mortalibus viuere cum exijssent ex ijs emori Let mee euer worship the great God of this little god my Soule Et ne plus vltra Onely this I know That to no creature else God hath giuen a liuing soule nor is there hope in any creature else but man and this hope is giuen for sustentation of his soule Hee that contemplates these things wil beare himselfe too loftily and thinke himselfe too good to looke so low as vpon the sublunarie things of this life Angustus est animus quem terrena delectant How then can this Beautie bee pleased to inhabit long contubernio isto All it needs to care is but Sepulture to that body which once had the Honour to be the Temple of such a ghest But because many times the houses of the dead and the vrned bones doe meete with foule hands for this also Nature hath prouided vt disertè ait Maecenas Nec tumulum quaero sepelit Natura relictos It is one of the daily petitions of euery good Soule Adueniat Regnum tuum Thy Kingdome come O Lord Yet saith Ambrose Hoc nitimur reluctamur For Quis sine querela moritur Quis non gemens quis non recusans exit Quis cum accesserit non tergiuersatur timet plorat In all things else Mans crosse Nature obserue how contrarily wee carry our selues The labourer from his work hasts to his bed The Mariner rowes hard to gaine the Port. The Traueller is glad when hee is within kenning of his Inne yet we when Death comes to put vs into our Port shun it as a rocke Wee feare what wee should wish and wish what we should feare O fortunatiorem Marcellum eo tempore quo exitum suum Bruto approbauit Mans better choice quà m quo populo Romano consulatum Heare O Christian what the Pagan saith Quid ni non timeat qui mori sperat It is harder to make a true Philosopher patient of life then of Death Hic spe mortis patienter dolet taedio doloris libenter moritur Hunc fert illam expectat sed expectata Mors tardè venit I am in a straight betwixt two said Saint Paul whether to liue in the flesh were profitable for mee and which to chuse I wote not Yet at last resolued liue or die Christ was to him aduantage Therefore to bee loosed and to bee with Christ was best of all Till then God grant that I may haue vitam in patientia mortem verò in desiderio So shall I fulfill my course with ioy life not deare nor death grieuous In elder times both wise men great men Life and death compared and vaine men had Death in such estimation and so vndervalued life as they fondly said Had man beene worthy to know what life was before he receiued it hee would haue beene loth to accept it Nemo vitam acciperet si daretur scientibus Life would haue kept vs in slauerie but that Death freed vs. They counted death but the retreite of life optimum Naturae inuentum for by it euery man might make himselfe happy no man be longer miserable then he will Placet no vita viue Non placet licet co reuerti vnde venisti They thought no state miserable but that which Death could not remedy Wherefore say they a wise man liues but so long as he should not so long as hee can If Death were not in our power wee should desire it more then now wee feare it Magistra rerum ratio taught them that common safety lay in Death inuitum qui seruat idem facit occidenti Life was subiect to many fortunes sed in eo qui scit mori nil posse fortunam This made them cherish these desperate conceits Nil referre faciatne finem an accipiat For though life be not yet Death is at a mans command Mori nihil aliud est quà m velle in which respect no man could complaine of life Quia neminem tenet If any man did complaine this was their wish Mors vtinam pauidos vitae subducere nollet sed virtus hanc sola daret In scorne some said Egone expectem vel morbi crudelitatem vel hominis cum possim medio exire tormento aduersa discutere But their brauest conceit was worst that it was genus mortis generosum for a man to be author of his owne death say they if permitted to desire death why ill to giue it to themselues Sed furor est ne moriare mori They seemed thus to maintaine their assertion by reason as wellas courage Death is naturall therefore we come Viuere noluit qui mori non vult hee is sorry that he was a man that is not glad to dye It is ineuitable therefore we must be resolute feras non culpes quod vitari non potest Fooles fly it old men attend it wise men wish it Nay some so prided themselues in this way that for Care Feare or Griefe they would not dye Non inferam mihi manus propter dolorem nor yet for feare stultum est timore Mortis mori Nor yet the threats of torments Sic mori vinciest Sed si coeperat suspecta esse Fortuna si multa occurrebant molesta tranquillitatem turbantia then it was Fortitude to dispatch themselues How or with what it mattered not Scalpello aperitur ad illam magnam libertatem via puncto securitas constat said Seneca when he bled to death Cato will die because the Commonwealth declined Nerua because the lawes were not kept Siluianus because he would not liue at the mercy of his enemy Lucretia to couer a dishonour But Plato and his Socrates were of another minde Death was to be expected till Nature called for it or Iustice tooke it For Religions sake men may ponere animas but suas not for ostentation nor in discontent Inde facult as fuit non ponendi animam sed pendendi Bona res est mori suâ morte Life was giuen to manage to the vtmost and to make the best of it Euery one was heere set sentinell not to depart the place till his Captaine calls him off Non est optima quae placet sed quaedecet That Death was best which was well recollected quietly suffering what it could not possibly preuent Fortiter ille facit qui miser esse potest It is not enough to die with a Romane courage nor that the cause of Death be iust but it must bee also necessarie vnsought ineuitable But let goe this discourse my Contemplation lyes another way The kindes of Death as of life are two The one bodily The kinde of death the other spirituall As bodily life is the coniunction of body and soule So bodily Death is the separation of soule and body And as a godly man hath three degrees of life The first in this life when Christ liues in him for the soule of a good mans soule is the Spirit of God within The second when his body returnes
quāprimum is his rather for that ends misery and begins felicitie There is no man so valiant as the beleeuer Therefore he saith vnto his soule Why art thou cast downe O my soule Why art thou so disquieted within me Waite on God Soule and Soule are differenced in dying as well as liuing The difference of soules as well in dying as liuing The Atheist dares not die for feare of non esse The ill liuer dares not die for feare of male esse The doubtfull conscience dares not die nesciendo whether hee shall be not be or be damned Onely the good man dares and desires to die hee is assured of his hope his hope is full of immortalitie I am thy saluation saith his Sauiour to the other theend of these present miserable miseries is the beginning of worse and such as death it selfe cannot terminate for that would be happinesse enough if they had but hope there would bee an end at last the greatest pleasure they would desire is the act of death so that might end their sorrowes but their conscience will not let them lye or flatteringly perswade them Adueniet tandem quae non sperabitur hora. This they know and grieue to thinke that Tophet is prepared for the bad and Paradise for the good As the tree falleth so it lyeth and as death leaueth thee so iudgement shall finde thee hee that liues ill seldome dyes well Liue well and you cannot but die well practise well doing and you shall haue the comfort of well dying Sed quà m amarum erit hoc tempore corporis animae separatio Body and soule parting We see old acquaintance cannot part without teares Quid facient intimè familiares quales sunt corpus anima quae ab ipso vtere ita iucundissimè vixerint If the Oxe loweth when his fellow is taken from him that drew the plough with him qualem mugitum shall wee giue when soule and body part Siccinè separas amara Mors Siccinè separas saith the Booke of Kings The Spirit at this time may be willing but the flesh will be loth Egrè amittitur quod valdè amatur Faith will assure God is thy father but nature will tell thee She is thy mother and thou mayest not yet leaue her In this conflict take heede the mothers side preuaile not Shee will play Naomi's part perswade thee earnestly to stay and enioy the delights of Moab yet a while longer But resolue thou with Ruth to see what entertainment is for thee in Bethleem for there thou shalt finde a Boaz. In ista hora euery man will make Balaams suite for no man would be miserable if it were enough to desire to be happy but such a wish onely will not serue He must piè viuere that will securè mori We all desire to shut vp our last Scene of life with In manus tuas Domine commendo spiritum meum But it is not the last words a man vtters that doe qualifie his Soule Remember how in thy life thou hast entertained Gods Spirit for as wee vsed his in this life so hee will vse ours after death Qualem quisque se fecerit in hac vita talem se inueniet exiens ab hac vita At this houre what would a man giue for the redemption of his soule but poore indigent man neuer was any so rich that could pay the ransome of his own soule A displeased mercy askes greater satisfaction then thou canst giue Laesa patientia fit furor Now thou goest to giue account of thy Stewardship that is temporis amissi mali commissi boni omissi And thy Soule already knowes in conscientia tua whither it goes quando egreditur è corpore tuo And although thou canst carry nothing else with thee yet this thou canst not leaue behinde thee Which is liber conscientiae tuae that will tell thee whither thou goest and what thou shalt looke for Tunc quasi loquentia tua opera dicent Tu nos egisti Tua opera sumus non te deseramus sed tecum semper erimus tecum pergemus ad Iudicium Man is a great flatterer of himselfe but conscience is alwayes iust and will neuer chide thee wrongfully It alwayes takes part with God against a mans selfe It is Magistratus domesticus that will tell what you doe at home and saith the booke of Wisedome wickednesse condemned of her owne witnesse is euer timerous and being pressed with conscience forecasteth grieuous things Nemo seueriorem seipso habet iudicem If a man will take his ayme by the best men that euer dyed That of Dauid Ezechias yea and of Christ himselfe as a man is able to amaze any man When as our Sauiour Christ at the point of death said Father if it be thy will let this Cup passe from me When Dauid said Saue Lord for thy mercy sake for in death there is no remembrance of thee And Ezechias wept sore when hee was bid Put thy house in order for thou must die Si Prophetae si Apostoli si Martyres si Christus ipse was thus troubled at the houre of death wretched man that I am what shall I doe Euen as Christ bids me Bee of good cheere for I haue ouercome death Mors morte redempta est Now there is aduantage in death that death which was the wages of sinne is made the reward of righteousnesse and in these forenamed persons it was not death but the curse of the Law that went with death which Christ in our persons and these other persons in themselues feared When Christ was to leaue the world and his Disciples to the world he left them this word for their learning and their comfort If you loued mee you would reioyce because I said I goe to the Father In my Fathers house are many dwellings I goe to prepare a place for you that where I am you may be also Now that death hath ouercome death and Faith hath secured feare nec me taedeat viuere nec timeo mori What can hee feare in Death whose death is his hope Right precious in the sight of God is the death of his Saints See then what makes men willing or loth to die Obsecro te Lucili said Seneca cur timeat laborem vir mortem homo It is the present condition of men in this world that makes them willing or loth to die Nor life nor death are alike to all men some can as willingly leaue the world nay dye as others can forbeare the Court. And as men differ in their condition so doe they in their acceptation of Death some pleasant their liues as if the world should alwayes laugh vpon them Et post mortem nulla voluptas These would doe any thing rather then die Others liue as if they came into the world but to act a sad mans part and dye these wish a change hoping it will bee a benefit Therefore well said the sonne of Syrach O death how acceptable is thy remembrance vnto him
violently both by destinie all men by Decree Quē dederat cursum natura peregi said the Poet. But the Diuine tels vs though Moses dyed vpon one Hill Aaron vpon another Hill yet both where they might see the land of Promise How familiarly did Moses heare of Death when there was no more betwixt God and him But Moses goe vp and dye With such a sociable compellation are good men inuited to Death as to a Feast Nec mihi Mors grauis est posituro morte labores Mors mihi merces erit The assurance of life after Death ALthough my flesh bee eaten with wormes Assurance of life after death these wormes turned to dust this dust blowne through the earth yet after thou hast turned all to destruction Againe thou sayest Come againe you children of men Redemptor meus is the word of assurance My Father and your Father saith the Gospel Meum and tuum are words of Assurance to mens soules though in mens states they make all Controuersies I know that my Redeemer liueth How doe I know it not by Opinion but by Faith Fides non creditur sed cernitur Things are not so because we are perswaded they are so but because they bee so therefore wee are so perswaded The woman with child knowes shee is with child when shee feeles it stirre liuely So the Spirit of God assures our spirit when wee feele his Spirit in vs. Holy Iob saith Though after the skinne wormes destroy the body yet in my flesh I shall see God for my selfe and mine owne eyes shall behold him and not an others Which numerall Identity giues certaintie that this soule of mine impersonated anew and so inanimating my body againe shall giue a new being and a better being vnto both That soule the lost pearle which to finde a man would haue giuen all that he had shal there be found ingrauen in gold where as heere it was found set but in clay The fourth generall diuision IIII. What our last thoughts should be AS in greatest extremities good Physicians leaue drugges and minister onely Cordials so deale by thy soule when death approaches cast away all worldly cares entertaine onely thoughts that will animate thy weake body and refresh thy thirstie soule as did that dew of Hermon falling vpon the Hill of Sion nor will I feare how this body of mine shall appeare an other day For I am promised by him that will performe it shall not be found naked But this couering of flesh being cast off I shall take this body againe cloathed with glory as with an other garment This doth Saint Paul most elegantly and diuinely expresse saying Wee know that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle bee destroyed wee haue a building giuen of God that is a house not made with hands but eternall in the heaueus For therefore wee sigh and desire to be cloathed with our house which is from heauen Because that if wee be cloathed wee shall not be found naked For indeede we that are in this Tabernacle figh and are burthened because we would not be vncloathed but cloathed vpon that immortalitie might be swallowed vp of life And hee that hath created vs for this thing is God who also hath giuen vs the earnest of his Spirit Therefore we are alwayes bold though we know that whilst we are at home in the bodie wee are absent from the Lord. For wee walke by faith and not by sight Neuerthelesse we are bold and loue rather to remoue out of the body and to dwell with the Lord. 2. Cor. 5. This is so promising and so sweet as it seemes to transport a man aliue from earth to Heauen Hîc in via es sed illic eris in Patria Therefore baite not too long vpon pleasures by the way All the while I liued said a good man I was going on my iourney towards my countrey but now that I am dying I finde my selfe neere home I am now come to Mount Sion the Citie of the liuing God the heauenly Hierusalem I will not therefore sit downe on this side Iordane but hasten to the Citie whither when I come I shall there see my God face to face Heare my Sauiour say Euge bone serue It is my Fathers will to giue thee a kingdome Is it not enough that my God is gone vp to prepare a place for me but will hee giue mee a kingdome also And shall not I bee glad when God shall come and fetch mee to inthrone mee in this kingdome Absit Now mee thinkes I heare my soule say Cur non accedis Domine Quid moraris I haue too long dwelt in this sepulchre of earth And woe is me that I still remaine in Mesech and dwell in these tents of Kedar It is enough Lord as Elias said in the wildernesse Take now away my life for I am no better then my Fathers were Nay my soule is now growne so high minded that shee saith Maior sum ad maiora genitus quà m vt mancipium sim huius corporis Thus rich in thoughts and great in expectation doth diuine Contemplation make vs. God hath not giuen a soule to any creature else but Man Therefore it is but duety in Man to know the dignitie of his Soule which is so heauenly ambitious as it will not let heauen alone till it may see as it is seene Grauata est anima mea my bodie is a burthen to my soule It hath had honour enough to haue beene so long companion with my Soule wherefore now as Saint Hierome said Egredere anima egredere The Hermite sitting on his turft said to his soule Sexaginta annos seruiuisti Deo nunc mori times Goe out of this Arke of flesh O my soule for I smell the sauour of rest Celeritas nunc in desiderio mora est Though my soule as a bird for necessitie sake hath been faine to stay awhile heere vpon earth yet willingly would she be soring in the skies But I finde that ista vita est mihi impedimento ad id propter quod viuitur Specially when I heare my Sauiour say Father I will that those whom thou hast giuen mee be with mee also where I am That they may behold my glory To him that is faithfull vntill death I will giue a Crowne of life Therefore desiderio desideraui ergastuli huius egressum that I may see facie ad faciem him whom my soule loueth and to bee Lord where thou enioyest thy selfe and glorified spirits enioy thee Entertaine thy last houres with such like thoughts Et hatibi dabunt ad aeternitatem Iter in itinere subleuabunt They will Angelize thy body and imparadise thy soule before thou commest into Heauen yeeld a sweetnesse farre beyond the bitternesse of Death Certainely a good soule thus imploying it selfe in ista hora will not leaue the felicitie it shall haue in such a transmigration from death to life for all the ioyes that life past did euer render her Good Saint Austine
to the earth and his soule to God that gaue it The third at the end of the world when body and soule revnited shal enioy heauen So likewise a wicked man hath three distinct deaths Dead in sinne while he liues dead in soule when hee dyes dead in body and soule when both are adiudged to eternall condemnation Malis fit mors sine morte fin◠fine fine defectus sine defectu Quia mors viuit fints semper incipit desicere defectus nescit To labour not to lye is labour in vaine it is to deferre not to auoid To forget to dye and hope to liue is dangerous securitie This let a wise man doe quod ne cesse est ne timeat quod incertum est semper expectet Seeke not consolation against death but let Death bee thy consolation for there is no comfort against death but in death Supremum necoptes nec metuas diem Mortem optare malum timere peius Now to make Death easie Thinke of the glory that followes it Who will not endure a few pangs for infinite pleasures The bitter pill promising health is swallowed willingly Mors non anfert vitam sed in melius transfert That the aspect of Death may not trouble thee looke not vpon Death in death but looke beyond it Thinke not so much of it as of the happinesse that comes by it Erit somnus dilectis initium refrigerij scala montis haereditas secura Ianua vitae ingressus in tabernaculum Therefore saith Iob From sixe troubles it deliuereth thee in septima that is at point of death non tanget te malum Fit your selfe for it and you will neuer feare it doe by it as you doe in other things when you would goe sleepe you put off your cloathes you draw the curtaines and goe to bed Thus as it were acting sleepe before you goe to sleepe So addresse your selfe to death before hand Bring your selfe acquainted with it that when it comes you may entertaine it non vt hostis sed vt hospes not as a foe but as a friend not as a stranger but as a guest that you had long looked for and bid welcome Death more blessed then thy Birth What a griefe is it to see some great men build stately houses as if they should alwayes liue and yet they to liue as if they had but mortall soules It is good counsell Effice mortem tibi familiarem vt possis cum sors tulerit illi laetus alacriter obuiam exire Those Philosophers were more mortified who had their graues alwayes open before their gates that going out or comming in they might alwayes thinke of Death Good Ioseph of Arimathea built his Sepulchre in the middest of his garden So doe thou amid all thy pleasures and delights thinke of death and that wil coole and temper all thy vaine desires It will so qualifie thee to the world and the world to thee as thou wilt not much care for it In this world wee are all Benonies the sonnes of Sorrow The way to Heauen is by weeping crosse Hi motus animorum atq haec certamina tanta Pulueris exigut tactu cōpressa quiescunt It is obserued that most of other creatures liue long but dying perish all to nothing Man that is short-liu'd he dying liues eternally Thinke but of this and you will thinke as S. Bernard did that life was little better then hell were it not for the hope of Heauen Surely Christ would not haue dyed but that wee might die with safety Hee by death in death did deliuer vs from death And did Christ dye for mee that I might liue with him I will not therefore desire to liue long from him It is a token of little loue to God to be loth to goe to God All men goe willingly to see him whom they loue Our brother Ioseph liueth therefore though with Iacob I cannot say I will goe see him before I dye Yet Lord let mee dye that I may see him whom my soule loueth Liuing I cannot but dying I shall Let no difficulties hinder for since Adams fall none passeth vnto Paradise but by burning Seraphims The way to Canaan is cumbersome but knowing that our iourney leades to the land of promise wee passe it pleasantly Yet before wee come at Hierusalem we take in our way the valley of teares The swift Riuer of Iordan must be crossed before wee come to the sweet Waters of Siloam Let no delights tempt you prosperous fortunes may hinder a cheerefull dying but if pleasures of life allure not feares of death will neuer trouble Neminem aduersa conuincunt nisi quem secunda decipiunt Adam was set vpon in Paradise Iob on the dunghill yet Iob fortior in stercore quam Adam in Paradiso The very place of pleasure is dangerous In Paradise Adam could not be innocent but out of Paradise he was a good man For any thing in life lose not the cause of life nor iudge not of things by the face of things For life and death haue deceiueable vizards vnder the faire face of life lurkes griefe vnder the foule feature of death which is but fancy lies felicity Take off the mask and you shall change your minde loath that you loued and loue that you loathed Vita habitu casto cum non sit casta videtur Mors praeter cultum nil meretricis habet Now for the freedomes that come by Death Freedo by deat First it frees from all worldly iniuries Mors multorum malorum finis nullius boni Heere good men doe but liue and suffer benè agere male pati It is their portion and it is good for mee saith Dauid that I haue beene afflicted Non sentire mala non est hominis sed non ferre non esset viri Sufferings are greater trials then actions Secondly it ends all miseries Man in misery saith Iob longs for death and digs for it more then treasure Mors finis est non poena Nay saith one Nec finis nec paena bonis lex est non paena perire Death ends sinnes not life it reformes but doth not destroy Nature Vitiorum est Sepultura virtutum Resurrectio Thirdly it frees vs from all corporall infirmities Mors omnium dolorum solutio Life it selfe is a disease and we dye by corruption of humours whether they be of body or manners who thinke to heale all infirmities with an easier plaister then Death Delineamenta potius quam remedia podagraesuae ponunt Fourthly it frees vs from all bodily labours So saith the Spirit Blessed are they that die in the Lord they rest from their labours Adeo iuuat occupatum mori Fiftly it eases vs of all troubles Refrigeries est animae Refection to the Soule Were wee but in a throng wee thinke that man at ease who gets out first Noah when hee had beene tossed but a yeere vpon the waters Mount Ararat was to him a gladsome place for there the Arke rested So likewise miscrable man after many wearisome