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
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
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
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
might not very well become me None will bar me frō defending my life which the least worme in the right of nature hath leaue to preserue And sith he is to me so deare a life that without him all life is death nature authoriseth my féeble forces to imploy their vttermost in so necessary an attempt Necessity addeth ability loue doubleth necessity and it often happeneth that nature armed with loue and pressed with néede excéedeth it selfe in might and surmounteth all hope in successe And as the equity of the cause doth breath courage into the defendors making them the more willing to fight the lesse vnwilling to die so guilty consciences are euer timerous still starting with sodaine frights and afrayd of their own suspitions ready to yéeld before the assault vppon distrust of their cause and dispaire of their defence Sith therefore to rescue an innocent to recouer a right and to redresse so déep a wrong is so iust a quarrell nature will enhable me loue encourage me grace confirme me and the iudge of all iustice fight in my behalfe And if it séeme vnfitting to my sexe in talke much more in practise to deal with martiall affaires yet when such a cause happeneth as neuer had patterne such effects must follow as are without example There was neuer any body of a God but one neuer such a body stollen but now neuer such a stealth vnreuenged but this Sith therefore the Angels neglect it men forget it O Iudith lend me thy prowesse for I am bound to regard it But suppose that my force were vnable to winne him by an open enterprise what scruple should kéepe me from seeking him by secret means yea and by plain stealth It wilbe thought a sinne and condemned for a theft O swéete sinne why was not I the first that did commit thée Why did I suffer any other sinner to preuent me for stealing from God his honour I was called a sinner and vnder that title was spred my infamy But for stealing God from a false owner I was not worthy to be called a sinner because it had béene too high a glory If this be so great a sinne and so heinous a theft let others make choise of what titles they will but for my part I would refuse to be an Angel I would not wishe to be a Saint I would neuer be estéemed either iust or true and I shoulde be best contented if I might both liue and die such a sinner and be condemned for such a theft When I heard my Lord make so comfortable a promise to the théefe vppon the crosse that he should that day be with him in Paradise I had halfe an enuy at that théefes good Fortune and wished my selfe in the théefes place so I might haue enioyed the fruite of his promise But if I could be so happy a théefe as to commit this theft if that wish had takeu effect I would now vn wishe it againe and scorne to be any other théef then my self sith my booty could make me happier then any other théefes felicity And what though my felony should be called in question in what respect should I néede to feare They would say that I loued him too well But that were soone disproued sith where the worthinesse is infinite no loue can be inough They would obiect that I stole an others goods and as for that many sure titles of my interest would aucree him to be mine and his dead corse would rather speak then witnesses should faile to depose so certaine a truth And if I had not a speciall right vnto him what shuld moue me to venture my life for him No no if I were so happy a felone I shoulde fear no temporal araignmēt I should rather feare that the Angels woulde cite me to my aunswere for preuenting them in the theft sith not the highest Seraphin in heauē but would déeme it a higher stile then his owne to be the théefe that had committed so glorious a robbery But alas thus stand I deuising what I would do if I knew any thing of him and in the meane time I neither know who hath him nor where they haue bestowed him and stil I am forced to dwell in this aunswere that They haue taken away my Lord and I know not wher they haue put him While Marie thus lost her selfe in a Laberinth of doubtes watering her wordes with teares and warming them with sighes séeing the Angels with a kind of reuerēce rise as though they had done honour to one behinde her She turned backe and she saw Iesus standing but that it was Iesus she knewe not O Marie is it possible that thou hast forgotten Iesus faith hath written him in thy vnderstanding loue in thy will both feare and hope in thy memorie and how can all these registers be so cancelled that so plainly séeing thou shouldest not know the contentes For him onely thou tyrest thy féete thou bendest thy knées thou wringest thy handes For him thy heart throbbeth thy brest sigheth thy tongue complaineth For him thy eye wéepeth thy thought sorroweth thy wholebody fainteth and thy soule languisheth In summe there is no part in thée but is busie about him c notwithstanding all this hast thou nowe forgotten him His countenance auourheth it his voyce assureth it hys woundes witnesse it thy owne eyes beholde it and doest thou not yet beléeue that this is Iesus Are thy sharp séeing eies become so weake sighted that they are dazeled with the sunne and blinded with the light But there is such a showre of teares betwéene thée and him and thy eyes are so dimmed with wéeping for him that though thou seest the shape of a man yet thou canst not discerne him Thy eares also are still so possessed with the dolefull Eccho of his last spéeches which want of breath made him vtter in a dying voyce that the force loudnesse of his liuing wordes maketh thee imagine it the voice of a stranger and therefore as hée séemeth vnto thée so like a stranger hee asketh this question of thée O woman why weepest thou whom seekest thou O desire of heart and onely ioy of her soule why demandest thou why shée wéepeth or for whome she séeketh But a whilesince she saw thée hir only hope hanging on a trée with thy head full of thornes thy eies full of teares thy eares full of blasphemies thy mouth full of gall thy whole person mangled and disfigured and doest thou aske her why shee wéepeth Scarse thrée daies passed she beheld thy arms and legs racked with violent pulles thy hands and féete boared with nails thy side wounded with a speare thy whole body torne with stripes and goared in bloud and doest thou hir only griefe aske hir why shée wéepeth She beheld thee vppon the crosse with many teares most lamentable cries yeelding vp her ghost that is thy own ghost alas askest thou why she weepeth And now to make vp hir misere hauing but one
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