a right sure stronge defence the more that the dyuell depresseth man by the conscience of his synnes the more to lyfte vp him selfe with the hope of goddis mercy mysticall societie with Christ so againste the ieoperdy of arrogancy it shal be a present and redy remedy to abiect and humiliate hym self with consyderation of his owne weakenes For who so euer in Christ is strong haute and in hym selfe humble and abiect can neither be throwen downe of Satanas nor yet confounded Suche a certayne thinge we rede in the olde cronycles of saynt Antony the monke whome the dyuell assauted by a thousand meanes and yet he coulde neuer ouercome hym On a certayne tyme whan that he had wrought and done all the polycies and subtylnesse that he coulde deuyse and all in vayne he confessed hym self to be conuict and vanquysshed sayenge thus I labour all in vayne for yf I deiecte the and shewe the thy vnworthynesse thou doest auaunce and lyft vp thy selfe and yf I extoll the thou humblest and depressest thy selfe Wherfore accordinge to the exaumple of saynt Antony if the dyuell saye Thou arte worthy to syt amonge the hyghe seraphical sayntes in heauen than let the sycke manne make answere My worthynes is nothing but that I acknowlege my vnworthynesse Dyuell Moche hast thou prayed thou hast fasted moche thou hast led a streyght and a sharp lyfe thou hast delt moche to the pore people Man All that thou sheweste of me the dampned Pharisces do the same If any maner of good worke hath come from me it is the lordes and not myne Dyuell But thou art pure frō those vices which raigne in hym or in him Man I haue then cause to gyue thankes to the lorde not to loue my selfe For oules the lordes mercy had protected me and yf that lyke tētation had fallen vpon me I shulde haue committed the same or els more greuous ¶ With suche praty answers the sycke man must be armed short and redy againste the croked suggestions of the dyuell Ensaumples of holy men muste be called to mynde but specially of suche in whome a notable mercy of the lorde hathe bene declared as in Dauyd whiche augmented the synne of adultery with manslaughter and with two wordes he escaped vengeance in the Nyniuites in Achab in the prodygall sonne in the publicane whose rightwysenes the lord preferred before the pharisaic all holynes in Mary Magdaleyne to whom the lorde sayde thy synnes be forgyuen the in the auoutrous woman to whom it was sayd Go and synne no more in Peter whiche thrise denyed our lorde in Paule which dyd persecute the church of god bynding and killynge all that professed the name of our lord Jesus in Cypriane which of a southsayer was made a martyr and in many other mo which from their ydolatry from blasphe my from horrible crymes through their faith in Christ atteyned mercy and crownes To exclude desperation rayse hope the scriptures of the newe testament be more apte than the scriptures of the olde Nor it is no wonder Moyses feared the Jewes with commaundementes Christe comforted all men by fayth and grace The holy scriptures haue not onely exaumples but also sayenges very many partly which cast on men a dicde partly which comfort the ferefull For vpon these two thinges in maner al the bokes of the prophetes do renne heapinge vp vnto them that turne awaye frome god the vengcance of god and agayne amplyfyenge the mercye of god to theym that be conuerted to repentaunce Eyther of these medicines is holsome if it be taken wysely and in place Those that be terrible and put men in fere must be ministred to hole in body and sycke in soule wylde and dronken in the prosperitie of this worlde or cast into a slepe with the delytes of this worlde as it were with the herbe called Mandrake to the entente that as by takynge of Helleborus they maye be brought into their ryghte wyttes or by takynge the herbe Brassica called Cole they may returne to sobrenes or myghtely cryed on and plucked they maye awake Those that cause hope of forgyuenes muste be gyuen to tymorous and fearfull persons specially in the daunger of deathe How be it neyther to the one feare must be so ministred that there shal no hope of forgiuenes be mixed to the medicine nor to the other asswagementes and comfortes must be so gyuen that they shall be disceyued For it is two thinges to chastyse and to cast downe to comfort to flatter Wherfore it forceth not a lytell what persons do kepe and syt with sycke men They ought to haue alwayes at hande sundry places of scriptures that eyther by the rehersall or tellynge of them they maye establyshe and holde vp the fayntynge harte of the sycke person To this purpose certayne prayers aptely made will helpe For certayne prayers go aboute whiche be made of vnlerned persones by vnlerned persons be taught to sycke folke Hope beyng thus called vp yet remayneth the feare of Purgatory the which feare some men go about to mitigate and put out with remedyes after myn opinion nothinge effectuall Some do promyse to be sure redemed from the fyre of Purgatorye by byenge of pardons but I feare least this be not to succour and comfort the sycke manne but rather a mockynge and a mere dissimulation They do better whiche by Masses and prayers of good men also by almes dedes counsayle hym to dymynish the paynes of Purgatory But the strōgest remedy of all is to aduertyse the sycke mā as moch as he can to styre and rayse vp his faith and charitie towarde god his neighboure with all his harte to forgyue al men of whom he hath bene hurted and greued and paciently to suffre for the loue of Christ Jesus the paynes of the syckenesse and also death submytting him selfe holly in al thinges to the wil and pleasure of god thinking that god wil not iudge two tymes vpon one thinge and that Christ for our synnes hath suffered great peynes on the crosse Out of these fountaynes and namely of his blode let hym fetche a refrigeration and asswagement of the fyre of Purgatory And so mystrustynge hym selfe and trustyng vpon the excedynge mercye of god the merytes of Christ and the suffrages of all holy menne with a contrite harte and religious trust let hym saye In manus was domine commendo spiritum meum Into thy handes lord I commende my spirite There shal be no disdayn though the synner and weake man vsurpeth the wordes of his lord For to that purpose our heed expressed these thingis in him self that we shoulde folowe hym whiche be his membres That yf it please any man also of the other holy men to fetche an exaumple let him saye with saynt Steuen Lorde god take my spirite Examples haue a great vertue and strēgth to moue mens myndes For they shew as it were in a glasse what is comely and what is
so ofte make a lye vnto god as we breake and transgresse his lawes to whyche we be sworne atte the fountstone of regeneration and so ofte we be vniuste as we acknowlege not our duetie to our maker and redemer naye rather we vtterly renounce hym so ofte as we go backe from our couenauntes but although we beynge falsely forsworne denye and renounce hym yet he constantly is faythfull he can not denye hym selfe allways true in his promyses To th entent he myght be iustifyed in his wordes and vanquyshe whan he is iudged The father heareth our petition in his trouth in which by his sonne he hath vnto vs promysed forgyuenes of synnes and he heareth not in our but in his iustice or rightwysenes for by his sonne he iustifieth euery one that beleueth purifyeng our hartes with faith Blessed be they then whiche serue the lorde in dreade and reioyce vnto hym with tremblynge Why shoulde not men which be in subiection of synne feare hym whom the armyes of aungelles feare It is good to feare afore iugement that in the iugement we may fynde mercy Of humayne histories we lerne with howe great gladnes and reioysynge of hert saynt Andrewe wēt vnto the execution of the crosse But contraryly we fynde that many whiche were supposed very holy menne at the tyme of their deth were sore troubled with great feare dredynge the iugement of god and damnynge their hole lyfe before ledde For it is shewed of one vnto whome tremblynge at the tyme of his deathe whan his brethern which were about hym sayd what meaneth it that thou art thus aferde sythe thou hast lyued all thy lyfe so holyly he answerde thus O brethern moch dyuers be the iugementes of men and the iugemēt of god Lyke wordes it is sayde that Benet Bernarde and Austyn had Wherfore one and the same fayth bothe causeth fere and ouercometh fere it causeth shewyng how great he is whom we offende in many thinges it ouercometh shewing vnto vs Christ whose charitie purgeth our synnes grace supplyeth that our imperfectnes lacketh But as it is not alwayes a signe of a valiant courage or faithefulnes not to fere deathe for sometyme it is token of a brutyshe retchelesnes and lacke of reason sometyme of an outragious and gyantyshe felnes at the approchinge of death to waxe fearefull is not alway a signe of distruste or of an euyll conscience Otherwhyles it is a mere naturall affection accordynge to the varietie of bodyes which in some is more moderat and in other more vehement Thus feared Ezechias deathe a man whiche with perfit harte walked before god but he fered not grutchynge and murmurynge against god but with teares prayenge it from hym and his prayer was harde I knew certayn women which at the onely mention of deathe wolde begyn to tremble yet the self same women whan their death approched were most stronge and most cōstant For that fere and quyuering came not of an yll consciēce but of a peculiar weakenes of the womankynde or of nature The affectiōs of nature if they be ouercome by vertu doo encrease the victorye they do not signify a mystrust So a man shall se some wyttes standynge in their owne conceyt which do easyly satisfie them selfes in any maner of thinge There be agayn wyttes of base courage in nothing contentinge them selfes although they do a thinge well to whome if thou reherse all maner comfortes yet they fele a remorse a gnawynge in their mynde drawyng them to mystruste hereby they coniecture that they be not yet allowed of god bicause they neuer fele a quietnes of conscience But yf we wyll distinct nature from vertu neyther they do greately truste vnto their quietnes which please thē selfes in any maner thing neyther they cast away vtterly their hope whiche haue a mynde euer suspectynge the worst This is a vyce of a peculiar nature not of the will whiche vice a man muste not regard if he can not conquere it and take that for a thinge most ratified sure which the spirite inwardly speaketh thoughe the fleshe be neuer so moch against it I suppose that this is also natural that men whātheir last day draweth nere be so in maner transmuted that they allowe none of all those thinges whiche they dyd in their lyfe not bycause they be naughte vngodly but bycause they be humayne and going from the perfection How be it agaynst these affections of nature we must fight with the strēgth of the spirite all be it by theym we aught to iuge neyther other men nor yet our selfes But let vs returne to our former purpose which was to shew by what meanes weake soules as the most parte be maye be comforted whom death maketh all dismayd and fearefull in whose lyfe was moche forgetfulnes moche neglygence moche ceassing and brefely many mo euyl dedes than good dedes and if there be any good dedes they be spotted with moche rustynesse so that to vtter them into the syght of god were nothinge elles but to angre god Eyther the mynde is not redy at all vnto deathe or els it is but lyghtly instructed In the very artycle of deathe whatte shall we doo to this man No manne is to be despayred so longe as the breth is in hym The last battayle is atte hande The space is shorte he nedethe spedye counsell What I saye shall we counselle this manne whyche is thus troubled not withoute greate cause Fyrste yf he haue heyres that shall succede hym it were best to commyt all the care touching the testament to them First this is a lytell compendiousnes If not let hym as brefely as he can dispatche this mater by a nuncupatory testamēt or yf there be any better way This done let hym auoyde out of his syght all bablers of worldely goodes in whyche thinge manye men offende aboue measure which bringe forth doubtes vnto the sycke man that lyeth a dyenge of the testament and of externe thinges Somtyme also they compell hym to subscribe his name and that refusynge and vnwillyngly detestinge their importunitie by whom he can not be suffred to dye Than whiche frendes nothinge is more vnfrendly Than yf the maner of the sycknes suffreth let hym study to heale his sowle before the body by short confession but pure and voyde of disceyte and let hym take of the priest with a full fayth and with hygh reuerence the remedy of penance let hym crie for the mercy of god euen frō the bottom of his hart and take a purpose of amendment of lyfe if it chanceth hym to recouer Thā if haply the prest be not at hand or cā not be gottē let him not forthwith as som superstitious people be wont to do despayr in him self tremble but let him with his hart confesse him self to god of his synnes vnryghtfulnes whych of his mercy wyll take the good wyll of the man in stede of the very dede and that whyche lackethe to the external
of Christ so with the deuyll we shoulde not dispute but whan he suggesteth and casteth into mans mynde wycked and vngodly thynges he must say to hym Abi retro Satana So backe Satanas It is not lefull for me to doubte of tho thinges which the churche instructed by the holy goste hath taught and it is also sufficient to beleue tho thinges which I can not attayne with my wytte They tell a certayne thinge not out of holy scripture but neuerthelesse to the mattier that we go now about it is sufficientely accommodate mete of two whome the dyuell at tyme of their deth tempted of their beleue the one was lerned in Philosophie the other was nothinge but a Christen man rude and vnlerned he assayled the fyrst how he beleued whether that Christ was god and mā whether that he was born of a virgin and whether he beleued the generall resurrection And began with reasons of Philosophie to demonstrate that it was impossible to ioyne tho thinges in one betwixt whiche there is no agreance as betwyxt fynite and infynite create and increate Furthermore that it is against nature that a virgyn shulde brynge forth a childe without carnal knowledge of man nor that accordynge to Aristotell the Prynce of the Philosophers there can be no returne frome priuation to the habyte What nedeth mo wordes The man wauered and was conuicte and the dyuell departed a victour The other rude man whā the dyuel asked him how he beleued of this and of that thynge he aunswered him with a cōpendious way As the church beleueth Agayne whan he obiected howe dothe the churche beleue Marye quod he as I beleue How dost thou beleue As the church beleueth How beleueth the church As I beleue Frome this rude vnprepared man so disputations but with symple fayth stable and stedfast the gostly ennemy departed vanquyshed This aunswere is good ynoughe to confounde and dryue awaye the subtyll and craftye ennemy the dyuell But chiefly it is good in obscure and doubtefull causes and matters As yf the ennemy wyll suggest or some other captious felaw how maye it be that in thre persones there shuld be one god and one essencie in numbre and also by whatte meanes they be distincte the one from the other Let him make answere thus Euen as the churche beleueth How can all one bodye be in dyuers places all at one tyme And how in the Sacramente of the aulter maye the trewe body of a man be conteyned in so lytell a space Let him answere as the church beleueth Agayn what maner of fyre is in hell how can a bodyly thing be an agent in an vnbodyly substance let him answere as the church beleueth Or yf any thinge is to be answered let him answere with fewe wordes eyther out of the Crede which dayly ought to be rehersed vnto the sicke man or out of holy scripture or els by the spirite of faith If Satan heapeth vp the greatnes of his synnes let him turne hym to god and say Auerte faciem tuā a peccatis meis Turne thy face lorde frome my sinnes loke vpon the face of thy sonne Christ Jesus Dyuell The noumbre of thy synnes do passe the grauell of the see Man But yet the mercye of god is more plentuous Dyuell How doest thou trust to haue a rewarde of rightwysenes which art all vnrightwyse Mā My rightwysnes is Christ. Dyuell Shalt thou whiche art all beclad in wyckednesse go with Peter and Paule to euer lastynge blysse Man No but with the thefe to whome it was sayde on the crosse This daye thou shalt be with me in Paradyse Dyuell How hast thou this trust which hast done nothinge that is good Man Bycause I haue a good lorde an intreatable iudge and a gracious aduocate Dyuell Thou shalt be haled downe to hell Man My heed is in heuen Dyuell Thou shalt be damned Man Thou art a barratour and a fals harlot no iudge a damned fende no damnour Dyuell Many legions of dyuels wayte for thy soule Man I shoulde despaire yf I had not a protectour which hath ouercom your tyranny Dyuell God is not iuste if for thy euyll dedes he gyueth the euerlasting lyfe Man Nay he is iuste that kepeth his promises and I longe sythen haue appeled frome his iustice vnto his mercye Dyuell Thou flattereste thy selfe with vayne hope Man He that is verite can not lye it is thy properte to be false of promyses Dyuelle Thou seest what thou leauest behynde but what thou shalt haue thou seest not Manne The thinges that be sene be temporall and the thinges that be not sene be euerlasting and he seeth and more than seeth whiche surely and stedfastly beleueth Dyuel Thou departest hence laden with euyll dedes and naked of good dedes Man I will praye to the lorde that he wyll dyscharge me of my euyls and clothe me in his good thinges Dyuell But god heareth not synners Man But he heareth penitentes and for synners he dyed Dyuell Thy repentance is to late Man It was not to late vnto the thefe Dyuell The thefes faithe was stedfaste thyne wauereth Man I wyll praye to the lorde that he will encrease my faith Dyuel Thou doeste falsely perswade thy selfe that thou haste a mercyfull lorde which with so many euyls vexeth and punyssheth the. Man He healeth as a louynge phisition Dyuell Why than wolde he that thy deathe shoulde be so bytter Man It is the lorde he can not wil but that thinge which is good Why shulde I an vnprofytable seruaunt refuse to suffre the thinge that the lorde of glory hath suffred Dyuell It is a wretched thing to dye Mā Blessed be they which dye in the lord Dyuell But the deathe of synners is euyll Man He ceasseth to be a synner which with hope of mercy acknowlegeth hym self for a synner Dyuell Thou leauest this worlde Man Frome heuy exyle I departe into my natiue countreye Dyuell Thou leauest behynde the many great commodities good thinges Man But many mo euyll thinges Dyuell Thou leauest thy rychesse Manne They be other mens that I leaue I beare myne with me Dyuel What dost thou bere syth thou hast no goodnes in the Mā That is trewly myne which the lorde hath frely gyuen me Dyuell Thou forsakest wyfe and childerne Man They be the lordes I cōmyt them vnto hym Dyuell It is an harde thinge to be plucked away from the derely beloued Man Within short space they shall folow me Dyuell From thy swete frendes thou arte sundered Manne I go to sweter frendes In as moche as the moste wyly and subtill ennemy whome he can not drawe to desperatiō entyseth and solliciteth them to a trust and confidence in them selfes to th entent that whō he can not thrust down heedlong he maye brimge vp on a heyght and so confounde them therfore against this no smal daungier the sycke man must be armed defended and protected Lykewyse also as againste the daungier of desperation it is