to ouercome and stand against the slights and assaults of the Deuill and hauing ouercome all things stand fast Stand fast then hauing your loynes girded about with veritie hauing on the brest-plate of righteousnesse and your feete shod with the preparation of peace Aboue all laying hold on the shield of faith wherewith you may quench all the fierie darts of the wicked one Take also the helmet of saluation and the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God Praying alwayes with all manner of prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all perseuerance These are the words of the Apostle But because it is not enough to name and shew weapons to a man if he know not how rightly to vse and to handle them We are more particularly to enquire after and to discourse and set forth the practise of this military Art as much as the consolation which we purpose to propose to wise old men doth require Saint Ambrose in his commentary vpon the sixt Chapter to the Ephesians speakes well to the purpose that although the Apostle names many specialties and partes of Armour yet faith it is that makes vs keepe to our tackling and to stand fast and whereof principally we haue need in this spirituall combat In deed what auailes it to read much to heare many Sermons of the prouidence grace and mercy of God if faith be not added to his Word And what auailes it to beleeue this word to be true if you tremble not when it soundes lowder in your eares then vsually it hath done if you stedfastly settle not your ioy and assurance in the promises of saluation which it propoundeth vnto you if you doe not in humilitie revere and honour your heauenly Father if you dread not his wrath indignation more then ten thousand deathes if you bee not wholly resolued that God speakes to condemne you if you perseuere and goe on to prouoke him and to offer you grace if you amend your liues and beleeue in the Gospell To what purpose serue so many Sermons touching Iesus Christ his obedience his merit his miracles his loue to saue his elect And what are so many exhortations good for if this Sauiour dwell not in your hearts by faith if he doe not rule amend and reforme them if by his spirit of sanctification and adoption he seale them not vp in them if he doe not stampe and engraue his loue and truth in them The Apostle S. Iohn speaking of the speciall graces of God who is Almighty and good to his children wisely and necessarily ioynes these two together To wit that he hath giuen vs eternall life that this life is in his Sonne so that whosoeuer hath the Sonne consequently hath an assured guard of defence against death and all the temptations which goe before and precede it Afterward that God hath giuen vs knowledge and vnderstanding to the end we may know him and be certainely assured that hee herein is true in this Author of all good which is Christ The same Apostle doth vpon good right call this assurance our victorie that is our warlike furniture and armour wherewith we ouercome the world and throw downe to the ground all her strong holdes For this cause according to the example of the Apostles wee ought deuoutly to pray to God to giue vs faith and daily to increase it in our hearts What dastardes and cowardes were the Disciples of our Lord What a hard harsh diffused noyse was it and not to be endured to heare of their Maisters death before the vertue and efficacie of a liuely faith did actuate and enlarge it selfe in them Wee may see what the Euangelistes sayde of them Saint Matthewe Chapter 16. verse 23. Saint Luke 18. 34. Saint Iohn 16. 6. The eleauenth Chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrewes contaynes a great number of worthie examples by which we may learne how great the efficacie and power of a true and liuely faith is in all manner of afflictions Wee reade the same in the auncient and moderne Historie of the Church where wee see a great number of men and women of diuerse and differing Ages of young boyes and girles that made proofe of an inuincible Faith as well in the fierie Furnace of persecutions as in the deepe dungeon and prison of all sortes of troubles and calamities and had the victorie and now are crowned with prayse and immortall glorie in the Pallace of GOD in his triumphant Church So wee must conclude with the Prophet in the Psalme 73. that God is good to Israell yea to all those which serue him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of their life although on the contrary the flesh the world and Sathan doe grumble gnash their teeth and snarle at it And in another place Psalme 66. the Prophet sayth O inhabitants of the earth blesse our God and sound aloud his prayse It is he that hath reestablished our soule in life and hath not suffered our feete to slip For thou O God hast prooued vs thou hast tryed and purified vs as siluer is tryed and purified As if he did say iustly thou mightest consume vs and thou art content to try vs cleansing vs from the filth of so many scandâ—lls and imputations wherewith we haue beene disgraced and diffamed Wee are fallen into the fire of afflictions which should burne and waste vs to nothing and are vp to the eares in the water of extreame anguish and agonie of bodie and minde where if we had our deserts we should be stifled and strangled but thou hast enlarged and set vs at ease The peace and holy libertie which we enioy by thy free gift is as a Mansion or dwelling in a large pleasant country to all those that desire to liue and without ceasing to prayse thee Behold how faith doth accommodate it selfe is willing and readie sweening and mitigating all the paines griefes and discommodities of this present life quenching also all the fierie dartes of Sathan especially despaire and distrust It is shee which hath the custodie and charge of all the Armour of God which shrowdes vs vnder the helmet of saluation with the strong shield of affiance hath the sword of the word of truth in her hand is well shod with the preparation of the Gospell of peace doth crosse and resist all impediments and letts and bestirres her selfe on euery side in the enemies campe If then as S. Cyprian sayth writing to those of Thibara men practise and learne to fence and to fight pell mell not sparing life nor lymme making great reckoning of a corruptible Crowne which is set vpon their heads in the presence of the Emperour how much more excellent and glorious is the combat whereof God is the Emperour and soueraigne and his Angels are not onely spectators but moderators and Iudges and propound to vs a Crowne of glorie Let vs then arme our selues sayth he with a simple and pure vnderstanding a sound and sincere faith and
So likewise is it requisite that thou being emptied and stripped of the world and the concupiscences and lustes thereof shouldest be wholly changed and deuoted to further and aduance the glory of God Whereupon the Apostle said That our old man is crucified that the body of sinne may be destroyed Our Lord hauing beene nayled to his crosse is there-dead and wee his members ought to die to the world and to our selues in such sort that as those which are dead we should make no more reckoning of the things of the world should be without sense or feeling of them and should haue neither synewe nor veyne stretching or tending that way To this purpose S. Paul said to the Colossians you are dead and your life is hidd in Christ Furthermore we must also be buried with the same Sauiour He that is dead hath no more care of the world yet before he be buryed the world hath care to winde him vp in a sheete to Coffyn him then to carry him to his graue where being interred all societie and dealing one with another is at an end In this sort many who thinke themselues to be dead to the world pretending and making semblance to haue renounced it are not yet buryed because the world makes great account of them doth reuerence and worship them But it behooueth vs to be dead and buryed to the world in such sorte as we haue as small accompt and esteeme of it as of a stinking carrion and that it esteeme so of vs. For it is an ill signe when the children of this world speake well of vs. It is then a thing requisite and necessary that we be buryed with Iesus Christ by Baptisme into his death And it is fit also that we descend as our head into hell that is that we haue a right knowledge and a liuely feeling of our sinnes which is done when wee feele in our hearts the loue of God our Father in Iesus Christ crucified For being convicted to haue offended him we must descend to confesse and earnestly to decest and abhorre our pride ignorance infidelitie malice obstinacie and other vices Seeing then that these pollutions and defilements haue so much and so greatly displeased God that to purge them out of the world he hath deliuered his owne sonne to death we are brought to this point in some sorte to know our misery and how much we our selues doe displease God Moreouer as the Sauiour is risen againe so his members ought to rise againe in newnesse of life in such sort that afterwardes they haue no motion or inclination whatsoeuer but to glorifie God walking as persons whose conuersation is alreadie in heauen Christ is risen againe therefore his members ought to rise againe not onely at the last day but hourely and continually in newnesse of life so that thence forward they haue no motion or disposition whatsoeuer but to glorifie God Christ is risen immortall for that hauing triumphed ouer death death hath no more dominion ouer him Thereupon S. Peter sayth to Christians seeing our Sauiour hath suffred for vs in the flesh it is reason that we be armed and resolued in mind that he which hath suffred in the flesh hath ceased from sinne willing and ready to say that Christ the head pledge and suretie for all Gods children comming to die consequently to satisfie fully and wholly the Iustice of God for them hath clearely discharged the debt for all his members who are obliged to him vnlesse they would crucifie him againe and hold the precious bloud of the euerlasting couenant for a prophane thing to cease and giue ouer to sinne For being dead to sinne buryed to the world risen againe to God they ought to sinne no more nor to die in sinne much lesse to remaine dead therein Sinne ought no more to raigne nor haue dominion in them they ought no longer to obey their euill lustes but to curbe and restraine them by the spirit which doth quicken guide and gouerne them Our Lord is ascended vp into heauen In like sort if we be liuing members of his mysticall body we ought zealously and with all our affections to be elevated and raised vp vnto God truely to say with S. Paul that our conuersation is in heauen The same S. Paul sayd to the Colossians Chapter 3. 1. If you be risen againe with Christ seeke the thinges which are aboue that is heauenly and diuine not earthly and sensuall Now as this good Sauiour soone after his ascension into heauen for a testimony of his infinite glory in that he is set at the right hand of God the Father Almightie sent his holy spirit in a visible forme vpon his twelue disciples So we likewise after we are raised vp to God shall feele our selues filled with this spirit and with feruent charitie which will then appeare when wee shall illuminate kindle and inflame our neighbours in the loue of God not onely with our wordes but especially with our doings and deedes by the good examples of a blamelesse life Iesus Christ ought to come to judge the quicke and the dead And if we be his members a liuely fayth will make vs to feele the sweetnesse of these wordes of our Sauiour Come yee blessed of my Father possesse the inheritance prepared for you before the foundation of the world Let vs adde that as the judge of all shall be judged of none so shall it be with all his true members in the great and last day And who should judge them seeing the Father iustifieth them in his son and by the mouth of his sonne pronounceth them just blessed and heires of the kingdome of heauen Wherefore Christ Iesus denounceth that he which heareth his word and beleeueth in him hath eternall life and shall not come to condemnation that is shall not be judged but is passed from death to life Ioh. 5. 24. This needes no further exposition And it were to blaspheme whosoeuer would call into question the certaintie of our saluation by Iesus Christ alone who is dead for our sinnes risen againe for our iustification that we might be the righteousnesse of God in him Let vs say further with S. Paul 1 Cor. 6. 2. 3. Know yee not that the Saints shall judge the world Know yee not that wee shall judge the Angells But as after the last judgement Christ Iesus shall remaine in heauen in incomprehensible glorie so true Christians already risen againe by faith and sitting together in the heauenly habitations with their head hauing their conuersation in heauen shall there appeare and be found all perfect entire in their bodies and soules with their Sauiour who in raising them vp againe shall change their vile and contemptible bodies so as they shall bee made conformable to his glorious bodie according to the power and efficacie whereby he is able to subdue all things to himselfe If wise old men doe in a quiet and sober moode meditate and consider these thinges euery one of them hanging
hogges to practise and procure it that euery one afterward may haue a peece and a part Though you haue the gout in your feet it may not be in your hands as it is when after the example of the accursed rich man you will giue nothing to poore begging Lazarus What a shame is it to young men and much more to old men to waste and so badly spend and lay out so much money in banquets reuellings maskes yea in many lusts and shamefull pleasures and to shew themselues so pinching and niggardly in necessary beneuolences tending so many wayes to their honour credit and profit What wrong doth a rich old man to himselfe to loue rather to haue his table charged withsuperflous dishes of meate to haue a great retinue and number of leud seruants to take pleasure to bee cloyed with buffones impostors scorners of all religion then to shew himselfe religious indeed What a wofull case is it to giue lesse in a whole yeare to a great number of poore Christians then to some one detestable rake-hell who hath tenne times deserued to haue iustice executed vpon him to be nayled to the pillory or to be put in a sacke and castinto the sea Vndoubtedly couetousnes especially in old men knowes no meane in sparing or spending Sometimes shee is all for belly cheare and banquettings and as wee say throwes the house out at the windowes then shee is niggardly and pinching againe and like vnto Rhodomache a wilde beast in Polonia which forrages vp and downe seeking pasture to fill her selfe and afterward seekes to disgorge and emptie her panch to cramme it quickly againe fuller then before It is a pleasing and fauoured excuse among men saith Basil to alledge that they spare for their children But haue you begged children of God that hauing them you might forget God himselfe and your neighbours How many persons by their riches haue wasted themselues in pleasures to the wracke and ruine of their bodies and soules to whom it had beene much better to haue still beene poore What auayles it a man to gaine the whole world and to lose his soule to abound in perishing riches and not to haue one myte of faith charity repentance humility truth and stedfast hope And what of all this you deserue then a double punishment both because you haue doated and beene enamoured of this yellow and white oare and earth as also because your rauennous niggardship and base pinching on the one side and your monstrous and beastly prodigality and lauishing out on the other side haue bin the instrumentall cause of the dissolution perdition and ruine of your successors and children You thinke sometimes if you giue order that they bee well instructed in the feare of the Lord your Soueraigne and theirs that they shall lacke nothing If they be wicked the more you shall leaue them the worse they will doe O sot thou flyest pouerty which indeed hath want of some things and forgettest that the couetous person wants all things O mad foole sayd Iesus Christ speaking of the rich worldling Luke 12. 20. this night they will take thy soule from thee and whose shall these things be which thou hast prouided c. And I aske of you rich old men and not very wise who haue deuoured so many families to increase wicked riches for your children whose shall you bee and what will become of you when you must be dislodged and turned out of the world redeeme your sinnes by iust dealing and your iniquities by your beneficence and good deedes to the poore this shall prolong the prosperity and welfare of your successors and posterity which you so much desire And this counsell heeretofore wise Daniel gaue to the King of Babylon Dan. 4. 27. Let vs say further with a worldly wise man That he is rich who is content with his pouerty on the contrary hee is poore which coueteth more to that which he hath not he which hath little For what auailes it how much money a rich man hath in his Coffer or mowes of corne in his barne or heardes and flockes of cattle in his pastures or crownes at interest if he cast an enuious eye vpon that which another man possesseth if he reckon not vpon the goods he hath but vpon those he would haue Will you know what is the measure of riches The first is to haue that which is needfull the second is to haue as much as is enough or to suffice There is nothing then better or safer nor whereof our wise Vieillard ought more to take heed then not to suffer himselfe to bee bewitched and intoxicated with the poyson of couetousnesse which it behooueth betimes to root out of our hearts for if it take roote there euery eye shall see it bring forth leaues and fruites of all sorts of sinne according as the Apostle teacheth in the last Chapter of his first Epistle to Timothy For conclusion of this point we exhort the wise Vieillard to remember to imitate the prayers of Dauid in the 119 Psalme and to say with that great Prophet Encline mine heart to thy testimonies not to couetousnesse O Lord I haue thirsted after thy saluation and thy word is my delight I loue the doctrine of thy mouth better then thousands of gold and siluer Wee further present vnto him the prayer which followeth to the end hee may want nothing which appertaines to his duty or which he might require of vs. O Lord God Almightie which hast giuen me the vse and lent mee the commodities of this present life I am greatly displeased with the too greedy affection which I beare to transitory riches Behold this is the worst euill of my ouer thirsty and ouer greedy mind which no reason can allay no measure limit for the more I possesse the lesse I cease to couet the more I lose the possession of my selfe The greater my heapes be the lesser I find them My carking and caring is beyond measure to increase my reuenewes and to heape vp goods and possessions and still my couetousnesse makes the heape small Gaping after that which I hope I let that which I hold in my hand fall to the ground All that I doe is a very dropsie of the minde In hunting after plenty I haue found scarcity and want and imagining transitory things to be very profitable I finde my selfe intangled in the toyle of miseries out of which I cannot get They are precious chaines and manacles I confesse but they binde me as fast as if they were of iron They are chaines which make me forget thy holy maiesty to neglect my saluation for which I ought diligently to watch and labour O my God tame and suppresse this vnruly wilde and ouer greedy affection making abstinence and continence to spring vp in stead thereof Ease the heart in my breast which panteth and gapeth for breath Change this denne of rapine and robbery into a quiet lodge and harbour of holinesse Wash and wash againe these grosse
corruptions and giue me the bright shining beames of charity Fill and damme vp the bottomlesse pit of my heart with the loue of thy grace that the transitory goods of this world may not bee able to fill it vp againe Inflame my thought with the sole desire to behold the beautie of thy face and turne it away farre from the greedy desire of hauing and possessing much earth Grant vnto me I beseech thee that I may frame my selfe to a voluntary pouerty which being accompanied with a milde right lowly and true contentation may continually rule and beare sway in mee in such sort that resting my selfe content with a little I may imploy all the houres of my life in thy seruice that without ceasing I may meditate and thinke vpon thy blessings and the benefits whereof thou hast giuen mee so large a portion Be it farre from mee to wish to lay vp heapes of siluer and gold and transitory goods and if I bee frugall and sparing to lay vp any that I may doe it with this minde not to lay them out wickedly in vanities and dissolute riotings but to releeue the neede of my brethren thy children Can I finde any of my goods wherewith I may doe good vnto all men especially to the houshold of faith let these be my vacancies and exercises From thence let flowe the contempt and refusall of all things which doe not guide mee to thee and to hate those things which lead mee out of the way from thee Grant vnto my soule so much tossed vp and downe in the hauen of thy mercy to land at her Port that floting no longer vpon the perillous waues of so many foolish and noysome lustes shee may rest in the loue which thou hast testified vnto mee in my Sauiour Amen I come now to speake of anger and choller which commonly keepe possession in old men by reason that they still feele sharpe goades in their mindes and grieuous woundes in their bodies either for that their children misgouerne themselues or their wiues behaue themselues vsurpingly or considering the common state of things the ordinarie burthen of their song is that all the world is naught because their manner is alwayes highly to commend the times past and euer to bode and presage that the times to come will bee worse and worse Besides old men are suspitious distrustfull and hard of beliefe because as Aristotle sayth hauing liued long many men haue deceiued or dealt craftily with them or they haue deceiued and dealt craftily with others They are not easily reconciled for they cannot endure to be aduised or directed although as St Ambrose sayth there is no age too old to learne and that those old men which are incorrigible and will not be reformed haue more cause to be ashamed and to lament then to smooth vp themselues that they do well and laugh in their sleeues at those which would grauely put them in mind of their dutie But the principall endeuour of our wise Vieillard shall be to ouercome himselfe especially in respect of anger or choller a cruell and outragious passion which Horace the Poet fitly surnameth a short madnesse He shall easily get the victorie of it if presently vpon the first motions and assaults he represse and repulse it before he be invaded transported wounded poysoned with it To alter nature is a very hard thing notwithstanding many things in nature may be corrected and tempered by taking a little heed thereunto Especially choller may be repressed by abstaining to drinke too much strong wine and to feed vpon meates and sauces too much spiced by refraining the company of scoffers quarrell-some mutinous and mad-braine-sicke persons by frequenting the company of good men by framing the minde to meditate vpon the suffrings patience humilitie soueraigne charitie of Iesus Christ by the reading also in good bookes the many worthie examples of the meekenesse and patience of infinite persons set forth vnto vs. Now as greene things doe helpe the sight and as there bee some coullors which doe lesse offend the eyes then others so there be pleasant studies and delightfull exercises and imployments which driue away dullnesse of spirit and melancholie of minde And because choller is stirred vp in vs vpon an opinion of wrong done vnto vs let vs weed out of our hearts all suspitions let vs stop our eares against rumors and tales and let vs consider in our selues that often-times it hath beene better to winke at and passe by an iniurie then to reuenge it seeing that it is a woefull and impious act to be cruell to our selues which falls out when choller doth disturbe and put the mind and bodie out of all good tune frame and temper so that to speake truely there is none to whom we doe so great iniurie as wee doe to our selues Vndoubtedly the wrath or anger of man doth not accomplish the righteousnesse of God that is can doe nothing that is pleasing and acceptable to God as sayth S. Iames in his first Chapter The proper effect of magnanimitie and greatnesse of courage is to bridle and suppresse choller and anger and there is nothing so commendable in an honourable Peere and great person nor worthie his fame and reputation as clemencie and mercie For although seueritie must be vsed in punishing offences yet is it meet to curbe and suppresse anger which alwayes leapes beyond the boundes of mediocritie and driues vs into the toyle of odious and idle fuminges and chaffings If wee be prouoked to anger let vs according to the precept of the Apostle be angry and sinne not which we shall doe if we be angry with our selues and detest our owne frailties and vices But so long as we are conuersant with men let vs carrie our selues friendly and louingly couragiously ouercome the miseries which are of a short continuance by reason that while we are taking a suruay of our selues stirring to and fro here and there turning vs about and looking how feate and handsome we be death following with euerlasting life will seize and lay hold on vs. But if malice and priuie hatred doe creepe into our hearts it is expedient to seeke a speedie reconciliation for when wee see the minde of man if in this point wee beleeue Valerius Maximus to abandon hatred and to be of a peaceable and reconcilable inclination it is a signe that it is in an excellent state of rest and tranquilitie And as calme weather at Sea after a raging gust of winde and as a faire Sun-shine day after a cloudie storme is wonderfully pleasing so warre turned to peace causeth vnspekeable contentments Moreouer touching the things which seeme to excite and prouoke vs to anger as the disobedience of our children the ingratitude of our seruants or friends the perfidious and false dealing of some others sicknesse and diseases they are the visitations of the Lord God to proue our patience and also to represse the pride of our flesh Let it be our part not to thrust our
nayles into our owne wounds nor to add as we say fewell to the fire but rather let vs daily pray to our heaunly Father who being our sole Creator is likewise soly he who can reforme and regenerate vs that by the vertue and efficacie of his spirit hee may represse all our corrupt and inordinate affections in such sort that as children of God nor of Sathan or of Cain we may be cloathed with the new man created according to God may be couteous one towardes another mercifull mutually forgiuing one another all offences as our Lord hath graciously pardoned all our sinnes in Iesus Christ But it is not requisite to proceede further in the discourse of anger or choller the turpitude and deformitie whereof is sufficiently knowne to wise old men who haue read the excellent Treatises which haue beene aunciently written of it especially in the Bookes of Seneca and Plutarch Afterward in our tyme by Iohn de L'Espine in his graue Discourses of the contentment of the minde Whosoeuer will adde to these that which Turtullian and Cyprian Doctors of the Church haue written of patience can require to know nothing further of this subiect vnlesse he may bee pleased to adde that which S. Basile and S. Chrysostome haue written in diuers Homilies against anger and the great desire of reuenge which is to be lamented in all men and beyond all measure to bee abhorred of a wise old man As for many late writers which in Latine Italian Almaigne or any other Language besides the French haue written of choller or anger and of the helpes and remedies against it which they haue called out of Bookes of Diuinitie naturall Philosophie and Phisicke We need not now to make a Catalogue of them they making nothing to our principall intention in this Discourse There remaineth to speake something of diffidence and distrust the mother of impatience and almost of all other vices Our Lord correcteth this euill in those that are his whom he calleth sometimes men of little faith shewing the remedies for it to bee contained in the consideration of the gracious power of our God If any men be bound to such contemplation wise old men are who seeing themselues at their iourneies end and feeling their strength to faile ought to profit in faith and in the meditation of the prouidence and mercie of God It is that whereunto S. Paul seemes to haue regard when he willeth old men to sober discreete aduised sound in the faith in charitie and patience Tit. 2. 2. What is the cause of the frowardnesse and impatience in old men Euen this that they forget so many great fauours and benefits which God hath bestowed vpon them hauing mercifully drawne them from their mothers belly tenderly brought them vp protected them from infinite dangers so that they haue great cause to prayse God at all times as Dauid exhorteth them by his example in diuers Psalmes especially in the 34. 71. and 118. Psalmes which all young and old men ought to know by rote and by heart As also we recommend vnto them the seuen and thirtith Psalme which may be called the shield against impatience because we may finde therein that which is able to settle and assure a conscience wauering and perplexed with the scandalls and offence to see the eminent prosperitie of Atheists and prophane persons Put the case that the skie fall that the earth melt into the deepes and that the elements of fire and water be mingled together shall we suffer therefore melancholie fretting and impatience to deuoure vs when on the contrarie our Sauiour exhorts vs at that very time to lift vp our heads to heauen because our deliuerance drawes neere and is at hand Luke 21. 28. Is there any heauinesse or anguish which the promised comforter who is more mightie then all the world may not abolish and take away Prouided we leaue the matter to him and banish and cast of all distrust and impatience Then to what vse should so many promises of the sonne of God serue and what should that charitable and ardent prayer availe which he made a little before his death described in the 17. Chapter of S. Iohn But if wee will conserue and keepe our soules in peace and in true ioy let vs carefully keepe faith and a good conscience and let vs endeuour with S. Paul and after his example to hope that the resurrection of the dead as well of the iust as of the vniust shall come and to haue our conscience vnblameable towardes men Act. 26. 15. 16. Thus doing wee shall alwayes haue ioy in God Phillip 4. 4. The heart which is glad and reioyceth in the Lord is a perpetuall banquet Pro. 15. 15. So the vncleane and froward spirit the horror of sinne the sense and feeling of the wrath of God shall vanish and depart from vs and wee shall sing in triumph with the Apostle these excellent sayings If God be on our side who shall be against vs He which hath not spared his sonne but gaue him for vs all to death shall not he bountifully giue vnto vs also all things with him I am perswaded that neither death nor life nor Angells nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature is able to seperate vs from the loue which he hath manifested vnto vs in Iesus Christ our Lord Rom. 8. 30 c If sometimes we feele our faith to languish and droope and our soules to be heauy and pensiue let vs spurre and rouze vp our selues with the goad that Dauid vseth in the two and fortith Psalme 12. v. My soule why art thou cast downe and why art thou disquieted within me waite on God for I will yet giue him thankes hee is my present helpe and my God Let vs then discard and cast from vs the execrable suggestions of the flesh of Sathan and hearken to the counsell of the Sonne of God who doth dehort and diswade vs from the perplexed vnprofitable vaine and prophane cares of the world in the sixt chapter of Saint Matthew and doth encourage vs to all confidence and affiance and to an inuincible hope in him when hee saith You shall haue affliction in the world and peace with me but bee of good courage I haue ouer come the world Iohn 16. CHAP. XI Of the causes that old age is burthensome and tedious to many old man A Well framed minde reioyceth in prosperitie and is sensible of afflictions But the euill and mischiefe is that many men casting their eye awry vpon euils giue good things a shrewed vnhappie and wrong name speake sinisterly and ill of them or doe not iudge of them as they ought Whereupon it followes that old age is tedious and vnpleasing vnto them because they haue not learned wherof to reioyce and to complaine nor know not the felicities of old age what they are nor haue not saluted or congratulated them a farre off nor neere hand
good of their neighbour for that wise old men by their good counsells doe maintaine and support publique estates and their owne priuate estates be they great or small For he that is a prudent gouernour of a small family deserues great commendation As on the contrary if the followers and seruants of the mightiest and most eminent persons that may be imagined doe liue dissolutely it is a woefull shame And heereof wee must appeale to the iudgement of Salomon in the fourth Chapter of his Ecclesiastes 13. v. where hee sayth Better is a poore and wise childe then an old and foolish King that will no more be admonished And what is a wise old man in a counsell of State It is an incomparable treasure And what is a King Prince Lord that is old and wise It is a true and liuely image of God among men There are other fruits which old men themselues enioy who liuing discreetly rest in peace health and welfare reducing their course of life within the lists of pietie temperance where they spend their dayes in holy meditations and with ioy of heart passe their time in seeing Their vertuous children in comely showe About their table all on a rowe Like Oliue plants to stand and growe Then they reape the sweet and precious fruite of their labours past But to proceed who would dare to tearme wise old men idle persons who doe imploy themselues to the true and proper exercises of a man to wit to the actions of the minde Magnanimitie true fortitude is not inclosed in the muscles nor in the synewes but in the bearing and sustaining of grieuances in leuying all our powers and forces to fight against impatience carnall lusts against Sathan and the world The famous deedes of old men are wise counsells instructions good examples zealous prayers seruices to the Common-weale and State succours and helpes to friendes protection and maintenance to orphanes and children Plato Sophocles Isocrates and a number of Heathens more who in their old age began and perfected workes which are yet extant and vsefull were they doting old persons Basil Nazienzen Saint Augustine so many ancient and moderne Diuines who during the profound darkenesse of Atheistes and prophane persons wallowing like swine in all confusions dyed very old men and their tongues and pennes neuer lay still but were busie and mouing to edifie and instruct the Christian Churches are these old men which haue spent their time badly So many white beardes which yet to this day serue their soueraigne Lord of whom they expect a glorious reward are they to bee cast behinde the doore as vnprofitable vessels Is it wisely done of young men to reuile them in wordes and shamefully to spurne and tread on them But as Zenophon said Those men liue wisely who are carefull more and more to reforme themselues and they liue cheerefully who euery day feele themselues to profit in vertue which may be truely said of wise old men whose hearts are lifted vp to the Lord and who already haue a foot in Paradise Wherefore then doe we accuse nature and her impediments as we call them I meane old age and the infirmities thereof Seeing that the milde and meeke conuersation of old men is of better esteem and more gracious in them a pregnancie and dexteritie to counsell well is more eminent in them their constancie to suffer death more assured and stedfast and the temperance to bridle and restraine fond foolish lusts and desires is more potent and forcible in them Though their body be weake their minde is strong A wise old man is no more daunted at the approach of death then a labouring man who hauing vndergone the raine heat and cold of the day is not grieued to see the sunne set because it is a signe of his surcease and rest from his labour and of receiuing his promised wages And old man fearing God doth already feele the pleasures of Paradise and being ascended to the top and pynacle of true knowledge dispiseth the base deceiuing perishing to wit the woefull and corrupt riches of the world According as old men haue beene better or worser trained vp and instructed according also to the diuersitie of gifts which they haue receiued of God we see they yeeld diuers fruits and effects It is the incredulitie impatience vitiousnesse and leudnesse of life not old age which is the cause that many in stead of referring themselues and their actions and affaires to the prouidence of God of learning that whatsoeuer distasters and discommodities doe happen vnto vs abroad and at home in our bodies in our goods from our seruants and those of our family from our friendes from our enemies is a gracious chastisement vnto vs of our heauenly Father and an exercise and triall of our faith we still perceiuering in the sincere knowledge of him in our calling ioyned with a good conscience Doe woefully torment themselues childishly bewaile their condition if their proiectes and plors deuices and wishes haue not that speedy successe which they desire As that great Orator Cicero who forgetting what hee had written in his booke of Offices That no man can be iust which feareth exile paine or death being forlorne and in a desperate taking a few dayes before hee was slaine cowardly exclaimes in a letter of his to Octauius Beast that I am In vaine haue I beene taken and held for the man I am not My old age is most vnfortunate and disastrous My white haires after a miserable life stand vp fearefully staring and out of order There remaineth for conclusion of this Chapter to adde vnto the felicities of old age certaine excellent priuiledges which those that are learned in the ciuill law doe attribute vnto it I will giue you the cullings and choyce of fiftie or threescore and more quoated by sundry collectors Men that were auncient themselues did beare no lesse honour to very aged persons then they did to Magistrates The older a man is the more is his iudgement esteemed In consultations and in matters ambiguous and doubtfull to be decided the aduise of old men is preferred before the aduise of yong men Old men enioyed the priuiledges of noble men Old men are not sued nor scited to appeare in any Courts of iustice without the Pretors expresse permission and licence and particular information of the cause The auncientest men haue their names alwayes enrolled and set downe first Old men ought to haue the first places and seates and to sit at the vpper end of the Table The auncientest Counsellors in the absence of the President may appoynt and call a counsell If there be question touching the obseruing and keeping of common contractes and rates the auncientest men of a fraternitie or company haue the first voyce It is graunted and permitted to old men to censure and reforme their neighbours Many willing to accuse and beare witnesse against any one the testimonie of the oldest man is of most credit Old men are Magnificoes and
those earthly and transitory things which nature it selfe teacheth vs to dispise And an instruction also to lodge and harbour our meditations and thoughts in that Palace of infinite glory wherein wee are assured that all those that are righteous and sanctified to God by Iesus Christ shall bee assembled to blesse and prayse him for euer If on our birth day wee are extruded and come forth into the world crying and weeping Let vs also remember that presently we receiue the visible signe in Baptisme of our admittance into the Church and habitation of the liuing God that wee put on Iesus Christ that wee are consecrated to God that wee receiue the Hostage and pledge of that happy life to which the Sonne of God hath regenerated and begotten vs by his precious blood That it is hee that wipes away our teares which giues vs good hope and eternall consolation which he sufficiently ratified then when he so louingly caused the little children to bee brought vnto him layd his hands on them saying to his Disciples Suffer little children to come vnto me and forbid them not for to such is the kingdome of heauen So much touching the first beginnings of our life I come now to other afflictions and crosses which seeme to assayle and to lay neere siege to aged persons These opponents are so mighty and many in number which Salomon considering hath oftentimes sayd in his Ecclesiastes That all that is wrought vnder the sunne is very vanity That man reapes no profit of his labour and trauell and that all his dayes he feeles affliction and vexation of spirit Hauing shewed that all the soueraigne good dreamed on in outward and transitorie things is a meere imagination hee wisely concludes That this good consisteth in the feare of God and keeping his Commandements declaring that all mans good consisteth heerein Wee cannot more briefly and certainly cleere this point For whosoeuer knowes not God to reuerence and stand in awe of him with a pure heart and to subscribe and submit himselfe to all his Statutes and Lawes walketh not in veritie but vanity Wherefore it behooues vs euer to come to this point That there is nothing more miserable then the man which vnderstands not loues not nor seekes after nor knowes any thing but the things vnder the sunne and which happen many times without trauell or paines taking to the wicked and succeed quite crosse and contrary to the godly and good But happy is the man which earnestly lookes vp to God walking in his presence and beleeues that all things shall further the helpe together for his good Light shineth to him in darkenesse hee stands fast and is neuer mooued he feares no euill tidings trusting assuredly in the Lord. If he want the necessary things of this life his riches are in Gods hand and keeping who giueth him contentation and contentment Hath he a costly leud wife and bad dissolute children It is the proofe of his patience and the exercise of his faith as it was in Iob and Dauid of whom one had a very spitefull shrewd wife and the other children wholly giuen to lewdnesse and mischiefe wit Ammon and Absolon Is hee seized with maladies hee calleth to minde what Basil writes vpon the Psalme 45. Oftentimes sayth he sickenesse and maladies serue to tame and reclaime vs On the contrary sanitie and health often hurteth enough in that it helpes and furnisheth many with occasions and instruments to doe euill and mischiefe Againe in the 124. Epistle hee sayth Make account that a maladie or sickenesse serues for a schoolemaster wherewith to attaine to this good that making no reckoning of the body you also dispise whatsoeuer is fraile or transitory troublesome and past hope or recouery to be placed in the heauenly company and to liue in this world as if already you were in Paradise Pondering these things in your minde all your life will bee a day of feasting and ioy and it will bee ioyfull vnto you to impart your ioy to many others But why should we finde it euill or strange to see our body hardly handled and kept vnder which feeling it selfe fat and well fed pampred and at too much ease will worke the wracke and ruine of the soule and as a hote furious horse boundeth and reares vp aloft and seekes how to cast his rider and to lay him on the ground Vndoubtedly mans proper strength is an inward vigour of minde held vp by and depending vpon God whose power and strength is principally seen and discouered in our weakenesse For which cause S. Paul writeth Being weake I am strong 2. Cor. 12. 10. Dauid was of the same minde in his greatest agonies and sorrowes I am sayth he in the Psalme 38. weakned and sore broken I roared for the great griefe and terrour of my heart O Lord my desire is before thee my sighing is not hid from thee my heart is tossed to and fro my strength fayleth mee and the light of mine eyes yea they are no more vnto mee But seeing I waite on thee O Lord thou wilt answere O my God Forsake mee not be not thou farre from mee my God Hast thee to helpe mee O Lord which art my saluation So many excellent promises dispersed throughout the whole Bible shall they not haue the efficacy to reclayme and encourage vs Let vs haue a heed full eye I pray you to the reiterated protestations of Gods loue towardes his of that fier of loue which all the waters of the world cannot quench To which purpose Salomon spake in his last Chapter of the Canticles Set mee as a seale on thy heart and as a signet vpon thine arme for loue is strong as death and iealousie is cruell as the graue the coales thereof are fiery coales and a very vehement flame Many waters cannot quench this loue and the floodes cannot drowne it If a man would giue for it all the substance of his house it would be contemned The Prophet Isaiah also sayth in the Chapter 44. Thus hath the Lord sayd that made thee and formed thee from the wombe and which helpeth thee Feare not O Iacob my seruant the righteous whom I haue chosen for I will powre water vpon him which is thirstly and floodes vpon the dry land I will powre my Spirit vpon thy seed and my blessing vpon those which proceed out of thy loynes And in the Chapter 46. O house of Iacob and all that remaine of the house of Israel whom I haue borne from the wombe and brought vp from the birth I will doe the the same to your old age yea I will beare you vntill your hoare white age I haue made you I will beare you and I will carry you I will rescue and deliuer you As touching old men I speake to those that are wise they shall finde in the Scriptures forcible and fitting arguments of comfort For first although the life of God be blissefull and vnchangeable yet for the honour and maiesty of his eternity
agoe spoken that we looke vpon death afarre off and still thinke him to bee a poore feeble impotent which marcheth with a slow pace and is yet fiue or sixe thousand dayes iourney behinde the weakest of our troupe not considering that death is on the threshold of our dores yea is our chamber-fellow a guest at our tables and our bed-fellow too Death hath alreadie trussed vp the fairest and best part of our life like a Sergeant which taking vs by the throate carries away vnder his arme our money-bagges our precious iewels and vpon his yeomens shoulders our curious houshold moueables Not to wonder hereat consider sayd S. Basile the changes and revolutions of ages Doe wee not obserue how in three weeks of yeares three are dead Childhood is passed away and all his fond and vaine wishes haue left vs As much may be said of other parts of our life The case being so then that the meditation of death belongeth to all persons and that nothing is so miserable as not to know to die and that to feare death is an euill more dreadfull then death it selfe seeing also that the proper force of faith consisteth in this not to be afraid of death It is meete now somewhat the more at large to treate of this poynt and to shew what other holy and prophane Authors doe say therein to our purpose to wit to remoue out of the heart especially of euery wise old man the too violent and raging apprehension of death and to strengthen and fortifie so well the minde that it bee neuer dismounted or throwne out of the seate of assurance wherein it is setled by the knowledge of the truth First We will shew that euery one especially our Vieillard ought continually to meditate vpon death and betimes to prouide and furnish himselfe with remedies against the affrightments and terros thereof Secondly what death is how many sortes there are what death it is ought to be feared Thirdly for what reasons the Heathens haue so manfully contemned death Fourthly of the extreamities which must be avoyded and of the meane that it is meete to keepe in all Fiftly the defences and comfortes against death the commodities of it and the great benefits which they reape by it who in young and old age make their recourse to Iesus Christ the food and drinke of eternall life The two first poynts shall be handled in this seauenteenth Chapter the other three in the Chapter following First It is reason that we should betimes thinke vpon death and meditating thereon we should castour eye vpon the freedome life immortalitie and other benefites which ensue it For he giueth death a ioyfull wellcome who before hand is prepared for it and who seeing him to come as at the beginning is no more moued and troubled thereat then the passenger which with a fauourable winde should in shorter time make an end of his sayling A certaine Auncient compared our life to him which is set in a sayling Ship be he sitting or standing he forwardes his way So wee euery moment make towardes death in our waking sleeping standing still or going But it is meete to settle and invre our mindes not to be too much affected and to doate vpon this present life not therein to lazie and house them as if it were their Countrie but rather to thinke that we are way faring persons from the Mansion and royall Pallace of our heauenly Father Let our minds then sigh and groane in this Tabernacle let them meditate vpon and wish for that happie life wherein all corruption shall bee swallowed vp least it happen to them as to those inconsiderate persons who being a long tyme growne lazie and idle in some incommodious rude and base Inne cannot bee haled out thence whatsoeuer remonstrance and counsell is giuen them But on the contrary let vs call to minde our originall and that wee are the sonnes of the euerlasting King that heauen is our countrey that for a while wee trot vp and downe in the earth as little children which are carryed out of cities into countrey villages there to bee nurssed vp till there fathers and mothers send to fetch them home Let vs remember that wee are poore passengers and that after much running vp and downe wee must returne home to our dwelling and settle our selues in some certaine place least our hearts make a stay and demurre at the things wee behold with our eyes and which haue some appearance to deceiue and detaine them Let vs take great heed of being desirous to dwell and to rott and stincke in the close and darke denne of our body and this present life which is nothing else but a horrid pryson of infinite temptations cares carckings and dangers where pleasure is vnpleasing where our ioy is vnsure where wee are tortured with feare scroched with lust and concupiscence wasted with sorrow and griefe Let our soule be daily couersant in heauen let our heart be where our treasure is By this meanes wee shall easily contemne all things that bee earthly transitory and perishing Whosoeuer doth daily thinke that hee is mortall and the Vieillard ought to thinke on it more then any other dispiseth that which hee sees present and makes hast to those happinesses which are future and to come I know no better meanes for our serious conuersion to God and to inioy perfect comfort then the remembrance of the end of our race in the world and the meditation of death This is a powerfull doctrine to draw vs out of the swallowes and gulfes of intemperance impatience and all riots and excesse Let vs remember our Creator in the dayes of our youth before old age and death intrappe and seize on vs Let the end of our actions and affayres bee before our eyes to containe vs in our obedience to God When death is betweene our teeth it is too late to prouide remedies against the terrours thereof He is vnaduised who thinkes to cast out his lading when his ship is all leakie takes in water on all sides It is no time to make prouision for a voyage when men are put forth and forward at Sea Hee deceiues himselfe who seekes preseruatiues when the pestilence is spread all ouer the body and hath seized the heart The foolish Virgines bethought themselues vnseasonably to seeke oyle for their Lampes when the spouse was entred and the gate shut But our Lord hath willed that the day of our death should be vnknowne vnto vs so much the more to dispose vs to waite for it following the example of those faithfull seruants who not knowing the houre of their masters returne stand vpon their guard carefully watching Such seruants are wise But the slothfull dissolute riotous who make spoyle and hauocke of all in the house without care of their master are mischeeuous and vnluckie Plato writeth in his first booke of his Common-weale That when any one is come to this point to thinke that he ought to die out of hand and
approach it Death doth not violently lay hands vpon vs but gently laies hold on vs. Wherefore a vertuous soule feeling it selfe called to the participation of a greater happinesse endeuoureth to carry and behaue it selfe honestly and wisely in this earthly Sentinell and Station accounting none of those things to be hers which doe hemme her in on euery side but serues her turne with them as with borrowed mooueables remembring her selfe that shee doth but goe a iourney and in post hast There are many other sentences of Seneca touching the benefit of death in his Consolations to Polybius and Marcia as also in his other Treatises But we will make this extract no longer least so wee trouble and offend with long reading impatient and froward old men 4. Fourthly wee speake now of the extreamities that must be auoyded when there is question of death to wit Too great confidence or rashnes or rather inhumane or barbarous stupidity and sencelesnesse then the too great apprehension feare and paine of death Of a truth our Creator and Soueraigne Lord hath honoured vs with this fauourable gift and graunt that our hearts are of flesh not of stone or iron to bee easily touched with the sence of our miseries and the miseries of others How should we apprehend the mercy of God if we had not an apprehension of our miseries And what feare of God and of his iudgements would there be in the world if we should not feare death and other punishments which he doth mitigate and vsually conuert into wholsome remedies to persons who mourne vnder the burthen of their sinnes and with a repentant heart craue and implore the grace of their heauenly Father Wee are not willing to approoue the practise of those too austere Thracian Elders who wept at the birth day of their children and made great cheere merrily banquetted at the funeral of them that died Much lesse doe we purpose to dispute of death as Hegesias of Cyrena whom the King of AEgypt prohibited to discourse any more of death because many who heard him killed themselues No more doe we approoue those mad men such as were in times past certaine surnamed Circamcellianes of the Sect of the Donatists who not rightly vnderstanding the sayings of the Scripture touching mortification of the flesh cast themselues downe headlong from the toppes of high mountaines and without looking or staying for any commandement to doe so resigned and gaue vp the place they held in this humane life It is not lawfull for any priuate person without expresse authority and order of the Magistrate to kill a guilty or condemned person And hee which killeth himselfe is not hee a murtherer Who hath giuen him power and authority to doe so We abhorre and iustly the facinourous fact of Iudas who by dispaire increased his detestable impiety Sathan is the author of such counsells as wee see in the fourth Chapter of S. Matthew where Christ Iesus being importuned by that malignant and mischieuous one to throw himselfe headlong from the top of the Temple answereth That we must not tempt the Lord. S. Augustine sayd in his first Booke De Ciuitate Dei Chap. 22. That those which kill themselues make a hazardous proofe of some kind of greatnesse of courage but indeed they are mad men Further they are not magnanimous seeing that being vnable to support and beare aduersity they discouer their impotency and pusillanimity not their fortitude and valour in casting themselues so into the gulfe and iawes of death But hee is truely magnanimous who chooseth rather to beare the burthen of a miserable life then rashly to rid himselfe and flye from it instead of standing and abiding in the place allotted and appointed vnto him It is said that Cleombrotus hauing read the Booke which Plato writ of the immortality of mans soule cast himselfe downe headlong from a high wall to passe to the other life which hee iudged to be better But it was an act of wretched folly for Plato taught no such thing although he discoursed of the immortality of the soule Therefore let vs turne our backes to the Stoickes so brutish and besotted in their pride that they thinke it lawfull to a man which cannot suffer an iniury to kill himselfe A man of courage and fearing God knowing indeed that life is not giuen him doth not violently rid himselfe of it but renders it into the hands of God not fearing the approaches of death but submitting himselfe to his Soueraigne Lord who hath imployed him in his seruice in the world to goe out of it when he shall commaund him It is alledged that a speedy death is better then a fastidious and tedious life and once to bee quiet for altogether then so long to languish and droope But to attempt to leaue this life before God giue vs leaue is to fall into another death which neuer hath end What then shall not a Souldier dare to goe out of the armie without his Captaines license and passe port but vpon hazard of his head and shall mortall man goe out of this present life without the auouchy and warrant of the immortall who hath placed him in it protected and blessed him What crowne can the impatient the furious the infidell expect who in dispite of his Lord cowardly resignes his charge his place his honour with the losse of his body soule goods and friends who forsakes those to whom hee is bound and beholden breakes all the bandes of diuine and humane society God giueth a happy issue to their temptations who feare him hee doth in fit time deliuer and helpe them It is they which are to hold out to the end in a full assurance of hope not to quaile and lose courage but to follow those who by a faithfull and humble patience haue obtained the promised inheritance Let vs then take heed and beware of the arrogancy of the Stoickes and of the vaine confidence of Epicures who neuer thinke on death but thinke they are in league and friendship with him perswade themselues that it shall be easie for them to put by his blowes and to pacifie him Moreouer let vs haue no part in their effeminacy and diffidence who tremble at the meere name of death not thinking that in death it selfe there is not so great euill as in the solicitudes carkings sorrowes and feares wherewith a thousand times a day they kill themslues without any ease to their vnbeleeuing heart Their apprehensions are ill ordered fond and vnprofitable seeing as witnesseth the Prophet in the Psalme 89. 90. there is no man liuing can boast himselfe not to see death and to be able to saue his life out of the hand of the graue Hereupon we will say to young and old that their duty requires that they beare and behaue themselues so toward God that their death may not be a mortall but a liuing death And that they so gently and wisely lay downe their load in the world that they may not be found vnder