walke if you will procede in vertue the whiche is onely the thynge that makethe a man both happye in this worlde and also blessed in the worlde to come Beleue you my counsaile and vse the same or elles hereafter you wille paraduenture bewayle your negligence Fare ye well It More a place of my lorde Cardinals in the feast of saincte Bartholomew 1529. FINIS A compendious treatise teachyng the waie of diyng well THey saie it is a point of a proude vanitee or a stubburne foly to kepe sure and certaine what some euer is ones saied always it semeth not to wyse men that a promisse shulde bee sticked by in as muche there maie chaunce greatter causes to breake a promisse than the reasons bee why promisse shoulde be performed As if I haue saied that I will suppe with you hit is not enough to binde me against al chances I maie fall sicke I maie haue at home some necessary impedimeÌ„t the wether maie so fal that it is no goyng out many casualties maie happen that were not in mynde whan suche promysse was made Wherfore wyse men saie in all makyng of promisse there be euer vnderstande some secrete excepcions suche as be these If I can If I maie If it bee conuement If noo greatter cause happen to lette me By the whiche excepcions a promisse neuer bindeth a man further than is accordyng to bee obsâ—rued and kepte ¶ If I thought my frende IohnÌ„ walker that you wolde take mine excuse by the saied excepcions I woulde rather by theim escape my promisse that I haue made to you than I wolde fulfyl it for whan I sodenly agreed to your requeste that was to haue me wryte to you the waie of diyng well I considered not at that time what the thing was After I perceiued more difficultee in it than was mete for my poore wit specially beyng as you maie see me other wyse occupied in suche studies as appertaine to my leisure and of shortely this lesson to lerne the waie of diyng well hath nede to haue a maister the whiche knowethe bothe what our lyfe is and what the losse of the same is Nor no man in my minde can effectuously teache the waie to die wel except he be one that knoweth the waie to liue wel And plainly the mattier requireth a philosophers stomacke and a sadde For suche a one as Marcus Cato was were a man mete to entreate this thyng he knewe what valure laie in deathe the whiche he soughte bothe with sworde and his nayles tearyng â—ut his owne bowelles ¶ I wolde thynke a Catulus or a Mercula shoulde speake lustely to you of deathe seynge they shewed theyr couragious herte nothing to esteme lyfe whan the tyme required either to die with honour or to liue with shame These men and suche other woulde shewe you the waie to go to deathe longe before deathe came to you But none of all the painymes canne either with worde or with ensaumples of their actes declare this thyng soo truely and effectually as maie he that is exercised in Christes philosophie a Paule or a Peter or a Hierom shulde here in speake more lyuely than all the subtylle clerkes of the olde grekes Yet to me for my part it is an harde thyng either to plaie with you one of this sort or of that sort It passeth my power to speake to you either like Socrates or like Chrisostome So that if the saied excepcions bee with you admitted in a promisse makyng I maie truely denie you the performaunce of my grauntyng in as muche whan I promised you this thyng there was vnderstanded if I could and if it were conuenient I nother can wel declare this waie of diyng nor yet me thynke it is not conuenient for me liuing in this coÌ„mon course of the worldely folke to speake of deth so ernestly as a monke of the Charter house shoulde and myght dooe But bycause I knowe your importune desire to be so set vpon this thing that nedes you wil haue me saie somewhat herein I will praie you so to reade me as the tale not onely to bee wrytten of me for you but that I my selfe am also an auditour of the same and as muche shal I enforce to folow the couÌ„saile that in my saiynge I aduise you as thoughe the holle woorke pertained onely to my selfe wherin take this note for your comfortes that I write nothyng to you that I wyshe not were in my owne power to execute Thus I with you and you with me bothe of vs fast yoked to gethers let vs endeuour our selfes to be in dede suche men as we commende and praise For as it is shame to speake one thyng and to thynke an other soo it is a more shame to write holyly and to lyue worldly And as great a rebuke there is in hym that can here and praise good saiynges but doo there after he will not Nowe than let vs not speake onely of the waie to die well but in effecte lette vs indeuer our mindes to haue the frute of this lesson to make in dede a good ende of our lyfe And here nowe without any further proces I will begin to paie you my dette and shortelye you shall knowe my minde howe you maie die well ¶ As I was bethynkyng me to write some thing of this mattier to the satisfiynge of your desire I tourned a boke where my memorie gâ—ue me to bee a storie of one called Caniuâ— that lyued vnder the tyraun Caligula Cesar. This Canius beside his hye learnynge was a man of a greatte spirite the whiche he wâ—ll declared in the maner of taking his death It chaunced hym to faile out for a certaine cause with the saied tiraunte and many sore woordes were betwene theim at the laste whan the tone was departyng frome the tother this emperour in his fiers â—re said well thou foole make mery if thou wilte for I haue pointed the within fewe daies to be â—â—ame Therat Canius turned him with low courtesy and saied My mooste gentill prynce I hertely thanke you ¶ This answere came from a noble stomacke whereby he shewed the madde rages of the cruell tyraunt to be soo farre intollerable that vnder hym deathe was to be reckened for a benefit and a good tourne wherfore he thanked hym for his offer as for a specially rewarde And great maruaile men had to beholde this Philosopher howe merie he was after this tyrantes thretenyng There were .x. daies gyuen of respite before he shoulde die the whiche tyme he soo passed that he neuer semed to be in lesse care nor to haue his mynde in better quietnes ¶ Whan the daie came of execucion the kynges geyler and hangman wente about the towne with a great company of them that shuld suffer deathe the whiche passinge by this Canius house they called hym to bee broughte also forthe amongeste the other at the whiche tyme Canius was plaiyng at the chestes with one of his companyons and hearing them make hast he rose and
that maie be reckened honest and iuste bycause nature maketh it necessarie ¶ Loke you howe bothe olde and newe stories kepe in memorie their names that appered to dy without feare as who saie it is to be written for a wonder and lyke to a myracle beynge a thynge beside the course of nature to here of a man that can in death ouercome the passion of feare as we wonder to here of some that lyue withouâ—e sustinaunce of meate or of drinke Bycause I saie it is a naturall thynge to feare deathe we greately maruaile of them that feare it not Yet reason saith we shoulde not feare that thynge the whiche we knowe not and onely euyll is woorthy to be feared But seyng we know not deathâ— we maie wel by reion doubt whether it bee euyll or good And now before we speake any more of feare let vs a littel consider death by it selfe what thyng it is of his owne nature and whether by it self it be good or euyll ¶ We call ones deathe the losyng a sonder and departyng of .ii. thinges the soule frome the bodie the whiche departyng no man can escape but necessarily die al we must that be borne in this worlde Whan the body by any violence loseth his sensis and is spoiled froÌ„ the quicke vse of his principall partes than departeth the soule from hym and in maner the body leueth the soule before the soule leaueth the bodie For it is not the soule by hym selfe that goeth frome the bodie but it is the bodie by his forsakyng lyfe that causethe the soule to departe For where lyfe is not there the soule can not abide and as the bodie is lyuely before the soule entereth so the same bodie is deadly before the soule departeth Bloud in his measure and temperaunce betwene colde and hotte kepeth lyfe in the bodie the whiche bloud by innumerable wais of chances may be altered and constramed to leaue his nourishyng whervpon shal insue the losse of life then streight after foloweth the soules goyng away For well you knowe that the soule is one thyng and life is an other Where so euer the soule is there is life But it is not true that where some euer life is there is the soule For trees and herbes haue a parte of life a more parte of life is in muskelles oysters and wormes yet a more perfecte life is in these beastes and birdesâ— the which haue amongeste theim some more some lesse of lifes perfectnesse But though in them life the whiche resteth in the vse of the sensis that be to here to se to fele to smel to tast and in swifte mouynge is a greate worke of life the which thynges I say though they be in the perfection amongest these beastes yet the hand of god hath not giuen to any creature liuyng in the earth water or ayre to haue besyde life a soule the whiche is a thyng formed after his likenesse sauyng onely to man whom he hathput here to rule ouer thynges created like as he ruleth in heauen ouer all It is the creatours wyll that no thynge in this worlde shal haue a soule but man alone the whiche soule bryngeth with him the vse of reason a thyng that maye teache vs bothe that we haue a soule and that god is he the whiche hath thus made vs to be in this worlde his cheife and most excellent creature Reason doth thus teache vs yet beside reason we be herein better instructed by our master the sonne of god so that nowe we can not doubte that in vs is a thyng the whiche can not die But of suietie we euidently se not only by reason but muche better by belefe that the ymage of god in vs is perpetual and can not fele any corruption onelesse suche as our frowarde will maie giue wherof groweth syn that is the lyuyng death of the soule But lette vs come to our mattier ¶ To speake of this bodily deathe we now haue a great fordel in comparison of some olde clerkes that were in doubte whether there was in man any soule beside lyfe more than is in an horse or a gose They were in doubte whether any thyng of man remayned after death that myghte feele or perceiue eyther ioy or peyne For as to the faynynge poetes that spake of delicious gardeynes for good spirites and of diuers soore turmentes for vngracious sowles after this life mooste parte of olde clerkes gaue no maner of credence and they that beleued other an heauen or an hell to bee ordeyned for mens soules yet they so beleued that muche doubtfulnes was in theyr belefe in as muche as their reason suffised not to fynde out the certaintee of goddes workes From the which doubtis the vnfallible doctrine of Christ hath nowe deliuered vs all so that as many as wyll gyue eare to the voyce of god they can not mistrust their knowladge but that without â—uestion both we haue a soule and the same soule is immortal a thing that neither in this worlde nor out of this worlde can perishe or feele any pointe of death to lacke by the same any iote of his beyng I saie our soules continuallye withoute ende shall euer more endure the which be created and made by god after the fourme of god What forme that is it is as harde to shew as it passeth our capacitie to know what god is whose shap and facion our soules beareth ¶ Nowe than what shall we saye of deathe the whiche by hym selfe is not vnlyke to an endles slepe of the bodye wherof the bodye lyeth without power to vse anye sence beyng after life like to a stone that neuer hadde life This chaunge of the bodies state whether by it selfe it bee good or euyll it is an hardâ— thynge for vs to iudge seeyng the trouth is that no man liuynge expertly knoweth what thyng death is and to determine of a thing vnknowen it semethe a presumpcion full of folye Therfore without any certaine determinacion we may for our learnyng debate with reason the thyng as muche as shal be within the bondes of our capacity and fyrst if death were by hym selfe good it shoulde be no trespasse for one man to kyll hym selfe or an other For in giuing to other a good thynge or in takynge to our selfe a good thynge can bee noo rebuke Where the dede is good there is well doyng in the doer But euer not onely by Christes teachynge but also by naturall reason manslaughter hath bene iudged an abhominable synne Wherfore it can not be that by hym selfe deathe is a good thing And againe an euyll thynge it is not For Chryste died wyllyngly the whiche will in god and goddis sonne coulde not haue consented to deathe if deathe had bene a thyng of his owne nature euyll Nor yet it coulde not be that vertue shuld be praised in the glad suffering of death as now be crowned in heauen many holy marters the whiche couragyously toke vpon theim
not death And surely it shoulde not be the naturall ende of mans course in this life if it were a thing by it selfe naught For euill magrie mans heade is neuer put to him as it shuld be yf death were euyll the whiche necessariely man is constrained to suffer Therfore it semeth true that deathe considered alone by it selfe is nother good nor euill But whan we here of diyng wel or diyng euil or of a good deathe or an euill deathe it is not deathe by it selfe that is spoken of but rather the circumstances the maner the facion the cause of deth or that goeth before death or that foloweth death These be the thinges that gyuethe and takethe this name of goodnes or euilnes As to saie that deathe is good bycause it endeth this sinneful life and is the meane to passe from this worlde to heauen or els whan we saie that Iudas died an euil death it is not ment that the departing of Iudas soule from the bodie was euill but the maner of his diyng was the euill thyng his cursed desperacion his dampnable mistrust of goddis mercy his dispitful refusing grace made his death euil The two theues he at the ryght hande and he at the lefte bothe died one kinde of death both nailed to crosses bothe woorthy for their trespasses yet it is trouthe that the tone died well in a good deathe the tother died naughte in an euill deathe not for the deathe by it selfe wherin was no difference but for the diuersitee of their .ii. mindes in takynge of death The tone repented him and asked mercie wherof he died graciouslye the tother continued in his blaspheming god the whiche stubburne stomacke in sinne caused him to die vngraciously It is a thing that foloweth death and is not in deathe it selfe whervpon we loke whan we iudge to bee a good ende or an euil For by the maner of him that dieth we coniecture the state and condicion of the soule the whiche if we finde in our fantasie to be in an euill case as in the daunger of goddes curse we calle deathe euil wherby the soule passed to com to suche sorowe And contrarie if we thinke the soule to be in the fauour of god or to bee redie to take mercie we call death good the whiche conueied the soule to his blys So that by it self death remaineth indifferent to be iudged of diuers consideracions other a good ende or an euill ende ¶ Now than we maie here saie he that feareth deathe shewethe him selfe to bee in doubte of his soules state or els to be certaine that his soule is in goddis curse The whiche fearefull minde is in them that haue soo passed this presente life that either thei haue doen nothing wherby thei maie hope to be rewarded in heauen or els thei haue done so vngraciously that thei can haue no trust of escaping damnable punishement specially if he be a christened man For if he bee not christened and feareth to die he declareth him selfe to haue none higher thoughte of lyfe than the dumbe beastes haue the whiche make by the lawe of nature so much of their lifes that they can minde nothing beside and the losse of their bloud maketh with theim an hole conclusion of their beyng Wherfore beastes mai iustly fle and feare death as the worste thinge that can happen to their state but a man doth hym selfe to muche wronge if he thinke hym selfe in no better condicion than be these beastes It is not in the diuels power to doo man soo great hurte as this false imaginacion dothe And surely vnworthy he is to haue in hym the power of vnderstanding of thinking of prouiding of learning of teaching of diuisyng of remembrynge of louing of hatyng of reasoning of counsailing of infinite mo giftes who some euer iudgeth him selfe to haue noo more than a swyne or an ape hath Loke as by the fiue wittes the bodie knoweth this or that soo by these powers of minde the soule walketh to his vnderstanding and of an heauenly mattier is made this maruailous thinge that dwelleth in mans bodie for a time to be made worthy other of euerlastyng lyfe or of euerlastinge death for the damned soule lyueth in death without ende ¶ But yet what shal we saie to the place we lefte before that naturally deathe is feared Lette it bee the woorkyng of nature yet I see not but the strength of mans mind fully fastened in faithe maie victoriously ouer come all this feare as we finde many ensamples of men that so haue done not only of them that haue bene helped with faith but also of many paynymes the whiche toke a courage to dispyse death onely of a mightie and valiant minde to haue reason subdue in theim the power of all affectes ¶ I finde a lerned painime wrote that we shoulde nother care for life by it selfe nor yet for deathe by it selfe He saith that we shulde care to liue well and to die well and let life and deathe passe without care For life is not good but to liue wel is good ¶ If painymes haue this righte consideracion of life and of death what shame is it for Christened meÌ„ to care for deathe seeyng Christe whose wordes can not but be true soo vehemently forbyddeth vs the same that painimes sawe by reason to be done Againe seyng this death is so common a thyng daiely in our sight why shoulde we feare it Thynges that sildome chaunce mai stur vp by their raâ—enes great fere thinges that be euer at hande shuld by their familiaritee and custome nousell vs to sette littell by them Furthermore he that feareth death comyng to hym wolde feare by lykelyhode death if it coulde be with hym whan deathe is suche a thing that other it is not yet come or els it is paste For noo man can saie that death is present So this feare can neuer be ioyned with the thing that is feared Againe that thyng that euery man maie do no man lightly dothe that thyng that no man can helpe him selfe in that for the moste parte all men do No man almost studieth or careth how well he maie liue but howe longe he maie liue euerye man musethe whan the trouthe is that it might of all men be optained to liue wel and noo man can further him selfe to liue longe A like frowardenes is in our remembraunce of deathe we busilye labour and enforce to dreame of deathe the whiche thing we can not do we might finde the waie to die well and this thing we will not do This madnes JohnÌ„ I trust you will put of and feare not deathe the whiche you can not escape But feare an euill death the whiche you maie flee ¶ Amonge many commoditees of death I reken one cheifely to be set by that it is good to die well to escape therby the occasion of liuinge euill and surely he dieth well that for suche an intente taketh deathe gladdely ¶ More ouer consider you well and
you shall see that in hym the whiche is curious to lyue fortune hath a great rule but in hym that can die gladdely fortune hath noo power And what a wretchednes it is to be vnder fortunes vanitee I reporte me to theim whome we beholde daiely diuersly vexed as wel with immoderate lustes of to muche welth as with passing sorowes of to muche trouble Therfore to be out of fortunes thraldome sette littell by this lyfe that is to saie feare not deathe ¶ It pleased me to reade a painimes opinion that saied He is as foolishe that feareth deathe as he that feareth to be olde For as after young age foloweth the old so after olde age streighte folowethe deathe And a madde mans pointe it is to feare deathe seyng thinges vncertain the whiche maie chance and maie not chance bee only worthie of feare but thing certain without doubt comming must be loked for not feared The necessitee of deathes comminge is equalle and without remedie soo that other to complaine or to flee at deathe it is a plaine maddenes For who can complaine to be in the condicion in the whiche indifferently all men of this worde be ¶ And againe if the paine of dyyng were a thinge to make deathe fearefull firste it shoulde be a comforte to remembre that after the paine of deathe there shall bee noo more paine and as Epicure saith If it be an extreme sore paine it is shorte For no vehement paine can bee longe This were enoughe to make death not muche to be cared for Euerie waie deathe is a thing neuer to bee feared of a wise man and neuer to be out of minde bothe with good men and wise men And as for the feare of deathe were not he I praie you a starke foole that woulde wepe and waile bycause he was not borne to this life a thousande yeres ago no lesse a foole is he who so euer soroweth because he can not liue a thousande yeres to come For these .ii. saiynges be euen and equallye trew you were not you shall not be So that one minde shulde be in vs as wel to remembre we shall not bee as to remembre we ones were not It is no newe thing to die our fathers our graundfathers our great forsiers be gone the waie that both we shall goo and all that folowe vs muste come the same ¶ More ouer in as muche noo labour wit crafte nor diligence preuaileth to escape death no power no tyches no auctoritee helpethe but all indifferentely bee called of death all without choyse muste folowe the traine of death no corner can hide vs no walles can defende vs no waie nor meane no intreatie no praier no suite nothing vnder heauen can kepe vs from deathes hande Let vs than take a lustie courage of this desperacion seyng there is no remedy let vs man fully go to it ¶ The moste feareful and coward beastes that of nature be made to flee whan thei be driuen in to suche straites that thei can renne no further thei turne theimâ— and with the power of their mighte thei enforce to escape And surely it is euer sene that those ennemies bee euer moste terrible the which be driuen by extreme force to fight For necessitee correctethe and chastiseth our hertes muche more sharply than vertue can doo Wherof a desperate minde shall do greatter actes or at the least no lesse than a valiant stomacke can do In this necessitee of death we nowe be al it is vaine for vs to flee or to ren awaie our feare can finde no place of flighte Lette vs imagine the trouthe as in dede it is that we be all betraied to die It is so JohnÌ„ that without doubt we be all kepte in a streite corner to bee ridde of this life There is no hope of remedie All this people that you se howe long thinke you shall be It shall not be longe but all shall by the course of Nature be called hens to death and there hid It maketh noo force neither of the daie nor of the place There nedeth no questioÌ„ to be asked either where or whan al must come to one ende other soner or later other before or after What now JohnÌ„ doth not he seme vnto you a shamefull cowarde and a feareful wretch a plain kikkes without an herte that with much intercession with many praiers desireth a littel delay of death If you sawe one stand in the numbre of many that shoulde be headeded makyng most instant suite to the hangman that he might be the last that shulde put his head to the blocke wold you not saie fie vpon such a wretched knaue that so muche feareth deathe beyng nowe at the pointe to die whether he will or noo and yet this maner nowe is with vs all For the most part it is greattely valured with vs to die some what behinde other none is so nighe death by age that desireth not to differre from this daie vntil to morowe whan in trouth suche a weake minde is in effecte dead and buried longe before the bodie faileth Lifte vp therfore your herte onely bycause there is no remedie desire not to flee whan there is noo place to ren to lette necessitee giue you a courage if al other strength decaieth What a stomacke was in the saied Canius of the which sort the stories make mencion to haue ben many amongest the painimes ¶ A tirant fiersly thretened Theodore the philosopher that he shuld die and that his bodie shulde lie to crowes vnburied worshippefully saied aunswered this Theodore to the tiraunt Thou maist be proude of thy power Bycause one ounce or two of bloud is in thy handes And as for the buriall of my body O howe folishe thou art if thou reken it to be any difference whether I rot vnder or aboue the grounde ¶ Of such couragious aunsweres the stories of paâ—unes be ful But muche more the bokes of Christened men be full of such ensamples ¶ Christes faith made innumerable stronge champions inuincible stomackes not only toward death but againste all the cruell deuises that could be found to make death more painfull than death The holy martires were so farre from all pointes of feare that thei semed to enforce and to striue to haue death giuen theim Their mirthe was to suffer the horrible persecucion of tirauntes No reason nor learning coulde worke suche strengthnes of hertes in mennes mindes as the faith of Christe brought ¶ Loke howe sainct Paule reioyseth in his troubles howe he glorieth in his scourginges whyppinges in his prisonment in his fetters all his lyfe semed to be a continuall deathe yet his herte neuer gaue ouer but vexed by the paines daily stronger and stronger to suffer a freshe Feare of death was so farre from his minde that he was gladde to remembre howe ones he shoulde die and thereby passe to Christes presence whose quarell he defended in this world with all his might and power ¶ Loke vpon sainct Laurence liyng broyling
to care for them though we haue them not onely by Christes teachynge we shoulde care for the kingdom of heuen the whiche standethe in the cleanes of conscience where euer is a place and a seate for the hie maiestee of the holy trinitee All other thinges necessarie for this life be not to bee cared for nor yet to bee valured more than their dignitees requireth that is to saie no more than is conueniente for instrumentes and tooles to the pylgrimage and passage of this straunge countrey For in this worlde wee haue noo home our father dwellethe not in this region we be in this life out of our propre countrey we shuld hast homewarde to the ioyfull presence of our owne father that abidethe vs in heauen the whiche hathe a greatter charge ouer vs his children here than he hathe ouer the beastes or birdes the which by his only prouision without their care lacketh nothing for their necessitie Muche more saithe oure maister Christ if we tourned al our care to godward we shuld not be destitute of suche thinges as necessarily this presente life nedethe And where Christ so streightly commaundeth almes dedes saiyng that who soeuer helpeth not a poore man in his nede he will not helpe him nor yet knowe hym at the fearefull daie of dome in so muche that it pleaseth Christ to say that euery poore man representeth the person of goddes son so that he that regardeth not a poore man dispiseth the son of god In this doctrine what thinke you Whether dothe Christ commaund almes deades for the poore mans sake that shoulde take almes or for the riche mans sake that shuld giue almes In takynge almes I fynde noo vertue and nedes it is a thing partainyng to vertue that Christ wolde haue done Therfore surely it is for the riche mans sake For it is Christes lesson that teacheth vs to haue noo inwarde loue to these casuall goodâ—s the whiche we muste put from vs where we se them that want such thinges And a profe of a perfect stomacke is taken in him that vtterlie leauethe and forsaketh al this worlde to folowe Christe the whiche byddeth the riche man that wil be perfecte to go and sell all that he hath and deale all to poore men For as hard a thing it is to plucke through the smale nedles eâ—e a greatte caboull rope as to bringe a riche man in at heauens wycket not that it is impossible for a rich man to be saued but because it is harde for a man in a welthy state to kepe his minde in a due order to godwarde without beyng drowned or infected by the contagious lustes and corrupted pleasures the whiche foloweth the fortunate life of this worlde And nothinge is more in a riche man to be feared than lest he set his minde to loue his riches the whiche loue can neuer stande with the pleasure of god Remembre the saiyng of the apostell sainct Paule The loue of riches is the rote of all sin Therfore let not this loue grow in your herte from whense shoulde spring the fruite of damnacion Here of my frende Walker I trust you se that withoute question it is Christes will to haue vs littell regarde this life and muche lesse to regarde all the commoditees appertaynninge to this life It is god that saithe The losynge of life in this worlde is the findyng of life in a nother worlde and that wepyng sorowe peine tribulacion pouertee shame persecucion and finally deathe in this life is laughing ioye pleasure ease riches honour quietnes and fynally life in the kyngdome of god ¶ Contrarie the same maister testifieth that mirthe welthe reste glorie abundaunce strengthe libertee rule and finally life in this worlde is lamentyng grefe trouble slaunder miserie weakenes thraldome bondage and finally deathe in goddes reigne In this tenour and key sowneth al our holy scripture Wherfore me thinke it is enough to proue to a Christened man that the welthye state of this worlde is vayne and ieoperdous because Christe so teachethe and precheth and surely a greater profe by reson for this matter with you I will not use at this time Let Christe bee beleued that biddethe you gether a treasure in heauen where your riches shall be sure froÌ„ mothes wormes and rusting from theues fier and water If your treasure be ones couched in heuen streighte your herte shall also bee there and so shal you take no pleasure of tariyng in this life but rather it shal be werines and tediousnes to you to be here absente frome your hertes desire the whiche alwaie sticketh and cleaueth to your treasure in heauen If it so be that after Christes counsaile you haue there put all your goodes and substaunce If nother we feare deathe nor loue this life I thinke the chefe impedimentes and lettes of oure purpose to die wel be taken awaie and nowe we maie a littell deuise what thinge maie helpe vs in our iourney after these stones and blockes be gone ¶ In my minde nothing shal further vs more to a glad death than shall an ordinate life that is to liue in a iuste and due maner after one rule and one forme euer awake in a quicke remembrance of death as though euery houre were our laste space of induraunce in this world Whan you rise in the morning determine so to passe the daie folowyng as thoughe at nyghte a graue shulde be your bed Let euery daie be reckened with you as your last This minde shall make you bestow wel your life the whiche is to you vncertaine howe long it shall continue ye rather in doubte you be howe sone or howe shortely life shall be taken from you What so euer you take in hande be thinke you that before you ende it death maie oppresse you workyng This is the thing that Christ wold haue vs do whan he soo often warneth and admonisheth vs to take heede and to loke aboute vs because nother the daie nor the houre of our callynge is certaine to vs. Therefore it is our parte of a tyme soo muche vncertaine to make a tyme sure certaine and present that we neuer bee taken vnwares by the whiche meanes we shall gladdely suffer death seeyng it is a thing so longe before prepared For whye shulde it be a straunge thing to reken euery daie to be the laste I see not but that thing that happeneth and chanseth to some of vs might come to any of vs and like wise all might haue that that a fewe hath There is no cause to denie but as well this daie you or I might die as we se this daie some other deed and thoughe we bee not deed this daie yet it is trouth that this daie we die and daiely sithen our firste byrthe we haue died in as muche that daiely some parte of our life hath bene diminisshed and euer as we haue growen so euer life hath decresed We were babes we were children we were boyes we were young men all these ages
be loste and tyll yesterdaie all tyme past is gone and lost This same selfe daâ—e that we nowe liue is deuided and parted with death Still without ceassing we approche to deathe by the expence and wast of life Thus diyng we alwaie be though death â—e not alwaie vpon vs. Conceyue thaÌ„ this ordinate life in your mind and bestowe your time whilest you haue the time Aboue all thinges flee idelnes the whiche is a thing bothe to the bodie and to the soule like a kankeryng rustines and as an eatyng consumpcion it wasteth to naught both vertue strength A man the whiche is in the life that you be may sone be corrupted with this contagion of idelnes if he bee not well ware and diligentely enforce him selfe to the contrarie For I se you haue a maister so affectionate and giuen to you that he will nother suffer you lacke any thinge mete for your helth or qÌ„etnes but also he had rather forâ—ere his own commoditees than for his seruice you shulde be disquietted So tender he is in all poyntes ouer you that if you poÌ„der well his state and your own condicion you shall find your life better defended frome all stormes againste the mindes reste than your maisters condicion is He is in suche a sight of the world thaâ— necessarilie his studie and care must moue him to satisfy the great expectacion that his hole countrey hath of his towardenes And fortune one the tother side is soo contrary to him that nedes he must by wisedome procure with no smalle thought howe he maie in penurie maintaine the outward face of his reputacion so that for your quietnes his minde often labourethe where you maie doo what you will withoute feare of the worldes displeasure without feare of lackyng or not hauing enough for your necessaries and muche more than necessitee requirethe Labour haue you none but that maie be rather taken for a pastyme thoughte to please your maister you neede not take in as much you maie be assured that he can not nor will not for the time of his life chaunge his affection towarde you Therfore I saie it maie be feared in one of your state leste idelnes shoulde brede a foule slouens neste the which were enoughe to distroye all lustines of vertue and to make you long deed and buried in this worlde before life forsakethe you For my good IohnÌ„ I will haue you knowe and remembre that idelnes is called the graue of liuinge men it is the thing wherin life dieth and therby your soule is twyse buried in you ones in your bodie nexte in your slouth The which vice in seruing men moste reighneth and the same is roote of many vnthryftie thoughtes whervpon foloweth a worse idelnes than the tother is For it is an euill idelnes to do noo thyng but a worse idelnes it is to do not well Suche an euill felow saincte Chrisostomus calleth a dissolatyng or a boide baiting place where into the diuell entreath as in to his own house by good right For where vertue is not exercised there the ennemy of grace claimeth his rule it is not now my purpose to shewe what you shulde do that you might not only fâ—e idelnes but also be well occupied This were a matter enough for a nother worke I haue my entente at this time if you see that death is not to bee feared and that by continuall remembraunce of deathe you shall prepaire your self to die gladly with a good will the whiche you can not do oneles you be in hope of the euâ—rlastyng life and this hope requireth some truste in the clenes of a good conscience the whiche euer foloweth a gracious entenâ—e of liuing well So that if you liue wel you shall die well And of the waie to liue wel you can not misse if you arme your minde to bee stronge against all suddennes of deth Praie euer continually without cessinge you muste but what is this continuall praier I wolde you learned For of praier it is but one final porcion the saiyng of psalmes or axyng with wordes of god his grace the bâ—raie praier is to be euer well minded to bee euer in charitee to haue euer the honour of god in remembraunce to suffer no rancore none ire no wrathe no malice no synne to abide in your delite but to be in a continuall good thoughte the whiche you maie kepe whether you sleepe or wake whether you eate or drinke whether you feast or fast whether you reste or labour neuer paraduenture you can praie better than whan you muste giue your selfe to serue your maister to whom the course of your life is due and bounden specially whan god hath giuen you such a maister whome your seruice can not please without you be studious to please god For well you se that without vertue your seruice weere to your maister an vnsauerie thing but as I haue said it is not now my purpose to apoynte you the waie of liuinge well if you haue harde enoughe to die well I haue for my part now saied enough and shortlie by the same you shall of yourself without further helpe finde the waie to liue wel Now that by this I thinke my promisse fulfilled I will at this point bed you farewel And I praie god giue you a strong corage to passe valiantly through death to come from thense to euerlastyng life by the helpe and grace of our maister and sauiour Christe to whome let vs for euer more render al glorie praise and honour Amen At Paris the .x. day of Ianuarie FINIS A sermon of sainct Chrysostome that no man is hurte but onely of hym selfe I Knowe well that all men of a grosse iudgemente and giuen to the pleasures of this present life drouned in worldelines bound seruanies to their owne lustes that regarde not the spirituall sence shall thinke my tale meruailous and newe and paraduenture will moâ—ke me as thoughe in the firste entre and title of our sermon we purpose a thing bothe folishe and that to noo mans eares can seme true But this not withstanding we wol prosecute our entente and by this frowardnesse we shal be more sturred to approue the saied sentence so that thei the whiche seme agreued with our speakyng will in the beginning haue a littell pacience nor will not at the first hearing interrupt my tale but bee contente to abide the ende and conclusion of this mattier For plainlie if thei so do I am perswaded that they shall vtterly change their mindes herein and cleaue to our partee deniyng their owne opinion and rebukynge theim selfe for their errour that they haue hitherto defended and further more thankyng me as sicke men thanke phisicions whan they haue recouered their helth So now I wold not haue the bring forth thine olde rooted opinioÌ„ but a littel tarie and consider the reasons of my tale wherby thou maist iustlie iudge of this mattier and speciallye whan thou haste lopped and cutte awaie thine own croked fantasi that
by his owne mouthe with a prouident exhortacion and therwith preparynge and comfortynge the people of his churche to the paciente sufferaunce of thinges to come wherin he prophesed and declared vnto vs that battaill famine erthquakes and pestilence shoulde arise in sondry countreyes and places And to the entent that no sodaine dread or feare of straunge thinges anoyyng vs shulde in any wise oppresse or abashe vs he tolde vs before that toward the ende of the world aduersitees and troubles shoulde more and more be increased Now beholde al that whiche he spake of hath hapened and is come among vs. And sith that is now happened whiche was before spoken of there shall also nowe ensue all that whiche was promised oure lorde hym selfe promisyng and saiyng What time ye shall see all these thynges come to passe than be you sure that the kingdom of heauen is at hand The kyngedome of heauen good frendes beginnynethe nowe to approche The rewarde of life and the comforte of helth euerlastyng perpetuall gladnes and the possession of Paradise whiche before we had loste nowe the worlde passing awaie become and at hand euen nowe after thinges erthely do succede that whiche is heauenly after smalle thynges great thinges and precious after thinges transitory thinges eternall or euerlastyng What tyme is it nowe to be sad Or who amonge these troubles wil be timorus or sorowfull but onely he in whome lacketh bothe faith and hope for he onely feareth deathe which will not go vnto Christ and he whiche will not go vnto Christ is he whiche dothe not beleue that he nowe beginnethe to raigne with Christe It is writen The iust man liueth by faith If thou bee a iuste man thou liuest by faith If thou beleueste truely in god commyng to Christe and beynge sure of his promisse why doesre not thou ren and imbrace Christe nowe thou art called Why doest not thou thanke god and reioyce that thou arte out of the diuilles daunger ¶ The iuste man Symeon who verely was a good and a iust man and kepte the commaundemences of god ful of faith whan aunswere was made vnto him from almightee god that he shoulde not die vntill he had sene Christ whan Christ being a babe came with his mother into the TeÌ„ple he in spirite knewe that Christe was nowe borne of whose coming he was before warned And whan he behelde him he knewe that he hym selfe shoulde shortely after departe frome this worlde Wherfore beyng ioyful of death that approched and beyng sure of his sone sending for he toke the blessed babe in his armes and with praises and thaÌ„kes vnto god he saied with a lowde voyce Nowe good lorde thou wilt licence thy seruaunte to departe from this mortall life in peace accordynge to the woorde that thou sendest me For nowe mine eyen haue beholde thy prouision of remedy that thou hast prepared in the sight of all people As who saith prouing and witnessynge also that thanne peace was come to the seruauntes of godâ— and that than was a peasible quietnes Whan we beyng drawen out of the stormes of this worlde desyre to come to the heauen of perpetualle suretee and also whan deathe beyng from vs excluded we attaine to immortalitee or life euerlasting That is our peace that is our sure tranquillitee that is our stedfast our fyrme and perpetuall suretee Furthermore wha◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we in this worlde but fight againste the deuil daiely in battail and against his waypon and ordinaunce make resistance with continuall conâ—â—ictes We striue daily with auarice with lechery with wrath with ambicion We haue a busie and painfull wrastlyng with carnall vices and worldely delectacions The minde of man is besiged and all about compassed and assaulted with sinne and hardly is matched on al partes and maie vneth resiste and defende hym from all For if he ouerthrowe Auarice than stertethe vp lecherie If lecherie be oppressed ambicion cometh in hir place and although ambicion be neglectedâ— yet wrath wil exasperate Pride inflatith drunkennes allureth enuie breaketh concorde and by the same is frendshyp dissolued Thou art constrained to curse whiche the lawe of god dothe prohibite Thou art compelled to sweare whiche is vnlefull These persecucions thy minde daily dothe suffre with these many perils thy stomake is vexed And yet doeste thou delite to tarie longe here amonge the swordes of people malicious whanne rather thou shouldeste coueite and desire deathe settynge the forwarde to haste the towarde Christ he saiyng to vs in his doctrine I telle you verelye ye shall bothe weepe and waile but the worlde shall reioyce and be mery ye shall be heauy and sorowfull but your heauines shall be tourned into mirthe Now who will not make haste to come where he shal be mery who wil not wishe to lacke alwaie heauines But at what time our sorow shall be tourned myrthe our lorde him selfe declareth saieyng I shall se you againe and your hertes shal reioice and that gladnes shal no man take frome you Wherefore sithe to see Christ is perfecte reioysynge and our gladnes maie not bee without beholdyng of him what blyndnes of minde yea what madnes were it to loue the vexacions paines and continuall sorowes of this present worlde And not rather to make all spedy deligence to come to the iois whiche maie neuer bee taken from the This doth happen deare frendes because that faith lacketh for no man doth beleue that such thinges shall come whiche almightee god who euer is true hath all redie promised whose worde is eternall and to theim that beeleue alwaie sure and constaunt ¶ If an honourable man and of great grauitee did promise the any thyng thou wouldeste truste him and wouldest not thinke to bee deceiued of hym whome thou knowest to be as wel in worde as in dede substancial and stedfast But now almightee god talketh with the in his scripture and thou as false and disloial doest flitter in a minde mistrustfull and wauering God hath promissed to the whan thou shalte departe from this worlde immortalitee and life euerlastynge And yet not withstandyng thou doubteste that is as muche to saie as thou knoweste not god And also thou willingly offendest Christ the master of al them that beleue with the sinne of incredulitee or lacke of beleue and that thou being constitute and admitted into the churche of god haste not faith in the house of faithe Howe muche the departing frome this worlde shall bee to thy profite Christe him selfe maister of our profite and helthe dothe declare where he saith to his disciples whiche sorowed because he tolde theim that he woulde depart If ye loued me ye woulde reioyce for as muche as I go to my father Therby teaching and declarynge vnto vs that whan they whom we do moste fauour or loue do depart out of this worlde we shoulde rather bee gladde than sorie Whiche thynge the blessed apostle remembryng saithe in his Epistole My lyuing is Christe and
soule that loketh to haue suche goostly fode If the time require to haue you take a mele either a diner or a supper for your refection let not your marchaundise differre the goyng therto in a due tyme. For remembre that busines is one degre aboue your marchandise If you espy a poore man to be in nede of your helpe hast to helpe hym before any care of makyng a bargaine for that worke of mercie pertemeth to your cheife iewell and therfore your soule shall grow in the grace of god Brcke not muche to the hurte of your helth the conuemente tyme of goyng to bed for any occupacions or rekeninges in your study for these goodes For remembre that rest and slepe pertaine to the seconde thynge where your countyng bokes belonge to the thyrde In makyng your bargaine kepe faith and promise deceiue noo man with any guile or false colour For let it bee euer in your phantasie howe the games that you shulde get with suche vntrue dealyng bee contemed vnder your thirde that is to saie vnder your leste care where the breaking of faith and promise with false deceite and vntrue delyng sore hurteth your soule in whome restethe your cheife thought And by false heade you could not get so muche of ryches as by the same you shuld lose of honestee and goodnesse Wherfore trauaile euer as the degrees of these thre thinges shall require If an infinite hepe of worldly goodes mighte bee gotte with a smal hurt and domage of the soule forsake rather that greatte heape than you woulde suffre this small hurte There can bee no comparison betwene the soules helthe and the ryches the lest droppe that can be of your soules parte must pondre and wey more in your thought than all this worlde beside can do ¶ Let not any similitude deceiue your iudgemente As if par case a man wold reason that the goodes of the soule be all gold the goodes of the worlde be all lead although that golde is euer better than lead yet there maie be a great quantitee of leade that shall bee valured aboue the smalle porcion of golde So in your phantasie a great gaines and lucre of the worldely goodes maie seme better than a smalle poynte of our soules substaunce Wherfore he will coÌ„clude that with a lyttelle losse of honestee or goodnesse we maie venture to gette a great aduantage in this worlde and some littell smalle porcion we maie borowe of our soule to wyn by that meanes a great summe of ryches Beware good Withipol of such reasoning and to the death to gaine all the holle royaltee of this hole worlde neuer trespasse againste your soule in the smalleste iote that can bee imagined As yf ye myght be made a lorde of great might and power with abundance of possessyons and goodes onely for the speakyng in witnesse of one woorde againste the trouthe with grudge of your conscience forsake you all that offer rather than you woulde feale the priuey bit of your offence For if you loke well you shall se that there is a greatter value of gaines in the smallest iote of vertue than is in the moste power of ryches and that the losse of the smallest mote perteinyng to your soules state is more hurte and domage than the refusyng or forgoynge of all that is vnder heauen Soo that I saie it is not lyke betwene the soules goodes and the goodes of this worlde as it is betwene golde and leade valured aboue a peny weyght of gold where there is no tytle â—o smal of vertue that is not to be valuted without comparison aboue the hole power of the erth and seas throughout Asia Affrica and Europa The profe of my saiyng dependeth herevpon that euery iote euery title euery mote of vertue wherin is conteined the soules welthy state hath appoynted his propre state and place in the heauen and kingdome of god and all the spirituall goodes bothe small and greate be vnder god of whom vertue receiueth hir reward Of the which rewarde he that leseth any maner porcion losethe more than the losse of the holle domynion and reule of this worlde whose prynce is the diuell that reigneth ouer all them as ouer his bonde seruantes the which can fâ—nde in theyrhertes to forsake veâ—tue to wynne these faulse and vayne goodes that stande to vs in no erthly stede but for the shorte tyme of a fewe yeres in this life where the possessions of vertue bee euerlastyng Thus I shewe you good Edmonde that your care to get these worldly goodes muste be subdued vnder dewe order as in this third place But what be these goodes and what waie you maie lawfully get theim I doubte not but your father will in time conuement shewe you He is of that sort of men the whiche hath by longe approued honestee purchased hym a good name and is thereby beloued and regarded of good men Whose steppes if you folowe you shall by goddes grace come to lyke worshyppe and be of lyke or more habilitee to leaue to your children sufficiente to passe this lyfe with Here remembre the more your father louethe you the lesse is your thyrde care and the lesse that your thirde care is the more leisure you haue to thynke vppon your cheife iewell the whiche god hath gyuen you to be ordered after your will in the whiche iewell you shall after this lyfe well passed haue the fruicion of goddes presence wherin restethe the ioye ineffable of the blessed lammes The gotes that is to saie the gredie soules of this thirde care the whiche neuer mindeth or veraie littell and weakely mindeth the first care shall remain for euer more in the peinfull darknes where is nothyng but criyng out and lamentyng with frettyng of stomackes and snarring of teth as the gosple shall teache you In the whiche boke of god you shall here what an harde thing it is for a ryche man to entre in to heauen bycause that moste commonly ryche men spende all theyr care and thought out of order only for this worlde and seldome or neuer they thynke of theyrsoule and whan they thynke therof they so thynke that they put that care farre vnder the care of these worldely businesses doing clene contrary to this order The whiche god woulde haue vs to keepe The whiche order though you shall see veraie littell regarded of all sortes of men yet good Edmond regarde you it and haue pitie of theim that regarde it not It is the son of god the whiche saith Many be called to heauen but fewe bee chosen Enforce your selfe to bee amonge the fewe and forsake the multitude Be not drawene to an yuell opinion neither with the ensaumple of popis cardinals and priestes nor with the ensaumple of prynces lordes knightes gentilmen and marchantes nor yet with the ensaumple of monkes and fryers You maie by your selfe knowe what is the right pathe folowe you couragiousely the same and forsake the
conceiueth by the riddaunce of the soule from the heauy burden of this bodie ¶ Of these contrarye opinyons you shall lesse maruaile whan we haue a littell considered the thyng it selfe what shoulde be death the whiche one parte of vs soo muche feareth and an other sort setteth so littel by the same and so by a short processe you shall see whether the saied Canius bee more woorthy of praise for his littell regardyng the deadly punishement than is frances Philip that within fewe yeres passed was put to execucion with vs for treason the whiche died soo cowardely in soo great panges of feare that he semed extracte from his wittes scant for quakyng and trimbling the wreche could speake one worde The fewe wordes that he coulde with muche stutterynge sounde were onely in the declaracion of his dispraieâ— nor nothynge was sene nor harde of hym but weâ—yng lamentyng wryngyng of his handes with banninge the houre and daie of his byrthe continually sighing as though his hert shuld haue burste for sorowe The difference of these affectes wil here after be I thynke plainer to you whan we haue a littel more spoken in this mattier For nowe good JohnÌ„ I will crepe a littel nygher to your desyre the which you haue of learnyng the waie to die well ¶ THIS DIYNGE well is in effecte to die gladly For who soo euer dieth gladlie he departeth froÌ„ this lyfe in a sure hope to lyue againe beynge nowe wery of this worlde but nother this hope of the lyfe to come nor this werynes of the lyfe presente can make in any man a glad herte to die Oneles he be one that hath lyued well here For in deathe there can be no gladnes excepte there bee a fulle truste of opteyning the rewarde of vertue partely by the truste and faith of a good mynde partely by the mercie of god that fulfilleth euer our insufficiencie yf we bryng ought with vs woorthy of his fauour For goddis grace supplieth where our power lacketh if it soo bee that our soules appere before hym in an apparelle mete for his presence the whiche apparell requireth a perfecte faith and an ernest will of doing well all though we haue not alwaie done wel The mercie of god neuer failethe hym that fully trusteth in it But a ful truste canne not bee withoute the strength of charitee the whiche euer burneth in the loue of doynge good and faith can not be perfect oneles there bee good workes the whiche maie stur vp and quycken in vs faithe to take a beeleue that by Christis actes our final demerites maie grow to be perfect Thus a cherefull hert be sette with faith hope and charitee taketh no pensifulnes in the remembraunce of death but rather it reioyseth to remembre that by death it shall passe to lyfe neuer more to die Wherfore to die well euer is to die gladly either to be ridde from the bondes of this prison or to optaine the lybertee of heauen bothe waies commeth from a good lyfe passed so that surely no man can die well that lyueth not well for euer death is a sorowfull thyng to the euyl lyuer bycause he hath nothing to lay before the mercie of god whervpon he maie take hope and truste to be made worthy of the sure lyfe in the whiche deathe medleth not Nowe than yf we can gether what maie let vs to be gladde of deathe and what wyll bring vs to a desire of diyng gladdely we shall by the same picke out the waie to die well For in my minde these .ii. be alwais one to die well and to die gladly ¶ The glad desire of diyng is letted cheifely by two thynges one by the feare of death the tother by the loue of this lyfe The tone of these foloweth the tother For he that loueth this lyfe feareth to die and he that feareth to die loueth this lyfe Yet we maie speake of eche parte by him selfe and fyrste let vs assaie the greatteste the whiche is the feare of death than next after we will come to the tother the whiche is the loue of this life If these two blockes bee taken out of our stomackes we shall fynde an easy and a plaine waâ— to the ende of our purpose For who someuer nother feareth to die nor loueth to tarie in this lyfe he is redie alwaie to die gladly But to performe my promisse let me saie some what of the saied feare and loue ¶ Fyrste and cheifely the feare of death taketh awaie all gladnes of diyng and therby after myne opinion no man that dieth fearefully can die well soo that to learne the waie of diyng well we must learne the waie to die without feare And yet how I shulde proue that death is not to be feared I can not well tel seyng the hole power of nature sheweth that of all thynges death is most fearefull and to reason againste nature it were paraduenture not soo harde as vaine For what can reason preuaile if nature resistâ— It is a thing to farre aboue mans power to striue or to wrastell with nature hir strengthe passeth the myght of our will what helpe some euer we take of reason or of auctoritee nother counsaile nor coÌ„maundment hath place where nature dothe hir vtter mooste It is none excuâ—e to saie that men feare death bycause they be loth to leaue the commoditees of this lyfe or bycause they feare the thretenynges of purgatorie and of hell or elles bycause they thynke vpon the sore peynefull panges the whiche be in the tyme of death Naie these thinges make not cheifely the feare of diyng it maie well be that of suche thynges the feare is increased and made more ful but there is a feare before and beside all these thinges the whiche feare nature I saie giueth as it is well sene in yong children that haue no remembraunce nother of this life nor of the dedely panges nor of heauen purgatorie or helle Whan we in sporte threten to caste theim headling out at some hye windowe they quake trimble and waxe pale shewynge plaine and euident tokens of a naturall feare towarde deathe And thoughe by learnyng or by a curragious minde somme few amongest vs seme lyttell or nothyng to be moued with deathe yet the ensaumple of these fewe can not take awaie the trouth that nature in all the reste worketh For howe many be there that onely to eschew death suffre al wretchednes al beggarie all peyne in pycking vp crommes of nourisshement to abide a while in this lyght And the more shamfully that men for the moste parte feare to die the greater proffe there is that suche extreme poyntes of feare against all shame shulde not in soo many daiely appere whan death approcheth onles by nature some iuste feare were of the same For as the exceasse of feare cometh by weakenes of herte and lacke of stomacke the whiche is worthy to be rebuked for shamefull cowardnes so there is a meane measure of feare nâ— death
that by banishementes by rebukes by bondages by prisonmentes holy men came to great glorie I praie the shewe me deathe it selfe what hurte dyd it to the moste iuste and blessed Abell I saie that bytter and cruell deathe committed of no straunger but of his own naturall brother Is not Abel for this thing celebrated worshipped throughe all this worlde Thou seeste howe my processe declareth more than I promissed for it doth not only opē that no man is hurted of an other beside him selfe but also that holy men take infinite gaines and profites in these thynges by the whiche they seme to bee euill handled Here thou saiste what nedeth soo many peines so many punishmentes What nedeth hell and so many thretninges if it be true that no man hurteth nor noo man is hurted Here me to this peruerte not nor mingle not my tale For I said not that noo man hurteth but I saied that no man is hurted of an other Againe thou saist howe can this be that some shall hurte and yet no man bee hurted It maie be as I haue shewed for his own bretherne hurted Ioseph and did wickedly againste him but Iosephe him selfe was not hurted And Caine did wickedly against Abell whan he laide in wait to slaie him yet Abell him selfe was not hurted nor suffred noo parte of euill To this purpose seruethe peines and punishementes For the vertue of pacience in theim that suffre dothe not take away the trespasse of them that with an vngracious entente set vpon other and do wrongfully For all bee it that they by their pacience bee made more glorious yet the other bee not redemed of their miscsheife in their malicious purpose And therfore the vertue and noblenes of minde auaunceth the sufferer to honour and the malicious stomacke drowneth the doers in depe peines Thus the rightous iudge almightie god to them that constauntly continue in a vertuous life and come to receiue the rewarde of victorie preparethe a kyngdome in heauen and for them that without repentance persecute euer their sinfull purpose hell is ordeined Therfore if thy goodes bee taken from the saie with holy Iob I came naked out of my mothers wombe and naked I shall depart hense Put hereto the apostels saiyng We brought nothing in to this worlde nor we can not take hense with vs any thyng Thou hast hearde thy selfe to be euyll spoken by to be infamed and sclaundered with men remembre thou and put before thine eyes the wordes of oure maister where he saith Wo be ye whan ye be of al mē praised And in an other place Be ye mery and reioice whā men reuile your name as naught for my sake Thou art cast out of thy countrey and driuen from thy hous and possessions remembre that we haue not here our dwelling coūtrey but that wee seke the worlde to come Why then dost thou think that thou hast loste thy countreye whanne in this whole world thou art a stranger an alien and a pilgrim Thou art fallen into a greuous and ieoperdous sycknes vse and exercise the apostles saieng that is this Although our body the outwarde man be infected and sycke yet our sowle the inward man is therby renued and refreshed day by day Thou art closed and shette in pryson and some cruell deathe hangethe ouer thine head Loke vpon S. Iohn̄ beheaded in pryson and there fastely beholde soo great a prophetes heade graunted and giuen to a tumbling wench in the reward of bodily plesure These thynges whan they chaunce to the wrongefully loke thou regarde not the iniurye and malyce of theim that do hurte but ponder and way thou the rewarde and glorye that shall bee gyuen the for these wronges For he that willingly and pacientelye sufferethe all suche troubles is not only forgiuen of his trespasses and synnes but also he opteynethe thereby the merytes and the rewardes due to vertue and goodnes so hygh and great a thing it is to kepe stedfastly an assured and full faith in god Than seing that nother the losse of goodes and substaunce nor sclander nor defyaunce nor banysshement nor sickenesse nor tormentes nor deathe it selfe that semethe the most greuous thing of all the forsaid can hurt men but more rather helpe and do good to men in making vs better worthy of so great reward howe and wherof shall we proue any man to be hurted whan of none of these sayd greues a man can be hurted But I will nowe assay to lay plainly before thine eies that they only be hurted the which do hurt and that the hurt the whiche thei do noieth not nor toucheth not none other persone but onely them self that inforceth to hurt For tell me what can now be more vnhappy than Caine The death by the whiche he with his owne handes slewe his propre brother hath made Abell for euermore a saincte and gloriouse martyre and hathe caused the slear for euermore to be taken for a wicked mankyller and that against his owne bloud Also what is more wretched than that Herodis wife the which desired to haue S. John̄s head in a dishe that hir owne head shuld be drowned in the euerlasting flames of burning hell What is in worse case then the dyuell hym selfe the whiche by his malice made the holly Iob waxed nobler so muche grew and increased the diuels peine I thinke thou nowe seest that my tale hath shewed much more thā I promised For it is open and plaine not only how no man is hurted of theim that do wronge but also that the hurters and none els bee hurted and suffre euill For nother riches nor libertee nor noblenes nor helthe nor life nor suche other thinges be the propre goodes and substaunce of man that hath nothynge proprely his owne but onely the vertue of minde And therfore whan in these outwarde thynges other hurte or losse or trouble happeneth man is not hurted seeyng all his treasure is in the saied vertue of mind Here thou askest what if a man be hurted in the saied vertue It can not be but thus If any be hurted therin he is hurted of none other persō but only of himself Thou desirest to here how a man is hurted of him selfe Whā he is beaten of somme other or robbed and spoiled of his goods or by any meanes troubled if than he speke any opprobrious word any vnpacient sentence he is hurted yea and soore hurted yet I saie not of an other but of hymselfe through his own lacke of pacience For as it is saied before Behold what the blessed Iob suffered not of any man but of him that passed the al men in mischefe and crueltee That if he that blouddie tourmentour the diuell that haynouse kaitife with so many ingins so many craftes so many peines culd nothing preuaile in cōstraining Iob to trespasse with his tong before the face of God speciallye whan Iob had neuer hearde the lawe of God nor had not parte of the redempcion of the
their passions waxed more gloryous And the Iewes hauing their teÌ„ple theyr sacrifices the boke written with the haÌ„d of god hauing also Cherubin their holy and secreate place of praiers and al other thinges mete for their daily sacrifices and hauing the prophetes some departed some yet aliue the which in structed theim in their present maners shewed what god did continually for them and what he had in times past done what he did for them in Egipte what in the wildernes and what also god did for theÌ„ whan they came into the place promissed to them Yet al this not with standyng they not onely nothyng proceded in grace and vertu but also in appetual witnes of their own mischiefe and vngraciousnes they set vp in their churche ydols and images of faulse goddes sacrifyynge to the same bothe their owne sons and daughters Thus they did in theyr temple and also in other places in woddes and mountains but these saied thre children in a straunge countrey in the handes of their ennemies vnder the power of a cruell tiranne throwen into the fire bee nothynge hurted and not onely that but also take thereof greate honour and glorye Nowe than to make an ende wee knowing and gathering these maner of exaumples out of the hollye scripture where be many mo that make to this purpose if a man will seke there so that diuersly we may see some without all constrainte without all necessitee without any cause to bee againste theim selfe and take sore hurte some other hauing all the worlde against theim to be stedfaste in their righte waie and not able to be neuer so littel remoued frome theyr vertue Thus whan we euidently knowe and see we shoulde without all doubtynge conclude with our selfe that if any man be hurted he is hurted of him selfe although the numbre of theim that do hurte bee infinite although all in a plumpe that dwell other in the earthe or in the sea wolde agre to hurt yet they can not in no smal point hurt him that is not hurted of hym selfe With this we began and with this wee make here an ende FINIS The preface To my right worshipfull suster dame Suzan Kyngestone THe circumspecte persone whiche is accustomed one tyme in the yere to bee vexed with feuer Catarre or lyke syckenes preuenteth that tyme by expulsing the matter whiche moughte bee occasion of suche disseases and studiethe to reduce the bodie into suche temperaunce and soo to preserue it as the saied mattier shall not bee augmented wherby moughte ensue any detriment Like industrie or rather muche more oughte to be vsed good Suster of euery reasonable creature as well against the moste certaine sickenes and finall dissolucion of nature called corporal death as also against all worldly vexacions and troubles called the toyes of fortune or the crankes of the worlde consideryng that of any of theim neither the time can bee knowen whan they shall happen nor assured remedye maie bee founden for to repell them onely a pure and constaunte faithe hauynge therto ioyned wisedom and pacience may sustaine their assaultes and strongly resiste theim As it is excellently declared and taughte by the holly doctour and martyr saincte Cyprian in a sermon whiche he made to the people of Affrica where he was Byshoppe in the time whan there was continuall persecucion of painims and also mortalitee by generalle pestilence Whiche sermone whan I had ones perused in readyng I liked so well that I desired that all other persons mought vnderstande it Remembring that many there bee whiche I doubte not are as neigligent as I in consideryng those sondrie calamitees not withstandynge that they haue beholden men and women of euery astate whiche haue died eyther before that they loked for death or in some other wise than they vouched saulfe orels for saken of fortune haue liued in pouerty Wherfore as wel for their instruction as mine howe we maie be alwaie prepared againste those naturall and worldly afflictions I haue traunslated this littell boke not supersticiously folowing the letter whiche is verely elegant and therfore the harder to traunslate in to oure langage but kepyng the sentence and entent of the Auctour I haue attemted not with litel study to reduce into englishe the right phrase or fourme of speaking vsed in this treatise whiche I haue dedycate and sent vnto you for a tâ—ken that ye shall perceiue that I do not forget you and that I do vnfainedly loue you not onely for our allyance but also muche more for your perseueraunce in vertue and workes of true faithe praiyng you to communicate it with oure two susters religious Dorothe and Alianour and to ioyne in your praiers to god for me that I maie be constant in his seruice and performe well suche other workes as bene in my handes onely to his honourâ— and glorie ¶ I haue added hereto a litel treatise but wonderfull fruitful made by the vertuous and noble prince IohnÌ„ Picus Erle of Mirandula who in abundaunce of learnynge and grace incomparablie excelled all other in his time sens Whose picture I wolde to god were in all noble mens Chambers and his grace and vertues in theyr soules and maners Hertely fare ye well It London the firste day of Iuly the yere of our lorde god 1534. ¶ The sermon of holy sainct Cyprian of mortalitee of man Ryght well beloued frendes all bee it that many of you haue your myndes entier and perfecte the faith stable and the soule deuoute not beyng meued with the hugenes of this present mortalitee but lyke to a puissant and stedfast rocke rather doo breake the troublous assaultes of this worlde and the violente floudes of this present tyme the soule hir selfe not beyng broken ne ouercome with anye temptacions but onely proued Neuerthelesse for as muche as I do consider to be in the multitude diuers whiche either bee weakenes of courage or by smalnes of faith or by swetenes of the life of this world or by the delicatenes of their kynde or that whiche is a more heuie thing being deceiued in the opinion of truthe do not stande faste ne set forthe the diuine and inuincible mighte of their stomackes I mought no lenger dissemble that matter ne retaine it in silence but that as farre forthe as the meanes of my learning or wit moughte extende I wolde declare the doctrine of Christe by a sermon conceiued and lifelye expressed to the entent that the slouthe and dulnes of delicate mindes moughte be refourmed And also that he whiche hath all redie professed to be the seruante of Christe maie hereafter bee demed woorthy of Christe and therto accepted Uerely good frendes he that fyghteth for god and beyng in the celestial campe dothe hope on thynges that bee Godly ought to knowe well hym selfe to the intent that in the tempestes and stormes of this worlde there be in vs no dred or fearefulnes sens almightee god hathe afore warned that suche thynges shulde happen Instructyng and teachynge vs
or els rather in the swiftnes of renninge in the stedfastnes of foote in the assurednes of pace and lustye courage of stomacke and suche other pointes apte and mete either to make a iourney or to vse in warre as to be an horse that nothing amased nor afraide rusheth againste our ennemies or whan nede shall be can deliuer his maister by swift flight from slaughter Is it not clereâ— that the vertue of an horse restethe rather in these thinges than in the other foresaidâ— In like maner what shall we saie of other beastes Is not the goodnes of them in their strength and their propretee mete for oure vse For he that woulde praise an oxe will he consider the stal where the oxe standeth or any thing caste vpon the beast or els onely behold the bignes of his body the strength of his limmes the surenesse of his hooffe And he that wolde praise a vine wil he not consider the largenes of the leaues the length of the wrinkled spurges or elles rather loke howe thicke the clusters bee howe bigge the grapes grow and other fruites and trees in the same maner Wherfore lette vs also of this facion speake of men boulting out in theim what is the veraie vertue of a man and than let vs recken the man to bee hurted whan he is hurted in that vertue What nowe is the excellencie and vertue of a man it is not richenes feare not pouertee nor it is not bodily helth feare no sickenes nor it is not renowme and fame let no euill tongue feare the nor it is not thâ—s common life thou nedest not feare deathe nor it is not libertee nor noblenes least thou be afraide of bondage or of that we cal churles bloud but yet what is this vertue of mans minde It is to thinke right of god and to do right amongest men For all the foresaied vanitees maie be taken from man against his will but this saied vertue he that hath it cannot lose it by noo mans violence nor yet by the diuels excepte he him selfe destroy it Our aduersarie the diuell knewe well this order and degree of thinges and therfore whan he assauted the blessed man Iob he destroyed all his substaunce not to make hym poore but that he agreued with so great losse shuld speke some wordes of blasphemy against god and for the same self cause the diuell finally vexed and turmoiled the hole body of this pacient saint not that he shoulde be sicke whereof rose none hurte to Iob but the diuelles entent was to moue hym through the panges of sickenes if perchance he might forget his constaunt will towarde god and so be priuated of that vertue that his minde alwaie kepte For this onelye purpose the finde slewe all his children for this entent he turmented Iobs bodie with more cruelle and greuous peines than though he had bene rent with the violente handes of hangmen or of turmentours For no nailes nor fleshehokes coulde so haue torne the sides of that holy man as the finde digged in them with wormes to hurt hym was the diuels purpose and therfore all these peinfull sorowes he caste vppon Iob to make hym thinke somwhat amisse of god without the whiche pointe Iob coulde not bee hurted To this purpose Iobs frendes that came to comforte him were by the finde picked to prouoke greuouslye Iob and thei saied to hym O Iob thou art not yet punished according to the greattenesse of thy trespasses and weighte of thy synnes And many suche wordes thei spake and accused hym But the blessed Iob priuated and spoiled of citee of house of goodes of seruauntes of children had for his palaice a dunge hyll for his bedde the grounde for his clothes rotten and stinkynge straw Yet al this not withstanding the blessed man Iob is not onely by these meanes nothyng hurted but also by this persecucion he is made better more noble and of higher dignitee For where the find had spoyled him of all his goodes and also of al bodily case and helth there blessed Iob through his pacience gathered infinite riches of vertue Nor he was not with god in soo great hope and truste before he swette and laboured in this cruell bataile Than of this lette vs consider if this holy man Iob that suffered so muche and so intollerable thinges and suffred of him that farre passethe all maner of men in all kindes of crueltee and of vngraciousnes yet if he could not be hurted in the vertue strengthe and power of his minde who now than is there whose excuse shall appere right and iust whan he saith That person letted me that maÌ„ offended me that maÌ„ hurted me that person dyd me great wrong For if the diuell that is full of all mischeife with his holle power and all his might settyng vpon the house substaunce and bodie of soo iuste and holy a man with all his dartes all his ingins and all his artillerie yet coulde not hurte him but as I saied made him hereby more glorious and more worthie to be loked vpon howe than I praie the can any personne blame an other as thoughe he mighte bee by an other man hurted or noyed Here thou obâ—ectest and saiest what was not Adam hurted of the diuel was not he deceiued and driuen out of Paradise To this I tell the The diuel hurted not Adam but his own frailnes and sluggishenes hurted him whilest he regaded not the kepyng of goddes commaundement For this finde that came so armed with so many weapons and deceites againste the saied blessed man Iob yet was not able to conquere and ouercome him Howe coulde he by any meanes haue deceiued Adam excepte Adam by his owne propre negligence willingly hadde hurted and destroyed hym selfe But again thou saiest what than A man betraied accused of backbiters loseth all his substance and goodes is not he hurted whan he is spoyled of all his patrimonie of al his heritage and brought to extreme wretchednes is soore vexed and troubled I saie noo Ye not onely he is not hurted but he shall haue here of great aduantage and gaines if he bee diligent and take good hede For I praie the tel me in what pointe dyd the pouertee of Christe hurte the apostles Liued not they in hunger in thrist poore and naked and yet hereby they grewe more noble and were more glorious and optemed a greatte hope and truste in god by their miserie Dyd not syckenes scabbes extreme wretchedenes nede and pouertie bringe Lazar to the blessed life and for his vexacion and troubles in this worlde was not he crowned in the euerlasting ioye What shall we saie of Ioseph was not he continually sclandered and rebuked both at home in his owne countrey and forth in so much that he was punished for an aduoutrer and driuen from his kynne house and all acquaintance is not he for these thinges in great honour with al men and with god in great glorie But why doo we reherse