allow of such pictures but they al much detested these impure allurements of their eyes Aristotle in his Politicks saith thus Lib. 7. Polit. c. 17. And seeing we forbid men to vtter any dishonest word it is most apparant we also prohibit them the view of al pictures and actions that are dishonest Let this therefore be the care of Magistrates that no picture or statua be made to represent such lasciuious things But o my good Aristotle thou art long since reiected thy moral Philosophy banished we haue entertained other customes If at this very day o my Philosopher thou wert permitted to suruey the houses of Christians and behold the painted tables in them thou wouldest conclude that diuers of them had said aside al modesty Verily Hereticks are now growne so impudent that they haue cast forth of their chambers and galleries the picture of Christ crucifyed and hang vpon the wals of their dining-parlours their Faunes and painted Cupids their Venuses and Lady-Fortâ—…es that they may dine and suppe with their sensualities But in the Churches themselues are the pictures of Christ oâ— his Saints in more safety no Mr. Caluins mild Spirit hath cast them likewise out from thence Seldome shal you see any lasciuious pictures pulled downe they need not feare their expulsion out of this or that place seeing they haue larger roomes elswhere to entertaine them But the conflict of that most chast Catharine the triumphes of that sincere Vrsula the victory of that most modest Agnes the depainted torments of so many thousand couragious Martyrs are ytterly coÌ„temned cast out of doores Contrarywise those Goddesses that professed al maÌ„ner of impudeÌ„cy are raked out of hel their pictures exposed to open view that there may be giuen occasion of sinne to al that are willing to perish It is most abhominable to be spoken that such hellish monsters are esteemed by Christians the pictures of our Sauiour of the Blessed Mother of God and other Saints as if they sauoured of some kind of idolatry banished from euery corner of mens houses Most absurd it is that the picture of the most Blessed Virgin Mary may not be tolerated in any part of their houses and yet the image of that filthy harlot Venus haue the honour to be hung vp in an eminent plate §. II. There was one of the Sodality of our Blessed Lady at Ingolstadt who had a singular guift in abolishing this mischief He found dispersed through the citty by some kind of brokers certaine wanton pictures impudent in themselues and daÌ„gerous to each modest eye that beheld them Whereupon determining to destroy them he bought and burnt them al lest their sight might burne others protesting he neuer lost with lesse detriment or bought any thing with more gaine O excellent act and sutable to the lawes of modesty Let that man teare and burne these pictures that wil not haue his mind torne inflamed and burnt with venery Belieue me such pictures are often farre worse then impure discourses A word once spoken is gone mens words are but wind and vanish away it is a mans writing the remaineth extant dishonesty painted continueth from one mans eye insinuateth itself into another another Wanton pictures are the altars of the diuel vpon which our eyes our thoughts and hart offer sacrifice to this Prince of darknesse There is fearce any one that can conceaue the hurt procured by these pictures both to their authour spectatours A famous printer of late deliuered me a Catalogue of such painters and engrauers as hauing artificially yet immodestly painted or engraued became distracted out of their wits or taken away by vntimely death so ended shamefully their liues Thus no man you see without punishmeÌ„t maketh or beholdeth these prouocations â—o lust Farre of therefore be from vs those infamous labours of Aristides or Pausantas aâ— also those of Nicophanes called by Antiquity the whooâ—ish painters who discouered their corrupt affections in their pictures Fye vpon this Art that selleth itself to mens eyes to robbe them of their honesty EDESIMVS The painters my PARTHENIVS are nothing beholding to you for pleading their cause PARTHENIVS Yea but they are much obliged those I meane whose colours serue to expresse their art and not teach men to be lasciuious EDESIMVS I was of your opinion before you began this discourse of immodest pictures I thinke there is not any one so vtterly void of shame but wil be constrained to confesse that such pictures as these are very great enticers to lust And as for my self belieue me if I find any thing immodestly painted either in my study amongst my bookes or other houshold-stuffe instantly it goes to the fire PARTHENIVS So we ought to doe it is better a picture or a paper burne then our soule EDESIMVS But let vs goe forward to discourse of wandring eyes THE FIFTH ALLVREMENT to Incontinency wandring eyes CHAP. VII PARTHENIVS Amongst the blandishments of lust I haue put wandring eyes I wil repeat my verse Otia mensa libri vaga lumina This mischief of lust creepes not through one onely doore into a mans mind often it ascendeth by those open gates of his eares but oftner and more peniciously by the double casements of his eyes We want no testimony for this by our owne harmes we are too wel experienced heerin Vnwary eyes precipitated that holy prophet Dauid into two most enormious crimes He saw and was set on fire onely by beholding a woman in a bath he became both an adulterer and an homicide 2. Reg. 11.2 Therefore Iob being wary and feareful of this precipice saith Iob. 31.1 I haue made a couenant with mine eyes that I I would not so much as thinke of a Virgin For what part should God from aboue haue in me and what wheritance the Omnipotent from on high He did very wel in making a couenant with his eyes Whosoeuer meaneth to maintaine his chastity must bargaine with them Vnlesse our eyes be bound vnder a certaine law or couenant we can neuer haue so firme a purpose of chastity but it may by deceipt or allurements or at least through negligence and leuity be quite ouerthrowne It is the saying of S. Ephrem Tom. 2. tract de Humil. A broken canduâ—i loseth its waters and wandring eyes destroy a chast mind Heerupon Christ to suppresse the wantonnesse of our eyes made this seuere law Matth. 5.28 who shal see a woman to couet her hath already committed adultery with her in his bart By Moyses saith S. Gregory In Iob. c. 32. the act only of luxury but by the authour of purity Christ euen our disordinate thoughts are condemned Heerupon were so many admonitions so many precepts giuen to our eyes looke not vpon a woman and behold not a virgin c. turne away thy face from a trimmed woman c. Heer hence was that no lesse prudent then seuere punishment which Solomns lawgiuer of the Lâ—creâ—se inflicted that an
too stedfastly beheld a certaine woman Straight way so soone as he reflected on what he had done he was so much ashamed of his curiosity and so incensed to take speedy reuenge of himself that without any further deliberation in a great frost he leaped into a poole of extreame cold water where he stood plunged vp to the very neck til growing pale he was almost frozen and by this meanes extinguished al heate of concupiscence Thou hast heere my Nicetas a most holy imâ—…touâ— of thy noble act Though be sought not with this bloudy morsel notwithstanding he gloriously triumphed ouer his lust and for one only cast of his eyes punished al the members of his body couragiously vaÌ„quishing himself got the victory This is to teach our eyes how they ought to preuent dangers which happen by gazing on alluring beauty But let vs descend from the eyes to the mouth THE SIXTH ALLVREMENT to Incontinency Lasciuious and dishonest wordes CHAP. VIII BE not seduced euil discourse corrupteth good manners 1. Cor. 15.33 Ah how many yong men haue been debaushed by this pestilence Who perhaps tooke in at their eares that venom which they eschewed with their eyes And as there is liâ—le difference in what part of the body thou receauest a wound If it be mortal so it imports not much if thou perish whether thou perish by the eyes or the eares The Aegyptians being to sacrifice to Harpocrates were wont to cry Lingua fortuna Lingâ—… Damâ—… Pro. 18.21 The tongue good fortune The tongue a diuel Life and death are indifferently in the power of the tongue And for the most part there sittes vpon it either an angel or a diuel A lasciuious tongue is an open sepulcher ful of filthy odious smels Psal 13. â— Their throate is an open sepuleher S. Chrisostome heere maruelleth that seeing dead carcasses are buryed and lest their putrefaction should annoy vs the deeper layd in the ground yet putrified lasciuious and filthy wordes are daily vomited out of mens breasts and often in the hearing of many vttered with intent they may perniciously creep further abroad An vncleane mouch is an open and stinking sepulcher O my God how infinite are these in euery place Doe but looke into the world EDESIMVS suruey the corners of each house you shal for the most part euerywhere find shamelesse tongues such as not only instil idle but euen powre out foule and obscene speeches into modest mens eares These snakes are hissing euery where euery where shal you heare speeches that an honest man would be ashamed of Hieremy in times past complained thus I attended saith he Hier. â— â— and hearkned 〈◊〉 man speaketh that which is good Euen such is this our Age. So that if a man had no other cause absolutely to forsake this vncleane world this alone would be sufficient that he might auoid the hearing of so many dishonest and shamelesse discourses Modest speech hath long since been bannished out of cittyes nay hardly in it safe within the walles of religious houses Although I thinke in these places there are neuer such like heard which goe vnpunished But amongst lay persons there is as much ribauldry as liberty as much impurity as licentious impunity You shal hardly find a man in any place who either with a modest sigh or with any the least seuere aspect wil vouchsafe to rebuke these fordid kind of speeches §. I. EDESIMVS O my PARTHENIVS thou canst neuer mould this world into new manners These wanton lasciuious wordes beget not sighes and teares but laughter applause PARTHENIVS This is that I grieue at and complaine of Prou. 2.14 they are glad when they haue done euil and reioice in the height of wickednesse S. Augustine grieuously condemneth this in himself and his companions Lib. 2. conf c. 3. 9. They vrged one another with mutual exhortations Let vs goe and doe it and it is a shame for vs not to be shamelesse The scripture of it selfe otherwise very sparing of wordes for the chastisment of wanton speech displayeth al its eloquence The tongue saith the holy writ Iac. 3.6 is placed amongst our other members which defileth the whole body inflameth the wheele of our natiuity inflamed by hel Foâ—le dishonest wordes are the sulphureous torches sent from hel which prouoke sometimes to impure fires euen the minds which are most modest chast That mellifluous writer S. Bernard saith Serm. de 7. spirit As there are tongue-lesse and dumbe diuels so there are other eloquent and talkatiue Amongst these the standard-bearer is the lasciuious deuil whose office is to sprinkle meÌ„s discourses with ribaldry and euerywhere to mingle impudent iests William Perald Bishop of Lyons a man excellently learned and holy very rightly calleth such like speeches the diuels spittings Serm. in cant 24. Verily the name is aptly accommodated Al these obscene wordes are nothing els but the vomittings and spitting of diuels and a foule speaker is no otherwise imployed then to make his mouth a kennel for Satan out of which how canst thou hope for anything either good or modest A licentious obscene mouth is the nursery of al impudency which redoundeth not onely to the domage of the speaker but infecteth also with a durty contagion those that heare it and by litle litle banisheth al shame There is but one saith S. Bernard Ser. 24. in cant that speaketh and vttereth but one only word and yet that one word in a moment corrupteth tâ—e eares of many hearers and killeth their foules But perhaps thou wilt giue no eare to any Peralds or Bernards I will propound vnto thee another whom it were wickednesse to contradict S. Paul thus seuerely commandeth vs Ad Ephes 4.29 Al naughty speech let it not proceed out of your mouth And that thou mayest know what he doth chiefly cal euil speech he saith Ibid. c. 5. vers 3. Fornication and al vncleannesse or auarice let it not be so much as named among you as it becometh Saints or filthines or foolish talke or scurrility being to no purpose Obserue Let it not so much as be named among you For as Tully saith very wel Thâ—se that are modest blush euen when they speake of modesty and if we ought to hate the thing it selfe we should haue an auersion from the very name thereof For what we speake we are supposed not without cause both to thinke of and couet Phisicians take the chapping of the lippes to be a signe of a feauer and by dishonest wordes we may giue no smal coniecture of an immodest mind And though al loquacity is an enemy to modesty for it serueth for a conueyance to curiosity which is the charriot of lust notwithstanding that is chiefly which S. Paul calleth vncleannesse or turpitude withal requesteth vs not to contristate the holy Spirit of God A man that hath an impure mouth is so odious to the Blessed inhabitants of heauen
beare If God's why then to God why should st thou feare Yeald what is God's let Cesar haue his due Thy graue thy corps til life againe renew With an immortal robe there let it lie At th' end of time t' expect ETERNITIE Meane while resolue an instant is thy time The rest vncertaine shal a mortal crime Seize on thy soule clowd it with horrid night And banish from th' Immense and Infinit For euer shal a sinne which in a trice Doth passe be purchas'd at so deare a price No be like th' adder which to saue his head Peece-meale his body suffers to be shred His head preseru'd nothing his life can seâ—er So keepe thy soule leâ—… al to liue for eueâ— For euer Oh! content in fâ—…ling foâ—mâ—s Soone dies wind-beaten soule in thiâ— world's stormes Heauens hauen seek O heyse vp sâ—…le maketh â—sâ— Launch forth 't wil be too late one moment paâ—… Thou hast but NOW while winged 〈◊〉 doth fly T'accoast thâ— confines of ETERNITIE O ETERNITIE Who it â—… I wil not say that comprehendes but that goes about to apprehend thee That holy man worthy of immortal â—emoâ—y Godefride Bishop of Bamberg and Wâ—rzburg whom we mentioned before he was the man amongst a thousand he in a manner himself alone seemed to apprehend what was Eternal For being daily mindful heerof he was wont to say Euery moment I stand at the doore of Eternity To this â—nd he had dead mens souls painted engrauen fashioned out in wax digged out of graâ—es and placed in euery chamber where he câ—me that he might be alwaies mindful of death and Eternity which was after to ensue Haue you read a little booke that treates of Eternity Most dreadful yet very true is that which is alleadged there If I wel remember it hath these very wordes Consid 4. s 2. Thinke a thousand thousand cubes that is a thousand millions of yeares which is as much as a thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand thousand times a thousand thousand yeares This is as terrible in thought as easy in pronuntiatioÌ„ Thinke therefore for so many yeares that fire is to be endured but consider that al this time although doubled trembled or a hundred times doubled is without al question not so much as the first step into Eternity After the reuolution of so many yeares Eternity may be said as yet not to haue begun O my EDESIMVS if a liuely apprehension heereof makes vs not mere holy we are beasts we are stones we are meer stupid and insensible stocks There is nothing wil stirre him whom Eternity moues not That immense boundles infinit perpetual Eternity which that alwaies endure and after innumerable Ages neuer be ended As long as God is God so loÌ„g shal the damned dye euermore suruiue Oh immortal death ô mortal life I know not by what name to cal thee life or death If thou art life why dost thou punish more cruelly then death If death why makest thou no end of thy cruelty I wil not cal thee one or other Both life and death participate of good in life there is repose in death a final catastrophe both are comfortable in al miseries but thou hast neither rest nor end What therefore art thou Thou art the extreames of life and death by death thou hast torments without end by life immortality without rest O Eternity of the damned o maine sea of endles acerbities Notwithstanding we cannot accuse God for any cruelty or iniustice inflicting euerlasting punishment euen for one deadly sinne His infinit mercy is not delighted with the torments of the miserable neuertheles in regard he is most iust his wrath is neuer appeased with the punishments of the wicked Most worthily is eternal euil inflicted vpon him who destroyed in himself eternal good They shal suffer euerlasting paines in destruction from the face of our Lord and from the glory of his power 2. Thess 1.9 It is a maxime amongst Lawyers Reprobata prâ—uniâ— non 〈◊〉 â—oluâ—ntem Money not curtant freeth not the debtour Pennance is a paiment fit to discharge sinners debts the valew of thiâ— money continueth as long as the market of our life I his being ended al pennance comes too late and is refused like counterfeit coyne They haue indeed repentance in hel but not true and valid because it is too late and ful of fury and blasphemy Neither ought we to maruel that the damned are alwaies tormented Why the torments in hel are to last eternally They continually blaspheme and persist in sinne and therefore perpetually are punished During life they would not be reformed yea might they haue alwaies liued they would haue stil perseuerd obstinate in sinning Therefore they are now alwaies to be punished and eternally tormented Their desire was to haue liued for euer that they might eueâ— haue sinned wherefore it belongeth to the iustice of that supreme Iudge to punish theâ— eternally who whil st they liued in sâ—…ne resolued stil to perpetrate the like We know what their ordinary sayings were 〈◊〉 this world Come let vs spend the day in drinking we are called to dancing we are inuited to gardens occasion of mirth pastime is giuen vâ— come let vs goe These were their discourses while they liued on earth But what say they now bâ—ing cast into hel their speaches are farre otherwise O Eternity say they the most intolerable amongst al insupportable thingâ— O celestial Eternity thâ—… mightest haue been gained in a short time and with little labour O hellish Eternity purchas'd only by slouth and fordid delights O Eternity most bitter and infâ—…itly deplorable how easily might we â—aue escaped thee if we had often seriously reuolu'd thy torments O Eternity â— thâ—… we might after ninety thousand thousand yeares arriue but to one half of thee O Eternity in the midst of our daily despaire the most to be despaired of O Eternity Eternity O of al torments the most cruel and desperate torment Who can my EDESIMVS who can conceaue this Eternity or sufficiently be astonished thereat For this no sighes no groanes no teares are sufficient al wordes yea euen our deepest cogitations to expresse this are infinitly defectiue To liue eternally o my God! to liue eternally in flames To be eternally depriued of thy sight To be eternally tormented with vnspeakeable paines Ah eternally Alas how extreame is the madnes of men With how fleâ—ting and traÌ„sitory delights â—…e we deluded O how wantonly we daily with this deceitful cup til by degrees in this deadly poison we drinke our owne bane Thâ—… like dranken sorts greedy of pleasures vnmindful of our beatitude forgetful of Eternity we as it were by way of sport plunge our selues into this bottomeles gulfe of al misery into this huge and immense Ocean of Eternity Miserable wretches we ardently thirst after vaine glory gold and venery but those flames those eternal fires alas we neuer thike of Ah there is no man there is no man who
adulterer should haue his eyes pulled out because they are either the leaders or perswaders to adultery Lucian said the eye was the first entrance to loue and according to Plate the eye is the beginning to Philostratus the seate of loue Si nescis oculâ— sunt in amore duces Propert l. 2. Eleg. 15. Know that thine eyes loues pandertare Nazianzen saith that shamelesse and curious eyes being nimble and busy instruments are stil gazing an vnlawful obiects Heerupon was that elegant saying of S. Basil Lib. de vera virginitate Plin. l. 2. c. 105. With our eyes as with incorporeal hands we touch whatsoeuer we are led vnto by our wel §. I. Pliny affirmeth that Naptha a certaine sulphureous kind of bitumeÌ„ hath so great affinity with fire that happening to come nere it suddainely the fire leapes into it the same may we say of those burning torches of our eyes and the fire of concupiscence We must therefore by al possible meanes restraine our eyes from beholding womens beauty for there is a great affinity betweene these fires of our eyes and their faces which they greedily delight to gaze on Beauty saith Tertullian of its owne nature allues to luxury EDESIMVS But a handsome man or a modest woman shal neuer hurt me PARTHENIVS O my EDESIMVS there are many good and very good things but not so for thee not me nor for this man or that Susanna was good and holy but not to the eyes of those Elders that beheld her Everily thinke Bersabee was good and honest but not so to the eyes of Dauid Vertuous and good was that Hebrew Ioseph and yet he set on fire the eyes of his Mistresse The tree of Paradise was good and yet there did our mother Eue lose her eyesight It were the part of a madde man to suffer his eyes to be put out though it were with a golden dagger The beauty of a virgin to a curious beholder is a golden dagger but no lesse is his losse that loseth his eyes thereby then if he lost them otherwise This only sense of seeing is a great step to concopiscence For as Clemeâ—… Alewandâ—…us wisely admonisheth vs whilst our eyes play the wantons our appetites are set on fire Clem. li. 3. Pedag c. 11. Therefore the eye is the first fiery dart of fornication and the sight of a woman burneth vs. To many we must sing this not so elegant as true Virg. 3. Georg. Beware of thy self and thine eyes be watchful ouer thy thoughts a woman touch'd is bird-lime beheld a Basiliske EDESIMVS But in very truth it is a hard matter for the eyes those sparkling orbes of our head to obserue alwayes such seuere lawes Nature hath placed them there as sentinels in the top of a liuing tower that vpon the approch of danger they might forewarne the other members and preuent their peril Therefore of necessity our eyes ought to be open because they are the guardians of our body PARTHENIVS I grant they are but oftentimes may one with Iuuenal demand concerning these keepers Iuuen. Sat. 6. vers 345. Who shal keepe the keepers themselues Therefore let our eyes performe their office let them keepe our body but so that they betray not our soules which they shal better preserue if they be shut or modestly looke downward then gazing and wide open Would they be turned vpward let them behold the heaueÌ„s Would they be cast downeward let them looke vpon the earth EDESIMVS In my opinion it is not so seemly for a man to conuerse with men with his countenance alwayes deiected as if he were guilty of theft PARTHENIVS Yea certainly it is most seemly and there is no garbe of modesty more decent then to cast downe a mans cyes and fix them vpon the earth And know you what kind of document concerning this a certaine woman gaue to that most holy man S. Ephrems EDESIMVS I desire to know declare it vnto me §. II. PARTHENIVS S. Ephrem going towards Edessa in the way made his prayer to Almighty God in this manner Sozom. l. 3. hist Eccl. c. 16. â—…rcom 10. febr c. r. Metaphrasie O my Lord so direct this iourney of mine that at my first entrance into this citty I may light vpon some good man that may religiously discourse with me of such things as are for the perfection and beautifying of my soule And when making hast he drew nere to the gate he began to debate with himself what questions he should propound vnto that man what first and what last he should aske him Whilst he went reuoluing these cogitations behold a certaine light woman met him at the very gate S. Ephrem fixing his eyes vpon her stood as it were in an exâ—asy Questionlesse this holy man was much troubled at the meeting of this woman and grieued that Almighty God had not seconded his desires So that he cast pensiue and discontented eyes vpon her face And she began no lesse stedfastly to eye him standing in that manner When they had for a good space thus silently beheld one another at last S. Ephrem seeking to strike her with some terrour and shame doest thou not blush said he thou impudent creature to stare thus in a mans face Alas good man said she I am not ashamed I suppose it is lawful for me to behold thee in this sort for I was taken from thee and out of thy side But it most befitteth thee not to looke vpon women but vpon the earth thy mother from which thou wert framed and into which thou art finally to returne S. Ephrem listning to her vnexpected answer said secretly to himself Ephrem be content with this for now thy wishes are satisfyed Thou desiredst of God a Master to instruct thee in thy course of life and thou hast met with one thou owest this woman both thankes and a Masters stipend It is the same God that speaketh by the mouth of man or woman Thou hast enough for this day thou hast as a much as thou canst learne and practise in the space of many yeares set a guard vpon thine eyes shut them against women open them to the earth and behold thy graue Let vs in this manner my EDESIMVS eleuate our eyes to heauen or fix them on the earth so shal they be taught both to fly and creep to fly towards God and creep towards our graue A quiet modest eye is a great treasure Et castigatae collecta modestia frontis And modest recollectioÌ„ of a cleered brow EDESIMVS Permit me to interrupt you with a word or two In the fabrick of mans body why doe the eyes last of al receaue life for so they say and why are they first of al when the houre of death approcheth depriued thereof PARTHENIVS Nature hath wel ordained it so that seeing they are the occasion of great danger they may haue the lesse time to worke our mischief And God through his prouidence hath made our
voice Vici I haue ouercome and questionles the conquerours of nations are but wickedly ambitious Thou art that wise man who though burned tormented and put into Phalaris Bul mayst notwithstanding say Quam suaue est hoc quam hoc non curo beatus sum Very sweet is this little doe I care for it happy am I. These voices haue been heard in the very shop of pleasure itself why therefore should they not obtaine credit with them that honour vertue Seneca saith very wel although a body in dowed with a good conscience should perish yet the fire shal be pleasing vnto it by which so great confidence shal appeare Laetius est quoties magno sibi constat honestum And honesty deare bought brings greater ioy That Christian Doctour S. Ambrose confirmeth this A wise man saith he is not broken with the griefes of his body but remaineth blessed euen amogst miseryes themselues And so likewise didest thou o Benedict nay doubtles thou hadst not remained Blessed if thou hadst not contemned that beatitude which the body falsly pretendeth to uselfe thou hast ouercome the sinne in punishing it O you brambles no man hath lesse cause to be ashamed of you then Benedict You may rather be said to make Venus blush be ashamed it was she that came to sow brambles and was ouercome in the brambles She brought flames from Mount Ida to Mount Cassmo but with flames she was driuen away The mind of Benedict was fired with pleasures but this fire was quenched with fire of bryars and stinging netties Better was it for those thornes freely to ransack his veines then that lust entring into his bowels should suck the very marrow from his bones §. V. Theocritus faineth that wanton Cupid stung with a bee returned weeping to his mother Venus and often cryed out I am slaine mother I am vndone But more truly may I say al the Cupids how many soeuer insulted ouer Benedict departed from their conquerour with teares in their eyes deploring their disastre And this is called to this day the Bulwarke of Thistles wherin this holy man disarmed both himselfe and his enemy offered a tast of his bloud to this thorny thicket triumphed ouer Venus and quenched the impure fire of concupiscence Thus that braue souldier by wounding his body cured his soule not so much auoiding as changing his flames and preseruing the spirit trampled vpon his flesh for had he been indulgent to the one he had proued a tyrant to the other With wounds he preuented wounds and with flames extinguished flames He exposed his body to be torne by angry briars that he might preserue his soule from blasting And had he not inflicted wounds on his body there had been deeper gashes made in his soule and this he could not haue cured vnles he had first wounded the other A maruelous kind of healing by impairing the health and a new kind of gaining by suffering some losse Although truly heer was no losse vnles it were of durt mixed with bloud to wit of his body And can there be any losse of this body which as witnesseth Solon when it is borne is nothing but putrefaction whilst it liueth a beast in constitution and when it dieth no other then wormes meat Can it I say be any losse to punish this that is no better then a beast or beasts meats How smal a thing is this or rather nothing in respect of the victory obtained thereby He ouercometh twice that ouercometh himselfe And I adde moreouer there can not be a more pleasing nor more profitable victory then that a man obtaineth ouer himselfe Innumerable men haue had Vassals vnder their dominion but very few haue held themselues in subiection Boast not Sceâ—ola the burning of thy right hand get thee gone thou wouldest neuer haue been such an actoâ—r hadst not thou had such spectatours Benedict Nicetas a thousand others in the presence of heauen in the fight of God alone desired not but abandoned al applause so much the more worthy of glory as they lesse desired it Paâ—k hence you Mâ—…ij and Lucretiaes who laid violent hands on yourselues after you were violated but these Champions of ours fought couragiously to preserue their chastity I wil not heer dispute what right a man hath to take from himselfe that life he neuer gaue Benedict Nicetas and others preserued their liues or to say more truly mortifyed their members by a liuing death that they might auoid the death of their soules being so much the more famous then others as they were more valiant They wrastled with themselues making good vse of those thornes and corporal punishments it seemed to them too much slouth to purchase that with sweat which they might atchieue with bloud They did truly couet Pulchram per vulner a worrem By wounds a seemly death A death I say not of body but of impure lust a death of al vices They discouered not to vs a pleasant way to heauen strawed with roses or such as might be paced with euen footing but such as was sharp and thorny with briars and brambles neither did they only shew it vs but went and arriued by this way to their iourneys end which most men desire but wil not follow them For they by cherishing the body suffer it to grow strong and the soule to starue Wheras this is to be cherished that restrained And as the rapier that is growne dul and blunt with long vse wearing is sharpned which a stone so our body is oftentimes to be pricked forward whither of itself it desireth not to goe Verily it is a shameful thing for a Princes followers as Tacitus saith not to be equal to him in vertue Doe we admire this fact of Benedict or Nicete we may likewise imitate it for no man as blessed Iob affirmes shal sooner be dismissed from this warfare then out of this life That blind God is an vnquiet boy yea disquiet itselfe notwithstanding he striketh those that are quiet and blind or at least maketh them blind by strâ—king His impious shaft touched Benedict but killed him not He suffered an infamous repulse and his weapon returned back to him blunted yea euen broken and insteed of victory he reaped shame confusion who would haue put the like vpon Benedict But it is too hard saist thou to leape into briars and brambles to cloth a mans selfe in thornes and draw bloud Wouldest thou haue easier remedy Then heare me doe but warily fly from this enemy and thou hast vanquished him THE BATTEL OF NICETAS and his victory described in heroical verse CHAP. II. EDESIMVS Verily most illustrious was this victory that S. Benedict abtained ouer himselfe but more admirable is it for a man to ouercome who is bound hand and foote as Nicetas was S. Benedict when he began to fight that battel was at liberty not bound Besides youthful bloud was not so hot and boyling in his veynes neither did any woman lay enticing hands vpon him or with her
more amiable then the most beautiful in the world what excessiue loue would it cause in those that beheld him Now compare this silly man with an Angel An Angel yea euen al the Angels of heauen with God and his infinite beauty Dost thou not perceaue the disparity Al the beauty of flowers of men and Angels and of al beautiful things compared with that of God is a gloomy mist mere night and vtter darknes Wherefore to be excluded from beholding this immense beauty and that eternally is an horrible inexplicable and incomprehensible torment And this the Diuines cal poenam damni the paine of losse In the opinion of S. Chrysostome a thousand hels are lesse then to be cast off from the sight of God I rehearse his words I know saith he In cap. 7. Mat. hom 42. there are many that only feare the torments of hel but I say the losse of that glory is much more grieuous then the punishment inflicted in hel And after a few words saith Hel likewise is intolerable Who knowes it not who considereth that horrible torment and is not shaken with feare Notwithstanding if a man should endure a thousand hels it were nothing in comparison of the losse of that glorious sight and to remaine for euer hateful to Christ pronouncing those dreadful words against him Non noni vos I know you not A thousand thunder-bolts were more sufferable then to behold that countenance ful of mildnes and pitty auerted from vs and those most pleasing eyes not tollerating our sight What therefore may be more terrible then to heare that horrible thunder the voice of God thus reiecting vs Depart from me you accursed without are dogges and the vnchast Ah how farre are we from conceauing this punishment of irrecouerable losse besides the inward darknes for so we may cal it which ouerwhelmeth the vnderstanding wil and memory with errour and blindnes Whatsoeuer the memory representes to it self shal afflict it whatsoeuer the vnderstanding thinkes vpon shal be hydeous and execrable and of infinit torment The wil shal be astonished at it's owne obstinacy for it shal neuer be able to desire that which God willeth so shal alwaies haue within it the punishment of it's owne malignity Truly saith S. Augustine those that are cast into outward darknes shal neuer be illuminated with any intrinsecal light O darknes most to be feared To this inward is added an outward darknes of which our Sauiour speakes in these expresse termes Cast out the vnprofitable seruant into vtter darknes Mat. 25.30 which shal farre exceed the darknes of Aegypt If the damned haue any light at al it shal be for their greater punishment that they may see what may more augment their torments Their parents children freinds kinsfolke brothers shal be no solace vnto them but paine and affliction O land darke indeed and couered with the shadow of death O land of misery and desolation Where there is the shadow of death and no order but where euerlasting horrour inhabiteth Iob. 10.21.22 Let therefore libidinous eyes learne now of their owne accord to condemne themselues to voluntary darknes and vtterly to exclude al venereous wantonnes Blessed are the cleane of hart for they shal see God THE SECOND Weeping and gnashing of teeth Howling and â—oring most horrible and lamentable After the torment of the eyes followeth that of the eares Heer represent vnto thy self al that may torment them the clamours of men bellowing of beasts thundring of clouds down-fal of waters whatsoeuer may seem harsh horrid to the eares al this shal the howling of the daÌ„ned infinitly exceed Christ openly forewarning vs saith Luc. 13.28 There shal be weeping and gnashing of teeth For many are called but few are chosen This weeping howling and roaring of the damned as it were of brute beasts wil proceed from their mighty and grieuous paines which shal constraine the most stony harts to breake forth into desperate lamentations With these Odes and warbling tuneâ— shal the eares of these miserable creatures be daily vexed The burden of this musick shal be stridor dentium gnashing of teeth through exceeding great cold Iob. 24.19 These shal be the changes in hel but without al change or mitigation of torments They passe from extreame cold waters to excessiue heats O most cruel feuer of the damned which neuer remitteth Heer euerlasting horrour inhabites terrour trembling weeping and griefe surcharge these captiues on euery side And for so much as this is not only to be suffred for certaine hundreds of yeares nor for twenty fifty or for a hundred thousand Ages Iob calleth it sempiternum horrorem euerlasting horrour Sometimes euen one night seemes a whole yeare which a man passeth without sleep in solitary darknes vexed with some sharp paine although he lye vpon a soft feather-bed O how anxiously lying awake he countes the houres how earnestly he expects an end of that heauy night Yet what is this imaginary yeare what this night without any sleep and ful of paines what are a hundred what a thousand nights compared with that eternity in hel where mourning weeping and torments are euerlasting Ah how horrible a thing is it to fal into the hands of the liuing God! O let vs now throw ourselues into the hands and armes of Christ our Lord hanging dead vpon the Crosse Ah grieue grieue for whatsoeuer delights your eares haue hitherto admitted from hence forward suffer them to be hedged about with thornes It is a dreadful thing to fal into the hands of the liuing God THE THIRD Hunger and thirst incredible Where our offence is there shal be our punishment How many mischiefes doe we heap vpon ourselues by gluttony alas we shal pay for it with hunger and thirst The glutton clothed in purple thrusting forth his tongue cryed out Luc. 16.24 I am tormented in this flame and desired it might at least be cooled with a little drop of water hanging on the very tip of ones finger He demanded not a vessel ful but only a little drop yet could not obtaine it Behold that rich glutton suffered such extreame want that he begged not a challice ful but as much as might hang on the tip of a man's finger not any delicate wine but a drop of water and this not of any honourable cup-bearer but of Lazarus the begger Notwithstanding al this was denied him They are vtterly so destitute of al hope of solace in that place that which way soeuer they turne their hands or eyes they are without any ease and neuer releas'd from paine As he that is fall'n into the sea inuolued in the swelling waues on euery side finding no place to fasten his foot in vaine casteth abroad his armes in vaine catcheth at the fleeting waters So those vnfortunate wretches plunged in this maine sea of torments find no where any refuge or release from their paynes There is nothing in that place can assuage their hunger or thirst