therfore in my opion doth he take to the true tranquillitie of the minde who hath Christ to be his rocke and foundation and with stedfast faythe cleaues vnto him he being indued with a perfite perswasion of Gods good will towardes him purchaseth the testimony of a good conscience by performing the whole course of his life both godly iustly and soberly and who both in minde inuocation and confession cleaues so throughly to the true christian Church whereof the sonne of God is President the Aungels are protectors the holy spirite is the sanctifier the godly and elect of euerye age are the felowship as he is a verie member of the people of God and of the misticall bodye whose head is Christ and doth not onely hold fast the liuely hope of eternall lyfe to his last ende but also increaseth euery day by procéeding from one vertue to another For the expectation of the children of God who with a right passage and couragious stomake as to a prefixed signe go forwarde to the rewarde of their heauenly vocation cannot be deceyued if the same leane vpon the sure foundations of eternall election of the precious redemption of the promise of god For euen as God of his méere loue which he poureth into the hartes of vs by his spirite hath adopted vs to be his children that a certaine wonderfull greatnesse of loue being styred vp in oure mindes by the knowledge therof the same might waxe more vehement towardes our most mercifull God and also by sending downe his sonne hath performed our redemption and as
touching the firme promises of eternall life hath determined the heritage to vs So likewise he by his omnipotent power finisheth the worke of saluation begonne in vs if we wauer not but stande stedfast in faith Let vs therfore call vpon the Lorde to poure into our mindes the gift of fayth and daylie to increase the same being begonne in vs that in asking séeking and knocking we maye receyue finde and haue it opened vnto vs. For the iustification by faith from whence the true quietnesse of the minde doth growe and by which accesse with boldnesse to the throne of Maiestie is assigned vnto vs and by whose helpe and defence we are brought to this grace wherein we stande and boste our selues vnder the glorie of God is after Saint Barnardes opinion as it were a mid passage from eternall predestination vnto the magnification as he calles it to come by which we ascende to the heauenly Ierusalem the Citie of the lyuing God to the innumerable company of Aungels to the congregation of the first borne Sonnes which are written in heauen to the spirites of the iust and perfite men and to God the iudge of all men and to Iesus the Mediatour of the newe Testament where we being blessed shall inioye euerlasting lyfe Since all Scripture preacheth vnto vs that these things must with true and certaine perswasion be beléeued and denounceth against the vnbeleeuers payne and eternall death why are we discouraged in our mindes if miserie assayle vs why doe we lowre and lament if but easie aduersity come vpon vs why doe not excellent perswasions take so good roote in vs that we contemne and weare out afflictions of time present by conferring the same with lyfe to come which is reserued for vs why are we not so armed with the continual studie of most blessed immortalitie which is looked for and with sure hope of that most happie kingdome that whatsoeuer shall chaunce we beare it both paciently and quietly If the longest age of oures being compared with euerlasting life can scarcely be counted one minute why regarde we not those transitorie things as matters of no effect which may easily be abidden setling our minde farre beyonde afflictions vpon the good things eternall which tarie looking for vs And why waighe we not downe this light affliction that indureth but for a season euen onely with the earnest thought of the felicitie to come Of our momentany and light affliction speaketh Saint Paule iudging that it bréedeth in vs a wonderfull and excéeding waight of glorie while we haue not regarde vnto the thinges which are séene but to those things which are not séene For the things which are séene are temporall the things which are not séene are eternall For by affliction are good men throughly tryed as Iobe and Tobias were or else euill men therby are corrected and amended as Manasses and many other kings of Iuda Where should either the vertue and power of the spirite be so euidently perceyued or the noble and excellent vertue of pacience giue so splendent a shew or fayth haue any earnest exercise if the Saintes shoulde be strayned with no miserie For euen as the starres doe shyne in the night but in the day time they lie hidden euen so true vertue wering bewtifull by temptation doth as yron with vse shew in aduersitie what force it is of which otherwyse in tyme of prosperitie laye hid in secret And howe should euill men forsake their earthly desires relinquish and cast from them their wicked deuises if no such thing should happen whereby they may be ledde from loue of the worlde from generall flattering of themselues and from their naughtie and sinfull custome For as the Phisition bindeth him fast that is vered with a frensie stirres him vp that is troubled with the disease of Lytharge putteth them both to vexation and yet loueth them bothe being not onely desirous to restore health vnto them both but also applyes verie diligently his whole arte studie in curing of those things euen so God although he be sharpe in punishing yet doth he most louingly by such meanes procure saluation vnto hys elect Wherefore Moses reckneth affliction in steade of benefite when he thus speaketh to the children of Israell But thys also sayth he waigh thou within thy heart that euen as a man chastiseth his childe so doth the Lorde thy God correct thée that thou mayest walke in hys wayes and feare him After like maner doth Dauid in this sentence following extoll the chastining of the Lorde as a speciall benefite vnto vs It is good for me that thou hast humbled and afflicted me whereby I may learne thy statutes But why doth GOD many times suffer his elect to be afflicted by the euill and wicked Truely they which be most holy of all commit something euerye day worthy of punishment For not so much as in the fleshe of the very children of God there abydeth anye thing that is good but in them is concupiscence of the fleshe against the spirite and they are so chaunged into a newe creature as neuerthelesse the olde man is not vtterly shaken of They may referre that saying of Iohn to themselues as well as to others if we saye we haue no sinne we deceyue our selues and there is no truth in vs For euen the verie thought of the heart is inclyned to euyll if occasion be ministred therevnto There is no such prerogatiue giuen to the Saintes so long as they liue in this light if they remember their owne frailtie and weaknesse to make them thinke those common prayers of the Church as Lorde forgiue vs our trespasses washe me more and more And enter not into iudgement with thy seruaunt that they pertaine not as well to them as to others Wherefore the Lorde béeing a righteous Iudge by his iudgement correcteth first his owne householde bringeth them into the way againe and admonisheth them to call vpon him for helpe least they should be condemned with the reast of the worlde And euen as euery beast that is striken with lightning turneth his face towarde the lightning so likewise if the houshold of God will haue regarde to God when he pleaseth them he will compell them also to haue an eye to him when hee strykes them according to that saying when he slue them they sought him and turning back they called to remembrance that God was their rock and the high God their redéemer But and if the afflicted housholde of God will from thence forth diligently séeke after their God with sighings from their heart and with righteous and pacient mindes will abide wayting for his secrete councell their lamentation shall enter into the eares of the Lorde of Sabaoth who pluckes them out of their aduersaries handes that he may learne them to depend onely vppon him reuenges them also at length of their very enimyes if they scorne them and the rod of punishment which they execute not
holy Scriptures the most sure strengthning of the hart out of which if apt sentences be taken and prudently with great aduisement collected and haue the same persectly and as it were at our fingers ende they will not onely kéepe downe the serpent appearing vp with his heade and minister present remedie to all the diseases of the soule but also will arme and make vs readie to indure with a pacient mind all other troubles and afflitions which shall come vpon vs Let vs thinke and suppose them to be but base borne and not right children whome the Lorde doth not chasten And a shrewde figne may be gathered that God hath reiected those which be continually out of trouble Let it be euident in our mindes that all things further to saluation and fall out for the best to such as loue God and that affliction with such doth not argue the hatred of God but declares rather his loue who chastiseth them for a season as children ouer whome he taketh more than fatherly care exercising them with troubles that they being put of from the filthinesse of sinne according to the Image of the first begotten of God he might determine to endue them with blessed immortall life Let vs call to remembraunce that God sendeth trouble and disquietnesse to the intent the olde man béeing subdued within vs wée should with an humble and contrite spirite and with certaine reuerence tremble at his worde Let vs beare away that true similitude that as the séede of the Haruest whiche is couered wyth Frost increaseth more fruitefully and as the flambe with blowing is kept vnder to the intent it maye increase and be made greater so doth God through aduersitie more vehemently rauishe our mindes stirres them vp and increases them with a longing for him Let examples layde before our eyes be a comfort vnto vs whereby the minde may be made more stedfast to suffer losse and displeasure and to indure paine and vexation After the example of Christ let vs paciently abide affliction and whyle we be oppressed with euilles let vs haue an eye to Iesus the finisher of our fayth Who is so arrogant as will refuse to imitate the sonne of God why doth the Disciple complayne himselfe since his Maister leade the waye and willed that he shoulde indeuour to followe him why doth the seruaunt require to be in better state than his maister And hath not Christ the sonne of God ascended by the crosse to tryumph by slaunder to glorie by death to immortalitie And let vs sayth saint Paule in following his steps clime vp by the same degrées to glorie For if we haue both dyed togither liued togither and also suffered togither we shall also reigne eternally togither The Lorde loued Iacob but Esau he hated yet abode Iacob more troubles in this lyfe than Esau did Yea did he not abandon Saule and preferre Dauid a poore Shepherd and yet notwithstanding how did he exercise him both with trouble and affliction How often did he leade him to extreme daunger of his life that vnlesse the Lorde of his excellent grace had deliuered him he could haue found no way to escape What needes me to speake of Danyell who being twise throwne into the Lyons Den twise escaped by the will of almightie God Or what néede I to remember Iob a singuler patterne of pacience from whome the Lorde tooke all that he had as well the honor and ornamentes of his life as the reliefe and comfort of his prosperous helth clothing his bodie also with lothsome sores and yet restored more than dubble folde to him againe Let the children of God remember hereby that the Saintes in time of affliction doe depende vpon God onely and of him doe wayte so greatly for succour and safetie as they may boldly saye with Dauid The Lorde is my light and my saluation whom then shal I be afearde of The Lorde is the sure strength of my life who shall then make me afeard If an host of men were set against mée yet shall not my heart be astonied If the strength and crueltie of warre shoulde inuade me yet shall my minde be at rest and quyet For such as these be doe beare with so pacient a mynde whatsoeuer betyde as although the worlde shoulde turne vpside downe the verie ruine thereof shoulde confirme their mindes According to that saying of the Prophete Let them learne that blessed are the Nations whose GOD is the Lorde Iehouah and the people that haue chosen him to be their inheritaunce about whome the Aungels of the Lorde pitche their tents that they maye preserue them and deliuer them by wonderfull meanes Let them learne that a king cannot be saued by the multitude of his hoste neyther a mightie man by his great strength That a horse is but a vaine thing to saue a man nor that a man is deliuered by the puissance of his horse Let them not forget that excellent verse and not onely to vse the same often in their communication but to verifie it also in their liuing Some put their trust in horses and some in Charriots but vve vvill call vpon the name of the Lord our God. For being in thys sort disposed in their mindes although they were in as narrowe a straite as were the children of Israell and had on their backe halfe cruell Pharao with his mightie host the déepe Sea before them and excéeding high mountaines on eyther side yet would they not be dismayde with seare nor dispayre but with a pertite pacient minde not once muttering would wayte for helpe of Moses the Captaine of God almightie according to that saying Be yee stable and ye shall see the saluation of God which he vvill bring vpon you The Lorde shall fight for you and yée shall be still They which doe not refuse nor séeke to escape the same state of suffering trouble and affliction that Christ himselfe the Prophets Apostles and holy Martirs did nor require a better condition of lyfe than Iesus the verie head corner stone nor then the pillers of of the Church being the chosen Prophets of God and Apostles did but doe so leane vnto God and quietly suffer whatsoeuer his prouidence shall allote vnto them as without complaining and lamenting without moning of their present fortune and without any vnlawfull indeuour eyther of trusting to themselues or making prouision for substaunce they then expect and wayte onely for the help of almightie God From such the Lord cannot be absent but will maruellously delyuer them and that often contrary to the expectation of al men as it is euident not onely by examples but also as it plainely appeareth by the booke of Psalmes My soule sayth he wayte thou still paciently vppon God for of him commeth my saluation He verily is my strength my defence my health and my strong holde so that I shall not fall The minde that is thus affected can neuer take a repulse of