is no Tongue in Nature which can-furnish us with termes strong enough to expresse the miseries of Man that Man is of the race of the Gods yes surely since thy Gods are Gods of earth the cause is matcht to the effect for Man is of the same matter Plotinus thou also did'st not misse it when in favour of Man thou said'st he was an abridgement of the wonders of the world for since all it's wonders heretofore so famous are no more but dust and ashes Man may hereof be the example with good reason O how much more is expert David in the knowledge of our condition when he compares Man not onely to the Dust but to the Dust which flies away to show us that that little which he is still flies away till it be nothing in the end But how glad am I O Lord that I am but Dust to the end that I may flie towards heaven Memento homo quòd nihil es in nihilum reverteris for the earth I undervalew How I am satisfied that I am but Ashes that I may but be able to keepe in my soule some little sparkle of thy love What glory and what contentment too is it to be devoured by wormes since thou callest thy selfe a Worme gnaw O Lord gnaw both my heart and intrals Ego sum vermis non homo Psal 22.6 I offer thee them in prey and regive me new ones that may offend thee no more I know well that my life flits away by little and little but how agreeable is this flight unto me since thou art its object I see well that my Dayes slide away and passe in continuall course But O what consolation is it to be sensible of dying at all houres for to live eternally O Verities againe what ravishments have you to consolate the soules of the most afflicted I returne to my subject Humility is ever honoured by all the world Wee reade of the Priests of the Gentiles that they writ letters every yeere to their Gods upon the Ashes of the Sacrifices which they made upon the top of Mount Olympus and I beleeve that this was upon designe that they might thus be better received being written upon this paper of humility Let us fetch now some truth from this fancy All the parts of the body are as so many Characters of dust wherein may be read the truth of our nothingnesse Let us write every day to heaven upon the paper of our Ashes confessing that we are nothing else and let us make our sighs the faithfull messengers of these letters as the onely witnesses of our hearts I will hide my selfe under the Ashes O Lord to the end that thy Justice may not see me said David What Curtaine 's this This Soveraigne Justice which makes it bright day in hell cannot pierce the Ashes to find underneath a Sinner No Seest thou how Ahab humbleth himselfe I will not bring the evill in his dayes 1 Kings 21.29 no for this vaile has the vertue to reflect the beames of this revenging light within the source which produced them Remember that I am nothing O Lord and that thou hast made me of nothing Recordare quae so quòd sieut argillam feeisti me in pulveremreduces me Iob 10.9 and every moment canst reduce me to something lesse then nothing cryes out Iob in his miseries He finds no other invention to appease the mild choller of his God then putting him in mind of his infinite greatnesse and at the same time of the pitifull estate whereunto he is reduced Why should you take Armes against me O Lord pursues he when the breath of your word is able to undoe the same which it hath made me Humility triumphs over all things Remember O Remember that I am but what the benigne influence of your divine regards permits me to be for on the instant that you shall cease to regard me I shall cease to live Man remember thy beginning for thou art not made of Fire like the Starres nor of Ayre like the winds but of mire from whence it is thou soyl'st all the would Decke we then with Ashes our Body of Dust and let us cover with a new earth our owne to make Rampiers of proofe against the thunders of heaven See you not how its all-powerfull Justice finds limitation in the confession of our being nothing We need feare nothing acknowledging that we are nothing Well may the thunder make a horrid rumbling yet the Hyssope out-braves it in its lowlinesse He which can overcome himselfe shall never be vanquish't by a greater Captaine Feare and Humility ever abandon each others company The onely meanes to triumph over all things is to vanquish Ambition O Lord I durst scarce beleeve that I am if thy providence alone were not the Prop of my Being But since thy goodnesse hath drawne me from the Abysse of Nothing let thy grace cause me alwayes to keepe the remembrance of my originall Before Time was I was Nothing now Time is I am yet Nothing But what happinesse is it to be Nothing at all since thou art All-things for if I search my selfe in vaine in my selfe is it not sufficient that I am found in thee I will then forget even mine own name and muse of nothing but of the Chimera of my being since as a Chimera it passeth away and vanisheth The onely consolation What a joy is it to passe away continually with all things towards him that hath created all things that remaines me in my passage is that thou alone remainest firme and stable so that without end thou art the end of my carreere and without bounds limitest the extent of my course as the onely object both of my rest and felieity See me now upon returne With what and over to be adored lustre appeares the love of God in his day Heaven changes the sighs of the Earth into tears I meane its vapours into dew in the work of Man Would not one say that it seemes hee made him of earth that hee might strow thereon the seedes both of his blessings and graces O fortunate Earth which being diligently cultured may bring forth the fruits of eternall happinesse Boast thy selfe O Man to be Nothing but Earth Since we are of Earth let us suffer this divine Sun of Love to exhale the vapours of our siâ—hs for to meâ—amorphose them into the teares of Repentance since the heaven bedewes the Earth continually But if with a provoked eye it lancheth out sometimes its thunders upon it her selfe doth afford hereof the matter Live alwayes Innocent and thou shalt not know what 't is to feare Imploy thy selfe without cease to measure the depth of the Abysse of thy nothingnesse and though thou never pierce to the bottome hereof thy paines shall not be unprofitable because seeking thy selfe in thy basenesse thou shalt alwayes recover thy selfe againe much greater then thou art The Sunne this faire Planet
and ret orts upon it's own paces Man may be sayd to be happy in being subject to all mishaps But Man contrarily being setled upon the declining stoop of his ruine rouls insensibly without intervall to the grave his prison Death is a grace rather than a paine O deare ruine 〈◊〉 O sweet captivity since the soule recovers her freedome and this Sepulture serves but as a Furnace to purifiâ—â— his body The Aire although it corrupt is not for all that destroyed thâ— corruption of Man destroyes its materiall O glorious destruction since iâ—steades him as a fresh disposition to render him immortall The Fire thougâ— it fairely devoure all things is yet preserved still it selfe to reduce all thâ— World into Ashes But Man perceive himself to be devoured by Time with out ability ever to resist it Oh benâ—ficiall Impotence since hee findes hâ—â— Triumph in his overthrow The â—elâ—citic of man in this world consists in the necâ—ssity of death the Sunnâ— causeth alwayes admiration in its oâ—dinary lustre but Mans reason is impaired in the course of Times Oh weâ—come impairement since Time ruinâ— it but onely in an Anger knowing thâ— it goes about to establish its Empire beyond both time and Ages In find the Heavens may seem to wax old 〈◊〉 their wandring course How happy is man in decaying evermore since he thus at last renders himselfe exempt from all the miseries which pursue him they yet appear the same still every day as they were a thousand yeeres a'gon Man from moment to moment differs from himselfe and every instant disrobes him somewhat of his Beeing Oh delightfull Inconstancy since all his changes make but so many lines which abut at the Center of his stability A long life is a heavie burthen to the soule since it must render an account of all its moments How mysterious is the Fable of Narcissus the Poets would perswade â—â—s that Hee became selfe-enamoured â—â—ewing Himselfe in a Fountaine But 〈◊〉 am astonish't how one should become amorous of a dunghill though â—overed with Snow or Flowers A face cannot be formed without Eyes Nose â—nd Mouth and yet every of these â—arts make but a body of Misery and Corruption as being all full of it This Fable intimates us the repreâ—ntment of a fairer truth since it inâ—â—tes a Man to gaze himselfe in the â—ountaine of his teares thus to become morous of himselfe not for the liâ—eaments of dust and ashes whereof â—s countenance is shap't but rather of â—ose beauties and graces wherewith his soule is ornamented and all these together make but a rivelet If a man could contemplate the becauties of his soule in innocence he would alwaies be surprized with us love which leads him to the admiration of that source from whence they tooke their originall Oh how David was a wise Narcissus then when hee made of his Teares a Mirrour If a man would of en view himselfe in the teares of his repentance be would soon become a true selfâ—over so to become enamour'd of himselfe for he was so selfe-loving in his repentance that in this Hee spent both dayes and nights with unparelleled delights But if Narcissus ship-wrack't himselfe in the fountaine of his selfe-fondnesse This great King was upon point to Abysse himselfe in the Sea of his tâ—eres All the vaine objects of the world are so many fountaines of Narcissus wherein prying men may shâ—pwracke themselves for their liquid Crystalline shewd him to himselfe so beautifull that hee burned with desire thus to drowne himselfe Ladies vieâ— your selves in this Mirrour since you are ordinarily slaves to your owne selve love You will be faire at what price soever see here is the meanes The Crystall Mirrour of your teares flatter not contemplate therein the beauty of this grace which God hath given you to bewaile your vanities This is the onely ornament which can render you admirable All those deceitfull Chrystals Teares are the faithfullest Mirours of penitence which you weare hang'd at your Girdles shew you but fained beauties wherof Art is the work-mistresse and cause rather then your visages Would yee be Idolaters of the Earth which you tread on your bodies are but of Durt but if you will have them endeared where shall I find tearmes to expresse their Noysomnesse Leave to Death his Conquest and to the Wormes their heritage If Ladies would take as much care of their souls as of their bodies they would not hazard the losse both of one and to'ther and search your selves in that originall of Immortality from whence your soules proceed that your actions may correspond to the Noblenesse of that cause This is the most profitable counsell which I can give You It is time to end this Chapter Great Kings I serve you this Morning instead of a Page to awake You and remembrance You that you are Men I meane Subjects to Death and consequently destinated to serve as a Prey to the Wormes a Shittle-cocke to the Windes and matter for to forme an object of horror and astonishment to you altogether Muze a little that your life passeth away as a Dreame The meditation of our nothingnesse is a soveraigne remedie against vanitie thinke a little that your thoughts are vaine consider at the same time that all that is yours passes and flies away You are great but this necessity of Dying equals you to the least of your subjects Men are so neare of blood together that all beare the same name Your powers are dreadfull but a very hand-worme mocks at 'em your riches are without number but the most wretched of men carry as much into the grave as you In fine may all the pleasures of Life make a party in Yours yet they are but so many Roses whose prickles onely remaine to you at the instant of Death Man hath nothing so proper to him as the misery to which hee is borne The horror which environs You chaseth away your greatnesses the weakenesse which possesseth you renders unprofitable your absolute powers and onely then in that shirt which rests upon your backe are comprised all the treasures of your Coffers Are not these verities of importance enough to breake your sleepe If the earth be our mother heaven is our father I awake you then for to remembrance you this last time that you are Men but destined to possesse the place of those evill Angels whose Pride concaved the Abysses of Hell that you are Men but much more considerable for the government of your reason then your Kingdome That you are Men but capable to acquire all the felicities of Heaven if those of the Earth are by you disdained That you are Men but called to the inheritance of an eternall Glory if you have no pretence to any of this world Lastly that you are Men but the living images of an infinite and omnipotent one Though the body and soule together make up the man there is yet as
of the Day which with a continuall aspect We are all amourous of our selves not knowing for what for our defects are objects rather of hate then Love contemplates all created things cannot make reflexion of his beames to see himselfe as if his mother Nature had apprehended in making him so glorious that the Mirrour of his light might not be metamorphosed into a fire of love to render him amorous of his owne proper lustre But the Intellect this Sunne of our Soules has a faculty with which it can both contemplate out of it selfe all things A Man cannot stumble ordinarily but through perveâ—snesse since Reason enlightens him in the very worst wayes and repeale againe the same power to consider it selfe which makes a Man capable not onely of the Meditation of the miseries of the World but also of that of the afflictions and troubles which inseparably keeps him company to the grave We reade of Moses that God commanded him to frame the * The Laver which was before the Tabernacle Exod. 38.8 fore-front of the Tabernacle all of Mirrours to the end that those that should present themselves before his Altar might view themselves in this posture of Prayer O this excellent Mysterie Mortals it behooves you to view your selves in the Mirrour of your Ashes if you would have your vowes heard God hath taught us an excellent way of Prayer Give us this day our daily bread But why O Lord teachest thou us not to aske thee our bread for to Morrow There is nothing assured in Life but its continuall Death as well as for to day O how good a reason is there hereof This is because that life hath no assurance of tom-orrow besides that it is an excesse of grace that wee may be bold to crave of him the bread of our nourishment for all a whole day since every moment may be That of our Death Reader let this verity serve thee yet as a Mirrour 'T is not sufficient to muse of the necessity of dying but to consider also that every houre may be our Lost if thou would'st have thy prayers to pierce the heavens This is not all to know thy body is a Colosse of filth which is traild along from one place to another as it were by the last struggle of a Life alwayes languishing It behooves thee also to call to mind that every instant may terminate the course of thy troublesome carriere and that this suddaine retreate constraines thee to bid Adieu for ever to all the things of the world which thou cherishedst most Thoughts onely worthy of a noble spirit I have eaten Ashes as bread Psal 102. 9. Cinerem tan quam panem manducabam sayes the Royall Prophet but how is it possible I conceive his thought He entertained his soule with the remembrance of the Ashes of his body and this truth alone serv'd as object to his imagination for to satisfie the appetite of his Soule Lord give me both the same relish and desire to repast my selfe still thus of Dust and Ashes in remembrancing my selfe alwayes that I am nothing else A man to abase himselfe below that which he is being so poore a thing of nothing O sweet remembrance of my rottennesse since it steads me for eternall nourishment of my Soule O precious memorie of my Nothingnesse since able to satisfie the appetite of my heart Let this be the daily bread O Lord which thou hast taught me to aske thee to the end that all my desires together nourishment I recollect my selfe in this digression Having diverse times mused of the imbecillity and weakenesse of Man Si vitrei essemus minus casus timeremus S. Aug. I am constrain'd to cry out with St. Augustin What is there that can be more fraile in Nature If we were of Glasse pursues hee our condition might therein be better There is nothing more brittle than glasse yet man is more for a Glasse carefully preserv'd may last long time and yet what paine somever Man takes to preserve himselfe and under what shelter somever hee shrowds himselfe for covert to the storme hee breakes and is shattered of himselfe What reply you to these verities Great Princes Well may you now be arrogant The fragilitie of Glasse cannot admit of comparison with this of your nature what seat will you give to your greatnesse and what foundation to your vanity Man is fully miserable since his life is the source of his miseries when the wind alone of your sighs may shipwracke you upon the Sea of your owne proper teares what surnames will you take upon you for to make you be mis-taken That of Immortall would become you ill since every part of your body serves but as a But to the shaftes of Death Invincible A man may doe every thing with vertue without it nothing would also be no way proper since upon the least touch of mishap you are more worthy of pity then capable of defence Would you be called Gods your Idolaters would immolate you to their owne laughter Tread under foot your Crownes if rightly you will be crowned with them you onely thus render your selves worthy of those honours which you misprize for Glory consists not in the possessing it Heaven cannot bee acquâ—red but by the misprize of earth but in the meriting and the onely means to obtaine it is to pretend nothing at all to it How remarkeable is the custome of the Locrians at the Coronation of their Kings They burnt before them a handfull of Tow to represent unto them the instability of their grandeurs and the greedinesse of Time to destroy them In effect all the greatnesses of the Earth are but as a bundlet of Tow All the grandour of Kings is but as the blaze of flaming tow and then when Darius would make of them his treasure Mis-hap set fire on them and reduced 'em into Cinders and when hee had yet in his heart a desire to immortalize them a new fire seaz'd his intrals by the heat of thirst which burn'd him to the end to consume at once both the cause and the effect So true it is that the Glory of the world vanisheth away like Smoke Great Kings if you build a Throne of Majestie to the proofe both against Time and Fortune lay its foundation upon that of your miseries He which esteems himselfe the least of all is the greatest Humility takes her rise in low linesse from the lowest footing when she makes her flight into the heavens O how admirable is the Humility of Saint Iohn Baptist They would give him titles of Soveraignty in taking him for the Messias but call to you Memory how with an ejaculation oâ— Love and reverence hee precipitateâ— himselfe both with heart and thoughâ— into the Abysse of his owne Nothingnesse there to admire in all humility both Greatnesse and Majesty in his Throne I am but a voyce Vox clamantis in deserto Iohn 1.23
sayes hee which beat at the eares to enter into your hearts A Voyce which rustles in a moment and passes away at the same instant What Humility Is there any thing which is lesse any thing then a Voyce 'T is a puffe of wind which a fresh one carries I know not where since both lose themselves in the ayre after its ne're solittle agitation with their gentle violence 'T is nothing in effect yet notwithstanding the proper name of this great Prophet Christus verbum Iohannes vox They would elevate him and he abaseth himselfe so low that he would render himself invisible as a Voyce so much he feares to be taken for him whose shooe-latchet he judgeth himself unworthy to unloose Lord what are we also but a little Wind enclosed in a handfull of Earth to what can one compare us Iohn 1.27 A man is to bee estimated in proportion to the undervalue bee makes of himself without attributing us too much vanity True it is that we are the works of thy hands but all other created things beare the same Title but if thy bounty hath beene willing to advantage our nature with many graces proper and ordinated to it alone these are so many witnesses which convince us not to have deserv'd them since our very Ingratitude is yet a Recognizing of this Truth Insomuch that as our Life is nothing but sinne and sinne is a meere privation it may be maintained that wee are nothing else and consequently nothing at all The most just man sinneth seven times a day But how Proud am I O Lord every time I thinke thou hast created me of Earth for this is a Principall which drawes me alwayes to it selfe by a right of propriety from whence I cannot defend my selfe All things seeke their repose in their element What is 〈◊〉 for a man to trumph here of the noâ—â—d the earth expects his spoyle O how happy am I to search mine in that of Dust and Ashes whereof thou hast formed me The Earth demands my Earth and my body as a little Gullet separated from its source speeds by little and little to the same source from whence it had its beginning And this is that which impeaches me from gathering up my selfe to take a higher flight I should doe bravely to hoyse my selfe above my Center Pride hoyses up only to give a fall when the assay of my Vanity and the violence of my fall are but the same thing I give still downewards upon the side of my weakenesses and the weight of my miseries overbeares upon the arrogance of my Ambition O happy deffect A man no doubt may misknow himselfe yet the least hit of mishap teares the vaile of his hoodwink'tnesse and yet more happy the condition which holds me alwayes enchained to the dunghill of my Originall since the links of this easie servitude are so many Mirrours which represent me that I am nothing whensoever I imagine my selfe to be something Let us change our Tone without changing subject Ladyes Remember that you dye every houre behold here a MIRROVR WHICH FLATTERS NOT. It shewes you both what you are and such as you shall be But if notwithstanding you still admire your selves under an other visage full of allurements and sweets A strange thing that death is still as neare us as life and yet wee never thinke on 't This is but Death himselfe who hides him under these faire apparences to the end you may not discerne him It is true you have gracefull Tresses of haire which cover your heads and his is all Bald but doe not you heed how hee pulls them off from yours by little every day and makes those which he leaves you to turne White to the end you may pull them out your selves It is true your Eyes have a sparkling lustre and beauty but of his is seene onely the hideous place where Nature had seated them But doe you not consider how with continuall action hee Dusks the glory of this beauty and in conclusion puts to Eclipse these imaginary Pety-Suns It is true your hue is of Lillyes and your mouth of Roses upon his face is seene onely the stubs of these flowers but call to mind that he blasts this Lilly-teint Ci me and Death are the onely inexorables as well as Lillyes themselves and that the vermillion of this Rosie-mouth lasts but as Roses and if yet you differ to day from him in some thing you may resemble him to-morrow in all I leave you to meditate of these Truths Man is a true Mirrour which represents to the naturall all things which are oppos'd unto it If you turne it downward to the Earth Man is as one picture with two faces and often the most naturall is falsest we can see within nothing but objects of Dust and Ashes but if you turne him to the Heavens-ward there is to be admired in it beauties and graces purely celestiall In effect if we consider Man in his mortall and perishable condition hardly can one find any stay in this consideration since hee is nothing else but a Chimera whose forme every Moment by little and little destroyes to reduce it to its first nothing And indeed not to lye to ye Man is but a Puffe of Wind since he lives by nothing else Man is nothing in himselfe yet comprehends all things is filled with nothing else and dyes onely by Privation of it But if you turne the Medall I would say the Mirrour of his Soule towards his Creator there are seen nothing but Gifts of Immortality but graces of a Soveraigne bounty but favours of an absolute Will The heavens and the Stars appeare in this Crystalline Mirrour What though man be made of earth he is more divine than mortall not by reflection of the object but by a divine vertue proceeding from the Nature of his Cause Let us to the End The slumber of vanities is a mortall malady to the soule Me thinks This Page returnes againe to day within the Chamber of Philâ—â—â— of Macedon and drawing the Câ—â—â—taine cryes out according to his â—â—â—dinary Sir Awake and Remember that you are a Man but why rouzes hee him to thinke of Death since sleepe is its image Alexander knew himselfe mortall by his sleeping and in effect those which have said that sleepe was the Brother of Death have drawne their reason of it from their reciprocall resemblance Awake then Great Kings Not to ponder that you are mortall your sleepe is a trance of this but rather that you are created for immortality Remember you are Men. I will not say A man should not forget his heavenly beginning having heaven for a daily object subject to all the miseries of the Earth but rather capable of all the felicities of heaven Remember that you are Men. I will not say the shittlecocke of Time and the But to all the shafts of Fortune but rather victors over ages and all sorts
only which shall serve very soone for a Beere to his carkasse See in what consists the profit of his rents after their account made Another will be rich onely in Medowes and changing his hay into Gold which is but Earth he fills therewith his coffers But Foole that he is hee thinks not that his life is a Medow his body the hay thereof and Time the Mower The World is a Medow and all the objects which therein we admire are flowers which fade every houre who by his example makes publicke trafficke of the same marchandize changing by little and litle the hay of his body into Earth And is not this to be very ingenious to cheat a man's selfe Anothers ayme is onely to be rich in buildings some ' the' Country some ' th' City and assuming vanity from the number as well as the magnificence of his Pallaces hee beleeves that they are so many Sanctuaries of proofe against the strokes of fortune or the thunders of heaven What a folly 's this to esteeme ones selfe happy for having diverse Cabbins upon earth to put himselfe under couvert from the raine and wind during the short journey of life The raine ceases the wind is past and life dyes and then the tempest of a thousand eternall anguishes comes to entertaine him without possibility of discovery even from hope one onely port of safety To be onely rich then in aedifices is to be rich in castles of paper and cards such as little children lodge their pety cares in We must build upon the unshakeable foundations of eternitie if a man would be sheltered from all sorts of stormes To what purpose steads it us to be richly lodged if every houre of the day may be that of our departure Men trouble themselves to build houses of pleasure but the pleasures fade away and we also and these houses remaine for witnesses of our folly and for sensible objects of sorrow and griefe in that cruell necessity to which wee are reduced to abandon them It is to be considered that wee are borne to be Travellers and Pilgrims and as such are wee constrain'd to march alwayes straight to the gist of Death without ever resting or being able to find repose even in repose it-selfe To what then are all these magnificent Pallaces Though we say the Sunne sets every night yet it rests not and so Man though he lay himselfe to sleepe rests not from his voyage to Earth when our onely retreat beats on to the grave To what end are all this great number of structures when wee are all in the way and point to end our voyage O how well is hee housed that lodgeth his hope in God and layes the foundations of his habitation upon ETERNITIE A good conscience is the richest house that one can have Another designes his treasures in numerous Shippings traficking with all winds in spight of stormes and tempests but be it granted a perpetuall calme as heart could wish and imagine we as himselfe does that hee shall fish with Fortunes nets all the Pearles of the OCEAN what can he doe at the end with all his ventures if he trucke them away hee can gaine but stuffe of the same price if hee sell them he does but change white purified earth for yellow which the Sunne purifies as well within the mines what will hee doe now with this new marchandise or this his gold behold him alwayes in trouble to discharge himselfe of so many burdens If gold were potable hee might perhaps nourish himselfe therewith for a while but as MIDAS could not doe it in the fable he will ne're bring it to passe in the verity he must needs keep watch then day and night to the guard of his riches and well may hee keep sentinell Death comes to robbe him of them since at his going out of the world she takes them away from him What apparence is there that the treasures of the Sea should be able to make a man rich since the possession of all the world together cannot doe it A hundred thousand ships are but a hundred thousand shuttle-cockes for the winds The treasure of good workes is eternall riches and a hundred thousand objects of shipwracke Suppose they arrive to the Port the life of their Master is alwayes among rocks for 't is a kind of ship which cannot arrive at other shore but at the banke of the grave And I leave you to consider what danger he may runne if there the storme of his avaricious passion cast him The sand-blind-sighted may foresee his ruine and the most judicious will beleeve it infallible Behold in fine a man rich to much purpose Our life is a Ship which loosing from the Haven of the Cradle at the moment of our birth never comes ashore againe till it run aground upon the grave that would have drayn'd by his ambition the bottomlesse depths of the Ocean and now to find himselfe ith'end of his carreere in the abysses of hell having an eternitie of evils for recompense of an age of anxieties which hee hath suffered during his life LORD if I would be rich in wood let it be in that of thy CROSSE and from henceforth let its fruits be my revenues and my rents If I would traficke in meads Let the meditation of the hay of my life be my onely profit If I set my selfe to build houses He which puts his trust in God is the richest of the world how poore somever he be let it be rather for my soule then for my body and in such sort that my good workes may be the stones and the purity of my conscience the foundation And lastly If I would travell the Seas to goe to the conquest of their treasures let my teares be the waves thereof and my sighs the winds and thy grace alone the only object of my riches Make me then rich O LORD if it please thee by the onely misprise of all the treasures of the Earth 'T is alreadie a sufficient enjoyment of rest and quiet to set up ones rest in God onely and teach this secret language to my heart never to speake but of thee in its desires nor of other then thy selfe in its hopes since of thee alone and in thee onely lies the fulnesse of its perfect felicity and soveraigne repose Let us not rest our selves in so faire a way I cannot comprehend the designe of these curious Spirits who goe seeking the Philosophers-stone in that Spitle where an infinite number of their companions are dead of regreet to have so ill imployed their time They put all they have to the quest of that which never was and burning with desire to acquire wealth they reduce all their owne into cinders and their lungs also with vehement puffing without gaining other recompence at the end of their labours but this now to know their folly The love of God is the onely Philosopher-stone since by it a man may
beene of such a worth as every day you descry they had powerfully resisted against the assaults of Ages but as they had nothing admirable in them but the Name Memorials have preserved that and let them perish But yours MADAME which are too perfect for a sutable Name shall not cease to survive the revolutions of Times as being enlivened by Vertue which alone can exempt from Death Let it not seeme strange then if I hazard the perils of the Sea to render Homage to a QUEENE whose Greatnesse perforce humbles the most arrogant spirits being not able so much as in thought to reach to the first degree of her Glory The GRACES themselves are hers and the VERTUES have allianced their owne and her Name and all the adorable qualities which are found here below are admirable in her alone as in their Source I am constrained to be silent MADAME being over-charged with too much subject of speech The number of your Perfections astonishes me the greatnesse of your Merit ravishes me the splendour of your Vertue dazles me And in this dazle this transport this excesse of admiration wherein my senses and spirits are all alike engaged I am compell'd to cast my selfe at the feet of your Majestie and demand pardon of the boldnesse which I assume onely to enjoy the stile of MADAME Your MAIESTIES Most humble and most obeysant Servant P. De la SERRE TO THE QVEENE OF GREAT BRITAINE Vpon the Mirror which flatters not of Le Sieur de la SERRE SONNET PRINCESSE this perverse Ages glorious gemme Whose least of Vertues seemes a prodigie â—â—ustrious Sien of the fairest Stemme â—â—at Heaven e're shew'd this Vniverse's eye â—â—ough Fate with thousand hind'rances averse â—â—rres me the place to which my duty 's bent â—annot cheere my soule from selfe-torment â—â—it by designe to pourtray you in Verse But since that SERRES shew's in this true Mirrour The Vertues of your Mind 's eternall splendour As lively as your Body's beautious measure My heed to view you here lets others passe So well I here agnize all your rare treasure That I ne're saw a better Crystall-Glasse Par le Sr C. To the AUTHOR upon the same subject STANCES DIvine Spirit knowing Soule Which with lovely sweet controule Rank'st our soules those good rules under Which thy Pen layes downe with wonder Whil'st the sweetnesse of thy Voice Breathes oracular sacred noise All thy Workes so well esteem'd Thorough EUROPE proofes are deem'd Of thy Gifts which all admire Which such Trophies thee acquire And with these thy Muse invested ORPHEUS is by thee out-crested Also since blind Ignorance Makes no more abode in FRANCAE Seldome can wee meet with such As the workes of thy sweet t'uch Such immortall straines of spirit As doe thousand Laurels merit But although thy active Muse Wonders did before produce As wee seldome see the like This doth with amazement strike 'T is a MIRROUR that doth shine More with Fire then Crystaline 'T is a MIRROVR never flatters On my eyes such rayes it scatters That therewith I daz'led am Searching for thee in the same By some charme or stranger case I see thy spirit not thy face This strange fashion doth amaze me When I ne're so little gaze me I am streight all on a fire The more I looke more I admire 'T is a MIRROVR sure of flame Sparkling more wee marke the same Yet not every prying eye Shall it-selfe herein espie 'T is not for so commune use Free from flattering abuse None so clearely here are seene As King CHARLES and his faire Queene Therefore thus the AUTHOR meant To the World it to present Since it is a thing so rare And unparalelled faire That it should a Tablet bee For the fairest hee could see SERRES this thy worke-man-ship Doth my spirit over-strip With such judgement and such grace Thou do'st shew in little space Three strange Wonders without errour Two bright Sunnes in one cleare MIRROVR And by this thy rare composure Shall thy Name beyond enclosure Of this present Age obtaine Eternall honour for thy paine Writing to these Princes Graces Thou art prais'd in thousand places Par le mesme Vpon the BOOKE SONNET HEre undisguis'd is seene in this true Mirrour The glory or the shame of mortall storie As Reason or the misse-led Senses errour Doe winne the day or yeeld the Victorie SERRES doth here lively delineate Our every-dayes vaine wretched passages And what is destin'd after Funerall state To innocent purenesse or black wickednesse Such diverse subjects in this one enclosed Such various objects to the view exposed Thou little Monarch MAN small Vniverse Thy Soule it lessons thus and thee informes As thou art Soule with heavenly fires converse As thou art Flesh thou art a Bait for wormes To the READER IT may perhaps seeme strange that I treat so often in my Works of the same matter as of the contempt of the World and meditations of Death But if the importance of the subject be considered and the profit to be derived thence a Man will never be wearie of seeing such faire truths under different presentations Besides the conceptions of spirit upon the same matter are like the productions of Nature in the Species's of Tulips Every yeere shee gives a Change both to their Colour and Array And though they be still Tulips shee renders them so different from their first resemblance that they can hardly otherwise be knowne but by name The Mind doe's the same upon the same subject its Fancies which are its ornature and embellishment render it by their diversitie so different from it selfe that 't is hardly knowne but by the Titles which it beares to particularize each Conceit So that if once againe I represent unto thee the pourtrait of Vanitie and the Image of Death my spirit which hath steaded me for Pencill and colouring in this Worke hath rendred it so rare in its Noveltie and so excellent in difference from those which have preceded that thou shalt finde nothing in it commune with them but my name Thou mavest consider moreover that I dedicate Bookes to KINGS and QUEENES â—ot every day and that these objects of such eminent magnificence doe so nobly 〈◊〉 the faculties of my Soule that I could not have pettie thoughts for such high Personages 'T is that which without ostentation makes me beleeve that if thou buy once againe this Booke and tak'st the paines to reade it thou wilt regreet neither the Time nor Money which thou shalt employ therein ADIEU If thou bee'st of so good an humour to pardon the Faults excuse those of the Impression APPROBATIO LUTETIAE PARISIORUM QVi moribundam vitam qui edacem vitae mortem in hoc Speculo Liber exprimit te Lector tibi objicit tam felici veri specie tam clara sublimis styli Luce ut temet fugere nequeas Frequens contuere ne tetra haec tua species aeternûm tua sit Ita apprecor MART. LUENKENS Sanctae Theol. Lic Prof. Ordin Apost
Mercurie Trimegistus that thou hast reason to publish that Man is a great miracle The magnificence of man hath neither bounds nor limits since God is his end since God himselfe hath been willing to espousâ— his condition to shew us in its miseâ—ries the miracles of his Love I confesse Pythagoras that thou hast had no lesse ground to maintainâ— that Man was a mortall God Though a man still fade away hee is yet a lively pourtray of immortallitie since except this sweet necessitie which subâ—jects him to the Tombe hee has thousand qualities in him all immoâ—â—tall I should finally have beene 〈◊〉 advise with thee Plato then when thoâ— preachedst every where that Maâ— was of the race of the Gods since 〈◊〉 piece of work so rare and so perfect could not proceed but from a hand Omnipotent All the creatures are admirable as the effects of a soveraigne and independant cause but man has attributes of an unparalleld glory I meane this Rivelet of admiration could not proceed but from a source most adorable I am of thy opinion Plotinus henceforth will maintaine every where with thee that Man is an abridgement of the wonders of the world Since that all the Univers together was created but for his service pleasure Say we yet moreover that those wonders of the world so renowned are but the workes of his hands so that also the actions of his spirit can take their Rise above the Sun and beyond the heavens and this too now in the chaines of its servitude Great Kings Be it supposed that you are living pourtraits of Inconstancy Man flies away by little little from one part of himselfe shat hee may entirely into himselfe The perfection of your Nature lyes in this defect of your powers for this Vicissitude which God hath rendred inseparable to your condition is a pure grace of his bounty since you wax old onely that you may be exempted from the tyranny of Ages since I say you dye every moment only to make acquisition of that immortallity to which his love has destin'd you This defect of inconstrancie is the perfection of man since he ischangeable to day to bee no more so to morrow O happy Inconstancy if in changing without cease we approach the poinâ— of our soveraigne felicity whose foundations are immoveable O dear Vicissitude if row ling without intervall in the dust of our originall we approach by little and little to thosâ— Ages of glory which beyond aâ— time assigne at our End the beginninâ— of a better Carreere O Gloriouâ— Death since terminated at that crueâ— instant A man is onely happy in the perpetuall inconstancie of his condition which separates us from Immortality It is true I confesse it againe Greâ—â— Kings that you are subject to all thâ— sad accidents of your subjects The greatest miserie that can arrive to a man is to offend God Buâ— what happinesse is it if these misfoâ—tunes are as so many severall wayeâ— which conduct you into the Port. Bâ—â— it granted that you are nothing bâ—â— Corruption in your Birth Miserie 〈◊〉 your Life and a fresh infection 〈◊〉 many attributes of honour to yoâ—â— since you disroabe your selves in tâ—â— grave of all your noisomnesse for 〈◊〉 Decke your selves with the ornamenâ— of Grace of felicity and glory whiâ—â— belong in proper to your soules as being created for the possession of all these Good Things Heaven ' Earth Nature the very Divels are admirers of the greatnesse of man Who can be able to dimension the greatnesse of Man since he who hath neither bounds nor limits would himselfe be the circumference of it Would you have some knowledge of Mans power heare the commandement which Iosuah made to the Sunne to stop in the middest of his carreere Would you have witnesses of his strength Samson presents you all the Philistins buried together under the â—uines of the Temple whose foundations he made to totter Require you some assurances of his courage Iob offers you as many as he has sores upon his body In fine desire you some proofes of his happinesse Heaven has sewer of Starres then of felicities to give him Man may bee whatsomever hee will be What name then shall we â—ttribute him now that may be capable to comprehend all his glory There â—s no other then this of Man and Pilate did very worthily no doubt to turne â—t into mockage before the Jewes Iohn 19.5 hee â—hews them a God under the visage of Ecce homo Behold the Man a Man Let the world also expose the miseries of Man in publicke The name Man is now much more noble than that of Angels His Image of Earth is yet animated with a divine spirit which can never change Nature Well may they teare his barke the Inmate of it is of proofe against the strokes of Fortune as well as the gripes of Death The Man of Earth may turne into Earth but the Man of heaven takes his flight alwayes into heaven With what new rinds some-ever a man hee covered he beares still in his sorehead the markes of his Creator That Man I say fickle and inconstant kneaded and shap't from durt with the water of his owne teares may resolve into the same matter But this stable and constant Man created by an omnipotent hand remaines uncessantly the same as incapable of alteration Rouse then your selves from sleepe great Princes Hee that would alwayes muse of Eternitie would without doubt acquire its glory not for to remember Death but rather to represent unto your selveâ— that you are immortall since Death hath no kind of Dominion over youâ— Soules which make the greatest as being the Noblest part of you Awake then great Monarchs not foâ— to Muse of this necessity which draweâ— you every houre to the Tombe buâ— rather to consider that you may exempt your selves from it if your Actions be but as sacred as your Majesties Man ia a hidden treasure whose worth God onely knowes Great PRINCES Awake and permit mee once more to remembrance You that you are Men I meane the Master-pieces of the workes of God since this divine worke-Master hath in conclusion metamorphosed himselfe into his owne worke My feathered pen can fly no higher Man only is she ornament of the world Those which have propounded that Man was a new world have found out proportionable relations and great correspondencies of the one to the other for the Earth is found in the matter whereof hee is formed the Water in his â—eares the Aire in his sighes the Fire â—n his Love the Sunne in his reason â—nd the Heavens in his imaginations But the Earth subsists and he vanisheth 〈◊〉 Sweet vanishment since he is lost 〈◊〉 himselfe that he may bee found in is Creator But the Earth remaines â—â—me and his dust flyes away O hapâ—y flight since eternity it it's aime The â—ater though it fleets away yet returns â—e same way
much dâ—fference between the one and the other as between the scâ—bberd and the sword Cleare streames of immortality remount then to your eternall source faire rayes of a Sunne without Eclipse rejoyne your selves then to the body of his celestiall light Perfect patternes of the divinity unite your selves then to it as to the independant cause of your Beeing Well may the Earth-quake under your feet your wils are Keys to the gates of its abysses should the Water or'e-whelme againe all your hopes cannot be shipwrack't That the Aire fils all things may bee but your expectations admit of some vacuum Though the Fire devoure all things the object of your hopes is above its flames let the heavens poure downe in a throng Although the puissaences of the soule worke not but by the senses the effects in this point are more noble then the cause their malignant influences here below your soules are under covert from their assaults Let the Sun exhaling vapours make thereof thunders for your ruine you are under the protection of him who ejaculates their flashes Man needs feare nothing being aâ—evated above a.l. insomuch that instead of hurting you all things doe you homage The Earth supports you the Water refresheth you the Aire imbreaths you the Fire warmes you Man could not be more happy then be is since God is his last felicity the Sun lights you Heaven attends you the Angels honour you the Divels feare you Nature obeyes you and God himselfe gives himselfe to you to obliege you to the like reciprocation Is not this to possesse with advancement all the felicities which you can hope I dare you to wish more A wake thy selfe then Reader and let thy conscience and thy miserie each in its turne serve thee as a Page every morning to put thee in mind That thou art a Man To dye is proper to man I meane a pourtraict animated with Death rather then with Life since thou canst doe nothing but dye but in this continuall dying amid the throng of evils and paines which are enjoyned to thy condition Consider also that thou art created to possesse an Eternity both of life and happinesse How happy is man thus to bee able to be as much as he desires and that all these infinite good things are exposed as an ayme of honour and glory to the addresses of thy will for if thou wilt Paradise shall bee thine though Hell gape at thee Heaven shall be thy share it's delights thy Succession and God alone thy Soveraigne felicity A PROLVSIVE upon the EMBLEME of the second Chapter SWell on unbounded Spirits whose vast hope Scornes the streight limits of all moderate scope Be Crescent still fix not i' th' Positive Graspe still at more reach the Superlative And beyond that too and beyond the Moone Yet al 's but vaine and you shall find too soone These great acquists are bubbles for a spurt And Death wil leave you nothing but your Shirt Be Richest Greatest Pow'rfullest and Split Fames Trumpet with the blast on 't there 's it That 's all a Coffin and a Sheet and then You 're dead and buried like to Common men This Saladine foresaw and wisely stoopes Unto his Fate ' midst his triumphant troopes A world of wealth and Asiaticke Spoyles Guerdon his glorious military toyles Ensignes and Banners shade his armyes Eyes With flying Colours of fled enemyes Yet humbly he doth his chiefe Standard reare Onely his Shirt displayd upon a Speare Meanewhile his valorous Colonels were clad In rich Coate-armours which they forced had From subdu'de foes and 't seem'd a glorious thing Each man to be apparreld like a King The very common Souldiers out-side spoke Commander now and did respect provoke Their former ornaments were cast aside Which 'fore the victory were al theirpride To check their Pompe with clang'ring trumpetsound A Herald loud proclaim 's in Tone profound See what the Emperour doth present your Eye 'T is all that you must looke for when you dye This Shirt is all even Saladine shall have Of all his Trophy's with him to the grave Then be not over-heightned with the splendour Of your rich braveries which you so much tender Nor let your honours puff you least you find The breath of Eame jade ye with broken wind This solemne passage of this Monarchs story VVith greatest luster doth advance his glory Victorious SALADINE caus'd to be Proclaim'd to all his Armie that he carried nothing with him to the Graue but a SHIRT after all his Conquests THE MIRROVR WHICH FLATTERS NOT. CHAP. II. The horrour and misery of the grave makes the haire stand on end to the proudest ARrogant spirits ambitious Hearts be silent and lend an eare to the publicke cry of this Herald who with a voyce animated with horrour and affright as well as with compassion and truth proclaimeth aloud in the view of heaven and earth and in the presence of a world of people That this Great SALADINE magnificent Conquerour of Asia and Monarch of the whole East carryes away to the grave for fruit of his victories but onely a shirt which covers the mould of his body and even this scrap of linnen too Fortune leaves him but to give the wormes Absolute Kings puissant Soveraignes what will you reply to these discourses for to you they are addrest I doubt well that shame confusion and astonishment barre your speech This necessily of dying serves for temperament to the vanity of the greatest Monarchs of the world and that this sensible object of your proper miseries affects you so with ruth to force from your bosomes a thousand sighs The greatest Monarch of the earth becomes at a clap so little as not to be found no not in his miseries for the wind begins already to carry away the dust whereof hee was formed The powerfullest King of the world is reduc'd to such a point of weakenesse that he cannot resist the wormes after vanquishment and subjugation of entire Nations The richest Prince of the East takes a glory of all his treasures to carry away but onely a shirt to his Sepulture What can you answer to these verities This famous Saladine the terrour of men the valour of the earth and the wonder of the world Man cannot complaine of the world since at his death he gives him a shirt which at his birth his mother Nature refused him esteemes himselfe so happy and so advantaged by fortune in respect she leaves him this old ragge to cover his corruption that he makes this favour to be published with sound of trumpet in the midst of his Army that none might be in doubt on 't what beyond this can be your pretentions I grant you may be seated like Xerxes upon a Throne all of massie gold canopied with a glistering firmament of precious stones and that on what side somever you turne your menacing regards you see nothing but objects humbled before your Royall Majesties You never seate your selves
acquire eternall treasures but the Sun sets the candle goes out the bed of buriall is prepared there must be their Enter at the Exit of so many unprofitable pains To what purpose serves it now to know they are fooles having no more time to be wise What cruell Maladie of spirit is it to sacrifice both ones body and soule in an unluckie alymbicke for to nourish a vaine ambition whose irregular appetite can never be satisfied Is not this to take pleasure in kindling the fire which consumes us to burne perpetually with desire of being rich in this world An inclination toward the misprize of Earth is a presage of the getting of Heaven and yet get nothing by it And then to burne againe eternally in hell without possibility to quench the ardour of those revenging flames is not this to warp ones-selfe the web of a fate the most miserable that ever was Produce we then of nothing the creation of this Philosopher-stone grant we it made at present to the hearts of the most ambitious I am content that from the miracles of this Metamorphosis they make us see the marvels of a new gallery of silver like to that which bare NERO to the Capitoll I am content that they make pendant at the point of a needle as SEMIRAMIS the price of twenty millions of gold I am content that after the example of * Atabali King of Peru. Atabalipas they pave their halls with Saphirs I am pleas'd that imitating Cyrus they enround their gardens with perches of gold I am content The World is aptly compared to the Sea since as the stormes of this so are the miseries of that and like the flitting billowes ever rolling so are all the objects which we here admire that the Dryades of their fountaines be composed of the same materiall following the magnificences of Cesar I am content that they erect with Pompey an Amphitheater all covered with plates of Gold I am content they build a Pallace of Ivory there to to lodge another Melaus or a Louvre of Christall to receive therein an other Drusus and let I am content still this Louvre be ornamented with court-cupboards of Pearles equal to those of Scaurus and with coffers of the same price as that of Darius To what will all this come to in the end What may be the reverse of all these medals The scortching heat of Time and the Suns-beames have melted this gallery of silver its admirers are vanisht and its proprietary Even Rome it selfe hath runne the like fate and though it subsist yet 't is but onely in name its ruines mourne at this day the death of its glory That so pretious Pendant of Semiramis could not be exempt from a kind of Death 'T is a Rule without exception that all that is included in the revolution of Time is subject to change though it were inanimate I mean that in its insensibility it hath received the attaints of this Vicissitude which alters and destroyes all things since it now appeares no more to our eyes All those Saphir-paved halls are passed away though Art had enchained them in beautifull Workemanships They have had otherwise a glittering luster like the Sunne but this Planet jealous of them hath refused in the end its clearenesse so much as to their ruines insomuch that they are vanished in obscuritie These gardens environed with railes of gold have had like others divers Spring-times to renew their growth but one Winter alone was enough to make them dye Those Dryades which enricht these fountaines are fled upon their owne water-trils and scarce remaines us their remembrance That proud Amphitheater of Pompey could not eternize it selfe but in the memory of men yet we scarce know what they say when they speake on 't That Ivory Palace of Melaus goes for a fable in histories being buried in the Abisses of non-entitie That famous Louvre of Christall having been bustled against by Time is broken Meditate here a little how oft the face of the Earth hath been varied since its first creation and shivered into so many peeces that not so much as the very dust on 't subsists but in the confus'd Idea of things which have beene otherwhile All those high cup-boards of Pearle and all those coffers of great price have indeed had an appearance like lightning but the thunder-bolt of inconstancy hath reduc't them into ashes and the memory of 'em is preserv'd in ours but as a dreame since in effect it is no more at all But if the precious wonders of past Ages There is nothing so certaine in the world as its uncertaintie have done nothing but passe away together with their admirers and owners is it not credible that those covetous rich ones did runne the same fortune with all the treasures of their Philosopher-Stone and at the end of their Carreere what device could they take but this very same of SALADINE since of all their riches there remaines them at their Death but onely a poore Shirt * Fui nibil ampliu I have beene saies this great Monarch and behold heere 's all Why Rich-ones of the World doe you trouble your selves so much to establish your glory here below for to perswadeus at the end of the journall onely this That you have beene An atome has the same advantage for this creating power which we adore after he had ta'en it out of the Abysses of nothing wherein you also were buried made it to subsist in nature Yet thus is it a blessednesse of our condition thus to escape by little and little the miscries which are incident unto us Bee it that you have beene the greatest on Earth yet now the faire light of your faire dayes is extinguish't for ever The Sun of your glory is eclips't and in an eternall West And that your fate which interloomed the web of your greatnesses together with your lives lyes entomb'd with your Ashes to shew us that these are the onely unhallowed reliques which your Ambition could leave us You have bin then otherwhile the only Minions of Fortune like Demetrius but he and you are now no more any thing not so much as a hand full of Ashes for lesse then with an Infinite power 't were impossible to any to reunite into a body the parcels of the Dust whereof your Carkasses were formed behold in what consists at this day the foundation of your past glory You have bin then otherwhile the same as SALADINE the onely Monarch of the East and have possest as he treasures without number and honours without parallel If vertue eternize not our memorie our life passeth away like the wind without leaving any trace But as He also you have done nothing else but passe away and like him againe you have not beene able to hide your wretchednesse but under a Scrap of Linnen whereof the Wormes have repasted to manifest you to all the World In fine you have beene otherwhile the
whole world He commands best that can obey reason Not that this kind of combate requires force of courage but rather of prudence after first a misprise of them to fly away and not to put the victory into hazard There are yet other enemies which render themselves as redoutable as the former such are Ambition riches c. what meanes is there to resist them or to speake better to vanquish them they have no lesse allurements and sweets then the beauties afore-spoken of and though the force of them be different they cease not ne'rethelesse to excite and move the passions with all sort of violence Ambition ha's its particular delicacies and charmes to ravish mens hearts and soveraignize o're their soules and I beleeve that its Empire extends it selfe farre beyond that of Love for all the world is not capable of this latter passion but of the other every man has a smatch from that defect from our originall wherewith a man is tainted Vanitie is bred and borne with us but 't is in our choise whether to let it ever keepe us companie And this passion is so much the more to be feared as it is naturall and growing up with us in measure as wee grow our selves The meanes to vanquish it is to study to know ones-selfe and thus plainely to see the frailty of our foundation What Ambition can a man have that knowes the number of the greatest part of the miseries and mishaps which accompanie his life To what can he pretend being not able to dispose of one onely moment Nay what can he wish for beyond himselfe since for any long time together hee ha's not strength enough to looke downe to his owne feete What high ayme can hee give his designes since all his thoughts his desires and hopes have their limited scope beyond his power as depending upon the Future 'T is the best mysterie of all humane Trade to learne to die dayly and in this Vocation they that are active apprentises are Masters whereof hee cannot dispose All lyes then in this to know our selves that is to consider the certaineties thus sensible both of our defects and infirmities The Passion for Riches is alwayes extreame allowing no moderation in our hearts 'T is a kind of hydropicke maladie wherein thirst increaseth the more one drinks A rich man of ten thousand pounds a yeere wisheth thirtie thousand and if perhaps hee see the effects of his desires hee soone conceives new ones being never able to find content in the enjoyment of the goods which hee already possesseth That temperament of spirit which Philosophie teacheth us to live content in whatsomever condition a man is in is a vertue so chast that it suffers it selfe to be possest by no body in this age The true knowledge of Vertue would soone insinuate its love wherein wee are not that a man cannot enjoy it but 't is to be sought in the purity of the conscience rather then in the world where it is unknowne but onely barely in name This greedy passion of heaping treasure upon treasure is so proper to our criminall and corrupt nature that a man cannot guard himselfe from it without a speciall helpe from Heaven Since that robbery which our first Parents made in the terrestriall Paradise all our thoughts and hopes are so theevish that they would rob the future of those goods which we wish for then making no esteeme of those which wee already possesse our hearts sigh uncessantly with impatience in attendance of a new acquist What remedy now is there to cure so contagious a malady whose insensible dolour makes us often contemne a remedy what meanes I say Povertie of spirit is the greatest riches to triumph over a passion so strong and puissant and to which our nature it selfe lends a hand 'T is certainely an action of study where reason with time must get the advantage It is necessary to consider every time that this desire to amasse riches doth presse and force us what shall we doe with all these treasures after wee have heapt them up To leave them to our heires it is to make them rich with our owne losse which they too perhaps will laugh at in the possession 'T is I say to damne our selves for others profit as if we had never lived for our selves To carry them into the grave with us is to have laboured for wormes what shall then become on ' em Wee must of necessity leave them behind O cruell necessity but yet most sweet and pleasing in its continuall meditation 'T is the best providence in this world to lay up treasures for t'other since it teaches us to under-value all that may be lost There are a great number of other Passions which may master us with the same violence according to the disposition of the predominating humour which possesseth us such are Choler Envie Detraction c. but with the only force of Reason assisted with the usuall grace which concurres in all good actions we may easily be able to triumph over them We reade of Pyrander King of Egypt that being one day in choler against one of his slaves he heard a clap of thunder so terrible that he became suddenly quite appeased as if he had had this thought that the Gods were angry with his fury since they clamoured louder then hee Let us have often the same thoughts but with more truth and illumination every time that this blind passion would exercise over us its tyrannie My meaning is that in the violentest heat oâ— our choler wee lend an eare of imagination to the noise of the thunder of divine Justice that thus we may be appeased at the same time 'T is a good method first to feare God then to love him for what ground have we to be armed with fury against our neighbours when heaven is animated with iust vengeance against our selves The Passion of Envy as blacke as hell the most criminal of all together proceeds from an invenomed mischievousnes to which nature contributes nothing at all 'T is a devillish passion whose fury rage keepes the soule in fetters Envious men are most their owne enemies and rob themselves of the rowne quiet and whose theevish jealousie robs away the goods of others in a hounding after 'em yet possesses none of ' em What meanes is there then to vanquish this untameable vice No other but this to consider the Justice of that adorable Providence which imparts never its favours and graces but with weight measure God cannot doe but iustly since his Iustice is no other then himselfe Then if this man have 10000 â—ounds a yeere and I but a 100 whereof can I complaine shall I doubt â—he reason from Reason it selfe shall I â—ccuse Justice of Injustice To take for â—ranted that the Soveraigne of all does â—hat hee will and the Almighty what â—e pleaseth I will alwayes relye to that ballance which God beares in his
hand and by which himselfe weigheth his actions to the poize of his will and consequently to the measure of his Justice What objection can be made against this truth The envious man is never in health tortured with the Hectick Peaver of this ever-burning passion Envious Maligner adore that which thou can'st not comprehend and then instead of pining for the goods which thou enjoyest not give thankes to heaven for those which thou possessest and how small someover they be they are ever great enough to amuze thee all thy life-long to the study of thankefull acknowledgment The Passion of Detraction is easily overcome by a fresh consideration of our owne proper defects for of all the Vices whereof wee accuse one another our hearts may convince us If I call a man theefe am not I a greater theefe then hee since against the Lawes of charity I rob him of his honour by this injury Suppose he be a false villaine yet in calling him by this name I betray the secret which his fault should â—n charity impose upon me But if he be nothing so loe I my selfe am now a Traytor both at once of his reputation 'T is more important to learne to hold one's peace then to hold up the talke and mine owne conscience There is no fault more unpardonable then this of Obloquie and in regard that for a just expiation of the crime it is fitting that the tongue which did the hurt should give the remedy Thou Detractour if thou canst not moderate thy passion speake ill onely of thy selfe Study thine owne vices Meditate thine owne faults and Accuse thy selfe of them before heaven which is already witnesse of thy crimes and by this way of reproaching thou shalt obtaine one day to be praised eternally Behold mee now at the end of the Chapter He which often muzes of Death will every day learne to live well After all these particular remedies with which a man may learne easily to resist the tyranny of the Passions there is none more soveraigne then this of the Meditation of Death All the rest abbut at this onely as the most authorized by daily experience Great Kings suffer your selves to be led in triumph by your owne thoughts to the grave and by the way consider how your greatnesses your riches your delights and all the magnificence of your Court follow you step by step being brought along by the same fate whose absolute Tyranny spares none And since you may dye every houre think at the least sometimes of this truth to the end that that houre of your lifes dyall surprize you not Much good doe 't you to nourish up your selves deliciously yet all these Viands wherewith you repast your selves are empoysoned as containing in 'em the * Caliditas Frigiditas Humiditas Siccitas foure contrary qualities whose discord puts into skirmish your humours and this battell is an infallible presage of your overthrow wel may you chase away Melancholy by vertue of fresh pleasures these very contentments cheat away your life for though you thinke of nothing but how to passe away the time it passes ere you think on 't Death comes before you have forseen his arrivall Well may you cocker up your bodyes content your senses and satiate the appetite of your desires the Taper of your life has its limited course Pleasures make us grow old as well as griefes as well as that of the day Every man pursues his carreere according to the inviolable Lawes of heaven which hath asigned 'em out at once both the way and the bounds Suffer Time to lead you by the hand to the Tombe Fata volentem ducunt nolentem trahunt for feare he hale you thither But in dying muze at least of that Life which never shall have end All the felicities which you have possest are vanished with the flower of your age and all those which you will yet enjoy will flye away with the rest What will remaine with you then at the last instant of your life Those pleasures cost very deare which are worth nothing but repentance but an irksome remembrance to have tasted a thousand pleasures which are past and to have lost so many meanes of having had others which would have lasted eternally Disinvest your selves then for one houre every day of all your greatnesse and in the presence of your owne selves meaning in review of all your miseries mishaps which are proper to you confesse the truth of your nullitie and of your corruption by this search you shall recover your selves and by this confession thus shall you Triumph o're your selves A PROLVSION upon the EMBLEME of the last Chapter VIewing the Ranges of a Librarie Of Dead-men's bones pil'd in a Coemitarie Great ALEXANDER findes Diogenes And thus they Dialogue Alex. Cynick among these Ruines of fraile Mortalitie what do'st looke Diog. For that wherein I feare to be mistooke I seeke thy Father PHILIP'S Scull among This pell-mell undistinguishable Throng Alex. Let 's see which is it shew me Diog. Sure 't is that Whose nose is bridge-falne Alex. Dead-men's all are flat Diog. Why then 't is that where shrowds perpetuall night Cav'd in those hollow eye-holes void of sight Alex. Still all are so Diog. Why 't is yon' skinlesse brow Chap-falne lip-sunke with teeth-disranked row Yond' peeled scalpe Alex. Thus still all are alike Diog. So shall both You and I. and let this strike Thy knowledge ALEXANDER and Thy sence 'Twixt King and slave once Dead s' no difference L'envoy Mors seeptra ligonibus aequat Hor. THere is no diff'rence Death hath made Equall ' the Scepter and the Spade Noe Dreader Majestie is now I' th' Royall Scalp then Rustick brow Faire NEREVS has no beauteous grace More then Thersites ' ugly face Now both are dead odds there is none Betwixt the fair'st and fowlest One. Tell me among'st the hudled pile Of Dead-mens bones which was ere while The subtil'st Lawyer 's or the Dull And Ignoramian Empty Skull Was yond' some valourous Samsons arme Or one that ne're drew sword for harme Or winke and tell me which is which Irus the poore or Croesus rich What are they now who so much stood On Riches Honours and high Blood Ther 's now no Difference with the Dead Distinctions all are buryed Onely the Soule as Ill or Well Is Diffrenc't or in Heaven or Hell Alexander and Diogenes discoursing among the Sepulchers of the Dead the Cynick tells the King That in the Graue Monarchs and Meaner Men are all alike THE MIRROVR WHICH FLATTERS NOT. CHAP. IV. WHat a horrid spectacle is this what a frightfull object See you not this great number of Dead Mens sculls which heap'd one upon another make a mountaine of horrour and affright whose balefull and contagious umbrage insensibly invites our bodies on to the grave What a victorie is this over these but what an inhumanitie what a defeate but what a butchery May wee not say that
he sees at his feet the bones and dust of an infinite number of persons To what purpose is Courage against those perils which cannot be avoyded who were as valiant as he what thoughts can he have but of submission and humilitie considering that one part of himselfe is already reduced into dust and filth I say a part of himselfe since he himselfe is but a piece of the same matter which now serves him for object and to the same last point will be extended one day the line of his life When Virgil tells us of the fate of Priam Aeneid lib. 2. lacetingens litore truncus Avulsumque humeris caput sine no mine corâ—uâ— hee bring in Aeneas astonish't at it that so great a Monarch should leave to posteritie no other Monument of his greatnesse but a Tronck of flâ—sh a head separated from the shoulders and a carkasse without name or shape He which makes himselfe rightly sensible of his miseries is partly in way to be exempted from their tyranny Great Kings This truth is a Mirrour which flatters not Gaze here often in these meditations and you will surely at length consider that All is full of vanity and that this glory of the world whereof you are so strongly Idolaters is but a Phantasie and Chimera to which your imaginations give that beauty which charmes you and that delicacie which ravishes you What thinke you is it to be the greatest of the world 'T is an honour whereof miserie and inconstancy are the foundations for all the felicities which can arrive us are of the same nature as wee are and consequently as miserable as our condition and as changing This Earth whereon you live is the lodging of the dead what eternitie beleeve you to find in it Eternitie of honours riches and contentments there was never any but in imagination and this Idea which wee have of them is but a reflection from the lightning of Truth where-with heaven illuminates noble soules thus to guide them to the search of the true source of all by the ayde of these small rivolets There is nothing eternall in this world but this scope of truth It is time to finish this worke I have made appeare to you in the first Chapter the particular study which a man ought to take to come to the * Hoc jubet illa Pyrhicis oraculis adscripta vox Nosce Te. Knowledge of himselfe Seneca wherein lyes the accomplishment of perfection And herein the precept is The Consideration of the miseries which are destinated to our Nature as being so many objects capable enough to force up the power of our reason to give credence to the resentments of frailty which are proper to us But this is not all to be meerely sensible of our wretchednesse Serious Consideration must often renew the Ideas of them in our soules more then the hard experience of them And this to the end that vanitie to which wee are too incident may not surprize us He that searches into himselfe shall not lose his labour during the intervals of a meditation so important Wee must often dive into our selves and seeke in the truth of our nothingnesse some light to make us thus to know our selves Afterwards making a rise a little higher it is necessary to consider the End for which wee were created and in this consideration to employ all the powers of the severall faculties of our soules to the generous designe of getting possession of that glory Behold the Corollarie of my first Argument or Chapter The second instructs us a new meanes to resist powerfully the hits of the vanities of the world from the example of the wretchednesse of * Saladine one of the greatest Monarchs of the world Fortune had refused him nothing because she meant to take all from him for in the height of his glory he finds himselfe reduced to the poorenesse of his shirt onely which is all he carryes with him into the grave Povetty and Riches depend upon opinion and a noble soule is above his fortune in what condition somever he be And this makes us sensibly perceive that the greatnesses of the earth are Goods as good as estranged from humane nature since in this mortall and perishing condition wee can onely possesse their usance and the terme of this possession is of so short endurance that wee see as soone the end as the beginning Reader represent unto thy selfe how thou shalt be dealt with at thy death both by Fortune and the world since the Minion of this blind Goddesse Et quae veneraris quae-despicis unus exae quabit cinis and the greatest of the Universe is exposed all naked in his shirt in sight of all his subjects to be given in prey to the wormes Sen. as well as the most miserable of the Earth The Third Chapter where Life leads Death in Triumph teaches us the Art to vanquish this untamable by considering its weakenesse for in effect if Death be but a privation The horrour of Death is purely in the weakenes of imagination 't is to be deprived of reason and judgement to give it a being since it cannot subsist but in our impaired imaginations The fantosme of an Idea is it whose very forme is immateriall as having no other subsistance I say but that which the weakenesse of our spirit gives it And againe to come to the most important point Let this be the close of the recapitulation that you may have meanes not to stand in feare on 't Sen. * Incertum est quo te loco Mors expectet itaque tu illam omni loco expecta Muze on it alwayes looke for it in all places and o'recomming your selves you shall triumph over it Never did an unblemisht life feare Death The last Chapter where the object of Caemiteries and Sepulchers is laid before your eyes may now againe serve for the last touch since it is a Theater where you must play the Tragedie of your lives All this great number of Actors Hodie mihi Cras tibi Thinke on that Reader it may be thy turne to morrow whose bones and ashes you see there have every one playd their part and it may be that the houre will soone Knell that you must act yours Reader live ever in this providence a Man cannot too soone resolve to doe that well which howsomever must be done of necessitie God grant that these last lines may once againe reproach thee the bad estate of thy Conscience delay not too long this Check to thy selfe least too late the regreets be then in vaine Thy salvation is fastned to an instant Momentum est unde pendet aeteâ—nitas consider the infinite number of them which are already slip't away when perhaps at that moment thou wert in estate if dying to incurre the punishment of a second Death and that eternall If thou trust to thy youth put thy head out of
the window and thou shalt see carryed to the grave some not so old as thy selfe If thou relye upon the health which thou now enjoyest 't is but a false going-dyall The calme of a perfect health Saepe optimus status corpotis periculâ— susimuuuml s. hath oftentimes ushered the Tempest of a suddaine Death What hopest thou for Hip. hope is deceitfull what stayest thou soâ— Sera nimis Vita est crastina vive hodie A wise man ought never to defer till to morrow what should be done to day Lastly what desirest thou The peace of conscience is the only desirable good Goe on then right forward thou canst not misse the way which I have chalk't thee FINIS PERLECTORI The TRANSLATOVR'S COROLLARIE SO Now 't is done although it be no Taske That did much Braines or toylesome Study aske The meaning I ' vouch good but Merit small In rendring English the FRENCH PRINCIPALL It is but a Translation I confesse And yet the Rubs of Death in 't nerethelesse May trippe some cap'ring Fancies of the Time That Domineere and Swagger it in Rime That Charge upon the Reader and give Fire On all that doe not as they doe admire Either their rugged Satyrs cruell veine Or puffe-paste Notes 'bove Ela in high straine Then in prevention quarrell like a curst Scold who being guilty yet will call Whore first When any dyes whose Muse was rich in Verse They claime Succession and prophane his Herse They onely are Heires of his Braine-estate Others are base and illegitimate All but their owne Abettors they defie And LORD-it in their Wit-Supremacy Others they say but Sculke or lye i' th' lurch As we hold Schismaticks from the true Church So hold they all that doe decline their way Nor sweare by Heaven Al 's excellent they say T were well they 'd see the fing'ring on these frets Can neither save their Soules nor pay their Debts Or would they they thinke of Death as they should doe They would live better and more honourd too T is base to doe base deeds yet for false fame To Keepe a stirre and bustle into Name Whilst each applauds his owne contemnes an others Becons his owne deserts but his he smothers They feare Fame's out of breath and therefore they Trumpet their owne praises in their owne way Or ioyne in Tricke of Stale Confed'racy Cal'd Quid pro Quo Claw me and I le claw thee Marry at others Tooth and Naile they flye That do not tread their Path but would goe bye Farewell to these my ayme not here insists Leave we these wranglers unto equall lists To Nobler Natures I my brest expose The Good I bow to in an humble Cloze To such as knowing how vaine this Life is Exalt their thoughts to one better then This. 'T is the best Method to be out of Love With things below and thence to soare above To which effect my soules integrity In L'envoy thus salutes each courteous eye L'ENVOY INgenuous READER thou do'st crowne The Morall active course layd downe By De la SERRE what is pen'd If thy ACTIONS recommend Relating to the first EMBLEME WHen haughtie thoughts impuffe thee than Dictate thy selfe Thou art but Man A fabricke of commixed Dust That 's all the prop of humane trust How dares a Clod of mouldring Clay Be Proud decaying every day And yet there is away beside Wherein may be a lawfull Pride When sly Temptations stirre thee Than Againe the Word Thou art a Man Rouze up thy Spirits doe not yeeld A brave resistance winnes the Field Shall a soule of Heavenly breath Grovell so farre its worth beneath Fouly to bee pollute with slime Of any base and shamefull crime Thou art a Man for Heaven borne Reflect on Earth disdainefull scorne Bee not abus'd since Life is short Squander it not away in sport Nor hazard heavens eternall Joyes For a small spurt of wordly Toyes Doe Something ere thou doe bequeath To Wormes thy flesh to Aire thy breath Something that may when thou art dead With honour of thy name be read Something that may when thou art cold Thaw frozen Spirits when t is told Something that may the grave controule And shew thou hadst a noble Soule Doe something to advance thy blisse Both in the other World and This. Relating to the second EMBLEME WEre both the Indias treasures Thine And thou LORD of every Mine Or hadst thou all the golden Ore On Tagus or Factolus Shore And were thy Cabinet the Shrine Where thousand pearles and Diamonds shine All must be left and thou allowd A little linnen for thy Shrowd Or if 't were so thy Testament Perhaps a goodly Monument What better is a golden Chase Or Marble then a Charnell place Charon hence no advantage makes A halfe-penny a soule he takes Thy heires will leave thee but a Shirt Enough to hide thy rotten Dirt. Then bee not Greedy of much pelfe He that gets all may lose himselfe And Riches are of this Dilemme Or they leave us or we must them Death brings to Misers double Woe They loose their Cash and their soules too Change then thy scope to heavenly gaines That wealth eternally remaines Relatory to the third EMBLEME BE not curious to amaze With glitt'ring pompe the Vulgar gaze Strive not to cheat with vaine delight Those that are catcht with each brave sight How soone will any gawdy show Make their low Spirits overflow Whose Soules are ready to runne-ore At any Toy nere seene before Rather thy better thoughts apply For to addresse thy selfe to dye Bee ne're so glorious after all Thy latest pompe's thy Funerall Shall a dresse of Tyrian Dye Or Venice gold Embroyderie Or new-fash'on-varied Vest Tympanize thy out-strutting brest There 's none of these will hold thee tacke But thy last colour shall be Blacke Bee not deceiv'd There comes a Day Will sweepe thy Gloryes all away Meane while the thought on 't may abate Th' Excesses of thy present ' state Death never can that Man surprize That watches for 't with wary Eyes Doe Soe And thou shalt make thereby A Vertue of Necessitie And when thy Dying-day is come Goe like a Man that 's walking home Heav'n Guard thee with Angelicke pow'r To be prepared for that houre When ev'ry Soule shall feele what 'T is To have liv'd Well or done Amisse Relating to the fourth EMBLEME LEt not the Splendour of high Birth Bee all thy Glosse without true worth Let neither honour nor vast wealth Beautie nor Valour nor firme health Make thee beare up too high thy head All men alike are buried Stare not with Supercilious brow Poore folkes are Dast and so art Thou Triumph not in thy worldly Odds They dye like men whom we count Gods And in the Grave it is all one Who enjoy'd all or who had none Death cuts off all superfluous And makes the proudest One of us Nor shall there diffr'ence then betweene The dust of LORDS or slaves be seene Together under ground they lye
Without distinctive Heraldry Unlesse it be thar some brave Tombe Doe grace the Great-ones in Earths wombe But better 't is that Heaven's dore Is oft'nest open to the poore When those whose backs and sides with sinne Are bunch't and swolne cannot get in Beware the Bulke of thy Estate Shocke thee from entrance at that Gate Give Earth to Earth but give thy Minde To Heaven where it's seates assign'd If as it came from that bright Spheare Thither thou tend not fix it here Live that thy SOVLE may White return Leaving it's Partner in the VRNE Till a BLEST DAY shall reunite And beame them with Eternall Light Ainsi Souhaite Vostre tres humble Serviteur Tho. Cary. TOWER-HILL Antepenultimâ Augusti 1638. To my endeared Friend the Translatour Mr THOMAS CARY 1. 'T Is Morall Magicke and Wits Chymistrie Out of Deaths Uglinesse T'extract so trim a Dresse And to a Constellated Crystall tie Such an imperious spell As who lookes on it well By sprightie Apparitions to the Eye Shall see he must and yet not feare to dye 2. No brittle toy but a tough monument Above steele marble Brasse Of Malleable Glasse Which also wil while Wisedome is not spent Out-price th' adored wedge And blunt Times Sickle's edge Usher'd with gracious safety in its vent For to disfeaver Spirits fairely lent 3. FRIEND here remoulded by Thy English hand To speake it is no feare In hew as slicke and cleare Nay when Thy owne Minerva now doth stand On a Composing state 'T was curt'sie to Translate But most thy choise doth my applause command First for thy Selfe then for this crazie Land H. I. LECTURO COnspice quod vani nudat tectoria Fastûs Et penetrabundi concipe vera Libri O falsis animose bonis Sirenaque rerum Dedoctus vitreas exue delicias Interpres Genium quo vivax Author habebit Nec tantùm Patrii claustra decora soni Tam bene Cinnameâ pingit feralia cannâ Phoenicis miro quae qua si rapta rogo E gemitu solatiolum è paedore venustas Eque cadavereo vita reculta situ Alter in arcanis sapiat subtile docendis Sublimique suus stet ratione liber Alter amet flores bibuli mulcedo popelli Surdescens tandem plausibus ipse suis Praesentem Libitina librum sibi vendicat illa Corripiens artem Rhetoris illa Sophi H. I. ΤΩ ΕÎΤΕΥΞΑΜΕÎΩ ΙΑΜΒΙΚΑ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ΟΛΟΠΚΕÎΟ'Π〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 HEN. IACOB Advertissement au Lecteur Generous READER 'T Was upon occasion of the last Summer's sad effects generally over all England and some ressentments of mine owne when the Reading and Copying English this Authour's French Originall seasonably engaged my thoughts and Pen. I thinke al 's not forgotten yet But in a longer intervall and indeed alwayes there ought still to bee a deepe apprehension of our Mortality This our AUTHOR inculcates to us in Notions quicke and pertinent though in some historicall allusions he may a little o're-trust his Memory Valebis THO. CARY Laudatus abundè Non fastiditus Jmprimatur Lingua Vernacula SA BAKER