P. Salmeron Ies. Seneca Simon de Caffia P. Soarez Ies. T. Thaulerus Theodoret. S. Thomas of Aquine Thomas de Kempis V. P. Viegas Ies. Virgil Po. Z. Zedrenus The Chapters in this treatise contained Cap. 1. WHAT à pretious iewell Time is pag. 1. Cap. 2. That we are Lords of Time and for what end God bestowed it on vs and in what manner it should be employed pag. 28. Cap. 3. How God abbreâ—iateth shorteneth yea taketh away time when there is great want thereof to him who tooke no care thereof when he possessed it nor sought he ough to make goâ—â— vse thereof according to his duety power pag. 45. Cap. 4. That even now whilest we have time it concerneth vs to take paines with feruency and speed and that we ought to employ it well pag. 64. Cap. 5. How iustly the sluggish deserve reprehension and who so called pag. 91. Cap. 6. How the body doth captivate that time which is designed for the soule and thereby exalteth it selfe pag. 101. Cap. 7. That lawfully secular people may vse some entertainements of mirth solace and pastime to recreate their spirits pag. 131. Cap. 8. That it is lawfull also yea even necessary that spirituall men vse some convenient exercise vvhich may tend for an intermission recreation and solace pag. 148. Cap. 9. Of the meanes to redeeme time vvhere shal be given to vnderstand more expressely vvho are they and of vvhat condition they are vvho loose it pag. 165. Cap. 10. Hovv it is to be vnderstood that the dayes are bad and hovv since so it is that they are to be redeemed pag. 181. FINIS THE RANSOME OF TIME BEING CAPTIVE THE FIRST CHAPTER What a pretious iewell Time is IT is the stile and manner of holy scriptures deliuery that whensoever it teacheth or admonisheth 〈◊〉 ought which is very notable 〈◊〉 of great importance it prepareâ—â— vs with the fore sending of some marvailous and extraordinary vision or figure which may invite and rayse serious attention which may awaken and sprightly quicken our mindes and hold them in suspence and admiration as ordinarily is read in the kookes of the Prophets and especially in the Apocalypse of S. Iohn the Euangelist where among other admirable visions and figures that which he writeth in the 10. Chapter is very remarkable which ioyntly with those wordes of the Apostle in the epistle to the EphesiaÌ„s Redeeme thy time for thy daies are euill shall be the Theme and grouÌ„d of this our treatise and exhortatioÌ„ He then further sayth that he sawan Angell goodly mighty and powerfull to appreheÌ„sion to come dovvne from heaven environed vvith a Cloud vvho brought vvith him on his head in lievv of à Diadem Heavens Rainebow his face was resplendant as is the Sunne at full Noone with his irradiations his glistering beames his Feete were like Columnes or great pillars of purely bright-burning fire In his hand he held a booke opened and treading on the Sea with his right foote and on the earth with his left foote so loudly strained he his voice and in such à maÌ„ner that he seemed not vnlike a Lion when he roareth and pointing at HeaueÌ„ with his fore-finger sware by him who liveth and shall live for ever aÌ„d ever him who created heauen earth and sea aÌ„d whatsoever is in theÌ„ coÌ„tained that after the dayes of the seaveÌ„th Angell time should cease for ever and ever that time should haue no being at all To declare breifly the mysteries which herein are comprised This Angell according to the exposition of many Authors is Christ our Lord the Angell of the great high and mighty Counsaile or is One of the most blessed Angells who representeth his person who hath from him the office of his Legate or Embassadour descended From heaven for apparantly most visibly he is to come downe from thence in a resplendent a cleerly-bright and most glorious Cloud with great and mighty power to giue Iudgment on all the world Yet observe also that his being covered in a cloud doth signifie the confusion the strange conturbation which in those last daies will appeare as well in the time of the raigne and fearefull persecution of Antichrist as also when there shall appeare such terrible such horrible such dreadfull signes which are to fall out and evidently to be shewen before the vniversall iudgment the day of doome when as the fearful presence of the Iudge is from moment to moment looked for The Rainebow is the Embleme or signe of peace The Fire of Anger fury and chastisment And in the two vttermost boundes of humane body which are the Feete and heade the beginning and ending thereof are delineated the two severall commings of Christ to the world whereof the first was of mercy to make peace betweene God ad Man and hence is it that for deuise he beareth on his head the Rainebow of Heauen for signe that the waters of the Deluge the afflictions and fore-passed chastisements were ceased And in the other he shall come as a iudge and hence is it that he is delineated with Feete of fire which signifie inflexible implacable rigour and terrible anger Ignis ante ipsum praecedet said David he shall come casting forth fire abuÌ„dantly The Forme and figure of Columâ—es import the mighty povver which hee will extend in the rigid execution of his iudgement and iustice The Open booke in his hand doth give vs to vnderstand the eternall sapience eternall wisdome which he hathas God by vertue whereof the office of a iudge is his proper attribute and the fulnes of science of knowledge of wisedome which he hath as man to discerne and discusse the reall grounds of things the demeanor and desert of all the sonnes of Adam and the decreed rate of the Divine law according to the which they are to be adiudged The placing one foote on the Sea and the other on the Land is as much as to say that he surroundeth that he comprehendeth the Sea and land the land and Sea and that there is not ought which can be exempt from his hands nor hide it self from his presence The roaring not vnlike to that of a Lion doth declare the strange anger and inexpressible irefull countenance of the iudge when he shall pronounce the heauy and most dolefull direfull sentence of the condemned And the so Solemne oath doth expresse the infallible certainty which shall be in the full accomplishmeÌ„t and coÌ„pleat executioÌ„ of that which hee declareth he pronouÌ„ceth he preacheth to maÌ„kinde that in the dayes of the seauenth Angell when as that dreadfull trumpet shall be heard and horridly resound which shall summon to iudgement all the offspring of Adam time for euer and euer shall cease shal be consumed shall haue its full and vttermost bound and last end and that eternally that everlastingly it shall be wanting to them who oportunely did not benefit themselves by it but deferred their well doing when as they possessed this Time vnto the
are the daies of those vvho are vvicked and really vaine and they retaine nothing but appearance sâ—doth the greene reed vvithout pith or substance Of the same indgement is the glorious Gregory in his Moralls in his Exposition on the lâ—st Chapter of Iob. That all those vvho haue so liued and spent their times in such manner are vvorthy of blame now it appeareth cleerly by the fore deliuered Chapters that time being so precious à thing as hath been said in the first Chapter and it being bestowed vpon vs that we may gaine heauen by our endeauours our paines our good vvorkes as is likewise shewen in the second and in seeing which you may find vvritten in the third that who so employeth not time well God abridgeth him of it and altogether bereaueth him of it taketh it ' out of his command when he thereof least thincketh not with standing all this they will not take the aduise and counsaile which we haue giuen in the fourth Chapter in the name of the Holy Ghost but forgetting all all feare postposed â—et by by their depraued tasts deceiued by outwardly seeming dainties though vgly be they and bitter moâ—sells wast their time ill misprise it value it at naught yea and vvrong it beyond all measure in liew of tendring it good treaty of making profitable vse thereof they molest it they peruert the vse thereof in so much as they are fouÌ„d to haue vtterly lost it nor obserue they what they haue neglected what they haue passed from what they might haue acquired are fouÌ„d therein nor of their duety to God vvho at so great à price redeemed them vvhoÌ„ for so many great and innumerable respects obligations they should serue both day and night alvvayes incestantly they should loue and adore vvith all their hearts vvith all their soules These such like may be aptly compared to men who in the time of traffique of commerce of buying and selling of faires making no reckoning of the great gaine that there vvell knowing how to trade they might hence acquire to themselues are busied and entertained all taken vp with mâ—mick toyes and iests in hearing blind men sing and seing of stage players and aftervvards their purse becommeth empty and opportunity of traffique and hence gaining by the faire passed They may be accounted alike to those vvho coÌ„ming a shoare from à shipp or galley to land to make prouision of vvhat they vvant to accomplish bring theâ—r iourney to à happy end the long wished for hauen keepe themseâ—ues busied in the gazing on curiosities vvhich occurre in the streetes or passages or in vvalking in places of pleasures as in pleasant gardens and so time ouerrunneth them vvithout time being obserued in so much as that they forget that principall and cheifest end for vvhich they came and that the shipp or vessell vvas to hoyse sailes and to depart and euen so they stay behinde for that they came to late in à strange countrey poore disconsolate and miserable It seemeth to them vvho vvithout any conturbation loose time that they are possessed of so much as vvill serue for all and that there is more then time enough to doe pennance and to amend their liues and it clearly appeareth that their vnderstandings and vvisedome are faulty for that Zenon Clâ—ticus à faire conditioned graue and vvise man as Laërtiuâ— reporteth sayed that men failed not so much in any thinge as in that of time nor that they haue more neede of ought then of it and all this he deliuereth vpon good grounds truely for that vve possesse not what is passed nor vvhat is to come and for the present it followeth so at hand and so breife that it runneth it's course in à moment The Saint Prier Gill brother of our holy order falling into admiration and compassionating vvith himself vpon contemplation of these idle persons vvho so much and beyond measure passe their time vvithout fruite and hearts-greife thus deliuereth himselfe The idle the sluggish man looseth this yea and the other vvorld happy is that man vvho employeth his time and passeth his life and his forces his full strength his vttermost ability in the seruice of God Tell mee if there vvere giuen vnto thee à fountaine which vvere to runne oile or wine one entire day in thy house vvouldst thou consume thy time being à poore man in play in loitering or in seeking of barrells or other neate vessells whatsoeuer wherin to keepe it thy end thy scope being to be rich vndoubtedly if thou wert not simple yea and sottishly such thou vvouldst make vse of such like aftervvards soe did the vvise vvidow of vvhom is made mentioÌ„ in the fourth booke of the Kings in carefully taking and reseruing the oyle which the Prophet Elizeus gaue vnto her miraculously therewith to satisfie for her husbands death that the creditors might not haue power to leade avvâ—y and detaine her two sonnes for slaues vntill that shee should discharge what was due but true it is saith the Saint that soe farre forth hath our folly taken hold of vs and wee entertaine wee admitt of so little discretion wisedome that whereas God Almighty giuing vs time and present life that in it's course through his grace his benignity and fauour and the maine the principall the stock vvhich he doth enrich vs vvith vvee may make our selues hence rich and that vvee may satisfie vve may acquit and pay vvhat vve owe so farre forth as that vve fall not into the misery of being made slaues of the fiend the deuill without all peraduenture vvithout all remedy and end vve consume our time in vanityes and toyes and buffoneries and in meere iest as Iob the most patient sayed in those words Dedit eiâ—lo um poenitentiae c. God gaue vnto man place of pennance and time to that end and he hath changed the good vse thereof into abuse and into sinnes of pride The end of the fifth Chapter THE SIXTH CHAPTER How the body doth captiuat that time which is designed for the soule and thereby exalteth it selfe AFter the sinne of our Auncestors did the bodye rebell against the soule so much preuailed it as that the body as the seruaÌ„t or slaue Agar did to her Lady and Mistris laid aside all respect and duety in so much as it might seeme that the body vvas the mâ—stris the soule slaue alas and that all the course of this life was and is onely for the body and for it's daintines it 's nicenes and it's recreation and to accomplish it's appetits and ouerweaning desires in so much as that the poore soule takes it as à great fauour that the body graÌ„ts it that time vvhich is required and by her challenged That to such her miserable state shee hath draweÌ„ on her selfe by sinne disgrace and abasement in so much as shee may call out to God repeating her tribulations her miseries in those wordes vvhieh Hierusalem in
the Lamentations vsed Vide Domine considera c. Behold Lord and consider how I haue been come to be abject since that my seruant yea my slaue doth so vilify me more offereth outrages against mee And in such māner doth the body draw on great burthē on the soule which it doth extremely wrōg doth raise and exalt it selfe with vvhat is not agreable rather contrary to all reason and iustice and it is bound to returne to the soule what properly belongeth vnto it vnder paine vnder amerce that vvhen the soule hath as also the body each of them both of them may be lost vvithout any redemption or any safety And to giue life to vvhat hath been deliuered as also what is to follow what better doctrine can be set downe then that vvhich the glorious Bernard hath in à sermon of the comming of our Lord of Aduent vvhereof I vvill here recite à great part The time of this life sayeth hee appertaineth not to the body it belongeth properly to the soule and for it vvas it appointed for of much more value is the soule then the body and it hath first to repaire and procure remedy vvhich first fell for it's fall it 's transgression the body vnderwent incurred punishment And if vve desire to liue and be true members of our head vho is IESVS CHRIST our Lord our duety is to imitate him and to conforme our selues to him the way wee must walke the principall care and sollicitude must be of our soules for vvhich he cheifly came into the vvorld and suffred the torment of the Crosse and let vs reserue the care of the body for that day and time vvhen our Lord shall come to reforme them to change them into à better state as said the Apostle Saluatorem expectamus nostrum c. We looke for our Sauiour who is IESVS-CHRIST our Lord and his comming to Iudge vvho will reforme or according to the Greeke text vvill transforme our body meane abject and full of imperfections and miseries and it shall be according to his similitude vvho is replenished with clearnes and splendour Hence striue not no attempt not oh thou body ill to be regarded ill to bee esteemed of to impatronise thy selfe of time by force and vvith violence before time for albeit thou maist occasiō yea hinder safety to thy soule yet canst thou not vvithout it procure it for they selfe alas no. All things haue their time permit suffer and consent that the soule may worke freely nor be thou any impedimēt vnto it rather helpe it and labour iointly vvith it for if you trauaile together if you shall suffer with it you shall raigne vvith it and so much as thou troublest and hinderest it's safety thou troublest and hinderest thine owne for thou canst not be reformed vntill that our Lord see in thy soule his image reformed Oh! body obserue vvell that thou hast vnder thy roofe à most noble guest à guest of grand rancke and quality vvhich is the soule and that thy well being and safety dependeth on it Be therefore some what like à Courtier well mannered and discreet and giue vvay respect and free entertainement vnto so honorable à guest Thou thy selfe art in thine owne house and in thine owne proper soile for thou art earthly and of earth but the soule is but à guest in thy house euen as à stranger à trauailer and exiled alas banished from his proper place of residence Let mee freely enterchange à word vvith thee oh body vvhat rusticall rude lowne very block head and course conditioned fellow should bee be valiewed to vvhose house might happen à Prince or Earle to come to allodge vvho would not willingly and most readily giue way and betake himselfe to the worst roome of his house to present him vvith the best roome and best lodging of his house yea if it vvere necessary vvould sleepe on hay and straw or by the chimnyes harth cinders Let this be thy way forsake thy meate sleepe litle if so it be expedient and necessary for the good of thy soule and for the loue of it let passe thy pleasures thy entertainements and passetimes fast and be regular sober and temperate in thy diet to the end that it may be in good time and perfect health and so perseuere correct thy selfe sharply bleed and mortifie thy selfe that it may liue this time is not the time of laughter but of teares not of repose but of labour not of dantinesse nicenesse but of pennance not of delight not pleasure but of anguish of sharp tribulation the time vvill come about there vvill come à time of mirth of joye and of laughter together vvith it so be it that with it thou lament thou suffer thou at the present poure forth thy teares and if together thou so west in teares together thou shalt reape gladnes hearts-comfort hearts ioy and vilifie not nay esteeme not at an ordinary value thy guest for that hee seemeth to come vnto thee from forraine countries as à stranger but contemplate obserue vvell the many and singular benefits which accrew to thee through his society his conuersation and presence This guest this soule is it vvhich giueth life spirit and vigour to thy sight and to thy eares faculty of hearing speach to thy tongue to thy palate it's tast and sense of feeling and motion to all thy entire body beauty and gracefull comlines And if so that thou vvilt vvell obserue and ponder what I now deliuer let it be your serious attention vvhat is it that you would be found to bee if so that it should faile you and that it should depart frō you that it should at any time leaue you abandon you and vtterly forsake you your house in this euen point and instant of time thy tongue will not be able to doe his office thou wilt be vtterly bereaud of speach thine eyes will become blind thou wilt be depriued of thy guift of hearing thy countenance will appeare pale all thy beauty will fade and fully perish and thou shalt proue to be terrible foule vgly stark cold irksome and horrible and thou shalt be an vnsauory carcasse and altogether rotten and à dunghill for vvormes Since Since that vvhich I here deliuer is true from whence is it that for à small momentary delight that thou dispensest and thou notably offendest so great à guest one of such quality and so profitable as of whom so inexpressible vse might haue been well made and that thou takest away it's time doth injure it and stealest from it and employest it so ill but thou canst not haue euen this thy shadowed delight if it vvere not vvith thee And if so great guifts depend and accrue to thee through it's presence and society not withstanding it be in à forraine Countrey and banished for sinne from the high and mighty Court of heauen and from the sight of it's Lord thinke maturely what
there are and labourers and Merchants and tradsmen workemen and iour neymen Kinges Princes Counsailors Aduocats and Officers all and each persoÌ„ vnder the Sunne loose time when so that they employ it in workes practises actions and offices vnlawfull and prohibited by the lawes and diuine decrees and not with the end and intention for which they ought to be made vse of or liue so carelesse that they doe not ought which is good and meritorious for as vve haue said a while since that God neither gaue man time to doe ill no nor be sluggish and he that employeth his time ill he in the presence of God is idle In vaine hath he been endowed with à soule who with it hath alwaies trespassed against God and alas in vaine hath any sinner what soeuer retained it all that time in which he hath been in mortall sinne yea and in vaine I further say haue they it now who are in such state and their soules ah haue been idle all this time for albeit they haue made vse and dayly doe thereof of its powers for other workes actions practises and seruice but for this as à principall end vvere they herewith enformed and hence was it that God gaue it that they should serue him which eueÌ„ Seneca himsef came to the knowledg of when he sayd God Almighty created all exterior thinges of lesser ranke and quality in the world to serue human body and the same body he created for the senses and the senses for the soule and the soule that it might contemplate and feruently loue the diuine beauty all the time which maÌ„ passeth in sinne or employeth not in the seruice of God he is therein idle yea and most vaine And although you call your selfe à busied King entertained by your graue and waighty affaires or à Counsellor or handy-craftsman or seruant c. I will enstile you herein à lazy lither christian and à sluggish and idle workeman in the house of God in what appertaineth to the seruice of God for idle for nought vvorth in this kinde of fluggishnes millioÌ„s of people shall be in hell vvho according to their hallucination their misdeeming their alas missecoâ—ceit thought that they were not idle farre other wise that they were alwayes atteÌ„tiue on affaires All the howers speÌ„t in vnlawfull games murmurings grumblings detractioÌ„s and in writing and reading vaine letters and lasciuious bookes and prophane bookes which often haue corrupted formerly chast soules to chaÌ„ge their such purity to dishonesty and they and those houres which are spent in ripping vp and giuing sentence giueing verdict on the liues of others without giuing reference to the party with his being heard yea without that he hath any the least notice thereof and euen vvithout that the Iudges be vvell and plainly instructed in the trueth neuer informing them as they ought as iustice charity exacteth at their haÌ„ds who is there who will spare to condemne them as idle as sluggish as il employed and hence conuince them of their assured losse of time And all those houres which thou hast ill spent which are not few too many alas Oyee vaine women in the dressings in your deckings to ensnare to entrap to captiuate soules yea and to enthrall them to subiugate them alas to enslaue occasion free wills to yeild pray let me knovv from you can you except against those that range yee vnder the same iudgement the same censure And the time the howers that the ambitious who feede themselues as like to Efraim and satisfy themselues with winde with vanity spend and consume in designing their towers their airy fabricks in the writing in the aire their dreames chimeraes and crotchets of their idle braines talking to themselus speaking with themselues vvhat the haughty King Cyrus figure of proud Lucifer said thou shalt see mee in the mountaine of the testament in the same place of the North side by side with it I will so seate my self and so place my throne I say so high so eminent that I may set my feete on the starres that I may make themselues my footstoole who is he who will say that herein is time ill employed cast away yea miserably lost The time the houres vvhich the couetous man passeth of consumeth in his braines working and reckoning how and with what attention diligence and intelligence he may aduantage himselfe that he may gain more by exchange and returne herein by vse or otherwise rumâ—nating and variously disposing his spirit solicitous and againe solicitously serious hereon hereon making the seate of all his care and as one resolued as one decreeing to get by lawfull or vnlawfuâ—l meanes by hooke or by crooke by any vvaies who is so void of iudgement vvho vvill ascertaine them that they so running ouer their time vvhen as the moderatest account thereof be made these things shall passe for good my desire is not to goe farther as to memorate particularly more ranâ—ks of people or their natures qualities or vvhatsoeuer their conditions are for to take particular notice to call them to my memory vvould appassionate me vvould really afflict me I should herein so doeing notably suffer and for that the world is not so lost so dull so sottish alas yet well may it be said it is farre gonne herein that any ChristiaÌ„ may not hence vnderstand collect aud gather all whatsoeuer may be farther specified and condemned if he please by what hath been deliuered by the bookes vvhich he hath read and by the inspirations which God hath benignely giuen him and by that vvhich his conscience witnes and loyall freind so it be beleft herein cannot but haue oftentimes counsailed him and accused him And that there may be more credit to confirme it vvith holy scripture Dauid in one of his Psalmes speaketh of the good and iust Dies pleni inuenientur in eis That there shall be found in them full dayes entire coÌ„pleate dayes not empty and it is à maÌ„ner of speach frequeÌ„tly vsed in the old testameÌ„t to say that they died full of yeeres that they died when they vvere aged as it is related of Abraham of other Saints freinds and beloued of God if this be deliuered of the iust let vs say on the contrary patt that neither dayes nor yeares of sinners are full rather they are false vaine and their houres houres of deceipt consequently they shall not dye aged but empty of dayes And Dionysius Carthusianus declaring those words of Saint Iob Mensâ—s vacuos enumerauâ— mihi Monethes and empty dayes I haue recounted vvith my selfe sayth he so much may the penitent sinner vtter vvho hath spent and consumed vvithout fruite vvithout benefit his time and his daies hence vvere they empty of good vvorkes and idle yea and full of vanityes and indeed of vice vvhich is nothing To this purpose saith Saint Ambrose the life of à iust man is compleatly full and empty
it vvilbe vvhen so that it is fully reconciled with him and in his grace vvhen so it shall by him be beloued and one of his fauourites And great cause yea and great inducement conuincible reasons are there that thou apply thy selfe vvith all the patience possible and vvith all good liking and that thou deuote thy selfe to all thinges that may be whatsoeuer they be and of what condition soeuer to benefit and laboriously attend to this reconciliation and returne to Freindshippe Giue vnto thy guest vnto thy soule that vvhich Ioseph spake of to à gentleman Cupp-bearer to King Pharoah assure thy selfe that happly à day will come that the King vvill take sensible notice of thee and vvill restore thee into thy lost estate let me impetrate so much fauour of thee that thou remember mee from hēce forward and help me vvhen so that thou well mayest alas haue pitty on me And without all peraduenture it vvill haue an especiall care and regard of thee to thy well-being if so that now thou tenderest thy seruice as becommeth thee and spendest the time according as is conuenient expedient to the soule and not to thy ease to that which thou valuest thy proper interest to it's cost losse and vtter onerthovv vvhen as so it shall be in fauour of it's Lord and face to face it vvill implore and impetrate for thee vvill shewe it selfe à true and faithfull freind intercessor and aduocate such like vvill be it's speech its treatye Most mercifull Lord of all power when I was for my trespasses for my greiueous sinnes banished and exiled to the vvide world wandred vp downe as à pilgrime meere stranger à poore and mercifull man receiued mee vnder his roofe did all the pious and cōmiserating respects that can be expressed hence am I à suppliāt to thine infinit Majesty with all the feruour with all the earnestnes I can that thou be mercifull vnto him pitty him who for my sake gaue all he was possessed of freely dispoiled himselfe of them yea further offred vp his owne persō to assist in whatsoeuer was good for mee loosing for my cause his owne pleasures and whatsoeuer delights sweating hardly labouring euen to wearisōnes yea to fainting it selfe for mee suffering hunger thirst and tyrings watchings toyles and what tribulations not for whatsoeuer he counted hee tooke no time of enquiry or supply therefore or so litle as may vvell be accounted no time to the end that he might deuote himself to my seruice and vvhat best appertained to me Nor is there any the least imaginable doubt but that the Scripture wil be fulfilled which deliuereth Our Lord will correspōd to the vvill of those vvho truely feare him and vvill heare their praiers and vvhen that the great King I say that King of infinite and incomprehensible Majesty enuironed with splendour glory attended on by à thousand millions nay an innumerable troupe of Angells to reforme bring our body to perfection to change them into à better state and being and to make them alike vnto his owne raising and at that terrible and dreadfull voice of the trumpet awakening them from the sleepe in vvhich they now deeply drouse then thou hauing been what thou oughtest to haue been towards the soule our Lord will well pay thee for hee will reward thee with glory for thy good entertainement allodging of that guest and he will glorifie thee and enrich thee with those precious guifts and endowments of immortality agility impassibility and splendour vvhich all thou shalt enioy in the company of thy soule for euer and euer Bee thou then althogether vnwilling I earnestly besseech thee to loose so glorious à glory such delight such treasures and crownes of honour for small litle weake fading and perishing goodes and for certaine kindes of pleasures fraught with so many discontents and so many hazards to suffer for such like toyes besides vvhat is spoken of eternall affliction paines and torments All the fore-written are the words of Saint Bernard And those who vsurpe the time belonging vnto the soule for the vse of the body and well like of this please themselues herewith neglect that yea tread it vndet their foote our Lord threatneth to punish sharply by the words of holy Iob in his foure and twentith Chapter saying Their delights shall quickly haue an end and all what vvas so pleasant vnto them shall proue to them no other then wormes and remorse of consciēce his mercy vvill forget them will not acknowledge them will take no Notice of them for euer they shall be buried in perpetuall obliuion there shal be no remembrance of them to any their vvell-being They shall from coole snowy water passe to an excessiue heate to the end that their paines their sufferāces may be the more dolourous and sharpe farr the more intensiue and the reason hereof shall bee Pauit enim sterilem c. for that they fed and vvith many curiosities and dainties entertained the barren and they did take no care no respect of the vvidow By barren is meant the body for the more they nicelyvse it and cherish it and deck it it vvill returne and bring forth no meritorious fruite for the acquisition of eternall life of euerlasting saluation it is to vse vvith much curiosity and nicenesse à block à dry sticke The Widdow is here an Embleme of the soule for that there is not à vviddow so distressed nor so solitary comfortles as is it vnder the roofe of à sinner Sinners attend and vvell obserue for hereō I treat no further for the loue of IESVS-CHRIST marke seriously and maturely and all yee whosoeuer doe abridge y r soules of time for your bodyes vndoe the soule by the molestation it bringeth to it and dayly afflicteth it with all the losse possible for that on the soules good safety dependeth all vvhatsoeuer happines the body can be capeable of and from the glory of the soule doth redoūd that in them which they hope for vvho are to enioy i◠for euer and euer The end of the sixth Chapter THE SEAVENTH CHAPTER That lawfully secular people may vse some entertainements of mirth solace and pastime to recreate their spirits FOr so much as as saith S. Iob our body is not composed of brasse or steele nor is it's hardnes like vnto that of à flint but it is friable weake sensible of each offence feeble alas nice delicate and tender vvhich is vvearied tired and yeildeth vnder the burthen of it's labours its affaires and businesses and also for that the soule is so vnited and affixed to the lumpish body it is as it vvere necessatily constrained sometimes to condiscend to the body as to comply vvith its desires no otherwise thē an aged married man wise and discreet how vvitty soeuer he be giueth vvay to the childish desires of his vvife since that she is very younge Some breathing
the gate of his mercy vntill it be opened vnto vs and almes be giuen vs Then it wil be bestovved on vs for our earnestnes our importunity as our Lord hath taught vs in the Parable of the Widdovv and the vnjust Iudge vvhich he theÌ„ to that purporse after he had sayed it is Expedient to pray euermore propounded vvho by her simple importunity and perseuerance therein came to obtaine of the Iudge that vvhich shee so earnestly petitioned for and this is confirmed by the example of the Church vvhich prayed without intermission for the Apostle S. Peter vvhen so that he vvas in prison vntill that he vvas freed was in safety And likevvise he is said to pray continually vvho obserueth time and howers of prayers in conuenient time in them hence is it that Dionysins Carthusianus he prayeth vvithout intermission vvho prayeth in due seasons in fit times and he likewise prayeth alvvaies vvho prayeth vvhen so that he can and that occasion and opportunity be had for prayer Simon of Cassia doth declare it thus All human life is à continuall warefare and temptation and through the whole course of our liues our enimies make assaults against vs without ceasing by night or day nor can we by meanes of our proper guifts ouercome them or withstand their strengths hence it is expedient for vs to pray euermore and to implore help and succour of our Lord who onely can conferre it on vs wherefore by all maÌ„ner of meanes importunate and earnest prayer is opportune And this such like is not so to be mistaken that there may not be à pause or intermission of time in prayer for sleep requireth it's due feeding it 's yea and cloathing some time is to be allowed for repose men are to employ themselues in arts vocatioÌ„s diuerse seruices and to attend the workes of corporall and spirituall mercy What is required of vs is that in fitting conuenient and opportune time for prayer we lift vp our hearts and minds to him with prayer and humble petition for vvhat we stand in need of what we extreamely want in such sort that through the vvhole course of our life it concerneth vs to pray without ceasing for that therein is not found one day or hower vvherein à man may say that hee hath no expresse need thereof and that he may decline so important and necessary à custome and practise But to be alwaies praying vocally or mentally euermore without any ceasing or intermission there is not à head à spirit that can beare it nor body that can endure it nor doth the lawes of God coÌ„mand it nor oblige vs so farre for his yoke is sweet and his burthen light and there is some what else to attend to vvhich charity chalengeth and necessity vvherein there is much of our time to be spent and to fully accomplish this be à man neuer so contemplatiue neuer so spirituall it is necessarie that he employ himselfe in some entertainement and lawfull exercise which may be his recreation and solace for that variety as sayth Theodoretus acquitteth vvearisomnes and procureth à nevv minde and nevv desire in so much as aftervvards à man returneth vvith more ease ability feruour to spirituall practises and à nevv acquired liuelynes Wherefore euen as Salomon the most vvisest in that his most discrreete judgement sentence which he pronounced to satisfy the tvvo vvomen vvho required one and the self-same child each of them pretending that it was hers gaue order that it shoâ—ld be deuided into equall parts and each of them should take their assigned portions Euen so à spirituall man and prudent must diuide his time betvvene the body and his soule allotting to each of them their part vvhich is due and as Iacob the vpright married tvvo vviues Rachel and Lya he hath to practise at vvhiles each manner of life as well the actiue as the contemplatiue giuing the most he can to what is most perfect and excellent And for that in this miserable and vvreched life the soule cannot alvvaies attend to that which appertaineth to the spirit hence is it that all they vvho vvrite spirituall treatises of spirituall life deliuer that it is necessary that there vnto be allotted à time of interposition vvherein the spirituall man may exercise himself In some vvell be seeming juste and lawfull exercise which may not distract and put the soule out of order and enfeeble the spirits rather that hereby they be reinforted and comforted and doe the office of help and refectioÌ„ Hence the anncient Fathers who liued in heremitages and in those solitary places desarts and vvildernesses of Egipt vsed bodily exercises and allotted times for theÌ„ to the end that the deuill might finde them alwaies busied either in corporall or spirituall exercise and the corporall should serue for recreation and pastime and to recouer spirit and strength for the spirituall And in like manner sayth S. Ierome in his rule giue no way no entrance to idle and vvandring thoughts for if once they begin to be Maisters of thee thou shalt euidently finde à change to very great prejudice And that the fiend find thee not idle take this course vvhen thou dost not contemplate entertaine thy selfe in some litle handy worke or other as namely make à litle basket of rushes or of curious fine Osiers one vvhile digg in à garden make the earth fine set it in comely order and by line make all your bancks and garden quadrats euen sow therein diuets sorts of pulse plants flowers looke to them take care that by watering them in their due times they be succoured and whilst the litle seeds sprout vp and appeare as grown pull vp by the rootes the weedes and you may if you like well plant some trees from vvhich you may in their due season gather sauory and looked for fruite make bee-hiues to which the labourious bees may make their recourse and there liue and make their honycombes make netts to catch fish dravv pictures paint or limme for he vvho attendeth to nothing is à Sea of thoughts is full of imaginations and hence is it that the Monkes of Egipt receiue not any one vvho knoweth not at all any workmansipp not that thereby they may get their meate drinke and cloth but for their soules sake and that hence they acquit themselues of idlenes and that through the variety of such like entertainements he may become more feruent and as it were greedy in feruour of spirituall exercise of prayer and contemplation which practise as vve are weake cannot be continuall cannot alas be incessant And writing to Demetrius he thus deliuered himselfe It concerneth you much is of great importance that you loose no time that you employ y r selfe alwayes yea euen hauing saied thy Primes Terses Sexts nones Vespers CoÌ„plines Mattins vvhich thou art to daylie practise yet shalt thou haue houres assigned
what purloyneth or onely stealeth some time for necessary affaires and requisite for the body and yet herein saueth some thing for the soule for it's good and profit this is as it were à redeeming of time and to allow for it that which one vvould spare from other occasions and decline them And although this edeÌ„ptioÌ„ and ransome from the delights pleasures wherewith mankind is taken is sensible as is it for one very hungry to be abridged of food not with staÌ„ding à man must necessarily vse all his strength and power yea vt-most forces and procure with all earnestnes to difengage à thing so valuable of so great vvorth as is that of time since pastimes and vnlavvfull entertainements and superfluous vvere the moneys and price for vvhich he sould it to the deuill being notably deceiued in the sale to his great affliction asvvell for the losse of time as also for its great valâ—evv vvorth And ansvverable to what is here delivered is sayed by the glorious Doctor of the Church Saint Austine to redeeme time is this Whensoeuer any one moueth à suite in Lavve à plea against thy estate loose some vvhat to winne time to serue God and cutt of the time vvhich thou vvert to loose in thy suites and that vvhich thou thinkest that thou loosest thou winnest and it is the price and valievv vvith vvhich thou art made Maister of time vvho hath any thing to be depriued of for gaine in vvhich he sayth that God gaue and to buy for if so thou goe into the market and buy-est bread or wine or oile or other merchaÌ„dise thou partest from one thinge receiuest another leauest thy money partest from it and makest good thy commerce and traffique for this is the manner of buyng and selling of traffique Then if thou shalt giue nothing nor haue lesse then thou hadst before and yet shouldst possesse more either it must be that thou hast found it or that thou art heire of it or that it was giuen vnto thee in curtesy but when so that thou giuest and partest vvith one thing for an other and dost giue out from thy house in barter for some vvhat that is necessary for thee then dost thou traffick and that vvhich thou possessest is vvhat thou boughtest and vvhat thou partedst vvith and hast not is the price where with thou boughtest it The divine Chrysostome declareth it in this following manner To redeeme time brother is the selfe same as is the taking hold of opportunity occasion offered and in being time is not thine owne to neglect it or more to despise it and that without sinne thou mayest play it away cast it of to ill purpose eueÌ„ as another sayth that hee may dispose of his money at will so that he may eueÌ„ play it away and throw it in the river if such be his humour for that he is Lord thereof although it be thine owne for that it is in thy povver and frewill to employ it vvell or no Yee are strangers here and passingers and since such is your state seeke not after honors nor hunt after vaine glory nor riches dignities and authorities revenges nor points of honor Patiently suffer euery thing vvhich happeneth to the contrary of thy expectation as also to thy content and be amidst them patient and meeke in so doing thou redeemest time and doth ransome it Moreover be good charitable to thy enimies and adversaries and give vnto them all the riches thou hast if they require it and that it be necessary to make à change betweene thy vvorldly vvealth and sinne Imagine faine à man vvho hath à house of valiew and sumptuous and very magnificently furnished and that certaine theeues moved by the report and fame thereof breake into this palace vvith firme resolution to depriue him of his life that they might easily robbe him and that hee call out to them vvith à pittifull and commiserable voice and say thus much Oh! alas for the passion of our saviour for the loue of God freinds kill mee not for pitty sake for I vvill not vvithstand you saue my life and take my goods I vvill give you all treasure in my house and euen he parteth from all vvhatsoeuer they demand euen then of such an one vvee vvill speake and decypher who doth ransome his life In like manner hast thou brother à goodly palace and rich jewells of great valiew thou hast à soule vvhich is the lively temple of God and his house and dwelling place thou art endowed vvith faith hope and charity and other vertues guifts of his infinite goodnes giue them their demaunds giue I say whatsoeuer they aske and part with all thy estate when so it be requisite and necessary in exchange not to loose the life of the soule and this is the manner and true course to ransome it and thou redeemest time which shoulest thou not doe thine enimies would take thee captive thy time vvould be lost Sinners ransome time which they lost be it that they follow the counsaile of the Prophet Baruch vvhen he sayeth Sicut fuit sensus vester c. Convert your selues to God and after thon art conuerted to him through thy penance serue him tenfold more vvith farre greater sollicitude care feruor diligence and earnest attention then vvas that thou employedst in parting from him in falling of from thy duety and in offending him and in ill casting away thy time They shall redeeme their time likewise who doe answereably to what Saint Paul the Apostle aduiseth giuing counsaile to the same purpose Sicut exhibuistis membra vestra c. Euen as to this very instant you employed and yeilded vp your bodyes senses and the parts of your body to serue vncleanenes and iniquity on iniquity make even now a turne about yea and turne à new leafe and speÌ„d all your time on the seruice of iustice and vertue to sanctification Before these wordes the Apostle deliuered Humanum dico propter vestram infirmitatem c. I desire to perswade you and to propose vnto you what is in it selfe nothing estranged froÌ„ maÌ„ his nature à thing feasible yea and easy to be donne and sufferable notwithstanding thy frailty and weaknes and it is that for so much you serue not justice and trueth as your duty is and you ought according to reason at the least I require it at your hands that with as much affect attention efficacy and fulnes of vigour you employ your selues in the seruice of God and in true obseruance of his commandements and to make as much vse of time and houres of which the fruite practise and entertainement is sanctification for by such workes à man is sanctified and is truely dedicated and deliuered ouer to God with as much care attention and sollicitude as you spent in your addictions yea and giuing your selues ouer to serue iniquities and sinne for from hence the sinner contracteth nothing on himself