holde that if a child doe dye after vse of reason and neuer raised to God-ward any act of loue either little or much he can hardly be saued And their breeders are infinitely to blame that put them not to it For if nothing on our part do bring vs to heauen but loue and this loue be so cold in a capable creature as neither inward eie of faith can mooue him nor howerly benfites can stirre him to loue the bestower how can such a spirit aspire where God hath to doe They tell vs next we must loue our selues next And in our selfe are two things conteined Our soule and our body Our soule we must esteeme aboue all creatures and we must not aduenture the losse of it for ten thousand soules Our third loue is to our neighbour both body and soule His soule I must loue more then my life and goods especially if I be his pastour and haue charge of him ex officio His life also I mây preferre before my owne out of friendship if not out of charity And so I may loose my life for him or in defence of the weake or innocentbody and this is a great vertue but we are not alwaies bound to it Wee are taught also how to loue our parents wife children which more if it come to be shewne as in case of necessitie There is a loue and care due to seruants that they want no necessaries to masters that wee faile them not in our duty or charge They teach vs to loue our benefactours both bodily and ghostly and which more if it may not be done to both alike There is a iustice and truth in all these And it is not idle to aske and know our duty in all And yet these latter may seeme more curious then necessary but I come to greater matters and more neere to our purpose They shew vs further our duty to the publique and where the common good is to bee preferred before priuate and where it is in our wils to preferre it or not And first for life or member if twenty doe assault mee I may kill them all rather then be killed so it be in my iust defence and not against lawfull authority And yet if a man be so charitable they doe not deny but he may suffer himselfe to bee killed rather then kill Whereof there haue beene noble examples though very few now adaies And therefore men are deceiued when they thinke they are bound to kill rather then be killed It is not so They may kill but they are not bound Yea on the other side if he that assaults mee vniustly bee a publique person as the king or any of his children I am bound to flye him as Dauid did Saul but if he follow me so hard that I must kill or be killed I am bound to loose my life and it lyes not in my choise So of a Bishop or some other eminent person whom the Common-wealth cannot spare if one boate will not holde both I am bound to slippe out and leaue my selfe to God Yea they say further if my life be sought maliciously in France and I flye into England for succour and there is like to be warres for mee or breach of amity betweene Princes although the State may not deliuer mee for that were tradere iustum sanguinem Yet am I bound to render my selfe to my enemies before publique peace should be broken or any league in hazzard for mee Such high regard must be had of publique good that a mans priuate is almost nothing to it And with this we see how the law of nature concurres Hesione was commended for it and so was Curtius the Romane for exposing themselues as they did the one to bee deuoured of a monster the other to be swallowed horse and man in a gashfull pit to stoppe the plague that was then in their citty They teach vs also touching goods and possessions or any worldly thing we haue that tendeth to our being or well being they be all either necessary or superfluous Necessaries a man must not be negligent to prouide And it is lawfull for vs to loue them so farre forth as we cannot bee without them no more then without life And these be in two sorts as either necessaries of life meate drinke warme cloathes which euery one must haue the poorest that is or necessaries of estate that a man was borne to or liueth in As if he be a yeoman thus if a knight or gentleman thus if a nobleman thus and the greater the persons are the more things are necessary which to the inferiour are excesse And all these may haue a proportion in our loues We loue a new hatte or garment a faire gowne or handsome cloake or what else is fitting for vs to weare within our compasse or degree Wee loue a good dish and competent fare proportionable to our meanes And euery man knowes what is meetest for him and best suting to his ability euen that the ciuilest sort of his ranke doth vse with decency and without ostentation or incroaching vpon the rankes aboue him eyther man or woman A great many delight yea too too many in excesse but such loue is naught and vicious The backe and belly haue made much worke for Parliaments and Lawyers euery where It is an old fault and the Lacedemonians so preuailed against it both for diet and wearing that the subiect neuer exceeded The Romanes likewise had many lawes about expences called sumptuarie as the Aemilian and Licinian lawes what they should spend ordinarily and what vpon Calends and festiuall dayes By the lawes fannia and didia principall men were bound to spend but so much in meate and no more besides hearbes bread and wine and that must be of the same country and no other To say nothing of the Anthian lawe that was made to barre suppers and other lawes without number which their outrage of excesse gaue occasion of There was also the law Oppia for apparrell especially for women that they might not exceede in their settings out nor be carried in litters Yet Solon would not haue them walke the streetes in solemnitie out of coach neither might they weare in their eare aboue seauenty graines Their excesse ye must thinke was very strange and monstrous that caused these lawes and there be many statutes in our daies for wearing but no reformation I know no good comes of them saue that they argue vs of our pride and giue vs a learning what is fitte for euery one to weare Other fruite I see none of them neither force I much I speake onely of the law that should be within vs the law of a good conscience which is to know and doe and to cutte off excesse in all It shewes a weakenesse of minde and poorenesse of soule that powres it selfe out so excessiuely vpon outward vanities and pride For what is it els they would be great and are not great they would bee Queenes and are not Queenes yet
of it I haue not beene troublesome some to you to inueigh against vanities or loue of the world Ye haue store of bookes concerning that matter I haue not declaimed of worldly contentments how far they bee from true contentments yea rather thornes Mat. 13. Eccl. 1. as our Sauiour calles them or affliction of spirit as Salomon tearmes them Euery sermon yee heare is full of this Argument whereunto I referre you And therefore if yee should like to loue them or set your heart on them beeing so base as they bee in vaine yee hasten forward that goe so cleane backward In vaine yee flye vpward with so heauy a clogge at your heele and in vain do I perswade you to make haste that will not doe a way first what will hinder you of your iourney Haue ye riches loue thē loosely part with them willingly if neede bee Haue yee pleasures vse them moderately in godly feare Haue ye honour and preheminence keepe watch with your selues ouer pride and disdaine and let all that know you make account of you that yee bee as humble as honourable And so if yee can carry your contentments in this sort as God bee the practicall ground in whom alone is our true Satis or contentment then are yee vndoubtedly in your true and perfect way to heauen and nothing remaineth now but that yee make haste and take comfort in it Howbeit for that in our best actions and endeauours that we haue in our way to God our spirits bee often times dull and haue neede of quickening Sap. 9. for as it is written our body corruptible weigheth downe our soule and hindreth haste exceedingly It shall be our next and last point that I will entreate of to say somewhat of the ioyes in heauen that may waken vs when wee slumber remember vs when wee forget and spurre vs forward to amend our pace when wee begin to stand still But this I will reserue vntill our next meeting I will trouble you no further now FINIS THE SECOND Oration vpon Panis Angelorum I Began the other day with Bread and now I will end with Bread I began with Bread of Trauellers I will end with Bread of Angels The best dish I haue reserued for last the bread the Angels feede on for euer The other bread which wee haue spoken of was a preparatiue for this bread and this thereward of that to set at board with angels to eate angels meate Psal 77. Not the meate that was brought the Israelites by the ministery of angels and perished but that which angels themselues doe feede on in sight of their maker And how farre better is this then to sit with Princes or to be fellowes with Potentates This is it must bee the reward of our Labours this the Saturity which nothing can be added vnto The very reward that holy Moses looked after and now hath to his fill As it is written Moses beheld his reward Heb. 11. His eye was still vpon this reward and so ouercame with ease the hardnes he sustained vpon mountaines and rocks for forty yeares together and what he endured in all his timethere the tongue of man cannot expresse Hee was one that walked perfectly in the wayes of God alwayes and therefore was wortthy to talke with God face to face Mitissimus super terram not a milder or an humbler that euer liued vpon earth And yet the better to hold out through all afflictions to the end aspiciebat remunerationem hee was glad to looke at his reward and to remember often what he should haue for his paines in the end S. Paul likewise had his eye that way Rom. 8. that he said that all wee can suffer in this world cannot deserue the glory that attends vs in the world to come But how did Saint Paul or how did Moses know this were they euer to see it certaine it is they had some illustrations more then other because their loue of God was greater and their paines in Gods seruice much more then others 2. Cor. 12. Exod. 33. The one was rauished into the third heauens the other saw the back-parts of God as the Scriptures make mention By which I inferre if such noble sparkes as these had neede of these comforts and to reflect sometimes vpon their reward How much more wee that are of the latter brood borne as it were in the wayne of the world and comming short a great deale of their spirit and feruour had we neede I say to thinke one it often and to beare continually the ioyes of heauen in our minde yea to keepe if it might be a true picture of them alwaies before our eyes for feare of forgetting For thus it is with vs. If we forget them we are like to hazzard them if we remember them they are like to be our owne There be foure last things that we are taught to beare in minde Deut. 32. and wee shall neuer sinne whereof heauen is the principall Death iudgement and hell are very needefull also to be thought of because it is good for vs to feare aswell as loue These indeede doe fill vs with feare and terror but heauen filles vs with loue and ardent desire Hell driues to God heauen drawes to God Hell whips vs with horror heauen hales vs with beauty Loue feare are both of them profitable I say but loueis more acceptable to God because it is his owne prime and originall quality who dreadeth nothing and all things dread him It seemeth my deare louers and friends yee looke that I should somewhat say of the ioyes of heanen what they bee and so it were fit if I were able to performe it But mee think when I enter into so great a matter I am stricken on a suddaine with barrennesse and know not how to expresse my selfe or where to begin For I must speake of that which I doe but wincke at a farre off neither can I well tell what credit I shall haue with you to philosophate vnto you of most excellent colours which I neuer sawe but darkeling For if S. Paul could not tell vs that little which he saw nor yet Moses nor if any other Saint haue beene there and come againe to life as S. Gregory writes of one Felix in Dial. much lesse shall I be able that neuer came neere that place to delineate vnto yee any thing with my rude pensill 2. Cor. 12. that shall bee worth your expectation Saint Paul cals them Arcana hidden misteries that are kept vnder seale from vs and such as we may not aspire to knowe vntill we come there and much lesse to tell no not with the tongue of an angell The best that I can bring you will bee but a reflexion of a reflexion or a peece of the Sunnes glory by night in the body of the Moone And yet since ye are come to heare and I haue vndertaken to say somewhat I will bee bold to say what I
out of the pulpit But because it was not honourable they would none of it So say I. Is there sinne in it then not honourable Is there no way to quit our selues but to strike God almighty Remember in your assaults of anger what Philip of Macedon said to Demochares the Athenian Oratour when hee tolde the king it would please the Athenians well if hee would goe hang himselfe Seneca saith the king was not mooued with it nor touched him for it as hee might but willed him goe aske his masters that sent him which was more honourable to giue those words or to take them An answer most worthy the father of Alexander But let vs ende where wee began My deare louers and friends let vs neuer be so hotte as to forget to be Christians And let vs bee also Christianlike And whatsoeuer fault wee haue as who hath not yet let vs hate no man no not our enemy but pitty him and inwardly loue him for his loue and Pitties sake who gaue his hearts blood for his mortall enemies His loue brought him from heauen to earth and your loue must bring you from earth to heauen Our learned say and I beleeue it well There is no vertue such as this to indeere vs to God nor any thing the diuell bestirs him more in then to breake in sunder the linkes that chaine vs together Let vs be wise in this or in nothing Say we be suddenly mooued to breake amity or peace Yet let it not bee much or if much Eph. 4. yet Sol non occidat super iracundiam vestram Let not the sunne goe downe in your wrath It will not ill become a redde scarfe and a plume of feathers to heare the trumpet of God speake Let not the sunne go downe in your anger saith Saint Paul As who should say when ye lye downe lay downe What must ye lay downe Lay downe your weapon lay downe all malice and hatred More then that Lay downe anger and all thoughts of reuenge So farre be it from yee to thinke of challenge or answer in that kind Vanquish your selues ouercome your selues shewe your selues Gods men and conquer your selues If ye were hotte in the day bee coole at night If yee were hasty when time was yee haue respite to thinke on it double not your folly with a new daies sinne The sunne is downe yee must thinke no more of it Haue yee vowed reuenge Haue yee tenne times vowed it The sunne is downe yee are bound to breake your vowe Aske your learned if it be not so Euery time you goe to pray they will tell you yee must lay aside quarrels Forget and forgiue if yee will bee heard of God Especially at two times and then it is sacriledge they say or sinne against the holy Ghost to keepe a quarrell in your breast The one is when yee goe to receiue the Sacrament The other in any likeli-hood of death be it by seruice or sicknesse as yee may learne also by the heathen aforesaid Phocion Let Duellors looke to this at their perill that goe to dye or may dye and carry so bloody a mind with them in steade of a winding sheete Let vs not be harder hearted then Pagans in the new Orbe where the Lords or Naires would stab their seruants dayly vpon their least miscarriage towards their Masters Mat 9. They leaue it now rather then loose the Church-rites Euen so must we do by rancour and reuenge We may not carry such baggage to Church with vs. If yee bee wronged I denie ye not to right your selues by law or other meanes lawfull and if lawes releeue you not I wish they might But this I must tell you Ye may not looke to haue all that is wrong to be righted heere in this world or not so suddenly as your heat and hastinesse many times expects If all things were right heere there were no matter of patience in this life 2. Cor. 6. Saint Paul was content with good fame and badde The testimony of a good conscience was to him sufficient And ye are no better then Scipio and Coriolanus that died in banishment by malice of their enemies Some are kept from lands some from goods or good name and shall not be righted till Doomse-day And yet if a man haue patience the case is very rare but he may bee righted heere But it may bee yee are in haste ye cannot stay the Magistrates leisure nor your friendes And what will ye do if ye be sore hurt must ye be whole in haste or not at all will ye giue time to your Surgeon for your curing and none to the Magistrate for your satisfying Bee not to earnest and hotte in your parly Be not furious as some be nor giue euill words A lauish tongue was neuer graft on a noble hart I haue noted that the worthier the persons be the sooner they be at one And Caesar when he perceiued his mortall enemy Caluus but a little inclining to peace he preuented him streight and wrot vnto him first But I make an end Set God before yee I beseech yee Let it not be nobis vtile that is turpe deo And yee may know the foulnesse of your fault alwaies by your vnwillingnesse to be aduised in it by any reuerend man I haue beene long but it may be for your profite if ye escape a scourge by mee Haply yee will one day say with King Dauid Psal 34. Congregata sunt super me flagella et ignorabam When ye shall see your fault and seeke to amend it God will drawe the vaile from before your eyes and shewe you the whippes that were readie for yee if yee had continued in this errour But yee haue time now to consider of it Once againe remember S. Paul Sol non occidat Is the Sunne downe Cry truce to anger truce to reuenge Free your soules from passion and vnquietnesse True honour bee your ground Weare no colours but of God and your Prince and relye vpon them boldely So shall yee bee as truely honourable as yee bee duely obsequious Iacta super dominum curam tuam Cast your care vpon God and your countrey Psal 54. and they will protect your honour and defend your fame and will not suffer yee to goe to your graues with the least disgrace FINIS TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE SIR FRANCIS BACON KNIGHT BARON OF VERVLAM LORD HIGH Chancellour of England SIR you are the highest Iusticer in this land or next the highest And therefore this peece of my labour if it be worth so much I thinke fit to dedicate to your Honor. In this garden of English iustice you are a principall gardiner where euery subiect should be a weeder to pull vp that by the roote which makes you endlesse worke This roote of Auarice is not so great but the compasse of a heart containes it The biggest man hath no bigger plat to weed in and yet your Lordsh findes to your paines that it is not
one in a manner that left heauen to dwell in the world hath left the world to dwell in vs. A noble possession keeper a noble protector of all wee haue if wee can hold him By this being of God in vs wee shall not looke to prophecy or do miracles or great wonders in the world which are more for others good then our owne But all that is sure to better our soules wee shall be sure to haue God will neuer see vs want happinesse Wee are possest of God with receiuing of God and wee are often possest with receiuing him often And if it be miserable to be possest of euill and wicked spirits how happy is it then to be possest of God who brings all good things with him And lastly if this temple of his this body of ours do chance to perish or bee wronged or ruined for his greater glory our trial in tribus diebus Suscitabit illud Ioh. 2. he wil build it again quickly much fairer then it was There bee of you heere that haue tasted the good of this bread of Trauellers and often receiuing it it hath made you hardy and resolute in your businesse and to such as haue dyed in the field it hath beene their Viaticum as the fathers call it to bring them to God Such viaticum or voyage prouision God send vs neere our death if we dye on a suddaine Yee haue hitherto heard what necessity there is of this heauenly bread and some part of the benefit of it and what cause our Prophet had to cry out vpon vs as hee doth for misbestowing what wee haue so vily and not vpon these breads for heaping vnworthy things in this world and neglecting the worthiest that will sticke by vs for euer If the Prophet were now liuing and saw our grossenesse in this behalfe hee would thunder more plainely against vs then he doth Behold he is yet liuing in his writings and spirit Let not the letter lye dead in the booke take it and beate it in a mortar Bruise it well and powne it into spice that the fragrancy of it may fill euery corner of your house make a sheafe of wheate of it and thrash it out for a grist to serue at your board and feede your soule It followes in the same place your labours and not in Saturitie Esay 55. or fulnesse Now since we haue done with the bread of trauellers we ought of right to speake next of the bread of Angels which was the other part of my deuisiō before we leaue bread go to anew matter Howbeit because we haue reserued this of Angels to be spoken of last wee will breake order a little and goe forward first with our Prophets owne words as they lye and the other bread we shall finde oportunitie for God willing at an other time Why spend yee your siluer saith hee and not in bread your labour and not in saturity Hee said before your Siluer now your labour He said before and not in bread now and not in Saturity Before he found fault with misspending our goods now for wasting our bodies for so is to bee vnderstood this word labour which is as much to say as toyle of body and minde Gods curse it was vpon Adam that the earth and creatures should rebell against him and nothing he should haue without labour and toyle Gen. 3. in labore comedes If thou wilt eate thou must labour for it and in the sweat of thy brow shall bee thy foode He hath shewne before how prodigally wee spend our substance vpon euery thing but that wee should Our will vpon selfe-liking our wit vpon fancies our vnderstanding vpon things fading and transitory our learning if we haue any vpon sensuality our stile or tongue in setting foorth a lye assoone as a true tale our health in pastime and play and all that we haue in idle vanities for the most part with little respect of God or of his holy seruice for which onely we were created insinuating vnto vs that if it were not in bread or in order to God it must needs be in one of these Now comes he to our bodies also and the actions thereof how we bestowe our strength how our labour how our hands and feete how our sences and finding them all no better bestowed then the other were that is to say in hope of ease and yet no true ease in hope of pleasure and yet no true pleasure in hope of filling and yet empty in hope of Saturity and yet no true Saturity hee asketh this question as before of our money and other outward things so now of our labours and cares of life saying why bestow yee all these things as ye doe and not in Saturity Saturity yee must thinke is as much to say as fulnesse of contentment It is as much to say as I haue enough Lord Satis est I aske no more in this life It is written of holy Ephraim and others Luk. 22. Plat. lib. 3. that were much addicted to prayer and meditation that they found such extraordinary comfort therein sometimes that they brake forth into these words saying Satis domine enough Lord as much to say as hold thy hand Lord I haue enough Let mee not haue heauen before I come there I haue enough And this is not onely their contentment that are perfect but it is euery good bodies that loues vertue and delights in prayer and although he haue not extraordinary comforts nor can expect those rare illuminations which some haue had yet if hee vse but an ordinary deuotion in his ordinary course of prayers and resigne himselfe wholly to God he shall finde no doubt so much quickening hope that hee shall rise from his knees very contentedly with Satis domine and such compleate satisfaction as in his humility and acknowledgement of his vnworthinesse hee would thinke is much more then he could expect I confesse and let this be our ground that there is no absolute content in this life all our content euen a Saints content vpon earth is but in enigmate or like the sunne in a cloude vpon a gloomy day and therefore holy Dauid saith Satiabor cum apparuerit gloria tua he saith not Satior in the present Psal 16. but Satiabor in the future tense Signifying hereby that there is no saciety in this life no perfect filling or saturity here it must be in heauen not here it is in vision of God not in fruition of creatures wee are here but in expectation there in possession here in hope and promise there in deede and performance here in fight there in victory here like hunters and souldiers there wee deuide the spoiles The souldier in his fore-age is glad of any thing he can get and saith Satis The faulconer likewise or hunter is well pleased for the time at a poore mans house and saith Satis for it as if he were at home in richer fare And this is the best of
passe to a sixt property which is in our Angels bread and was not in the other There is no doubt but we shall haue our taste in heauen as other our sences but in greater vse and perfection And if we could make a peece of bread to taste in our mouth of what wee list like a peare or pearmaine a cherry a plumbe or a peece of marmalet wee would thinke it an excellent thing Behold our Angels bread tastes of God and in God is euery good taste No amber or ciuet so sweete as hee no conserue so preseruatiue no codinik so delectable Is not all this also comprehensible How is it then that we say heauen is incomprehensible And yet we must make our saying good that it is indeed incomprehensible All our amplifying is nothing absque eo Cant. 4. quod intrinsecus latet All is nothing to that which is hidden as the louer said of his loue in the Canticles It is hidden from vs most that shall delight vs most Fewe of all these are there that I haue spoken of Buildings and walles of gold no such thing there no greene meddowes or siluer streames no musicke or melody such as euer we heard or knew All these bee base to that wee shall finde there And yet our sences heere attaining no higher matter of pleasure these things are said to bee there that wee most desire and haue greatest luster heere And which if wee finde not there in these kinds yet are we not deceiued because we shall finde them there in another kind wee know not of fiue hundred times better and without all comparison greater And this doe they that bee learned call Theologiam negatiuam Grana de Symb. Because all that we can say heere of heauen and heauenly things in the affirmatiue wee may boldly deny and say there is no such thing there For our bodies it is cleere wee shall be bright quicke nimble subtill full of noble perfections such as we can aske no more But for things without vs how wee shall finde them no man can iustly say No such light as wee apprehend no such mirth or feasting no pearle or pretious gemes there no palace of pleasure with Bricks or pauements of gold no such odours for the smell or dainty notes to our eare or gustfull things to our pallat as wee haue them heere But on the contrary if we say what is nôt there that is euill and troublesome heere all that we may boldly say to be literally true No afflictiō there no feare of any thing no sorrow or lamentation no weeping or wayling nor any thing that can grieue This flesh of ours shall not bee heauy lumpish or drowsie mortall passible corruptible or subiect to torment not so much as to a finger-ake All this wee are sure shall nôt be and wee shall nôt haue but what else wee shall finde there or what heauen is in the affirmatiue it is wholly concealed from vs vntill wee come there And therefore as to our present knowledge and to our now capacity if wee should take vpon vs to define or describe heauen what it is I know not how to doe it then to say thus Heauen is that which it is nôt and it is nôt that which it is And with this agreeth a saying of Saint Paul For whatsoeuer wee say or affirme of heauen out of the Scriptures fathers reuelations or visions that good people haue had and I should stand to recite heere till night yet notwithstanding he tels vs absolutely In cor hominis non ascendit It neuer came vp into our heart and much lesse into our tongue to thinke or say what it is And to say the truth it were a great imperfection in heauens perfection that it should be like any thing heere or we in our mortality capeable of any thing there more then this in generall that it is a vision of God and that wee shall bee so delighted with this heauenly and blisfull gaze when wee come there that when wee haue beheld him incessantly as many thousand yeares as there be minutes of howres in a thousand yeares hee will still bee as new to vs as if wee had neuer seene him before and wee still more thirsty after his diuine contemplation then euer wee were of drinke after a hot daies iourney Howbeit to say now what this felicity is or rather in what sort we shall apprehend God or in what part or power of vs this feeling pleasure shall consist when wee come to see Christ and glorified friends we neither know nor can know heere No doubt the apprehension wee shall haue of him shall bee in our vnderstanding soule But whether in such sort as it is in other knowledges or whether the difference will be Specificall or no I know not Wee heare of many delicate fruites in strange countries apples peares or plumbes of most excellent taste and verdure The outsides are described to vs both for colour shape and bignesse But none can tell vs the sweetenesse or delightfull relish of them within vntill wee taste Onely this we know that our sense can iudge of them when we haue them and we shall neede no new addition to our senses perfection to taste them But when wee come to so infinite an obiect as God is shall we not neede a new vnderstanding thinke yee 2. Pet. 3. Apoc. 21. Nouos coelos nouam terram and ecce nouafacio omnia God will make all things new And shall not wee haue a new intellect also to vnderstand so new so rare and so vnspeakeable a mistery but I leaue it It is not for nothing that he saith in cor hominis non ascendit It neuer came into mans heart what God hath prepared there for those that loue him as they should doe heere And it is not onely the vision of God which the Apostle speaks of here but also of the particular ioyes and accidentall glories ensignes and lawrels that Saints shall haue giuen them there after as their fight and combate was here To Martyrs such a one to confessors such a one to virgins and other such as it pleaseth him Doctors and Preachers that labour to gaine soules shall haue their peculiar cognizance of glory And so shall Kings Princes and Magistrates that gouerne well and labour the publique good with their eye alwaies to God-ward And all you that bee military yee shall not want yours also that feare no blowes but are ready to execute for the good of your countrey All which particular glories what they shall be and of what fashion our liueries or new kinde of vesture or of what colour our ensignes and lawrels in our hands and a thousand things besides and how inestimably delightfull they will be to vs and gracefull in the sight of others neither eye hath seene nor eare heard nor hath it ascended into the heart of man quae preparauit saith he He saith not quod preparauit For God hath prepared many things for
how good it was to dye betimes For when the good olde woman Argia was in haste to goe to the sacrifice as Tully telleth in his Tusculan questions and her Coach-horses were out of the way what did her two Sonnes Cleobis and Biton but went in presently to strip and annoint themselues and drewe her thither in stead of horses in very good time For which their act she besought God to blesse them with the greatest reward that could bee giuen to men And so hee did For the next morning after she had feasted them ouer night and sent them well to bedde shee found them both stone dead Their guerdon of their Piety was shortnesse of life as the greatest good thing that could betide them And this no doubt doth many a good mother amongst vs obtaine for her childe when shee prayes for him and thinks not that God will quit her so though God doth know it to bee best so Yea good king Dauid had not his prayers 2. Reg. 12. when hee prayed so earnestly for his childes life God saw it best to take him away And how much happier had it beene for Absolon also to haue dyed in his cradle then liue to bee a Rebell And to this purpose I haue heard a saying of Fredericke the third that worthy Emperour and it was much noted That beeing asked once what was the best thing God could bestow on vs in the world to be taken well out of the world said hee and yet hee tasted three and fifty yeares what it was to bee an Emperour and to abound in peace and in all good things O what a benefite is this of God What thankes doe we owe him for it If a man haue a long way home in a hard winter time and when hee comes to his Inne at night all moyled and weather-beaten and must haue many such dayes before hee get home shall finde himselfe on a suddaine in the middest of his owne yard his wife and family with lights at the doore to entertaine him a good fire within to warme him and change to shift him will hee not stand amazed and fall on his knees with wonder that his iourney prooues so short yet this can no man expect nor can it be done without miracle A Merchant likewise that sets out from the Indies with goods of great price the iourney long and tedious and no lesse perilous If he passe through safe hee is made for euer if hee miscarrie hee and his are vndone and euery day breeds new feares Howbeit in putting in at some Cape three thousand miles hence if hee should finde himselfe at that instant iust before Calis or Douer could any tongue expresse his ioy Yet this must bee also by miracle And these good happes bee neuer heard of though in our case it bee ordinary and daily done without miracle So bountifull is Gods goodnesse towards vs that trafficke here for Heauen Our selues bee this Merchant or Traueller that would so faine bee at home Wee trade heere for good habits and the grace of God more worth a great deale then golde of Ophir or Heuilah Our care is heere but for safe arriuall through a maine of miseries and contradictions in our way It is common with God to harbour vs at halfe way The better halfe as I said are not gone halfe way but they are at their long home first or if not yet is it all one to a man if hee bee of resolution Despare and faint hee will not but hold it out to the end We may not sticke in a slough still without stirring a foote because we haue a great way home Wee may not cast our goods ouer boord because we know not when wee shall make vse of them Wee shall serue God still feare him still loue him still and attend his good pleasure still in little and great in wealth and pouerty in faire weather and in foule Wee shall not value inward riches at lesse then outward Heauen at lesse then the world nor take more care for clods then for glory If wee looke but for an Executor-ship or to be some rich mans heire wee are willing to obserue him with all respect wee can no duty or seruice omitted if hee bee our better no kinde of kindnesse vnshewne if hee bee our equall and this not for a moneth or a yeare but many yeares And if it bee so that wee thinke it long yet waxe wee not weary streight or cease to be respectfull as long as wee haue hope And if it were so that a man should be weary in such a case or should neglect the inheritance that is so long in comming and should goe ioyne with an enemy or loose his possibility for a horse or a hawke in hand should wee not holde him vnwise Yet thus it is with most of vs in matters of Eternity Heauen wee would haue but wee will not tarry for it Wee holde it tedious to bee so long Vertuous and in the meane time wee giue heede to our passions and our humors beare all the sway with vs. On the one side of vs loue of Carnality loue of soft and sweete loue of money and momentaries on the other side choller pride enuy rancor and reuenge and what not besides that the Diuell will suggest I speake of many things but one of these is enough to damne vs and to turne Gods face from vs for euer and all for lacke of but a short whiles perseuerance And this may suffice for the neerenesse of reward I prooued it before to be great and nowe to bee neere what can wee aske more ⧠The Conclusion I haue beene much longer and I feare mee more troublesome to you then I intended But the matter wee handle is of greatest moment and is the onely thing we must relye vpon and sticke to for euer All other matters are humane and temporary this euerlasting and Angelicall This is the last dish we must feede on serued into our table with a couer that we may not see it nor taste it vntill the couer of our flesh be taken away What it is I cannot describe to you in other sort then I haue done Well I know it is the same that Angels feed on The selfe same that Cherubins and Seraphins delight in For as the damned haue the same food and fire in hell as our Sauiour telleth vs that was prepared for the diuell and his Angels Mat. 25. so haue the Saued also the same fare and are fedde with the same foode that was ordayned for Gods Angels and the Coelestiall hierarchy And although we knowe not yet how or in what sort or kinde this feeding nourishing or exceeding pleasure shall affect vs for as Leo saith nisi fides credat sermo non explicat it is better beleeued then expressed yet haue I opened vnto you after my poore manner and giuen you a scantling of it how great it is both by the visible things in the world that are all nothing to it and
infinite labour For thy benefits haue no end nor am I able to expresse the greatnesse of the least of them Howbeit for so much as the commemoration of benefits receiued is both a thankfullnesse to a benefactour and a stirrer of duty and deuotion in the receiuer I cannot but often remember to thy glory and my poore comfort how I haue beene lost and how thou hast found me being found I was slacke and thou diddest put me forward vsing first my selfe-loue to pricke mee inwardly with feare of eternall damnation and after a while vsing my feare to fly sinne and to seeke thee by seeking thee to know thee and by knowing thee to bee acquainted with thee in some sort by acquaintance with thee to fall in loue with thee and with loue of thee to contemne all but thee first a litle then more euen according to my grace with thee and my poore endeauours And these bee the degrees or staires that a good will hath made in my soule Feare first draue mee till I came at loue and when loue had the mastery it draue away feare Feare frighted me for doing sinne thy loue vrged me to loathing of sinne For who seeth thee and knoweth thee that art truly brightnesse and detesteth not sinne that is true deformity fowlenesse and dishonour Happy the feare that feareth to offend thee but how much happier the loue that delighteth in pleasing thee for both I humbly thank thee and for continuing in both I thanke thee more Many haue both for a time and are at losse againe at an other time rising and falling with the tide of their passions and faring like those that hazzard all vpon the vncertaine dice and haue mony in their purses at one time and none at an other With mee likewise it hath beene so ere now But now I hope in thy grace not so Yea though my frailties and many imperfections doe daily humble me in my owne eyes yet thy grace makes mee bold to say that thy feare and loue hath now gotten some strength and taken roote in me The which thou hast shewne vnto mee as to other thy seruants by some signes and tokens that thou giuest vs to encourage vs the more in thy seruice And these are daily amendment or care of amendment and all those graces strength that follow thereof Which are ioy and quiet of mind in thy seruice obeying thee without repining losse without grudging hauing chaste thoughts without corruption patience without murmuring humility without affecting feare without scruple or dispaire truth without doublenesse and such like But in particular I haue noted these things following which I account not onely signes but also exceeding great benefits of thine And which it behooueth euery soule that hath them as well to be mindfull of to be thankfull as of his sinnes to be penitent and sorrowfull for them The first and greatest is a great good liking I haue to be rather subiect and vnder in a meane sort if it pleased thee so then to be ouer others in the best sort that can be in the world Knowing well my owne exceeding weakenes and insufficiencie to gouerne others that haue spoyled my selfe well-neere with gouerning but one and also seeing that gouernment hath alwayes multiplicity of busines Eccli 28. busines cannot be without many negligēces which vnles thy grace be maruellous great doe turne thy face from vs daily more and more and put vs quite from our by as to heauen-ward An other benefite it hath pleased thee to bestow on mee which is a desire and loue I haue to bee alwaies reading or hearing talke of thee either in sermons or otherwise if my spare time and vocation doe permit me which if it doe not it contents me yet to thinke of thee often And this thy benefite hath in mee also two more with it which I should not misse for any thing The first is that I regard not the stile or eloquence of one or other but the sence and spirit of the writer or preacher thinking it euer an argument of great imperfection in me to heare him for the stile or tongue and to bee left to nouices rather that know not yet what thy seruice meaneth or rather to Jndians and Ethiopians that are drawne to know thee first with trifling things as rings bels looking-glasses that pleased them and made them first to loue thy seruants and by little and little to listen to them and afterward to beleeue them and to acknowledge thy truth Neither doe thy seruants and preachers though greatly and diuersly indued by thee with nature and art vse to affect eloquence in their preaching Or if they doe it is but toserue our vicious and curious eares that will not be drawne to thee without many words and deuices and much perswasion All messengers are alike to me that come with tydings from thee let them stut or speake plaine all is one to mee so they tell mee true My loue doth easily supply all defects that may be The second is that when I heare a vertue commended I thinke not streight that I come neere the perfection of it Or when I heare a vice or notorious sinne inueighed against thy mercy is such towards me that I thinke not streight of such or such a one to be touched but onely my selfe either in act or will if thy grace had not letted me or else I am mooued therby to compunction for my former life past or for others in generall that are yet intangled in the same sinne It is also another great benefit of thine that of thy goodnes thou puttest me often in mind of my owne weaknes for perseuerance or constancy in resisting sinne or temptation as of my selfe but only by thee And to that end I often pray to thee still for more grace and further supply of thy gentlenes towards me And in receiuing any grace of thee I am alwaies humbled by it in respect of thy free bounty liberality and my owne vnworthines that can no waies deserue it O my Sauidur I cannot think of these thy benefits so great without blushing that euer thou shouldest bestow them so freely vpon so poore a worme of the earth so vngratefull a creature as I haue beene and am And yet not heere an end of thy benefits Which the further I wade into the further me thinke I am from an end Yet two or three more with thy leaue I can not but speake of because they are comforts also and tokens to me that I am in thy grace Grant I beseech thee that I may be thankefull I hâue beene soon angry ere now and long in pleasing And that either through strength of my passion and little heede how thou frownedst vpon me all the while or els for that I thought it vnworthy of a high mind to be soone pleased with out much mediation first And so as the deuil would haue it I haue made two or three sinnes of one But now