is a happinesse in regard of the torments of eternall death which doth swallow the most part of men It is a large way which leadeth to perdition and few doe find the way of Saluation Death commeth here to leuy soules for Hell and doth enroll great and small learned and ignorant rich and poore yea many which are esteemed holy and liue couered vnder the cloake of Hypocrisie to the end that they might goe to Hell with the lesse noise and not be stayed by the way This Hell is a place of flames and yet there is perpetuall darknesse where soules doe waxe old and yet neuer die and where they liue continually to die Where they burn without consuming where they mourne without compassion are afflicted without repentance where torment is without end and past imagination There the vnpappy rich man which refused to giue poore Lazarus a crumme of bread doth now beg of him a drop of water although whole Riuers bee not sufficient to extinguish his heat What if the rods that God doth punish his Infants withall doe sometimes make them almost despaire and euen curse the day of their Natiuitie as Iob and Ieremy did What are those afflictions that hee doth oppresse his Aduersarie withall It is a horrible thing saith the Apostle to fall into the hands of the Liuing God For because hee saith in his anger as it is written in the 32. Chapter of Deuteromie I haue lifted my hands towards heauen and said I am the euerliuing God If I whet my glittering sword and my hand take hold on iudgement I will execute vengeance on mine enemies and will reward them that hate me Praised be God which hath deliuered vs and drawne vs from that burning furnace of hell by his Sonne Iesus Christ who as S. Paul saith to the Galatians was reuiled for our sakes hath called vs our of perpetual darknes to his maruellous light 1. Pet. 2. 9. Is it possible for vs to be ignorant what that torment is not know how much he hath suffred for to retaine vs in feare and to make vs know the greatnesse of the grace of God and the excellence of our Redemptiō in Iesus Christ his Son who is also God eternally blessed This precedent discourse hath led vs through all ages and through all the most ordinary conditions of humane life yet in this voyage we haue knowne nothing but vanity and torment of spirit And it hath chiefely appeared when we haue cast our eyes vpon the diuine prouidence of God which doth from the highest Heauens view all the actions of man not as an idle spectator but as a wise Conductor and iust Iudge And there from aboue he laughes at the designes of great men frustrateth their enterprises destroyeth their tongues spirits of Babylonian builders ruineth their greatnes and breaketh their Scepters into shiuers teaching man that he is nothing but dust and his wisedome but meere blindnes to the end that hee may learne to contemne the world aud transport his hopes from earth to heauen that hauing seene some beames of this terrestriall splendour which vanisheth as Lightening he doth say with S. Peter It is good that we be here let vs make our selues heere Tabernacles Happy is that man which hauing well knowne the vantiy of this world doth retire towards God thot he beeing in a sure Hauen a farre off and that being vnder his shaddow as vnder a sure couered place may contemplate the ruine of the wicked the instability of their designes the folly of their hopes and the effects of the Iudgement of God Thereupon the Prophet Dauid in Psal 92. saith also O LORD how glorious are thy workes and thy thoughts are very deepe an vnwise man knoweth it not and a foole doth not vnderstand this When the wicked grow as the grasse and all the workes of wickednes doe flourish then they shall be destroyed for euer It behoueth vs heere to note carefully that this Psalme is intituled A Song for the Sabbath day for by it hee doth aduertise vs that this meditation requireth a quiet and resting spirit which beeing restrained from the presse of humane actions doth retire it selfe into the House of God according to that which hee saith in the 73 Psalme where he doth confesse that the prosperity of wicked men hath offended him and that hee could hardly digest it vntill that he had entred into the Sanctuary of the Almighty and considered the end of such men For to vnderstand what the true happinesse is and to vnmaske himselfe to the imaginary felicitie of this world it is not necessary to goe to Philosophicall schooles or to build his resolutions vpon the opinion of the Vulgar but to enter into the holy House of God and there learne what the difference is betweene the riches which he scattereth vpon this great multitude and that which he reserueth for his little ones what the vncertainty of this worldly prosperitie is in respect of the certainty of Gods promises But vvith what insensible chaines doth Satan lead men into perdition How doth he triumph ouer those which triumph in this world how they that thinke themselues most sure are vpon the point of their ruine and perpetuall destruction Let vs furthermore consider how vaine the glory of man is in that some one doth boast of his particular strēgth wherein it is impossible for him euer to equall a Bull. Some other doe glory in their beauty when as it is onely a superficiall colour which couereth the bloud bones and braines hideous things to see It is also a thing that age and many maladies haue power to deforme Some other doth glory of his honour and greatnesse when indeed he is possest in this state with most trouble and feare and lesse liberty besides he is mounted so high that he cannot fall but with breaking of his owne necke Some other doth glory to bee more drunke then his companions but if his belly bee greater in capacitie then others notwithstanding it will neuer exceed a Barrell These former things are generall for vanities and miseries are common to all men since that sinne hath subiected mankinde to them But notwithstanding there are some more then other which are made examples of extreme misery As poore beggers which are constrained through necessitie to lye vpon the bare pauement as Gally-slaues and as those miserable slaues which are made mercenaries The hundreth part of humane kinde doth imperiously and impiously torment the rest and those that are feeble and meane serue as preyes to the mighty Amongst the Turkes and Pagans which possesse three parts of the world men are bought and sold in the same fashion as horses in a Faire for the buyer marketh their fight maketh them shew their teeth and feeleth the sinnewes of their armes and legges Great Princes keepe millions of chained Slaues for to labour in making of Sugar in working of Mines to serue in Gallies
our selues vpon him The heauen moueth alwayes and yet it is the place of our rest On the contrary the earth resteth alwayes and yet it is the place of our motion The Quadrants and Horologies imitate the motion of heauen but the faith of the beleeuers doth imitate the Rest which is aboue all Vlysses did more esteeme the smoake of his owne house than the flame of anothers How much more then would he esteeme the flame of his owne chimney than the smoake of anothers Wee are heere strangers this is not our house our habitation is in heauen Let vs compare the smoake of this strange house and the darkenesse of the earth with the beauty and splendor of our owne dwelling which is the in Kingdome of heauen Here is the reigne of Satan there the Kingdome of God here is a valley of teares there the height of mirth here wee sowe in sorrow there wee reape in ioy here wee see the light of the Sunne through two little holes which are called the eyes there wee receiue light from God on euery side as if wee were all eyes Therefore because God is all in all to him be honour and glory in this world and in the world to come Amen FINIS ON THE WORTHY NAME OF MY NOBLE and learned Author that excellent Diuine Monsieur PIERRE DV MOVLIN the Mirror of our age PRaise mis-bestow'd on him t' whom none belongs ILl fits the Praised and the Praiser wrongs ERror in praising may the prais'd defame RAising vp worth on an vnworthy Name REst weake-wing'd Muse striue not this worth to raise ELated by its selfe its selfe can praise DV MOVLIN'S worth I meane whose sacred skill VNder ha's brought Romes Champion to his will MY Muse bee mute forbeare his worth t' expresse O! Wrong not that by praise to make it lesse VNto the world's broad Eye what riches rest LOck't in the closet of His pious brest IS cleerely seene and specially appeares NOw more transcendent in 's Heraclits Teares Deuoted to your Vertues ABR DARCIE THE TRANSLATOR TO the vnpartiall Reader all Prosperity ALl is corrupt and naught all eu'ry where BElow high Heau'n Ther 's not a corner Cleare RIch subtill worldlings wise cramd with wealths store ARe but the fooles of Fate exceeding poore HOnor Wealth Beauty Pompe i' th' best degree ARe subiect all to change no State liues free MONARKS nor Kings the glory they liue in DEath shall deface as if th' had neuer bin ATtend faire Vertue then Vice dis-respect REbuild thy sunke foundation Architect CLimbe Heau'n braue spirits let your Teares expell IN faire Repentance showr'd the worst of hell EVer to gaine those Ioyes no tongue can tell FINIS * This Princely Dame is a blest branch of these famous Trees of Honour the most ancient House of Derby and the Noble family of the Spencers * Honorable branches of Honour sprung from the Noble House of Bridgewater * Noble Twigs of vertue issued from the Illustrious family of the Paulets Marquises of Winchester Eccles 12. 12. Pyrrus King of Epirots that valiant and victorious warriour is killed by a silly woman with a tile stone He who had filled the earth with the Trophees of his deedes and triumphs of his victories Alexander of Macedonia that most famous Monarch died impoysoned by his owne seruants The chiefe of the Greekes hauing escaped so many perils in the Troyans warres is cruelly murdered before his Castle Great Pompey hauing shunned the bloudy hand of his enemies is killed by his deare obliged friend That victorious French Monarch Henry of Bourbon the 4. of that name whose inuincible valour made Spaine quake Rome treÌ„ble is in time of peace lamentably murdred in his Coach in the midst of his Royall citie of Paris These examples do euidently shew the worlds mutability and inconstancie Eccl. 1. 14. Of Infancy Of Youth Youth compared to yong trees That Kings and Soueraignes are not more free from misery then other inferiour persons The inuenters if new Patents Enuious insatiable Courtiers Wealth inticeth men to sinne New Duels doe adde to one much reputation for as it is a shame for a man to come into the world so they hold it an honour to send him out of it Mens reward for those follies and deboistnesse committed in their Youth Magistrates and wicked Iudges A Notable adâ—ertisement for Judges and Magistrates The Author as before craues pardon of all modest Religious and vertuous women whose vertue hee doth honour and reuerence Mat. 15. 36. 6. 27. 1. Tim. 6. Couetousnes the source and originall of all wickednes and abomination Of Enuie that cruell abominable and bloudy vice which doth generaly raigne now in this our degenerate age Of Ambition the cause of our fall and ruine Bernard Ambitiosorum Arcana sunt periculosissima Maledictus superbus est tam impudens voluntartè se separeta Deo Mans felicitie and happinesse doth not depend onely vpon greatnesse and degnity for contentment exceedeth riches Take Fees with both hands gull their Clients and make them like bare-headed Vassals pray and pay soundly for their importunate bawling An excellent Simile The vanity simplicitie and folly of aged men Hee that knowes much and knowes not himselfe knowes nothing Simile Such minds incite whores rather then chaste and vertuous women With good reason S. Austin said That Man pleaseth God the best that circled with beauties in the mids of Princes magnificent Palaces could fly their alluring temptations A notable comparison to confound the folly of men who thinke to auoid temptations by rendring and making themselues Anchorites and Hermites Non quaere-Christus Iesus glariam suam omnia Igitur relinqnere debes etiam te ipsum spernere abnegare vt frauris amicitia Ihesu Christi Simile A pittifull example of Mans Wolfe-like appetite his insatiate desire of riches and vgly terror of deformiâ—y Than the Day of Death there is nothing more certaine nor nothing vncertaine * Nota. This is weighty to be obserued not ouely of the poore and inferiour persons but more to be apprehended with feare by theÌ„ most mighty Soueraignes and greatest men of this world that they may not build their happinesse vpon the deceitfull ground of their riches and transitory possessions Death is a terrour to those ignoble minds whose pride of life makes them weake timerous most vndoubted Cowards to the least obiect Death shal present The Rich vnprofitable Mizerburns in Hell for his Auarice while his sonne in the world dancing a Whore on his Lap sets all prodigally flying Tunc Post vnam voluptatem sequuntur mille dolores Simile Most worthy to be read and considered with terrour and true repentance Ver Aeternum plenisfima delitiarum quam pura es The Maiesty of God in the generall Judgement Day shall be more terrible to the impious Monarks of the earth then either the world on fire round about them Hell gaping to swallow the vgly Fiends to torture or the paines of Hell can affright them Remember Hell t is not a feined but a place most fume most fearefull Poenitentia sera raro vera How Gods incomprehensible Prouidence frustrates the designes of men making their enterprises of no validity Luke 9. 99. Consider the subtilty of Satan and mans sudden ruine Memento decimo sexto die Octobris â—â—ilo Antiquo quinto die Octob. slilo Nouo MDCXXIII Of the vaine glory of men most corruptible and transitory The iust reward of Kings proud mounting Fauorites Necessitas non habet legem Of the vanitie of humane thoughts desires and iudgements Idle most vnprofitable thoughts Read Swetons Worke. A true Simile of those that build Castles in the Castles in the ayre A principall and most worthy obseruation The profit of solitarinesse Death terrible to the foole Mans vncertainty where to rest Foolish and vaine desires Despaire animates man to hasten the destruction The strong operation of conceit The vaine and superstious follies of ignorant Idolaters Grosse errors which like a foggy mist blind and confound the sight and sense of men Adherents of the Church of Rome We must not thinke to make with our wealth and worldly riches a composition and truce with Death for Nature requires a tribute at our hands * A Simile worthy of obseruation a Wee are so rooted in this worlds abomination that we prefer a minute of worldly pleasure before heauens euerlasting ioyes incomprehensible and immutable Men ought not to be regarded not respected for their gallant and gorgeous apparell only but more for their vertues Man Iull'd in the Labyrinth of pleasures knowes not how to get out The custome of the world Marriage without loue and meanes breeds the most wofull experience of a miserable life Worldlings most wise in knowing the way to get riches but to seeke after the riches of Heauen dull Animals Omnia sub sole vanitas Happy the man that followes this blest example The world 's a Where full of deceitfulnesse There is no true friendship but among good men very scant in this Age. God in his infinite mercy ruinates the building of sinne in the body to re-build the Soule an euerlasting Mansion in Heauen The Alpes be inexasible high great Mountains which diuide France from Italy Man borne in misery most miserable euen froÌ„ his Cradle Mans life assaultod by peril I and eminent dangers No man free from sorrows miseries There is a time pre-ordained for euery thing Humilitie the Queene of Vertues Pride the Princesse of Vice * Belarmine He also by his most excelent and admirable Booke intituled The BVCKLER OF THE FAITH doth vtterly confound the Romane Church And many Iesuites in presuming to dispute with this rare Diuine are put to their Non plus vltra Yea the most famous of theÌ„ Mr. Arnoux the Iesuite is put to his Shifts and Euasions
either for that hee hath vertues more then humane or that hee is so contemptible and meane in respect of Man that he is vnworthy to approach neere him But let him know which doth affect solitarinesse because he doth surpasse all men in vnderstanding and vertue that he ought to repell that humour and to condescend by humilitie and meekenesse to the imperfections of others labouring for the good of the Church or Common Wealth either by word or worke For what are all those perfections more then shaddowes and obscure traces of those perfections that are in Iesus Christ notwithstanding he tooke vpon him our shape and conuersion among men that thereby he might saue them and winne soules to heauen Therefore to conclude this point If to flie from the World bee a vanity how much more to follow it If vices and torments do harbour in the desart how much more in presses and throngs of people Truely if vanity bee in euery place let vs say that all is torment and affliction of Spirit CHAP. XI Of old and decrepit age BVt in the meane time that man is busied about al these vaine conceits while he is pushing time with his shoulder endeauouring nothing all dayes of his life but to rise and to goe to bed to apparell himselfe and to make himselfe vnready to fill his belly and to euacuate his stomacke which is no more then a circle of the selfe same importuning occupations much like vnto a Millers horse that alwaies treads one compasse While he is thus busied with such occasions behold old age stealingly arriueth to which few doe attaine and all desire But if any doe peraduenture gaine that time they desire to haue it prolonged to the vtmost this age being as Grapes which haue lost their iuyce and as the sincke of mans life is without question the most vnhappy for those men that are worldly as no the contrary it is most blessed for such as are godly For worldly men in this age are doubly possest with way wardnes their feare and distrust doth increase their iudgement waxeth weake begins to diminish Wherefore we do wrongfully call a melancholy humor wisedome a dis-abilitie sobriety because old age leaueth not pleasure but pleasure leaueth it And therefore he doth vndeseruedly complaine that the time and manners of men are changed into worse while nothing is changed but himselfe for in his youth all things pleased him if they were neuer so bad in his old age all things dislike him if they were neuer so good Like vnto those which being in a Ship thinke that the banks moue when it is onely themselues It is also a vice incident to this Age to speake much because they are no more able to performe any thing and that they also thinke themselues most fit to propose precepts to youth and to declare things of time long since Like vnto a declining State as that of the Romane Empire where there are many talkers but few valiant not much different from the aged time of the world where are many curious disputers but few of the true Religion In this Age also doth increase the loue of wealth and earthly cares doe summon new forces against man he waxeth all gray and euery thing in him beginneth to wither onely his vices excepted That auncient man of whom the Apostle maketh often mention beeing ready to dote waxeth not old in worldly age but then he is in full vigour He therefore feareth approching death and holdeth his life like vnto an Eele which slideth away In the meane time he determineth of tedious designes and heapeth vp riches as if death stood a farre off and durst not appeare But now that age is come and the time that he ought to rest his griefes and dolours are renewed the heart afflicted the braine troubled the face withered the body crooked the sight dimmed the hayres falne and the teeth rotten and to be short the body is as it were asimilitude of death yet doth he prepare himselfe least to gaine the future blisse and though many times death takes for a gage one part or other of his body as an arme an eye or a legge to serue for an aduertisement that he will shortly fetch the rest yet he is so affianced to the earth that he is vnwilling to goe to it when nothing remaineth in him but euill CHAP. XIII Of DEATH THus after Man hath sorrowed all his dayes vnder the heauy burthen of his sinnes and in conclusion of all this vnprofitable wearisome trauell behold the approch of death before he hath learned to liue much lesse to dye The most part beeing taken out of this world before they know to what end they entred in they would willingly prolong the date of their life but death admits no composition for it hath feet of wooll but armes of iron it cōmeth vnsensibly but hauing taken once hold it neuer looseth her prize To this pace or step man commeth so slowly as possibly he can For if a Ship should sinke among the waues two hundred leagues from Land notwithstanding euery Passenger would striue to swim not with an intent to saue his life but to repell death for some minutes and to render nature her last ineuitable tribute Euery man trembleth at this passage and laboureth to settle himselfe here yet is forced at last to yeeld vnto Death and yet by no meanes may bee knowne after what manner hee shall end his life Some there bee that are forced to dye by hunger others by thirst others by fire others by water others by poison others are smothered others are torne in pieces by wilde beasts others deuoured of the Fowles of the aire others are made meat for Fishes and others for Worms yet for all this Man knoweth not his end when hee thinketh himselfe most at rest hee sodainly perisheth What a dreadfull sight is it to see him lying in his bed that is oppressed with the paines of Death What shaking and changing of all the bonds of nature will he make the feete will become cold the face pale the eyes hollow the lips and mouth to retire the hands diminish the tongue waxeth blacke the teeth doe cloze the breath faileth the cold sweat appeareth by the violence of sicknes All which is a certaine token that nature is ouercome But now when it commeth to the last gaspe or at the sorrowfull departure that the soule maketh from his habitation all the bands of Nature are broken Besides when the Diuell or wicked spirit is assured of our end what furious assaults will hee make against our soules to make vs despaire of Gods mercy It is the houre when as Satan doth his power to striue against GOD for to hinder the saluation of mankind and he is more boisterous in these latter dayes for that he knoweth that his time is but short and that the end of his kingdome is at hand and therefore he is the more enflamed for he neuer
an Apple To entice with Siluer the Sonne of the King of Heauen to offend his Father and after the example of Esau to sell my birth-right for a messe of pottage Such perswasions shall not by any meanes possesse mee God will not afflict me vvith so great a blindnesse We are vnworthy to be followers of CHRIST if wee doe not esteeme our selues to be better then the world Was it not for the loue of the faithfull that the world was framed Will not God ruinate it againe for to reedifie for them a faire house in Heauen where shall bee the fulnesse of glory For this Heauen or climate is inferiour to the worth and dignity of the children of God You that feare God and trust in his Sonne know that it is you that vnderprop the world and that nourish the wicked in it Therefore the enemies of God are bound in obligation to you For hee doth conserue the world out of a respect which he hath towards his chosen and elect whereof some are mixed among the euill and others are yet vnborne It is written in the sixt of the Apocalypse That GOD doth attend vntill our fellow-seruants be accomplished And therefore this is one of the reasons why that Christ doth call the faithfull The salt of the earth which is as much as a little part amongst men which conserueth the rest and delayeth their destruction For God conserueth the sinfull because of the good to the end that they should serue as medicines to them and that the might and power of our Aduersaries might serue to compell vs to the feare of God and to trust in his promises Such being the excellency of Gods elect aboue the rest it behooueth vs to respect the pleasures riches and greatnesse of the world as things that are most ridiculous and as the painted kingdomes which the Diuell shewed vnto Christ Like those which from the highest part of the Alpes doe looke into Campania where the greatest Cities seeme like vnto little Cottages how much lesse and base will they seeme then if they were discerned from Heauen From thence therefore it behooueth that the faithfull contemplate humane things and that hee transport instantly his heart to Heauen since that there is his treasure And considering from thence the Palaces of Princes hee will esteeme them as habitations of Ants and the turbulent murmuring of men as the buzzing of an angry swarme of Bees and contemplating from thence vvhat things are most great and apparant in the earth he wil say The vanity of vanities all is vanity That holy glory will not hinder Christian humilitie For wee knowing the worthinesse of our selues doe finde our dignity in Iesus Christ If Repentance doth humble vs Faith doth exalt vs. If we are nothing before God wee are somewhat in God in his fatherly affections And therefore in this the faithfull are contrary to worldly men for they doe lift their eyes to heauen by too much pride but presse downe their heart on the earth with Auarice and Incontinency whereas the godly on the contrarie hath his eyes vpon the earth by humilitie as the Publican which durst not lift his eyes to Heauen but hath his heart in Heauen by faith and hope The contempt of this world proceeds not out of a loue to himselfe but out of a true affection to God THE MISERY OF MANS FRAILE AND NATVRALL INCLINATION AND Of the Wickednesse and Peruersenesse that now raigneth in this wretched AGE COnsidering to my selfe the miseries of Humane condition my minde and spirit is so confounded with diuersitie of thoughts that I enter as it were into a Labyrinth of confusion whose issue is most difficult For if I settle my considerations vpon Nature humane qualities or effects those three obiects do so obfuscate my powers that all the knowledge that I can gather is impossibilitie neuer to attaine to the perfect knowledge of the numberlesse number of those miseries mis-haps and vanities affected as inseparable to humane kinde and to that end doe chalenge all the most profound and serious sences of the wisest and most learned men to effect the definition therof Let them consider from its source originall yea euen from the Cradle where humane nature shall bee found senselesse depriued from the vsage of all the noblest faculties of the Soule and so weake wretched and capable onely of teares and weepings expressing thereby in complaining her miseries which doe increase faster then she growes in yeeres She hath no sooner giuen ouer the Milke of her Nurse but she begins to goe or rather to fall sith her going is in danger of sore hurts by a continuall experience in falling Can shee goe She knowes not whither to goe but must haue a conduct during the time of her second Infancy what forme of bringing vp soeuer shee takes vpon her the first impressions thereof are most costly in respect of the time and their labour and trouble which haue the care thereof which is incredible For as shee receiues some document of worldly science and discipline which if it be a true doctrine will instruct her that whatsoeuer qualities sciences and learning she possesseth yet she is still ignorant and knowes in a manner nothing and all that she knowes not can neuer bee by her learned or conceiued although she haue so many liues as this world abounds with creatures And which is more she hath not so soone escaped and passed ouer the perils of her Youth but she commeth and entreth into those infinite dangers of her ripe age and that which is most deplorable and lamentable is that in that fiery and burning age shee vtterly consumes wasts her selfe Or if she escape moderates the fury violence of the heat of that age it is but for a time for what way so euer she treads Nature shee still approaches neere vnto death being alwayes in the ready way to her graue where by degree time hunts her vnder the conduct of old age not without many crosses sorrowes and tribulations for she must passe through cruell and tedious straights of anguish and miseries no lesse innumerable then infinite which astonisheth and weares out euen the most constant who are in a manner not able to indure them with patience If we will see the body of this Tree we must breake the barke of our condition for it is the true portraiture of our selues and so wee may cleerely apprehend it with the very same reason considering what an infinite number of mis-haps miseries and mischiefes wee are subiect vnto in this transitorie world that the infinitie of them is impossible to be related for if examples be vaine to manifest it vnto vs by comparison our imbecilitie in expressing it alone may be in some fashion eloquent for to treate some part thereof and that wherewith the afflicted are most comforted is through the assurance they haue that all men together are subiect to the like miseries and ill fortunes except
HERACLITVS OR MEDITATIONS vpon the Misery of Mankinde and the vanitie of Humane life With The inconstancie of worldly Things as also the wickednesse of this deceitfull age described Faithfully translated out of the last Edition written in French by that learned Diuine Monsieur Du Moulin By ABRAHAM DARCIE LONDON Printed by G. P. for Thomas Pauier and are to be sold at his shop in Iuie Lane M.DC.XXIV TO THE ILLVSTRIOVS IOHN Earle of Bridgewater c. And to the Princely Lady FRANCES his Noble Countesse As also to the Honorable Ladies the Lady FRANCES HOBART and the Lady ARABELLA St IOHN their worthy Daughters And to the Honor of the Right Honorable The Lord St IOHN Baron of Bletso the Illustrious Lady ELIZABETH His Noble and Vertuous Wife with their Honorable Sonne Mr St IOHN The Lord HOBART L. Chiefe Iustice of the Common-Pleas and to the Religious Lady his worthy Wife to their Generous vertuous Son Sir IOHN HOBART True Patternes of Vertue and Pietie Noble Patrons and Patronesses of Honor and Learning ABRAHAM DARCIE wisheth to these Noble Families all internall externall and eternall Happinesse and prosperity in Christ Iesus Right Honorable Most Worthy THat great and wise Monarch King SALOMON said long since that there is no end of making Bookes and much studie is a wearinesse of the flesh Which Paradoxe was neuer more verefied then in these degenerate dayes of Vanity when ignorant as well as wise men will bee still writing of themselues whereby the Presse is euen oppressed with multiplicitie of such idle Treatises more light then vanity it selfe But for such Bookes as doe either affoord direction to the Church or a way to reforme and better our Life those are most worthy to bee read and carefully obserued This excellent Worke first penned in French by one of the most learned Diuines in France clearely shewing vs the Vanity Misery and Inconstancie of this World doth warne and admonish vs to take heede how we trust to it and that we must not build our happinesse vpon so deceitfull grounds as Riches and Earthly possessions but to direct our Hearts leuell and lift our mindes and thoughts to HEAVEN to that Eternal and blessed Habitation of CHRIST IESVS Considering these things what greater abomination can there be then to see the people of this miserable age delight to vndoe one another enuie despise curse warre and finally kill one another For a thing so vaine as this World deceitful miserable inconstant and damnable which sometimes honors vs and presently contemnes vs cals vs to high Callings and sodainly debases and degrades vs lifts vs to high prosperity and immediatly flings vs headlong into lowe aduersity Therfore PHILIP King of Macedonia acknowledging the worlds great inconstancie hauing receiued many good newes in one day prayeth the immortall Gods to stop the course of so greatioyes fearing lest some sinister actions and mournefull euents should ensue them Right Honourable this Booke hauing past many Impressions in FRANCE is now arriued newly reuiued and augmented here in England and though it bee little in shew yet it containes many good things yea matters of weight and consequence worthy to bee read knowne and obserued As also very fit and needfull for a Christian to meditate The exquisite worth thereof hath mooued mee to translate it but the fame of your rare vertues hath the more imboldened mee to publish it vnder the banner of your Noble protections Accept it most Honorable as courteously as officiously it is Dedicated and Consecrated to the perpetuall Honour and Honourable vse of your Illustrious Houses and Noble Families by Your Honours and Worthinesse humble and deuoted obseruant ABRAHAM DARCIE A Table of the Contents of this Booke CHAP. 1. THe vanity and misery of the Nature of man fol. 6 CHAP. 2. The vanity and inconstancy of man in his action 10 CHAP. 3. Of mans Ripe Age. 16 CHAP. 4. The life of Courtiers 27 CHAP. 5. The life of Magistrates and wicked Iudges 31 CHAP. 6. Of mans estate being in Wedlocke 36 CHAP. 7. The vanity and inconstancie of Women 42 CHAP. 8. Of Couetousnesse Enuie and Ambition 45 CHAP. 9. Of Petty-fogging strifes and law-contention 53 CHAP. 10. Of Philosophy and the knowledge of diuers tongues 55 CHAP. 11. Of Pilgrims and Ciuill vertues 59 CHAP. 12. Of old and decrepit Age. 77 CHAP. 13. Of Death 69 CHAP. 14. Of the terrible Iudgement seat of God 74 CHAP. 15. Of Heauen 79 CHAP. 16. Of Hell 81 CHAP. 17. The misery and vanity of our Life and the wickednesse that now raigneth HERACLITVS TEARES OR THE MISERY OF HVMANE LIFE WITH The vanity and inconstancie of worldly things IF we doe but seriously consider this besotted World how like a turbulent torrent it is ouerflowne with all sorts of impertinent and importunate affaires which cut our time into a thousand pieces wee shall finde that each of them takes from vs one part of our life leauing vs no time but that which wee gaine by theft subtracting some houres for to examine our selues in secret and to entertain our mind with religious thoughts These solitary meditations haue sufficient in them to employ our wits For the first Subiect which doth present it selfe to our perusall is a consideration of the vanity and misery of humane life not for to molest vs any way while we are in it but to prepare our selues to depart well out of it No man can aspire as hee ought to the future life which doth not contemne this present neither can any man contemne this present which doth not well know it and the way truely to know it is to remoue it farre from vs to withdraw it from our heart and to banish it from our affection For worldly goods beeing neere at hand doe both dazell the Minde and distract the Iudgement But let vs first enquire before we proceede of some one that hath passed this way King Salomon in the beginning of Ecclesiastes entring into that meditation doth write that vanity is most vaine all is vanity That great and mighty King who had riches without example peace without trouble glory without enuy who was obeyed of his Subiects respected of his Neighbors and raigned forty yeeres which was a sufficient time to content his minde in sumptuous buildings in multitude of Horses in all variety of studies and Sciences who had trauersed his spirits through all the secrets of Nature euen from the Cedar vnto the Hysop Neuerthelesse in the conclusion of all considering how these sweets are confected with bitternesse how there is little constancie in these things how there is small content in all this trauell hee makes this the cloze of all his actions That all is vanity and affliction of spirit But before that Solomon had proued these things hee learned that lesson of Dauid his father which is written in the 39. Psalme Truely euery man is nothing but vanity he walketh in a
agreeable to the industry of Moles which digge vnder-ground with much dexteritie but are blind when they come into the Sunne So wee haue much skill in earthly affaires to sell to couenant and to supplant any one But take one of these men vvhich is is most subtill in these things and bring him to the brightnesse and light of the holy Gospel and there he is altogether blind and of a selfe-conceit will continue so For during the time that hee doth foresee future euents and alterations of estate hee is ignorant of his owne destruction while that he discourseth on the affaires of Kingdomes hee is a Slaue to the Diuell And notwithstanding that blind iudgement of his dareth contest against the Euer-liuing GOD the folly and foolishnesse of the children of darknesse against the Diuine wisedome of the Father of Light and the discretion of man against the Prouidence of the Almighty For the wicked do couer themselues with silence craft and dissimulation Like vnto little children which think that they are sufficiently hidden when their eyes are closed Beleeuing that no body seeth them when they see no body But in the meane time God perceiueth them both naked and vncouered yea better then they themselues For God is not onely all hand in holding and conducting the whole Vniuerse but also all eye in seeing and discerning all things in it The thickest bodies are to him transparant and darknesse it selfe is to him light and therefore the Prophet Dauid doth iustly reprehend that foolish wisedome in the 94. Psalme where he saith Vnderstand ye vnwise among the people and ye fooles when will ye be wise He that planted the eare shall he not heare or he that formed the eye shall he not see Now in this place he calleth them vnwise not which are fooles and run vp and downe the streetes nor those priuate and particular men which are without Office nor the heauy-spirited Commons but such as are crafty and manage affaires with dexterity thinking by their sagacity to couer themselues from the wisedome of God or to dazle the eyes of his prouidence sacred Like vnto the most dangerous Agues which are vnder the appearance of Coldnesse So the most ridiculous follie is that which lieth vnder the appearance of wisedome It behoueth also the Faithfull to exercise his meditation and to be a spectator of the actions and thoughts of men and of all the vnprofitable labours of his life For it is in humane life as in a Faire where there commeth two sorts of people one for to buy and sell the other onely to see Man that feareth God is like to one of those which come to see he is not there idle and to search nothing but to contemplate the worke of God and humane actions But he may say when he hath seene all the delights that the curious vanity of men can shew forth O how many things are there in this world which I haue nothing to doe withall What if during this contemplation some one doth iustle or throng vpon him or if one cut his purse that it doe afflict or depriue him of any thing All that such a one will doe is to goe out of that company and knowing himselfe to be a stranger in this world will trauell toward his Country where that Celestiall Habitation is pressing alwaies as the Apostle saith towards the marke for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Iesus If the world contemne him hee will contemne that contempt as knowing himselfe better then the world and to be called to a better hope hee will esteeme the promised allurements of the world vaine the occupations of men base and importunate and according to the example of Mary in the tenth of Luke he will choose the good part which shall not bee taken from him concluding all his meditations after the same maner as Salomon doth in the end of Ecclesiastes The end of all is the feare of God and the keeping of his Commandements for in it is comprized the summe of mans beeing Now therefore after all this meditation let vs rest our selues vpon these two Maxime's and Propositions which are the true foundation that zeale is grounded vpon The first is for to loue God it behooueth to contemne the world The second is that for to contemne the world it is necessary for the Faithful to know his own worth noblenesse and excellencie of vocation The first Maxime is taken out of S. Iohn in his first Epistle Loue not the world neither the things that are in the world If any man loue the world the loue of the Father is not in him For all things that are in the world as the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father but is of the world And the world passeth away and the lust thereof but he that fulfilleth the will of God abideth for euer Nothing doth so farre separate vs from the loue of God as our affection to the world seeing that the holy Scripture for to admonish vs doth call the world The Kingdome of the Diuell But as the Moone hath no light but from the Sunne so our soules haue not any light but by the regard of God and by a consequent neither more nor lesse But euen as the Moone doth lose her light when she is hidden within the shaddow of the earth so also doe our soules lose their brightnesse for they are called in the holy Scriptures The children of light when they molest and wrap themselues within the shadow of earthly things cares and worldly concupiscences which wee ought to tread vnder our feete according to the example of the Church which as it is vvritten in the 12. of the Apocalypse hath vnder her feete the Moone that is the mutable instabilitie of these inferiour things To this purpose Iesus also would that the penny should bee restored to Caesar because that it had his Image on it Let vs therefore then giue our selues to God seeing that we beare his owne Image But the inconuenience is that wee doe often abolish the Image in rubbing it against the earth and polluting our soules with worldly thoughts and desires That wee may therefore contemne the earth and all that the world doth promise it requireth that wee come to the second point which is to know perfectly what the worth and excellency of the faithfull is For when as men by an vnfriendly amity and cruell well-willing doe sollicite some one to doe ill which hath the feare of God and to offend his Conscience in offending God it behooueth the faithfull to think in himselfe What I that am a Child of God and am of a celestiall noblenesse that am one of the first-borne whose names are registred in Heauen shall I esteeme the promises of the world which when they are most certain they are too base for mee to meditate on To delude the sonne of a Prince with
none but those who are not yet borne or those who in their Cradle ending their liues finde their Sepulchres otherwise let the most happy and the most contented man that now liueth on earth gaine-say it alledging this for his reason that he knowes not what mis-haps and miseries meane and that in so sweet ignorance he hath passed not onely the spring of his Youth but likewise the Summer and part of the Winter of his age that it is well hitherto but it is without consequence times past can conclude nothing of the future and though it seemeth to this happy man that although crosses troubles tribulations and miseries should as it were assault him in the end of his race time should bee wanting to make durable and lasting the griefe of his euils and afflictions Forasmuch as death doth alwaies and lawfully succeed old age which should hinder and interrupt the course and proceeding thereof but to that I will truely answer without many needlesse proofes for surety that his last day onely is able sufficiently to make him feele and haue tryall of the most cruell and sensiblest griefe torments wherewith any mortall body can be vexed therefore the most fortunate man that is cannot account himselfe happy but at the end of his racei sith oftentimes before an hauen Town many suffer shipwracke that haue escaped miraculously many eminent dangers in the middest of Stormes and Tempests But to proceed further I say that although there were such a man found in this world of so happy condition as to haue alwayes sailed in the ship of his life in this rough and inconstant Sea of the earth with the agreeable winds of his desire and without the least dangers but rather continually to haue enioyed a sweet and immutable calme yet notwithstanding this kinde of life full of Roses will proue full of Thornes at his death in considering that losse and depriuation of all those pleasures doe produce and bring forth cruell sorrows and griefes to the possessor thereof whose minde will bee so extremely vext and tormented that his paines and sufferings can be rather endured then expressed which may easily bee proued by the continuall experience that wee haue in worldly things by this Maxime the greater the contentments are the more extreme is the displeasure and anguish in the deprauation of them euen as gaine and profit produce feelings of ioy so losse and dammage by different effects breede sencible torments and griefes which moues me to conclude according to my first Propositions that there is no life although neuer so happy that can bee free and exempted from sorrowes and miseries and to adde my opinion to it I hold that the most vnfortunate are the happiest considering the conclusion and end of all things how the calme followes still the tempest the day succeeds the night faire weather raine and ioy is still attended with annoy and sorrowes according to the maxime of Heauen Earth all the difference there is is that this worlds happinesse and ioyes are temporall and limited and in the other World eternall and infinite But to returne to our condition to make it appeare vnto you all together wretched miserable we must consider how time playes with it somtimes raising vs as it were to prosperity in a moment casting vs headlong into aduersitie it serueth for a Marke to aime and leuell at and an habitation and lodging of all euils For hope deceiues our condition vanity flouts it ambition mockes it vices are her beloued children and vertues her greatest enemies pleasure cheates her the flesh tempts her riches commands her as her Soueraigne and finally the Diuell maintaines a continuall warre with her vntill her end Let vs iudge then if pride and arrogancy become vs well considering all these our infirmities and defaults Wee must not therefore wonder if Humility bee the Queene of all other vertues sith Arrogancy hath beene and is still Princesse of Vices I hold opinion with that worthy Philosopher which in one lesson only taught all sorts of Sciences comprehended abridged in that admirable precept and instruction of Cognosce Teipsum and truely who in that knowledge is not ignorant and that in knowing himselfe will auow that hee doth not perfectly know himselfe The way that we leade to arriue at this blest iourneys end vnto which wee aspire is most long and tedious So that it vvere much better for vs to arme our selues with a generous resolution to forsake the world before it doth leaue and abandon vs for the soonest we can will bee late enough to execute so glorious an enterprize For when I thinke and behold the miserable state of this transitorie world and how it is infected with all sorts of execrable sinnes a trembling horrour vnties my bodies ligatures my very knees beat together and I could vnfainedly wish my sinnowy structure to be transformed into a lumpe of snow that the ardour of my soules vexation might dissolue it into penitentiall teares for men do act sinne with an auaritious appetite and all varieties of abominations are lifted to their Arcticke point Doth not Satan coyne them so fast as men would willingly put them in practize Did pride euer so strut it vpon the Tiptoes as now it doth Can the Diuell out of his shape of fashions lay open more Antike-like formes then are forged on the Anuill of mans inuention In Court the Nobilitie are hardly distinguisht from their followers In Citie the Merchant is not knowne from his Factor In Countrey the Gentry cannot be descryed or described from the Rusticke and in generall the body publike is so ouerspred with the Leprosie of that garish Strumpet Pride as there is scarce any difference betweene Countesse and Curtezan Lady and Chamber-Maid Mistresse and greasie Kitchin Wench Gentleman and Mechanick As for Knight and Taylor there goes but a paire of Sheares betwixt them How many mis-spend and profusely lauish their fore-noones houres in the curious pranking of their sinne-polluted bodies but how few reserue one poore brace of minutes wherein to prouide spirituall indewments to houze their naked sinfull soules Neuer was the Apophthegme of old Byas the Philosopher more verified then in these our franticke times Most men carry their wealth about with them not as Bias did in learning and vertue but vpon their back in gorgeous apparell Women doe so commonly sophisticate their beauties that one though Linceus-sighted can hardly iudge whether they possesse their own faces or no and which is more than most lamentable euery snowy-headed Matron euery toothlesse Mumpsimus that one may see the sun go to bed thorow the furrowes of her forehead must haue her box of odoriferous Pomatum and glittering Stibium wherewithall to parget white-lime and complectionate her rumpled cheekes till she lookes as smugge as an hansome painted Close stoole or rotten poste But as for them that lap vp their bodies in the pleasant mists of aromaticke perfumes let them withall swallow this
thee O thou Vsurer and thou that grindest the faces of the poore thy gold cannot ransome thee Then thou mighty man that rackest the Widdow and circumuentest the Orphane of his successiue right thy honour cannot priuiledge thee then thou murtherer adulterer and blasphemer thy colourable excuses will not purge thee Then O thou vncharitable Churle who neuer knewest that a rich man treasures vp no more of his riches then that he contributes in Almes Thou that neuer imbracedst the counsell of that reuerend Father who cryes Feede him that dies for hunger Whosoeuer thou art that canst preserue and wilt not thou standest guilty of famishing then I say in that day shalt thou pine in perdition Then O thou luxurious Epicure that through the fiue senses which are the Cinque-Ports or rather sinner-ports of thy soule gulpest downe delightfull sinne like water they will bee to thee like the Angels bookes sweet in thy mouth but bitter in thy bowels Then O thou gorbellied Mammonist that pilest vp congestest huge masses of refulgent earth purchased by all vnconscionable courses yet carriest nothing with thee but a Coffin and a winding sheete Thy faire pretences will be like Caracters drawne vpon the Sands or Arrowes shot vp to Heauen-ward they cannot release thee from Satans inexpiable seruitude Then O thou Canker-worme of Common-wealthes thou Monster of Man thou that puttest out the eye of Iustice with Bribes or so closely shutst it that the clamorous cry of the poore mans case cannot open it Thou that makest the Law a nose of Waxe to turne and fashion it to thine owne priuate end to the vtter disgrace of conscionable Iustice and to the lamentable subuersion of many an honest and vpright cause thy quirkes dilatory demurres conueyances and conniuences cannot acquit thee but thou shalt be remoued with a Writ into the lowest and darkest dungeon of damnation No no the Lord of heauen and earth who is good in infinitenesse and infinite in goodnesse will winnow garble and fanne his corne the choyce wheate he will treasure vp in the garners of eternall felicitie but the Chaffe and Darnell must bee burnt with vnquenchable fire There must you languish in torments vnrelaxable there must you fry and freeze in one selfe-furnace there must you liue in implacable and tenebrous fire which as Austin defines shall giue no light to comfort you Then will you wish though then too late that you had beene created loathsome Toades or abhorred Serpents that your miseries might haue clozed vp with your liues but you must bee dying perpetually yet neuer dye and which enuirons mee with a trembling terrour when you haue languish't in vnexpressible agonies tortures gnashings and horrid howlings ten thousand millions of yeeres yet shall you bee as farre from the end of your torments as you were at the beginning A confused modell and misty figure of hell haue wee conglomerate in our fancy drowzily dreaming that it is a place vnder earth vncessantly Aetna-like vomiting sulphurious flames but we neuer pursue the meditation thereof so close as to consider what a thing it is to liue there eternally For this adiunct Eternall intimates such infinitenesse as neither thought can attract or supposition apprehend And further to amplifie it with the words of a worthy Writer though all the men that euer haue or shall be created were Briareus-like hundred-handed and should all at once take pens in their hundred hands and should doe nothing else in ten hundred thousand millions of yeeres but summe vp in figures as many hundred thousand millions as they could yet neuer could they reduce to a Totall or confine within number this Trisillable word Eternall Can any Christian then vpon due cōsideration hereof forbeare to prostrate himselfe with flexible humility before the glorious Throne of Grace there with flouds of vnfaigned teares repentantly abiure and disclaine the allurements of carnall corruption the painted pleasures of the world and the bitter sweetnesse of sinne which is the death's wound of his soule for a Weapon wounds the body and sinne the soule For what profits it a man to winne the whole world and lose his owne soule The soundest Method therefore to preuent our exclusion from the Throane of Gods mercy is to imagine we still see him present in his Iustice whatsoeuer or when soeuer we attempt any blacke designe Let vs but adumbragiously fancy as one hath it the Firmament to bee his Face the all-seeing Sunne his right Eye the Moone his left the Winds the breath of his Nostrils the Lightening and Tempests the troubled action of his Ire the Frost and Snow his Frownes that the Heauen is his Throne the Earth his Footstoole that he is all in all things that his omnipotence fils all the vacuities of Heauen Earth and Sea that by his power hee can vngirdle and let loose the Seas impetuous waues to o'rewhelme bury this lower vniuerse in their vast wombs in a moment that hee can let drop the blue Canopy which hath nothing aboue it whereto it is perpendicularly knit or hurle thunder-bolts thorow the tumorous cloudes to pash vs precipitate through the center into the lowest dungeon of Hell These allusiue cogitations of Gods omnipotent Maiestie will curbe in and snaffle vs from rushing into damnable actions if we vnremoueably seat them in our memories Make then a couenant with thine eyes and heart O man lest they dote on earthly grasse surfeit on the sugared Pils of poysonous vanities and so insensibly hurle downe thy better part into the gulph of irreuocable damnation if not for thy selfe sake yet iniure not thy Creatour who halh drawne thee by his owne patterne moulded thee in his owne forme and to make thee eternally happy hath infused his owne essence into thee for thy soule by the Philosophers confession is infusion celestiall no naturall traduction and in that respect another calls it an arrachment or cantell pulld from the celestiall substance which cannot terminate it selfe within a lumpe of flesh Euen as the beames of the Sunne though they touch the earth and giue life to these inferiour creatures yet still reside in the body of the Sunne whence they are darted So thy soule though it bee seated either within the filme of the braine or confined in the center of the heart and conuerseth with the sences yet it will still haue beeing whence it hath its beginning Remember then thy Creatour in the dayes of thy youth call vpon him while it is called to day for as the Poet no lesse sweetely then discreetly sung Who knowes ore night that hee next morne shall breathe Then take Dauids Early in the morning not the Deuils Stay till to morrow for thou knowest God will bring thee to Iudgement yet thou knowest not when nor in what yeere nor in what moneth of the yeere nor in what weeke of the moneth nor in what day of the weeke nor in what houre of the day nor in what minute of that houre nor in what moment of