thee O thou Vsurer and thou that grindest the faces of the poore thy gold cannot ransome thee Then thou mighty man that rackest the Widdow and circumuentest the Orphane of his successiue right thy honour cannot priuiledge thee then thou murtherer adulterer and blasphemer thy colourable excuses will not purge thee Then O thou vncharitable Churle who neuer knewest that a rich man treasures vp no more of his riches then that he contributes in Almes Thou that neuer imbracedst the counsell of that reuerend Father who cryes Feede him that dies for hunger Whosoeuer thou art that canst preserue and wilt not thou standest guilty of famishing then I say in that day shalt thou pine in perdition Then O thou luxurious Epicure that through the fiue senses which are the Cinque-Ports or rather sinner-ports of thy soule gulpest downe delightfull sinne like water they will bee to thee like the Angels bookes sweet in thy mouth but bitter in thy bowels Then O thou gorbellied Mammonist that pilest vp congestest huge masses of refulgent earth purchased by all vnconscionable courses yet carriest nothing with thee but a Coffin and a winding sheete Thy faire pretences will be like Caracters drawne vpon the Sands or Arrowes shot vp to Heauen-ward they cannot release thee from Satans inexpiable seruitude Then O thou Canker-worme of Common-wealthes thou Monster of Man thou that puttest out the eye of Iustice with Bribes or so closely shutst it that the clamorous cry of the poore mans case cannot open it Thou that makest the Law a nose of Waxe to turne and fashion it to thine owne priuate end to the vtter disgrace of conscionable Iustice and to the lamentable subuersion of many an honest and vpright cause thy quirkes dilatory demurres conueyances and conniuences cannot acquit thee but thou shalt be remoued with a Writ into the lowest and darkest dungeon of damnation No no the Lord of heauen and earth who is good in infinitenesse and infinite in goodnesse will winnow garble and fanne his corne the choyce wheate he will treasure vp in the garners of eternall felicitie but the Chaffe and Darnell must bee burnt with vnquenchable fire There must you languish in torments vnrelaxable there must you fry and freeze in one selfe-furnace there must you liue in implacable and tenebrous fire which as Austin defines shall giue no light to comfort you Then will you wish though then too late that you had beene created loathsome Toades or abhorred Serpents that your miseries might haue clozed vp with your liues but you must bee dying perpetually yet neuer dye and which enuirons mee with a trembling terrour when you haue languish't in vnexpressible agonies tortures gnashings and horrid howlings ten thousand millions of yeeres yet shall you bee as farre from the end of your torments as you were at the beginning A confused modell and misty figure of hell haue wee conglomerate in our fancy drowzily dreaming that it is a place vnder earth vncessantly Aetna-like vomiting sulphurious flames but we neuer pursue the meditation thereof so close as to consider what a thing it is to liue there eternally For this adiunct Eternall intimates such infinitenesse as neither thought can attract or supposition apprehend And further to amplifie it with the words of a worthy Writer though all the men that euer haue or shall be created were Briareus-like hundred-handed and should all at once take pens in their hundred hands and should doe nothing else in ten hundred thousand millions of yeeres but summe vp in figures as many hundred thousand millions as they could yet neuer could they reduce to a Totall or confine within number this Trisillable word Eternall Can any Christian then vpon due cōsideration hereof forbeare to prostrate himselfe with flexible humility before the glorious Throne of Grace there with flouds of vnfaigned teares repentantly abiure and disclaine the allurements of carnall corruption the painted pleasures of the world and the bitter sweetnesse of sinne which is the death's wound of his soule for a Weapon wounds the body and sinne the soule For what profits it a man to winne the whole world and lose his owne soule The soundest Method therefore to preuent our exclusion from the Throane of Gods mercy is to imagine we still see him present in his Iustice whatsoeuer or when soeuer we attempt any blacke designe Let vs but adumbragiously fancy as one hath it the Firmament to bee his Face the all-seeing Sunne his right Eye the Moone his left the Winds the breath of his Nostrils the Lightening and Tempests the troubled action of his Ire the Frost and Snow his Frownes that the Heauen is his Throne the Earth his Footstoole that he is all in all things that his omnipotence fils all the vacuities of Heauen Earth and Sea that by his power hee can vngirdle and let loose the Seas impetuous waues to o'rewhelme bury this lower vniuerse in their vast wombs in a moment that hee can let drop the blue Canopy which hath nothing aboue it whereto it is perpendicularly knit or hurle thunder-bolts thorow the tumorous cloudes to pash vs precipitate through the center into the lowest dungeon of Hell These allusiue cogitations of Gods omnipotent Maiestie will curbe in and snaffle vs from rushing into damnable actions if we vnremoueably seat them in our memories Make then a couenant with thine eyes and heart O man lest they dote on earthly grasse surfeit on the sugared Pils of poysonous vanities and so insensibly hurle downe thy better part into the gulph of irreuocable damnation if not for thy selfe sake yet iniure not thy Creatour who halh drawne thee by his owne patterne moulded thee in his owne forme and to make thee eternally happy hath infused his owne essence into thee for thy soule by the Philosophers confession is infusion celestiall no naturall traduction and in that respect another calls it an arrachment or cantell pulld from the celestiall substance which cannot terminate it selfe within a lumpe of flesh Euen as the beames of the Sunne though they touch the earth and giue life to these inferiour creatures yet still reside in the body of the Sunne whence they are darted So thy soule though it bee seated either within the filme of the braine or confined in the center of the heart and conuerseth with the sences yet it will still haue beeing whence it hath its beginning Remember then thy Creatour in the dayes of thy youth call vpon him while it is called to day for as the Poet no lesse sweetely then discreetly sung Who knowes ore night that hee next morne shall breathe Then take Dauids Early in the morning not the Deuils Stay till to morrow for thou knowest God will bring thee to Iudgement yet thou knowest not when nor in what yeere nor in what moneth of the yeere nor in what weeke of the moneth nor in what day of the weeke nor in what houre of the day nor in what minute of that houre nor in what moment of
an Apple To entice with Siluer the Sonne of the King of Heauen to offend his Father and after the example of Esau to sell my birth-right for a messe of pottage Such perswasions shall not by any meanes possesse mee God will not afflict me vvith so great a blindnesse We are vnworthy to be followers of CHRIST if wee doe not esteeme our selues to be better then the world Was it not for the loue of the faithfull that the world was framed Will not God ruinate it againe for to reedifie for them a faire house in Heauen where shall bee the fulnesse of glory For this Heauen or climate is inferiour to the worth and dignity of the children of God You that feare God and trust in his Sonne know that it is you that vnderprop the world and that nourish the wicked in it Therefore the enemies of God are bound in obligation to you For hee doth conserue the world out of a respect which he hath towards his chosen and elect whereof some are mixed among the euill and others are yet vnborne It is written in the sixt of the Apocalypse That GOD doth attend vntill our fellow-seruants be accomplished And therefore this is one of the reasons why that Christ doth call the faithfull The salt of the earth which is as much as a little part amongst men which conserueth the rest and delayeth their destruction For God conserueth the sinfull because of the good to the end that they should serue as medicines to them and that the might and power of our Aduersaries might serue to compell vs to the feare of God and to trust in his promises Such being the excellency of Gods elect aboue the rest it behooueth vs to respect the pleasures riches and greatnesse of the world as things that are most ridiculous and as the painted kingdomes which the Diuell shewed vnto Christ Like those which from the highest part of the Alpes doe looke into Campania where the greatest Cities seeme like vnto little Cottages how much lesse and base will they seeme then if they were discerned from Heauen From thence therefore it behooueth that the faithfull contemplate humane things and that hee transport instantly his heart to Heauen since that there is his treasure And considering from thence the Palaces of Princes hee will esteeme them as habitations of Ants and the turbulent murmuring of men as the buzzing of an angry swarme of Bees and contemplating from thence vvhat things are most great and apparant in the earth he wil say The vanity of vanities all is vanity That holy glory will not hinder Christian humilitie For wee knowing the worthinesse of our selues doe finde our dignity in Iesus Christ If Repentance doth humble vs Faith doth exalt vs. If we are nothing before God wee are somewhat in God in his fatherly affections And therefore in this the faithfull are contrary to worldly men for they doe lift their eyes to heauen by too much pride but presse downe their heart on the earth with Auarice and Incontinency whereas the godly on the contrarie hath his eyes vpon the earth by humilitie as the Publican which durst not lift his eyes to Heauen but hath his heart in Heauen by faith and hope The contempt of this world proceeds not out of a loue to himselfe but out of a true affection to God THE MISERY OF MANS FRAILE AND NATVRALL INCLINATION AND Of the Wickednesse and Peruersenesse that now raigneth in this wretched AGE COnsidering to my selfe the miseries of Humane condition my minde and spirit is so confounded with diuersitie of thoughts that I enter as it were into a Labyrinth of confusion whose issue is most difficult For if I settle my considerations vpon Nature humane qualities or effects those three obiects do so obfuscate my powers that all the knowledge that I can gather is impossibilitie neuer to attaine to the perfect knowledge of the numberlesse number of those miseries mis-haps and vanities affected as inseparable to humane kinde and to that end doe chalenge all the most profound and serious sences of the wisest and most learned men to effect the definition therof Let them consider from its source originall yea euen from the Cradle where humane nature shall bee found senselesse depriued from the vsage of all the noblest faculties of the Soule and so weake wretched and capable onely of teares and weepings expressing thereby in complaining her miseries which doe increase faster then she growes in yeeres She hath no sooner giuen ouer the Milke of her Nurse but she begins to goe or rather to fall sith her going is in danger of sore hurts by a continuall experience in falling Can shee goe She knowes not whither to goe but must haue a conduct during the time of her second Infancy what forme of bringing vp soeuer shee takes vpon her the first impressions thereof are most costly in respect of the time and their labour and trouble which haue the care thereof which is incredible For as shee receiues some document of worldly science and discipline which if it be a true doctrine will instruct her that whatsoeuer qualities sciences and learning she possesseth yet she is still ignorant and knowes in a manner nothing and all that she knowes not can neuer bee by her learned or conceiued although she haue so many liues as this world abounds with creatures And which is more she hath not so soone escaped and passed ouer the perils of her Youth but she commeth and entreth into those infinite dangers of her ripe age and that which is most deplorable and lamentable is that in that fiery and burning age shee vtterly consumes wasts her selfe Or if she escape moderates the fury violence of the heat of that age it is but for a time for what way so euer she treads Nature shee still approaches neere vnto death being alwayes in the ready way to her graue where by degree time hunts her vnder the conduct of old age not without many crosses sorrowes and tribulations for she must passe through cruell and tedious straights of anguish and miseries no lesse innumerable then infinite which astonisheth and weares out euen the most constant who are in a manner not able to indure them with patience If we will see the body of this Tree we must breake the barke of our condition for it is the true portraiture of our selues and so wee may cleerely apprehend it with the very same reason considering what an infinite number of mis-haps miseries and mischiefes wee are subiect vnto in this transitorie world that the infinitie of them is impossible to be related for if examples be vaine to manifest it vnto vs by comparison our imbecilitie in expressing it alone may be in some fashion eloquent for to treate some part thereof and that wherewith the afflicted are most comforted is through the assurance they haue that all men together are subiect to the like miseries and ill fortunes except
none but those who are not yet borne or those who in their Cradle ending their liues finde their Sepulchres otherwise let the most happy and the most contented man that now liueth on earth gaine-say it alledging this for his reason that he knowes not what mis-haps and miseries meane and that in so sweet ignorance he hath passed not onely the spring of his Youth but likewise the Summer and part of the Winter of his age that it is well hitherto but it is without consequence times past can conclude nothing of the future and though it seemeth to this happy man that although crosses troubles tribulations and miseries should as it were assault him in the end of his race time should bee wanting to make durable and lasting the griefe of his euils and afflictions Forasmuch as death doth alwaies and lawfully succeed old age which should hinder and interrupt the course and proceeding thereof but to that I will truely answer without many needlesse proofes for surety that his last day onely is able sufficiently to make him feele and haue tryall of the most cruell and sensiblest griefe torments wherewith any mortall body can be vexed therefore the most fortunate man that is cannot account himselfe happy but at the end of his racei sith oftentimes before an hauen Town many suffer shipwracke that haue escaped miraculously many eminent dangers in the middest of Stormes and Tempests But to proceed further I say that although there were such a man found in this world of so happy condition as to haue alwayes sailed in the ship of his life in this rough and inconstant Sea of the earth with the agreeable winds of his desire and without the least dangers but rather continually to haue enioyed a sweet and immutable calme yet notwithstanding this kinde of life full of Roses will proue full of Thornes at his death in considering that losse and depriuation of all those pleasures doe produce and bring forth cruell sorrows and griefes to the possessor thereof whose minde will bee so extremely vext and tormented that his paines and sufferings can be rather endured then expressed which may easily bee proued by the continuall experience that wee haue in worldly things by this Maxime the greater the contentments are the more extreme is the displeasure and anguish in the deprauation of them euen as gaine and profit produce feelings of ioy so losse and dammage by different effects breede sencible torments and griefes which moues me to conclude according to my first Propositions that there is no life although neuer so happy that can bee free and exempted from sorrowes and miseries and to adde my opinion to it I hold that the most vnfortunate are the happiest considering the conclusion and end of all things how the calme followes still the tempest the day succeeds the night faire weather raine and ioy is still attended with annoy and sorrowes according to the maxime of Heauen Earth all the difference there is is that this worlds happinesse and ioyes are temporall and limited and in the other World eternall and infinite But to returne to our condition to make it appeare vnto you all together wretched miserable we must consider how time playes with it somtimes raising vs as it were to prosperity in a moment casting vs headlong into aduersitie it serueth for a Marke to aime and leuell at and an habitation and lodging of all euils For hope deceiues our condition vanity flouts it ambition mockes it vices are her beloued children and vertues her greatest enemies pleasure cheates her the flesh tempts her riches commands her as her Soueraigne and finally the Diuell maintaines a continuall warre with her vntill her end Let vs iudge then if pride and arrogancy become vs well considering all these our infirmities and defaults Wee must not therefore wonder if Humility bee the Queene of all other vertues sith Arrogancy hath beene and is still Princesse of Vices I hold opinion with that worthy Philosopher which in one lesson only taught all sorts of Sciences comprehended abridged in that admirable precept and instruction of Cognosce Teipsum and truely who in that knowledge is not ignorant and that in knowing himselfe will auow that hee doth not perfectly know himselfe The way that we leade to arriue at this blest iourneys end vnto which wee aspire is most long and tedious So that it vvere much better for vs to arme our selues with a generous resolution to forsake the world before it doth leaue and abandon vs for the soonest we can will bee late enough to execute so glorious an enterprize For when I thinke and behold the miserable state of this transitorie world and how it is infected with all sorts of execrable sinnes a trembling horrour vnties my bodies ligatures my very knees beat together and I could vnfainedly wish my sinnowy structure to be transformed into a lumpe of snow that the ardour of my soules vexation might dissolue it into penitentiall teares for men do act sinne with an auaritious appetite and all varieties of abominations are lifted to their Arcticke point Doth not Satan coyne them so fast as men would willingly put them in practize Did pride euer so strut it vpon the Tiptoes as now it doth Can the Diuell out of his shape of fashions lay open more Antike-like formes then are forged on the Anuill of mans inuention In Court the Nobilitie are hardly distinguisht from their followers In Citie the Merchant is not knowne from his Factor In Countrey the Gentry cannot be descryed or described from the Rusticke and in generall the body publike is so ouerspred with the Leprosie of that garish Strumpet Pride as there is scarce any difference betweene Countesse and Curtezan Lady and Chamber-Maid Mistresse and greasie Kitchin Wench Gentleman and Mechanick As for Knight and Taylor there goes but a paire of Sheares betwixt them How many mis-spend and profusely lauish their fore-noones houres in the curious pranking of their sinne-polluted bodies but how few reserue one poore brace of minutes wherein to prouide spirituall indewments to houze their naked sinfull soules Neuer was the Apophthegme of old Byas the Philosopher more verified then in these our franticke times Most men carry their wealth about with them not as Bias did in learning and vertue but vpon their back in gorgeous apparell Women doe so commonly sophisticate their beauties that one though Linceus-sighted can hardly iudge whether they possesse their own faces or no and which is more than most lamentable euery snowy-headed Matron euery toothlesse Mumpsimus that one may see the sun go to bed thorow the furrowes of her forehead must haue her box of odoriferous Pomatum and glittering Stibium wherewithall to parget white-lime and complectionate her rumpled cheekes till she lookes as smugge as an hansome painted Close stoole or rotten poste But as for them that lap vp their bodies in the pleasant mists of aromaticke perfumes let them withall swallow this
stand ope to all be shut to none But in these our moderne dayes they can cunningly transpose the point and and thus peruert the sense Stand open gate to none be shut to all Doe not these heauen-tempting Nimrods depopulate and leuell vvith the ground whole townes crowd and iustle many honest and ancient Farmers out of their Demesne deuastate their Possessions and expose them with their Wiues Children and Families to be Camerades with palefac'd beggery onely to lay the Basis of their Babel-out-brauing Palaces abillimented with Punkish out-sides to cheate the speedy approaching Traueller of his hungry hopes as Zeuxis did the silly Birds with his liuely-limbed Grapes as if they be in-lined with quaint garnishing and costly furniture beautified with curious pencild pieces wheron thy eye may glut it selfe by gazing yet perhaps maist thou be chap-faln for want of victuals These glittering obiects are the Medusas that inchant the violent instigations that spurre on young luxurious heires to hurle out their Angle to catch their fathers liues and languishingly to long till they see their mossie-bearded Sires topple vp their heeles into their graues And when their Fathers surrender vp their breathes to him from whom it was first diffused then doe they mourne forsooth though ceremonially not for that they are dead but because they died no sooner The premisses pre-considered what can be expected then but an imminent desolation or conclusiue dissolution of this foolish doting world since vniuersally it is but an indigested Chaos of outragious enormities Religion is made the Canopy to shrowd the putrifaction of Hypocrisie and it 's growne the highest Maxime in mundane policies to seeme not be religious equall-handed Iustice is rush'd aside by stubborne authoritie and all Morall vertues imbraced in their contraries How long then most milde more merciful God wilt thou forget to bee iust Oh how long wilt thou shut vp the vessels of thy wrath and protract reuenge Art thou not the powerful God of Iustice how canst thou then be any thing but thy selfe What infinities of sinnes are shot vp to Heauen against thee Yet still and still thou wooest vs with the heauenly breath of thy holy Gospell vncouering those inexpressible wounds thou receiuedst for our Redemption from sinne and Satan that we might with pittifull commiseration behold them and vncessantly crying out vnto vs How oft O my deare children whom I haue bought with the price of my most precious bloud would I haue gathered you together euen as the Hen doth her Chickens and yet nor yet you will not be collected How oft hath hee thundered and knockt at the doores of our hearts with the power of his Spirit to wake from the profound Ecstasm o f soule-killing sinnes yet still lye we snorting on the bed of securitie and cannot be rowzed How often O how often hath hee out-stretched his all-sauing hand to heaue and helpe vs out of the slimie mudde of our impieties yet still lye we groueling and ouer-whelmed in the insensible Lethargy of abominable transgressions How many warning-pieces hath he discharged vpon vs How oft hath hee displayed his milke-white Ensignes of peace vnto vs What deuouring plagues what fires what inundations what vnseasonable Seasons what prodigeous Births what vnnaturall Meteors what malevolent Coniunctions what ominous apparitions what bloudy assassinations of mighty Kings what Rapes what Murthers what fraudulencies betwixt brother and brother what horrible conspiracies by sonnes against fathers All these sent as Heralds against vs yet will wee not come and bee reconciled These prodigious precursions or precursiue prodigies should deterre each humane creature from spurning against his Creator These pre-monitions should instruct vs that Gods dreadfull vengeance waits at our dores like a staru'd Tiger gapes for our destruction And notwithstanding he doe for a while fore-slowe to let fall his flaming rod of fierie indignation vpon vs yet is the Axe already laid to the roote of the tree and God must and will assuredly come to iudgement seeing that now not any of those ancient predictions mystically pointed out vnto vs in the soule-sauing Writ by the holy Prophets remaine vnfinished but onely the finall destruction of that Romish seuen-headed Monster together with the recollection of the vagabond Iewes into the sheepe-fold of Iesus Christ Doth not an vncouth terrour seize vpon a man whē in the depth or noone of night this sudden and vnthought of out-cry of fire fire shall fill his affrighted eares and chase him out of his soft and quiet slumbers whereat skipping from his easefull bed and distractedly gazing through the Casement shall behold his owne house o're-spred with a bright-burning flame and himselfe together with his Wife and Children seruants goods and all most lyable to the deuouring rapacitie of imminent danger O consider then wicked man how thy soule will be beleaguered with anguish and horrour when in that last and terrible Day thou shalt behold with thy mortall eyes the Cataracts of heauen vnsluced and hushing showres of sulphurious fires disperse themselues through all the corners of the earth and aire the whole Vniuerse o're-canoped with a remorselesse flame when thou shalt see the great and glorious Iudge appeare triumphantly in the skies whilest mighty-winged clouds of deuouring flames fly before him as Vshers to his powerfull and terrible Maiestie attended with countlesse multitudes of beautious Angels golden winged Cherubims and Seraphims sounding their Trumpets whose clamorous tongues shall affright the empty ayre and cal awake the drowzy dead from their darke and duskie cabins when thou shalt see the dissipated bones of all mortals since the Creation concatenate and knit in their proper and peculiar form amazedly start vp in numberles troupes flocke together all turning vp their wondring eyes to gaze vpon their high and mighty Creator Then O then will thy conscience recommemorate afresh thy past committed sinnes and with the corroding sting of guilt will stab thorow thy perplexed soule Then O then will it be too late to wish the Mountaines to fall vpon thee for they themselues for feare would shrinke into their Center Alas it cannot then bee auaileable to woo the waters to swallow thee for they would bee glad to disclaime their liquid substance and be reduced to a nullity What will it boote thee then to intreat the earth to entombe thee in her dankish wombe when shee her selfe will struggle to remoue from her locall residence and to fly frō the presence of the great Iudge The aire cānot muffle thee in her foggy vastitie for that wil be cleerely refin'd in her will be celestiall flames before contaminated with humane pollution In fine how will thy soule tremblingly howle out and breake forth into bitter exclamations when thou shalt heare that definitiue or rather infinitiue sentence denounced against thee I know thee not Depart and goe into euerlasting torment whilest Legions of diuels with horrid vociferations muster about thee like croking Rauens about some dead carkasse waiting to carry
our selues vpon him The heauen moueth alwayes and yet it is the place of our rest On the contrary the earth resteth alwayes and yet it is the place of our motion The Quadrants and Horologies imitate the motion of heauen but the faith of the beleeuers doth imitate the Rest which is aboue all Vlysses did more esteeme the smoake of his owne house than the flame of anothers How much more then would he esteeme the flame of his owne chimney than the smoake of anothers Wee are heere strangers this is not our house our habitation is in heauen Let vs compare the smoake of this strange house and the darkenesse of the earth with the beauty and splendor of our owne dwelling which is the in Kingdome of heauen Here is the reigne of Satan there the Kingdome of God here is a valley of teares there the height of mirth here wee sowe in sorrow there wee reape in ioy here wee see the light of the Sunne through two little holes which are called the eyes there wee receiue light from God on euery side as if wee were all eyes Therefore because God is all in all to him be honour and glory in this world and in the world to come Amen FINIS ON THE WORTHY NAME OF MY NOBLE and learned Author that excellent Diuine Monsieur PIERRE DV MOVLIN the Mirror of our age PRaise mis-bestow'd on him t' whom none belongs ILl fits the Praised and the Praiser wrongs ERror in praising may the prais'd defame RAising vp worth on an vnworthy Name REst weake-wing'd Muse striue not this worth to raise ELated by its selfe its selfe can praise DV MOVLIN'S worth I meane whose sacred skill VNder ha's brought Romes Champion to his will MY Muse bee mute forbeare his worth t' expresse O! Wrong not that by praise to make it lesse VNto the world's broad Eye what riches rest LOck't in the closet of His pious brest IS cleerely seene and specially appeares NOw more transcendent in 's Heraclits Teares Deuoted to your Vertues ABR DARCIE THE TRANSLATOR TO the vnpartiall Reader all Prosperity ALl is corrupt and naught all eu'ry where BElow high Heau'n Ther 's not a corner Cleare RIch subtill worldlings wise cramd with wealths store ARe but the fooles of Fate exceeding poore HOnor Wealth Beauty Pompe i' th' best degree ARe subiect all to change no State liues free MONARKS nor Kings the glory they liue in DEath shall deface as if th' had neuer bin ATtend faire Vertue then Vice dis-respect REbuild thy sunke foundation Architect CLimbe Heau'n braue spirits let your Teares expell IN faire Repentance showr'd the worst of hell EVer to gaine those Ioyes no tongue can tell FINIS * This Princely Dame is a blest branch of these famous Trees of Honour the most ancient House of Derby and the Noble family of the Spencers * Honorable branches of Honour sprung from the Noble House of Bridgewater * Noble Twigs of vertue issued from the Illustrious family of the Paulets Marquises of Winchester Eccles 12. 12. Pyrrus King of Epirots that valiant and victorious warriour is killed by a silly woman with a tile stone He who had filled the earth with the Trophees of his deedes and triumphs of his victories Alexander of Macedonia that most famous Monarch died impoysoned by his owne seruants The chiefe of the Greekes hauing escaped so many perils in the Troyans warres is cruelly murdered before his Castle Great Pompey hauing shunned the bloudy hand of his enemies is killed by his deare obliged friend That victorious French Monarch Henry of Bourbon the 4. of that name whose inuincible valour made Spaine quake Rome treÌ„ble is in time of peace lamentably murdred in his Coach in the midst of his Royall citie of Paris These examples do euidently shew the worlds mutability and inconstancie Eccl. 1. 14. Of Infancy Of Youth Youth compared to yong trees That Kings and Soueraignes are not more free from misery then other inferiour persons The inuenters if new Patents Enuious insatiable Courtiers Wealth inticeth men to sinne New Duels doe adde to one much reputation for as it is a shame for a man to come into the world so they hold it an honour to send him out of it Mens reward for those follies and deboistnesse committed in their Youth Magistrates and wicked Iudges A Notable adâ—ertisement for Judges and Magistrates The Author as before craues pardon of all modest Religious and vertuous women whose vertue hee doth honour and reuerence Mat. 15. 36. 6. 27. 1. Tim. 6. Couetousnes the source and originall of all wickednes and abomination Of Enuie that cruell abominable and bloudy vice which doth generaly raigne now in this our degenerate age Of Ambition the cause of our fall and ruine Bernard Ambitiosorum Arcana sunt periculosissima Maledictus superbus est tam impudens voluntartè se separeta Deo Mans felicitie and happinesse doth not depend onely vpon greatnesse and degnity for contentment exceedeth riches Take Fees with both hands gull their Clients and make them like bare-headed Vassals pray and pay soundly for their importunate bawling An excellent Simile The vanity simplicitie and folly of aged men Hee that knowes much and knowes not himselfe knowes nothing Simile Such minds incite whores rather then chaste and vertuous women With good reason S. Austin said That Man pleaseth God the best that circled with beauties in the mids of Princes magnificent Palaces could fly their alluring temptations A notable comparison to confound the folly of men who thinke to auoid temptations by rendring and making themselues Anchorites and Hermites Non quaere-Christus Iesus glariam suam omnia Igitur relinqnere debes etiam te ipsum spernere abnegare vt frauris amicitia Ihesu Christi Simile A pittifull example of Mans Wolfe-like appetite his insatiate desire of riches and vgly terror of deformiâ—y Than the Day of Death there is nothing more certaine nor nothing vncertaine * Nota. This is weighty to be obserued not ouely of the poore and inferiour persons but more to be apprehended with feare by theÌ„ most mighty Soueraignes and greatest men of this world that they may not build their happinesse vpon the deceitfull ground of their riches and transitory possessions Death is a terrour to those ignoble minds whose pride of life makes them weake timerous most vndoubted Cowards to the least obiect Death shal present The Rich vnprofitable Mizerburns in Hell for his Auarice while his sonne in the world dancing a Whore on his Lap sets all prodigally flying Tunc Post vnam voluptatem sequuntur mille dolores Simile Most worthy to be read and considered with terrour and true repentance Ver Aeternum plenisfima delitiarum quam pura es The Maiesty of God in the generall Judgement Day shall be more terrible to the impious Monarks of the earth then either the world on fire round about them Hell gaping to swallow the vgly Fiends to torture or the paines of Hell can affright them Remember Hell t is not a feined but a place most fume most fearefull Poenitentia sera raro vera How Gods incomprehensible Prouidence frustrates the designes of men making their enterprises of no validity Luke 9. 99. Consider the subtilty of Satan and mans sudden ruine Memento decimo sexto die Octobris â—â—ilo Antiquo quinto die Octob. slilo Nouo MDCXXIII Of the vaine glory of men most corruptible and transitory The iust reward of Kings proud mounting Fauorites Necessitas non habet legem Of the vanitie of humane thoughts desires and iudgements Idle most vnprofitable thoughts Read Swetons Worke. A true Simile of those that build Castles in the Castles in the ayre A principall and most worthy obseruation The profit of solitarinesse Death terrible to the foole Mans vncertainty where to rest Foolish and vaine desires Despaire animates man to hasten the destruction The strong operation of conceit The vaine and superstious follies of ignorant Idolaters Grosse errors which like a foggy mist blind and confound the sight and sense of men Adherents of the Church of Rome We must not thinke to make with our wealth and worldly riches a composition and truce with Death for Nature requires a tribute at our hands * A Simile worthy of obseruation a Wee are so rooted in this worlds abomination that we prefer a minute of worldly pleasure before heauens euerlasting ioyes incomprehensible and immutable Men ought not to be regarded not respected for their gallant and gorgeous apparell only but more for their vertues Man Iull'd in the Labyrinth of pleasures knowes not how to get out The custome of the world Marriage without loue and meanes breeds the most wofull experience of a miserable life Worldlings most wise in knowing the way to get riches but to seeke after the riches of Heauen dull Animals Omnia sub sole vanitas Happy the man that followes this blest example The world 's a Where full of deceitfulnesse There is no true friendship but among good men very scant in this Age. God in his infinite mercy ruinates the building of sinne in the body to re-build the Soule an euerlasting Mansion in Heauen The Alpes be inexasible high great Mountains which diuide France from Italy Man borne in misery most miserable euen froÌ„ his Cradle Mans life assaultod by peril I and eminent dangers No man free from sorrows miseries There is a time pre-ordained for euery thing Humilitie the Queene of Vertues Pride the Princesse of Vice * Belarmine He also by his most excelent and admirable Booke intituled The BVCKLER OF THE FAITH doth vtterly confound the Romane Church And many Iesuites in presuming to dispute with this rare Diuine are put to their Non plus vltra Yea the most famous of theÌ„ Mr. Arnoux the Iesuite is put to his Shifts and Euasions