the vsuall vaine should haue beene no eye-sore to those that are better pleased with worse matters Yet sith the copies therof flew so fast and so false abroad that it was in danger to come corrupted to the print it seemed a lesse euill to let it flie to common viewe in the natiue plume and with the owne wings then disguised in a voate of a bastard feather or cast off from the fist of such a corrector as might happily haue perished the sound and impedâ—n some sicke and sory fethers of his owne phansies It may be that courteous skill will recken this though eourse in respect of others exquisite labors not vnfit to entertaine well tempered humours both with pleasure and profit the ground therof being in scripture and the forme of enlarging it an imitation of the ancient doctours in the same and other pointes of like tenour This commodity at the least it will carie with it that the reader may learne to loue without improofe of puritie teach his thoughts eyther to temper passion in the meane or to giue the bridle onely where the excesse cannot be faultic Let the work defend it self and euerie one passe his censure as he seeth cause Manie Carpes are expected when curious eyes come a fishing But the care is alreadie taken and the patience waiteth at the table readie to take away when that dish is serued in and to make roume for others to set on the desired fruit S. VV. MARY MAGDALENS Funerall Teares EMONGST other mourneful accidents of the passion of Christ that loue presenteth it selfe to my memory with which the blessed Mary Magdelen louing our Lord more then her life followed him in his iourney to his death attending vppon him when his Disciples fledde and being more willing to die with him then they to liue without him But not finding the fauour to accompany him in death and loathing after him to remaine in life the fire of her true affection enflamed her heart and her enflamed hart resolued into vncessant teares so that burning and bathing betwéen loue and griefe shee led a life euer dying and felt a death neuer ending And when hee by whome shée liued was dead and shée for whom he died enforcedly left aliue shée praised the dead more then the liuing and hauing lost that light of her life shee desired to dwell in darkenesse and in the shadow of death choosing Christs Tombe for her best home and his corse for her chiefe comfort For Mary as the Euangelist saith Stoode without at the Tombe weeping But alas how vnfortunate is this woman to whome neyther life will afforde a desired farewell nor death alow any wished welcome Shée hath abandoned the liuing and chosen the company of the dead and now it seemeth that euen the dead haue forsaken her sith the corse shee séeketh is taken away froÌ„ her And this was the cause that loue induced her to stand and sorrow enforced her to wéepe Her eie was watchful to séek whom her heart most longed to enioy and her foote in a readinesse to runne if her eie shoulde chaunce to espy him And therefore shée standeth to be still stirring prest to watch euery way and prepared to goe whether any hope should call her But shée wept because shée had such occasion of standing and that which moued her to watch was the motiue of her teares For as shée watched to finde whom shée had lost so shée wept for hauing lost whom shée loued her poore eies being troubled at once with two contrary offices both to be clear in sight the better to séeke him and yet cloudy with tears for missing the sight of him Yet was not this the entrance but the increase of her griefe not the beginning but the renewing of her mone For first shée mourned for the departing of his soule out of his body and now shée lamented the taking of his body out of the graue being punished with two wreckes of her onely welfare both full of misery but the last without all comfort The first originall of her sorrow grew because shée could not enioy him aliue yet this sorrow had some solace for that shée hoped to haue enioyed him dead But when shée considered that his life was already lost and now not so much as his body could be found shee was wholly daunted with dismay sith this vnhappinesse admitted no helpe Shee doubted least the loue of her master the onely portion that her Fortune had left her would soon languish in her cold brest if it neither had his wordes to kindle it nor his presence to cherishe it nor so much as his dead ashes to rake it vp Shee had prepared her spices and prouided her ointments to pay him the last Tribute of eternall dueties And though Ioseph and Nichodemus had already bestowed a hundred pounds of Mirthe and Aloes which was in quantity sufficient in quality of the best and as well applied as art and deuotion could deuise yet such was her loue that shée would haue thought any quantity too little except hers had béene added the best in quality too meane except hers were with it and no diligence in applying it inough except her seruice were in it Not that shée was sharpe in censuring that which others had done but because loue made her so desirous to doe all her selfe that though all had béene done that shée could deuise and as wel as shee could wishe yet vnlesse shee were an Actor it would not suffice sith loue is as eager to bee vttered in effects as it is zealous in true affection Shee came therefore now meaning to enbalme his corps as shee had before annointed his feet and to preserue the reliques of his body as the only remnant of all her blisse And as in the spring of her felicitie shee had washed his feete with her teares be wailing vnto him the death of her own soule so nowe shee came in the depth of her misery to shedde them a freshe for the death of his body But when she saw the graue open and the body taken out the labour of embalming was preuented but the cause of her wéeping increased and he that was wanting to her obsequies was not wanting to her teares and though shée founde not whom to annoint yet found she whom to lament And not without cause did Mary complaine finding her first anguishe doubled with a second griefe and being surcharged with two most violent sorrowes in one afflicted heart For hauing setled her whole affection vppon Christ and summoned all her desires and wishes into the loue of his goodnes as nothing could equall his worthes so was ther not in the whole world either a greater benefit for her to enioy then himselfe or any greater domage possible then his losse The murdering in his one death the life of all lifes left a general death in all liuing creatures and his disease not onely disrobed our nature of her most roiall ornaments but impouerished the world of
his death and the day of his resurrection But alas let her heauinesse excuse her and the vnwontednes of the miracle plead her pardon sith dread and amazement hath dulled her senses distempered her thoughts discouraged her hopes awaked her passions and left her no other liberty but onely to wéepe Shée wept therefore being onely able to wéepe And As shee was weeping shee stouped down and looked into the Monument and she saw two Angels in white sitting one at the head and an other at the feete where the body of Iesus had beene layd They said vnto her Woman why wepest thou O Mary thy good hap excéedeth thy hope and where thy last sorrow was bred thy first succour springeth Thou diddest séeke but one and thou hast found two A dead body was thy errand and thou hast light vppon two aliue Thy wéeping was for a man and thy téars haue obtained Angels Suppresse now thy sadnes and refresh thy heart with this good Fortune These angels inuite thée to a parlée they séem to take pitty of thy case and it may be they haue some happy tidinges to tell thée Thou hast hitherto sought in vaine as one either vnséene or vnknown or at the least vnregarded sith the party thou séekest neither tendereth thy teares nor aunswereth thy cries nor relenteth with thy lamentings Either he doth not heare or hée will not helpe he hath peraduenture left to loue thée and is loath to yéelde thée reliefe therefore take such comfort as thou findest sith thou art not so lucky as to finde that which thou couldest wish Remember what they are where they sitte from whence they come and to whom they speake They are Angels of peace neither sent with out cause nor séen but of fauour They sit in the Tombe to shew that they are no straungers to thy losse They come from Heauen from whence all happy newes descend They spake to thy selfe as though they had some speciall Embassage to deliuer vnto thée Aske them therfore of thy maister for they are likeliest to returne thée a desired aunswere Thou knewest him too well to thinke that hell hath deuoured him thou hast long sought and hast not found him in earth and what place so fit for him as to be in heauen Aske therefore of those Angels that came newly from thence and it may be their report will highly please thée Or if thou art resolued to continue thy séeking who can better helpe thée then they that are as swift as thy thought as faithfull as thy owne heart and as louing to thy Lord as thou thy selfe Take therefore thy good hap least it be taken away from thée and content thée with Angels sith thy maister hath giuen thée ouer But alas what meaneth this change how happeneth this strange alteration The time hath béene that fewer teares would haue wrought greater effecte shorter séeking haue sooner found and lesse paine haue procured more pitty The time hath ven that thy annointing his féete was accepted and praised thy washing them with teares highly commended and thy wyping them with thy haire most curteously construed How then doth it now fall out that hauing brought thy swéete oiles to annoint his whole body hauing shed as many teares as would haue washed more then his féet and hauing not only thy haire but thy heart ready to serue him he is not moued with all these duties so much as once to affoorde thée his sight Is it not he that reclaimed thee from thy wandring courses that dispossessed thee of thy damned inhabitants and from the wildes of sinne recouered thee into the folde and family of his flocke was not thy house his home his loue thy life thy selfe his Disciple did not hee defend thée against the Pharisee pleade for thée against Iudas and excuse thée to thy sister In summe was not hee thy patron and protector in all thy necessities O good Iesu what hath thus estranged thée from her Thou hast heretofore so pittied her teares that séeing them thou couldest not refraine thine In one of her greatest agonies for loue of her that so much loued thée thou diddest recall her dead brother to life turning her complaint into vnexpected contentment And we knowe that thou doest not vse to alter course without cause nor to chastice without desert Thou art the first that inuitest and the last that forsakest neuer leauing but first left and euer offering til thou art refused How then hath shée forfaited thy fauour Or with what trespasse hath shée earned thy ill will That shée neuer left to loue thée her heart will depose her hand will subscribe her tongue will protest her teares wil testify and her séeking doth assure And alas is her particular case so farre from all example that thou shouldest rather alter thy nature then shée better her Fortune and be to her as thou art to no other For our parts since thy last shew of liking towardes her we haue found no other faulte in her but that shée was the eareliest vp to séeke thée readiest to annoint thée and when shée saw that thou wert remoued shée forthwith did wéepe for thée and presently went for helpe to finde thée And whereas those two that shée brought being lesse careful of thée then fearefull of themselues when they had séene what shée had sayd sodainely shrunke away behold shée stil staieth shée still séeketh shée still wéepeth If this be a fault we cannot deny but this shée doth and to this shée perswadeth yea this she neither meaneth to amend nor requesteth thée to forgiue if therfore thou reckōnest this as punishable punished shée must be sith no excuse hath effect wher the fact pleadeth guilty But if this import not any offence but a true affection and be rather a good desire then an euil desert why art thou so hard a Iudge to so soft a creature requiting her loue with thy losse and suspending her hopes in this vnhappinesse Are not those thy wordes I loue those that loue mee and who watcheth earely for me shall finde mee Why then doth not this woman finde thée that was vp so early to watch for thée Why doest thou not with like repay her that bestoweth vppon thée her whole loue sith thy word is her warrant and thy promise her due debt Art thou lesse moued with these tears that shée sheddeth for thée her onely Maister then thou wert with those that shée shed before thée for her deceased brother Or doth her loue to thy seruaunt more please thée then her loue to thy selfe Our loue to others must not be to them but to thée in them For he loueth thée so much the lesse that loueth anything with thée that he loueth not for thée If therefore shée then deserued wel for louing thée in an other shée deserueth better now for louing thée in thy selfe and if in déede thou louest those that loue thée make thy worde good to her that is so far in loue with thée Of thy selfe thou hast
place where he is trouble thée sith it cannot be worse then his graue and infinite coniectures make probability that it cannot but be better But suppose that he were yet remaining in earth and taken by others out of his tombe what would it auail thée to know where he were If he bée with such as loue and honor him they will be as wary to kéepe him as they are loth he should be lost and therfore will either often change or neuer confesse the place knowing secresie to be the surest locke to defende so great a treasure If those haue taken him that malice and maligne him thou maist wel iudge him past thy recouery whē he is once in the possession of so cruell owners Thou wouldest happely make sale of thy liuing and séek him by ransome But it is not likely they woulde sell him to be honoured that bought him to be murdered If price would not serue thou wouldest fall to praier But how can praier soften such flint hearts and if they scorned so many tears offered for his life as little will they regard thy intreaty for his corse If neither price nor praier would preuaile thou wouldest attempt it by force But alas séely souldier thy arms are too weak to manage weapons and the issue of thy assault would be the losse of thy selfe If no other way would helpe thou wouldest purloine him by stealth and thinke thy selfe happy in contriuing such a theft O Mary thou art deceiued for malice will haue many lockes and to steale him from a théefe that could steale him from the watch requireth more cunning in the art then thy wāt of practise can affoorde thée Yet if these be the causes that thou enquirest of the place thou she west the force of thy rare affection and deseruest the Laurell of a perfect louer But to féele more of their sweetnes I will pound these spices and dwell a while in the peruse of thy resolute feruour And first can thy loue enrich thée when thy goods are gone or dead corse repay the value of thy ransome Because he had neither bed to be borne in nor graue to be buried in wilt thou therefore rather be poore with him then rich without him Againe if thou hadst to sue to some cruell Scribe or Pharisée that is to a heart boyling in rancor with a heart burning in loue for a thing of him aboue all things detested of thée aboue all thinges desired as his enemie to whome thou suelt and his friend for whom thou intreatest canst thou think it possible for this sute to speed Could thy loue repaire thée from his rage or suche a tyraunt stoupe to a womans teares Thirdly if thy Lord might be recouered by violence art thou so armed in complete loue that thou thinkest it sufficient harnesse or doth thy loue indue thee with such a ludithes spirite or lend thée such Sampsons lockes that thou canst breake open huge gates or foyle whole armies Is thy loue so sure a shield that no blowe can breake it or so sharpe a dint that no force can withstand it Can it thus alter sexe change nature and excéed all Arte But of all other courses wouldest thou aduenture a theft to obtaine thy desire A good déede must be well done and a worke of mercie without breath of iustice It were a sinne to steale a prophane treasure but to steale an annointed prophet can be no lesse then a sacriledge And what greater staine to thy Lord to his doctrine and to thy selfe then to sée thée his Disciple publikely executed for an open theft O Mary vnlesse thy loue haue better warrant then common sence I can hardly sée how such designementes can be approued Approoued saith shee I would to God the execution were as easie as the proofe and I should not so long bewaile my vnfortunate losse To others it séemeth ill to prefer loue before riches but to loue it séemeth worse to preferre any thing before it selfe Cloath him with plates of siluer that shiuereth for cold or fill his purse with treasure that pineth for hunger and sée whether the plates will warm him or the treasure féed him No no he will giue all his plates for a wollen garment and all his mony for a meals meate Euerie supply fitteth not with euery néed and the loue of so swéete a Lord hath no correspondēce in worldly wealth Without him I were poore though Empresse of the worlde With him I were riche though I had nothing else They that haue moste are accounted richest and they thought to haue moste that haue all they desire and therfore as in him alone is the vttermost of my desires so hee alone is the summe of all my substance It were too happie an exchaunge to haue God for goodes and too rich a pouerty to inioy the only treasure of the world If I were so fortunate a begger I woulde disdaine Solomons wealth and my loue being so highly enriched my life shoulde neuer complaine of want And if all I am worth would not reach to his ransome what should hinder me to saek him by intreaty Thogh I were to sue to the greatest tyrant yet the equitie of my sute is more then halfe a grant If many droppes soften the hardest stones why shoulde not many teares supple the moste stonie heartes what anger so fiery that may not be quenched with eye water sith a weeping suppliant rebateth the edge of more then a Lions fury My sute it selfe woulde sue for me and so dolefull a corse woulde quicken pitie in the moste iron heartes But suppose that by touching a ranckled sore my touch should anger it and my petition at the first incense him that heard it he would percase reuile mée in wordes and then his owne iniurie would recoyle with remorse and be vnto me a patron to procéed in my request And if he should accompanie his wordes with blowes and his blowes with wounds it may be my stripes would smart in his guilty minde and his conscience bléede in my bléeding wounds and my innocent bloud so entender his adamant heart that his owne inward feelings would plead my cause and peraduenture obtayne my sute But if through extremity of spite he should happen to kill me his offence might easely redound to my felicity For he would be as carefull to hide whom he had vniustly murdered as him whom he had felonously stollen and so it is like that he would hide me in the same place wher he had layd my Lord and as he hated vs both for one cause him for challenging and me for acknowledging that he was the Messias so would he vse vs both after one manner And thus what comfort my body wanted my soule should enioy in séeing a part of my selfe partner of my Maisters miserye with whome to be miserable I reckon a higher fortune then without him to be most happy And if no other means would serue to recouer him but force I sée no reason why it
sweetnesse therefore it is that maketh this word so sweet and for loue of him thou repeatest it so often because hee in the like case said of thy brother where haue you put him O how much doest thou affect his person that findest so sweete a feeling in his phrase Howe much desirest thou to see his countenance that with so great desire pronouncest his wordes And howe willingly wouldest thou kisse his sacred feet that so willingly vtterest his shortest speeches But what meanest thou to make so absolute a promise and so boldly to say I will take him away Ioseph was afraid and durst not take downe his body from the crosse but by night yea and then also not without Pilats warrant But thou neyther staiest till night nor regardest Pilat but stoutly promisest that thou thy selfe wilt take him away What if hee be in the Pallace of the high Priest and some suche mayd as made Saint Peter denie his maister to beginne to question with thée wilt thou theÌ„ stand to these words I wil take him away Is thy courage so high aboue thy kinde strength so far beyond thy sexe and thy loue so much without measure that thou neither remembrest that al women are weak nor that thou thy selfe art but a woman Thou exemptest no place thou preferrest no person thou speakest without feare thou promisest without condition thou makest no exception as though nothing were impossible that thy loue suggesteth But as the darknesse could not fright thée from setting foorth before day nor the watch feare thee from comming to the Tombe as thou diddest resolue to breake open the seales though with danger of thy life and to remoue the stone from the graues mouth though thy force could not serue thée so what maruell though thy loue being nowe more incensed with the fresh wound of thy losse it resolue vpon any though neuer so hard aduentures Loue is not ruled with reason but with loue It neither regardeth what can be nor what shall be done but onely what it selfe desireth to doe No difficultie can stay it no impossibilitie appale it Loue is title iust enough and armour strong enough for all assaultes and it self a reward of all labours It asketh no recompence it respecteth no commodity Loues fruits are loues effects and the gaynes the paynes It considereth behoofe more then benefite and what in dutie it shoulde not what in deede it can But how can nature be so mastered with affection that thou canst take such delight and carrye such loue to a dead corse The mother how tenderly soeuer shee loued her childe aliue yet shée can not choose but loath him dead The most louing spouse can not endure the presence of her deceasâ—d husband and whose embracements were delightsom in life are euer most hatefull after death Yea this is the nature of all but principally of women that the very conceite much more the sight of the departed striketh into them so fearful and vgly impressions and stirreth in them so great a horrour that notwithstanding the most vehement loue they thinke long till the house be ridde of their very dearest friends when they are once attired in deaths vnlouely liueries How theÌ„ canst thou endure to take vp his corse in thy handes and to carry it thou knowest not thy selfe how far being especially so torne and mangled and consequently the more likely in so long time to be tainted Thy sister was vnwilling that the graue of her owne brother should be opened and yet he was shrowded in shéetes embalmed with spices and died an ordinary death without anye wound bruse or other harme that might hasten his corruption But this corse hath neither shroud nor spice sith these are all to be séene in the Tombe and there is not a part in his body but had some helpe to further it to decay and art not thou afraide to see him yea to touch him yea to embrace and carry him naked in thy armes If thou haddest remembred Gods promise that His Saintes shoulde not see corruption If thou haddest beléeued that his Godhead remaining with his body could haue preserued it from perishing thy faith had ben more worthye of praise but thy loue lesse worthy of admiration sith the more corruptible thou diddest conceiue him the more combers thou diddest determine to ouercome the greater was thy loue in being able to coÌ„quer them But thou wouldest haue thought thy ointments rather harms then helpes if thou hadst béene setled in that beléef and for so heauenly a corse embalmed with God all earthly spices woulde haue séemed a disgrace If likewise thou haddest firmely trusted vppon his resurrection I should lesse maruail at thy constant designement sith all hazards in taking him should haue beene with vsury repaid if lying in thy lap thou mightest haue séene him reuiued and his disfigured and dead body beautified in thy armes with a diuine maiesty If thou hadst hoped so good Fortune to thy watery eies that they might haue beene first cleared with the beames of his desired light or that his eies might haue blessed thee with the first fruites of their glorious lookes If thou hadst imagined any likelihood to haue made happy thy dying hart with taking in the first gaspes of his liuing breath or to haue heard the first words of his pleasing voice Finally if thou hadst thought to haue séen his iniuries turned to honours the markes of his misery to ornaments of glory and the depth of thy heauinesse to such a height of felicity what so euer thou hadst don to obtaine him had béen but a mite for a million and too slender a price for so soueraigne a peniworth But hauing no such hopes to vphold thee and so many motiues to plunge thée in dispaire how could thy loue be so mighty as neither to féele a womans feare of so deformed a corse nor to thinke the weight of the burthen too heauy for thy féeble armes nor to bee amated with a world of daungers that this attempt did carry with it But affection can not feare whom it affecteth loue féeleth no load of him it loueth neither can true friendshippe be frighted from rescuing so affied a friend What meanest thou then O comfort of her life to leaue so constant a well willer so long vncomforted and to punish her so much that so well deserueth pardon Dally no longer with so known a loue which so many trials auouch most true And sith shée is nothing but what it pleaseth thée let her taste the benefite of being onely thine Shée did not follow the tide of thy better Fortune to shift saile when the streame did alter course Shée began not to loue thee in thy life to leaue thée after death Neither was shée such a guest at thy table that meant to be a straunger in thy necessity Shée lefte thee not in thy lowest ebbe shee reuolted not from thy last extremity In thy life shee serued thee with her goods In thy death shee departed
all highest perfections What meruaile therefore though her vehement loue to so louely a Lord being after the wrecke of his life now also depriued of his dead body feele as bitter pangues for his losse as before it tasted ioyes in his presence and opē as large an issue to teares of sorrowe as euer heretofore to tears of contentment And though teares were rather oile then water to her flame apter to nourish then diminish her grief yet being now plunged in the depth of paine shee yéelded her selfe captiue to all discomfort carrying an ouèrthrowen mind in a more enfeebled body and still busie in deuising but euer doubtfull in defining what shée might best doe For what could a seely woman doe but weepe that floating in a Sea of cares founde neither eare to heare her nor tongue to direct her nor hand to helpe her nor heart to pitty her in her desolate case True it is that Peter and Iohn came with her to the tombe and to make triall of her report were both within it but as they were speedy in comming and diligent in searching so were they as quick to depart and fearefull of farther seeking And alas what gained shee by their comming but two witnesses of her losse two dismaiers of her hope and two paterns of a new despaire Loue moued them to come but their loue was soone conquered with such a feare that it suffered them not to stay But Mary hoping in dispaire and perseuering in hope stood without feare because shée now thought nothing left that ought to be feared For shée had lost her maister to whom shée was so entirely deuoted that hee was the totall of her loues the height of her hopes and the vttermost of her feares and therefore beside him shée could neither loue other creature hope for other comfort nor feare other losse The worst shee could feare was the death of her body and that shée rather desired then feared sith shée had already lost the life of her soule without which any other life would be a death and with which any other death would haue ben a delight But now shée thought it better to die then to liue because shée might happely dying finde whome not dying shee looked not to enioy and not enioying shée had little will to liue For nowe shée loued nothing in her life but her loue to Christ if any thing did make her willing to liue it was onelye the vnwillingnesse that his Image should die with her whose likenesse loue had limmed in her heart and treasured vp in her swéetest memories And had shée not feared to break the Table and to breake open the closet to which shée had entrussed this last relique of her lost happinesse the violence of griefe would haue melted her heart into inward bleeding teares and blotted her remembraunce with a fatall obliuion And yet neuerthelesse shée is no we in so imperfect a sort aliue that it is proued true in her that Loue is as strong as Death For what could death haue done more in Mary then Loue did Her wittes were astonied and all her senses so amased that in the end finding shée did not know séeing shée could not discern hearing shée perceiued not and more then all this shée was not there where shée was for shée was wholly where her Maister was more where shée loued then where shée liued and lesse in her self then in his body which notwithstanding where it was shee could not imagine For she sought and as yet found it not and therefore stood at the Tombe weeping for it being now altogether giuen to mourning driuen to misery But O Mary by whose counsaile vppon what hope or with what hart couldest thou stand alone when the Disciples were departed Thou wert there once before they came thou returnest againe at their comming and yet now thou staiest when they are gone Alas that thy Lord is not in the Tombe thy own eies haue often séen the Disciples hands haue felt the empty Sindon doth auouch and cannot al this winne thée to beléeue it No no thou wouldest rather condemne thy owne eies of error and both their eies and handes of deceite yea rather suspect all testimonies for untrue then not looke whom thou hast lost euen there where by no diligence he coulde be found When thou thinkest of other places and canst not imagine any so likely as this thou séekest againe in this and though neuer so often sought it must still bee a haunt for hope for when things dearely affected are lost loues nature is neuer to be weary of searching euen the oftenest searched corners being more willing to thinke that all the senses are mistaken then to yéelde that hope should quaile Yet now sith it is so euident that he is taken away what should moue thee to remaine here where the perill is apparent and no profite likely Can the witof one and shée a woman wholly possessed with passion haue more light to discerne daunger then two wittes of two men and both principall fauorites of the parent of all wisedom Or if notwithstanding the danger there had béene iust cause to encounter it were not two together being both to Christ sworne companions each to other affied friends and to all his ennemies professed foes more likely to haue preuailed then one feminine heart timorous by kinde and already amased with this dreadfull accident But alas why doe I vrge her with reason whole reason is altered into loue and that iudgeth it folly to follow such reason as should any way impair her loue Her thoughts were arrested by euery thredde of Christs Sindon and shée was captiue in so many prisons as the Tombe had memories of her lost maister Loue being her Iailor in them all and nothing able to raunsome her but the recouery of her Lord. What maruaile then though the Apostles examples drew her not away whome so violent a loue enforced to remaine which prescribing lawes both to witte and wil is guided by no other lawe but it selfe Shee could not thinke of any fear nor stand in feare of any force Loue armed her against all hazardes and being already wounded with the greatest griefe shée had not leisure to remember any lesser euill Yea shée had forgotten all things and her selfe among al things onely mindefull of him whom shée loued aboue all thinges And yet her loue by reason of her losse drownev both her mind and memory so déepe in sorrow and so busied her wittes in the conceite of his absence that al remembraunce of his former promises was diuerted with the throng of present discomforts and shée séemed to haue forgotten also him besides whome shée remembred nothing For doubtlesse had she remembred him as she should shée should not haue now thought the Tombe a fitte place to séeke him neither would shée mourne for him as dead and remoued by others force but ioy in him as reuiued and risen by his owne power For hee had often foretold both the manner of
the libertie of a ioyfull life O swéet tomb of my swéetest Lord while I liue I will stay by thee when I die I will cleaue vnto thée neither aliue nor dead will I euer be drawne from thée Thou art the altar of mercie the temple of trueth the sanctuary of safetie the graue of death and the cradle of eternall life O heauen of my eclipsed sunne receiue into thee this sillie starre that hath nowe also lost all wished light O Whale that hast swallowed my onely Ionas swallowe also me more worthy to be thy pray sith I and not he was the cause of this bloudie tempest O Cesterne of my innocent Ioseph take me into thy drie bottome sith I and not he gaue iust cause of offence to my enraged brethren But alas in what cloud hast thou hidden the light of our way Upon what shoare hast thou cast vp the preacher of all trueth or to what Ismaelite hast thou yéelded the purueyour of our life O vnhappie me why did I not before thinke of that which I now aske why did I leaue him when I heard him thus to lament him nowe that I haue lost him If I had watched with perseuerance either none would haue taken him or they shoulde haue taken me with him But through too much precisenesse in keeping the lawe I haue lost the lawmaker and by being too scrupulous in obseruing his ceremonies I am proued irreligious in loosing himselfe sith I should rather haue remained with the trueth then forsaken it to solemnize the figure The Sabboth could not haue bin prophaned in standing by his corse by which the prophanest thinges are sanctified whose couch doth not defile the cleane but clenseth the most defiled But when it was time to stay I departed When it was too late to helpe I returned and nowe I repent my folly when it cannot be amended But let my heart dissolue into sighes mine eyes melt in teares and my desolate soule languish in dislikes yea let all that I am and haue indure the deserued punishment that if hee were incensed with my fault he may be appeased with my penance and returne vpon the amendement that fled from the offence Thus when hir timorous cōscienec had indited hir of so great an omission hir toong enforced the euidence with these bitter accusations Loue that was now the onely vmpier in all hir causes condemned hir eyes to a freshe showre of teares hir brest to a new storme of sighes and hir soule to be perpetuall prisoner to restlesse sorrowes But O Mary thou deceiuest thy selfe in thy owne desires and it well appeareth that excesse of griefe hath bred in thee a defect of due prouidence And wouldest thou indeed haue thy wishes come to passe and thy wordes fulfilled Tell me then I pray thee if thy heart were dissolued where wouldest thou harbor thy Lord what wouldest thou offer him how wouldst thou loue him Thy eyes haue lost him thy hands cannot féele him thy féet cannot follow him and if he be at all in thée it is thy heart that hath him and wouldest thou now haue that dissolued from thence also to exile him And if thy eyes were melted thy soule in languor and thy senses decayed how wouldest thou see him if he did appeare howe shouldest thou heare him if he did speake howe couldest thou knowe him though hée were there present Thou thinkest happily that hee loueth thée so wel that if thy heart were spent for his loue he would either lend his owne heart vnto thee or create a newe heart in thee better then that which thy sorrow tooke from thée It may bee thou imaginest that if thy soule woulde giue place his soule wanting nowe a body would enter into thine with supplie of all thy senses and release of thy sorrowes O Mary thou didst not marke what thy maister was woont to say when he told thee that the third day he shuld rise againe For if thou hadst heard him or at the least vnderstoode him thou wouldest not thinke but that hée now vseth both his heart and soule in the life of his owne body And therefore repaire to the angels and enquire more of them least thy Lord be displeased that comming from him thou wilt not entertaine them But Marie whose deuotions were all fixed vpon a nobler Saint and that had so straightly bound hir thoughtes to his onely affection that shee rather desired to vnknow whom she knew alreadie then to burthen her mind with the knowledge of newe acquaintance could not make her wil long since possessed with the highest loue stoupe to the acceptance of meaner friendships And for this though she did not scornefully reiect yet did she with humilitie refuse the Angels company thinking it no discourtesie to take her selfe from them for to giue her selfe more wholly to her Lord to whome both shee and they were wholly deuoted and ought most loue and greatest dutie Sorrow also being nowe the onely interpreter of all that sense deliuered to her vnderstanding made hir conster their demand in a more doubtfull then true meaning If saith she they come to ease my affliction they coulde not be ignorant of the cause and if they were not ignorant of it they woulde neuer aske it why then did they say Woman why weepest thou If their question did import a prohibition the necessitie of the occasion doth countermand their counsaile and fitter it were they shoulde wéepe with me then I in not wéeping obey them If the Sunne were ashamed to shew his brightnesse when the father of all lightes was darkened with such disgrace If the heauens discolouring their beauties suted themselues to their makers fortune If the whole frame of nature were almost dissolued to sée the authour of nature so vnnaturally abused why may not Angelles that best knewe the indignitie of the case make vp a part in this lamentable consort And especially nowe that by the losse of his bodie the cause of wéeping is increased and yetthe number of mourners lessened sith the Apostles are fled all his friends afraid and poore I left alone to supplie the teares of all creatures O who will giue water to my head a fountaine of teares vnto my eyes that I may weepe day and night and neuer cease weeping O my only Lord thy griefe was the greatest that euer was in man and my griefe as great as euer happened to woman for my loue hath carued me no small portion of thine thy losse hath redoubled the torment of mine owne and all creatures séeme to haue made ouer to me theirs leauing mee as the vice-gereut of all their sorrows Sorrow with me at the least thou O Tombe and thawe into teares you hardest stones The time is now come that you are licensed to cry and bound to recompence the silence of your Lordes Disciples of whome hée himselfe said to the Pharisies that if they held their peace the verie stones should crie for them Nowe therefore sith feare hath
and the losse is manifest My eies haue answered them with teares my brest with sighes and my heart with trouble what néed I also punish my toonge or wound my soule with a newe rehear sall of so dolefull a mischance They haue taken away O vnfortunate worde They haue taken away my Lord. O afflicted woman why thinkest thou this word so vnfortunate It may be the Angels haue taken him more solemnly to entombe him and sith earth hath done her last homage happily the Quires of heauen are also descended to defray vnto him their funerall duties It may be that the Centurian and the rest that did acknowledge him on the crosse to be the sonne of God haue béene touched with remorse and goared with the pricke of conscience and being desirous to satisfie for their heinous offence haue nowe taken him more honourably to interre him and by their seruice to his bodie sought forgiuenesse and sued the pardon of their guiltie soules Peraduenture some secret Disciples haue wrought this erploit and maugre the watch taken him from hence with due honour to preserue him in some fitter place and therefore being yet vncertaine who hath him there is no such cause to lament sith the greater probabilities march on the better side why doest thou call sorrowe before it commeth without which calling it commeth on thee too fast yea why doest thou create sorrow where it is not sith thou hast true sorrowes inough though imagined sorrowes helpe not It is follie to suppose the worst where the best may be hoped for and euerie mishappe bringeth griefe enough with it though wée with our friendes doe not goe first to méete it Quiet then thy selfe till time trie out the trueth and it may be thy feare will proue greater then thy misfortune But I know thy loue is litle helped with this lesson for the more it loueth the more it feareth and the more desirous to enioy the more doubtfull it is to loose It neyther hath measure in hopes nor meane in feares hoping the best vpon the least surmises and fearing the worst vppon the weakest grounds And yet both fearing and hoping at one time neither feare withholdeth hope from the highest atteÌ„pts nor hope can strengthen feare against the smallest suspitions but maugre all feares loues hopes will worke to the highest pitch and maugre al hopes loues feares will stoupe to the lowest downcome To bidde thée therefore hope is not to forbid thée to feare and though it may be for the best that thy Lord is taken from thée yet sith it may also be for the worst that wil neuer content thée Thou thinkest hope doth inough to kéepe thy heart from breaking feare little enough to force thée to wéeping sith it is as likely that he hath béen taken away vpon hatred by his enimies as vpon loue by his friendes For hitherto saiest thou his friends haue all failed him and his foes preuailed against him as they y t would not defend him aliue are lesse likely to regard him dead so they that thought one life too litle to take from him are not vnlikely after deathe to wreake new rage vpon him And though this doubt were not yet whosoeuer hath taken him hath wronged me in not acquainting me with it for to take away mine without my consent can neither be offered without iniurie nor suffered without sorrow And as for Jesus he was my Jesus my Lord and my maister Hée was mine because he was giuen vnto me and borne for me he was the author of my being and so my father hée was the worker of my wel doing and therefore my Sauiour hee was the price of my ransome and thereby my redeemer Hee was my Lord to command me my maister to instruct mée my pastor to féede mée He was mine because his loue was mine and when he gaue me his loue hee gaue me himselfe sith loue is no gift except the giuer be giuen with it yea it is no loue â—â—lesse it be as liberall of that it is as of that it hath Finally if the meat bee mâ—â—â— that I eate the life mine wherewith I liue or he mine all whose life labours and death were mine then dare I boldly say that Iesus is mine sith on his bodie I feede by his loue I liue and to my good without any neede of his owne hath hee liued laboured and died And therefore though his Disciples though the Centurion yea though the Angels haue taken him they haue done me wrong in defeating mee of my right sith I neuer meane to resigne my interest But what if he hath takeÌ„ a way himself wilt thou also lay vniustice to his charge Thogh he be thine yet thine to command not to obey thy Lord to dispose of thee and not to be by thée disposed and therefore as it is no reason that the seruant should be maister of his maisters secretes so might hee and peraduenture so hath he remoued without acquainting thee whether reuiuing himselfe with the same power with which he raised thy dead brother and fulfilling the wordes that he often vttered of his resurrection It may be thou wilt say that a gift once giuen cannot bee reuoked and therefore though it were before in his choise not to giue himselfe vnto thée yet the deede of gift being once made he cannot be taken from thee neyther can the doner dispose of his gift without the possessors priuitie And sith this is a rule in the lawe of nature thou maiest imagine it a breach of equitie and an impeachment of thy right to conuey himselfe away without thy consent But to this I will aunswere thée with thine owne ground For if he be thine by being giuen thée once thou art his by as many gifts as daies and therefore hee being absolute owner of thée is likewise full owner of whatsoeuer is thine and consequently because he is thine hee is also his owne and so nothing liable vnto thée for taking himselfe from thée Yea but he is my Lord saiest thou and in this respect bound to kéepe me at the least bound not to kill me and sith killing is nothing but a seuering of life from the body he being the chiefe life both of my soule and body cannot possibly go from me but he must with a double death kill me And therefore he being my Lord and bound to protect his seruant it is against all lawes that I should be thus forsaken But O cruel tongue why pleadest thou thus against him whose case I feare me is so pitifull y t it might rather moue all tongues to plead for him being peradueÌ„ture in their hands whose vnmercifull hearts make themselues merrie with his miserie and build the triumphes of their impious victorie vpon the dolefull ruines of his disgraced glorie And now O griefe because I know not where he is I caÌ„not imagine how to helpe for they haue taken him away and I knowe not where they haue put him Alas Mary why dost thou consume
hope aliue which was that for a small reliefe of her other afflictions she might haue annointed thy body that hope is also dead since thy body is remoued and shee nowe standeth hopelesse of all helpe and demandest thou why shée wéepeth and for whome shee séeketh Full well thou knowest that thée onely shee desireth thée onely she loueth all things besides thée she contemneth and canst thou find in thy heart to aske hir whom she séeketh To what end O sweet Lord doest thou thus suspend hir longinges prolong hir desires and martir hir with these tedious delaies Thou onely art the fortresse of hir faint faith the anker of her wauering hope the very center of her vehement loue to thée she trusteth vpon thée she relieth and of her selfe she wholly dispaireth She is so earnest in seeking thée that shée can neither seeke nor thinke any other thing and all her wittes are so busied in musing vppon thée that they draw all attention from her senses wherewith they should discerne thée Being therfore so attentiue to that she thinketh what maruell though shee marke not whome shée séeth and sith thou hast so perfect notice of her thought and she so litle power to discouer thée by sense why demandest thou for whome shée séeketh or why shee wéepeth Doest thou looke that she should answer for thée I séeke or for thée I wéep vnlesse thou wilt vnbend her thoughtes that her eyes may fully sée thée or while thou wilt be concealed doest thou expect y t she should be able to know thee But O Mary not without cause doth he aske thée this question Thou wouldest haue him aliue and yet thou wéepest because thou doest not finde him dead Thou art sorie that hee is not here and for this verie cause thou shouldst rather be glad For if he were dead it is moste likely hee should bee héere but not being héere it is a signe that hée is aliue Hee reioyceth to be out of his graue and thou wéepest because hee is not in it Hee will not lie any where and thou sorrowest for not knowing wherehe lieth Alas why bewaylest thou his glorie as an iniurie the reuiuing of his bodie as the robberie of his corse Hee being aliue for what dead man mournest thou and he being present whose absence doest thou lament But shee taking him to be a Gardiner said vnto him O Lord if thou hast carried him from hence tell me where thou hast laid him and I will take him away O woonderfull effectes of Maries loue if loue be a languor howe liueth she by it If loue be her life how dieth shée in it if it bereued her of sence how did she sée y e Angels if it quickned her sense why knewe shee not Jesus doest thou séeke for one whome when thou hast found thou knowest not or if thou doest know him when thou findest him why doest thou séeke when thou hast him Behold Jesus is come and the partie whom thou seekest is he that talketh with thee O Mary call vp thy wittes and open thine eyes Hath thy Lord liued so long laboured so much dyed with such paine and shedde such showres of bloud to come to no higher preferment then to bee a Gardiner And hast thou bestowed suche cost so much sorrow and so many feares for no better man then a silly Gardiner Alas is this soarie Garden the best inheritāce that thy loue can affoord him or a Gardiners office the highest dignitie that thou wilt allow him It had bin better he had liued to béen Lord of thy castle then with his death so dearly to haue bought so small a purchase But thy mistaking hath in it a farther mistery Thou thinkst not amisse though thy sight bee deceiued For as our first father in the state of grace innocency was placed in the garden of pleasure the first office allotted him was to be a Gardener so the first man that euer was in glorie appeareth first in a Garden and presenteth himselfe in a gardeners likenes that the beginnings of glory might resemble the entrance of innocencie and grace And as a Gardener was the foyle of mankind the parent of sinne and author of death so is this Gardiner the raysor of our ruines the ransome of our offences and the restorer of life In a Garden Adam was deceiued and taken captiue by the diuell In a Garden Christ was betraied and taken prisoner by the Jewes In a Garden Adam was condemned to earn his bread with the sweate of his browes And after a frée gift of the bread of Angels in the last supper in a Garden Christ did earne it vs with a bloudy sweat of his whole body By disobedient eating the fruite of a trée our right to that Garden was by Adam forfeited and by the obedient death of Christ vpon a trée a farre better right is nowe recouered When Adam had sinned in the garden of plesure hee was there apparelled in dead beastes skinnes that his garment might betoken his graue and his liuerie of death agrée with his condemnation to die And nowe to defray the debt of that sin in this garden Christ lay clad in the dead mans shrowd and buried in his Tombe that as our harmes began so they might ende and such places and meanes as were the premises to our miserie might be also the conclusions of our misfortune For this did Christ in the canticles inuite vs to a heauenly banquet after hee was come into this garden and had reaped his myrrh and his spices to forewarne vs of the ioy that after this haruest should presently insue namely when hauing sowed in this garden a body the mortalitie whereof was signified by those spices he now reaped the same neither capeable of death nor subiect to corruption For this also was Mary permitted to mistake that we might be informed of the mystery and see how aptly the course of our redemption did answere the processe of our condemnation But though he be the gardiner that hath planted the Trée of grace and restored vs to the vse and eating of the fruites of life Though it be he that soweth his gifts in our souls quickning in vs the seedes of vertue rooting out of vs the wéedes of sinne Yet is he neuerthelesse the same Jesus he was the borowed presence of a meane laborer neither altreth his persō nor diminisheth his right to his diuine titles Why then canst thou not as well sée what in trueth he is as what in shew he séemeth but because thou seest more then thou diddest beléeue findest more then thy faith serued thee to seeke and for this though thy loue was worthy to sée him yet thy faith was vnworthy to know him Thou diddest seeke for him as dead and therfore dost not know him seing him aliue and because thou beléeuest not of him as hée is thou doest onely sée him as he séemeth to be I cannot say thou art faultlesse sith thou art so lame in thy beliefe
but thy fault deserueth fauor because thy charity is so great and therefore O mercifull Iesu giue me leaue to excuse whom thou art minded to forgiue Shée thought to haue found thée as shée left thée shée sought thee as shée did last sée thée being so ouercom with sorrow for thy death that shée had neither roome nor respite in her mind for any hope of thy life and being so déeply interred in the griefe of thy buriall that shée could not raise her thoughtes to any conceite of thy resurrection For in the graue where Ioseph buried thy body Mary together with it entombed her soule and so straightly combined it with thy corse that shee could with more ease sunder her soule from her owne bodie that liueth by it then from thy dead bodie with which her loue did bury it for it is more thine and in thée then her owne or in herselfe and therefore in séeking thy bodie she séeketh her owne soule as with the losse of the one shee also lost the other What maruaile then though sence faile when the soule is lost sith the lanterne must néeds be dark when the light is out Restore vnto her therefore her soul that lieth imprisoned in thy body and shée will soone both recouer her sense and discouer her errour For alas it is no errour that procéedeth of any will to erre and it riseth as much of vehemency of affection as of default in faith Regard not y e error of a woman but the loue of a disciple which supplieth in it self what in faith it wanteth O Lord saith she If thou hast carried him hence tell me where thou hast laid him I will take him away O how learned is her ignoraunce and how skilful her errour Shée charged not the Angels with thy remoning nor séemed to mistrust them for carrying thée away as though her loue had taught her that their helpe was néedelesse where the thing remoued was remouer of it selfe Shée did not request them to enfourme her where thou wert laide as if shée had reserued that question for thy selfe to answere But now shée iudgeth thée so likely to be the author of her losse that halfe supposing thée guilty shée sueth a recouery and desireth thée to tell her wher the body is as almost fully perswaded that thou art as priuy to the place as well acquainted with the action So that if shée be not altogether right shée is not very much wrong shée erreth with such aime that shée litle misseth the truth Tell her therefore O Lord what thou hast done with thy selfe sith it is fittest for thy owne spéech to vtter that which was onely possible for thy owne power to performe But O Mary since thou art so desirous to know wher thy Iesus is why doest thou not name him when thou askest for him Thou saidst to the Angels that they had taken away thy Lord and now the second time thou askest for this him Are thy thoughtes so visible as at thy onely presence to be séene or so generall that they possesse all when they are once in thee when thou speakest of him what him doest thou meane or how can a stranger vnderstand thée when thou falkest of thy Lord Hath the worlde no other Lords but thine or is the demanding by no other name but him a sufficient notice for whom thou demandest But such is the nature of thy loue thou iudgest that no other should be intitled a Lord sith the whole worlde is too litle for thy Lordes possession and that those few creatures that are cannot chuse but knowe him sith all the creatures of the world are to fewe to serue him And as his worthies can appay all loues and his only loue content all heartes so thou deemest hym to be so well worthy to bee owner of all thoughtes that no thought in thy conceite can be well bestowed vppon anie other Yet thy speeches seeme more suddaine then sound and more peremptorie then well pondered Why doest thou say so resolutely without anie further circumstance that if this gardiner haue taken him thou wilt take him from him If he had him by right in taking him away thou shouldest do him wrong If thou supposest hee wrongfully took him thou laiest theft to his charge and howsoeuer it be thou either condemnest thyselfe for an vsurper or him for a theese And is this an effect of thy zelous loue first to abase him from a God to a Gardiner and now to degrade him from a Gardiner to a theese Thou shouldest also haue considered whether he tooke him vpon loue or malice If it were for loue thou maiest assure thy selfe that he wil be as wary to keepe as hee was ventrous to get him and therefore thy pollicie was weake in saying thou wouldest take him away before thou knewest where he was sith none is so simple to bewray their treasure to a known théefe If he tooke him of malice thy offer to recouer him is an open defiance sith malice is as obstinate in defending as violent in offering wrong and he that woulde be cruell against thy maisters dead body is likely to be more furious against his liuing disciple But thy loue had no leysure to cast so many doubts Thy teares were interpreters of thy words and thy innocent meaning was written in thy dolefull countenance Thy eyes were rather pleaders for pity then Heralds of wrath and thy whole person presented such a paterne of thy extreame anguish that no man from thy presence could take in anie other impression And therefore what thy wordes wanted thy action supplied and what his eare might mistake his eye did vnderstand It may be also that hee wrought in thy heart that was concealed from thy sight and happily his voyce and demeanor did import such compassion of thy case that hee seemed as willing to affoord as thou desirous to haue his helpe And so presuming by his behauiour that thy sute should not suffer repulse the tenour of thy request doth but argue thy hope of a grant But what is the reason that in all thy speeches which since the misse of thy maister thou hast vttered where they haue put him is alwaies apart So thou saydst to the Apostles the same to the Angels and nowe thou doest repeat it to this supposeo gardiner verie sweete must this word be in thy hart that is so often in thy mouth and it would neuer be so readie in thy tongue if it were not verie freshe in thy memorie But what maruell though it fast so swéete that was first seasoned in thy maisters mouth which as it was the treasurie of trueth the fountaine of life and the onely quire of the moste perfect harmonie so whatsoeuer it deliuered thy eare deuoured and thy heart locked vp And nowe that thou wantest himselfe thou hast no other comfort but his wordes which thou déemest so much the more effectuall to perswade in that they tooke their force from so heauenly a speaker His
not from thy crosse after death shee came to dwell with thee at thy graue Why then dost not thou say with Noemi Blessed bee shee of our Lord because what courtesie shee afforded to the quicke shee hath also continued towardes the dead A thing so much the more to be esteemed in that it is most rare Doe not sweet Lord any longer delay her Behold shee hath attended thee these three daies and shee hath not what to eate nor wherewith to foster her famished soule vnlesse thou by discouering thy selfe doest minister vnto her the bread of thy body feede her with the foode that hath in it all taste of sweetnesse If therefore thou wilt not haue her to faint in the way refresh her with that which her hunger requireth For surely shee cannot long enioy the life of her body vnlesse shee may haue notice of thee that art the life of her soule But feare not Mary for thy teares will obtaine They are too mighty oratours to let any suite fall though they pleaded at the most rigorous bar yet haue they so perswading a silence and so conquering a complaint that by yeelding they ouercome and by intreating they commaund They tie the tongues of all accusers and soften the rigour of the seuerest Iudge Yea they win the inuincible and bind the omnipotent When they seeme most pittiful they haue greatest power and being most for saken they are most victorious Repentant eies are the Cellers of Angels and penitent teares their sweetest wines which the sauor of life perfumeth the taste of grace swéetneth and the purest colours of returning innocency highly beautifieth This dew of deuotion neuer falleth but the sunne of iustice draweth it vp and vpoÌ„what face soeuer it droppeth it maketh it amiable in Gods eie For this water hath thy heart beene long a limbecke sometimes distilling it out of the weedes of thy owne offences with the fire of true contrition Sometimes out of the flowers of spirituall comforts with the flames of contemplation and now out of the bitter hearbs of thy Maisters miseries with the heate of a tender compassion This water hath better graced thy lookes then thy former alluring glaunces It hath setled worthier beauties in thy face then all thy artificiall paintings Yea this onely water hath quenched Gods anger qualified his iustice recouered his mercy merited his loue purchased his pardon brought forth the spring of all thy fauors Thy tears were the proctors for thy brothers life the inuiters of those Angels for thy comfort and the suiters that shall be rewarded with the first sight of thy reuiued Sauiour Rewarded they shal be but not refrained altered in their cause but their course continued Heauen would weepe at the losse of so pretious a water and earth lament the absenee of so fruitefull â—owers No no the Angels must still bathe themselues in the pure streams of thy eies and thy face shall still bee set with this liquid pearle that as out of thy teares were stroken the first sparkes of thy Lordes loue so thy teares may be the oyle to nourishe and feede his flame Till death damme vp the springs they shall neuer cease running and then shal thy soule be ferried in them to the harbour of life that as by them it was first passed from sinne to grace so in them it may be wasted from grace to glorie In the meane time réere vp thy fallen hopes and gather confidence both of thy spéedie comforte and thy Lordes well being Iesus saith vnto her Maria She turning said vnto him Rabboni O louing maister thou didst onely deferre her consolation to increase it that the delight of thy presence might be so much the more welcome in that through thy long absence it was with so little hope so much desired Thou wert content shee shoulde lay out for thée so manie sighs tears and plaints and diddest purposely adiorne the date of her paiment to requite the length of these delaies with a larger loane of ioy It may be she knewe not her former happinesse till shee was weaned from it nor had a right estimate in valuing the treasures with which thy presence did enriche hir vntill her extreame pouertie taught her their vnestimable rate But now thou she west by a swéete experience that though she paied thée with the dearest water of her eyes with her best breath and tenderest loue yet small was the price that shee bestowed in respect of the worth that shee receiued She sought the dead and imprisoned in a stonie gayle and now she findeth thée both aliue and at full libertie Shée sought the shrined in a shrowd more like a leaper then thy selfe left as the modell of the vitermost miserie and the onely paterne of the bitterest vnhappinesse And now shee findeth thée inuested in the robes of glorie the president of the highest and both the owner and giuer of all felicitie And as all this while shee hath sought without finding wéept without comforte and called without aunswere so no we thou satisfiest her séeking with thy comming her tears with thy triumph and al her cries with this one word Marie For when she heard thee call her in thy woonted maner and with thy vsuall voyce her onely name issuing froÌ„ thy mouth wrought so strange an alteration in her as if she had béene wholly new made when she was only named For whereas before the violence of her griefe had so benummed her that her bodie séemed but the hearse of her dead heart and her heart the cophin of an vnliuing soule and hir whole presence but a representation of a double funeral of thine and of hir owne now with this one word her senses are restored her minde lightened her heart quickened and her soule reuiued But what maruell though with one word hee raise the dead spirites of his poore disciple that with a word made the world euen in this very worde sheweth an omnipotent power Marie she was called as well in her bad as in her reformed estate and both her good and euill was all of Maries working And as Marie signifieth no lesse what she was then what she is so is this one word by his vertue that speaketh it a repetition of all her miseries an Epitome of his mercies and a memorial of all her better fortunes And therefore it laid so generall a discouerie of her self before her eyes that it awaked her most forgotten sorows and mustered together the whole multitude of her ioyes and woulde haue left the issue of their mutinie verie doubtfull but that the presence and notice of hir highest happinesse decided the quarrell and gaue her ioyes the victory For as he was her only sunne whose going downe left nothing but a dumpishe night of fearefull fansies wherein no starre of hope shined and the brightest plannets were chaunged into dismall signes so the serenitie of his countenance and authoritie of hys worde brought a calme and well tempered day that chasing away all darknesse and
supply the offices of outward senses For in this visible shape I am not here long to be séene béeing shortly to ascend vnto my Father but what thy eie then seeth not thy heart shall féele and my silent parly wil find audience in thy inward eare Yet if thou fearest least my ascending should be so sodain that if thou doest not now take thy leaue of my féete with thy humble kisses and louing teares thou shalt neuer finde the like oportunitye againe licence from thée that néedeles suspition I am not yet ascended to my Father and for all such dueties there will be a more conuenient time But now goe about that which requireth more hast and runne to my bretheren and enforme them what I say that I will goe before them into Galilée there they shall sée me Mary therfore preferring her lords will before her owne wish yet sorry that her will was worthy of no better euent departeth from him like a hungry infant puld from a full teat or a thirsty Hart chased from a swéet fountaine Shée iudged her selfe but an vnlucky messenger of most ioyfull tidings being banished from her Maisters presence to carry newes of his resurrection Alas saith shée and cannot others be happy without my vnhappinesse or cannot their gains come in but through my losses Must the dawning of their day be y t euening of mine and my soule robbed of such a treasure to enrich their eares O my heart returne thou to enioy him why goest thou with me that am enforced to goe from him In me thou art but in prison and in him is thy onely Paradise I haue buried thée long inough in former sorrowes yet now when thou wert halfe reuiued I am constrained to carry thee from the spring of life Alas goe séeke to better thy selfe in some more happy breast sith I euill deseruing creature am nothing different from that I was but in hauing taken a taste of the highest delite that the knowledge want of it might drowne me in the déepest misery Thus dutie leading and loue withholding her shee goeth as fast backeward in thought as forward in pace readie eftsoones to faint for griefe but that a fit me hope to see him againe did support her weakenesse Shee often turned towards the tombe to breath déeming the verie ayre that came from the place where he stood to haue taken vertue of his presence and to haue in it a refreshing force aboue the course of nature Sometimes shee forgetteth her self and loue carrieth her in a golden distraction making her to imagin that her Lord is present and then shée séemeth to demand him questions and to heare his answeres she dreameth that his féete are in her folded armes and that hee giueth her soule a full repast of his comfortes But alas when she commeth to her selfe and findeth it but an illusion she is so much the more sorie in that the onely imagination being so delightfull she was not worthie to enioy the thing it self And whē she passeth by those places where her maister had been O stones saith shée howe much more happie are you then I moste wretched caitiffe sith to you was not denied the touch of those blessed feet whereof my euill deserts haue now made me vnworthie Alas what crime haue I of late committed that hath thus cancelled mee out of his good conceite and estranged from me hys accustomed courtesie Had I but a lease of his loue for tearme of his life or did my interest in his féete expire with his decease In them with my teares I write my first supplication for mercy which I pointed with sighs foulded vp in my hayre and humblie sealed with the impression of my lips They were the dores of my first entrance into his fauour by which I was gratiously entertained in his heart and admitted to do homage vnto his head while it was yet a mortall mirrour of immortall maiestie an earthly seate of a heauenly wisedome conteining in man a Gods felicitie But alas I must bee contented to beare a lower saile and to take down my desires to farre meaner hopes sith former fauors are now too high marks for me to ayme at O my eyes why are you so ambitious of heauenly honours He is now too bright a sunne for so weake a sight your lookes are limited to meaner light you are the eyes of a bat and not of an Eagle you must humble your selues to the twylight of inferior thinges and measure your sightes by your slender substance Gaze not too much vpon the blaze of eternitie least you loose your selues in too much selfe delight and being too curious in sifting his maiestie you be in the end oppressed with his glorie No no sith I am reiected from his féet how can I otherwise presume but that my want of faith hath dislodged me out of his heart and throwne me out of all possession of his minde and memorie Yet why shoulde I stoupe to so base a feare whē want of faith was agréeued with want of all goodnesse he disdained not to accept me for one of his number and shall I nowe thinke that hee will for my faint beléefe so rigorously abandon me And is the sinceritie of my loue wherein he hath no partner of so slender accompt that it may not hope for some little sparke of his woonted mercy I will not wrong him with so vniust a suspition sith his appearing improueth it his wordes ouer throwe it his countenance doth disswade it why then shoulde I sucke so much sorrow out of so vaine a surmise Thus Maries trauailing phansies making long voyages in this short iorney and wauering betwéene the ioy of her vision and the griefe of her deniall entertained her in the way and held her parly with such discourses as are incident into minds in which neither hope is ful maister of the field nor fear hath receiued an vtter ouerthrow But as shee was in this perplexed maner now falling now rising in her owne vncertainties shee findeth on the way the other holy women that first came with hir to the graue whom the angels had now assured of Christs resurrection And as they passed all forwardes towardes the Disciples Behold Iesus met them saying All hayle But they came neere and took hold of his feete and adored him Then Iesus said vnto them feare not Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee there they shall see me O Lord how profound are thy iudgmentes and vnserchable thy councels doth her sorrow sit so neere thy heart or thy repulse rebound with such regret by séeing her wounded loue bléede so fast at her eyes that thy late refusall must so soone be requited with so frée a grant Is it thy pitie or her change which cannot allowe that shee should any longer fast from her earnest longing But O moste milde phisition well knowest thou that thy sharpe corrosie with bitter smarte angred her tender wound which being rather caused by vn witting ignorance
then wilfull error was assoone cured as knowne And therfore thou quickly appliest a swéete lenitie to asswage her paine that shee might acknowledge her forbidding rather a fatherly checke to her vnsetled faith then an austere reiecting her for her fault And therefore thou admittest her to kisse thy feete the two conduits of grace and seales of our redemption renewing her a charter of thy vnchanged loue and accepting of her the vowed sacrifice of her sanctified soule And thus gratious Lord hast thou finished her feares assured her hopes fulfilled her desires satisfied her loues stinted her teares perfited her ioyes and made the period of her expiring griefes the preamble to her nowe entring and neuer ending pleasures O how mercifull a father thou art to left Orphanes how easie a iudge to repentant sinners and howe faithfull a friend to sincere louers It is vndoubtedly true that thou neuer leauest those that loue thée and thou louest suche as rest their affiance in thée They shall finde thée liberall aboue desert bountifull beyond hope a measurer of thy giftes not by their merites but by thy owne mercie O christian soule take Mary for thy mirrour follow her affection that like effectes may follow thine Learne O sinfull man of this once a sinfull woman that sinners may finde Christ if there sinnes be amended Learne that whome sinne looseth loue recouereth whome faintnesse of faith chaseth away firmnes of hope recalleth that which no other mortall force fauour or policy can compasse the continued teares of a constant loue are able to obtaine Learne of Mary for Christ to feare no encounters out of Christ to desire no comforts and with the loue of Christ to ouer-rule the loue of all things Rise early in y e morning of thy good motions and let them not sléepe in sloth when diligence may perfourme them Run with repentaunce to thy sinfull heart which should haue béene the temple but through thy faulte was no better then a Tombe for Christ sith hauing in thée no life to féele him he semed vnto thée as if he had béene dead Roule away the stone of thy former hardnes remoue all the heauy loades y t oppresse thée in sin looke into thy soule whether thou canst there finde thy Lord. If he be not within thée stand wéeping without and séeke him in other creatures sith being present in all he may be found in any Let faith be thy eie hope thy guide and loue thy light Séeke him and not his for himselfe and not for his giftes If thy faith haue found him in a cloude let thy hope séek to sée him If hope haue led thee to sée him let loue séeke further into him To moue in thée a desire to finde his goods are precious and when he is found to kéep thée in a desire to séek his treasures are infinit Absent he must be sought to be had being had he must be sought to be more enioyed Séeke him truely and no other for him Séeke him purely and no other thing with him Séeke him only and nothing beside him And if at the first search he appeare not thinke it not much to perseuer in tears and to continue thy seeking Stand vpon the earth treading vnder thée all earthly vanities and touching them with no more then the soals of thy féete that is with the lowest and least part of thy affection To looke the better in the tombe bow down thy necke to the yoake of humility and stoupe from lofty and proud conceites that with humbled and lowly lookes thou maist finde whom swelling and haughtie thoughtes haue drawne away A submitted soule soonest winneth his returne and the déeper it sinketh in a selfe contempt the higher it climeth in his highest fauours And if thou perceiuest in the tombe of thy hart the presence of his two first messengers that is at the féet sorrow of the bad that is past and at the head desire to a better that is to come entertaine them with sighes and welcome them with penitent tears yet reckoning them but as herbingers of thy Lord cease not thy seeking till thou findest himselfe And if hee vouchsafe thee with his glorious sight offering himselfe to thy inward eies presume not of thy selfe to be able to knowe him but as his vnworthie suppliant prostrate thy petitions vnto him that thou maiest truely discerne him and faithfully serue him Thus preparing thée with diligence comming with spéede standing with high lifted hopes and stouping with inclined heart if with Marie thou crauest no other solace of Jesus but Jesus himselfe he will answere thy teares with his presence and assure thée of his presence with his owne words that hauing séene him thy selfe thou maiest make him knowne to others saying with Marie I haue seene our Lord and these thinges he sayd vnto me Laus Deo Faults escaped in the Printing IN the Epistle fol. 2. b. lin 2. sconces read scoutes To the Reader foure lines before the end and the patience read and patience FOl. 2. b. lin 23 eternall read externall fol. 3. b. l. 19. summoned read summed Fol 4. a. l. 3. disease read decease Fol. 6. a. l. 21. for read For. Fol. 6. b. l. 15. companions read champions Fol. 7. a. l. 22. drouen read drowned Fol. 7. b. l. 7. should read would Fol. 11. b. l. 7. to thy read to her Fol. 14. a. l. 24. demanding read demaund Fol. 18. b. l. 22. I heard read I had Fol. 19. a. l. 14. couch read touch Fol. 22. b. l. 1. heart read harts Ibid. l. 8. this read his Fol. 23. a. l. 10. dicease read decease Fol. 26. b. l. 14. enioyned read enioyed Fol. 29. b. l. 12. trouble read throbbes Ibid. l. 21. without which calling it commeth read which without calling commeth Fol. 31. a. l. 9. to weeping read to no more then weeping Fol. 35. a. l. 25. better titles read better many titles Fol. 44. a. l. 12. misere read miserie Fol. 51. b. l. 25. to read do Fol. 52. a. l. 3. kind strength read kind thy strength Fol. 53. b. l. 7. His Sayts read His holy one Fol. 58. b. l. 21. breaketh read brake Fol. 66 a. l. 14. lenity read lenitiue Ibid. l. 20. kisse thy read kisse in thy Iohn 20. Ioan. 19. Iohn 20. Sap. 5.
sayd that thou art The way the truth and the life If then thou art a way easie to find neuer erring how doth shée misse thée If a life giuing life and neuer ending why is shée ready to die for thée If a true promising truth neuer failing howe is shée bereaued of thée For if what thy tongue did speake thy truth will auerre shée will neuer aske more to make her most happy Remember that thou saidst to thy sister that Mary had chosen the best part which should not be takē from her That shée choose the best part is out of question sith shée made choise of nothing but onelye of thée But how can it be verified that this part shall not be taken from her sith thou that art this part art already taken away If shée could haue kept thée shée would not haue lost thée and had it béene in her power as it was in her will shée would neuer haue parted from thée and might shée nowe bée restored to thy presence shée would try all Fortunes rather then forgoe thée Sith therefore shée seketh nothing but what shée choose and the losse of her choise is the onely cause of her comber either vouchsafe thou to kéepe this best part that shée choose in her or I sée not how it can be true that it shall not bée taken from her But thy meaning happely was that though it be taken from her eies yet it should neuer bee taken from her heart and it may be thy inward presence supplieth thine outward absence yet I can hardlye thinke but that if Mary had thée within her shée could féele it and if shée felt it shée would neuer séeke thée Thou art too hoate a fire to be in her bosome and not to burne her and thy light is too great to leaue her minde in this darkenesse if it shined in her In true louers euery part is an eie and euery thought a looke and therefore so swéet an obiect among so many eies and in so great a light could neuer lie so hidden but loue would espie it No no if Mary had thée her innocent heart neuer taght to dissemble could not make complaint the out side of a concealed comforte neither would shée turne her thoughtes to pasture in a dead mans tombe if at home shée might bid them to so heauenly a banquet Her loue would not haue a thought to spare nor a minute to spend in any other action then in enioying of thée whome shée knew too wel to abridge the least part in her from so high a happinesse For her thirst of thy presence was so excéeding and the Sea of thy ioies so well able to afforde her a full draught that though euery parcell in her should take in a whole tide of thy delightes shée would thinke them too few to quiet her desires Yea doubtlesse if shée had thée within her shée would not enuye the Fortune of the richest Empresse yea shée would more reioyce to be thy tōbe in earth then a throne in heauen and disdain to be a Saint if shée were worthy to be but thy shrine But peraduenture it is now with her mind as it was with the Apostles eies and as they séeing thee walk vppon the sea tooke thée for a Ghost so shée séeing thee in her heart déemeth thée but a fansie being yet better acquainted with thy bodily shape then with thy spirituall power But O Mary it séemeth too strange that hee whome thou séekest and for whome thou wéepest should thus giue thée ouer to these painefull fittes if in thée he did not sée a cause for which he will not be séene of thée Still thy plaint and stint thy wéeping for I doubt there is some trespasse in thy teares and some sinne in thy sorrow doest thou not remember his wordes to thée and to other women when he said Daughters of Hierusalem weepe not vppon me but weepe vppon your selues and vpon your children What meanest thou then to continue this course Doth he forbid thy teares and wilt not thou forbeare them Is it no fault to infringe his will or is not that his will that his wordes doe import The fault must be mended ere the penaunce be released and therefore either cease to wéepe or neuer hope to finde But I know this Logicke little pleaseth thée and I might as soon win thée to forbeare liuing as to leaue weping Thou wilt say that though he forbad thée to wéepe for him yet he lefte thée free to wéepe for thy selfe and sith thy loue hath made thée one with him thou wepest but for thy self when thou wéepest for him But I aunswer thée againe that because he is one with thée and thy wéeping for him hath bin forbidden thée thou canst not wéepe for thy selfe but his wordes will condemn thee For if thou and he are one for which soeuer thou weepest it is all one and therefore sith for him thou maiest not weepe forbeare all weeping least it should offend Yea but saiest thou to barre mee from weeping is to abridge me of liberty and restraint of liberty is a penalty and euery penalty supposeth some offence but an offence it is not to weep for my selfe for he would neuer commaund it if it were not lawfull to doe it The fault therefore must be in being one with him that maketh the weeping for my selfe a weeping also for him And if this be a fault I will neuer amend it and let them that thinke it so doe penaunce for it for my part sith I haue lost my mirth I will make much of my sorrow and sith I haue no ioy but in teares I may lawfully shedde them Neither thinke I his former word a warrant against his latter deede And what neede had he to weepe vppon the Crosse but for our example which if it were good for him to giue it can not be euill for mee to follow No no it is not my weeping that causeth my losse sith a worlde of eies a sea of tears could not worthely bewaile the misse of such a maister Yet since neither thy seeking findeth nor thy weeping preuaileth satisfy thy selfe with the sight of Angels Demaunding the cause of their comming and the reason of thy Lords remoue and sith they first offer the occasion of parley be not thou too dainty of thy discourse It may be they can calm thy stormes and quiet thy vnrest and therefore conceale not from them thy sore leaste thou loose the benefite of their emplaister But nothing can moue Mary to admit comfort or entertaine any company for to one alone and for euer she hath vowed her selfe and except it be to him shee will neither lend her eare long to others nor borrow others helpe least by seeking to alay her smart shee should lessen her loue But drawing into her minde all pensiue conceites shee museth and pineth in a consuming languor taking comfort in nothing but in being comfortlesse Alas saith shee small is the light that a