and the losse is manifest My eies haue answered them with teares my brest with sighes and my heart with trouble what néed I also punish my toonge or wound my soule with a newe rehear sall of so dolefull a mischance They haue taken away O vnfortunate worde They haue taken away my Lord. O afflicted woman why thinkest thou this word so vnfortunate It may be the Angels haue taken him more solemnly to entombe him and sith earth hath done her last homage happily the Quires of heauen are also descended to defray vnto him their funerall duties It may be that the Centurian and the rest that did acknowledge him on the crosse to be the sonne of God haue béene touched with remorse and goared with the pricke of conscience and being desirous to satisfie for their heinous offence haue nowe taken him more honourably to interre him and by their seruice to his bodie sought forgiuenesse and sued the pardon of their guiltie soules Peraduenture some secret Disciples haue wrought this erploit and maugre the watch taken him from hence with due honour to preserue him in some fitter place and therefore being yet vncertaine who hath him there is no such cause to lament sith the greater probabilities march on the better side why doest thou call sorrowe before it commeth without which calling it commeth on thee too fast yea why doest thou create sorrow where it is not sith thou hast true sorrowes inough though imagined sorrowes helpe not It is follie to suppose the worst where the best may be hoped for and euerie mishappe bringeth griefe enough with it though wée with our friendes doe not goe first to méete it Quiet then thy selfe till time trie out the trueth and it may be thy feare will proue greater then thy misfortune But I know thy loue is litle helped with this lesson for the more it loueth the more it feareth and the more desirous to enioy the more doubtfull it is to loose It neyther hath measure in hopes nor meane in feares hoping the best vpon the least surmises and fearing the worst vppon the weakest grounds And yet both fearing and hoping at one time neither feare withholdeth hope from the highest atteÌ„pts nor hope can strengthen feare against the smallest suspitions but maugre all feares loues hopes will worke to the highest pitch and maugre al hopes loues feares will stoupe to the lowest downcome To bidde thée therefore hope is not to forbid thée to feare and though it may be for the best that thy Lord is taken from thée yet sith it may also be for the worst that wil neuer content thée Thou thinkest hope doth inough to kéepe thy heart from breaking feare little enough to force thée to wéeping sith it is as likely that he hath béen taken away vpon hatred by his enimies as vpon loue by his friendes For hitherto saiest thou his friends haue all failed him and his foes preuailed against him as they y t would not defend him aliue are lesse likely to regard him dead so they that thought one life too litle to take from him are not vnlikely after deathe to wreake new rage vpon him And though this doubt were not yet whosoeuer hath taken him hath wronged me in not acquainting me with it for to take away mine without my consent can neither be offered without iniurie nor suffered without sorrow And as for Jesus he was my Jesus my Lord and my maister Hée was mine because he was giuen vnto me and borne for me he was the author of my being and so my father hée was the worker of my wel doing and therefore my Sauiour hee was the price of my ransome and thereby my redeemer Hee was my Lord to command me my maister to instruct mée my pastor to féede mée He was mine because his loue was mine and when he gaue me his loue hee gaue me himselfe sith loue is no gift except the giuer be giuen with it yea it is no loue â—â—lesse it be as liberall of that it is as of that it hath Finally if the meat bee mâ—â—â— that I eate the life mine wherewith I liue or he mine all whose life labours and death were mine then dare I boldly say that Iesus is mine sith on his bodie I feede by his loue I liue and to my good without any neede of his owne hath hee liued laboured and died And therefore though his Disciples though the Centurion yea though the Angels haue taken him they haue done me wrong in defeating mee of my right sith I neuer meane to resigne my interest But what if he hath takeÌ„ a way himself wilt thou also lay vniustice to his charge Thogh he be thine yet thine to command not to obey thy Lord to dispose of thee and not to be by thée disposed and therefore as it is no reason that the seruant should be maister of his maisters secretes so might hee and peraduenture so hath he remoued without acquainting thee whether reuiuing himselfe with the same power with which he raised thy dead brother and fulfilling the wordes that he often vttered of his resurrection It may be thou wilt say that a gift once giuen cannot bee reuoked and therefore though it were before in his choise not to giue himselfe vnto thée yet the deede of gift being once made he cannot be taken from thee neyther can the doner dispose of his gift without the possessors priuitie And sith this is a rule in the lawe of nature thou maiest imagine it a breach of equitie and an impeachment of thy right to conuey himselfe away without thy consent But to this I will aunswere thée with thine owne ground For if he be thine by being giuen thée once thou art his by as many gifts as daies and therefore hee being absolute owner of thée is likewise full owner of whatsoeuer is thine and consequently because he is thine hee is also his owne and so nothing liable vnto thée for taking himselfe from thée Yea but he is my Lord saiest thou and in this respect bound to kéepe me at the least bound not to kill me and sith killing is nothing but a seuering of life from the body he being the chiefe life both of my soule and body cannot possibly go from me but he must with a double death kill me And therefore he being my Lord and bound to protect his seruant it is against all lawes that I should be thus forsaken But O cruel tongue why pleadest thou thus against him whose case I feare me is so pitifull y t it might rather moue all tongues to plead for him being peradueÌ„ture in their hands whose vnmercifull hearts make themselues merrie with his miserie and build the triumphes of their impious victorie vpon the dolefull ruines of his disgraced glorie And now O griefe because I know not where he is I caÌ„not imagine how to helpe for they haue taken him away and I knowe not where they haue put him Alas Mary why dost thou consume
not from thy crosse after death shee came to dwell with thee at thy graue Why then dost not thou say with Noemi Blessed bee shee of our Lord because what courtesie shee afforded to the quicke shee hath also continued towardes the dead A thing so much the more to be esteemed in that it is most rare Doe not sweet Lord any longer delay her Behold shee hath attended thee these three daies and shee hath not what to eate nor wherewith to foster her famished soule vnlesse thou by discouering thy selfe doest minister vnto her the bread of thy body feede her with the foode that hath in it all taste of sweetnesse If therefore thou wilt not haue her to faint in the way refresh her with that which her hunger requireth For surely shee cannot long enioy the life of her body vnlesse shee may haue notice of thee that art the life of her soule But feare not Mary for thy teares will obtaine They are too mighty oratours to let any suite fall though they pleaded at the most rigorous bar yet haue they so perswading a silence and so conquering a complaint that by yeelding they ouercome and by intreating they commaund They tie the tongues of all accusers and soften the rigour of the seuerest Iudge Yea they win the inuincible and bind the omnipotent When they seeme most pittiful they haue greatest power and being most for saken they are most victorious Repentant eies are the Cellers of Angels and penitent teares their sweetest wines which the sauor of life perfumeth the taste of grace swéetneth and the purest colours of returning innocency highly beautifieth This dew of deuotion neuer falleth but the sunne of iustice draweth it vp and vpoÌ„what face soeuer it droppeth it maketh it amiable in Gods eie For this water hath thy heart beene long a limbecke sometimes distilling it out of the weedes of thy owne offences with the fire of true contrition Sometimes out of the flowers of spirituall comforts with the flames of contemplation and now out of the bitter hearbs of thy Maisters miseries with the heate of a tender compassion This water hath better graced thy lookes then thy former alluring glaunces It hath setled worthier beauties in thy face then all thy artificiall paintings Yea this onely water hath quenched Gods anger qualified his iustice recouered his mercy merited his loue purchased his pardon brought forth the spring of all thy fauors Thy tears were the proctors for thy brothers life the inuiters of those Angels for thy comfort and the suiters that shall be rewarded with the first sight of thy reuiued Sauiour Rewarded they shal be but not refrained altered in their cause but their course continued Heauen would weepe at the losse of so pretious a water and earth lament the absenee of so fruitefull â—owers No no the Angels must still bathe themselues in the pure streams of thy eies and thy face shall still bee set with this liquid pearle that as out of thy teares were stroken the first sparkes of thy Lordes loue so thy teares may be the oyle to nourishe and feede his flame Till death damme vp the springs they shall neuer cease running and then shal thy soule be ferried in them to the harbour of life that as by them it was first passed from sinne to grace so in them it may be wasted from grace to glorie In the meane time réere vp thy fallen hopes and gather confidence both of thy spéedie comforte and thy Lordes well being Iesus saith vnto her Maria She turning said vnto him Rabboni O louing maister thou didst onely deferre her consolation to increase it that the delight of thy presence might be so much the more welcome in that through thy long absence it was with so little hope so much desired Thou wert content shee shoulde lay out for thée so manie sighs tears and plaints and diddest purposely adiorne the date of her paiment to requite the length of these delaies with a larger loane of ioy It may be she knewe not her former happinesse till shee was weaned from it nor had a right estimate in valuing the treasures with which thy presence did enriche hir vntill her extreame pouertie taught her their vnestimable rate But now thou she west by a swéete experience that though she paied thée with the dearest water of her eyes with her best breath and tenderest loue yet small was the price that shee bestowed in respect of the worth that shee receiued She sought the dead and imprisoned in a stonie gayle and now she findeth thée both aliue and at full libertie Shée sought the shrined in a shrowd more like a leaper then thy selfe left as the modell of the vitermost miserie and the onely paterne of the bitterest vnhappinesse And now shee findeth thée inuested in the robes of glorie the president of the highest and both the owner and giuer of all felicitie And as all this while shee hath sought without finding wéept without comforte and called without aunswere so no we thou satisfiest her séeking with thy comming her tears with thy triumph and al her cries with this one word Marie For when she heard thee call her in thy woonted maner and with thy vsuall voyce her onely name issuing froÌ„ thy mouth wrought so strange an alteration in her as if she had béene wholly new made when she was only named For whereas before the violence of her griefe had so benummed her that her bodie séemed but the hearse of her dead heart and her heart the cophin of an vnliuing soule and hir whole presence but a representation of a double funeral of thine and of hir owne now with this one word her senses are restored her minde lightened her heart quickened and her soule reuiued But what maruell though with one word hee raise the dead spirites of his poore disciple that with a word made the world euen in this very worde sheweth an omnipotent power Marie she was called as well in her bad as in her reformed estate and both her good and euill was all of Maries working And as Marie signifieth no lesse what she was then what she is so is this one word by his vertue that speaketh it a repetition of all her miseries an Epitome of his mercies and a memorial of all her better fortunes And therefore it laid so generall a discouerie of her self before her eyes that it awaked her most forgotten sorows and mustered together the whole multitude of her ioyes and woulde haue left the issue of their mutinie verie doubtfull but that the presence and notice of hir highest happinesse decided the quarrell and gaue her ioyes the victory For as he was her only sunne whose going downe left nothing but a dumpishe night of fearefull fansies wherein no starre of hope shined and the brightest plannets were chaunged into dismall signes so the serenitie of his countenance and authoritie of hys worde brought a calme and well tempered day that chasing away all darknesse and
his death and the day of his resurrection But alas let her heauinesse excuse her and the vnwontednes of the miracle plead her pardon sith dread and amazement hath dulled her senses distempered her thoughts discouraged her hopes awaked her passions and left her no other liberty but onely to wéepe Shée wept therefore being onely able to wéepe And As shee was weeping shee stouped down and looked into the Monument and she saw two Angels in white sitting one at the head and an other at the feete where the body of Iesus had beene layd They said vnto her Woman why wepest thou O Mary thy good hap excéedeth thy hope and where thy last sorrow was bred thy first succour springeth Thou diddest séeke but one and thou hast found two A dead body was thy errand and thou hast light vppon two aliue Thy wéeping was for a man and thy téars haue obtained Angels Suppresse now thy sadnes and refresh thy heart with this good Fortune These angels inuite thée to a parlée they séem to take pitty of thy case and it may be they haue some happy tidinges to tell thée Thou hast hitherto sought in vaine as one either vnséene or vnknown or at the least vnregarded sith the party thou séekest neither tendereth thy teares nor aunswereth thy cries nor relenteth with thy lamentings Either he doth not heare or hée will not helpe he hath peraduenture left to loue thée and is loath to yéelde thée reliefe therefore take such comfort as thou findest sith thou art not so lucky as to finde that which thou couldest wish Remember what they are where they sitte from whence they come and to whom they speake They are Angels of peace neither sent with out cause nor séen but of fauour They sit in the Tombe to shew that they are no straungers to thy losse They come from Heauen from whence all happy newes descend They spake to thy selfe as though they had some speciall Embassage to deliuer vnto thée Aske them therfore of thy maister for they are likeliest to returne thée a desired aunswere Thou knewest him too well to thinke that hell hath deuoured him thou hast long sought and hast not found him in earth and what place so fit for him as to be in heauen Aske therefore of those Angels that came newly from thence and it may be their report will highly please thée Or if thou art resolued to continue thy séeking who can better helpe thée then they that are as swift as thy thought as faithfull as thy owne heart and as louing to thy Lord as thou thy selfe Take therefore thy good hap least it be taken away from thée and content thée with Angels sith thy maister hath giuen thée ouer But alas what meaneth this change how happeneth this strange alteration The time hath béene that fewer teares would haue wrought greater effecte shorter séeking haue sooner found and lesse paine haue procured more pitty The time hath ven that thy annointing his féete was accepted and praised thy washing them with teares highly commended and thy wyping them with thy haire most curteously construed How then doth it now fall out that hauing brought thy swéete oiles to annoint his whole body hauing shed as many teares as would haue washed more then his féet and hauing not only thy haire but thy heart ready to serue him he is not moued with all these duties so much as once to affoorde thée his sight Is it not he that reclaimed thee from thy wandring courses that dispossessed thee of thy damned inhabitants and from the wildes of sinne recouered thee into the folde and family of his flocke was not thy house his home his loue thy life thy selfe his Disciple did not hee defend thée against the Pharisee pleade for thée against Iudas and excuse thée to thy sister In summe was not hee thy patron and protector in all thy necessities O good Iesu what hath thus estranged thée from her Thou hast heretofore so pittied her teares that séeing them thou couldest not refraine thine In one of her greatest agonies for loue of her that so much loued thée thou diddest recall her dead brother to life turning her complaint into vnexpected contentment And we knowe that thou doest not vse to alter course without cause nor to chastice without desert Thou art the first that inuitest and the last that forsakest neuer leauing but first left and euer offering til thou art refused How then hath shée forfaited thy fauour Or with what trespasse hath shée earned thy ill will That shée neuer left to loue thée her heart will depose her hand will subscribe her tongue will protest her teares wil testify and her séeking doth assure And alas is her particular case so farre from all example that thou shouldest rather alter thy nature then shée better her Fortune and be to her as thou art to no other For our parts since thy last shew of liking towardes her we haue found no other faulte in her but that shée was the eareliest vp to séeke thée readiest to annoint thée and when shée saw that thou wert remoued shée forthwith did wéepe for thée and presently went for helpe to finde thée And whereas those two that shée brought being lesse careful of thée then fearefull of themselues when they had séene what shée had sayd sodainely shrunke away behold shée stil staieth shée still séeketh shée still wéepeth If this be a fault we cannot deny but this shée doth and to this shée perswadeth yea this she neither meaneth to amend nor requesteth thée to forgiue if therfore thou reckōnest this as punishable punished shée must be sith no excuse hath effect wher the fact pleadeth guilty But if this import not any offence but a true affection and be rather a good desire then an euil desert why art thou so hard a Iudge to so soft a creature requiting her loue with thy losse and suspending her hopes in this vnhappinesse Are not those thy wordes I loue those that loue mee and who watcheth earely for me shall finde mee Why then doth not this woman finde thée that was vp so early to watch for thée Why doest thou not with like repay her that bestoweth vppon thée her whole loue sith thy word is her warrant and thy promise her due debt Art thou lesse moued with these tears that shée sheddeth for thée her onely Maister then thou wert with those that shée shed before thée for her deceased brother Or doth her loue to thy seruaunt more please thée then her loue to thy selfe Our loue to others must not be to them but to thée in them For he loueth thée so much the lesse that loueth anything with thée that he loueth not for thée If therefore shée then deserued wel for louing thée in an other shée deserueth better now for louing thée in thy selfe and if in déede thou louest those that loue thée make thy worde good to her that is so far in loue with thée Of thy selfe thou hast
starre can yeeld when the Sun is downe and a sorry exchange to goe gather crummes after the losse of a heuenly repast My eyes are not vsed to see by the glims of a sparke and in seking the sunne it is either needeles or booteles to borrowe the light of a candle sith eyther it must bewray it selfe with the selfe light or no other light can euer discouer it If they come to disburden me of my heauinesse their comming wil be burdensom vnto me and they wil load me more while they labour my reliefe They cannot perswade me that my Maister is not lost for my owne eyes will disproue them They can lesse tell me where he may be found for they would not be so simple to be so long from him or if they ran forbeare him surely they doe not know him whom none cā truly know and liue long without him All their demurres would be tedious and discourses irkesome Impaire my loue they might but appay it they could not to which he that first accepted the debt is the onely paiment They eyther want power will or leaue to tell me my desire or at the first word they would haue don it sith Angels are not vsed to idle spéeches and to me al talke is idle that doth not tell me of my master They know not where he is and therefore they are come to the place where he last was making the tombe their heauen and the remembrance of his presence the foode of their felicity Whatsoeuer they could tell me if they told me not of him and whatsoeuer they should tell me of him if they told me not where he were both their telling and my hearing were but a wasting of time I neither came to sée thē nor desire to heare them I came not to sée Angels but him that made both me and Angels and to whom I owe more then both to men and Angels And to thée I appeal O most louing Lord whether my afflicted heart doe not truely defray the tribute of an vndeuided loue To thée I appeale whether I haue ioyned any partner with thee in the small possession of my poore selfe And I would to God I were as priuy where thy body is as thou art who is onely Lord and owner of my soule But alas swéet Iesu where thou wert thou art not where thou art I know not wretched is the case that I am in and yet how to better it I cannot imagin Alas O my onely desire why hast thou left me wauering in these vncertainties and in how wilde a maze wander my doubtfull and perplexed thoughts If I stay here where he is not I shall neuer finde him If I would goe farther to séeke I knowe not whether To leaue the tombe is a death and to stand helpeles by it an vncurable disease so that all my comfort is now concluded in this that I am left frée to choose whether I will stay without helpe or goe without hope that is in effect with what torment I will end my life And yet euen this were too happy a choise for so vnhappy a creature If I might be chooser of my owne death O how quickely should that choise be made and how willingly would I runne to that execution I would be nailed to the same crosse with the same nailes and in the same place my heart should be wounded with his speare my head with his thornes my body with his whips Finally I would taste al his tormentes and tread all his embrued and bloudy steppes But O ambitious thoughts why gaze you vpon so high a felicity why think you of so glorious a death y t are priuy to so infamous a life death alas I deserue yea not one but infinite deaths But so swéet a death seasoned with so many comforts the very instruments whereof were able to raise the deadest corps depure the most defiled soule were too small a scourge for my great offences And therefore I am left to feele so many deaths as I liue hours and to passe as many pangues as I haue thoughts of my losse which are as many as there are minutes and as violēt as if they were all in euery one But sith I can neither die as he died nor liue where he lieth dead I will liue out my liuing death by his graue and die on my dying life by his swéete tombe Better is it after losse of his body to looke to his sepulchre then after losse of the one to leaue the other to be destroyed No no though I haue béene robbed of the Saint I wil at the least haue care of the shrine which though it be spoiled of the most soueraigne hoast yet shall it be the Altar where I will daily sacrifie my heart and offer vp my teares Here will I euer leade yea here to I meane to end my wretched life that I may at the least bee buried by the tombe of my Lord and take my iron sléepe neere this couche of stone which his presence hath made the place of swéetest repose It may be also that this empte Sindon lying héere to no vse and this tōbe being opē without any in it may giue occasion to some mercifull heart that shall first light vpon my vnburied body to wrap me in this shroud and to interre me in this tombe O too fortunate lott for so vnfortunate a woman to craue no no I doe not craue it For alas I dare not yet if such a sinfull ouersight shoulde be committed I doe now beforehand forgiue that sinner and were it no more presumption to wish it aliue then to suffer it dead if I knew the party that shuld first passe by me I woulde woe him with my teares and hire him with my praiers to blesse me with this felicity And though I dare not wish anie to do it yet this without offence I may say to all that I loue this Syndon aboue all clothes in the world and this tomb I estéeme more then any princes monument yea and I thinke that corse highly fauoured that shall succéede my Lord in it and for my part as I mean that the ground where I stand shall be my death-bed so am I not of Iacobs minde to haue my bodie buried farre from the place where it dieth but euen in the next and readiest graue and that as soone as my breath faileth sith delaies are bootlesse where death hath wonne possession But alas I dare not say any more let my bodie take such fortune as befalleth it my soule at the least shall dwel in this swéet Paradise and from this britle case of flesh and bloud passe presently into the glorious tombe of God and man It is nowe enwrapped in a masse of corruption it shall then enioy a place of high perfection where it is nowe it is more by force then by choise and like a repining prisoner in a loathed gayle But there in little roume it should finde perfect rest and in the prison of death
where the dead is reuiued If they be teares of ioy stilled from the flowers of thy good Fortune fewer of these would suffice and fitter were other tokens to expresse thy contentment And therefore O VVoman why doest thou weepe Would our eies be so dry if such eie streams were behoouefull Yea would not the heauens rain tears if thy suppossals were truths Did not Angels alwaies in their visible semblaunces represent their lords inuisible pleasure shadowing in their shapes the drift of his intentions When God was incensed they brandished swords When hée was appeased they sheathed them in scabbards When hée would defend they resembled souldiers when hée would terrify they took terrible forms and when he would comfort they carried mirth in their eies swéetenes in their countenaunce mildenes in their wordes fauour grace and comlinesse in their whole presence Why theÌ„ dost thou wéepe séeing vs to reioyce Dost thou imagin vs to degenerate from our nature or to forget any duety whose state is neither subiect to chaÌ„ge nor capable of the least offence Art thou more feruent in thy loue or more priuy to the counsaile of our eternall God then we that are daily attendaÌ„ts at his throne of glory O Woman déeme not amisse against so apparaunt euidence and at our request exchange thy sorrow for our ioy But O glorious Angels why doe yée moue her to ioy if you know why shée wéepeth Alas shée wéepeth for the losse of him without whom all ioy is to her but matter of new griefe While hée liued euery place where shée found him was to her a Paradise euery season wherin he was enioyned a perpetuall spring euery exercise wherein he was serued a speciall felicity the ground whereon hée went séemed to yéelde her swéeter footing the aire wherein hée breathed becam to her spirite of life being once sanctified in his sacred brest In summe his presence brought with it a heauen of delightes and his departure séemed to leaue an Eclipse in all things And yet euen the places that he had once honored with the accesse of his person were to her so many swéete pilgrimages which in his abseÌ„ce shée vsed as chappels and altars to offer vp her prayers féeling in them long after the vertue of his former presence And therefore to féed her with coniectures of his well-being is but to strengthen her feare of his euill and the alledging of likelyhoodes by those that knowe the certainty importeth the case to bée lamentable that they are vnwilling it should bée known Your obscure glancing at the truth is no sufficient acquittance of her griefe neither can shée out of these disioyned ghesses spell the wordes that must be the conclusion of her complaint Tell her then directly what is becom of her lord if you mean to deliuer her out of these dumpes sith what else soeuer you say of him doth but draw more humors to her sore and rather anger it then any way asswage it Yet hearken O Mary and consider their spéeches Thinke what answer thou wilt giue them sith they presse thee with so strong perswassons But I doubt that thy wittes are smothered with too thicke a miste to admit these unknowen beams of their pale light Thou art so wholly inherited by the bloudy tragedy of thy slaughtred Lord and his death and dead body haue gotten so absolute a conquest ouer all thy powers that neither thy sence can discerne nor thy minde conceiue any other obiect then his murdered corse Thy eies séeme to tel thee that euery thing inuiteth thee to weepe carrying such outward shew as though all that thou seest were attired in sorrow to solemnize with generall consent the funerall of thy Maister Thy ears perswade thée that all sounds and voices are tuned to mourning notes and that the Eccho of thy own wailings is the cry of the very stons trées as though the cause of thy teares being so vnusuall God to the rocks and woods had inspired a féeling of thine and their coÌ„mon losse And therefore it soundeth to thée as a straunge question to aske thee why thou wéepest sith al that thou seest and hearest séemeth to eâ—duce thée yea to enforce thée to weepe If thou seest anie thing that beareth a cullour of myrth it is vnto thee like the riche spoiles of a vanquished kingdome in the eye of the captiue Prince which put him in minde what he had not what he hath and are but vpbraidinges of his losse and whetstones of sharper sorrow Whatsoeuer thou hearest that moueth delight it representeth the misse of thy maisters spéeches which as they were the onely harmonie that thy eares affected so they being now stopped with a deathfull silence all other words and times of comfort are to thee but an Israelites musicke vpon Babilon bancks memories of a lost felicitie and proofes of a present vnhappinesse And though loue increased the conceite of thy losse which endéereth the meanest thinges and doubleth the estimate of thinges that are pretious yet thy faith teaching thee the infinite dignitie of thy maister and thy vnderstanding being no dull scholler to learne so wel liked a lesson it fell out to be the bitterest part of thy miserie that thou diddest so wel know howe infinite the losse was that made thée miserable This is the cause that those verie angels in whome all thinges make remonstrance of triumph and solace are vnto thée occasions of new griefe For their gratious and louely countenances remember thee that thou hast lost the beutie of the world and the highest marke of true loues ambition Their swéete lookes and amiable features tel thée that the heauen of thy eyes which was the reuerend Maiestie of thy maisters face once shined with farre more pleasing graces but is now disfigured with the dreadful formes of death In summe they were to thée like the glistering sparkes of a broken Diamond and like pictures of dead and decaied beauties signes not salues of thy calamitie memorials not medicines of thy misfortune Thy eies were to wel acquainted with the trueth to accept a supplie of shadowes and as comelinesse comfort and glorie were neuer in anie other so truely at home and so perfitly in their prime as in the person and speeches of thy Lord so cannot thy thoughtes but be like strangers in anie forraigne delightes For in them all thou séest no more but some scattered crummes and hungrymorsels of thy late plentifull banquets and findest a dimme reflexion of thy former light which like a flash of lightning in a close and stormy night serueth thee but to sée thy present infelicitie and the better to know the horror of the insuing darkenesse Thou thinkest therefore thy selfe blamelesse both in wéeping for thy losse and in refusing other comforte Yet in common courtesie affoord these Angels an answere sith their charitie in visiting thee deserueth much more and thou if not too vngratefull canst allow them no lesse Alas saith she what néedeth myanswere where the miserie it selfe speaketh
might not very well become me None will bar me frō defending my life which the least worme in the right of nature hath leaue to preserue And sith he is to me so deare a life that without him all life is death nature authoriseth my féeble forces to imploy their vttermost in so necessary an attempt Necessity addeth ability loue doubleth necessity and it often happeneth that nature armed with loue and pressed with néede excéedeth it selfe in might and surmounteth all hope in successe And as the equity of the cause doth breath courage into the defendors making them the more willing to fight the lesse vnwilling to die so guilty consciences are euer timerous still starting with sodaine frights and afrayd of their own suspitions ready to yéeld before the assault vppon distrust of their cause and dispaire of their defence Sith therefore to rescue an innocent to recouer a right and to redresse so déep a wrong is so iust a quarrell nature will enhable me loue encourage me grace confirme me and the iudge of all iustice fight in my behalfe And if it séeme vnfitting to my sexe in talke much more in practise to deal with martiall affaires yet when such a cause happeneth as neuer had patterne such effects must follow as are without example There was neuer any body of a God but one neuer such a body stollen but now neuer such a stealth vnreuenged but this Sith therefore the Angels neglect it men forget it O Iudith lend me thy prowesse for I am bound to regard it But suppose that my force were vnable to winne him by an open enterprise what scruple should kéepe me from seeking him by secret means yea and by plain stealth It wilbe thought a sinne and condemned for a theft O swéete sinne why was not I the first that did commit thée Why did I suffer any other sinner to preuent me for stealing from God his honour I was called a sinner and vnder that title was spred my infamy But for stealing God from a false owner I was not worthy to be called a sinner because it had béene too high a glory If this be so great a sinne and so heinous a theft let others make choise of what titles they will but for my part I would refuse to be an Angel I would not wishe to be a Saint I would neuer be estéemed either iust or true and I shoulde be best contented if I might both liue and die such a sinner and be condemned for such a theft When I heard my Lord make so comfortable a promise to the théefe vppon the crosse that he should that day be with him in Paradise I had halfe an enuy at that théefes good Fortune and wished my selfe in the théefes place so I might haue enioyed the fruite of his promise But if I could be so happy a théefe as to commit this theft if that wish had takeu effect I would now vn wishe it againe and scorne to be any other théef then my self sith my booty could make me happier then any other théefes felicity And what though my felony should be called in question in what respect should I néede to feare They would say that I loued him too well But that were soone disproued sith where the worthinesse is infinite no loue can be inough They would obiect that I stole an others goods and as for that many sure titles of my interest would aucree him to be mine and his dead corse would rather speak then witnesses should faile to depose so certaine a truth And if I had not a speciall right vnto him what shuld moue me to venture my life for him No no if I were so happy a felone I shoulde fear no temporal araignmēt I should rather feare that the Angels woulde cite me to my aunswere for preuenting them in the theft sith not the highest Seraphin in heauē but would déeme it a higher stile then his owne to be the théefe that had committed so glorious a robbery But alas thus stand I deuising what I would do if I knew any thing of him and in the meane time I neither know who hath him nor where they haue bestowed him and stil I am forced to dwell in this aunswere that They haue taken away my Lord and I know not wher they haue put him While Marie thus lost her selfe in a Laberinth of doubtes watering her wordes with teares and warming them with sighes séeing the Angels with a kind of reuerēce rise as though they had done honour to one behinde her She turned backe and she saw Iesus standing but that it was Iesus she knewe not O Marie is it possible that thou hast forgotten Iesus faith hath written him in thy vnderstanding loue in thy will both feare and hope in thy memorie and how can all these registers be so cancelled that so plainly séeing thou shouldest not know the contentes For him onely thou tyrest thy féete thou bendest thy knées thou wringest thy handes For him thy heart throbbeth thy brest sigheth thy tongue complaineth For him thy eye wéepeth thy thought sorroweth thy wholebody fainteth and thy soule languisheth In summe there is no part in thée but is busie about him c notwithstanding all this hast thou nowe forgotten him His countenance auourheth it his voyce assureth it hys woundes witnesse it thy owne eyes beholde it and doest thou not yet beléeue that this is Iesus Are thy sharp séeing eies become so weake sighted that they are dazeled with the sunne and blinded with the light But there is such a showre of teares betwéene thée and him and thy eyes are so dimmed with wéeping for him that though thou seest the shape of a man yet thou canst not discerne him Thy eares also are still so possessed with the dolefull Eccho of his last spéeches which want of breath made him vtter in a dying voyce that the force loudnesse of his liuing wordes maketh thee imagine it the voice of a stranger and therefore as hée séemeth vnto thée so like a stranger hee asketh this question of thée O woman why weepest thou whom seekest thou O desire of heart and onely ioy of her soule why demandest thou why shée wéepeth or for whome she séeketh But a whilesince she saw thée hir only hope hanging on a trée with thy head full of thornes thy eies full of teares thy eares full of blasphemies thy mouth full of gall thy whole person mangled and disfigured and doest thou aske her why shee wéepeth Scarse thrée daies passed she beheld thy arms and legs racked with violent pulles thy hands and féete boared with nails thy side wounded with a speare thy whole body torne with stripes and goared in bloud and doest thou hir only griefe aske hir why shée wéepeth She beheld thee vppon the crosse with many teares most lamentable cries yeelding vp her ghost that is thy own ghost alas askest thou why she weepeth And now to make vp hir misere hauing but one