who were so pernicious to the State of Italy and of whom this yong Lord was growne a leader did suffer the law to passe vpon his person for his state was not confiscated but went to his heyres in bloud Being euen yet therin more Iust then Clement though perhaps he would haue been more Clement in pardoning then Iust in punishing if he could by way of anticipation haue seene the beauty and brauery of that noble spirit which deserued to liue as longe as a world can do as a patterne of a mind most rarely compounded between perfect Christian piety and vndaunted incomparable magnanimity But whylest the (k) This Lady dyed in the year 1611. and was buryed on the 21. of October in the Theatines Church at Sant Andrea della valle wher she erected ten masses to be sayd euery day for euer She was of the house of the Dukes of Cesi and sister to the Marquesse of Riano her name was la Signo a Flaminia Mother and the Sonne are both of them restinge now in peace and glory as we may piously belieue I know not how in this particuler to be silent concerning the powerfull and wise and infinitely good (l) The prouidence of God deserueth to be deeply pondered in this particuler prouidence of Almighty God towardes both these seruantes of his For by the way of the (m) The Crosse is the high way to heauen Crosse he brought the sonne in a few momentes of time to haue a soule in state of great perfection and he gaue him in the last houres of his life that most happy kind of Purgatory wherin he might not only suffer in satisfaction of the diuine Iustice but passe on by merittes all grounded vpon the mercy of Iesus Christ our (n) No action of man is meritorious but by the merits and first mercy of Iesus Christ our Lord. Lord as all merits are towards instant and eternall felicity And this he did by as contrary meanes as in the Ghospell he cured a certaine Blind man by (o) The omnipotency of God is not tyed to meanes but workes his will how he will casting durt vpon his eyes For heer be vsed the most indulgent tender care of the mother who loued that Sonne as her owne soule towardes the bringing that about which was indeed to make him happy in the end but in the meane tyme was the occasion of his suddaine and reproachfull death whereby her very hart was to be broken Taking him so from her sight that so she might enioy a glorious sight of him for euer depriuing her of all humane comforts which for as much as concerned her were abridged locked vp in him alone that so she might with contempt of the world send her whole hart vp to heauen whither now her treasure was gone before and so be rewarded for that tender and entire care which she had taken for his pious education It (p) The blind blockeheaded discourse of worldly men matters not much what the blind and dull world conceaues which placing fayth in fancy and religious reason in the treacherous sense of flesh and bloud thinkes all that to be misery which carryeth the face of paine or shame or any difficulty and that true happines consistes in rowing for a whyle in some boate (q) A fit emblem to shew the vanity of worldly pleasure of musike downe the tide though it carry them soone after where they are either to be split vpon rockes or swallowed vp by quick-sandes Wheras God knowes yea men whohaue his grace are not ignorār therof that a course of felicity not interrupted or checked by contrary windes is a kind of fortune for as much as concerneth the next life which in this deserueth rather pitty then enuy and that euer fince the death of Iesus Christ our Lord the way of the Crosse is (r) The crosse of Christ our Lord hath made misery to become happy not only the more safe but euen the more honorable and that the pleasures and pastimes of this life ar but a kind of butterfly for boyes to play withall that the greatest earthly felicity that euer was enioyed by man if it dyed not as soone as it was borne which yet is the ornary case of (s) Worldly pleasure speakes faire but it lyes worldly pleasure at least if it liued til it could learne to speake it told as many lies as it vttered wordes and charmed them first whom quickly after it might lead towards a precipice How desolate would a worldling thinke that the case of Signor Troylo Sauelli was in that night when he receaued the newes of his so instantely approaching cōtumelious death And of that deare Mother of his when she heard the blow was giuen which parted that head from those shoulders And (t) Affliction made the Mother the Son seeme miserable and be happy yet with all is it both well knowne that the Mothers losse of such a sonne did cast her much more close vpon an vnion and sole dependance for all her comfort vpon Almighty God wherein the happines which we can haue in this life consists and it is morally certaine that the abundant grace of Contrition and Charity which God infused into the hart of the Sonne euen by the occasion of his very sins so vastly infinitely good is God did put him instantly after his death into a state so blessed as that the Pope himselfe vnder whom he died and those Princes amongst whom he liued and all the Monarches of the whole world may be accounted to haue bin miserable according to their present state in respect of him Our deare Lord Iesus be eternally thanked not only by vs who know not how to do it well but by all his holy Angells and Saintes for his owne infinite goodnes since he vouchsafes to (u) He could easily honour himselfe otherwise without any benefit to vs if he were so pleased place the point of his Honour in shewing mercyes and working wonders vpon man so instantly so sweetely so powerfully and so like a God And for hauing suffered in his owne sacred soule body such desolations and torments as obtained at the handes of the eternall Father not only the remission of our sinnes if we will serue our selues of the Sacraments and other remedyes which he hath left in the bosome of his holy Catholike Church but the adorninge also of our soules with the inherent giftes and graces of the holy Ghost And yet further for that he hath knowne how to make our very sinnes and greiuous crimes themselues the meanes some times wherby we obtaine greater graces then (x) This indeed is a mercy which may wel become the greatnes of our God we should haue done if we had not committed those very sinnes Let the whole world therfore adore thee O Lord and sing prayses to thee and let all the powers of all soules cry out and say with that holy King
and Prophet Dauid O Lord who is like to thee A great example and proofe of this power of God and of the diuinity of Christ our Lord and the vnspeakable bounty of the Holy Ghost was the so speedy illuminating inflaming the soule of this Baron Who as soone as he receaued the notice of his death did in his proportion follow the example of the Blessed Apostle For as he to Christ our Lord appearing sayd O Lord what wilt thou haue me doe so did this noble Caualliere of Christ when the Preist Lieutenant of God spake to him giue himselfe away by these words as the Relation sheweth Do (y) The instant quiet resignatiō of this Baron to the good wil of God you in the place of God commaund me I giue my selfe as bound into your hands and further it affirmeth that he suffered himselfe to be managed as if he had beene made of the softest waxe It is not impossible for a man to meete with some Roaring Boy who may thinke that the Baron was to submisse But it is one thing to be a Roarer of the damned Crue and another to be an humble member of the body of Christ who assured vs by his owne sacred mouth That (z) Humility is the true badge of true Christianity vnlesse we became as children we should neuer enter into the kingdome of heauen The world was lost by the pride and presumption of the first Adam repaired by the humility of the second And (a) The incomparable humility of Iesus Christ our Lord. he that considers well how greate that Humility was and whose it was and for whose sake and at the will of whom he exercised the fame had need of a great proportion of stupidity to make him thinke that since God himselfe vouchsafed to be at the command of those base and impure wretches who tooke of his cloathes and required him to submit himselfe to those scourges those thornes those nayles those blasphemies for our sakes and sinnes yet on the other side this (b) An vgly and abhominable presumption man this proud rebellious worme this crumme of dust this drop of filth might keep forsooth a kind of State and should not rather submit himselfe in imitation of the humility of Christ our Lord not only to Superiours but to equalls and euen inferiours also and in fine to al (c) This is the aduice of S. Peter Subdits estote omni creaturae the world when iust occasion should be offered The soule of this noble Man was so well softned sweetned by the vnction of the Holy Ghost as that neither the greatnes of his Nobility nor the ardour of his youth nor the naturall boyling courage of his hart nor the fresh memory of his prosperity nor the vnexpected arriual of his mifery could make (d) A hart which is truely touched by Gods holy spirit will ouercome strange difficultyes him once repine or keep him from instantly abasing himselfe But falling deeply vpon the consideratiō of his sinnes and weighing duely how full of demerit he was in the sight of God and knowing exactly that nothing is so truly ignoble as a soule which hath forfeited his grace and that rich or poore is little to the purpose but (c) wherin eternal true Nobility doth consist that the thing which imports is to be or not to be the seruant or sonne of God it is not strange to see him cast himselfe at the feet of common soldiars and to stretch out his hands with such meeknes at the will of the meanest laylours for the loue of our Lord to signify therby the detestation wherein he had himselfe for hauing so presumptuously offended that Eternall Maiesty which by all the Angells is adored From (f) The reasons why he was so frequent in confessing his sins hence also did it proceed that he so frequently confessed himselfe in that last night of his life could neuer thinke that he had sufficiētly deplored his errours and detested the discorrespondence and ingratitude wherewith he had answered the vnspeakable benefits of Almighty God Wherein if any man should thinke that he did vse excesse it will be much more lawfull for me to doubt that himselfe either hath a meane conceit of the Infinite Maiesty which is offended or an ignorant apprehension of the deformity of al sinne which is committed or a proud paltry mistaking of the Nothing which man was till he was created and the worse then Nothing which afterward he grew by sinning For (g) If you weigh these thinges wel you will change your wondring at him into wondring at your selfe he that pōders these particulers as he ought and knoweth that the offēces into which he falleth are innumerable and that the least of them which is committed against an infinit Maiesty in respect of the obiect is also infinite and that as no one good deed shal be vnrewarded by the rich Mercy of God in Christ our Lord so no one trāsgression shal be left vnpunished by his exquisite Iustice will easily belieue that in the space of a night it is hard for one to be too curious too carefull in setting straight the accoūt of his whole life vnder the piercing eye of Almighty God But this Baron did euen by moments in that short tyme which was left by the goodnes of God acquire new (h) Great light of God is wont to breed greate loue of him greate sorrow for hauing so shamefully offended him light gaine new loue of our Lord and new contempt detestation of himselfe and in the strength thereof he found some actions to confesse which he had not conceaued to be sinnes before others which he had confessed he had confessed with a sorrow far inferiour to that which then he felt For abstracting from the consideration which he had of his sinnes against God in respecte whereof no soule is sufficiently able to quake and tremble vnder him I trust there is not a readers eye in the world so dimme as not to discerne his vndaunted hart And (i) The vndaunted courage of this Baron that no thought of death had any power to take the least clarity from his vnderstandinge the least presence from his memory the least agility from his witte the least order from his speach or so much as the least puntillio from the ciuill respects and complementes which are vsed amongst persons of his Nation and Condition Nor yet on the other side shall any man haue reason to thinke that the punctuality which throughout the processe of this Relation he shall find to haue been obserued by the Baron in this last (k) This courtesy complement was not affected but free and naturall kind of courtesy did proceed from the least affectation thereof Perhaps if we looke neere home we may find some example to haue been giuen of this not longe agoe but in the present case no suspition of it can be
sayd Mihi mundus (k) The world is crucified to me and I to it crucifixus est ego mundo In a word let not the soule be touched but let my Honour be blasted according to that accoumpt which the blinde world is wont to make of Honour that it may serue as a part of the punishement which is due to me The third that at the same instant his hat was brought him and one of his people being desirous to take his Montiera from off his head what are you doing sayth he They answered they would giue him his hat But he bad them let it alone saying That it imported not and he added with a soft voyce Looke heer a whyle they would faine honour this head of mine which I am to loose within few houres for my sinnes The VVill being then read and shut he throwing himselfe as it were vpon me with a most modest kind of sweetnes said Father I am already reconciled but I would faine make a generall Confession of my whole life to your Reuerence And althogh since I came into prison I did the same in effect at the instance of my Lady my Mother yet know that I had then no light or feeling of my sinnes in respect of that which now I discouer in my hart For One thing it is deare Father for a man to confesse himselfe when he is in the sight of death and another to do it not thinking of death or at least but considering it as a far off And so calling for a (l) There are euery wher to be had litle bookes of addresse wherby men are taught how to confesse their sins exactly little booke which he had aboue in the prison shewing a man the way how to confesse his sinnes exactly well which his good MOTHER had â—rought to him some dayes â—efore he began his confesâ—â—on Wherin my Lord God â—oth knowe that as it is â—awfull for me by that most â—mple authority which himself gaue me to declare as much therof as I should thinke fit so if I were able to expresse it I say not that Rome would be astonished at it but all Italy would be so For if I speake of the exact manner that he held for as much as concerned the particuler descending euen to idle wordes anâ— anie other (m) Confession is no such cursory or superficiall thing as they which know it not conceaue say such littlâ— thing me thought I waâ— hearing some well exerciseâ— Religious man In the explicating of circumstancesâ— and the vnfolding of intricate and intangled cases iâ— was as if he had bin some profound Deuine In relating the determinate number the various kindes of his sins he made proofe of one who had a most fresh and happy memory This rare Gentleman pawsing now and then betweene the Confession of his sinnes and suffering certaine teares to fall quietly vpon my knees he would be wiping them away and that being done he would often vse to say with sighes O Father how (n) He had great reason to say so good hath our Lord been to me Let him now be blessed as often and yet more often then I haue offended him in my former life Why lest he was accusing himselfe of his faults he would expresse theÌ„ in certaine few but they all liuely and most pious wordes and in som particuler cases so dearely tender that in his countenance one might see euident signes of how his very hart was euen rent within So that between (o) He pawsed sometymes between both to resthimselfe to recall his sins more freshly to his memory for though it were interrupted it was al but one ConfessioÌ„ till the Absolution were giuen the times of his confessioÌ„ the Confortatori doubting least perhaps he might grow to faint would be asking him if he needed not somewhat to restore comfort himself To which he answered speaking priuatly more then once to me This (p) An admirable Contrition only comfort or restoratiue I would desire That my very hart might burst for griefe and satisfaction might so be (q) To the iustice of God his sorrow being dignified by the death passion of Iesus Christ our Lord. giuen for my sinnes if perhaps euen that would serue the turne But for as much as to my thincking he did melt as it were by so enlardging himselfe in his Confession I had an eye vpon him and I ventured to say thus vnto him My deare Signor Troilo be not so excessiuely curious and particuler in accusing your selfe especially of those your former sinnes which lye not now vpon your soule O (r) See how truely this hart was touched with sorrow for his sins and the knowledge of himself Father sayd he I haue wasted my whole life in offending God and will you haue me or shall I content my selfe in one single houre to demaund pardon of so many offences So long in sinning and so short in confessing my sinnes That I am trouble some to you my deare Father I well discouer but what can I doe withall if I be forced to it And heer againe he began to make for himselfe a very bath of teares And interpretinge what I had said after his owne conceite he added with teares redoubled And this also do my sinnes deserue by way of punishment that hauing cast so much and so much time away in preiudice of my saluation I should now want time wherein I might euen confesse my sinnes Pardon me deare Father and endure this trouble for the loue of God for you shall (s) To do a good worke by the grace for the loue of God is meritorious for so Christ our Lord hath made it merit in his sight by helping this poore soule of mine towards saluation I will remaine with obligation to you when I shall go by the mercy of God your good meanes into the place of rest And finding that still he grew in teares I confesse my weaknes for I was not able to containe my selfe from expressing also tendernes by teares As soone as he perceaued this he said Father your Reuerence weepes and yet you weepe not for your selfe but for me and yet you will not haue me weepe for my selfe But then both of vs being silent for a time he after began againe to confesse with those accustomed short words but full of substance and propriety making me write down al those things which he confided to me for the dischardge of his conscience Whilest I was writinge he would needes for his contentment hold the Standish in his owne hands and read those lines when I had done and kisse them and then bath them in teares But of nothing did he accuse himselfe so much as of all that which had any relation to the Lady his Mother Nor am I able by any meanes to expresse with what aboundance of teares he accompanied those accusations of himselfe For beginning euen from his very Infancy Father sayth
restore my selfe to the seruice of God Nor could euer any Sonne desire any fauour or contentment of a Mother which myne did not of her selfe impart to me And I on the other side haue serued but to make her life most vnfortunate by this period of myne I beseech our Lord forgiue me to receaue the future affliction of her hart in present discount of my offences Then towardes the end of his Confession I desire sayd he a fauour of you now deare Father which you must not deny me It is that I may haue liberty to lament my sinnes with teares and that by them I may giue testimony to the Diuine Maiesty of the (g) That so the penitent himselfe by finding it might haue increase of comfort griefe wherewith my harte aboundes within Weepe out sayd I since our Lord doth giue you such a desire of weeping I had scarce brought forth this last worde when allready there beganne to fall a most aboundant showre of teares from his eyes in such sort (h) An admirable and almost miraculous Contrition as that he bathed a good part of one of my armes and my sleeue was as wett through as if it had rayned from aboue Which accident I obseruing after some halfe quarter of an houre and doubting least his hart might so discharg it selfe by his eyes rather for the apprehension which he might haue of death then otherwise I desired that for the loue of Iesus he would quiet himselfe not multiply his affliction nor continue to torment his mind in that manner To this he answered Father I giue you my fayth that I do not at all be wayle my death but I do only and purely lament the offences which I haue committed against Almighty God And (i) A happy coniunction of Christiā sorrow with noble coutage I haue so much hope in the mercy of my deare Lord that not only I shall shead no teares for my death but not so much as change my countenance Father I bewayle my most vnfortunate life and not my most happy death That life was indeed most vnfortunate whereas this death is most happy for in fine if in that I liued an enemy to God I hope in this I shall dye his friend Well then sayd I proceed in your Confession that so you may dye the friend of God and lay a part of your tears aside the whyle Whereupon The most obedient young Gentleman accommodatinge himselfe to my direction did iust proceed where he had left At this I wondred so much themore for as much as I my selfe had forgotten it though I also had one of those little bookes in my hand which instruct how a Confession may be well made But he going on did lay before me as if it had bin in one single prospect the whole course of his life with so great clarity and breuity that I found my selfe as obliged to aske him if during many dayes before he had not applied himselfe to make such a preparation To which the yong Noble man made this very answere So great is the light as I haue already insinuated which my deare Lord Iesus vouchsafes to giue me at this instant of my whole life that euen whylest I am confessing me thinkes I behold all my actions (k) This was a very extraordinary supernaturall fauous of Almighty God as in a glasse and I read all my thoughtes and wordes as in a booke And without doubt so it was For he without euer mistaking a worde did so call all his sinnes to minde that by that time he wanted little of hauing declared them al distinctly Only at the very end as it were of his Confession he returned to repeate some thinges which he had already said and I doubting that he did so as hauing forgotten what he had expressed before I told him of that inaduertence as I reputed it when yet he made me this answere I know well deare Father that I repeate some thinges but I do it to the end that I may now more perfectly detest them be confounded in my selfe And especially (l) How desirous this soule was to make God amends since I haue passed the greatest part of my life in such thinges as these to the displeasure of our Lord I do now for the better pleasing of him passe this tyme of my death in a misliking remembrance of the same And if it be troublesome to your Reuerence as I know it is so often to heare my so many offences do you remember once for all that this soule is of a sinner for whome Christ dyed Nay said I if your Lordship haue any such apprehension you may repeate as much and as often as it pleaseth you for I only aduised you of it before as thinking that perhaps you might haue done it by errour The errour sayth he was myne and a grieuous errour it was to offend them so many wayes who did euer stand in my defence But howsoeuer that be in this respect as in some others I shall dye contented in that I can neuer satisfy my selfe with cofessing my faults to you deare Father VVhich now by the goodnes of God are as well knowne by me as heeretofore they were little esteemed are now as bitterly lamēted as heertofore they gaue me gust though it were a false one I (m) The man did euen melt betweene griefe loue wish Othou most sweet Sauiour of my soule that I had as wel a thousand tongues that so I might fully confesse them a thousand eyes that so I might bitterly bewayle them and a thousand harts that so eternally I might detest them And that this grief for my sinnes committed against God might so breake my hart as the instrument of Iustice will take my head for them which I haue committed concerning men I do good Father by the goodnes of God know what a sinner I am As a sinner I lamēt my selfe and as a sinner I will dye but a sinner all humbled contrite and with my teares I will make my Funeralls then suffer me to performe them after myne owne fashion And heer cuen I not (n) I cannot blame him being able to containe my selfe from weeping he obserued it and said thus Most happy Funerals are therfore these of mine which are solemnized by the seruāts of God Yet this part belonges not to you but only as being a Father to my soule VVho knowes but that by these mutuall teares and this exchange of tendernes my impure conscience may indeed be cleansed Thus both of vs being silent for a while he then proceeded VVell my good Father it is now high time that by the (o) This authority was giuen to his true Church by Iesus Christ our Lord in his name by his power it is exercised Authority which God hath giuen you to loose and bind men on earth you loose me from so many chaines of sinns which hang vpon me To the en◠that as
shortnes of the paine the immeÌ„sity of the reward the vanity of the world aboue all the aboundant grace which in the space of so few houres our Lord had communicated to his soule and had giuen him with all such a pregnant signe of his Predestination wherein the Noble Youth did (l) And so he might most iustly doe shew to find extraordinary gust Amongst the many disoourses which were made to this purpose as wel by the Confortatori as by our Fathers I vsed this And what thinke you Signor Troilo will the grace which God hath giuen you be sufficient to make you beare this punishment Nay I tell you that in imitation of Christ you should do well to desire it and that desire would serue to make it a small matter to you Nay it would make it seeme no punishment at all lastly it would make it seeme sweet Euen as it hapned to Christ our Lord himselfe to (m) The immense loue which our lord Iesus bare to man made all that he suffered seeme little to him whom his Passion seemed so small a matter that whereas others called it by the name of a huge thing an Ocean a deep sea Veni in altitudinem maris tempestas demersit me himself doth call it but a Cupfull Calicem quem dedit mihi pater non vis vt bibaÌ„ illum Againe after that huge heape of bitternes and tormentes which he had endured it seemed nothing to him For being asked by those disciples who were going to Emaus if he knew of that vast cruelty which had lately then bin executed at Hierusalem vpon the person of the greatest Saint of God he answeared by asking Quae for in fine he esteemed it all as nothing Therefore speaking of his Passion he vsed the word Baptisme saying Baptismo habeo baptizari et quomodo coarctor c. And you know that bathes do serue for delicacy What say you then Signor Troilo Doth not your punishement by this time seeme small to you Small saith he it seemeth nothing Yet can I not say either that it is nothing or yet very pleasant but yet neuerthelesse it is deare to me and as such I prize it And (n) How mightily this noble man grew vp in grace euen by momeÌ„ts I do assure you that at the present it would be as it were a kind of trouble for me to escape it Before I desired to escape I sighed for it I laboured for it and I know not what of that kind But I had not then that knowledg of my selfe which now by the fauour of God me thinkes I haue in such sort that now I can affirme to you in the worde of Truth that I (o) This so ardent desire of suffering for his sinnes must needs be a great dispositition towardes the obtayning of pardon for them through the mercy of Christ our Lord. desire my end how painfull soeuer it may be towardes the remission of my sinnes To this another Father said Your Lordship speaketh wisely for in fine God knoweth whether otherwise you should euer haue beene so well prepared for death Whereupon one of the CoÌ„nfortatori proceeded saying If your Lordship had dyed naturally in your bed what with the paine of your body and the anguish of your mind it may be you would scarce haue beene maister of your selfe And if you had dyed by any other accident perhaps you would not haue had time to bring forth so much as the name of Iesus Whereas now it (p) Supposing first the grace of God as is declared afterward is in a manner in your owne power to dye as well as you will your selfe with what greife of your sinnes you will with what loue of christ you will and in a word in that best manner which the grace of Almighty God will impart to you which we perceaue euen so to ouerflow your soule that we are as much astonished as comforted by the knowledge therof Heereunto the constant Noble Man made this answere You shall know that by the goodnes of God I find not in my selfe any trouble or tentation and me (q) Nothing but the very hand of God was able so to haue coÌ„ducted him through these stony wayes And it seemes that God communâ—cated himselfe to the delinquent in a very particuler manner thinks I am in a hand which beares me vp I desire and I resolue to dye in that manner which I shall be taught to be the best and I am most ready to obey in all that which for the sauing of my soule shall be commanded me This said I you shal therfore do You shal barre you selfe in that houre of some ease That is you shal for the loue of Iesus and in imitation of what he did and suffered for you depriue your selfe of somewhat which you might haue and which at that time might be agreeable to you For if you doe well remember it they gaue twice vnto our Lord to drinke The first time when they gaue him vinagre he drunke but wheÌ„ they gaue him wine as soon as he had tasted it he put it by But do you know the reason It was this To such as were condemned to dye it was the custome to giue wine with an infusion of myrrhe that by the comfort thereof they might faint the lesse vnder their torments Now our Lord who was pleased to depriue himselfe entierly and fully of all consolation for loue of vs and for our example refused that but he accepted of the vinagre which was mingled with (r) With Gall. another most bitter ingredient that so he might suffer the most he could both for our example and benefit otherwise The Proueditore sayd that this was most certainly true whereupon some expound those wordes which Christ spake vpon the crosse Deus Deus meus vt quid dereliquisti me That Christ our Lord did greiue thereat because the Diuinity began as it were to hide it selfe from the Humanity consequently by little little his life was leauing him by occasion thereof he was able to suffer no longer which the most enamoured Iesus obseruing did complaine of the matter to his Father by the wordes aforesayd To these thinges a Father of ours adding other deuout and short discourses the Confortatore sayd That for the tyme his soule was sufficiently fed that it would be well done to refresh his body The Baron answered that there was no neede But they pressing it much there was brought in some wine by a seruant of the Lord (s) This Gouernement is the place of greatest confideÌ„ce which the Pope bestowes Gouernour of the Castle which one of the Gentlemen there present powring forth into a glasse presented to the Baron who sayd again that it was wholy needles And yet sayd he turning then towardes me if I should need it your (t) A good memory he had and a more pious will Reuerence told me a whyle agoe that in imitation of
Christ I should doe well to depriue my selfe thereof Father is it not so Neuertheles being intreated by al the Assistants that he would drinke or at least that he would so much as wash his mouth this last he did twice without swallowing any wine at all And this was so much more remarkeable because such as are in that case vse to be extremely taken with thirst and it is wont to be held for one of their greatest torments The wine being then carryed away diuers questions were asked of this most Illustrious Lord to which he (u) Note wonder at these answeares which are so ful of piety wisedom and courage answered with so great prudence iudggement that more could not be imagined He was asked first for of many I will mention only a few this first question he was asked often Signor Troilo will your Lordship haue any thing He still answered that he desired nothing sauing that once he held his peace but made a signe vp to heauen Besides he was often asked Signor Troilo of what are you thinking Sometimes he āswered vpon nothing in particuler Sometimes vpon our Lord Sometimes vpon my sinnes Sometimes vpon my approaching end Somtimes he sayd I thinke vpon the so many guiftes which God hath bestowed vpon me that I haue been so very vngrateful yea euen vnmindfull of them all Being then asked in this manner Doth your Lordship dye willingly He answered thus And what would you haue me bustle against the order of the Prince Or should I not be content with the prouidence and good pleasure of God Is it possible say done that the Diuell should not striue to make you thinke your death vniust I do not sayth he esteeme it only to be iust but most iust and as for the Diuell I neither haue nor wil I haue any more to do with him I haue had inough and too much of him already Another asked him what he sayd of the Lady his Mother his Friendes his Kinred and himselfe if he were not much afflicted with the thought thereof Concerning my Lady my Mother sayth he I confesse that in the most inward partes of my hart I find extreme affliction but on the other side I reioyce that I am paying the offences that I haue cōmitted against her with my bloud And I hope that the readines wherewith I inbrace this pennance for my wicked carriage towards her will be so well accepted by Almighty God that he may through his goodnes giue her no small comfort euen by this very death of myne I thinke vpon my kinred with grief as hauing been a cause of payne and trouble to them Of my friends as hauing giuen them ill example Of my selfe I take no care for behold who (x) A great fayth hope loue doth it for me making a signe towards the Crucifixe which he had hard by him Being asked whether the tyme did seeme long to him or short Neither (y) This doe I find to be a strange answere in the superlaciue degree of strangenes long sayth he nor short And another replying to him thus Is it possible that you are not grieued that you must dye I do not sayth he deny but that I am grieued at it but yet it neither troubles me nor somuch as alters me more thē you see It being wished that he should suffer his chaire to be drawn a litle forward that so he might sit at greater ease To what end sayth he should I giue my body ease I am well heere and with the help of God I shall be shortly free from needing that or any thing els Being desired to raise and rest his feet vpon a place of aduantage where they vsed to kneele for that so he should be in a more commodious posture he sayd drawing neer towards myne eare Father it is a piece of ill manners to fit with a mans legs raised vp in the presence of other men But I telling him no and aduising him howsoeuer that he would set them vp he did instantly accommodate himselfe to my desire Being asked to what deuotions he had bin most particulerly affected He answeared To that of our (z) He was euer much deuoted to our B. Lady Blessed Lady in whose honour I did dayly recite her Office but with an impure mouth and how then could that be accepted by her And till within these two yeares I made said he much account of going to Confession which through the mercy of my Lord I resolued neuer to intermitt vnlesse it were by some very vnlucky accident that should haue interposed it selfe And I euer carried liuing in my hart the memory of manie thinges which formerly vpon seuerall occasions had beene represented to me by sundry Religious Fathers with whome I had much conuersed insinuating therby as I conceaue the Fathers of the Chiesa Nuoua And when I had meanes to do it in priuate I neuer failed any day to salute the Blessed Virgin vpon my bare knees And then I saying I know not well vpon what occasion Ah poore Signor Troilo Poore sayd he I was when I was without the grace of my Lord God but now I take my selfe to be rich But then the tyme of his end drawing on apace we rising vp from our seats did circle him in vpon our knees And after the manner of two Quires interchangeably answering one another we began the seauen Penitentiall Psalms pondering some of the verses now and then and causing him to resume diuers of them They being ended he was aduised to say often Eia (a) These are parts of some Hymnes which are recited by the holy Church in honour of our lord Iesus our B. Lady ergo aduocata nostra c. And then Maria mater gratiae And then againe Recordare Iesu pie and the like Which he pronounced with so cleare a voyce so constant a memory and with a countenance so serene that all such as were present himselfe only excepted did weep outright Which he obseruing and making silence and taking his own face into his hands he stood still a whyle in mentall prayer And then turning towardes me he sayd Confiteor (b) The entrance whereby we begin to makour Confissiō Deo Omnipotenti tibi Pater I accuse my selfe of this and this and that Ideo (c) This we vse to say when we haue ended it precor c. And then instantly he added this Father I would desire (d) A far greater matter it was to aske this suite then to grant it this last fauour of you that you would confesse me at the blocke and that whylest I on the one side with my beades in my hand might say O bone Iesu sis mihi Iesus O good Lord Iesus be thou a Iesus to me and you on the other Ego te absoluo c. I absolue thee c. at the same instant the iron might fall vpon my necke Not so my Lord sayd I. For so
not being risen he accepted thereof and commanded a Gentleman who serued the Gouernour that he should thanke him in his name And hauing demanded pardon of many of the Assistants exhorting them in some very few wordes to vertue by the example which there they had before their eyes of the contrary he went on with the very same verse of the Miserere where he had left before And sometymes turning towardes me he would be saying Come (t) See whether this Baron were afraid of death or no. Father come to heauen to heauen And it was a strang thing that he being in pantofles going downe such a long paire of staiers as that is which stayers are much broken by reason of the Artillery which vpon frequēt occasions is drawne vp downe by that way yet did not his foot once slipp Nay I failing to tread right many tymes though I were in shoos he willed me to take care of my selfe When he was arriued to the other open stayres where many persons of the Castle were to see him one of the Confortatori who was well experienced in those occasions and stood on the one hand placing a Crucifixe before him and as it were couering him therewith cryed out with a stronge voice Let (u) Viua Giesu Christe Christ Iesus liue be not frighted my Lord. To which he after he had ended the Verse which he was pronoūcing made this answeare Yea let Christ Iesus liue in whome whilst I am hoping I do not feare to be confounded And then said I In te Domine speraui non confundar in aeternum which being repeated by him he spake thus to them Take (x) A noble courage the Crucifixe aside let all the people see me For if I be good for nothing els at least I may serue them for an example There passed one that way with a bottle of wine in his hand who saluted the Baron vpon his knee and the Baron courteously resaluted him and so returned to the same verse of the Psalme which he had formerly begunne Soone after passing through the people which stoode there a little thicke he sayd Learne (y) Few wordes and well chosen It is not there the fashion for a man to stand preaching at the place of his execution by my example to liue well and pray for me And thus with Psalmes Iaculatory prayers he came to the blocke where there was store of lookers on The intrepide Baron pausing there sayd thus I would desire in these last moments of my life to see at least and salute thanke the Lieutenant Gouernour of the Castle since I cannot see my Lord the Gouernour But the Lieutenant by no means resoluing to go towardes him for the extreme tendernes wherewith he was taken the Noble Youth perceauing it and turning to me sayd Father his hart serueth him not to come and perhaps I make the people stay too longe O most valiant most vndaunted mind which was troubled more with the sleight incommodity of others then with the apprehension of his owne imminent death At last he cheerefully aduauncing forward the Lieutenant came before him the Baron casting himselfe vpon his knee said to me In courtesy Father take off my hat Which the good Gentleman obseruing (z) A kind cōtention who should most exceed in courtesy did with a most bitter lowd crye of teares euen spread himself all vpō the groūd and the by-standers vpon that occasion did cast thēselues all vpon their knees nor was there any thing heard but a loud voice of teares This generous yong Lord sayd thē thus to him Syr do not weepe I had no designe but to salute you to thank you and to begge your pardon as now I do both of your selfe and in your person at the hands of al them who are present heer desiring them to learne at my cost and to pray for my soule This he sayd with so stronge a voice as that he was heard notwithstanding the noise of their weeping I also was not able to stay my teares when he leaning towardes myne eare spake these very wordes now below as before he had done aboue Behould your Reuerence is weeping and yet still you tell me that I must haue a Noble Hart. Then hauing repeated diuers times In manus tuas Domine commendo spiritum meum and Suscipe me Domine secundum eloquium tuum non confundas me ab expectatione mea he was wished to ascend and then to lay himselfe downe vpon the Scaffold At the same instant one of the Confortatori saying to him Cheerefully Signor Troilo couragiously Signor Troilo and a whole crye of prayers being raised and made by all the company for him that valiant Hart did answere euen with a smiling countenance Know (a) A noble and holy valiant hart Gentlemen that I dye cheerefully for the Loue of Iesus Christ in Pennance for my sinnes As therefore he was laying down his head where said he is the Father And turning towards the Executioner he sayd Stay a whyle for I will be reconciled And beckning me first towards him with his countenance Father sayd he on this hand I place my (b) These Saines he vsed as intercessours for him to Christ our Lord. Good Angell and on that S. Paul and S. Iohn the Baptist our B. Lady shall stand before Your Reuerence must remēber to performe the promise which you made me I will say O bone Iesu esto mihi Iesus O good Lord Iesus be thou a Iesus to me and when you shall see that the corde is in cutting you must say Ego te absoluo c. that so when I shall inuoke the name of Iesus and you absolue me my soule may begin her iourney from this body of myne towards heauē by the mercy of my Lord as I confide it shall I do ingenuously confesse that I was so mightily amazed within my selfe I fell into such an excesse of weeping that I had not a word to answere at the instant but in the language of teares And he in laying his head vpon the blocke expresly spake these very wordes Deare Father draw neere me Let it suffice and I take you to witnes That (c) So that his memory and courage was far from fayling him perhaps there is hardly to be found in any history a nobler Character of wisdom presence of mind magnanimity and sanctity I protest my seife in my desire to lay downe a thousand heads in this one head of myne and in this one life to offer vp a thousand liues I accuse my selfe for not doing it with that feruour of deuotion that vehemency of Contrition and that promptitude of resignation which I haue beene told and taught But I know not how to do more I accuse my selfe as truly of all the sinnes which I haue confessed vnto your Reuerence as if now I did repeate them to you one by one In Pennance if it please you I will giue my head to Christ as a punishment which is most deserued by me and of you I desire Absolution So did this Noble hart which neither was nor was to be conquered or daunted lay downe that head vpon the blocke And saying then Bring (d) See how this true Christiā courage cōtinues euen to the end and in the end hither the Crucifixe that I may see it he began also to say O bone Iesu sis mihi Iesus O good Lord Iesus be a Iesus to me being accompanyed by all the people who were already vpon their knees and who also inuoked the name of Iesus And my self standing close at the one side of his head and looking still when the Executioner would go about to cut the corde as soone as I saw that the knife was lifted vp for that purpose I said outright Ego (e) I absolue thee frō all thy sinnes in the name of the Father of the Sonne and of the holy Ghost te absoluo ab omnibus peccatis tuis in nomine Patris Filij Spiritus Sancti Amen He did then both more speedily and more lowdly then was his custome say Iesu sis mihi Iesus O Iesus be thou a Iesus to me And at the instāt his head flew off at once from his body And my selfe with many others also did see that his head being already cut off did produce the last syllable of the name of Iesus with a strong kind of hisse or whisper And the soule I trust did fly vp free into (f) His body was interred in the Chiesa Nuoua Heauen adorning all his former life with a holy end vpon that very day of the yeare whervpon the most Illustrious Lord his Father had departed out of this life before this Sonne of his was borne that former being the 18. of April Anno Domini 1574. FINIS