of Bonaventure If one of the damned saith he should weep after this manner That he should let fall but one teare in an hundred yeares and those teares should be kept together so many hundred yeares till they would equall the drops of the sea Alas Alas Not to speak of the sea How many millions of yeares must needs passe before they can make one little river or if they should at length make a whole sea of water yet even then it might truely be said Now Eternitie beginneth And if he should weep again after the same manner till he made another sea yet then also it might be said again as truely as before Now Eternitie beginneth and so on forwards for ever Let no man once doubt of the truth hereof for between that which is finite and that which is infinite there is no proportion But this seems wonderfull and strange unto us because our imagination cannot conceive it It cannot reach unto that which is so farre remote It cannot penetrate into that which is infinite for that is impenetrable And this is the reason that our understanding is so hardly drawn to the consideration of Eternitie because it blusneth in a sort and is ashamed or else for indignation cannot endure to tire it self in the search of that which cannot be found out But let us put away this foolish and shamefull modesty and let us force our understanding to the due and serious contemplation of Eternitie and let it be our daily exercise to be still meditating upon such similitudes as may in some sort shadow it out and represent it unto us And so shall we never do amisse Say what we can think what we will imagine so many millions of millions of yeares as it is possible for the minde of man to conceive we shall still come short of the measure and length of Eternitie The yeares of Eternitie are more farre more yea infinitely more This is certain and without all controversie The Prophet Daniel signifieth the incomprehensible dimension and length of Eternitie in these words They that be wiâ—e shall shine as the brightnesse of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousnesse as the starres for ever and ever Mark these words For ever and ever As if he should have said No words are sufficient to expresse the nature of Eternitie It is for ever and ever Here is all that I can say of it Though more might be said in respect of its own nature yet I am not able to say more Observe his Aâ—xesis or his augmentation of it by multiplication For ever that is for Eternitie but he thinks that not sufficient and therefore he doubles it and ever And yet in the Latine it is expressed more fully in these words In perpetuas AEternitates To perpetuall Eternities Mark here he saith not In AEternitatem To Eternitie barely in the Singular number but In AEternitates To Eternities in the plurall as if one were not enough neither doth he rest here indefinitely saying To Eternities nor yet doth he adde any finite term because none can expresse it but an Infinite Perpetuas Perpetuall In perpetuas AEternitates To Perpetuall or Infinite Eternities Now if one Eternitie is without end what are two what are ten what are an hundred what are infinite If we should multiply the great yeare or yeares a thousand times it would not amount to the least fraction of the numberlesse number of Eternitie They say that the eighth celestiall Orb or Sphere is moved wonderfull leisurely beyond all comparison For though it be dayly wheeled about by the rapid motion of the Primum Mobile yet it finisheth not its own proper circuit but once in thirty six thousand yeares and this â—pace of time they call The great â—eare or Platoes yeare But compare this with Eternitie and it will appeare to be but a moment â—ut an instant but a minute indeed nothing at all It is a true â—aying of Boetius That an instant or point of time and ten thousand yeares compared together keep better proportion then ten thousand yeares and Eternitie But heare what Saint John saith little children it is the last time or the last houre And this he said one thousand six hundred yeares ago It is most true therefore what Saint Augustine saith Whatsoever hath an end that thing is but short Eternitie is a word consisting but of foure Syllables but it is a thing without end Therefore set thy love upon Eternitie Let Christ be thy end and thou shalt reigne with Christ without end The Sixth Conclusion IT is not to be beleeved that any man that hath but the least smack of true Religion can be so farre carried away by his impotent and unruly passions if he be not as bad as a beast ruled meerly by sense and serving onely his sensuall appetite For the wicked and ungodly man even then when he is almost swallowed up in the deep pit whereinto his sinnes have plunged him headlong even then I say doth but laugh at it regards it not is not a jot troubled at it It is not to be beleeved I say that any man that hath any Religion at all in him can be so farre carried away by his head-strong and unbridled passions but if he will spend a part of an houre every day in meditating upon Eternitie yea if he will but once in a week seriously think upon it he will mend his manners he will change the course of his life to better he will certainly become a new man Of a proud man he will become humble and lowly of an angry man he will become milde and gentle of an unclean man he will become chaste and continent of a drunken man he will become sober and temperate He will put on not the outward but the inward habit of a true religious and godly man He will become such a one not in clothes and outward expression but in heart and inward affection Neither will he rashly and unadvisedly slightly and negligently upon a spurt all at once on the sudden passe from one extream to another such alterations are not good neither will they continue long But he will again and again weigh the matter well with himself he will consider well upon it he will fasten his serious thoughts upon it he will often revolve in minde Eternitie Eternitie Eternitie that shall never have end end never never end which shall last throughout innumerable incomprehensible infinite ages This will he do with consideration and attention and often ruminate upon it as beasts chew the cud Meat though never so good and wholesome if it be not chewed in the teeth prepared in the mouth digested in the stomack turned into bloud and distributed by the veins into all the parts of the body turns to poyson rather then to nourishment begets all manner of diseases is retained perhaps some time in the body but doth more harm then good were a great deal better out then in Even so
he had been a weeping and thereupon she saith My Sonne what is the matter with thee Why weepest thou Why mournest thou Why keepest thou out of sight to day Why dost thou not come to the table The rest are all there Thy companie is desired Come away But Theodore answered and said I pray you good mother have me excused I finde my self somewhat ill at stomack I pray you do not urge me to eat or drink against my stomack So with a fair and colourable pretence he sent away his mother Then being alone he conferred with God himself about Eternity and strictly examined all the course of his life saying unto himself What am I or What have I been How hath it been with me heretofore or How shall it be with me here after if I lose my part and fellowship in the kingdome of heaven and blessed Eternitie There are divers wayes to heaven Some go one way some another It is no matter which way we go so we come thither But because all wayes are not alike neither are all natures alike every man ought to choose that way which is most convenient There is a short way and a long a safe way and a dangerous If then I be afraid to go a long and dangerous way there is a shorter and a safer which if I shall choose without all doubt I shall have the Angels for my companions and comforters and they will rejoyce with me But my friends will grieve at it at the first it may be but after a while they will also rejoyce Well Theodore deferre a while but not too long and do not yeeld too much I hope I shall one day grow a strong man and then I shall be better able to deal with mine enemies for I shall finde those that are strong But what if they be easie flattering fawning and such as will even weep for me The truth is I am most afraid of such But pluck up a good heart man and though by nature thou art flexible and easily moved yet pray unto Christ and he will make thee strong and immoveable But what if thy mother falls a weeping beseecheth thee with her teares trickling down her cheeks What if she hangs about thy neck and desires thee to spare thy self What if she shews thee her breasts which gave thee suck Will not all these move thee Here remember what Saint Hierom saith Notwithstanding all these importunities run with speed unto the Standard of Christs Crosse It is a vertue and praise-worthy to be cruell in such a case as this It is the portion and inheritance of thy mother the Church to stand under the Crosse of Christ So did Mary the mother of Christ and so must thou if thou wilt have God thy Father in heaven and the Church thy mother on earth And so thou wilt do if thou beest a true Sonne and no bastard But must I do it now in my youth in the very flower of mine age That 's hard So it is indeed to flesh and bloud But experience teacheth it that God is not well pleased with late service for late services are seldome good Therefore they do well that begin to serve God betimes that seek him early and that remember him in the dares of their youth and learn to submit their tender necks unto the yoke of Christ. But I have been brought up tenderly I have been fed with dâ—â—nties and shall I now enter upon a strict and rigid course of life and bid adieu to all my pleasures Shall I be able to endure it I hope I shall But How long For a yeare or two That 's not enough I must go further and continue to the end even as long as I live Therefore weigh and consider the matter well with thy self before thou resolvest and either never begin or else continue to the end I will by Gods assistance for I hope he will not leave me alone to strive with these difficulties which of my self I shall not be able to overcome But it is a hard matter to strive against custome I have hitherto lived like a Noble man and a Freeman and shall I now live like a poore man and a slave or if I do How long shall I live so If I put on the poore mans person and act in the Theatre of this world when shall I put it oft At the end of the last Act. And how farre is it thither As long as it is to the last breath Thy part is not ended till thou art to depart out of this life If thou once comest forth in the poore mans dresse there is no putting it off again Thou must not once think of thy silks fattens and velvets Purple and fine linen thou must not weare untill thou beest clothed with the robe of immortalitie and glory Theodore what thinkest thou shalt thou be able to hold out to the last Act I will strive what I can and comfort my self by the example of other good Actours that have gone before me And whom should I choose rather to follow and imitate then Christ the Sonne of God who voluntarily became poore and made himself of no reputation humbling himself above measure to do and suffer like a servant being Lord of all And shall not I do and suffer any thing after his example Shall not I take up the Crosse and follow him Am I better then he Why should I be afraid to follow when I have such a Leader For who is it Who bids me follow him It is the voice of man that I heare but it is the will of God whom I ought to obey because he commands But this is too high a point of Philosophie for a man to forsake his riches and to embrace povertie And what wilt thou do Theodore Resolve with thy self what to do Why do I thus long doubt and dispute within my self Why do I waveâ— thus between hope and feare Have I not the example of my Lord before mine eyes Did not he suffer many things not to be uttered Was not he nailed to the Crosse and despitefully used He forsook his heavenly treasures and came poore into this world His birth and death showes it At his birth he wanted a cradle in his life he had not where to hide his head and at his death he had not wherewithall to cover his body Naked came he into this world and naked he went out How was it with him in life He was fain to slee from one place to another He was often wearied with travell scorched with heat and drie for thirst He was as indefatigable in doing as he was patient in suffering and both in an high degree Was ever any one so well bent to poverty so patient in labours and so gentle milde when he was reproached And should I be ashamed of such a Leader Should I blush to be called one of his followers Shall not I be content to be such as my Lord and Saviour will have me to
the thoughts of death judgement Heaven and Hell are good and wholesome godly and holy but none more then the thought of Eternitie which may worthily be called the Quintessence But as it is with meat not the taking of it meerly into the mouth but the good digesting of it in the stomack the turning of it into good bloud in the liver and the distributing of it into all the parts by the veins nourisheth the body So it is with these precious thoughts of Death Judgement Heaven Hell and Eternitie Not the bare thinking upon them but serious thinking upon them with our selves setting apart all cares and worldly distractions the pondering of them well in our hearts and the often ruminating upon them this is it that â—eedeth and nourisheth the soul. If this be not done the rest is to little purpose without this even the reading of the holy Scripture is fruitlesse the hearing of the word preached is unprofitable Many heare Sermons often reade the Scripture over and over again and yet are little bettered by it because they do not meditate upon what they have both read and heard When they heare what comes in at one eare goes out at the other When they reade the eye is no sooner off from the book but what was read is soon slipt out of memorie Before they can practise what they have heard or read they have quite forgotten what they should do Therefore if we will reade or heare with profit we must spend some time in meditating and pondering with our selves what we have read and heard This lesson we may learn of the blessed Virgin the mother of our Lord. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart The Seventh Conclusion FEw or none beleeve or else do not well understand and weigh with themselves these words of Christ Enter ye in at the strait gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in thereat Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that finde it This again our Saviour repeats by the mouth of Saint Luke Strive to enter in at the strait gate For many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able Whosoever laughs at this faith and therefore will not beleeve because he doth not see when that shall come to passe which he did not beleeve he shall â—lush and be confounded he shall be confounded and separated from the blessed he shall be separated from the blessed and have his portion with the damned Hieronymus Platus reports of a certain woman that hearing Bertoldus a powerfull man in the pulpit inveigh very vehemently and bitterly against a sinne that she knew her self guiltie of fell down dead in the Church and after a while by the blessing of God upon the prayers of the Congregation coming again unto her self related unto them what she had seen in this trance saying thus Me thought I stood before Gods tribunall and threescore thousand souls more with me called together from all the parts of the world to receive their finall sentence And they were all condemned and adjudged to Eternall torments but onely three Oh! what a fearfull thing was this I should hardly beleeve this womans relation but that I beleeve Christs asseveration in the Gospel Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be that go in thereat And again Strait is the gate and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life and few there be that finde it It may seem strange to flesh and bloud that God the Father of mercies should passe the sentence of condemnation upon so many I do not say threescore thousand but threescore thousand thousand And what man would beleeve it were he not perswaded of the truth thereof upon the consideration of the soveraigne and infinite majestie of God which is offended the inutterable malice of sinne which is committed and many evident testimonies of Scripture by which it is plainly proved Job trembles at it saying A land of darknesse as darknesse it self and of the shadow of death without any order and where the light is as darknesse or according to the Latine Where there is no order and where everlasting horrour dwelleth Saint Matthew affirms as much in the words of our Saviour Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire Let us consider these things well with our selves and whilest we have time let us wash away our sinnes with the teares of repentance for fear lest God suddenly snatch us away and give us our portion to drink with hypocrites in the bottomlesse pit of Hell where there is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth where the worm never dieth and the fire never goes out from whence there is no redemption no redemption I say and again I say no redemption No not any comfort at all not so much as a little drop of cold water If the godly themselves who are in the state of grace and in the favour of God whose mindes and wills be good if they I say could sufficiently conceive from what grievous torments they shall be delivered at the day of judgement and into what unutterable and unconceiveable joyes they shall enter without doubt they would use no delay they would not let an houre passe but out of hand they would take their leave of all vanities forsake the world and leave the dead to look after the dead But as for themselves they would be dayly and hourely well employed about their Masters businesse alwayes studying to please God ever lauding and praising him for his goodnesse and mercy towards them in blessing them in part here in this world and giving them an assured promise of everlasting blessednesse in the world to come for delivering them from the torments of Hell and giving them entrance into the joyes of heaven It is the saying of Saint Gregorie The evils of this present life seem the more hard unto us the lesse we think upon the good which shall follow hereafter And because we consider not the exceeding great rewards which are laid up for us therefore we count the afflictions of this world grievous to be born whereas if we did lift up our mindes and raise our thoughts to the contemplation of those things which are Eternall and not subject to any change if we would have an eye unto them and set our hearts upon them we would certainly count the sufferings of this life and whatsoever hath an end to be as nothing and again joy in tribulation is a song in the night For although we are outwardly afflicted with the sense of sorrows Temporall yet we are inwardly comforted with the hope of joyes Sternall Much after the same manner reasoneth S. Augustine If thou wouldest but attend saith he unto what thou shalt hereafter receive thou wouldst