be utterly banished from the Schoole of Patience it is a serious charge from our master that it should not be so much as named amongst you Saint Augustine gives a most exact answer to these serpents saying why do thunderbolts strike sometimes the mountaine and spare the theefe Because perhaps God expects as yet the theefs conversion and therefore strikes the mountaine that fears not to convert that man who is capable of feare thou doest now and then the like striking the ground when thou givest correction that thy child may be frighted thereat But thou answerest me behold he punisheth sometimes the innocent and pardons the guilty what wonder a good man alwaies and in all places is ready for a good end but how canst thou possibly know what punishment is reserved for that wicked person unlesse he repent him How much rather would they who at the day of Judgement shall heare these dreadfull words go yee cursed into everlasting fire be consumed with thunder and lightning It behoves thee to be innocent For what matter is it whether a man die by shipwracke or by a feaver we can neither say the one is an il death nor the other a good But whether he die by one or other enquire of what course of life the man is that dies whither he shall go after death not by what accident he came to his death Howsoever it be live thou in fear and see thou be good by what death soever it pleaseth God to take thee hence let him find thee provided Whatsoever therefore as the same Saint Augustine saith happens in this world contrary to our will know it happens not without the will of God by his providence by his ordinance and expresse order albeit we neither understand it nor the end for which it is done yet let us ascribe so much to his providence that it is not done without cause For when we presume to dispute the works of God as why did hâ— this why that and he should not have done thus he hath done amisse in so doing where I beseech you is your praise of God you have lost your Alleluja Consider all things in such sort that you may please God praise him that made them When you enter into a Smiths forge you would not doubtlesse presume to find fault with his bellows his hammers or anvill presumest thou not to question a rude smith in his forge wilt thou be so bold with God in his workmanship of this world It is the property of an unskilfull man to reprehend all he sees you shall have another more skilfull then he albeit better acquainted with the artificer and consequently might be more familiar yet knowing him to be a man that understands his trade will say Questionlesse he had some reason to place his bellows rather here then in another place the workman himself knows why although I do not That we may be therefore willing to imbrace the will of so dear and loving a Father the same Saint Augustine encourageth us and layeth before our eyes the hereditary delights of eternity saying Thy God thy Redeemer he that for thy good hath brought thee under and chastised thee as a father instructs thee To what end Mary to settle upon thee an inheritance to which thou art noâ— to succeed by dispossessing thy Father but by possessing thy Father himselfe for an inheritance This is the hope for which thou art instructed and doest thou murmur Whither wilt thou go from his Spirit Admit he should leave thee at thine own liberty and not chastise thee Say he should suffer thee to blaspheme at thy pleasure shalt thou not at lâ—st feel the smart of his judgement Is it not much better thy Father should afflict and receive thee then spare and forsake thee Dost rejoyce Acknowledge thy fathers cherishing Art thou in tribulation Acknowledge thy Fathers correction And remember this that whether he cherish or correct he instructs him for whom he prepares a kingdom Moreover Almighty God as witnesseth the same Saint Augustine ordereth and disposeth so of the sins of all men that all those things which were objects of delight to them in their sin may be instruments for our Lord in his punishment For God said Be darknesse made and it was made yet did he dispose of it when it was made He likewise permits sins albeit he commit none and orders and disposes of them afterward and by this means executes his will efficaciously in all things But now I request all to mark attentively for I purpose to make a brief recapitulation of whatsoever I have said before Sect. VI. BEfore the creation of the world there was nothing but a meer vacuity yea there was nothing else besides the most mighty and most mercifull God who alone was most sufficient to himself and without all things created most blessed and happy having in himself from all eternity and to this very instant the Idea of all things so perfect that not one jot point oâ— tittle as I may say was wanting either in his will or understanding According to this Idea of his will and understanding he created all things in perfection all good doubtlesse very good All which he ceaseth not to govern preserve and dispose every moment in a most singular order That end which God from all eternity hath prescribed to himself in all things he acquires from time to time And which most declares his infinite power and goodnesse he as carefully directs the least things as the greatest he as provident every moment directs every man in particular as all men in generall yea he so tenderly and lovingly diverts even the least things belonging to each man that there is none of them but are designed for an excellent end were it not that the will of man doth prejudice it self dissenting from the supreme will of God No one be he man or Angel can ever alter or hinder what God hath registred from all eternity what he hath determined to do or permit He hath numbred and considered the very hairs of all creatures the sands of the sea the leaves of the trees even the least birds the Sparrows the Wrens the motes of the air all even all the cogitations both of men and Angels What then canst thou complain of as if God regarded not thy calamities as if he did not providently enough govern thee and thy affairs or give too much liberty to thine enemies or amongst such a multitude of men and matters neglect thee alone Foolish man Wilt thou still be muttering these things to thy self Know that God disposeth all things in number weight and measure even thy affairs even the least thing thou takest in hand Call to mind I beseech thee consider thy life past and note whatsoever thou wouldest have had in the whole course thereof to have happened otherwise Observe withall that even this thing was by God brought most exactly to his own Idea that is to say to what hath
largely and spend the day idly Happy therefore are the poore who willingly embracing poverty entertaine it as a speciall friend to vertue To this end was that generous speech of Saint Paul uttered The things which were to me a gaine the same I deem'd for Christ a detriment No man is worthy of God but he that knowes how to contemne riches and he is truely rich who agreeth well with poverty To this purpose Diogenes said Poverty is a vertue which is learn'd of it selfe The matter is plaine should not riches be taken from us we should be undone and destroyed by them And who is he that can so warily touch these thornes and not wound his owne conscience poverty alone is not wounded by this thorny brake He abhorres not poverty who aspires to blessed immortality For as truely saith Saint Gregory Whosoever he be that fixeth his desire upon eternity can neither be deterred with poverty nor shaken with adversity Sect. IV. A Garland of Straw THE Garland of Straw signifies all kindes of scoffes derisions and contempts This is a terrible and grievous punishment to scholars at school how light soever it seemes to others Some time it happens in schools that the master commands a boy to stand in a place by himselfe with roddes in his hand This is a more grievous punishment to that boy then to be ten times beaten with roddes In Spaine they put in mockery a paper hat upon those whom they lead to execution After this manner Andronicus an Emperour Vid considerationes gâ—ernitaâ—is consid 5. 53. of the East was crown'd with a wreath of Garlicke set upon the back of a scabbed Camel and led thorow the city in a miserable triumph To be contemned derided and scoffed at a proud man deemeth one of the greatest punishments that may be inflicted This crowne of Straw seemes to some all lead beset with prickes like a bristled Hedge-hogge For we abhorre nothing more then to be disgraced branded with ignominy or forc'd to the blush in presence of others This often times seemes more grievous then death it selfe Hence it is that many guilty persons kill themselves in prison rather then they will be made an object of scorne and contempt to the world At the latter day when every one shal return from death to life that terrible arraignement in the sight and presence of all mankinde that calling to accompt and pointing out by the voice and finger of the judge that sterne eye fixed on the whole world shall more torment the damned then the very flames of hel For this cause shall men say in most desperate manner to the sleepy rockes and mountaines fall you upon us and to the hils cover us Then shall it seem to them a gentler punishment to be buried alâ—ve under the heavy weight of these mountaines then to be arraigned at the tribunall seat of Christ to receive that heavy sentence and be proclaimed by the elect the utter enemies of God Saul King of the Hebrewes a notorious example of a man infinitely wicked when he heard Samuel foretell the dissolution and final catastrophe of his kingdom fortunes the deprivation of Gods grace his owne reprobation and utter ruine of all desired only to preserve his honour But now honour me said he before the elders of my people and before Israel So much he fear'd this losse when all things else were in a desperate case that his people should cease to honour him Behold how Saul was able like the Ostrich to disgest the greatest calamities as hard iron and yet is dejected with a thing which might seeme to be of least account to weare this wreath of straw he esteemes more grievous then death it selfe What was the cause He was proud There is nothing in the School of Patience more fit to suppresse pride then this Garland of Straw This is the most efficacious meanes to pull downe arrogancy he that is crowned with this Garland is forced though much against his will to qualifie his lofty spirit But above all things this is most to be admired we desire to be reputed submissive humble and yet hate nothing more then humility contempt of our selves free us from ignominy and in a manner all things else seeme tolerable with this men are wont to be most dejected they especially that are proud and not fully subjected We vainely perswade and flatter our selves that all things besides this garland of straw are tolerable A very fond perswasion which Cassianus refuâ—eth thus We would saith he have chastity Cass collat 4. c. 1◠〈◊〉 of body without chastizing our flesh acquire purity of heart without labour and watching enjoy carnall case quietnes and yet abound in spirituall vertues possesse the gift of patience yet never would beprovoked by scorns reproches practise the humility of Christ without the losse of worldly honour and serve him with humane praise and estimation In a word we desire to keep our head from the straw garland and to be humble without humility In this case we must not flatter our pride this garland of straw is fittest for that head which most abhorres it to that alone this diadem is most suitable Elegantly learnedly saith Seneca Sen. do Provid c. 4. post initium How can I be assured of thy coÌ„stancie against ignominy infamy and popular hatred if I see thee all thy life soothed and applauded and followed with acertain inexpugnable and headlong troop of flatterers This one word Repete rehearse the same again vexeth more the Reader then any other correction how rigorous soever But this is an apparant signe of secret pride which liketh nothing worse then to be blamed or shamed by blushing whereupon some men singular as well for learning as contempt of themselves when their ruin was to read at dinner or supper purposely pronounced some words amisse that they might be forced to blush at their owne dissembled ignorance When Martin Delrio a man of an ancient house and by the many notable books he wrote famous for his learning had divers years professed divinity at Liege he was by command sent to Tornay where according to the rules of his Order he might retire himself from publick reading and noise of the world and quietly spend some time in holy meditations Heer he laying aside both Philosophy and Divinity underwent yea even ambitiously sought after all the most abject offices amongst religious novices Sometimes with a poore thred bare cloake he attended the Cater to the market and carried to the Colledge the provision he bought thorow the streets in view of all the people taking upon him the office of a poore Porter This man neither feared nor refused the garland of straw nay he thought himselfe honoured by wearing it This above all the rest much astonished the religious of his order to see a man so grave and learned after he had spent so many years in the socity of Jesus been reader a long time in
Philosophy and Divinity and a preacher highly esteemed after all this I say his sight failing him and almost blind with age so diligently and willingly whilst others sate at table to stand or incommodiously sit at the usuall deske reading according to the custome some pious book and pronouncing the tones and accents according to the direction of others Behold how Delrio with a prompt and ready will embraced a garland of straw Nothing seemed to him so ignominious and shamefull in his latter yeares as the feare of shame and ignominy The like did Lanfranke a man singularly endued with all manner of literature He on a time was appointed reader and being by his unlearned Superiour commanded to repeat what he had read and to pronounce it contrary to the rules of Grammar readily obeyed Questionlesse he reputed this straw garland a speciall ornament This good man was not ashamed for Christs sake to be put to shame Aloysius Gonzaga did the like as is recounted in his life When the minde is once throughly steel'd with vertue it becomes impassible no derisions nor contempts can ever wound it Can a man think you truly resign'd to the will of God be at any time moved with ignominy who hath once fully rejected the opinion of the world and placed all his honor in Christ his Saviour An ignominious death is beyond all ignominy yet this so many thousand holy Martyrs have embraced with as cheerfull a countenance as other when they are adorned with purple and diadems Christ himselfe King of Martyrs to this end suffered a most ignominious death to teach his servants to suffer and not to put affronts and disgraces upon others No man is more pleased with contempt then he who hath first learned to contemne himselfe A true despiser of himselfe is as content with contumelies as if they were miters and then most of all rejoyceth and applauds his happinesse when he is most derided For true glory indeed is to suffer with indifferencie for Christs sake as well the greatest as the least reproach and contumely The true disciples of Christ are crowned first with thornes and afterwards with gold and pretious gems King David pursuing the Amalekites found in the field an Egyptian even sick to death and strictly examined him about his countrey house and kindred who returned this answer I am an Egyptian young man servant to one that is an Amalekite and my master hath left me behinde because I fell sicke three dayes since David commanded this man to accompany him after he had sworn him S. Gregory having considered these passages Greg. in Evang said God chuseth those whom the world despiseth because for the most part by being despised a man comes to know himself The garland of straw is an ignominy prejudiciall to none but such as are impatient Let us go therefore as Saint Paul encourageth us let us go out of the Camp to meet Christ Jesus carrying upon us his disgrace Saint Paul is our leader to that bloudy pavilion of Christ crucified he exhorts us to follow him through glory and disgrace through infamy and good fame as seducers yet speakers of the truth We have innumerable valiant Champions to accompany us in this way who have been well acquainted with crosses dâ—sgraces and whips yea with prisous chains and fetters To gain a crown of gold they have patiently worn a wreath of straw He is not yet arrived to happinesse who knowes not how to endure contempts and disgraces Sect. V. Wands THe miseries of man which daily molest him are represented by Wands Occasions of suffering are never wanting let us stand or sit walk or eate drink or sleep the troubles and grievances are innumerable which intrude upon us we are daily contesting and wrangling with our own inconveniences It may well be said that the master in this School never layes afide his wands You shall scarcely see a man that hath not daily some mischance or other happening unto him But most of those whereat we repine are more offensive then prejudiciall The words of that most religious Thomas a Kempis concern all men Thou art wretched wheresoever thou Imiâ— Christ l 1. cap. 22. initio l. 2. c. 12 n. 3. 4. art and whithersoever thou turnest thy selfe except thou turn to God Dispose and order all things according to thy own will and liking yet shalt thou neuer want something to suffer either willingly or unwillingly Turn to all above thee below thee within or without thee and in all these thou shalt finde a crosse every where thou must of necessity suffer with patience if thou wilt enioy inward peace and deserve an everlasting crown These miseries of ours though they may be endured and overcome with facility yet considering they occurre daily our merit thereby is wonderfully increased if we suffer them for Gods sake as Ludovicus Blosius teacheth Blos insiit spirit c. 2. propius finem very well that it is a matter of no small moment to suffer even the least trouble for the love of God All that can be said of these kindes of miseries and molestations is that they are burdensome but wholsome if they be willingly embraced For as Saint Augustine saith God regards Aug in Psa 61. prope finem what a man is willing rather then what he is able to do Abigail the wisest amongst the women of her time besides the present of all kindes of viands to appease King Davids wrath made likewise her addiesse by a notable oration saying The soul of my Lord shall be kept as safe as if it were in the posie of the living with thy Lord God but the soule of thy enemies shall be wheeled about as it were in the force and circle of a sling Heer this wise Lady by an excellent comparison shewed the difference between the lives of the wicked and just especially in suffering adversities Good and vertuous men are like fresh flowers which the Gardiner having newly gathered lest they should be scattered and wither ties them together in a nosegay with so strait and hard a bond that if it were possible they would cry out and complain of the injury But flowers thus compacted and set in water live long and flourish By this posie I understand daily miseries which teach us at least to live with more purity though perchance with lesse content As for example I am very hungry to relieve my hunger I insinuate with the Cooke I am thirsty but love not to draw mine own drink and therefore make use of the Butler I want apparrell but know not how to make it and therefore I employ the Taylor To want these things is indeed a misery but hereby I become more courceous and am obliged to love and respect othâ—rs If there were some that wanted no mans help they would affoord none so much as a good word After this manner the soules of good men are preserved as it were in the bundle of the living It is farre
de exam conscien per plura capita men of former ages have taught by their example and at this day it is the custome of holy â—en diligently to looke into themselves and search all the corners of their conscâ—ence And certainly it stands with reason that before we goe to sâ—eâ—p we make our peace with God whom we have that day estended that if death surprize us sleeping which whether it will or no is most uncertaine wee may not be cast headlong to hell and everlasting death And how conformable is it to reason that a man should at least once a day tender thanks to his creatour for all his benefits aske forgivenesse for his sinnes and firmly purpose from thence forward to think speake and proceede in all his actions more warily modestly and chastly He is rather a beast then a man who not diverted by urgent occasions neglects this businesse and buâ—ies himselfe in a feather bed before he hath so much as with one poore word reconciled himselfe to God Repeate therefore O my deare Christian rehearse I say and examin thy conscience how thou hast spent that day He is carelesse and neglects his lesson who layes him downe to sleepe before he hath cast up his accompts betweene God and his owne conscience But sometimes the scholar doth ill pronounce the words of his lesson and recites it unperfectly The like do they who omit not to examine their conscience and say their prayers but are so distracted with diverse other cogitations that they stammer out false and unperfect words For example Some men say our Lords prayer after this manner Our Father which art is heaven while he transported in mind askes what is done at home in the kitching but tery or barne Hallowed be thy name His thoughts reply I had this week a wonderfull affront put upon me Thy kingdome come A strange thing that there should as yet in likelyhood be no end of this war Thy will bee done in earth as it is in heaven I am shrewdly pinched with poverty if I were richer I might perhaps breake through these difficulties But thus as I am poore wretch I lie in misery and contemned O Christians what a prayer iâ— this This is no other then to huddle up words unperfectly to be mindlesse of your lesson and to recite it in the worst manner that may be But he that prayes â—ll shall never carry his crosse well Behold Manasses a king in the whole course of his life most wâ—cked but in the end repentant who after he was distressed prayed to his Lord God and did great pennance and prayed for pardon at Gods hands and be sought him earnestly This indeed is that which God desireth hee would be sought unto and earnestly intreated Sect. II. THe other fault in schooles is to prattle and chat What other is this then to goe a begging to creatures for petty solaces and comforts and to deafen those mens eares with vaine complaints at whose hands you can neither hope for helpe nor counsell He is a foolish beggar and not his crafts master who wandreth about begging at poore mens houses what great almes can he hope for of them Dame poverty dwelleth there and hath none but beggars for her tennants And to begge of beggars is absurd and ridiculous Get thee gon to rich mens houses there knocke there cry out the bounty of one rich house may afford thee a larger almes then an hundred poore cottages So they very much deceive themselves who think with vaine contentments to overcome calamities and afflictions When matters goe ill with them they put themselves into company appoint drinking matches fall to banquetting revelling and dauncing spend their time in wandring up and downe and gaming wast their best howers in barren discourses and take upon them â—ole and impertinent journeys O miserable men what bed soever we lay a sick man in be it of wood or gold he carries his disease about him The true foundation of a peaceable mind is not to delight in vanities They are light supersiciall pleasures to tickle sense not to fill the heart withall they can give no solid cure to afflictions they are confused and troubled delightes so farre from curing that the disease thereby becomes more violent Non enim gazae neque consularis Summovet Lictor miserestumultus Mentis et curas lâ—queâ—ta circâ—m Hor. â—1 car â—â—e 16. Tecta volantes No wealth nor Consuls Lictors who make way Can from the heart disturbed tumults fray Or cares which fly about gilt roofes dispell True and solid joy is from a good conscience It is neither travell nor change of place that can cleere up a sad and cloudy minde The mind not the climate must be changed Goe whither thâ—â— wilt thy sinnes pursue thee This was the very answer of Socrates to one that made the like complaint what marvell said he if thy travells availe thee not seeing thou carriest thy selfe about with thee The cause it selfe that drives thee abroad lies heavie upon thee What helpe canst thou have from strange countries can the knowledg of Cities or places rulielieve thee which is but a vaine fruitlesse ostentation dost aske why this flight doth not help thee Thou takest thy selfe along with thee Thou must lay aside the burden of thy mind Till Sen. apist 21. then no place will ever give thee content It is in a mans power to live happily wheresoever he will By these poore pleasures therefore griefe for a little while is allayed and silenced but ere long returneth againe with more force and after that short time of ease vexeth more sharply Iob utterly detested such vaine consolations I have oftentimes given eare unto you saith he but all you comforters are burdensome The same you may say of all things created they are burdensom coÌ„forters To what end then do we feede our selve with frivolous discorses why beg we helpe of creatures be hold the Creatour offers hâ—mselfe for a comforter I I my selfe quoth he will comfort you Come unto me all you who labour and are burdened and I will refresh you Let us therefore if we be wise or rather that we may be wise and bend all our endeavours to the obtaining of perfect patience lay aside all vaine consolations Sect. III. THe third fault in this schoole is to be carelesse of their writnig which made the carefull father exhort his sonne in this manner Scribe puâ—r vigila causaâ— age perlege â—ubâ—as Majorum leges aut vitem posâ—e libello Write boy and watch reade antient rubricke lawes Or get a Captaines place or plead some cause And what other thing is meant heere by writing but a due and seasonable premeditation the mind is to be instructed and prepared for future events lest calamity with an unexpected shocke oppresse us unawares Seneca wisely admonisheth us Let the mind in time of security prepare it selfe for adversitie The Souldier before hee sees the face of the enemy exerciseth himselfe raiseth
and like a cat shut up in a sack and so carried to his enemies castle Here Pecchius was thrown into a deep and loathsome dungeon And without acquainting any other charge was given to a servant of some trust to feed him every day with no more then a small crust of bread and a little cup of water wherby this wretched man might sensibly suffer a lingering death rather then preserve a long life In the mean season Pecchius was sought for all about in towns and cities and no where found save onely his horse he rode on somewhat besprinkled with bloud which caused strong suspition of murder and the murderer thereupon was diligently sought after Two men with whom it was known he had former quarrels were laid hold on and compelled by most cruell torments to confesse themselves guilty of his death judgement past upon the innocent persons the one to be hanged the other to lose his head Thy judgements O my God! are a bottomlesse abysse Mean while Pecchius prolonged his miserable dayes in this loathsome prison and in this course of life or rather death spent nineteen yeers without ever changing or putting off his apparell and having nothing to sustain life but a poor pittance of bread and water every day Neverthelesse he himself with grateful acknowledge ment of Gods speciall favour afterwards confessed that he was alwayes very confident hee should at last be delivered from this den of death But his children during his imprisonment as if he had been dead performed all rites and obsequies and parted the inheritance among them So when he had accomplished nineteen yeers in this cruell imprisonment the Lord of the Castle his capitall enemy died and his heir that succeeded him going about to enlarge and beautifie the Castle commanded walls to be beaten down here and there till they came at length to this cave under the ground which had no door but onely a very narrow hole to passe into it here they found this miserable man like a Stygian ghost with garments torn his beard grown to his kâ—ees his hair of his head hanging all about his shoulders At this spectacle so unexpected the workmen stood amazed the rumour thereof was straight divulged abroad thither a multitude of people ran as to see a Faune or Satyre or some such savage monster Some of the discreeter sort advised not to bring this man too suddenly to the air lest by that change he should lose his eye-sight or his life So for certain dayes he was detained in that hâ—s former darknesse and by little and little brought forth to day-light here they propounded sundry questions to him as if he had been revived from death to life Asked who he was of what family what countrey man how he came thither and how long he had layen there Whereunto he made answer in order as all things had passed which he audience quickly beleeved according to his relation Hereupon he was not onely restored to his liberty but his estate also which his children had divided amongst them was by the Princes command surrendered unto him One thing here is of great consequence and much to bee noted Pecchius when he was cast into the prison was troubled with the gout but this exceeding spare diet wrought a cure of him so that not onely in the prison but all the dayes of his life after Simon Maiâ—lus Episc vultur In diebuâ— Canic câ—lloq 4. mihi pag. 159. he was free from that disease He that writes this History affirms that he spake with this very man himself at Millain and had all this relation from his own mouth Ann. Dom. 1566. in the moneth of November See how God brings men into the depths and brings them backe againe See how want and misery teacheâ—h men not only abstinence and frugality but bestowes upon them also their health which by no other remedies could be obtained But we for the most part are dull of capacity and learne but by constraint those things which we should be ready to acquire of our owne accords And thereupon with good reason our master in the School of Patience urgeth us at length with these words Learne therefore even against thy will what thou wouldest not willingly Galen is of opinion that Galen l. 6. de medic sacilibus some little sickenesse and distempers are availeable to some I easily beleeve it and that for the scholars of Patience it is not amisse sometimes to feele the like Sect. IV. Horace makes a pleasant discourse Hor. l. 2. â—â—â—sat 1. med after this manner Opimius a citizen no lesse wealthy then covetous was oppressed with a greevous lethargy in somuch that his heire in great jollity beganne to lay hold on his bagges and keies Meane while Opimius though he were pinch'd and pulled stirred not But the physition being his faithfull friend and tendering his good wakened him by this meanes he caused a table to be set and store of money to be powred downe upon it and many to come and tell it then he beganne to awaken him after thâ—s manner Opimius quoth he Opimius awâ—ke aâ—d looke to thine owne or else thy greedy heires will presently wast and imbâ—zle it At these words Opimius lifting up his droâ—zie eies and perfectly waking said what is the matter are these doings before I am dead Avaunt mischeivous vultures are you already got together to teare and devoure me alive Will you bury me before I am dead to make your selves heires of my goods Sir said the Phisition to shew that you are alive I pray awake and looke to the maine chance Thus the sicke man was cured of his lethargy My deare Christians you know right well there are innumerable amongst us whom our Heavenly Phisition beholds in Opimius case lying buried in a deepe lethargy are lesse of their salvation and fouly corrupted with intemperance What should this expert and faithfull Physition do heerin He affaies sundry meanes to restore us to our health but all in vain Wherefore at length he either takes or seemes to take whatsoever we esteeme most deare but to no other end doubtlesse then to awake us that we may looke to our owne good mend our lives and recover our health At last the sickeman is forc'd to confesse I thought indeed I could never have wanted this abstained from that or contented my selfe when I was debard of another thing which I desired but now I see either because I will or because I must all is in my power this I want that I abstaine from the other thing I cannot obtaine and yet I live Mâ—sery is the mistrâ—sse of temperance That prodigall young man who wasted all hâ—s patrimony what a seasonable oportunity had he afterward to suffer hanger how fit a time to digest all his surfets So much was hee distressed with hunger that whereas before he disdained the purest manchet now he deem'd oaten bread yea bran and husks cast out to the hoggs as one of his
waters have entred even to my soule As Almighty God qualifies and proportions the raine for the benefit of the world that neither the want nor abundance thereof should be hurtfull but in such cases when he sends them as a punishment for mens offences so he moderates and mitigates all our labours and griefes in that for want of exercise we may not wax sloathful of sluggish nor yet be so utterly destitute of consolation therein that we faint or fall in the combat And this was the request of the Kingly Prophet Leave me not destitute on every side He desireth not to be exempted from all manner of desolation vexation or afflictionâ— this his onely suit is he may not be utterly forsaken abandoned on every side although his sinnes had deserved it But if God powre down a violent and sudden showre which seemeth to wash away and destroy the fatnesse of the earth it must be taken as a punishment Notwithstanding this may be no way prejudiciall but redound to our good seeing it pleaseth God by this meanes to humble us Quae nocent docent There are certaine trees that have their fruits growing so fast and close unto them that they will not easily let them go unlesse you pull them off with a violent and strong hand Of this sort are Nuts Almonds and Acorns If you shake these trees gently as you do Pears or Plumbs they will part with nothing not so much as a lease you must fall upon them therefore with staves cudgels and stones that they may afforod you by blowes what they refused to give by intreaties We are like these trees our fruits are the pious actions which we undertake God seekes God requires these fruits not sharply or by violence but sweetly and lovingly for these fruits he askes a thousand times My sonne quoth he honour thy Lord and thou shalt be of great power and might feare no other strange Lord beside him My son forget not my Law Give eare my son and receive my words that the yeares of thy life may be multiplied Keep my commandments and thou shalt live Give my son thy heart to me and let thine eyes keep my wayes But for so much as this good God by these prayers for the most part prevails but little and that there scarcely falls any fruit from this tree he is even forced with stones and clubs to strike and fling at it that so at least it may render him the fruits he expected A â—aâ—s conscience without all question often admonisheth the preachers put him in mind and others do their parts to advise him yet such is the contumacie of this tree that all these means will not suffice to make him yeeld his wished fruâ—t Take it not ill therefore O tree if thou beest more hardly handled Thus God dealt with the Hebrewes he delivered them into the hands of the Gentiles and they who hated them had dominion over them And their enemies oppressed them with tribulation and they were humbled under their hands that they might be taught by their own harms What reason then hath this tree to thinke much if it be pelted with cudgels and stones It might have gone free from blowes if it had freely given what was most justly demanded Naaman the Leper was highly offended because Elizeus the Prophet gave him so slender an answer In so much that slighting and contemning the river Jordan he resolved to return again into Syria But his servants appeased their master in this manner Father said they had the Prophet imposed upon you some difficult matter surely you ought willingly to have done it how much more seeing he hath now onely said unto you wash and you shall be cleansed Induced by these reasons he washed in Jordan as he was willed and so was cured of his leprosie O that we would thus be perswaded the same is said to us that we may obtain not corporall but spirituall health and salvation of our soules And albeit God had commanded you some thing of more difficulty you ought certainly to have done it For of so great importance is eternall beatitude that were we commanded to endure even the very torments of hell for a time we should not demurre long upon the matter but without delay readily endure even those paines that our soule might be happy for all eternity Nay admit the blisse and beatitude of heaven might not exceed an hundred yeares we should rather endure any thing for many yeares in this world then neglect the enjoying of that On the other side say hell fire after an hundred yeares were utterly to be extinguished neverthelesse it behoved us rather to suffer all punishments here that can be imagined then to expect those future torments How much more ought all afflictions whatsoever to be now cheerfully suffered seeing they passe away in a short time in a moment whereas the reward or punishment continues to eternity Here Saint Chrysostome opportunely a wakeing us out of our slouth urgeth in this manner What saiest thou O man Thou art called to a kingdome a kingdome of the Sonne of God and like a sluggard doest thou yawne shrugge and scratch thy head What if thou were every day to suffer a thousand deaths were not all these willingly to be endured There is nothing thou wouldest not undergoe to be made a Prince and wilt thou not do the like to be consorted in a kingdome with the only Sonne of God even leape into the fire or run upon a thousand swords And yet all this were no great matter to be suffered Sect. II. IN former times God commanded an edict to be published to this effect Let a man that is cleane gather the ashes of a calfe and powre them out before the tents in the purest place that they may serve for the custody of the multitude of the children of Israell and for water of aspersion because the calfe is burnt for sinne It was the pleasure of God that ashes to make lie off should not bee gathered indifferently by any man but by him only who was clean and that they should not be negligently cast into a by corner but into some pure and cleane place why was so much honour done to these ashes Mary that they might serve to bee sprinkled with water on them that were unclean Heare O Christians and carefully attend and see in what estimation this lie of affliction was sharpe indeed but most fit to purge and clense away the filth of sinne None amongst mortall men are free from sinne and corruption That most holy Job said If I shall be washed as it were with the water of snow and my hands shall shine as being most pure and cleane notwithstanding thou wilt dip me in filthes and my steps will make me abominable If Job were likewise to be washed what shall we say of others But as fire is to metalls the file to iron sope to a cloth so is affliction to sinners that purgeth and washeth away all filth
tendeth not directly towards God it is no other then a foul sin covered under a fair pretext And therefore Christ for the most part gives us with a bountifull hand those things which are most profitable for us inviting all freely to the School of Patience but not so to the glory of this world If any one saith he will come after me let him deny himself and take up his crosse and follow me not to a pleasant garden but to the horrid and noisome mount Calvary Sect. IV. WHen the Saviour of the world would manifest a little glimpse of his glory upon mount Thabor he admiâ—ted onely three of his Apostles to be spectatours And why did he not invite many hundreds that were inhabitants of Hierusalem Or at least why did he not take with him all his Apostles The counsells of God are far different from those of men To behold Christ crucified hanging all bloudy on the Crosse came an infinite multitude of people but to see him glorified on mount Thabor three of his dearest Disciples were only admitted Doubtlesse this was to teach us that they are innumerable who profit themselves by crosses and afflictions but few or none by earthly glory and prosperity And therefore St. Bonaventure said he had rather ascend with Christ to the mount Golgotha then to mount Thabor Thus assuredly Quae nocent docent In times past at Rome the yeer of our Lord 167. Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus commanded all the souldiers in publike triumph to be crowned with laurell which all obeyed except one Christian who would not wear his wreath on his head but on his arm and being asked why he alone differed from the â—â—shion of the rest answered It was not fit that a Christian should be crowned in this life Tertullian in defence of this so generous an answer wrote a book intituled The Souldiers Crown whereby he declares with great eloquence how prudent an act this was of that souldier The truth is a Christian should not be crowned but with thorns for so was our head Christ Jesus Alas How unsutable â—re tender and delicate members with a thornie wounded and bloudy head Saint Augustine Bishop of Hippo considering advisedly these words of Saint James the Apostle Behold we beatifie them that have suffered You have heard the sufferance of Job and seen the end of our Lord. Lest men saith he should patiently suffer temporall afflictions to the end they may receive that which we read was restored to Job Who besides his sores and ulcers cured had doubly restored him what he had lost To shew therefore that after the suffering of temporall afflictions we should not hope for like reward he doth not say You have heard the sufferance and end of Job but You have heard the sufferance of Job and seen the end of our Lord. As if he had said Sustain temporall afflictions as Job did but for this expect not temporall benefits which were given him with increase but rather hope for eternall such as our Lord received We therefore for our sufferings must aime at a reward to be given us where there is no more to be suffered Many are exalted to be cast downe by a greater falls Contrariwise God suffers divers persons to fall the lower that he may thereby advance them higher The more torment here the more reward there Oftentimes in holy Scripture a wel-minded man is compared to a Palm-tree Heare the speech of the heavenly Gardiner himselfe who saith I will ascend up to the top of the Palm-tree and gather the fruit thereof What need is there my God to ascend are not thy armes otherwise long enough to gather the fruit It is as easie for thee to gather fruit on the top of the tree as upon the lower boughes But observe I beseech you the wisedome of the divine counsell A Gardiner standing upon his feet gathers the lower fruit by pulling the boughes gently unto him but when he meanes to pull the higher fruit he climbs up and treads upon the tree â—nd so sometimes breakes a bough before he gather the fruit A man as we said before is compared to a tree his fruits are holy and pious actions high ripe and perfect workes of vertue as singular humility remarkable patience transcendent charity the heavenly Gardiner to get these fruits ascends up into the tree treads upon it and breaks the boughs hence it commeth to passe that one man is deprived of part of his wealth another of his honour a third of his friend another of his pleasure Behold how the Gardiner by treading upon us gathers riper fruits whereby invited and stirred up to worke with more fervour we dispatch sooner and every day become more solicitous in divine affaires Thus oftentimes Qua nocent docent Sect. V. SOmetimes God is pleased to blesse us abundantly with store of all things but to no other end then that as they encrease and become more deare unto us we may be more sensibly grieved for the losse thereof S. Bonaventure saith that Paradise even for this cause was planted by God that our first parents being excluded from thence might suffer the more griefe and by that meanes the more bitterly bewaile and detest their sinne which was cause of their banishment It was therefore his pleasure that Adam should sensibly perceive what happinesse he had lost by his sin and consequently seeke to recover the like or greater blisse by repentance that having lost Paradise he might more earnestly aspire to heaven Thus a thousand severall times even at this day God deals with us For example he gives to some parents a son of an excellent disposition comely docible and ingenious who with those of his age ascends by learning to the second or third Fourme On the sudden death crops this rose this youth of so great hopes dies in the very flower of his age Alas what a grief is this to the parents They are ashamed openly to utter what they conceive secretly in their hearts Why did God give us such a son when he meant presently to take him from us againe Had we not affliction enough before was it requisite to adde this sorrow to our former griefes Yes indeed was it so parents and for that cause was your son borne that his untimely death might increase your griefe and consequently the reward of your patience Did not God at the intercession of Elizeus grant a son to his Hostesse and shortly after take him from her again by death Cauterizing seems to make a new wound whereas indeed it cureâ— the old Affliction seems to be a malady when oftentimes it is a cure for the malady And are you yet ignorant that Qua nocent docent But I am a man say you my heart is not made of iron brasse or steele I am not able to endure such griefes Say not so I beseech you the School-master best knowes what every Scholar is able to undergo he commands one to learne but five verses another ten some
I say amisse That most holy King David sayes even as much for when the wicked Shimier reproached him with words nay even cast stones at him and some of the Kings train were of mind to have cut off his head the King gave expresse charge to all his followers in â—his manner Let him alone that he may curse for our Lord hath commanded him to curse David and who is he that dare say Why hath he so done Did therfore Shimei commit no sin in doing this yea doubtlesse a most heynous one observe a while and the truth will easily appeare When David the wisest of Kings saw this wretch Shimei all alone and unarmed and yet heard him calumniate him resolutely and without feare he presently was of opinion that the first beginning or fundamentall cause of that injury proceeded not from Shemei but from God who had ordained the slanderous and malicious speech of so wicked a man to chastise and punish him By what means therefore did God command him this Be advised and understand the matter as it is There are two things to be considered in sin The first is the naturall motion of the body or will or of them both jointly together the other is the transgression it selfe of the law For example One brother slanders another a citizen kills a citizen a souldier sets an house of fire a thiefe steals a thousand crownes In these acts the motion of the tongue the deadly stroke the setting fire to the house the taking away of the money are done by Gods help and assistance for they are all naturall actions which cannot be done without Gods help And this is the first thing which ought to be considered in every sin which without doubt is by this meanes furthered by God himselfe But the other is the very nature it selfe of sin as when this naturall action is imployed contrary to reason against conscience and the law of God this God neither willeth nor commandeth neverthelesse he directeth the perverse will of this man or that sin and transgression of his lawes to the punishment admonition correction or increasing the patience of another man Therefore of doing the thing God is the authour and when it is ill done he is a provident director So God assisted Shimei to utter his words to cast durt and stones for these were no other then naturall motions but for so much as Shimei shewed a malicious will against his Prince thereunto God concurred not but neverthelesse directed it to a very good end that by these calumnies the sins of David might be punished his patience and humility exercised And this may be seen and obserued in all sins and in all injuries whatsoever The evill of sin God tolerates and the evill of punishment he orders and directs to a good end to increase patience and to punish sin Thus he permits famine war plagues deluges burning thefts injuries injustices and enormous crimes and withall so disposeth them that even by these evills he manifesteth to the world more and more his goodnesse his justice his power and his glory After this manner God is the Authour of all evils as they are punishments of which Doctrine we produce truth it self for a witnesse God being highly offended with the Jews said I will gather evills upon them and glut my arrows with them Lo I will bring upon them evills out of which they shall not be able to escape Behold God even loads with evills God wounds us with his arrows And we childishly are angry with his arrows and darts we never mark what arm it is that shoots and darts them So the Painter when his picture is not to his minde quarrels with his pencill the Serivener with his pen the Carpenter with his ax the Potter with his clay so we accuse those that malice and slander us as authours of our evills but we are infinitely deceived it is not the pencill but the Painter the pen but the Scrivener who are the authours of the writing or picture Job was in this respect of a better opinion when he said The hand of our Lord had touched him It was neither the Caldeans nor the Sabeans nor any other enemy whatsoever but the hand of God that hath overthrown me Sect. V. HAve we any doubt of this It is the testimony of the wise man Good things and evill life and death poverty and honesty come from God This the Prophet Micheas clearly confirms where he saith That evill is descended from the Lord into the gate of Hierusalem And that he might make them more cautelous whom he admonished Behold quoth he I purpose evill upon this family The like affirmeth the Prophet Amos And where finally shall there be evill which our Lord hath not done And that we may exactly acknowledge all these evills of punishment and innumerable kindes of affliction to come from the Divine will of God let us call to remembrance he woften he hath by little contemptible creatures discomfited his enemies in far more glorious manner then he could with great puissant armies Thus Almighty God is wont to suppresse humane pride thus he sends poor abject worms mice bats flies lice and such like sordid creatures to vanquish not the scum or dregs of the people but to triumph over Kings Princes Emperours Thus he draws forth as it were whole armies of gnats flies frogs wasps and locusts and with these troops overthrows whole nations and countreys The Book of Wisdom declareth Thou hast sent wasps fore-runners of thine hoste that by little and little they might destroy them The Book of Kings witnesseth 〈◊〉 â—uch And the towns and fields 〈…〉 forth in the midst of that countâ—â—â— and there came forth mice and there was confusion of great death in the city Genebrard relateth of a King who for poisoning of his nephews committed to his charge was together with his wife devoured by mice Conies undermined a city in Spain and moles a city in Macedonia as Plinie witnesseth When Sapor King of the Persians a man greedily thirsting after the bloud of Christians belieged the city of Nisibis James Nisibita their Bishop brought down upon them by his prayers not an army of souldiers but of flies and gnats from heaven These little creatures more powerfully then the vast army of Xerâ—es impugned the enemy for when the horses and elephants felt themselves continually stung and vexed by those little vermins in their ears snowâ—â— and nostrils they became mad aâ—d furious brake their bridles and ran headlong away insomuch that the King knowing not what to do nor â—â—ither to turn him left all and withdraw himself from the enterprise The lâ—ke successe had Charles king of Sicilie and Puilip king of France when they tooke Gerunda a City in Spain where the outrage impiety of the souldiers spared neither Churches nor Sepulchres c. But when they broke up the tombe of St. Narcissus a huge swarm of flies issued out of it and made such a slaughter amongst
that I shall never digest him O that I were but rid of this fellow O that I might once liquour my shoes with thâ—s knaves bloud whatsoever it cost me I can never be at quiet as long as this villain is in my sight O most impious speeches fetcht from hell and thither to be sent again Thus foolishly we abscribe to our adversaries the disquiet of our minds A soul errour against which that golden Oratour discourseth Suppose saith he we had a body of Adamant albeit we were shot at on all sides with innumerable shafts we should never be wounded seeing wounds proceed not from the hand that shooteth but from the passibility of the body upon which they are inflicted So in like case injuries and contumelies take their being not from the insolency of those lewd fellows that offer them but from the weaknesse and imbecillity of those that suffer them If we had the true Art of Philosophy we should never be sensible of any injury or take it in ill part For example Doth a man offer thee an injury If thou resent it not it never grieves thee neither hast thou sustained any injury but rather strucken him then received a stroke Why therefore do we accuse our enemies and those that maligne us as if they were the cause of all our miseries The fault is of our side whensoever we are hurt we hurt ourselves Most true is that saying of the Church No adversity shall ever hurt us if no iniquity have dominion over us But what marvell if there be in our minde so little quietnesse seeing there is in it so little temper of our tongue or patience In suffering we are in every respect untractable we can neither digest that with silence which is displeasing nor with patience what is contrary to our disposition and yet we lay all the fault upon our adversary we should be more holy say we were it not for him O ridiculous men Were it not our own fault the wickednesse of our adversaries would be so far from making us worse that it would render us much better and honester men Thy perdition O Israel is from thy self not from thine enemies impute thine impatience to thy self and noâ— to them And who is there that can molest or hurt us if we be followers of good This is a remarkable speech of Saint Chrysostome No man is hurt but by himself It was in the power of Decius Aurelianus Nero Domician Dioclesiâ—n to kill and slaughter those couragious Champions St. Vincent Sebastian George Mauritius Tibuâ—â—ius but not to hurt them which surely they had done could they have taken from them their celestiall crowns Well might Valerianus torture St. Laurence upon a gridiron but not bereave him of Christ or the kingdom of heaven Well might the Arian fury persecute Athanasius both by sea and land but not hurt or endammage him whose vertue iâ— amplified and illustrated It was a learned saying of Origen Orig hom 25 in lib. Num. All things are so ordained that nothing in the fight of God although it be evill is idle or in vain There is no evill wrought by God but when it is contrived by others albeit he might hinder it he doth not but concurs with those that invented it to make some necessary use thereof Thus God is no Authour of sin but of all punishment whatsoever neither is it his will to harm or prejudice but for our greater good to correct and reform us Sect. IX COnsider here I beseech you what Aman did to Mardocheus Aman insolent through the favour of his Prince stately and magnificent touching in his own conceit the very stars with his head All the servants of the King bended their knees and adored Aman for so the Emperour had given them in charge He like a cock upon his own dunghill swayed all and would be adored of Mardocheus as he was by others Vail bonnet Jew quoth he bend thy knees kisse thy hand adore Aman. It went hard with Mardocheus to have this exacted of him which according to the Religion he professed he could not with a good conscience perform Whether it were that Aman had the pictures and figures of the gods upon his garments as some men think or that this adoration were to be exhibited to him as to a god it is not certainly known sure it is this adoration seemed not due to a man Mardocheus therefore sincerely appealing to God said Lord Lord King omnipotent for in thy dominion are all things and there is none that can resist thy will if thou determine to save Israel Thou madest heaven and earth and whatsoever is contained within the compasse of heaven Thou art Lord of all nor is there any that can resist thy Majestie Thou understandest all things and knowest I have not out of pride or contumely oâ— any desire of glory refused to adore proud Aman for gladly would I be ready for the salvation of Israel to kisse even the steps of his feet but I feared lest I should transferre the honour of my God to a man By this example we are instructed to comply even with the most wicked in all manner of courtesy benevolence and observance to exhibit unto them unfainedly all obedience and reverence and by this meanes not only to honour them all that we may but likewise to be ready to fall down before them and kisse their feet we must reforme such like odious speeches and cogitations this is my enemy a man full of spleen and rancour a detractour an envious person I cannot choose but hate him he is not worthy to be seene or somuch as thought off haveing nothing in him but wickednesse and mischiefe I will have nothing to do with hâ—m I know him well enough and he me loft and faire whosoever thou art be not so passionate the master in the Schoole of Patience hath subjected thee to this man and committed thee to his charge what just cause I pray have you heere to complaine If you be wise you will rather say I am ready with all my heart to kisse the very ground where he treads And this the more readily for that God can with much facility cause an alteration and appoint Mardocheus usher over Aman so that he may say with good authority recite Aman recite Consider these wondrous changes Aman a neere favorite of the kings abounding in wealth boasting his populous family his multitude of children the prosperity of fortune the kings especiall favours and the esteem even of a God upon earth This Aman I say is by the king suddenly adjudged to be hanged on a gibbet while Mardocheus a little before condemned to the same death was in all haste cloathed in princely garments set upon a horse sutable to that state crowned and led through the principall street Aman going before him in the condition of a servant and proclaming this is the honour given to every man whom the king is pleased to dignifie O my God! what a suddaine
that may befall him whatsoever comes to passe he saies I knew and foresaw this before hand all events therefore are to be thought of and our mind prepared and fortified against all that may happen Thinke on exiles torments wars shipwracks diseases Set before your eies the whole state of humane condition let us anticipate and foresee if we desire not to be oppressed on the suddain or daunted at any thing as strange and unusuall not only what doth often but even what for the most part may happen unto us It is the mind that makes a mans life either happy or miserable An evil man converts all into evill even those enterprises which at first were most hopefull an upright and sincere man corrects sinister fortune qualifies sharpe and disastrous accidents by a moderate and skilfull bearing them Choose therefore whether thou wilt take thy observation from others or thy selfe without partiality and thou shalt both find confesse that nothing how deare soever and desired by â—s iâ— any way profitable unlesse we arme our selves as well against the uncertainty of casualties as the circumstances and events that may ensue thereby yea unlesse we often and that without repining or complaint accustome our selves to say in all damages and losses whatsoever Deo aliter visum est It hath pleased God to dispose otherwise To a minde thus composed nothing shall fall out amisse and so surely it may be composed if it consider but before hand how far the various successe of things in this world may extend it selfe If he dispose himselfe to enjoy wife children and his whole patrimony not as if he had a perpetuity thereof but with this resolution not to repute himselfe any whit the more miserable should he be deprived of them Plutarch reports that Ulisses after he had spent twenty yeares in warfare returned to his country and sitting with his wife Penelope while she wept and was drowned in teares he shed none himselfe nor was sensible of any passion so well was his minde established before hand and fortified against her teares but when he saw his dog was dead he could not forbeare weeping It was certainly this sudain and unexpected chance that caused those teares He therefore that would not grieve in adversity let him foresee it Sect. II. BUt we many times are so unconsiderate improvident that we forget where we are or whither we go we woÌ„der think much to lose any thing whereas we shall one day lose all So ill prepared are we that we even tremble at the least alteration This therefore we must endevour that nothing befall us unlooked for and for somuch as all things seem the greater by reason of their novelty by this daily consideration we shall in short time be no strangers to any mischiefe that may happen nor wonder at those chances whereunto we are all indifferently borne we suffer nothing but what all mankind is liable to This may I well avouch seeing whatsoever a man escapes might have befallen him And not only the law which is executed upon all but also that which is made alike for all may be said to be indifferent to all Let us be indued with equanimity and without complaint yeeld all duties to mortality when winter comes we must be cold when summer hot when unseasonable and unwholesome weather impaires health we must be sicke Here we are set upon by one beast there by another yea even by man himselfe the most pernicious of all beasts Here we see one burnt there another drowned The course of these things is not in our power to helpe or alter thus much only we may do make a firme resolution to beare these accidents stoutly and couragiously We must addresse and compose our minds to this necessity of suffering we must follow and obey and suppose all that is done ought necessarily to be Except sin done Your best way is to suffer what you can not mend nor change and without murmuring walke along with God from whose ordinance all things proceed He is an ill souldier who followes his Captain sighing and groaning Let us therefore follow our God cheerefully and couragiously speaking thus unto him O my Father lead me whither thou wilt behold without the least shrinking or delay I present my self vouchsafe deare Lord to draw also my rebellious will unto thee even whether it will or no. Thus let us speak thus let us live let no calamity find us unprepared This caused the wise man to bid us not to be unmindfull of adversity in prosperity nor of prosperity in adversity when thou flowest in riches think of poverty the pinching necessity thereof even amidst thy wealth From morning to evening the time shall be changed and all these things are summoned in the sight of God Art thou a Lord a governour It may come to thy turn to serve Hast thou wealth at will For all this thou maiest come to beg Art thou strong and healthy One only feaver or a far lesse matter may cost thee thy life Hast thou children In one day thou maiest lose them all Hast thou friends One howre nay one moment may deprive thee both of them and all things else Prepare then thy minde to these temptations that when death shall take away thy children or friends thou maiest say with that Spartan woman I knew they were mortall whom I had brought forth when thy money shal be wasted I knew it would not alwaies be mine the use thereof was only mine when thine honour vanisheth I was well assured no honour was eternall in this world You shall find some will cast up a world of present businesses and affairs as a bulwarke between them and future considerations These whilest they do little or nothing would have you thinke they worke wonders If you perswade them to retirement and spirituall recollection their answer is I am not at leasure If to heare a sermon I am not at leasure If to confesse their sins I am not at leasures If to set before their eies the dreadfull judgements of God I am not at leasure If to think of hell fire which is everlasting here I have no time for it If to contemplate heavenly joyes now my occasions will not suffer me If to provide for death I was never lesse at leasure in all my life And for my part I thinke they will scarce be at leasure to do it when they die Thus miserable wretches they have no regard at all of future things So that most men in this world put forth to sea and never so muâ—h as dreame of a tempest But when a suddain thunder-bolt falls upon them an unexpected calamity oppresseth them then shall you see them pitifully daunted diffident and distrustfull of all helps and uncapable of any consolation This my deare hearts this mischiefe you should have foreseen before and then you should have been lesse damnified thereby Sect. III. THey say if a wolfe chance to see a man first he strikes him
I will here in as briefe a manner as I can confirme it seeing it is so necessary for the instruction of patience but will not make any repetition of that which hath beene said before No will either of men or Angels could ever be termed good or well directed unlesse it were correspondent and conformed to the will of God And the more fully and sincerely it is resigned the more perfect and better it is And consequently the lesse absolute and resigned the will is the more unstable and unperfect The will of God alone is the square and rule of all wills both in heaven and earth There is no will praise-worthy which is not conformed to the will of God That most blessed King David often commendeth those that are of an upright heart Shew saith he thy mercy to them that know thee and thy justice to those that are upright of heart This Saint Augustine a most learned interpreter explicateth in this manner They sayth he are upright of heart who in this life follow the will of God It is the will of God thou shouldest sometimes be sicke sometimes well If when thou art in health the will of God be sweet and pleasing unto thee and if sicke harsh and distastefull thou art not upright of heart why because thou wilt not square and direct thy will to the will of God but rather seekest to pervert and wrest the will of God to thine His will is straight thine crooked Thou must rectifie thy will according to his not wrest his to thine and thus doing thou shalt have an upright heart Doe al things succeed according to thy hearts desire Blesse God who comforts thee Sufferest thou in this world Blesse God who corrects and tries thee And by this means thou shalt be upright of heart saying I will blesse God in all times for he only is thought to have an upright heart who wills alwaies that which God wills This one document in this respect goes beyond all other precepts this is the summe and principall effect of all admonitions the abstract and epitome of holy Scripture the compendium of all vertues the chiefest solace in whatsoever griefes the highest pitch of divine love the only thing that intitles the disciples of the crosse to Paradise and advanceth men to the seats of Angels This one lesson namely for man to conforme his will to Gods will is all in all and before all to be learned of all men For whosoever hath learned this alone in the Schoole of Patience may in a manner give up schoole and of a scholar become a master and teacher of others This certainly King David might by good right chalenge to himself before all others being a man so well acquainted with the will of God of which divine knowledge he gave many most remarkable proofes but then chiefly when flying from his son Absolon he willed the Priests to return with the arke and said If I shall find favour in the eies of my Lord he will bring me backe and shew it me againe and his tabernacle but if he shall say to me thou pleasest me not I am ready prepared let him do what seemeth good to himself Behold here King David who even in a flight so full of danger and difficulty put to his utmost plunges when his whole kingdome seemed to lie at stake was undaunted and so much himself that attending resolutely to the will of God alone yea and to the least signe thereof he willed only that which God willed Is it the will of God I should return It is my will also Would he not have me return I will not go backe Let my Lord do what seemes good in his own sight I am prepared Sect. II. O Christians if we could but once sufficiently apprehend this if we would but deepely imprint it in our minds the whole matter were absolutely effected calamity perhaps might touch us but from thence forward should never hurt us nor affliction oppresse us nor mortall man be able to annoy us we should stand invincible impregnable fortified only with the will of God our goods perhaps our money our health our fame might go to wracke But we should stand Cities and Kingdoms might fall to ruine But we should stand Atlas and all the world with him might fall to destruction But we should stand The heavens themselves might be dissolved But we should stand immoveable as long as this conformity of our will with Gods should stand in us This most evidently appeared in Christ at mount Olivet the day before his passion For after he had wholly resigned his will to his Fathers he forthwith made towards his enemies as an innocent lambe goes towards the butcher to be slaughtered before he made this prayer he was all appaled pusillanimous and troubled at the approach of so horrible a death but after when he had absolutely conformed his will to the will of his Father Arise quoth he come let us go and throw our selves into the armes of our enemy and receive his kisses This prompt resignation and conformity with the will of God makes a man undertake all he is thereby so strong and mighty he performs all so stout and couragious he vanquishes all enemies so invincible and inexpugnable he gets the upper hand and overcomes whatsoever hee encounters And therefore the more devoted and ready a man is to accomplish the will of God the more powerfull and able he is to do or suffer whatsoever he undertakes There is no calamity no griefe can draw other words from him then these As it hath pleased our Lord so is it come to passe so let it come to passe for from him is my patience which Saint Augustine excellently well expresseth saying what patience could ever hold out so many scandalls were it not for hope of that which as yet we see not but expect with patience My pains and griefes now approach my rest and quietnesse are likewise at hand my tribulation now assailes me and the time will come ere long I shall be clearly purged from it would you have gold bright and pure before it comes out of the gold-smiths forge content your self you shall shortly see it shine in a jewel or golden carcanet let it a Gods name passe the forge that when it is purified it may come to light In the forge there is fuell gold and fire which the gold-smith blows the coles burn in the forge the gold is purged the one is turned to ashes the other tried and refined This world is a forge or furnace wicked men are fuell just men the gold tribulation the fire and God the Gold-smith Wherefore as the Gold-smith pleaseth to dispose of me I am content my part is to suffer and his to purifie let the fuell burn till it even melt and seem to consume me when it is burnt to ashes I shall be purged and refined and why because my soul shall be subjected unto God Behold an intire and perfect concordance of the
pleased him from all eternity so hath it succeeded so shall it hence forward succeed Not so much as one jot or one tittle hath passed nor shall passe in time to come till all be performed according to this Idea of God The sacred will of God shall stand most steadfast and inviolable And tell me I pray thee what availed it thee then to vex grieve and perplex thy selfe in vain and to trouble others so much What wilt thou get now by tossing or turmoiling Let me perswade thee not to stumble again at the same stone put on a mind of resignation submit thy selfe freely and entirely to the will of God mount up into this Chariot of Gods providence feare nothing it is impossible to miscarry without Gods will and permission the least thought the least finger the poorest more in the world is not able to stir against thee And as well for what is past as for what is to come let my perswasion take place Consider I beseech thee what small interest thy will or power hath in any of them So little that thou canst seldome foresee what will happen hereafter Tell me what kinde of Summer shall we have next yeare If a dry and barren one dearth plague and famine will ensue What then will it avail thee to foresee or grieve at this The like may be said of all things else In very deed thou canst neither obtaine what is good nor foresee or shunne what is evill unlesse it be the will of God refigne therefore thy will to his It is in vaine to vex and trouble thy selfe to strive or strugle it is lost labour to plot or build unlesse the will of God concurre thereunto Thou shalt not prevaile thou shalt not profit unlesse thou will that which God willes Be sure therefore to performe this submit thy selfe in all things to the will and pleasure of God And I most earnestly crave this one thing that thou wouldest every day serioufly weigh and consider in thy minde as most certain That God from all eternity hath prepared for thee this crosse and determined to lay it upon thee together with all the circumstances of place time and persons and that he hath according to his infinite wisedome and goodnesse squared and proportioned it agreeable to thy forces It remains now only that thou shouldest be willing to make benefite thereby and this assuredly will be very great if thou wilt but resigne and accommodate thy will to Gods will Wherefore upon every such occasion discourse thus This doubtlesse comes from God and therefore is for the best This injury this disease this poverty this trouble or misery is directly from God and therefore can import no evill unto me unlesse my will dissent from Gods will But take heed thou never utter such kinde of words as these Were it but this or that crosse it would never grieve me A poore and idle complaint This crosse or that crosse how terrible soever unto thee embrace and for this cause onely that it is the will of God to exercise thee with this and that and with no other See therefore thy will be one and the same with Gods or if thou wilt follow thy owne be sure to perish Sect. VII AS for that pernicious Serpents Why as why doth God oftentimes shew himselfe so benigne to those that are estranged from him and for the most part so severe to his servants c. We must exactly know this that it is the most just and upright wâ—ll of God by adversity questionlesse many thousands of men are corrected reformed but scarcely any one by prosperity Felicity is the step-mother of vertue she flatters her favourites that she may have the more advantage to hurt them There are some that seeme happy to themselves but t is only in their owne opinion which being false ad â— little to their felicity but much to their misery For to be ignorant of a mans owne misery is the height of infelicity Pompey the great deemed himselfe happy But if we seriously consider the matter he was never so indeed no noâ— even then when he was in a flourishing estate esteemed most happy His end made proofe thereof being forced to yeeld up his head and life to the executioners sword Policrates King of the Samites was thought in his time the very darling of Fortune he had never any adversitie in his life heavens sea and land all favoured him All his enterprises had a facile and happy successe whatsoever he hoped for he reaped the fruit thereof it was no more but wish and have his will and power were all one Fortune but once frowned upon Policrates when he had a short pang of griefe and forsooth to appease the Goddesse Nemesis lest he of all men should be said to be altogether exempt from misfortunes he threw a ring of great value and much esteemed by him into the sea Neverthelesse this he soon after recovered it being found in the belly of a Fish which had devoured it Notwithstanding at length he ended all his felicity upon a high crosse whereon he was put to death For by Orontes one of the Noble men belonging to King Darius he was fastened upon a crosse on the top of mount Mycalis where he was made a miserable but an eminent spectacle of false and deceitfull felicity But these saist thou are prophane stories Behold then Aman tottering aloft in the aire neer allied to Policrates enshrined in a monument not much unlike and altogether as high Aman had long abounded in wealth was most hâ—ppy in a wife and a flourishing off spring friends he had many and King Ahashuerus himselfe the principall Aman had all the world at will But what I pray you The Epilogue of all this so great felicity was knit up on a gibbet This was the fabrick which Aman had built for himselfe whether he would or no So the corn falls with too much ranknesse So the boughes of trees over-burdened with fruit are broken So the greatest calm at sea foreshews the fiercest storm The same may be said of mens lives and manners Mens mindes with wealth ease and daintie fare run riot The Moon ever waneth when she is come once to the full and the further from the Sun the fuller she iâ— the more you feed and pamper your horse the lesse tractable will he be to his rider So man for the most part the more he is in prosperity the further he is from his God Hence was it that God in times past complained of his people I satiated them and they became adulterers They were pampered and fattened and foully transgressed my words Where felicity reignes there vertue commonly is exiled Saint Ambrose Bishop of Millan as Paulinus recounteth visited a certaine rich man upon the way as he travelled who when he had entertained and refreshed him as well with pleasant discourse as good cheere he made a long relation of his owne course of life alledging that he had never had
lion or some such like beast hunted in the chace or baited at a stake so my God solaceth himselfe to see me no better then a beast pelted with soft flakes of snow which cannot hurt but somewhat efflict and perplex me It was the will of God and his providence that this should fall upon me let us likewise will that which God wills and rejoyce when he extends his favour towards us although he please to put upon us a sharper triall then ordinary This is true magnanimity indeed and the only way to mitigate adversity by resigning thus our wills to the will of God with a true conformity and perfect resignation without the least contradiction But to this Duke of Gandia I will ad the most renowned Princesse Lady Magdalena Neoburgica that the examples the newer they be may the more effectually move us This Princesse worthy of all praise and happy memory whom I purpose elsewhere to commend more at large was sister to Maximilian that most famous Electour and wife to William Neoburgicus the most honorable Duke of Wolfangium she died in the yeare 1628. upon the five and twenty day of September This most choice and singular Lady I say constantly exercised herselfe in all vertuous actions but above all her principall endeavour was most exactly to joyne her will with Gods will All adverse chances whereof many happened daily she cheerfully accepted from the hand of God as speciall favours she was invincible in suffering couragiously all sinister actions whatsoever for Gods sake In which Art by continuall practise she had at last so inured her minde that in the foure last years of her life wherein she happily endevoured to attaine to perfection in this vertue it was oftentimes found in a little note-boke of hers that she conformed her will with Gods more then an hundred times in a day Questionlesse to live according to the will of God is a true life indeed and death to live otherwise whereof Saint Augustine speaks most elegantly Aug. tom iosorm de verb. Apost c. rca med saying That certain Philosophers of the Epicures who lived according to the flesh and certain of the Stoicks who lived according to the soul and spirit contended with Saint Paul the Apostle who lived according to God The Epicure said My chiefest good is to injoy the flesh The Stoick Mine to enjoy my spirit and soul The Apostle said But my chiefest good is to adhere to God The Epicure erres the Stoick is deceived the Christian who adheres to God and the divine will can neither erre nor be deceived For then the soul may be said to live well when it neither liveth according to the flâ—sh nor according to it self but according to the will of God For as the soul is the life of the flesh so is God the life of the soul Sect. VIII WHy then should we not freely imbrace this one onely will of God being most assuredly the best and the holiest Why should we not rather conform our selves to it of our own accord then be drawn to it whether we will or no Why do we not so firmly and absolutely resolve to accommodate our will to his that we may do or suffer whatsoever is his holy will and pleasure Finally that man is the true scholar of patience and truly patient indeed who in all his sufferings repeats this one saying I will onely the will of God God knows what is expedient both publikely and privately for his glory and our salvation But for so much as I am ignorant of this What can I justly fear or hope for what can I more piously rejoyce or grieve for then for thy will my God and the most holy decrees thereof Let whatsoever happen let heaven and earth go together let all be turned upside down let all the world be troubled and confounded nothing happens I am well assured not so much as the least hair from my head the least sand or stone can fall from a mountain without thy providence I have no reason then to complain of any thing or any man in this world Thy will be done my God yea even my will since I have so often transformed it into thine Here let me intreat thee gentle Reader to read or if thou hast already to read over again what I have set down in my Book intituled Heliotropium especially that which I have briefly summoned up in the last Chapter of the fifth Book as likewise that which I deliver in my Aeternitatis prodroâ—o the second Chapter Sect. 28. and in the third Chapter Sect. 47. and 49. where I have carefully set forth this conformity of mans will with Gods Moreover I teach in the fift booke of my Heliotropium the third Chapter by what meanes we should in adversity elevate our mindes to God and with firme and assured confidence establish it in him all which might seem superfluous here to repeate againe But to conclude this matter in a word If you do not either apprehend this doctrine O Christians or which I feare more truely may be said you will not conceive it you doe but vainely trifle out your time in the Schoole of Patience you will alwaies fall short of him you undertake to imitate you doe nothing your profit will be none at all alwaies learning and never arriving to the knowledge of that verity you seeke to learne Conforme then to speake in plaine termes resigne I say your will to Gods will or else you shall be shut forth of this schoole as non-proficients and indocible scholars without any hope for the time But if you once possesse your selves perfectly of this document you shall be for ever happy even amongst the greatest afflictions They are the words of the eternall truth If any one be willing to performe my will let him know and understand my doctrine For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven he is my brother my sister and my mother THE EPILOGVE Or Recapitulation of all that hath beene said WHAT I have said of the conformity of mans will to the will of God especially in adversity S. Augustine most evidently confirms where he discourseth concerning the tolerating of wicked men saying Become milde therefore and patient as thou doest when thou understandest that the reason why evil men flourish is because God will have it so It is his will to spare wicked persons but those whom he purposeth to reform he reduceth to repentance the other are never reform'd nor so much as corrected He knowes well hereafter how to judge them But that man is not milde nor patient who will contradict the goodnesse of of our Lord his patience his power or the justice of the judge Who then are called the upright of heart Mary they who will that which God wills God spareth sinners thou wouldest have him destroy them Thou hast therefore a crooked heart a depraved will seeing thou wouldest one thing and God another It is Gods will to