A MOST LEARNED AND PIOVS TREAtise full of Diuine and Humane Philosophy framing a Ladder WHERBY OVR MINDES May Ascend to God by the Stepps of his Creatures Written in Latine by the illustrous and learned Cardinall Bellarmine of the society of Iesus 1615. Translated into English By T. B. Gent. Blessed is the man that hath disposed ascentions in his heart Psal 83. Printed at Doway Anno Domini 1616. THE TRANSLATOR To the Reader AT the request of one that might cōmand I tooke in hand the Translation of this booke The Subiect therof is the Summum bonum or Highest Happinesse of this life for it teacheth vs a compendious way by the Steppes of Creatures to ascend vnto the Creator and now on earth to bee linked to him in Loue that hereafter in heauen we may be vnited to him in glory Of the Authors Worth I will say with Salust beginning the Description of the Cittie Carthage De Carthagine Silere Melius puto Salust In Bello Ingurth Fol. 76. quam parum dicere Of Carthage I thinke it better to say nothing then to speake sparingly But if Vertue and Truth appeare best apparelled when they are most naked then are they heere sett forth in their Hollydaie attyre Diuine and Humane Philosophy also like the Sunne and Moone in one Hemisphere shine here both together and cast their beames vppon all that are desirous to receaue Light or Life from their heate If I haue committed any negligence in the action of my part I desire thy friendly censure and to remember that Voces Artis of which there are many in this booke are strangers to our language and cannot be made Denizens but by prescription vale It is the sweetest note that man can sing When grace tunes natures Key to vertues string TO THE MOST HONORABLE AND Reuerend Prelate Peter Aldobrandine Cardinall of the holy Roman Church Robert Bellarmine Cardinall sendeth greeting IN September last by Gods assistance I finished as I was able a Booke Of the ascention of the minde vnto God by the stepps of his Creatures For hauing abandoned all other cares I made choise to spend that Month by Licence of his Holinesse in diuine contemplation And albeit I writt it onely for my priuate vse yet through the perswasions and aduise of friends I haue published it and made it appeare vnder the protection of your name For no sort of men may take more profitt thereby if it shall profit any then those which are most occupied in publique affaires especially Prelats of the Church Among whom you are not inferior vnto any being a Cardinal an Archbishop and Chamberlaine of the holy Roman Church and a Protector and President of the Generall Inquisition An other cause also why I Dedicate this booke vnto you is to leaue vnto the memory of posteritie some Monument of your great benefits vnto me and of my thankfulnes vnto you therefore Neither doe I doubt that the smallnesse thereof will make it lesse grateful vnto you for bookes are not to be esteemed by the multitude of their leaues but by the fruitefulnesse of the matter whereof they treate As for this book how others will censure it I knowe not but to me it hath prooued more profitable then my other workes For which cause I vse not to reade my other bookes but vpon necessitie but this booke I haue willingly read ouer three or foure times and purpose hereafter to read it often Although perhapps not the desert thereof but affection maketh it dearer vnto me because I haue begotten it like an other Beniamin in my last olde age Receaue therefore most Worthy Cardinal this small present from me as a testimonie of my due obseruancie toward you And as a Monitor executing his Charge that when the troubles of businesse ouermuch oppresse you and seeke to hinder you from your accustomed houres of prayer vnto God it may modestly remember you to lay aside for a while all such affaires and to withdrawe your minde vnto those inward and vsuall ioyes that by reading and meditating you may see That our Lord is God to wit the onely true highest and euerlasting happinesse in obtaining or loosing wherof mans greatest felicitie or misery doth consist The Preface of the Author THe holy Scripture doth admonish vs to seeke God diligently For although God is not farre from euery one of vs Act. 17 For in him we liue and mooue and be As the Apostle saith yet wee are farre from God so that vnlesse we daily dispose our heartes to ascend and make for our selues a Ladder vnto heauen and with great labour seeke God we shall with the Prodigall Sonne Luke 15 feede Swine in a country far off from our Father and home And that we may briefly declare how these things may stand together to wit that God is not farre from vs And yet we are farre from him we say that God is not farre from vs because he alwaies seeth vs before whose eyes all things are present He alwaies thinketh of vs 1. Pet. 5 because He hath care of vs He alwaies toucheth vs Heb. 1 because Hee carrieth all thinges by the word of his power But we are farre from God because we see not God neither can we see him 1. Tim. 6 For he inhabiteth light not accessible neither are we sufficient to thinke any thing of God of our selues ◠Cor. 3 as of our selues Much lesse are we able to touch him and cleaue to him with pious affection vnlesse his right hand receiue and drawe vs vnto him And therefore Dauid when he had said Psal 62 My soule hath cleaued after thee presently added Thy right hand hath receiued me Neither are we onely farre from God because wee cannot see him nor easily thinke of him nor with affection cleaue vnto him but also because being busied about temporall goods with the which we are incompassed and ouerwhelmed we very easily forget God and with a drie hart we scarcely with our tongue sound his name in Psalmes and sacred prayers This therefore is the cause why the holy Ghost doth in the holy Scripture as we said euen now so often admonish vs to seeke God Psal 61 Seeke God and your Soule shall liue And Seeke his face alwaies Psal 104 And Our Lord is good to them that hope in him Lamen 3 to the soule that seeketh him Isay 49 And seeke our Lord whilst he may be found Wisd 1 Deut 4 And In simplicitie of hart seeke him And when thou shalt seeke God thou shalt finde him yet so if thou seeke him with all thy hart But although this diligence in seeking God belong vnto all the faithfull yet it most properly appertaineth vnto the Prelates of the Church as St. Augustine St. Gregorie St. Bernard and other holy Fathers doe witnesse For they plainely write that a Prelate cannot proffit both himselfe and others vnlesse he diligently applie himselfe vnto the Meditation of diuine matters
men as they haue preferred their loue before their estate and dignitie children and parentes yea their life and eternall saluation The examples which are read in holy Scripture of Dauid Salomon and Sampson are known histories are full of the like Wherefore my soule if so great beautie be giuen by God to creatures how great admirable maist thou think is the beautie of God himselfe For none can giue that which he hath not And if men delighted with the beauty of the Sun and starres though those Bright bodies saith the wise man to be Goddes Wisd 13 Let them knowe how much the Lord of them is more beautifull then they for the author of beautie made all these thinges How great the beautie of God is we may gather not onely because it comprehendeth the beautie of all creatures most eminently within it selfe but also for that it being vnto vs inuisible while we are Pilgrims on earth and onely vnderstood by faith of Scriptures and mirrour of Creatures yet notwithstanding many saints haue bin so inflamed with the loue thereof that some of them haue hid themselues in Desertes and attended onely to the contemplation therof as St. Mary Magdalen Paul the first Heremite the great Anthony and others of whom you may reade in the religious History of Theodoret. Others forsaking their wiues and Children and whatsoeuer els they possessed on earth liued in Monasteries vnder the obedience of others that they might enioy the friendship of God Others desired willingly with rigorous paines to end their liues that they might come to the sight of that infinite beautie Heare one of them to wit St. Ignatius the Martyre in his Epistle to the Romans Let fire gallowes beastes breaking of my bones quartering of my members brusing of my body and all the torments of the Deuill come vpon me so that I may enioy Christ If then this diuine beauty not yet seene but onely beleeued and hoped for could kindle such a feruent desire what will it doe when as the vaile being remooued it shall be seene as it is in it selfe It will doubtlesse bring to passe Psal 3 That being drunke with the torrent of that pleasure we neither will nor can one moment turne our eyes from it And what wonder is it although the Angels and blessed soules which alwayes see the face of their Father in heauen are not wearied or tyred with that sight since God himselfe from all eternity beholding his owne beauty is fully pleased there with and being happie by that sight desireth nothing els entring as it were into a Vineyard or Garden of all delights from whence he neuer shall nor will depart Seeke that beauty O my soule sigh after it day and night say with the Prophet My soule hath thirsted after thee the strong liuing Psal 41 when shall I come and appeare before the face of God Say with the Apostle We are bolde 2 Cor 5 and haue a good will to be Pilgrims rather from the body and to be present with our Lord. Neither doe thou feare to be defiled with the loue of that beauty For the loue thereof doth comfort not corrupt doth purifie and not polute the hart The holy virgin and martyre St. Agnes sayd truely I loue Christ whose mother is a virgin whose Father knoweth no woman whom when I loue I am chaste when I touch I am cleane when I take I remaine a virgin But if thou dost truely desire the vncreated beauty of thy Lord thou must fulfill that which the Apostle addeth in that place 2 Cor. 5 Therefore saith he we endeauour whether absent or present to please him If God please thee thou oughtest likewise to please God And surely we shall please God in the country of the liuing when as we shall be illuminated with his glory as the Prophet saith Psal 114 I will please our Lord in the country of the liuing But in this Pilgrimage we are so easily poluted and defiled with the slime of sinne that the Apostle St. Iames said Iam. 3 In many things we offend all And the Prophet Dauid to shewe how fewe are immaculate in this life affirmeth that it belongeth to Happinesse Psal 118 saying Blessed are the immaculate in the way Therefore my soule if in this absence and Pilgrimage thou wilt please thy Lord it is not enough to desire to please him but it behooueth thee as the Apostle saith to striue to please him that is with great diligence to beware of such spottes as may make thy face deformed and if any happen to sticke therein with like diligence to endeauour to wipe them away Dost thou not see how women which seeke to please their husbands spend many houres in dressing their hayre adorning their face and wiping away the spottes of their garments and all this they doe to please the eyes of a mortall man who soone after must be turned to earth and ashes what oughtest thou therefore to doe to please the eyes of thy immortall spouse who alwaies beholdeth thee and desireth to see thee without spot or wrinkle It is needefull then to striue with all thy force Luc. 1 That thou walke before him in holinesse and iâ—stice and remoue from thee with speed all things that may hinder the same not hauing respect to flesh and blood nor to the speeches and opinions of men For thou canst not please God and the world both at once according to the Apostles saying Yf I yet did please men Gal. 1 I should not be the seruant of Christ THE THIRD STEPP From the Consideration of the earth WE haue considered the Corporall world in generall Cap. 1 Let vs now consider the principall parts thereof that from them we may erect a Ladder to contemplate their maker First there is the Earth the which although it occupie the lowest place among the elements and seemeth to be lesse then the rest yet it is not lesse then the water and in dignitie and worth it excelleth the other elements Whereupon we often read in holy Scripture That God made heauen and earth as the principall parts of the world Gen. 1 For he made heauen as the Pallace of God and Angels the earth as the Pallace of men Psal 113 The heauen of heauen is to our Lord saith the Prophet but the earth he hath giuen to the children of men And that is the cause why the heauen is full of bright starres the earth aboundeth with mettalls precious stones hearbes trees and beastes of diuers kindes whereas the water is stored onely with fish and the ayre and fire are in a manner emptie and naked elements But omitting this The earth hath three thinges most worthy of consideration by which a vigilant minde may easily ascend vnto God First the earth is the most firme foundation of the whole world without which we could neither walke worke Psal 92 rest nor liue He hath established saith Dauid the round world which
and excellencie it selfe which thou art O my Lord God Thy seruant Dauid iudged right who esteemed thy commaundements To be desired aboue golde and much pretious stone Psal 18 and more sweete aboue hony and the hony Combe And he added And in keeping them is much reward What meaneth this O Lord dost thou promise reward to those that keepe thy commandements To be desired aboue golde and more sireete then the hony Combe Yes truely a most ample reward Iam. 4 for Iames thy Apostle saith Our Lord hath prepared a Crowne of life for those that loue him And what is a Crown of Life Truely a greater Happinesse then we are able to conceiue For so speaketh St. Paul out of Isay 1. Cor. 2 Isay 64 Eye hath not seene nor eare hath heard neither hath it ascended into the heart of Man what things God hath prepared for them that loue him Surely therfore there is great reward for keeping thy commandements Neither is that first greatest cōmandement profitable onely to man obeying not to God commanding but also the rest of Gods commandements do perfect beautifie instruct and illuminate the obedient and finally make them good and happy Therefore my soule if thou be wise vnderstand that thou art created to Gods glorie and thy eternall happinesse that is thy end that is thy treasure and center if thou come to that end thou shalt be happy if thou declyne from it thou art vnhappy Therefore think that assuredly good for thee which directeth thee to that end and that assuredly euill which causeth thee to decline from it Prosperitie and aduersitie wealth and pouertie health and sicknesse honour and ignominy life and death of a wise man are neither to be desired nor auoyded but if they make to Gods glorie and thy eternall welfare they are good and to be desired if they hinder it they are euill and to be auoyded THE SECOND STEPP From the Consideration of the greater world WE haue framed the first Stepp of our Ladder of Ascention vnto God Cap. 1 from the Consideration of Man who is called the Lesser World Now we also purpose to frame the Second Stepp from the Consideration of this most great corporall quantitie commonly called the Greater world St. Gregory Nazianzen writeth in his second sermon of the Pasche That God placed Man as a great world in a lesser world which is true if we seperate Angels from the world For man is greater then the whole corporall world not in quantitie but in qualitie but if that Angels are comprehended in the world as we in this place comprehend them then is man a Lesser world placed in a Greater world In this greater world therefore which conteyneth all things many things are to be wondred at but especially quantitie multitude varietie efficacie and beauty All which if by Gods assistance they be duly considered are of great force to eleuate the minde and to make it become in a manner wrapt with admiration of an infinite greatnesse multitude varietie efficacie and beautie and being returned to it selfe whatsoeuer it beholdeth without God to dispise as vaine and of no moment Truely the earth is so great that Ecclesiasticus saith Eccles c. 1 The breadth of the earth and profunditie of the depth who hath measured which may be vnderstood For that in so many thousand yeares as haue passed since the creation as yet the whole surface of the earth for that Ecclesiasticus calleth the breadth of the earth is not knowne vnto our men who daily haue sought after it And what I pray you is the greatnesse of the earth compared to the compasse of the highest heauen It is said by Astronomers to be as a Poynt and not without cause For we see the sunne beames so to illuminate the opposite starres of the Firmament although the earth be betweene as if the same were nothing at all And if euery starre in the Firmament be greater then the whole earth as the common opinion of wise men is and yet seeme to vs because of their almost infinite distance to be very small who then can conceiue the greatnesse of heauen in which so many millions of starres doe shine If therefore Ecclesiasticus said The breadth of the earth and profunditie of the depth who hath measured What would he haue said of the Compasse of the highest he euen and distance thereof vnto the lowest hell truely it is so great that it cannot be conceiued Goe too now my soule I aske thee if the world be so great how great is he that made the world Great is our Lord and there is no end of his greatnesse Heare Isay Isay 40 Who hath measured the waters with his fist and pondered the heauens with a spanne Who hath poysed with three fingers the huge greatnes of the earth Where St. Ierome saith that according to the translation of Aquila by a fist is vnderstood the little finger so that the sence is The whole element of water which is lesse then the earth is measured with one little finger of God the earth with three fingers the heauen which is greater then the earth and water together is pondered with a spanne But this is spoken metaphorically for God is a Spirit and hath no handes nor fingers properly and the scripture by these comparisons doth sufficiently shewe that God is much greater then his Creatures which Salomon signified more expressely when he said 2 Para. 6 The heauen and heauens of heauens doe not containe thee For if an other world or more worldes yea infinite worldes were made God would fill them all But thinke not my soule thy God doth so fill the world that a part of God is in a part of the world and all God in all the world for God hath no partes but is all in all the world and all in euery part of the world Therefore if thou be faithfull to him although Armies rise vp against thee thy heart shall not feare for what should he feare who hath an almightie Father and freind but if for thy sinnes thou hast God an angry judge and an almightie enemie then hast thou iust cause to dread with horrible feare and to giue thine eyes and feete no rest vntill God being pleased with thy true repentance thou take breath in the light of his mercies But now who can number the multitude of things created by one God maker of heauen and earth Cap. 2 Who saith Ecclesiasticus can number the Sandes of the sea and drops of rayne Eccles cap. 1 But how many mettalls of gold and siluer brasse lead pretious stones Iemmes margarites are there within the earth and Sea how many kindes sortes and Indiuidualls of hearebs fruites and plantes are there vpon the earth also how many kindes sortes and Indiuidualls of perfect and vnperfect liuing creatures foure footed beasts creeping Creatures foules how many kindes sortes and Indiuidualls of fishes in the Sea Who can number them
discoursing to and fro canst hardly knowe any one thing perfectly But thy Maker doth by one Act perfectly and distinctly know himselfe and all other thinges Yet thou which now art in darkenesse mayst if thou wilt endeauour ascend so high by the winges of faith and Charitie that after the laying aside of this mortall body 2 Cor. 3 Being transformed from glory vnto glory in the light of God thou mayst see God the light Psal 35 And being made like to God thou also with one eternall sight maist behold God in himselfe and thy selfe and all other creatures in God For what doth he not see saith St. Gregory in his Diologues lib. 4 Cap. 33 who seeth him that seeth all thinges How great then shall be that glory pleasure and plenty when being admitted to that inaccessible Light thou shalt be partaker Of all the good thinges of thy Lord The Queene of Saba when she heard the Wisdome of Salomon and saw the excellent Order of the seruantes of his house was so astonished that as the Scripture saith She had no longer spirit but Cryed out Blessed are thy men â— Reg. 10 and blessed are thy seruantes which stand before thee alwayes and heare thy Wisdome But what is the wisdome of Salomon to the Wisdome of God who Is the onely wise yea Wisdome it selfe And what is the Order of his seruantes to be compared with the Nine orders of Gods Angells Rom. 16 whereof Thousands of thousandes minister to him Dan 7 and ten thousand hundred thousands assist him Surely if thou couldest sauour these thinges but a little thou wouldest most willingly doe or suffer any thing that thou mightest enioy God Be thou humbled therefore in the meane while vnder the mighty hand of God 1 Pet. 5 that he may exalt thee in the time of Visitation Subiect thy vnderstanding to Faith that thou mayst be exalted to Vision Subiect thy will to obey the Commaundements that thou mayst be exalted into the liberty of the Glory of the chidren of God Rom. 8 Subiect also thy flesh to patience and labour that being glorified God may exalt it to eternall rest It remayneth that we consider the depth of Gods Wisdome Cap. 4 which seemeth chiefly to consist in searching of Heartes and Reynes To witt in the knowledge of mens thoughtes and desires especially which are to come whereupon we reade 1 Reg. 16 Man seeth those thinges which appeare but our Lord beholdeth the heart And 2 Paral. 6 Thou onely hast knowen the hearts of the sonnes of Men. And Psal 138 Thou hast vnderstood my cogitations farre off my pathe thou hast searched out and thou hast foreseene all my wayes Hier. 17 And He knoweth the secrets of the heart And The heart of Man is peruerse and vnsearchable who shall knowe it I the Lord that search the heart and reynes Which place the seauenty Interpreters haue translated The heart of Man is deepe and vnsearchable And St. Ierome expounding this place doth truely note that Christ is prooued to be God because he saw the heartes of men which none but God can see Mat. 9 Luk. 6 Mar. 2 And Iesus seeing their thoughtes But heeknew their cogitations Why thinke you these thinges in your heartes Euery thought therefore and desire of man although it be present and really exist is so deepe that neither Angells Deuills or men can penetrate to the knowledge thereof but yet a thought or desire to come is much more deepe For not onely are men and Angells vnable to penetrate it but also the manner how God who onely knoweth it commeth to the knowledge thereof This did Dauid seeme to signifie when hee said Psal 138 Thy Knowledge is become merueilous of me For that Of me in the Hebrew phrase signifieth Before me or aboue me so the sence is Thy Knowledge is more meruailous then I am able to vnderstand how it is And therefore hee addeth It is made great and I cannot reach it that is It is listed aboue my knowledge and I cannot by any meanes ascend to the vnderstanding thereof He speaketh of the knowledge of Future thoughtes because he said before Thou hast vnderstood my cogitations farre off and thou hast forescene all my wayes Therefore hee addeth concerning the fore-knowledge of those Cogitations and wayes Thy Knowledge is become meruailous of me it is made great and I cannot reach to it Some one perhappes will Answere and say That God seeth these thoughts to come in his Eternitie in which all thinges are present or in the Predetermination of his will but if it were so then should not this knowledge be merueilous For wee also know what we intend to doe hereafter or what we haue now in hand But the Scripture saith that God searcheth the Heart and Reynes and there seeth what man thinketh or desireth or what hee will thinke or desire hereafter And it is very admirable how God by searching the Heart and reynes can see yâ— there which yet is not but dependeth of the freedome of the Will whether it shall be there or not As therefore it belongeth to the height of Gods power to make something of nothing and to call those thinges which are not as those thinges which are So likewise it belongeth to the depth of his Wisdome by searching the Heart and Reynes to see that there which as yet is not as if it already were because doubtlesse it shall be But because I vndertake not to dispute questions Cap. 5 but to stirre vp and cleuate the soule to God be thou therefore stirred vp my soule and Lift thy selfe aboue thy Lamen 3 selfe as Ieremy exhorteth Thinke of the profound depth of Gods Wisdome which searcheth the secrets of the heart and seeth there many thinges which the heart it selfe seeth not O blessed Peter when thou saidst vnto our Lord Though I should dye with thee Mat. 26 I will not deâ—re thee Surely thou spakest not with a double heart but truely and sinceerly as thou didst thinke Neither didst thou see that frailty in thy heart which thy Lord saw in it when hee said Before the Cocke crowe twice thou shalt deny me thrice For thy most skilfull phisition saw the infirmity of thy heart which thou sawest not and that was true which the phisition fore-tolde and not that which the patient boasted Thanke therefore thy Phisition who as hee foresaw and fore-tolde thy disease so by a powerfull medicine inspired from aboue into thy penetent soule he soone cured it O Good ô pious ô most wise and most mighty Phisition Psal 18 From my secret sinnes clense me How many sinnes haue I which I doe not bewayle nor wash with teares because I see them not Giue me thy grace wherewith thou searchest heartes and reynes And my cuill thoughts desires and workes which I see not thou which seest them shew me and looking backe mercifully vpon me produce in me a Fountaine of
to be satisfied with their plenty and in the other also to be depriued both of temporall and eternall Adde moreouer that God is neuer farre from those that loue him For euen in this life he giueth them greater delights then the louers of the world finde in Creatures It is not falsely written Psal 76 I haue bin mindefull of God and am delighted And Psal 36 Be thou delighted in our Lord and he will giue thee the petitions of thy hart And Psal 101 I truely will be delighted in our Lord. And Psal 85 Reioyce the soule of thy seruant because to thee O Lord haue I lifted vp my soule And to omit the rest when the Apostle said 1 Cor. â— I am replenished with consolation I doe exceedingly abound in ioy in all our tribulation truely he meant not that Consolation came from tribulation or ioy from sorrow For thornes doe not bring forth Grapes nor brambles Figges but that to mittigate tribulations God euer sendeth to his friends such pure cleare and solide comfortes that temporall ioyes may not in any sort be compared to them Therefore my soule let this be with thee a sure conclusion Who findeth God findeth all Who loseth God loseth all It followeth now Cap. 4 that from the vertue which God hath giuen to creatures we ascend to vnderstanding the infinite vertue of the Creator There is not any thing but hath in it admirable vertue powre and efficacie A stone or lumpe of earth if it fall high with what force doth it descend what can resist it What will it not breake When the holy ghost in the Apocalips described the excessiue violence wherewith the great Babilon that is the whole company of the wicked shall be cast headlong at the day of iudgement into hell thus he saith Apoc. 18 And one strong Angel tooke vp as it were a great Milstone and threw it into the Sea saying With this violence shall Babilon that great Cittie bee throwne and shall be found no more The water likewise which is so smooth and soft and runneth gently vpon the earth when it is angry and swelleth in riuers or brookes beareth downe and destroyeth all things it meeteth with and not onely cottages of husbandmen but also gates and walles of citties and bridges of Marble haue we seene broken downe with it Moreouer the windes which blowe so sweetly beat sometimes great ships against the rockes and ouerturne aged Oakes I my selfe haue seene which had I not seene I should not haue beleeued a very great heape of earth digged vp by a vehement winde and carryed vppon a country village so that a deepe ditch was to be seene from whence the earth was taken and the whole village to which the earth was carried was couered and in a manner buried therewith What shall wee say of fire how quickly doth a small fire become a great flame consuming woods and houses as it were in a moment Beholde saith St. Iam. 3 Iames how much fire what a great wood it kindleth What operation is there in hearbes what vertue in stones and especially in the Loadstone and Ambar Furthermore among beastes some we see are very strong as Lyons Beares Bulls Elephants others very wittie although very small as Antes Spiders Bees c. And to omit the power of Angels the vertue of the Sun and starres which are far from vs how excellent is the wit of man whereby so many arts haue bin inuented as that we often doubt whether Nature hath bene by them equalizd or surpassed Lift vp now my soule thine eyes to God and thinke what vertue and power is in him of whom in most true scripture it is said Eâ—od 15 Who is like to thee among the strong O Lord And who onely doth great meruailes Psal 135 Tim. 6 And The blessed onely mightie the King of Kings and Lord of Lords For what vertue soeuer Creatures haue they receiued from God shall enioy it so long as it pleaseth him For who but God caused that neither the waters of the Sea Ionas 2 nor teeth of the Whale did hurt Ionas in the Whales belly Who but God shut the mouthes of the hungry Lyons that they could not touch Daniel Dan. 5 Who but God prescrued the three children from hurt in the burning Furnace Who but Christ true God said to the furious windes and raging Sea Peace be still Mark 4 and the winde ceased and there was made a great calme That God who receiueth not vertue and powre from any other but whose will is a power against which none can resist hath infinite power alwayes and euery where in comparison whereof all the power of men is nothing For so speaketh Isay All Nations as if they were not Isay 40 so are they before him and they are reputed of him as nothing and a vaine thing Are they not fooles therefore which feare the Creatures and not the Almightie Creator And trust in the strength of themselues and their friends and not in God Yf God be for vs who is against vs Rom. 8 And if God be against vs who shall be for vs Wherfore my soule if thou be wise 1 Pet. 5 Be humbled vnder the mighty hand of God Loue him truely and thou shalt not neede to feare what man or deuill or any creature can do vnto thee And if perhapps thou hast fallen and prouoked thy God to anger giue thy head no rest vntill thou be at peace with him Heb. 10 For it is horrible to fall into the handes of the liuing God It remaineth that we consider the beauty of Creatures Cap. 5 whereof the Prophet said Thou hast delighted me O Lord in thy workemanship Psal 91 And truely as all things that God made are good so are they all beautifull if they be rightly considered But omitting the rest let vs speake of those things which in the iudgement and opinion of all men are beautifull Great surely is the beauty of a greene Meadow of a well kept Garden of a pleasant Wood of a calme Sea of a cleere ayre of Fountaines Riuers Citties and of the bright skye garnished with innumerable stars like Iemmes How much also doth the beautie of a tree delight vs that is adorned with blossomes or loaded with fruit The shapes likewise of diuers kinds of foure-footed beastes the flight of birdes and the sporting of fishes What shall I say of the beauty of the Moone and starres but especially of that great and bright Planet the Sunne which comforteth all the world at his rysing But men to whome we chiefely speak are delighted with nothing more then with their owne beauty comelinesse By the beauty of women many haue perished saith Ecclesiasticus We haue often seene Ecclus 9 and grieued that men otherwise very wise haue bin so in loue with the beauty of women And likewise great and honorable women brought to such folly by the beauty of