things which passe away and since the world hath nothing else 't is a long while that I have bidden adieu to it It had promised me much and though it had given me nothing yet cannot I reproach it finding my selfe yet too rich by reason of its hardnesse But I returne to the point Men of the World would perswade us that it is impossible to finde any quiet in it to say a firme settling of Spirit The onely meanes to be content is to settle the conscience in peace wherein a man may be content in his condition without ever wishing any other thing And for my part I judge nothing to be more easie if wee leave to reason its absolute power What impossibilitie can there be to regulate a mans will to God's And what contradiction in 't to live upon earth of the pure benedictions of heaven What greater Riches can a man wish then this to be able to undergoe the Decrees of his Fate without murmuring and complaint If Riches consisted onely in Gold Diamonds Pearles or such like things of like raritie those which have not of 'em might count themselves miserable But every man carryes his treasure in his conscience Hee which lives without just scandall lives happily and who can complaine of a happy life Riches are of use to humane life but not of necessitie for without them a man may live content But if to have the hap of these felicities of this life a man judge presently that hee ought of necessity to have a great number of riches This is to enslave himselfe to his owne opinion abounding in his proper sense and condemning reason for being of the contrary part I know well that a man is naturally swayed to love himselfe more then all things of the world Philautia that this love proceeds from the passion of our interests seeking with much care and paine all that may contribute to our contentments and whereas Riches seeme to be Nurses of them this consequence is incident to be drawne that without them is no contented living But at first dash it is necessary to distinguish this love into Naturall and Brutall and beleeve that with the illumination of reason When Reason reignes the passions obey wee may purifie the relishes of the first even to the point of rendring them innocent without departing from our interests and consequently the enjoyment of our pleasures giving them for object the establishment of our setled content in misprision of all those things of the world which may destroy it As for this brutish Love which estranging us from God separates us also from our selves the passion of it becomes so strong by our weaknesse that without a speciall grace wee grow old in this maladie of Spirit of contenting our Senses rather then obeying our Reason making a new God of the Treasures of the Earth But in conclusion these Gods abandon our bodies to the Wormes and our soules to the Devils And for all their riches the greatesâ— Great ones can onely purchase a glorious Sepulture Is not this a great advantage and a goodly consolation He whose will submits to Gods will lives ever content Maintaine we boldly that a man may finde quietnesse of life in all sorts oâ— condition with the onely richenesse of â—tractable Soule resign'd to take the time as it comes and as God sends it without ever arguing with his providence There is no affliction The Spirit of a Man will beare his infirmitie whereto our Soule cannot give us asswage There is no ill whereto it selfe is not capable to furnish us a remedie A man how miserable somever may finde his contentment amidst his miseries if he lives for his soule more then for his bodies behalfe God makes us to be borne where he will and of what Parents hee pleases if the poorenesse of our birth accompanie us even to death hee hath so ordained it what can wee else doe but let him so doe Can he be accounted miserable that obey's with good grace his soveraignes decrees 'T is a greater danger to be very rich then very poore for riches often make men loose their way but povertie keepes 'em in the streight path O how is it farre more easie to undergoe the burthen of much povertie then of great riches For a man extremely poore is troubled with no thoughts more important then onely how to finde meanes to passe his life in the austerities whereto hee is alreadie habituated without repining after other fortune as being estranged equally both from his knowledge and reach in which respects hee may well be stil'd happie But a man very rich dreames of nothing but to eternize the continuance of his dayes although this fancie be in vaine in stead of letting them quietly slide away insomuch that being possest with no passion more then love of life hee thinkes alwayes to live and never to die Death cannot be said to deceive any body for it is infallible and yet the world complaines of it But Death comes ere hee thinks on 't and taking from him all to his very Shirt constraines him to confesse that riches are onely profitable by misprision since by the contempt a man makes of them he may become the richest of the world O what a sensible pleasure 't is to be Rich say wordly men alwayes but I would faine know in what consists this contentment what satisfaction can there be had to possesse much treasure knowing what an infinit number of our companions are reduc'd to the last point of povertie Some in Hospitals where they lye in straw o'rewhelmed with a thousand fresh griefes Others at the corner of a street where a piece of a Dung-hill serves them at once both for bed and board Some againe in Dangeons where horrour and affright hunger and despaire tyrannize equally over their unfortunate spirits And others in some Desert to which ill fate has confined them to make their ills remedilesse as being farre removed from all sorts of succours There is no emptinesse in nature for miseries fill all How with the knowledge of these truths a man shall be able to relish greedily the vaine sweets of wordly riches it must needs be for want of reason or pity and consequently to be altogether brutish or insensible I shall have suppose a hundred thousand crownes in rents and all this revenue shall serve but to nourish my body and its pleasures without considering that a hundred thousand poore soules sigh under the heavy burden of their miseries every Day and yet men shall esteeme me happy in being rich in this fate O how dangerous are the treasures which produce these felicities 'T is a brave generositie to be sensible of other mens miseries Is it possible that the Great-ones of the world doe not thinke at all in the middle of their Feasts of the extreame poverty of an infinite number of persons and that in themselves they doe not reason secretly in
Regius L. C. The APPROBATION when Printed at PARIS THis Booke which expresseth to thee in a Mirrour a dying life and life-devouring Death layes thee open to thy selfe Reader in such a happie shape of truth and so cleare a light of a sublime style that thou canst not scape thy selfe Gaze hereon often that this ill presence of thine as now it is may not be so thine eternally Thus I wish MART. LUENKENS Licentiate of sacred Theolog. and Prof. Ordin Apostolicke and Regall L. C. The SCOPE addrest to the SERIOUS LEt merrier Spleenes reade Lazarill or laugh At Sancho Pancho or the Grapes-blood quaffe And tickle up their Lungs with interlace Of Tales and Toyes that furrow up the face With wrinckling Smiles But if they abusive be To slight these hints of their Mortalitie Urg'd by our Authour 't is a foolish way And weakely does become corruptive Clay If they doe meerely carpe and lye o' th' catch Harme be to them that onely for harme watch Solomon said it the deriding scornes Of fooles are but cracklings of flaming thornes Let them that will our sober sadnesse shun Goe to the merry Devill of Edmonton Or some such Plot whose Author 's drift hath bin To set the people on the merry pinne Here is no Scope for such as love to jeere Nor have we Theame for Panto-Mimicks heere They that are ravisht with each jygging Toy Let 'em laugh on and jolly mirth enjoy Fairely be this a warning here 's no sport And 't is all one if they be sorry for 't Or if they care not Sit they merry then Here 's for the Genius of more solide men SERRES salutes the serious who are such Their better-moulded intrals he doth twich With stirring truths and weigh 'em to the poize Of equall judgement without gigling noise Sad Meditations here compose the Looke Socratick-like with no flash-humour shooke Dust Earth and Ashes are the Epithites Here propriate to the best and all the Sights Expos'd in this True MIRROVR to the Eye Are Death the Grave and the World's Vanitie The frailtie of mankind and some have try'de Such pensive thoughts will lay the dust of Pride THE PARAGRAPHS so compriz'd in the Emblemes giving subject to the Author's Discourses following I. PHILIP the King of Macedon Dayly was rowz'd and call'd upon By a shrill Page whose Bon-jour ran Remember SIR you are a Man II. A Shirt is all remaines in fine To victorious SALADINE At Death a piece of Linnen is All that Great Monarch could call his III. ADRIAN slights Triumphall glory In the Grave founds his prime story Before all pompe hee doth preferre His Mausolaean Sepulcher IV. DIOGENES in Cynicke guise Puts ALEXANDER to surmise I' th' Miscellanie of the Dead Which is a King 's or Common's Head A Morallize on these Sieur SERRES writes Nor Comick Jeasts nor amorous toy's endites Their Paphian Dames whil'st others loosely sing The Knell of Death his solemne style doth ring Those subjects which whole heards of Poets use Thred-bare his nobler Soule disdaines to chuse While richly such a Reader These will fit Whose judgement prizeth wisedome above wit A PROLVSION upon the EMBLEME of the first Chapter or Tract RISE for a serene Morne brings on the Day The Sunne is mounted onward of his way The Anthymne's high among the feather'd Quires A lively breath the agile Aire inspires Draw-ope the Curtaines doe not close the Eye From the fresh beauties of the Azure-Skie Marke what a smart Bon-jour his Page did bring Each Morne to PHILIP Macedonia's King REMEMBER Royall Sir You ARE A MAN The houres are wing'd the length of life 's a span This pow'rfull hint stirr'd up the King to rise Whose name Heroick deeds immortalize Grosse-vapour'd heavie-headed sleepers wake In the bright Morne no more soft slumbers take For Action Man was made Our Life 's a Race He that would winne the Prize must runne apace Be not enchanted with the lulling Downe That charmes the senses in Lethargick swowne Leave the enclosure of Bed-Canopie And give the view more spacious libertie Forsake the grave-type Couch where Deaeth doth keepe His nightly Sessions imaged by Sleepe He that 's a Dormouse for the time is dead And is entomb d alreadie in his Bed Who knowes how soone that sheet whereon he lyes May single serve to enwrap him when he dyes How soone these lazie feather-bedded bones May Coverletted be with Marble-stones Where no joynt-suppling-warmth shall give refresh To high-fed veines or ease-improved flesh Where those puffâ— grossures which o're-curious cost Hath surfet-swolne are putrified and lost Who would be Epicurian since 't is thus Wee that eate all things else wormes will eate Vs Or who would be o're-haughtie since to Earth He must returne as thence he had his Birth Mean while ' though life's quick-sand doth hourely passe A sluggard sleepes our more then halfe his Glasse Be Active while you may for Time's post-haste Spurres on each forward Minute to the last Such Thoughts as these best fit the Morning 's prime To Rouze Men's Spirits to Redeeme the Time Let such our Mattens be ere Death's sad Knell Summon our wand'ring Soules to Heaven or Hell Sir Remember that you are a Man PHILIP King of MACEDON comanded one of his Pages to Awake him euery Morning Call aloud to him SIR Remember that You are a MAN THE MIRROVR WHICH FLATTERS NOT. CHAP. I. Homo ab humo MAN remember thou art Man never forget thy name if thou wilt not forget thy safety Thou art called Earth thou art made but of Earth Man is a thing of nothing onely in appearance son what but the Earth subsists and thou vanishest but the earth remaines firm and thy dust flyes away Study thy miseries meditate thy disasters thou art nothing in effect but if thou be any thing imaginable I dare not so much as compare thee unto a dreame because the frailty of thy nature hath something both more feeble and lesse constant an Apparition hath above thee the simplicity of the Elements whereof it is composed a shadow implies yet the advantage of the Noblenesse of its beginning since the light produceth it Nay lastly a very straw oâ— an Atome dispute against thee also with reason for the purity of substance since they are corruptible without infection but thy heape of filth gives horrour to thy owne thoughts One cannot give he description of Man but by misery nor of misery but by Man insomuch that I anâ— constrained to match thee to thy selfe for to suggest thee the truth of thy slightnesse What a goodly Schoole is the world and our condition a faire booke and all the sad accidents to which Naturâ— subjects it as so many gracious Lessons May not a man iustly say that the earth is a Colledge wherein the diversity oâ— Times and Ages signe out the diversit of Classes in which wee may equall make the course both of our studies anâ— dayes under the sway of those miseries which accompany us without
of the Day which with a continuall aspect We are all amourous of our selves not knowing for what for our defects are objects rather of hate then Love contemplates all created things cannot make reflexion of his beames to see himselfe as if his mother Nature had apprehended in making him so glorious that the Mirrour of his light might not be metamorphosed into a fire of love to render him amorous of his owne proper lustre But the Intellect this Sunne of our Soules has a faculty with which it can both contemplate out of it selfe all things A Man cannot stumble ordinarily but through perveâ—snesse since Reason enlightens him in the very worst wayes and repeale againe the same power to consider it selfe which makes a Man capable not onely of the Meditation of the miseries of the World but also of that of the afflictions and troubles which inseparably keeps him company to the grave We reade of Moses that God commanded him to frame the * The Laver which was before the Tabernacle Exod. 38.8 fore-front of the Tabernacle all of Mirrours to the end that those that should present themselves before his Altar might view themselves in this posture of Prayer O this excellent Mysterie Mortals it behooves you to view your selves in the Mirrour of your Ashes if you would have your vowes heard God hath taught us an excellent way of Prayer Give us this day our daily bread But why O Lord teachest thou us not to aske thee our bread for to Morrow There is nothing assured in Life but its continuall Death as well as for to day O how good a reason is there hereof This is because that life hath no assurance of tom-orrow besides that it is an excesse of grace that wee may be bold to crave of him the bread of our nourishment for all a whole day since every moment may be That of our Death Reader let this verity serve thee yet as a Mirrour 'T is not sufficient to muse of the necessity of dying but to consider also that every houre may be our Lost if thou would'st have thy prayers to pierce the heavens This is not all to know thy body is a Colosse of filth which is traild along from one place to another as it were by the last struggle of a Life alwayes languishing It behooves thee also to call to mind that every instant may terminate the course of thy troublesome carriere and that this suddaine retreate constraines thee to bid Adieu for ever to all the things of the world which thou cherishedst most Thoughts onely worthy of a noble spirit I have eaten Ashes as bread Psal 102. 9. Cinerem tan quam panem manducabam sayes the Royall Prophet but how is it possible I conceive his thought He entertained his soule with the remembrance of the Ashes of his body and this truth alone serv'd as object to his imagination for to satisfie the appetite of his Soule Lord give me both the same relish and desire to repast my selfe still thus of Dust and Ashes in remembrancing my selfe alwayes that I am nothing else A man to abase himselfe below that which he is being so poore a thing of nothing O sweet remembrance of my rottennesse since it steads me for eternall nourishment of my Soule O precious memorie of my Nothingnesse since able to satisfie the appetite of my heart Let this be the daily bread O Lord which thou hast taught me to aske thee to the end that all my desires together nourishment I recollect my selfe in this digression Having diverse times mused of the imbecillity and weakenesse of Man Si vitrei essemus minus casus timeremus S. Aug. I am constrain'd to cry out with St. Augustin What is there that can be more fraile in Nature If we were of Glasse pursues hee our condition might therein be better There is nothing more brittle than glasse yet man is more for a Glasse carefully preserv'd may last long time and yet what paine somever Man takes to preserve himselfe and under what shelter somever hee shrowds himselfe for covert to the storme hee breakes and is shattered of himselfe What reply you to these verities Great Princes Well may you now be arrogant The fragilitie of Glasse cannot admit of comparison with this of your nature what seat will you give to your greatnesse and what foundation to your vanity Man is fully miserable since his life is the source of his miseries when the wind alone of your sighs may shipwracke you upon the Sea of your owne proper teares what surnames will you take upon you for to make you be mis-taken That of Immortall would become you ill since every part of your body serves but as a But to the shaftes of Death Invincible A man may doe every thing with vertue without it nothing would also be no way proper since upon the least touch of mishap you are more worthy of pity then capable of defence Would you be called Gods your Idolaters would immolate you to their owne laughter Tread under foot your Crownes if rightly you will be crowned with them you onely thus render your selves worthy of those honours which you misprize for Glory consists not in the possessing it Heaven cannot bee acquâ—red but by the misprize of earth but in the meriting and the onely means to obtaine it is to pretend nothing at all to it How remarkeable is the custome of the Locrians at the Coronation of their Kings They burnt before them a handfull of Tow to represent unto them the instability of their grandeurs and the greedinesse of Time to destroy them In effect all the greatnesses of the Earth are but as a bundlet of Tow All the grandour of Kings is but as the blaze of flaming tow and then when Darius would make of them his treasure Mis-hap set fire on them and reduced 'em into Cinders and when hee had yet in his heart a desire to immortalize them a new fire seaz'd his intrals by the heat of thirst which burn'd him to the end to consume at once both the cause and the effect So true it is that the Glory of the world vanisheth away like Smoke Great Kings if you build a Throne of Majestie to the proofe both against Time and Fortune lay its foundation upon that of your miseries He which esteems himselfe the least of all is the greatest Humility takes her rise in low linesse from the lowest footing when she makes her flight into the heavens O how admirable is the Humility of Saint Iohn Baptist They would give him titles of Soveraignty in taking him for the Messias but call to you Memory how with an ejaculation oâ— Love and reverence hee precipitateâ— himselfe both with heart and thoughâ— into the Abysse of his owne Nothingnesse there to admire in all humility both Greatnesse and Majesty in his Throne I am but a voyce Vox clamantis in deserto Iohn 1.23
beene of such a worth as every day you descry they had powerfully resisted against the assaults of Ages but as they had nothing admirable in them but the Name Memorials have preserved that and let them perish But yours MADAME which are too perfect for a sutable Name shall not cease to survive the revolutions of Times as being enlivened by Vertue which alone can exempt from Death Let it not seeme strange then if I hazard the perils of the Sea to render Homage to a QUEENE whose Greatnesse perforce humbles the most arrogant spirits being not able so much as in thought to reach to the first degree of her Glory The GRACES themselves are hers and the VERTUES have allianced their owne and her Name and all the adorable qualities which are found here below are admirable in her alone as in their Source I am constrained to be silent MADAME being over-charged with too much subject of speech The number of your Perfections astonishes me the greatnesse of your Merit ravishes me the splendour of your Vertue dazles me And in this dazle this transport this excesse of admiration wherein my senses and spirits are all alike engaged I am compell'd to cast my selfe at the feet of your Majestie and demand pardon of the boldnesse which I assume onely to enjoy the stile of MADAME Your MAIESTIES Most humble and most obeysant Servant P. De la SERRE TO THE QVEENE OF GREAT BRITAINE Vpon the Mirror which flatters not of Le Sieur de la SERRE SONNET PRINCESSE this perverse Ages glorious gemme Whose least of Vertues seemes a prodigie â—â—ustrious Sien of the fairest Stemme â—â—at Heaven e're shew'd this Vniverse's eye â—â—ough Fate with thousand hind'rances averse â—â—rres me the place to which my duty 's bent â—annot cheere my soule from selfe-torment â—â—it by designe to pourtray you in Verse But since that SERRES shew's in this true Mirrour The Vertues of your Mind 's eternall splendour As lively as your Body's beautious measure My heed to view you here lets others passe So well I here agnize all your rare treasure That I ne're saw a better Crystall-Glasse Par le Sr C. To the AUTHOR upon the same subject STANCES DIvine Spirit knowing Soule Which with lovely sweet controule Rank'st our soules those good rules under Which thy Pen layes downe with wonder Whil'st the sweetnesse of thy Voice Breathes oracular sacred noise All thy Workes so well esteem'd Thorough EUROPE proofes are deem'd Of thy Gifts which all admire Which such Trophies thee acquire And with these thy Muse invested ORPHEUS is by thee out-crested Also since blind Ignorance Makes no more abode in FRANCAE Seldome can wee meet with such As the workes of thy sweet t'uch Such immortall straines of spirit As doe thousand Laurels merit But although thy active Muse Wonders did before produce As wee seldome see the like This doth with amazement strike 'T is a MIRROUR that doth shine More with Fire then Crystaline 'T is a MIRROVR never flatters On my eyes such rayes it scatters That therewith I daz'led am Searching for thee in the same By some charme or stranger case I see thy spirit not thy face This strange fashion doth amaze me When I ne're so little gaze me I am streight all on a fire The more I looke more I admire 'T is a MIRROVR sure of flame Sparkling more wee marke the same Yet not every prying eye Shall it-selfe herein espie 'T is not for so commune use Free from flattering abuse None so clearely here are seene As King CHARLES and his faire Queene Therefore thus the AUTHOR meant To the World it to present Since it is a thing so rare And unparalelled faire That it should a Tablet bee For the fairest hee could see SERRES this thy worke-man-ship Doth my spirit over-strip With such judgement and such grace Thou do'st shew in little space Three strange Wonders without errour Two bright Sunnes in one cleare MIRROVR And by this thy rare composure Shall thy Name beyond enclosure Of this present Age obtaine Eternall honour for thy paine Writing to these Princes Graces Thou art prais'd in thousand places Par le mesme Vpon the BOOKE SONNET HEre undisguis'd is seene in this true Mirrour The glory or the shame of mortall storie As Reason or the misse-led Senses errour Doe winne the day or yeeld the Victorie SERRES doth here lively delineate Our every-dayes vaine wretched passages And what is destin'd after Funerall state To innocent purenesse or black wickednesse Such diverse subjects in this one enclosed Such various objects to the view exposed Thou little Monarch MAN small Vniverse Thy Soule it lessons thus and thee informes As thou art Soule with heavenly fires converse As thou art Flesh thou art a Bait for wormes To the READER IT may perhaps seeme strange that I treat so often in my Works of the same matter as of the contempt of the World and meditations of Death But if the importance of the subject be considered and the profit to be derived thence a Man will never be wearie of seeing such faire truths under different presentations Besides the conceptions of spirit upon the same matter are like the productions of Nature in the Species's of Tulips Every yeere shee gives a Change both to their Colour and Array And though they be still Tulips shee renders them so different from their first resemblance that they can hardly otherwise be knowne but by name The Mind doe's the same upon the same subject its Fancies which are its ornature and embellishment render it by their diversitie so different from it selfe that 't is hardly knowne but by the Titles which it beares to particularize each Conceit So that if once againe I represent unto thee the pourtrait of Vanitie and the Image of Death my spirit which hath steaded me for Pencill and colouring in this Worke hath rendred it so rare in its Noveltie and so excellent in difference from those which have preceded that thou shalt finde nothing in it commune with them but my name Thou mavest consider moreover that I dedicate Bookes to KINGS and QUEENES â—ot every day and that these objects of such eminent magnificence doe so nobly 〈◊〉 the faculties of my Soule that I could not have pettie thoughts for such high Personages 'T is that which without ostentation makes me beleeve that if thou buy once againe this Booke and tak'st the paines to reade it thou wilt regreet neither the Time nor Money which thou shalt employ therein ADIEU If thou bee'st of so good an humour to pardon the Faults excuse those of the Impression APPROBATIO LUTETIAE PARISIORUM QVi moribundam vitam qui edacem vitae mortem in hoc Speculo Liber exprimit te Lector tibi objicit tam felici veri specie tam clara sublimis styli Luce ut temet fugere nequeas Frequens contuere ne tetra haec tua species aeternûm tua sit Ita apprecor MART. LUENKENS Sanctae Theol. Lic Prof. Ordin Apost
of them But in this last instant their possession is the saddest object which can be presented to your thoughts And notwithstanding 't is the onely nourishment which rests to you amid the hunger which torments you uncessantly as if for punishment of part of your crimes heaven did permit that the instruments of your pleasures A Man carryes away nothing with him at his Death but either a regreet or else a satisfaction of an evill or a good Life should also be the same of your punishments considering the greatnesse of your miseries by that of your unprofitable treasures for after all you must dye and though you carry with you this desire to beare away with you your riches into the tombe they remaine in your coffers for to serve as witnesses to your heires of the vanity of their enjoyment The Silke-wormes which have so much trouble to spin out their mouths their little golden threads thinke to stablish to themselves a shelter of honour to the proofe of all sorts of atteints and on the contrary they warp the web of their owne ruine Just so is it with the Rich-ones of the world who an ingenious industry To what effect is' t to seeke repose in this world 't is never to be sound but in God employ all their assayes to lay solide foundations here below of an immortall life and yet all their actions cannot but terminate in an end contrary to their designes since they search Eternity in the circles of Ages alwayes in revolution and repose in the perpetuall instability of all worldly things Insomuch that they trouble themselves to suffer much and all their cares and paines are but as fresh sowings of * See the ambiguity of the French word Soucies in the first Chapter Marigolds which dying in their gardens respring in their hearts there to dye never Behold the end of their jorney-worke Treasures to what effect serve you me if I must enter all naked into the grave Pleasures what becomes of your sweets if my last sighs are but bitternesse Grandeurs of this life in what stead you me if you cannot exempt me from the miseries of Death LORD I am rich enough in that I serve for an object of pity to thy adorable Providence whose o're-liberall bounty furnishes me for all my dayes nourishment enough to passe them what can I wish more on what side somever I take my way to goe the course of Death Heaven is an object of consolation to the most miserable I can never loose from view the heavens which are the Gates of thy Palace Insomuch as if any thing faile me I have but to strike there with my regards thou art alwayes upon a ready watch to succour the miserable Supply me then O LORD if it please thee with thy ordinary charities and since that hope dyes after me I will rather cease to be then to hope in thee These are the strongest resolutions of my soule We beg of God every day new favours every day we render our selves unthankefull for those we have received We reade of the children of Israel that having received of God and infinity of riches at their comming out of the red Sea by the wracke of their enemies they made of their treasures Idols and joyning in this sort Idolatry to Ingratitude they erected altars to their brutality since under reliefe of a brute beast they represented their God But leave wee there the children of Israel and speake of the Fathers of BABYLON I meane those wicked rich ones of the world to whom God hath done so great favours in heaping them with so many goods Are not they every day convicted of Idolatry in their unacknowledgement since the coffers of their treasures are the Idols of their temples Are we worthily Christians when idolatry is more familiar to us then to infidels since we make idols of all the objects of our passions More beasts then brutes in their voluntary depravednesse they offer incense to their brutish passions and no otherwise able but to erect them secret altars in their soules they there sacrifice every houre a thousand sighs of an unsatiable ambition Insomuch that the God of heaven is the God of their dissimulation and the Calfe of Gold the God of their beleefe and opinion Say wee then boldly that the objects of our passions are Golden Calveâ— to us since our hearts become their Idolaters One here will sigh for love of honours as well as for his Mistresse with designe to hazard a thousand lives and as many soules for the conquest of their vaine felicities and see here his idolatry making his God of these Chimera's of honour which vanish away like a Dreame at the rouzing up of our reason What folly is' t to seeke repose in the world which subsists onely in revolution Another there will lose quite and cleane all the peace wherein he is of a quiet life for to set up a rest purely imaginary in the amassement of treasures And of heaven hearing his votes with designe to punish him give some favourable successe to his cares and watchings hee becomes and Idolater now indeed an Idolater of those goods which as yet he adored but in hope and renders himselfe miserable for having desired too ardently felicities which onely beare the voyce to be so but their usage and possession may prove as dangerous upon the earth as Rocks within the Sea The goods of the earth are right evils and at Death each one shall so experiment ' em One will have his heart wounded and his Soule atteinted with a new tricke of ambition and as all his desires thoughts are terminated to the objects of his designes hee is never in health while the feaver of his passion is continuall I leave you to consider of what ratiocination hee can be capable during the malady of his spirit All sorts of wayes seeme equally faire unto him for to guide him unto the port whither hee aspires having no other ayme but this to acquire aâ— what rate somever that good whereof he is in Quest and of this Good it is where of he makes his Idoll after a shameful immolation of the best dayes of his Life to the anxieties of its possession Another will establish his repose in the turmoyle of the word turning his spirit to all winds to be under coverâ— from the tempests of fortune Blind as he is hee followes this Goddesse with the hoodwinckt eyes Wavering as he is he aspires but after the favours of this inconstant Deity of which he is secretly an idolater but if perchance she elevate him very high there is no more hazard of his fall the lawes oâ— this necessity are inviolable and one cannot avoyd the rigour of them if not avoyding their servitude Insomuch that after hee hath sneak't himselfe a long time amongst the grandeurs of the earth hee finds himselfe enlabyrinthed in the miseries wherein hee is borne without possessing any thing
acquire eternall treasures but the Sun sets the candle goes out the bed of buriall is prepared there must be their Enter at the Exit of so many unprofitable pains To what purpose serves it now to know they are fooles having no more time to be wise What cruell Maladie of spirit is it to sacrifice both ones body and soule in an unluckie alymbicke for to nourish a vaine ambition whose irregular appetite can never be satisfied Is not this to take pleasure in kindling the fire which consumes us to burne perpetually with desire of being rich in this world An inclination toward the misprize of Earth is a presage of the getting of Heaven and yet get nothing by it And then to burne againe eternally in hell without possibility to quench the ardour of those revenging flames is not this to warp ones-selfe the web of a fate the most miserable that ever was Produce we then of nothing the creation of this Philosopher-stone grant we it made at present to the hearts of the most ambitious I am content that from the miracles of this Metamorphosis they make us see the marvels of a new gallery of silver like to that which bare NERO to the Capitoll I am content that they make pendant at the point of a needle as SEMIRAMIS the price of twenty millions of gold I am content that after the example of * Atabali King of Peru. Atabalipas they pave their halls with Saphirs I am pleas'd that imitating Cyrus they enround their gardens with perches of gold I am content The World is aptly compared to the Sea since as the stormes of this so are the miseries of that and like the flitting billowes ever rolling so are all the objects which we here admire that the Dryades of their fountaines be composed of the same materiall following the magnificences of Cesar I am content that they erect with Pompey an Amphitheater all covered with plates of Gold I am content they build a Pallace of Ivory there to to lodge another Melaus or a Louvre of Christall to receive therein an other Drusus and let I am content still this Louvre be ornamented with court-cupboards of Pearles equal to those of Scaurus and with coffers of the same price as that of Darius To what will all this come to in the end What may be the reverse of all these medals The scortching heat of Time and the Suns-beames have melted this gallery of silver its admirers are vanisht and its proprietary Even Rome it selfe hath runne the like fate and though it subsist yet 't is but onely in name its ruines mourne at this day the death of its glory That so pretious Pendant of Semiramis could not be exempt from a kind of Death 'T is a Rule without exception that all that is included in the revolution of Time is subject to change though it were inanimate I mean that in its insensibility it hath received the attaints of this Vicissitude which alters and destroyes all things since it now appeares no more to our eyes All those Saphir-paved halls are passed away though Art had enchained them in beautifull Workemanships They have had otherwise a glittering luster like the Sunne but this Planet jealous of them hath refused in the end its clearenesse so much as to their ruines insomuch that they are vanished in obscuritie These gardens environed with railes of gold have had like others divers Spring-times to renew their growth but one Winter alone was enough to make them dye Those Dryades which enricht these fountaines are fled upon their owne water-trils and scarce remaines us their remembrance That proud Amphitheater of Pompey could not eternize it selfe but in the memory of men yet we scarce know what they say when they speake on 't That Ivory Palace of Melaus goes for a fable in histories being buried in the Abisses of non-entitie That famous Louvre of Christall having been bustled against by Time is broken Meditate here a little how oft the face of the Earth hath been varied since its first creation and shivered into so many peeces that not so much as the very dust on 't subsists but in the confus'd Idea of things which have beene otherwhile All those high cup-boards of Pearle and all those coffers of great price have indeed had an appearance like lightning but the thunder-bolt of inconstancy hath reduc't them into ashes and the memory of 'em is preserv'd in ours but as a dreame since in effect it is no more at all But if the precious wonders of past Ages There is nothing so certaine in the world as its uncertaintie have done nothing but passe away together with their admirers and owners is it not credible that those covetous rich ones did runne the same fortune with all the treasures of their Philosopher-Stone and at the end of their Carreere what device could they take but this very same of SALADINE since of all their riches there remaines them at their Death but onely a poore Shirt * Fui nibil ampliu I have beene saies this great Monarch and behold heere 's all Why Rich-ones of the World doe you trouble your selves so much to establish your glory here below for to perswadeus at the end of the journall onely this That you have beene An atome has the same advantage for this creating power which we adore after he had ta'en it out of the Abysses of nothing wherein you also were buried made it to subsist in nature Yet thus is it a blessednesse of our condition thus to escape by little and little the miscries which are incident unto us Bee it that you have beene the greatest on Earth yet now the faire light of your faire dayes is extinguish't for ever The Sun of your glory is eclips't and in an eternall West And that your fate which interloomed the web of your greatnesses together with your lives lyes entomb'd with your Ashes to shew us that these are the onely unhallowed reliques which your Ambition could leave us You have bin then otherwhile the only Minions of Fortune like Demetrius but he and you are now no more any thing not so much as a hand full of Ashes for lesse then with an Infinite power 't were impossible to any to reunite into a body the parcels of the Dust whereof your Carkasses were formed behold in what consists at this day the foundation of your past glory You have bin then otherwhile the same as SALADINE the onely Monarch of the East and have possest as he treasures without number and honours without parallel If vertue eternize not our memorie our life passeth away like the wind without leaving any trace But as He also you have done nothing else but passe away and like him againe you have not beene able to hide your wretchednesse but under a Scrap of Linnen whereof the Wormes have repasted to manifest you to all the World In fine you have beene otherwhile the
but for that time and as you are not the owners they take them away againe when they will and not when it pleaseth you So then I will have no Scepters for an houre nor no Crownes for a day If I have desire to raigne 't is beyond Time that I may thus be under shelter from the inconstancy of Ages Trouble not your selves to follow me This world is a Masse of mirâ— upon which a Man may make impresse of all sorts of Characters but not hinder Time to deface the draught at any time Ambitious Spirits faire leave have you to draw the Stell of your designes upon this ready prim'd cloth Some few yeeres wipe out all Some ages carry away all and the remembrance of your follyes is only immortall in your soules by the eternall regreet which remaines you of them SCIPIO made designe to conquer Carthage and after he had cast the project thereof upon mould he afterwards tooke the body of this shadow and saw the effect of his desires But may not one say that the Trophies of his valour have beene cast in rubbidge within that masse of durt whereof the world is composed since all the marks thereof are effaced Carthage it selfe though it never had life could not avoyd its Death Time hath buried it so deep under its owne ruines that we seeke in vaine the place of its Tombe I leave you to ruminate if its subduer were himselfe able to resist the assaults of this Tyrannie If ALEXANDER had sent his thoughts into heaven there to seeke a new world as well as his desires on earth there to find one he had not lost his time but as he did amuze himselfe to engrave the history of his ambition and triumphs upon the same masse of clay which he had conquered he writ upon water and all the characters on 't are defaced The Realmes which hee subdued There is more glory to despise the world then to conquer it for after its conquest a man knewes not what to doe with it have lost some of them their names and of this Triumpher there remaines us but the Idea as of a Dreame since men are ready to require Security even of his Memorie for the wonders which it preacheth to us of him May wee not then againe justly avow that of all the conditions to which a man may be advanced without the ayde of vertue either by nature or Fortune there is none more infortunate then to be to these a favorite nor any more miserable then to be a Great-one This inconstant Goddesse hath a thousand favours to lend All those who engage themselves to the service of fortune are ill payd and of this every day gives us experiâ—â—â—â— but to give none but haltars poysons poniards and precipices 'T is a fine thing to see Hannibal begging his bread even in view of Scipio after he had cal'd into question the price of the worlds Empire-dome Is it not an object worthy of compassion to consider Nicias upon his knees before Gillippus to beg his owne and the Athenians lives after he had in a manner commanded the winds at Sea and Fortune ashore in a government soveraignly absolute Who will not have the same resentiments of pity reading the history of Crassus then wheÌ„ by excesse of disaster he surviv'd both his glory reputation being constrained to assist at the funerals of his owne renowne All those who hound after fortune are well pleased to be deceived since her deceits are so well knowne and undergoe the hard conditions of his enemies attending death to free him from servitude Will you have no regreet to see enslav'd under the tyrannie of the Kings of Egypt the great Agesilaus whose valour was the onely wonder of his Time What will you say to the deplorable Fate of Cumenes to whom Fortune having offered so often Empires gives him nothing in the end but chaines so to dye in captivitie You see at what price Men have bought the favours of this Goddesse when many times the serenity of a happy life produceth the storme of an unfortunate Death You may judge also at the same time of what Nature are these heights of honour when often the Greatest at Sun-rise find themselves at the end of the Day the most miserable And suppose Fortune meddle not with 'em to what extremitie of miserie thinke you is a man reduc't at the houre of his departure All his Grandeurs though yet present are but as past felicities he enjoyes no more the goods which he possesses griefes only appertaine to him in proper and of what magnificences so'ere hee is environed this object showes him but the image of a funerall pompe I wonder not if rich men be afraid of death since to them it is more dreadfull then to any his bed already Emblemes the Sepulcher the sheets his winding linnen wherein he must be inveloped So that if he yet conceit himselfe Great 't is onely in misery Since all that hee sees heares touches smells and tasts sensibly perswades him nothing else Give Resurrection in your thoughts to great Alexander and then againe conceive him at last gaspe and now consider in this deplorable estate wherein hee finds himselfe involv'd upon his funerall couch to what can stead him all the grandeurs of his life past they being also past with it I grant that all the Earth be his Fortune sells every day the glory of the world to any that will but none but fooles are her chap-men yet you see how the little load of that of his body weighs so heavy on his soule that it is upon point to fall groveling under the burden I grant that all the glory of the world belong to him in proper hee enjoyes nothing but his miseries I yeeld moreover that all Mankind may be his subjects yet this absolute soveraignety is not exempt from the servitude of payne Be it that with the onely thunder of his voyce he makes the Earth to tremble yet he himselfe cannot hold from shaking at the noyse of his owne sighs I grant in fine that all the Kings of the world render him homage yet hee is still the tributary of Death O grandeurs since you fly away without cease Omnis motus tendit ad quietem what are you but a little wind and should I be an Idolater of a litle tossed Ayre and which only moves but to vanish to its repose O greatnesses since you doe but passe away what name should I give you but that of a dreame Alas why should I passe my life in your pursuite still dreaming after you O worldly greatnesses since you bid Adieu to all the world without being able to stay your selves one onely moment Adieu then your allurements have none for me your sweets are bitter to my taste and your pleasures afford me none I cannot runne after that which flyes Worldly Greatnesses are but childrens trifles every wise man despises them I can have no love for
world I say the winning'st or the pleasing'st since they guard themselves onely with such kind of weapons whose hurtings makes us often sigh rather for joy then griefe Certainely the Victory of Reason over all the revolted faculties of our â—oules merits alone the honour of a Triumph and what advantage somâ—â—er a man has over his enemies hee â—imselfe is yet still vanquisht if his â—ices be not subdued I pursue my deâ—â—gne They which have enthronized Vertue in their breasts have laid their foundations upon the ruines of their passions to testifie to us that a Man cannot be vertuous with their predominancy And after essay of diverse meanes upon designe to vanquish them I have found none more powerfull then this The Meditation of Death but if any doubt this the tryall on 't will be profitable for him How is it possible that a Man should let himselfe be mastered with the passion of Revenge if he but muze of that Vengeance which his sins may draw downe every moment upon his head as being every houre in estate to dye Hee shall heare rumble in his eares the thunder of Divine Justice by the continuall murmur of his sighs which advertize him of the approaches of Death What courage can he have to avenge himselfe being upon point himselfe to suffer the torment of eternall vengeance Thou that art Vindicative wilt thou then quench the ardour of thy Choller feele thine owne pulse and consider that this pety slow feaver wherewith thou art stormed leads thee by little and little into the grave 'T is more honour for a man to avenge himselfe of his choler then of his enemie Who can be Ambitious if musing of Death since hee must quitt all with his life Let us ponder a while the fate of those arrogant spirits which ha' muz'd themselves to conquer the vaine greatnesses of the Earth What hath beene in fine their share at the end of the carriere They have had nothing but unprofitable regreets to have so ill employ'd their time finding themselves so poore with all their treasure as if they had beene borne the wreched'st of the world Thou Ambitious-one willt thou be cured of the disease of thy Passion think each houre of the day that that which thou now hearest strike may be thy Last Who would sigh for prophane Love after these objects of dust and ashes Mortall frailtie brings blemish to the fairest visages and mightily takes from their opinion being well considered if he often considered that hee himselfe is made of nothing else and that this noysome and corruptive matter seekaes nothing more then abysses of the grave there to hide within its loath somenesse in effect who would give his flesh a prey to pleasures if he would consider that the wormes do in expectation make their fees thereof already The Meditation of Death serves for temperament to all sorts of delights And if a Man bee capable of love in this muze it cannot be other then of his Salvation since this object is eternall but all others of the world perishable Infortunate Lovers search the solace of your immodest passions in the Anatomy of the subject whereof you are Idolaters Be assistant at that dead view Thinke of your owne Death Behold you are cured He which considers of that wretchednesse which is adjunct to Death easily mispriseth the riches of this life What wretched Rich man would be so much in love with his treasures if he would consider that Death robs him from them every day making him dye continually and that at the end of the terme of his life hee carryes along with him but the good or the evill which hee hath done to be either recompenc'd or punish'd but with a glory or a punishment whereof Eternity alone must terminate the continuance Covetous Misers the onely meanes for you to be so no more is to celebrate your owne funerals by your Meditations and often to consider the Account not of your riches but that which you must render one day of their fruition since your Salvation depends thereon Who in fine would make a God of his Belly seeking with passion all the delights which may tickle the sense of Taste if he represented to himselfe the miseries of the body which hee takes so much paines to nourish and the rigour of those inviolable decrees which destinate him a prey to the wormes and the remaines of their leavings to rottennesse This consideration would be capable to make him loose both appetite and desire at the same time to nourrish so delicately his carkasse O soules all of flesh repasting your selves with nothing else there is no invention to make you change nature but this to Heare your selves dye by the noyse of your sighs to See your selves dye by the wrinkles which furrow every day upon your visages and to Feele your selves die by the beatings of your pulse which indexeth this your hecticke feaver wherewith you are mortally attainted This is a Probatum-remedie the experience thereof is not dangerous May not a man then maintaine with much reason that the thought of Death alone is capable to cure our soules of the disease of their passions in doseing them both the meanes If a man should forget all things else but the miseries of his condition this last were enough to exercise the vastest memorie and the Vertue to triumph over them But if of this you desire an example call to mind that which I have proposed you in the beginning of the Chapter How marvellous is it that a great Monarch who is able to maintaine all manner of pleasure in his heart with all the delights which accompany it celebrates himselfe his Funeralls in the midst of his carriere of life beginning to raigne at the end of his raigne since that last object is alwayes present before his eyes His Passions doe assaile him but hee vanquisheth them they give him combate but he leads them in triumph and buryes them altogether in the Tombe which hee prepares himselfe Consider a little the glory which is relucent in this action We read of the Kings of Arabia that they triumphed upon Dromedaries the Kings of Persia upon Elephants of Croatia upon Bulls the Romanes upon horses and yet 't is remarkt of Nero that hee made himselfe be drawne in Triumph by foure Hermaphrodite Mares Camillus by foure white Horses Marke Antony by foure Lions Aurelian by foure Hearts Caesar by forty Elephants Heliogabalus by foure Dogges Moreover the Poets doe assure us that the triumphant Charriot of Bacchus was drawne by Tygers Neptunes by Fishes of Thetis by Dolphins Diana's by Harts of Venus by Doves Iuno's by Peacocks All these objects of pompe and magnificence whereof histories This Vanitie is a most contagious maladie and the onely preservative is the remembrance of Death and Fables would eternize the vanity have for all that done nothing but passe away and though a little remembrance of ' them stay with us 't is but the
memoriall of a Chimera and of a fantosme since it preaches nothing else to us but the ruine and non-entity of that which hath beene other-while O how glorious a Triumph is it These things ruminated on will make us wise when wee our selves are encharioted over our passions now enslaved and subjected under the Empire of Reason There is nothing so glorious there is nothing so magnificent For these Dromedaries these Elephants these Bulls these Horses these Hermaphrodite Mares these Lyons Stags and Tygres afore-mentioned are but brute beasts which draw along in traine after them others as brutish as themselves as suffering themselves to be transported with vanitie which onely reduceth them to this beastly-semblant vanitie Let us turne our face to another side SABELLICUS in his ENNEADS actively perswades us to beleeve that the Christians of Aethiopia doe carry in their processions great vessels full of ashes Let the fire of Divine Love glow upon our ashes to emblematize apparently the frailty of our nature But may not wee say upon too much reason that wee are earthen vessels full of ashes and what object more sensibly can be presented before our eyes to shew us the truth of our miseries then this of our selves From Earth is our production and the same serves us with nourishment and for sepulture also as if ashamed the Sunne should afford his light to our wretchednesse Make we then every day Funerall processions or at least visit in meditation every houre our Tombeâ— as the place where our bodyes must make so long abode Celebrate we our selves our owne Funerals and invite to our exequies The thought of our end is a soveraigne remedie against our passions Ambition Avarice Pride Choller Luxurie Gluttony and all the other Passions wherewith we may be attainted to the end to be Conquerours even by our owne proper defeate For when a Man yeelds to the Meditation of Death then reason commands sense All obey to this apprehension of frailty and feeblenesse Pleasures by little and little abandon us the sweets of life seeme sowre and wee can find no other quiet but in the hope of that which Truth it selfe hath promised us after so much trouble Proud Spirits be ye Spectators of this Funerall Pompe which this great Monarch celebrates to day Hee invites the Heaven and the Earth to his Exequies since in their view hee accompanies his pourtrayed gkeleton unto the Tombe his Body conducts thither its shadow the originall the painted figure in attendance till a Metamorphosis be made both of one and t'other O glorious action where the Living takes a pride to appeare Dead as dying alreadie by his owne choice as well as necessitie O glorious action where the Triumpher takes a glory in the appearance of his overthrow O glorious action where all the honour depends upon the contempt of the worlds honour O glorious action where Garlands of Cypresse dispute the preheminence with Laurell and Palme O glorious action where the Conquerour under-going the Lawes of Nature elevates himselfe above it making his puissance to be admired in his voluntarie weakenesse But I engage my selfe too farre in 't Herodotus remarkes that the Queene Semiramis made her Sepulcher be erected upon the entrances of the principall Gate of the * Babylon Citie to the end that this sad object of wretchednesse might serve for Schoole-master to passengers to teach them the Art to know themselves O blessed Lesson is that no better Schoole then the Church-yard which the Tombes can affoord us O gracious Science is that which they instruct us Strabo testifies that the Persians made Pipes of dead-mens bones which they used at Festivals to the end that the sad harmonie which issued thence might temper the excesse of joy But may not we say our Lungs to be to us such kind of Whistles and that our dolorous sighs which produce thence the harmonie are capable to moderate the violence of our contentments A strange thing it is that all the animated objects which are affected by our senses beare the image of Death and yet wee never thinke but of Life Let our eyes but fairely turne their regards on all sides All that lives they may see dyes and what ha's no life passes away before ' em Our eares are tickled with the sweet harmonie of Voices or Instruments or Tabors or Trumpets But these sounds are but Organs spirited with blasts whose borrowed wind is lost when the motion ceaseth and there behold the Faile of their life And for Instruments 't is true they warble delightfully yet their melodie is often dolefull to the mind The object of our nothingnesse ha's a grace and allurement capable to ravish the best spirits when it considers that it proceedes from certaine guts of dead beasts which Art hath so contrived Tabors being of the same nature must also necessarily produce the same effects and Trumpets also doe but sobbe in our eares since their clangor is forced onely by the violence of a blast of sighs Our Taste cannot satiate the hunger of its appetite but with dead and breathlesse things and all our other senses are subject to the same necessitie Insomuch that Death environs us on all sides though we be alwayes her owne and yet wee never thinke on 't Death is ever present and at hand to our heart but still absent from our memorie but in extremities as if wee were onely to learne at the last instant that wee are Mortall and the hard experience which wee make on 't were the onely Lesson which by Nature is given us LORD render me capable if it please thee of this Science which may effectually teach me the Art to know my selfe to the end that this knowledge may represent to me alwayes the realitie of my wretchednesse Make me that I may see my selfe may understand and feele my selfe to dye every moment but so that I may see it with the eyes of my heart perceive it with the eyes of my soule and feele it by the sense of my conscience therein to finde my repose and safetie I know well that Nature mournes uncessantly the death of its workes which are devoured every houre by time and though no where thus can I see but Sadnesse it selfe yet ne'rethelesse remaine I insensible of the horrour of these objects and though they be terrible my spirit not affrighted Render me therefore if it please thee render me fearefull and make me even to tremble in thinking of it since the thought of it is so important and suffer me not to live a kind of Death without meditating of that life which is exempt from Death and whereof Eternitie is the Limit All my votes doe terminate at this and all my wishes which I addresse to thy bounty that I may one day see the effects of my hopes Let us advance on our first proposiâ—ion O how celebrious and glorious is the Triumph over our selves Let us leave the Laurels and Palmes to those famous
the window and thou shalt see carryed to the grave some not so old as thy selfe If thou relye upon the health which thou now enjoyest 't is but a false going-dyall The calme of a perfect health Saepe optimus status corpotis periculâ— susimuuuml s. hath oftentimes ushered the Tempest of a suddaine Death What hopest thou for Hip. hope is deceitfull what stayest thou soâ— Sera nimis Vita est crastina vive hodie A wise man ought never to defer till to morrow what should be done to day Lastly what desirest thou The peace of conscience is the only desirable good Goe on then right forward thou canst not misse the way which I have chalk't thee FINIS PERLECTORI The TRANSLATOVR'S COROLLARIE SO Now 't is done although it be no Taske That did much Braines or toylesome Study aske The meaning I ' vouch good but Merit small In rendring English the FRENCH PRINCIPALL It is but a Translation I confesse And yet the Rubs of Death in 't nerethelesse May trippe some cap'ring Fancies of the Time That Domineere and Swagger it in Rime That Charge upon the Reader and give Fire On all that doe not as they doe admire Either their rugged Satyrs cruell veine Or puffe-paste Notes 'bove Ela in high straine Then in prevention quarrell like a curst Scold who being guilty yet will call Whore first When any dyes whose Muse was rich in Verse They claime Succession and prophane his Herse They onely are Heires of his Braine-estate Others are base and illegitimate All but their owne Abettors they defie And LORD-it in their Wit-Supremacy Others they say but Sculke or lye i' th' lurch As we hold Schismaticks from the true Church So hold they all that doe decline their way Nor sweare by Heaven Al 's excellent they say T were well they 'd see the fing'ring on these frets Can neither save their Soules nor pay their Debts Or would they they thinke of Death as they should doe They would live better and more honourd too T is base to doe base deeds yet for false fame To Keepe a stirre and bustle into Name Whilst each applauds his owne contemnes an others Becons his owne deserts but his he smothers They feare Fame's out of breath and therefore they Trumpet their owne praises in their owne way Or ioyne in Tricke of Stale Confed'racy Cal'd Quid pro Quo Claw me and I le claw thee Marry at others Tooth and Naile they flye That do not tread their Path but would goe bye Farewell to these my ayme not here insists Leave we these wranglers unto equall lists To Nobler Natures I my brest expose The Good I bow to in an humble Cloze To such as knowing how vaine this Life is Exalt their thoughts to one better then This. 'T is the best Method to be out of Love With things below and thence to soare above To which effect my soules integrity In L'envoy thus salutes each courteous eye L'ENVOY INgenuous READER thou do'st crowne The Morall active course layd downe By De la SERRE what is pen'd If thy ACTIONS recommend Relating to the first EMBLEME WHen haughtie thoughts impuffe thee than Dictate thy selfe Thou art but Man A fabricke of commixed Dust That 's all the prop of humane trust How dares a Clod of mouldring Clay Be Proud decaying every day And yet there is away beside Wherein may be a lawfull Pride When sly Temptations stirre thee Than Againe the Word Thou art a Man Rouze up thy Spirits doe not yeeld A brave resistance winnes the Field Shall a soule of Heavenly breath Grovell so farre its worth beneath Fouly to bee pollute with slime Of any base and shamefull crime Thou art a Man for Heaven borne Reflect on Earth disdainefull scorne Bee not abus'd since Life is short Squander it not away in sport Nor hazard heavens eternall Joyes For a small spurt of wordly Toyes Doe Something ere thou doe bequeath To Wormes thy flesh to Aire thy breath Something that may when thou art dead With honour of thy name be read Something that may when thou art cold Thaw frozen Spirits when t is told Something that may the grave controule And shew thou hadst a noble Soule Doe something to advance thy blisse Both in the other World and This. Relating to the second EMBLEME WEre both the Indias treasures Thine And thou LORD of every Mine Or hadst thou all the golden Ore On Tagus or Factolus Shore And were thy Cabinet the Shrine Where thousand pearles and Diamonds shine All must be left and thou allowd A little linnen for thy Shrowd Or if 't were so thy Testament Perhaps a goodly Monument What better is a golden Chase Or Marble then a Charnell place Charon hence no advantage makes A halfe-penny a soule he takes Thy heires will leave thee but a Shirt Enough to hide thy rotten Dirt. Then bee not Greedy of much pelfe He that gets all may lose himselfe And Riches are of this Dilemme Or they leave us or we must them Death brings to Misers double Woe They loose their Cash and their soules too Change then thy scope to heavenly gaines That wealth eternally remaines Relatory to the third EMBLEME BE not curious to amaze With glitt'ring pompe the Vulgar gaze Strive not to cheat with vaine delight Those that are catcht with each brave sight How soone will any gawdy show Make their low Spirits overflow Whose Soules are ready to runne-ore At any Toy nere seene before Rather thy better thoughts apply For to addresse thy selfe to dye Bee ne're so glorious after all Thy latest pompe's thy Funerall Shall a dresse of Tyrian Dye Or Venice gold Embroyderie Or new-fash'on-varied Vest Tympanize thy out-strutting brest There 's none of these will hold thee tacke But thy last colour shall be Blacke Bee not deceiv'd There comes a Day Will sweepe thy Gloryes all away Meane while the thought on 't may abate Th' Excesses of thy present ' state Death never can that Man surprize That watches for 't with wary Eyes Doe Soe And thou shalt make thereby A Vertue of Necessitie And when thy Dying-day is come Goe like a Man that 's walking home Heav'n Guard thee with Angelicke pow'r To be prepared for that houre When ev'ry Soule shall feele what 'T is To have liv'd Well or done Amisse Relating to the fourth EMBLEME LEt not the Splendour of high Birth Bee all thy Glosse without true worth Let neither honour nor vast wealth Beautie nor Valour nor firme health Make thee beare up too high thy head All men alike are buried Stare not with Supercilious brow Poore folkes are Dast and so art Thou Triumph not in thy worldly Odds They dye like men whom we count Gods And in the Grave it is all one Who enjoy'd all or who had none Death cuts off all superfluous And makes the proudest One of us Nor shall there diffr'ence then betweene The dust of LORDS or slaves be seene Together under ground they lye