death and in the meane time that it maye please him to make you to prosper from good to better and to giue me to perseuere in your seruice as your very humble and very obedient seruant for euer * ⎠* A Christian exhortation the vvhyche must bee recited with a loude voyce before euery faithfull person being in the agonie of Death HE that is of GOD let him heare the word of GOD and let hym not only hear it but let him kéepe it and put it in execution for all thinges shall haue an ende and shall weare as a garmente but the worde of the Lorde GOD remayneth eternally Nowe séeing it is so that by one man sinne is come into the worlde and by sinne death and consequentlye all afflictions and aduersities depend of the same therefore iustly the life of man is nothing else but a continuall battell vpon the earth in suche sorte that the flesh sighteth against the spirite and the spirite against the Diuell the Worlde and the Flesh which are the enimies of our soules But following the counsell of the Apostle to obteyne victorie in that spirituall battayle you must constantly resist by Faith for the victorie which ouercommeth the world it is our faith the whiche is a true and stedfast knowledge of the loue of God towards vs according as by his Gospell he declareth himselfe to be oure father and sauioure by the meane of Iesus Christ Hauing then suche a stedfast Faith for your principal foundation acknowledge and confesse without fayning before the Maiestie of God that you are a poore and miserable sinner conceiued and borne in iniquitie and corruption prompte to all euill doing vnapte to anye good thing and that by youre vice you haue transgressed without ende and withoute ceassing the whole commaundementes of god In which thing doing you haue drawen by hys iust iudgemente ruine and destruction vpon you yet for all that you are displeased in your self that you haue offended him and do condemne your selfe and youre vices with true repentance desiring that the grace of God doe help your calamitie Praye then in such stedfast fayth if you can not with youre mouth pray wyth youre hearte that God our very louing and most mercifull father doe not enter at all into iudgement nor into accompt with you but that hée will haue pitie vpoÌ„ you in the name of his sonne Iesus Christ our Lord and that it may please him to blotte out our vices and spottes by the merites of the death and passion of the same Iesus Christe in whose name presente you to him his holy Prayer the whiche he hath taught vs in saying with a pure hearte Our Father which art in Heauen thy name be halowed Thy Kingdome come Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heauen Giue vs this day our dayly bread And pardon vs our offences as we pardon them whiche haue offended vs And leade vs not at all into temptation but deliuer vs from the euill For thine is thy Kyngdome the power and the glorie throughout all ages So be it B. S. N. Acknowledge with all youre hearte your vniustice be forse for your sinnes repent you continually and the Kingdome of God shal draw néere vnto you acknowledge that there is no iustice nor innocencie nor anye good workes of you or in you but as a child of wrath conceyued borne in the sinne of the old Adam you do deserue eternall death and damnation Yet for all that let not the same nor all the sinnes of the world if you should haue committed theÌ„ feare you at al for Iesus Christ the true and eternall sonne of God is made verye man conceyued by the holy Ghost borne of a holy Virgin To sanctify and to cleanse you he hath suffered vnder Ponce Pilate many afflictions iniuries and outrages making himselfe a seruante and captine to sette you into full libertie Iesus Christ was crucifyed vpon the woodde of the Crosse to delyuer you from the eternall cursse Iesus Christ dyed in sheding his precious blaud for youre redemption to deliuer you fully from deathe from Hell and from the power of Satan Iesus Christ was buried in the Sepulchre to burie all youre sinnes the which he hathe borne blotted out Iesus Christe is descended into the lower partes in suffering an extreame anguish to deliuer you from all paynes and griefes of death Iesus Christe arose agayne from the dead to make you to rise agayne in your proper body and glorious immortalitie Iesus Christ is gone vp into Heauen to make you to go vp after him Iesus Christ is set at the right haÌ„d of God his father almightie being youre aduocate and intercessor towardes him and the appointment of all your sinnes We a waite for him that he shall come to iudge the liuing and the dead to yeèlde to euery one according to his workes but to his faithfull ones whiche beléeue in him he will not impute at all their sinnes but hauing iustified them by his grace will make them to raigne for euer with him in hys heauenly throne B. S. N. Such is the great misterie of our redemption the whiche by the helpe of the grace of the holye Ghoste you oughte stedfastly to beléeue to baue bin wrought for youre saluation And doubt not at all but that by the merite of Iesus Christe the head of his Churche you are made a member incorporate to the same yéelding him thankes in great humilitie that he hathe giuen you the grace to haue liued in the communion and companye of his faithfull hauing nouâ—ished you with hyword with his bodye and with hys bloud acknowledging as well assured the great mercie of God by the remission of all youre sinnes the which he hath giuen you by Iesus Christ who will make you to rise againe at the latter daye to raigne with him in the life eternall the which he hath promised to all those whiche beléeue in him being baptised in his name Nowe B. S. N. séeing that you haue this Faith doubt not at all to receyue the promise of Faith for God is true he is not a lyar as man is rather Heauen and Earth shall passe but the worde of God remayneth for euer God is youre father and creator you are hys creature and the worke of his hands he hath not made you to destroy you for hée is the sauiour of all men and willeth not the deathe of a sinner but that he conuert and liue wherefore I declare vnto you in the name of God that of his great goodnesse and mercie he giueth you full pardon and remission of all your sinnes by the onely merite of his sonne Iesus Christe our Lorde in the sheding of his pretious bloud for he is the propitiation not only of all your sinnes but of all the sinnes of the whole world B. S. N. Iesus Christ sayeth with his owne mouth that all things are possible to him
cause is it necessarie for you to confesse and knowe the Lord Iesus Christ The sicke Bycause I must recouer in Iesus Christe all that whiche I haue lost in my self by meane of the sinne of the olde Adam wherein I was conceyued and borne Wherefore it was néedefull for my saluation that Iesus Christe very God and verye man being clothed with oure fleshe shoulde of his frée liberalitie and grace giue me all that which I had lost in Adam Minister It is very well sayde that is the cause why Iesus Christe was conceyued by the holy Ghost and borne of the Virgine Marie to purge and sanctifie you for cleane contrary to him you are conceyued and borne in sinne and of sinfull parents wherefore do not you confesse that wythout Iesus Christe you shoulde haue remayned a poore and wretched sinner in eternall death The sicke Yes verily but I beléeue and confesse that this good Iesus Christ hathe reconciled me to God his Father Minister Yea but how hath he reconciled you to God his father The sicke By his deathe and passion in the sheding of his pretious bloud for to deliuer me from eternall paynes This good Iesus Christe hath suffered for me vnder Ponce Pilate manie afflictiōs iniuries and troubles It is Iesus Christ which was crucifyed for me as accursed vpon the woodde of the Crosse to deliuer mée from the eternall cursse wherevnto Adam had bound me This my faniour Iesus Christ was indéede buried to burie all my sinnes wyth him to the ende they shoulde not bée imputed vnto me before god It is my Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ which is gone downe into the lower partes suffering an extreame temporall anguishe to deliuer me from an eternall Minister All this whiche you haue nowe confessed of Iesus Christe was it sufficient to saue you The sicke No but that the holy Scriptures should be in euery iote fulfilled for what is it that Iesus Christ should haue profited me to haue bin borne crucifyed dead buried and gone downe into the lower partes for me only withoute being risen agayne Wherefore I beléeue and confesse that my Lorde my head and Sauiour Iesus Christe is risen from the dead to make me to rise with hym as one of his little members into eternall life Minister Consequently it is written that he is gone vp into the Heauens being nowe set at the righte hande of God his Father But what dothe this ascention profit you The sicke My Lord my head and Sauiour Iesus Christe is gone vp into the Heauens to make me to go vp after him for there where the head is the members are also and I beléeue that being set at the right hande of God his Father he is mine Aduocate intercessor and only mediator towards him very wel assuring me that none may be able to hurte me séeing that Iesus Christ is mine aduocate my iudge togither wherefore I haue no occasion to feare the day of his iudgement when he shall come to iudge the liuing and the dead for I beléeue and confesse in steadfast Faith that there is no iudgemente nor condemnation againste those whiche are faithfull members in Iesus Christ Minister Who hathe giuen him the grace to vnderstande and knowe all these things The sicke It is by the grace of the holye Ghost one onely God with the Father and the sonne by whose meane we receyue all the good thinges and giftes whiche are offered vnto vs in Iesus Christ Minister Séeing that you haue alreadye confessed that you are a member of Iesus Christ it followeth then that you are also incorporate to hys Churche the whiche ye ought to beléeue to be holy Catholike and vniuersall The sicke I beléeue certaynely the holye Church vniuersal washed and clensed in the pretious bloud of Iesus Christ wherefore I doe most humbly thanke him that he hath gyuen me the grace to be one of the little members of his Church and beyng baptised in his name he hath made me to liue in the communion vnitie and charitie of the same hauing instructed me with his holy word and nourished me with his true bodye hauing giuen me to drinke of hys most pretious bloud in hope of the eternall life Minister Nowe séeing that you are so well founded vpon the liuely Rocke which is Iesus Christ and knowing your selfe well you must confesse and acknowledge the principall good things whiche you haue receyued of thys Lord Iesus Christ The sicke It is very méete for I will not be ingrate to acknowledge the good things and giftes that I haue receiued of God wherefore I consesse that I wretched and miserable sinner haue infinitely and withoute ceassing offended the goodnesse and iustice of God hauing transgressed his holy commandements In doing whereof I haue deserued eternall death and damnatiō Notwithstanding I appealing to the mercie of God do aske him mercie and beléeue and confesse vndoubtedly that my sinnes are fully and wholly forgiuen me by the only merite of the deathe and passion of my Lord and sauiour Iesus Christ in the sheding of hys most precious bloud wherein I doe assure my selfe to be sufficientlye and fully washed and purged which is the greatest cōtentation and good thing that euer I mighte receyue and such is my faith in the whyche I will liue and dye by the grace of the holy Ghost Minister Séeing that you haue receyued so great a good thing of God by the meane of his sonne Iesus Christe it behoueth you also to do hys commandementes for euen as he hathe pardoned and forgiuen you all your sinnes euen so likewise must you fréely and with a good heart forgiue all those whiche may haue offended you other wise you shall not walke according to God. The sicke Héerein haue I knowen the Law of Iesus Christ to be the onely holy and perfect lawe commaunding vs to loue our neyghbours both friēds and enimies as our selues wherefore I beséeche all those whome I may haue offended eyther in worde or déede to forgiue me with as good a heart as I doe forgiue all whyche haue offended me desiring to doe them pleasure and seruice as to my good bréethren and friends Minister Now séeing that it is ordeyned of God that all men shall dye we may not resist his ordinance but we must continually conforme our selues to his holy will wherfore my brother you may not find it strange if I doe declare vnto you that which the good Prophete Esay dyd declare to the King Ezechias saying vnto hym from the Lorde Giue order to thy house for thou shalt die shalt liue no longer This good councel should stirre you vp to dispose your self spiritually well in your cōscience It is first to turne your selfe to God and to bewayle your sinnes as this good King did to implore his mercie in asking him forgiuenesse and saying alwaye in your heart O Lord God be
which beléeueth beléeue then without any doubte that Iesus Christe taking to him oure flesh became very man wherefore he dyed for you hauing borne all your sinnes in his body to blotte and put them out Present vnto God the pretious deathe of his sonne Iesus Christ and by the merit of the same death and passion aske him mercie in saying from the bottome of youre heart in great humilitie and repentance LOrd God Almightie be merciful to me poore wretched sinner for the loue of thy sonne Iesus Christe my Lord and Sauiour And for the merite of his deathe and passion it maye please thee to receiue my soule the which I recommend into thy hands B. S. N. Put your strong trust in God for séeing that he is for you none shall be against you for Iesus Christ which is the Lamb without spotte hathe ouercome all for you he offered himselfe once onely for you and by the same only oblation hathe wholly wiped out all youre sinnes he hath made of none effecte your folly imustice abhomination with thys good Lord Iesus Christ God the father hathe giuen you all things B. S. N. Fortifie your selfe in Iesus Christ the whiche calleth you and iuuiteth you by his Prophets Apostles and Euangelistes to addresse youre selfe fréely to him saying all you which haue thirst come to the great fountayne Come to me all ye that laboure and are loden and I will ease you B. S. N. Beléeue stedfastly that Iesus Christ hath set you frée from all your sinnes and hath reconciled you to God his father to whome in great humilitie and repentance say you from the bottome of your heart LOrd God Almightie be mercifull vnto mee poore wretched Sinner for the loue of thy sonne Iesus Christ my Lorde and Sauioure And for the merit of his deathe and passion it may please thee to receiue my Soule the which I recommende into thy hands B. S. N. Be of good chéere for vndoubtedly he will receyue youre soule as his for the loue of his sonne Iesus Christe our Lorde whiche is the Sauioure and Redéemer of all those which beléeue in him Moyses and all the Prophets haue borne witnesse that all people shal receiue saluation and blessing by Iesus Christ The Apostles and Euangelistes witnesse that Iesus Christe is not come to call the iust but the sinners te repentance and to giue his soule for the Redemption of many for hée hath shedde his bloud for the remission of sinne Beléeue then and doubt not at all for Iesus Christe hathe made the purgation of all youre sinnes hauing promised that all those which shal beléeue in him and in his father which hath sent him shall haue eternall life and shall not come at all into iudgemente but shall passe from death into life Go to now B. S. N. reioyce in Iesus Christe for he hathe loued you and washed you from al your sinnes in his bloud Take this strong faith wherewith to fighte valiantlye against the aduersarie haue none other buckler to defende youre selfe withall but this pretious bloud of Iesus Christ the which by the vertue of his deathe and passion hathe reconciled you to God his father vnto whome from the bottome of your hearte in great humilitie and repentance presente this Prayer LOrd God Almightie shew mercie vnto me poore wretched sinner for the loue of thy sonne Iesus Christe my Lorde and Sauiour and for the merite of his death and passion it may please thee to receyue my soule the whiche I commend into thy handes B. S. N. Holde fast this hope and stedfast fasth that thy good God full of all mercie will receyue youre soule as his into his handes for the loue of his sonne Iesus Christe for there is none other name vnder the Heauen giuen to men by the which we maye be saued and there is no saluatiō in any other than in Iesus Christ arme you then well wyth this good Iesus Christe for he hathe done all for you he hath fulfilled the Law for you he hathe ouercome all for you Now go too B. S. N. reioyce you in God stand alwayes fast in thys liuely fayth Followe and imitate the holy Patriarkes Prophets and Apostles which are all saued in this faith who do all assure you that the aduersarie can in no wise hurt you for youre cause is wonne by Iesus Christe whiche is youre Iudge and your aduocate both togither wherefore saye alwayes in this stedfast faith Albeit I shoulde walke in the middest of the shadowe of deathe I will feare no euill for thou Lorde God art with me B. S. N. Be you also neuer wéerie to say from the bottome of youre heart in great humilitie and repentance LOrde God Almightie be mercifull to me poore wretched sinner for the loue of thy sonne Iesus Christe my Lord and Sauiour And for the merite of his death and passion it may please thee to receyue my soule the whiche I commende into thy hands So be it A singular Prayer for one whyche is greately afflicted wyth sickenesse the whiche is more lyke to dye than to liue With a little Catechisme made of purpose to instructe the sicke person and to cause him to behold by Faith the greate misterie of oure Redemption Ecclesiasticus 18. Before the sicknesse vse medicine and before thou come to Iudgemente examine thy selfe and in the presence of God thou shalte finde fauoure Nowe the Lorde admonisheth vs to pray alwayes chiefely when we are touched with his rods Wherefore all the faithfull parentes and friends which visit the sicke person shoulde not onely visit and comforte the body but also should searche and enquire for spirituall medicine for his soule whiche thing shoulde bée done by good Prayers confession of sinnes and Christian exhortation according to the word of God without the whiche man can not liue but is deade béeyng yet lyuing And to the end that all these things may be done in good order and wyth zeale first it is néedefull to prostrate themselues before the Maiestie of God and to pray vnto him begynning in this sort Our helpe is in the name of the lord c. Then to presente vnto hym the generall confession of sinnes and consequently thys presente Prayer as followeth O Lord God Almighty and father of all mercies we are aēssbled in the name of thy welbeloued Sonne oure Lorde and Sauiour Iesus Christe in the fauour of whome we are bold to presente oure selues vnto thée to call vpon thy most blessed name hauing oure onely resuge to thy soueraigne goodnesse the whiche we doe not desire to féele and tast in oure selues only but also in the necessitie of thy poore creature being afflicted both with bodily sicknesse and affliction and calamitie of the spirite We know O Lord that thou doest iustly visit and chastice him wyth thy roddes to cause hym to vnderstande thy fatherly affection but thy great mercies whiche thou hast
mercifull and haue pitie vpon me wretched sinner for the loue of thy sonne Iesus Christ my Lord and sauioure This done you maye not forget your house and familie the why he you ought so well to ordeyne and dispose by good festamente or other last will that it maye be after youre deceasse in peace and quietnesse but to shew you the better to vnderstand howe to giue order and to dispose of your house it is that you giue vnto euery man that whiche is his due withoute deceyuing any man that you leaue youre wife heire youre childreÌ„ and kinffolke in good agréement and quietnesse to the end that after your deceasse they haue no occasion to be diuided This done you must forget al the cares and griefes of this worlde the whiche passeth away with all his concupiseence but he that doth the will of God remaineth eternally Touching your children you are only their naturall father for a time but God is euerlastingly their spirituall Father hauing them in his holy keeping and protectioÌ„ to kéepe and nourish them and to preserue them from all euill prouided that they wyll walke in his wayes For the rest séeing that you are a Christian regenerate at the holy Sacramente of Baptisme it is long since that you did know that we haue héere no permanente citie for we looke for a better which is euerlasting wherefore I pray you in the name of God trouble not your selfe at all with anye kinde of worldly griefe for we are héere but straungers as oure fathers were when then our Lord God shall haue ordeyned that you shall dislodge and marche before vs will you not then submitte your selfe to his holy wyll and ordinance Also if he sée it expedient for your saluation to prolong your life as he did to his good Kyng Ezechias will not you be contented w it the it shall please him to dispose of you yes certainely for he is Lord and maister you are but a seruant he is your creator you are his creature and the worke of his hands Euen so then will he dispose of you according to his wyll wherevnto you shoulde humble and conforme your selfe saying with a good heart O Lord God thou knowest my necessitie if it be thy pleasure to prolong my life thy will be done if it please thee also to cal me vnto thee thy will bee done for thy creature O Lorde nathe none other will but thine Now my brother comforte your selfe in God who if he haue ordeyned to call you your calling shall hée happie for you must beléeue and trust with a strong faith that hée will make you to rise in your owne body in a glorious immortalitie to cause you to raigne with him in the eternall life the whiche is wonne and giuen to you in the vertue of the most pretious bloud of our Lord and Sauioure Iesus Christe in whose name the Lord God blesse conserue you and cause hys countenance to shine vpoÌ„ you and be merciful vnto you The Lord God turne his face towardes you and maineteyne you in good estate So be it This being done if they sée the sicke person to impaire and to draw néere his deathe as willing to tende to his appoynted ende forthwith in his mortall agonie fayle ye not to recite wyth a loude voyce before him the Christian exhortation the which is placed here before thus doing God will giue him grace well faithfully to dye in him So be it I Woulde desire héere to saye something more but there is I can not tell what griefe in my heart which maketh me to holde my peace in the middest of my purpose when I thinke vpon the blindnesse and horrible darkenesse of the time passed For the Monkes and Priestes refusing in this laste necessitie the comforts that the Scripture giueth and the confirmations against the feare of Death they brought forth of the one side and of the other I can not tell what trash Firste beholde the faire exhortation whiche they gaue to those which were vpon the pittes brinke to trust in the Popes Bulles wherein they did promise them forgiuenesse of their sinnes and tooke froÌ„ them all feare of the fire of Purgatorie Now all this what was it other than to leane againste a wall that was readie to fall or to trust to a broken réede Further they exhorted the poore sicke persons to communicate and to take part of the good works whiche should be done in all their order as fastings abstinences watchings Prayers and other such lyke dayne thynges and to haue theyr parte therein they myghte in no wise spare anye siluer no if they woulde saue their soule For it is in this forte that these furred pawes and hooded beastes haue accustomed to set forthe their workes of superabundance that they might sell to others leauing alwaye that whiche was prositable and necessarie to obteyne saluation And of this matter men maye yet at this daye bring forth faire obligations passed which shall giue testimonie of these things The sicke persons then being néere deathe were admonished to thinke howe greate merits they had for so muche as Heauen was due vnto them howe manye good works they had with the multitude whereof they were cleane couered in suche forte as a man coulde not knowe whether they had offended God or no. Behoâ—d there the goodly comforts which they were wont to giue to poore languishing persons and such as they do giue at this day vnder the Popes rayne And aboue all the holynesses beholde this great superstition which hath place that if any man did dye being clad wyth the habite of a Frier the Diuell should haue no power ouer hym Among the whiche manye Italians haue bin drunken with this foolishe superstition yea men of renoune and of great wisedome the whyche woulde be receyued before they departed out of this world into the familie of S. Frances and after their death would be bursed in hys habit Nowe I speake not héere at all of Obsequies Vigilles Anniuersaries Peligrimage taken in hand for the saluation of the dead nor of other suffrages of the liuing nor of merits satisfactioÌ„s and good works wherein they did put their onely hope and trust to obteyne saluation And to auoyde the paynes of Purgatorie I will not speake of the other things which these idle bellies were wont to set forth to poore sicke persons to prepare them to death I leaue to spoke of these blasphemies WheÌ„ they shaped this goodly hunne to the Virgin Marie in the Article of deathe Marie mother of grace mother of mercie defend vs from the enimie and receyue vs at the houre of death Now let vs acknowledge the inestimable benefites of oure onely God and heauenlye Father who in our dayes hath restored the doctrine of the Gospell and hathe stirred vs vp to serue him in all purenesse in true reuerence and honor and hathe drawen vs out froÌ„ the deadly darkenasse to bring vs to the knowledge
vayne glorye and would perswade vs that we haue deserued Heauen and eternall life by our workes vnto whome we muste answere in this sort O thou horrible enchanter thou bearest me in hande that I am a Saincte to the ende thou mightest make me a Diuell Who is he that doth that which is commanded him to doe none no not one wher are then my deserts I wil shew thee Sathan my Lorde Christ hathe taken from mee all my sinnes and hath nayled them to his crosse and hath cancelled the obligation which was againste me yea he hath done more for me he hathe giuen mee all his deserts to witte his obedience iustice righteousnesse and innocencie as to a member of his bodye wherefore I being a member of his body can no more bee damned than my Lorde Christe may Now when hee seeth himselfe thus aunswered and proued a lyar by the sacred Scriptures of God whiche are the onely weapon wherewith to put him to flight he then yeeldeth all lost therfore we may easily see how needeful it is to be armed against Sathan with the most blessed word of God wherwith to quenche all his fierie dartes and to repulse all his assaults Wherfore I haue turned this exhortation into our english tongue the whych was written in the French by a reuerend worthy learned and godly father to a noble martiall and Christian Gentleman of France his good Lorde and friende wherewith in the time of his quietnesse he might fitte his armoure and weapons in suche sort as by battayle he might valiantly fighting obtayne a glorious and victorious Crowne For as your honor knoweth he that will be a good Souldioure must enter timely into the warres therefore I saye I haue turned into the Englishe the same exhortation for the profite of the Churche of God heere in Englande And albeit that the wordes be not many they be of singular valew and effecte the whiche I haue published vnder your honors name doubting not but that you will take my poore trauel in this behalfe in good part I haue added in the ende of it a Table of certayne consolatorie passages of Scripture whiche I haue gathered out of the old and new Testament for confirmation of oure faith in the moste sweete and comfortable promises of the almighty For when we shal come to the battayle the which we must once sighte eyther in the time of our health or else in the article of deathe for none is crowned that fighteth not and a Christian life is a continuall warre by the grace of God thys shorte exhortation shall greatly helpe as manye as shall make the same familiar vnto them towardes the obteyning of the victorie agaynste the aforesayde trayned experimented cunning mightie and cruell enimie In London the twentith of Marche Anno Domini 1579. Your honours humble euer to commaunde I. S. To the faithfull Reader saluation FRiende Reader take in good parte the exhortation the vvhich I haue heere vvritten for the great comfort and profit of al persons vvhich feare God vvherevvith to serue them at neede vvhen it shall please the Lord to call them But note you that to vse thys vvell that of these three letters B. S. N. the firste letter signifieth brother if the partie be a manne the seconde Sister being a vvoman and the third signifyeth the propre name of the person vvherby he must be named For vve may not then honor them by names of vvorldlye honour and dignitie but to stand firmely against Satan in the vertue of the Lorde We must name thē by their proper names vvhiche they haue receyued at the holye Sacramente of Baptisme This doing thou shalt obey God vvhome I beseech to be merciful vnto thee in the secret day of his comming ¶ To my Lorde my Lord of Senarpont Knight of the Kings order Captayne of fiftie men at armes and his Lieutenant generall in Picardie MY Lorde hauing oftentimes considered the beginning the continuance and the ende of mās life I haue plainelye knowen as by an ordinarie experience that men are more curious and carefull for the entertaynement and conseruation of this their life than to prepare themselues to a more happie ende according to God for man being in this bodily prison as blinde and not perfectlye regenerated do the better loue the darkenesse of suche an earthly prison than hee doth the heauenlye lighte for the whiche cause it is written that hee that is of the earthe speaketh of the earth As beeyng like the sonnes of Agar whiche soughte the wisedome of this worlde the whiche is foolishnesse before god Howe manye bee there at this day vnto whome the remembrance of death is very vnpleasaunt yea rather detestable so delighting themselues in their worldly pleasures that they seeme to haue forgotten God not caring any thing at all for Religion nor for the vengeance and iudgement of God terrible and fearefull to all those which haue their names written in the earth being scraped out of the booke of life VVherefore my Lord to the end you walke not in the large way which bringeth to destruction being taught by the wise man saying In all thy workes see thou doe remember thy latter dayes and thou shalt neuer sinne I haue thoughte good to drawe out of the holye Scriptures a Christian exhortation to bee recited with a loude voyce before euerie faithfull person the whiche approcheth to this bodily death couered with a casuall life passing on to one muche better and more happie For hauing this done I will attribute to my selfe nothing for I am but earth and durt yet notwithstanding I do not thinke to haue laboured in vayne considering that the Lorde Iesus Christ do the admonishe vs that we shoulde be alwayes readie not knowing the houre for the day of the Lord wil come suddainely as a theefe in the night O how happie then shall they be whiche shall put themselues into his safegard VVherefore my Lord I do present you this little Christian exhortation very humbly beseeching you to keepe the same to serue you at youre neede at what time it shall please the Lorde God to call you I know well that when the same tyme shall come you shall haue good meanes to haue with you some man learned and furnished with holy letters to declare vnto you the worde of life yet for all that not knowing the time nor the place ne yet the oportunitie that we may haue I dare boldly say without beast that hearing thys exhortation redde with a loude voyce being in mortall agonie it maye be vnto you as holesome as the Christian consolation of the best learned Doctor of the Religion for they might preach no more vnto you than the Prophets and Apostles doe preach vnto you in the sayd exhortation the which I beseech you to receyue with as good heart as I do desire the supreme gouernour to giue you the grace my Lorde to glorifie him as well in your life as in your