yee it not amiss to pass the moity of your ages in dreames and folyes Yee sleepe with soules as black as Hell what repose can yee enjoy at the eue of your everlasting restlesness The Heaven though insensible quaketh for horrour at the clamour the great noise of this Trumpet The earth though immooveable doth thence tremble for feare The Angells themselues in their purity and all the Saints jointly in their innocence are toutched with astonishment allthough they are not capable of feare and yet yee sleepe during the time of this publique alarum's being which fright 's all Nature Awake yee speedily and prepare your selues to render an account even of the least idle word which yee haue let fall Ah! how out of frame yee are when yee wake it seemeth to me that yee haue set by to dye in shew yee will dye now in earnest Let me see how it is with yee Yee are at a bay for feare and dread Oh! how profitable would theise agonyes bee found vnto yee if yee would oftentimes vndergoe the paines to apprehend liuely God's judgments but your spirits avers'd from so serious thoughts are the cause of your missprise thereof without reflecting on your loss therby that 's à pitty alas I perceiue that yee are risen to dress your selues and yee are never vnready to deck your bodyes repleat with infections but forbeare a while I pray then look out of the window there 's a spectacle for yee to meditate on that stinking carcass which is carried to be buryed the same with whom two dayes since yee contested with for beauty it 's now as yee see borne to the tomb and yee will follow it thither it 's but a pace before yee it 's not knowen as yet wether yee arriue all three together thither This dreadfull Trumpet soundeth dayly and yee trace the ground incessantly and run the self same race Obserue a right how it doth agree to judgment that yee bee seen buryed in the way one while to frisle your haires for to hide your nitts another time to make white your teeth those little bones whose least infected ruineth your graces and thus much is in favour of your bodyes which apparantly doe putrify and hence the wormes expect their prey in this world and the infernall spirits in the other What is the benefitt which your soules doe reape by the graces of your faces Thinck yee that at the hower of your deathes your Confessour will demand of yee how many yee haue enthrall'd enchained and made your slaues No no but at larg namely how long it hath been that yee haue employ'd your time in so vnhappy a beeing at such rate in so commiserable a state There is no further talke of your excellent persons your rares faces their graces shall possess no places no more shall they domineere your soules onely shall pleade their causes God grant that they want not plea to obtaine their suites O how faire is the employment of this second dayes entertainment it's passed off in admiring and tricking your selues meaning thereby to tempt and attrap weake persons to idolatrise But alas I find yee farr more simple yet It doth appeare that yee labour onely to advance and advantadg the fiends of Hell since at the dayes end they cary with them away all your spoiles Further heerevnto adjoine their conquestes of your selues It 's confess'd that yee are ritchely cloth'd that there can not bee added aught to the stately curiosity which serue as a new lustre to your enticements But whither bend yee your way so nicely deckt if it bee to a Comedy Ah! how Cleopatra that young Princess representeth a dolefull personage on the stage the Theather of her marriage in the Tragedy of King Philip her deere husband's death for she dyed by the same stroke of misfortune which caryed that great Monark to his tomb Shee was as faire as are yee How comes it to pass that yee are happyer She was as yong as yee What reason haue yee not to apprehend her misery her missfortune sensibly The Trumpet which cited yee to death and judgment soundeth incessantly thither doth each one make their recours in troupes and croudes Who can assure yee that yee shall not appeare there this very day since that yee make your way as fast as the rest Is that a reposed life is it to possess tranquillity to perceiue your selues dye without your beeing prepared for death will yee expose those things to so great a perill Which yee can not loose but once Yee liue not but for Eternity for the life of this world is not properly a life and yet yee let pass your time without reflecting once thinking of Eternity which will last as long as God Almighty What will it not turne to your reproach that on Earth yee shall bee found to haue donne nothing else but dress and deck your bodyes of earth Oh! what a rare exercise would it bee if so your soules were of the same matter Oh! the sweet entertainement if it were not expressely necessary to dye if so one were to liue for ever but daily to liue the eue of an eternall loss and passing all the time to the dressing and decking of your carcasses by consequence it must follow that Hell will bee your recompense Notwithstanding what heerein is fore delivered behould yee pass your time in seeing a Comedy at the Burgugnion house but know yee not that yee there act your parts and are at the end of each interclude giving occasion of laughter and scorn to all the sage Democrites for the vaine employments of your times yet it is expedient that I extract your gaines out of your losses Atleast thinke yee during this your entertainements of time that the world is a Theater where even new yee represent those persons whom God hath endowed for Eternity Doe yee well or ill yee shall not appeare but this time solely on the Theater yee play your parts for ever the Angells and the Diuells are your lookers on expecting the end of the last act whence yee are to receiue praises or reproaches I meane recompense or chastisement Yee haue a faire petition to deliver descended from the Theather into your sepulcher Oh! giue vs leaue to rise againe wee will liue better then in former times wee haue The intercludes are passed The play is ended The candells are extinguish'd each one shall receiue his guiderdon according to his merit and for an Eternity O fearfull judgment But what'is more dreadfull yet is that the Trumpet doth summon yee thither amongst the disorder wherein yee liue I leaue yee to consider heere on seriously AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The third Dayes Worke. HAPPY are they vvho rest in our Lord Ladyes then 〈…〉 yee for 〈…〉 to the 〈…〉 I find yee your 〈…〉 are as black as possâ—â—◠〈…〉 though your faces 〈…〉 white Behold yee are bridled vnder the chinne as are little infants with a mask lined with waxed linnen to fright them Oh! how
would yee bee amazed if yee must necessarily appeare before God Allmighty within a moment to vndergoe the sentence of his judgment Which of either ought to bee more deere vnto yee the beauty of your bodyes or your soules healthes Your bodyes conceiu'd of corruption and borne vnder the imperfection in which they liue can they eleuate themselves to make comparison with 〈…〉 created by the hand 〈…〉 â—llmighty through his 〈…〉 charity and for his 〈…〉 Yet and againe Oh! prodigalls of misery of infirmity of meere weaknes indeed who misprise nothing els but your soules safety and are not passionatly tender for aught els but for your bodyes Them you adorne oftentimes with new clothes with nice robes without weighing that they consume all which they toutch and ruine all which decke them Yee doe well to bestow on them haire to adorne their bald heads with a perrewig The wrinckles on their foreheads make appeare atlenght the borowed gally pot of roses to shew vs clearely the thornes wherewith their age is stated in Conserue your beautyes with the art of limbeck renew your teeth each yeare hidet your limber and flaggy brests vnder a handkercher allsoe shrowd somwhat which may make them seeme round and hard the default of such vprisings would bee valiew'd as a most apparant deformity It would destroy all Then and Time who trayleth along all things who spareth none maketh an other breach such a ruine which can never bee repair'd I referre it to your quickned to your more liuely spirits hitherto drowned with sleepe to the recovery of your better reason long since strayed Whither this condition of life which yee lead on Earth can conduct yee to Heaven The third hower is even at hand at it's period in all which time yee haue been mervaillously serious but in what to put on your new clothes and your bands according to the fashion May I bee bold to enquire of yee what therein yee meane If it bee to shew your selues at the Revells and there to dance make not hast It was tould mee that shee who mooved for that meeting is surprised by a continual fever and the smale pox Alas what a chang of Medaile Yet faile not to visite her Her affrighting malady will teach yee to despise the baits inticements and beautyes which yee valiew soe highly Yesterday morning shee contended for the golden apple with the fairest found amongst yee this euening the curtaine of her bed is drawen to hide her for feare least that shee hurt her adorers Oh rare Beauty It 's to flatter thee too much to compare thee to the wind and to the smoke for thow art as it seemeth vnto mee much less in valiew The Revells yet goe on I meane the dancing to which Nature even from your cradles invited yee and to which Time is the violin for by it's continuall motion it trayleth vs all together to our sepulcher I much doubt least the aire of this dance bee dissonant to your eares but how soeuer yee must dance to it there is no gainesay Further it 's time must bee kept strictly it 's all in cadence it 's musically compos'd indeed Oh! obserue well it's burthen there hath been much care employed on it Each thing flitteth and glydeth without ceasing beauty leadeth in cheif as the most fraile most brittle Yee may plainely see your shares your lotts yet must yee of necessity pass the residue of the day in somwhat which may seeme to please yee but I pray yee what is it Yee are euen now very busy Yee court your selues in the lookinglass as did the wife of Nero Oh! sayd this Princess that I might dye first rather then haue the least diffigure on my face shee considered not what then shee did how she liv'd nor what shee say'd when shee dayly made this prayer that each moment of each hower insensibly depriu'd her and robd her of parcell of her rare beauty Ladyes it 's not expedient that yee craue earnestly on Heauen for that dessigne since that all the instants of your liues are soe many secret theeues who subtlely rob yee of the principall and most curious enticing draughts of your faces I say subtlely beginning in the bud dawning or rather call it Sun-rising of your age yet thereof yee take noe heed By serious attention on their actions is raised suspition and hence are they partly detected to be theeues but in the evening they are expressly found no less then publick Pyrats who cary with them all away together with your selues Oh! is it not even so what I now relate that theise trueths ought to be sensible vnto yee in such sort and manner as that yee should not euer meditate on aught else since of such like serious and tender speculations depend your safetyes for if yee present vnto your selues this variability this incessant circumvolution wherewith all things heere below are chained and to be buried one after an other within this whirlepoole of Time which devoureth all and that yee turning the other side of this medaile would ponder that soules onely are eternall would it bee even possible that yee shall not bee fully taken vp with the loue of Eternity It 's more then six thousand yeares since the Creation of this World and it scarcely seemeth to bee one day It 's very true that what 's pass'd is suddainely forgott But Ladyes this Eternity where God is the limit and measure is it which solely ought to entertaine all your affections all your desires and apportion all your hopes Bee yee pleased that even now I shew yee the meanes It 's allwayes to lend the eares of your phantasyes most attentiuely to this dreadfull Doomes Trumpet where the share of your happy Eternity or vnhappy is to bee seen determinatly Hope not a jot for favour there Iustice will beare the Scepter Trust not to your consanguinityes or affinityes your vertues will bee your fastest freinds Yee haue a great catch of them indeed yee haue a rare plea to say that yee are the daughters of a Prince the wife 's of Kings and the mothers of Emperours all theise circumstances serve you to your sepulchers Your works solely accomplish all your honours or your infamyes all your felicityes or your miseryes Oh! Ladyes how it 's to bee great persons and happy on earth yet there to pretend not aught Those who are borne who are destined for Heaven naturally haue such a disgust of Earth that thereon they spinne out their time as if they had no beeing there at all still lifting vp their spirits and their thoughts to this Eternity as to the onely good the sole Sanctuary The fruition of it is able to satisfy their desires compleately O Eternity thou art singularly gracious vnto mee that thou receivest favourably my good intentions my well meanings I will never cease to meditate on thee Oh Eternity how benigne hast thou been to mee in particular well may I say in making mee applye all the abilityes all the
not a jot never nor reflect the least on the necessity of dying from which God Almighty after the delivery of the law would not exempt himself no not himself But if the sole thought of death amaze yee meditate a little how our sweete Saviour hath the first quenched the thirst within the Chalice which hee presented to the end that at once hee might take from yee both feare and bitterness acquitt yee of such like weaknesse Death is not terrible but to the impious It 's true that it oftentimes astonisheth the most just through apprehensions of Gods judgment but by degrees this feare becommeth weaker through the faculty of their reason having much more hope of mercy then feare of justice their consciences will them soe in such manner that in their agonyes Nature is sole Authour of the feares wherewith they are shaken Truely I know not where I am heerein But what is that which I heare it's the great bell of the town which giveth yee notice that the gates thereof will speedily bee shut Ladyes why lend yee not likewise the eares of your imaginations to the noyse of this Trumpet of judgment which never ceaseth and doth advertise yee that the gates of Paradise are at the point of beeing shut for all Eternity and that yee shall never enter there if yee change not your liues Ah Eternity how thou do'st rejoice mee and jointly astonish mee See Ladyes at lenght your dayes journey hath it's end and it wlll be found to bee well spent for your turnes if so that yee haue made your benefits of theise important trueths which I haue set before your eyes Even so will pass all the other jorneys of your dayes to your loss and confusion if at least you take noe notice of this trueth that they runne their race they pass by Reflect seriously with your soules on that meditation and it will prooue impossible that speedily yee make not an accrew of good deedes an amass in favour of your soules They haue nothing proper to them selues but them onely They will bee all their treasures all their greatness and all their felicities whereof God shall bee the object the end the measure If yee knew Ladyes the true hearts content which on enjoyeth who hath lived well when so one cometh to one's stand abbay one 's last end one's death yee would labour with all care from this instant forward in your conversions on which yee would bee more intent If yee doubt the least of this trueth and yet alas enquire of your selues how it was with yee at your last sickness The anxietyes yee had for your offences likely increas'd your greifs and further set before your eyes the joyes and vnspeakable conforts wherewith an innocent life might haue cōsol'd hearts Truely I can not conceiue that there is aught more pleasant more delightfull assuredly there 's nothing in the Vniuers more delicious AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The Seauenth and last Dayes Worke. LADYES how is it with yee I yet awaken yee againe I am the same this very day in God's name since that hee giveth leaue that this Alarum come to your hands to looke on so long as your eares vvill dispose them selues to heare attentiuely the harmony therein to bee found for the benefit of your soules I speake to day as a day of repose wherein yee ought to meditate of happy Eternity vvhich is proposed vnto yee for your reward but as it is the last entertainement vvhich I am to haue vvith yee it ' is expedient that I make yee partakers of my solitude knowing through long experience the profits vvhich hence yee vvill receaue bee it that yee follovv my counsaile Represent your selues make your approatch for God hath provided from all Eternity that this little booke should fall into your hands either for your benefits or for your vtter losses for your profits to your benefits if yee obserue th' instructions which I giue and which God himself hath inspired mee with To your losses if yee shall misprise what is heerein delivered this very booke doth convince yee of voluntary blindness and declare the admirable favours which the infinit bounty shall hereby haue shewen vnto yee for your safety it 's in yee as yet to choose I l'e tell yee then for your instructions how profitably yee are to pass your journey From the time yee are awakened let your hearts bee as sensible of the new present which God hath given yee this new day as your eyes are pleased in admiration of his light Then vvithout merchandizing vvith your beds vvhat time yee vvill further assigne to your selues for your sluggisness get out of them and as soone as yee are on your knees before a Crucifix make that it your lookinglasses it 's there where yee may indeed become in loue with your selues weighing your valiew by the price of that blood vvhich hath bought yee O rare miroir Oh! lookinglass to admire indeed Render thanks vnto your Saviour that yee vvere borne and for your instructions in the Christian Apostolique and Roman Faith as the onely vvay of safety Then offring vp vnto Him all the cogitations the vvords and actions of the journey yee are now about beseech Him submissiuely to illuminate the one and animate the other to governe theise and to bee the object of them all together so farre forth as what yee shall think and say may bee received by Him gratefully Let the end of this prayer bee the beginning of your necessary affaires to cloth your selues but entertaine the least time therein that yee can without trouble or curiosity I forbid yee not the pouder since yee are no other But expressely the pomada and vermillion For though theise are harmeless in themselues yet they may prooue pernicious indeed not blameless through the ills which they may produce and as yee shall haue been found complices of crimes so likewise by consequence of paines As soone as yee are dress'd prepare your selues to goe to Mass where yee shall persever to render thanks to God for an infinity of his gratious favours conferr'd on yee nor ever let your spirits bee diverted aught from this principall and Divine object which yee tooke your selues vnto as well by reasons as by recognizance Present your selues in such manner that though God bee in each place our Saviour is both in body and soule on the same Aultar where yee offer vp your prayers It ought to cause yee to bee humbly graue and wary even to the not daring once to turne your heads without necessity nor speake one single word vnless compulsarily At return from Church each one hath somewhat to entertaine their times with according to their qualityes never to bee found idle expecting dinner time where gormandizing will bee remarked for an offence so disgracefull in a yong Gentlewoman as enormous before God Shee who therein can not command her self is a slaue all her life Are yee invited to a feast goe thither but so that it prooue a
Were yee awakened then would resound the direfull Trompet which call's yee to the day of Doome where each one must appeare in proper person and answeare for himself in particular Set before yee now the confusion and disorder yee shall bee brought vnto Is it not likely that yee will blush for shame as often as yee haue lay'd white on your faces will they not become pale with feare as often as yee haue lay'd on them red therein yee will betray your selues publiquely discovering the secrets of your guilty slights I excuse Narcissus in the fable where as it 's found that there hee became his own enamoured the adorer of himself How was hee deceived Alas poore Narcissus thou never didst discover thy self in that guise and manner But how can one pardon yee or in any wise conniue at the errours found in yee of the like nature Can yee make the least question of your defects since that yee are fully fraught with them And for your forgettfulness of your miseryes it 's strang What yee fe'ele a thousand times a day can not butt make yee confess that yee are not pasted of aught else nor formed of any other matter Awake yee then speedily redeeme your selues out of this earthly sloth wherewith your soules are burthned are indeed heavily oppressed and lending an attentiue eare vnto the dreadfull sound of this Trumpett which summoneth the Vnivers to judgment ponder seriously that it giveth not a vaine warning since that each moment an infinity of soules come thither in troupes See in what case yee would bee found if death should surprise yee even then when your faces are painted your phantasyes charged with vanityes and your soules soyled with a thousand kinds of crimes Oh God of justice who will not feare thee at the day of thy vengeance Belieue me Ladyes since that your death's are inevitable since that yee must expressely dye indeed sollicitously note your dayly demeanours It seemth to any one who observeth the care which yee employ on your faces that you liue for them onely The fairest of your company who yesterday dyed suddainely to day affrighted her vassals and though yee bee tender to maintaine her former beauty yet I assure mee that yee defye to come nigh her without stopping your noses Enstyle yee those horrours graces which appeare on her face those her eyes suncke those her wanne lippes I tell yee truely that hew of death that it's tincture would as it where even make mee hate your sexe were I not a fruite of the same tree The rootes and body of the tree are of the self same stamp The leaues and flowers are of the self same nature there is not a pinne to choose To apply my self more nigh vnto yee I will state it thus that there is amongst yee one who is the flower the mirrour the wonder of this age what honour what lucre what returne of profitt will hence accrew vnto her were it that one sing her praises in each tongue there will not be found aught but aire in diuers fashions Should one erect and consecrat vnto her Altars she must bee the sacrifice for having been the Idole Were it that shee could impose lawes to all mortalls she can not exempt her self from beeing subject to all their miseryes Were that courtly Fortune led her by the hand to the height of thrones the self same may occasion her to fall into the precipice of a lamentable prison there to dye through greif as it was to Darius his wife I l'e goe further namely that herrenowned beauty had the vant in the judgment of many ages what then where may be found her aduantag therein A thousand honours will bee ascribed vnto her What will the world render vnto her where shee is no more nor ever shall bee and likely shee shall then burn in Hell there so remaine eternally Her body I say shall bee food for wormes Her soule for the flames and somtimes her name and fame shall bee celebrated heere below Where lyeth the honour now My spirits doe suffer in theise contemplations through their conceiu'd feare and astonishment Ladyes in what a miserable condition are they who solely haue beauty for their share for their part What rate set yee on beauty alone I say it 's no other then to haue a gay posy of flowers wherewith one may deck and dress one's self trimmely in the morning during the space that they are fresh butt about noone indeed so soone one leaueth the regard as well of the flowers as stemme even so at the approach of night this admired obiect the self same ment is misprised of the Vnivers Truely what soever is say'd I find nothing good but Vertue the rest passeth by and vanisheth One of tall and comely stature stoopeth A cleere voice changeth And a polite wit sometimes looseth it self through Vanity Vertue is it which is solely stable solely permanent on it's one ground never giving vs over to our ruine Bee yee then Ladyes since so yee will needes haue it as faire as was Cypris say'd to bee in the fable yet yee will gaine but an apple for your recompense Admitt yee bee as beautifull as was Lucretia famed to bee in the History yet dyed shee through greif All the beautyes who haue appeared on the earth since the instant of it's hauing beeing make but à hillock of it's gross dust It 's vertue solely which lead's vs beyond our tombs But whither goe yee now so well accoutred so neately dressed If it bee to Confession to make that desseigne your good morrows since that it 's the first Sunday of the moneth then reflect how yee haue prepared your selues In lieu of examining your consciences before a Crucifixe yee haue been curious to enquire the state and being of your faces before a lookinglass Yee goe to craue pardon for your offences and a new trangress yee in the same which calls for justice Yee part I say from the Confession chaire to the Altar there to receiue your Saviour with soules more disposed to offend heere after then resolu'd to repent of what is passed in your former liues Is not this to crye for vengeance against your selues Me thinckst I see the rare sainct Francis to appeare with that perfect charity which enflamed him on earth and by the self same fire wherewith the Seraphins are surrounded and entertained happily in Heauen and yet hee thought himself vnworthy to take vpon him the order of Preisthood Yet will yee bee so audacious so shameless as to receiue your owne Creatour with impure mouths and prophane hearts the sole thought of this crime doth put my spirits out of frame caused through confusion and astonishment AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The second Dayes Worke. I Warne yee Ladyes in the name of God for it's himself who giveth yee notice that yee neither know the day nor hower when this Trumpet which calleth yee to his judgment will giue the last summon How is it with yee Thinck
facultyes of my soule on the meditation of thy longanimity in so much that I shall never haue other obiect then Thee no other sight then speculating on Thee Doth it not follow necessairily that I loue thee entirely If I abhorre all that flyeth thee that forsaketh thee If I seriously misprise each transitory am not I constrain'd to esteeme thee perfectly Let no man speake to mee but of Eternity each crime not returning to the same displeaseth mee nay rather doth mee notable injury In a word if therebee any taken sensibly with aught by how much the greater it is the more doth it's excess menace vs of it's privation Presuppose Ladyes that in this world yee bee both faire and ritch It 's much But I pray tell mee what is their permanence Had I to dispose of an age I would alow yee to enjoy the full terme of it But at the last moment what would remaine vnto yee What would accrew vnto yee your beautyes would not subsist but in your owne transitory times and your treasures though now possessed shall bee farr from yee as constrained to abandon them for ever Your cases are thus all the goods of Fortune which yee enjoyed changing their names propertyes and natures will afflict yee to thincke of It 's truely even so that it 's solely Eternity which can quenche our hearts continuall thirst AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The fourth Dayes Worke. WHAT say'd the wife of Rosidates to her self with a voluble tongue and very nimble as passionate indeed when she heard the dolefull Trumpet sound at her doore signifying vnto her the decree of her death by the command of her brother King Hertodorus Oh! Ladyes how much more dreadfull is that Trumpet which doth summon yee to God Allmightyes judgment This Rosidates liv'd and dyed a Heathen but yee who are destin'd for Heaven will yee pass your times on Earth solely for Hell It will soone bee noone by the watch of your liues as well as by the town clock it self Where is your dayes work If in such sort yee pass the rest thereof carelesly either sleeping or besotting your selves it will be found at lenght that yee liv'd here in this world no otherwise then dreaming and that in the other there yee shall liue perpetually awakened amidst the heates of eternall flames everlasting fire Perceived yee not clearely that the Sunne the other day blamed yee notably and such like slothfull people as are yee but yee never the less will make it as your happiness to sleepe and drouse This starr which measureth the moments of your liues leaveth not a whitt to run his wonted race his cours to traile yee to your graues Rouse your selves vp Remember yee not that yee are invited to a solemne feast of marriage I must needes waite on yee bee it but onely to obserue your carriadge I l'e take notice of your vanityes and giue account vnto the world how fantasticall yee are Take yee your time to dress your selues in the meane while I l'e contemplate somwhat and also exercise my patience Let mee approach vnto yee nigher To what vse are those gally potts of pomada those boxes of pouder those violls of distill'd waters and those papers of vermillion which I see vpon your cabinets by your night dothes Is it a part of art which yee put in practise to make yee seeme more faire then yee are in despite of Heauen and Nature Oh! what bitter Oh! what salt teares will these vanityes extract from yee Ladyes Bee it that your Ladishipps haue the least leasure lent yee to repent yee It 's to be granted that your bodyes doe daily require the charity of pomada of rare odour to cover the defects of your teints Your tresses can not hide their greasiness without pouder Your tawny-dusky faces after they haue been made happy by the Alimbeck expect the vermillion least that their dead colour appeare not at all but yee obserue not that yee labour to fill pots which are perced as did the Danaides Where shall one find Pomada which may agree with yee and contend with your stenches What is that pouder that can dry the clammy greate of your heads What water can serue the fullness of your desires And what vermillion can make appeare on your cheekes which Nature hath not planted there Thence yee discover plainely that your actions containe in them solely vanityes for their obiects They rest vnto yee for your recompense Oh what braue conquests yee looke not after aught but airery toyes your heades are full of crotchetts Yee like nothing but what is smoke witness the teares discover'd on your eyes See what'is the fruite of the course of your liues behold the guiderdon which doth attend yee at the end of your race Oh! how pretious was the Pomada of Saint Elizabeth who made vse of it to parfume the feete of whom of the indigent the poore Oh! how odoriferous was the pouder and the ashes where Saint Marie the Egyptienne covered her head the day of her penitence Oh! how the teares of her repentance where rapt and possess'd with Devine vertue in so much as her body and her soule in an instant were embellished Oh! how strang it is the blush of her shame for her sinne was farre more liuely then what yee daily vse Grant me this boone for my paines hither to seen no less I beseech yee to breake your lookinglass which dayly flatter yee nor ever take to yee other then such as I deliver vnto yee heere Yet thus much say'd yee will keepe on your wonted wayes Now yee are dress'd Now at the feast and suddainly will all varietyes of sweetmeates bee seru'd in there is the end What I would put into your minds is that all solemnityes haue but their times On Earth a feast is not to bee had but of the fruits of its own garden and as theise fruites haue nothing proper but their corruption even so that aliment from day to day doth naught else but increase your infections they can never satisfy your appetits The succeeding day yee will sensibly find the vanityes of your pleasures had at table since that they vanish with the table cloth it self Likewise seriously ponder when yee are amidst your jollityes that the self same howers which yee haue employ'd in the pampering of your carcasses are registred in the scrole of their ruine since that whither yee eate or laugh Time leadeth yee to your tombe Theise are the banquetts of Cleopatra which are solemnely celebrated though in shipps even floting hence learne wee that each where wee chang fortune through the perpetuall decline of our liues all our actions tend thither what destroyeth vs is ours in proper But to goe on in conclusion behold your retourne vnto your houses the dance is ended likewise the feast Oh Ladyes meditate a little space but attentively I beseech yee humbly on this passage this phantasyes All theise pastimes theise wordly pretty toyes symbolize are of the like nature with theise
dances and feasts each of them flitte incessantly it 's sure that death approatcheth nigh howerly Were all your dayes spent in the solemnityes which frequently are found when so that marriages are pompously celebrated Oh! how direfull would your last day appeare vnto yee since then must yee render account of your time past in laughter and dance Reflect a while how many are the dances and feasts wherein you haue entertained your times hence take counsaile secretly of your memoryes then vse your judgments and see what is left vnto yee yee shall never haue other for your pleasures And what will it not bee reproach vnto yee that yee sould your portions for nothing which yee pretended for Heauen I haue heard say that Lysimachus did exchang his Crown for a glass of water but when Ladyes obserue then it was so with him at that time when hee was even as it were reduc'd to ashes by the same heate of thirst which burn'd his entrailles in so much as beeing in such plight in rendring his dying spirit hee chang'd naught else but wind but breath for water But to see how remissely yee giue over your pretensions of eternall consolations of everlasting joyes for toyes such I may truely terme them which beare no other titles then of meere deprauations of your phantasyes of your imaginations Where is that self affection whence yee seeme to become so passionate Is it not to hate your selues that you affect not aught else but what doth flit it's not it when yee dye what will bee left yee of your passed time but a present greif and too late such whose anguishes will never cease Yee never dreame of other thing then to enquire after new pastimes to the ruine of your times Alas Nor consider yee aright that Time doth ruine yee for in seeking to pass it yee must find death How so is it possible that yee striue to pass over it which so swiftly glideth by yee as doe your phantasyes light though they bee they can not over take it And what more seriously yee ought to ponder is that all the time of your liues hath for its terme its limit a sole moment on wich though such doth depend for ever and a day your calamityes or your felicityes that 's a misery in torment which hath no end this a bliss in glory which will be permanent beyond all ages illimited indeed Oh! how pretious are the contemplations of the last period of our liues How is it so that thou art not as inseparable to our soules as is the shaddow to the body Oh! how sweet is the memory of our death Why is it so that our memory is not for the most part in such sort all taken vp with thee as that it never forget thee Oh Deuine is the meditation on Eternity Art thou not as sensible of our soules as our respiration is of the preseruation of our hearts How Dauid liketh mee well when hee cryed out aloud that hee had often meditated and that seriously indeed on the dayes for ever where God Allmighty is solely the light Oh faire dayes I wonder not that yee haue no night the Sunne which sheweth it self on yee is bright and borroweth not it's light no. Oh dayes most happy say no more or thus I am not one whit astonished if so bee it that yee remaine for ever the Planet which gaue yee a beeing possesseth Eternity in cheif in proper Truely my soule is extasyed rapt as it were in this sweet contemplation with such singular content it 's in such guise as that really it hath no desire to be otherwise Ladyes in a word it 's so that yee must arriue to the dayes end and returne thither from whence yee came in the morning for it 's but one dayes iourney Yee haue a fine time of it to bee lazing The Sunne who sendeth forth his beames for yee will that yee goe as fast as doth hee Dance laugh sleepe vntill noone day the shippe of your liues leaueth not it's cours it sayleth evermore incessantly on the sea of it's proper miseryes onely by the wind of your respirations it cannot stay it self vntill it arriue at the hauen of the sepulcher Ladyes it 's the hauen to which Doomes Trumpet doth summon yee Take yee heed least it bee not found a rock vnto yee where yee may encounter too dreadfull a shock the calamity thereby is for Eternity and repentance vnprofitable In good earnest at what time soever I think of Eternity nothing that 's wordly doth please mee I am not bold to say so much that each parcell of the Vniuers made such by a Soveraigne power and absolute from it having it's soule it 's beeing it 's life is not in it self admirable and adorable in it's Creatour but as there are so many obiects of change or of corruption my heart not well appeas'd sigheth after the fountaine of the lesser springs as after it which is onely capable to quench the thirst of my desirs Ladyes would yee but distast the word's pleasures yee haue a ready way to fill your best thoughts on the delights of Eternity for such is the inequality that common sense will lead yee will suffise to make yee misprise them and earnestly desire theise AN ALARVM FOR LADYES The fift Dayes Worke. COME to my ayde my Lord cryed out Saint Hierome a thousand times a daye I dye for feare at the resound of that Trumpet which doth summon mee to thy judgment Ah Ladyes if this glorious Saint amydst the deserts and amydst the austerityes of a life all devoted to pennance found himself reduced at a bay at a stand for feare and dread can yee frame with the vanityes of the world when yee doe but once meditate on the necessity of your deaths from which there 's not one exempt This innocent doth tremble at it and are yee not aught sensible of it This harmeless quakes persist yee senseless This just man I say againe cryed out incessantly for help and succour though hee where soe pure yet will yee not bee awakened though infirme by the example of his astonishment Can yee take rest in the ships of your bodyes and on the world 's tempestuous sea 's without fore discerning that Time who is the Pilott puts yee one the shore of your sepulcher Awake your selues then suddainely and as your liues are but dreames at your waking dreame againe what trades yee intend to vse whilst yee are in this long Eternity to which yee make your howerly approatch God hath giuen yee and each one of yee since the time wherein yee haue been of reason a pencill in your hands as to Zeuxis that renown'd Painter who painted according to his beleif n'aught else but Eternity this is a paterne for yee such as it sheweth yee that all your works should haue for object and ayme no other thing In summe all which yee meditate on say and doe is painted in oile colours of Eternity I would yee vnderstood mee aright all
banquet for yee as neither eating nor drinking beyond your ordinary custome hence yee will find that your bodyes will bee the more sound more healthy and your soules more innocent If after it yee take a walke divert your selues from such discourses where no body is interess'd but if one of the company doth speake ill of another all though it bee in jest turne the discourse in a faire manner and to the end that yee may never accustome your eares to well-like aspersions lay'd on any for defects it beeing that yee your selues are too much charg'd with them If yee pass the afternoone within your doores each one of yee will employ your selues with your needle or read some devout booke to entertaine yee more profitably during the afternoone I say your booke of devotion as for the eloquent speaches the Romances and for the Comedyes they are toyes meere fables which discover in the end the vndoubted folies of them who soe haue been their advancers and given them esteeme therein haue they employed their times exceeding ill Bee it a holy day then let this Alarum wherewith I present yee hinder yee from sleepe howsoever at the Sermon and doe not yee imitate such who are devout in fashion who are weary on good friday to heare of the passion without considering that this our Devine Saviour who hath suffred those for your selues had more patience in his torments then haue those impious had to heare onely the recitall which hath been made Oh Lord for what other crimes dost thou reserue the thunderbolts of thy justice When the hower of your rests doth call on yee before yee bee vnclothed make your recourse to consult to advise seriously and most attentiuely the last time the self same lookinglass it 's the Crucifix fix your eyes on it and there examine your consciences humbly beseeching God's mercy's pardon for all your trespasses which yee haue donne during this dayes journey and that yee may haue grace to retaine your selues from sinne that yee may not fall therein againe There are yee to resolue soe then with the same action offer vp vnto him all your desires and hopes concerning the repose and tranquility of your liues so that hee iustify the one through his benignity and the other through his infinite power but rather humbly resigne your wills to his Obserue it well that hee who knoweth to compose him felf well to God's will is the wisest of the Vniverse It 's that onely science Ladyes which can seate yee in repose Build not the height of your desseignes on the greatness of your familyes nor on the favour of your freinds I haue seen sayeth the Prophet Lords of the Earth elevated beyond the height of the Cedars of Libany but a dreadfull story to recite next day haue vanished from myne eyes and hardly could I find one who conseru'd so much as the memory of his having been The Favourits of the World are of the same nature they solely pass it by Their fortune is a suddaine flash of lightning which farre surpasseth thunder with it's inevitable fall in sort such that if God lay not the first stone to all your buildings all will fall there will not bee found aught but ruine Desire then never aught but what is of God that 's to say that what soever are your affaires yee fully referre them all to his Sovraignity and without murmur to his Devine Providence since that the ordering of all doth properly appertaine to him Wish yee to bee Religious or to bee maried take vnto yee that restraint of humility and obedience my Lord thy will bee donne It 's the prayer which hee hath taught yee judg yee whether it ought to be acceptable vnto him and whether profitable to yee End your examinations by a prayer to the Virgin as well for her particular merit from whence the flash through admiration of it's light so bright dazeleth the sight of all the quires of Angell's as allso for your safety since shee is Advocate and all puissant Mediatress who so hath this Virgin in assistance will never perish A PARTICVLAR ADVISE For direction of a one's life NEVER bee confident in aught but in God all freindshipps of the World retaine parcell of it's variable Nature such an one to day would dye for yee who to morrow were yee disceased would not so much as honour yee attired in morning Interess is ever found in affections bee they never so pure Become yee ill favoured poore or old all your great freinds and who so were last evening your loyall lovers will even vanish this very morning and if yee send for them none of them will bee found at home for yee Ladyes it 's onely God who is a perfect lover and such like freind indeed Will yee haue proofes of his goodness Hee dyed for yee before yee were borne Require yee testimonyes of his mercy dayly hee conferred grace on yee Loue then him onely Ladyes confide in none but in him and yee shall never bee deceived Offer vp your selues in all places for God doth replenish the Vniuers Hee is every where in such sort that hee is witness of your actions to the end that this consideration might retaine yee in the duetye yee owe vnto so Saintly and adorable Majesty The most consonant prayer which yee can offer vp to God is for your enemyes since hee himself hath given yee the patterne then when hee was nayled on the Cross where having nothing but His speach free served himself thereof to craue pardon for those vilains who brought him to that beeing that misery Oh vnheard of charity our sweet Saviour call'd out for mercy for them the self-same who gaue him gaule and vinaiger to squench his thirst Even then when in the dead of winter yee are in your beds shelters free from could weather and other domages which might endanger life set before yee how many poore there bee at this very instant who haue but a little dunghill-straw for their beds sheets and coverlids without hope that to morrow they shall bee provided better Then consider some-what further elevate your spirits to an higher pitch behould that God hath given vnto yee degrees exempt from such like miseryes mooved by nothing else but his goodness and bounty conferr'd on yee Truely they are benignityes which justly exact eternall and gratefull notice I wonder not aught that vnthankfull hence bee punished for ever Take heed that yee prooue not of the number Offer vp your selues againe as having been the same from all Eternity whom yee are now in the judgment of God Allmighty And what yee ought to ponder more sensibly is that amidst the infinity of soules his power Allmighty doth create daily hee hath selected your's to bee instructed in that Religion wherein solely yee may find your safetyes I am confused nay rather extased jointly each time I consider on such venerable truethes and adorable What a wonder of goodness is it that God hath loved yee within
himself in your nothing before all ages I say loved yee even to the conferring on yee a thousand sortes of benignityes of which many other 's of your sexe are deprived Adore yee adore yee Ladyes this Devine Providence which in such manner hath ordained in your favour without your retributes without your deserts Bee not yee proud of the admirable qualityes which yee possess aboue your companions least that God punnish yee and take vengeance on yee for it If yee bee very faire bee yee likewise very humble to the end that the world may honour yee when yee can not bee beloved more How many haue I known who in one self same day were highly pris'd mervailously esteem'd of and jointly admired for piety by all the world Humility in Ladyes hath more winning grace in it self then all the guifts of Nature join'd together In all your good deeds let not Paradise bee the sole object and scope of your workes for as interessed and mercenary yee would loose parcell of their merits but say with Saint Augustine Lord were it even so that thou hadst not a Paradise to bestow I would not desist to loue thee solely for thou art perfectly amiable and further by meanes of loving thee I feele to my advance the delights of the self same Paradise which thy mercy maketh mee to hope for My Lord following on also I should not cease to feare thee hadst thou not a Hell to punish mee since that each time I offend thee I find my self incessantly tormented and I beginne to suffer the paines wherewith thy justice doth menace mee Ladyes good is to bee beloved for it self and as God Allmighty is the fountaine thereof yee must forbid your hearts that they never sighe but for the loue of him if so yee will that the very Angells bee passionate in your behalfs Bee not yee one of those faint-hearted who wax pale and wanne for feare when one tells yee of death nay farre otherwise like of the discours well and the meditations thereon to the end that yee may accustome your selues betimes to pass that over fairely which yee must vndergoe of necessity namely finish the worke which yee haue begun from the first moment of your liues and wherein yee goe on incessantly Oh how terrible is death to them who never haue meditated thereon Let then each of yee shew your selues oftentimes vnto your selues in some private retire and enquire where yee shall bee hence fiftie yeares to come more or less and elevate your spirits on this serious subject Yee see what it delivereth It 's true that then the same bodyes which now haue soules and on which even now set so great a valiew will become no other then hillockes of dung where the wormes will make their seate But what will become of your soules wherewith will they entertaine their times during this long Eternity Is it that they must burn in Hell in expiation of their crimes At theise last words breake your silence and if yee bee in a retired place where yee can not bee heard cry out aloud and boldly with Saint Augustin say Lord burn cut in pieces and reduce into pouder this miserable body of myne I abandon it before the fury of thy justice so that thou pardon my soule in the other Ladyes Oh! what mervailes would theise words produce recited often for the assuring of your safetyes but in it experience will make yee sensible of much more then can I heereon deliver I end here with this last advise which I offer vp vnto yee as one of the most importants and of most benefit that yee take vnto yee a particular devotion to the Virgin daily saluting her with some Hymne in her praise On whom one of the devout cryeth out that the Angells bow vnto the Heaven humbleth it self vnto and that all Nature trembleth with honour and feare before this incomparable Marie since that her womb served for a cradle to her Creatour her brests for nouriture and her armes for a rest Truely she who perfectly knoweth to honour her is not aught wanting in what shee ought to vnderstand for the good of her safety FINIS