as it did to the Prophet Dauid 2 King 13. 15. whose sinne was punished in his Children which were most of them so wicked that the one of them deflowred his owne sister and the other killed his brother and afterward sought the death of his owne father and chased him out of his kingdome The ancient Philosophers maintained this Argument that all sinnes committed in this world were punished in the world to come except the sinne that man committeth in the bringing vp of his Children and for that he suffereth punishment in this world for the Father can giue nothing to his Child but fraile and mortall flesh by the corruption whereof the life taketh end but by good learning knowledge eternall praise and memory is gotten Therefore to conclude if that Children haue béen in great misery being nourished with spotted milke yet the misery doubleth in those that should cause them to be instructed for the food of the body is more vile than the food of the soule But now when he is come to the seuenth yeare of his age it behooueth his Parents to haue Tutors and Schoole-masters for to instruct him in good learning but growing further into yeeres and comming to his adolescency it is needfull then to haue more rigorous reformers for to tame his wilde youth and to breake him to labour CHHP. IIJ. Of the misery of man being come to his full strength HAuing finished this our second discourse Man is growne to his full perfection both of strength and discretion in which time hee entereth into déeper cogitations and trauell in the spirit It is requisite therefore that he frequent publike places that he haunt the company of those that are as touchstones for to know the good from euill If he be come of a great and a noble stocke he must make many enterprises of warre put himselfe in perils hazard his life and shed his blood for to die in the bed of Honour or else he shall be reputed a dastardly coward and vtterly despised of all men If he be of bare estate and that he be called to the knowledge of Arts Sciences and néedfull Trades yet for all that he runneth into a thousand dangers trauels paines and troubles as well of the body as of the soule he toyleth day and night and sweateth water and blood to get a maintenance during his life and oftentimes it is seene that what paines soeuer man taketh for his liuing yet it is scant sufficient to serue his necessity It is not therefore without cause that Marcus Aurelius was wont to say when he considered the misery of mankind I mused in my mind sayd he whether there might be found in any age a man that could vaunt that he neuer in al his life-time tasted aduersity and assuredly if there might be such a one found hée would be such a fearefull monster vpon the earth that all liuing things would be amazed to behold him Then he concluded after this sort saying And in the end I found mine owne thoughts true for he that was yesterday rich was to day poore He that was yesterday in health was to day sicke He that laughed yesterday to day did weepe He that was yesterday in prosperity was to day in aduersity and he that was yesterday aliue was to day dead But let vs now returne to our former matter and set down our Discourses in order What liuing man is he in all the world that hath giuen himselfe to any Science or otherwise to liue but that at one time or other he disliketh of his owne profession and is weary thereof And for the better vnderstanding of the same we will particularly discourse the miseries and troublesome liues of all the principall Estates liuing vpon the bosome of the sinfull earth CHAP. IV. Of the misery of wicked Kings Princes and Monarches SEarching into all estates of men wée shall finde that Fortune aboue all other mortall creatures hath prouided for Kings most liberally for what maketh man more happy in this world than goods honours dignities and rule licence to doe good or euill without controulement power to exercise liberality and all kind of pleasure as well of the body as of the mind all that may be wished for to the contentation of man either in varietie of meats magnificence in seruice or in vestures to raise at their pleasure the meanest man to high place and with a frowne disgrace the mightiest All which continually is at a Princes command there is nothing that may please the memory or flatter the desires of the flesh but is prepared for them euen from their cradles onely to make their liues more happy and full of felicity But now if wée iudge of their liues vprightly and waigh them in a true ballance wée shall finde that the selfe same things which makes them happy in this world are the very instruments of vice and the cause of greater sorrowes For what auaileth their costly ornaments honourable seruices and delicate meats when that they are in continuall feare to be poysoned wrong seduced and often beguiled by their seruitours Haue we not had experience therof many times Doth not Histories report that some Princes haue bin poysoned with Papers and with the smoake of Torches Wée may reade likewise of certaine Emperors that dust not lye downe to rest in the night before they had caused their Beds to be lyen on and all the corners of their Chambers to bee searched least they should be strangled or murthered in their sléepes Others that would not permit any Barbers to touch their faces for feare that in trimming of their heads or beards they would cut their throats And yet to this day they are in such feare that they dare not put meate in their mouthes before their Taster haue tasted thereof What felicity can a King or Prince haue that hath many thousands of men vnder their gouernments when hee must watch for all heare the complaints and cryes of euery one procure euery mans safegard prouoke some to do well by liberall gifts and others by terrour and feare Hée must nourish peace amongst his Subiects and defend his Realme against the inuasion of forraine enemies besides many other calamities that are depending vpon a Regall crowne But now touching the vnhappy states of wicked Princes vnto whom thrée kindes of people are most agréeable and familiar The first are Flatterers which bée the chiefe enemies to all Uertue and they that impoyson their soules with a poyson so pestiferous that it is contagious to all the world their Princes folly they call Prudence their cruelty Iustice their Letchery Wantonnesse their Fornications Pleasures and Pastimes if they bee couetous they call it good Husbandry if they bee prodigall they call it Liberality So that there is no vice in a Prince but they cloake it vnder the shadow of some Uertue The second sort are such who neuer rest night but that in the morning they bring in some new inuention or other how to
themselues that they will not nourish them but cause them to sucke the milke of those that oftentimes doe change their fruit or else féed them with corrupted milke by the which meanes in processe of time there riseth a number of diseases to the great hurt of poore children continuall reproch of their mothers This is of a truth and often verified that if the Nurse bee froward the Child will be froward not by receiuing of their Milke but by often looking vpon it If she be a Drunkard she will cause the Child to be the like as it is read in the life of the Emperour Tiberius who was a great Drunkard for that the Nurse the gaue him sucke did not onely drinke vnmeasurably but also did féed the Child with Soppes tempered in Wine Here you may sée that the Nurses haue so much power as to forme the manners and body of the Child so that if shee be sickely she rendereth the child sickenesse If she be wicked she causeth the Child also to be wicked But heere I will leaue Children in their Nurses kéeping and speake of their following calamities In how many dangers be they wrapped whilst they be a nursing some will burst with crying some neuer rest in quiet all the night long so that their Nurses can take no sléepe Some when they can scant goe will fall and breake their faces and their lims so that many times there is séene about them many grieuous wounds besides the diseases which they take by Nature But who will not wonder to sée the fantasticall maners of little children who for the most part will dabble in the water and channels like a little Ducke making little houses of earth counterfeting the horsemen in riding on a little sticke running after Dogs and Cats and will be angry with some and pleased with others who would thinke that such a miserable creature by succession of time would become so proud and lofty therefore if we will consider it we haue iust cause to mourne at their births and reioyce at their burials If the Prophet Ieremy bewailed the captiuity of the Iewes in Babilon if Anchises lamented the destruction of proud Troy if the Consul Marcellus lamented the City of Syracusa when he saw it on fire and Salust the corruption of Rome we may well with so many men of fame bewaile the miserable entry that man maketh into this world his dangerous aduancement and sorrowfull departure All which being profoundly considered by the Prophet Ieremy in the 20. Chapter he bewaileth his birth and murmureth against the knées that held him vp also the breasts that gaue him sucke Likewise the same Prophet Ieremy in the aforesaid chapter considering that man is made of dust earth conceiued in sin borne in paine and at the last made a prey for wormes doth with that his mothers wombe had serued for his tombe Iob in his fourtéenth Chapter likewise setteth man out in his right colours when he saith Man that is borne of a Woman hath but a short time to liue and is full of misery Out of these words we may gather somewhat for amongst all the creatures whom God hath created there is none subiect to more miseries than a woman especially those that are fruitfull and beare children for they haue scant a monthes rest in a whole yeare but are continually ouercome with sorrow and feare Then he saith hauing a short time to liue Indéed what is more shorter than the life of man vnto whom in stopping his nose and his mouth the life is gone for his life is nothing but a blast of wind inclosed therein I haue read of many that haue murmured against Nature for giuing long life to Harts and Rauens whose liues bring no profit and vnto man King of all things vpon earth but a short life although hee knoweth how to imploy his time and yet the little time that he hath to liue is shortned by sléepes dreames sorrowes and cares therefore wee may iustly say that mans life is full of misery and sorrow CHAP. IJ. Of the misery of Man entring into his youth and yeeres of discretion YEe haue alreadie heard discoursed and shewed in order what perils and dangers Man hath at his first comming into the world now therefore let vs consider what he is when he is sprung vp and whether that there bée an end of his miseries or no Of which if we bee equall Iudges wee shall finde that hee doth rather increase than decrease the miseries for this is the time of mans life wherein Nature doth reare against him a more furious combate for his blood beginneth to rise the Flesh prouoketh him to his owne pleasure the wicked world espyeth him the Deuill tempteth him and his selfe-wild youthfulnesse leadeth him so that it is impossible but that he which is assayled with so many vices and succoured of none in the end is discomfited and ouercome for in the body of youth Riot Liberty and deliciousnesse aboundeth For all the Uices in the world saith Marcus Aurelius doe there plant their siege Therefore it behooueth when the trées are young to vphold them and to loppe the ouer-waighty branches if afterward yée intend to gather any fruit Likewise it is necessary to reforme and correct the Uices that reigne in youth least afterward it returne to the parents shame and reproach But there are at this day many Fathers and Mothers which for default not to haue well instructed their Children in their youth doe receiue much sorrow and griefe in their age Moreouer there are many Mothers which in stead of giuing them good and godly instructions nourish and bring them vp in voluptuousnesse and pride and although they be nourishers of their bodies so are they destroiers of their soules If Hely was grieeuously punished with his Children for that he did not so sharpely chastise them as their offences did require what shall become of these Fathers and Mothers which in stead of correctors are their Childrens corruptors Such Parents may well be compared to Apes which kill their young ones by too much strayning them betweene their armes and keeping them so déere and this is the cause that so many fall into the hands of the Hangman which are to them reformers and correctors Many there bee that in stead of giuing good exhortations to their Family doe shew them first themselues naughty and wicked examples for the first commandement that they giue them how to liue well is to blaspheme sweare exercise gluttony and drunkennesse to spoyle the substance of their youth to be fornicators and to kisse women and maydens in their presence There be also many Mothers héere in England that learne their Daughters to dance to vse rhetoricke termes to haunt companies to scoffe and flout to paint and colour their faces to decke their fingers with Ringes and their neckes with Iewels as though they were Iewell sellers pretending to keepe a shop but in the end it will happen to them
which we decke our bodies curiously and haue no regard of the sins that ouerload the soules But let vs beware that the same happen not to vs which the Prophets writ against the Women of Ierusalem who reprooued their pride their vnshamefull Lookes their rowlyng eyes their attires their chaines Iewels and bracelets and other their vaineglorious fashions It will happen to you saith the Lord of Hosts that in stead of perfumes you shall haue stinke in stead of curled haire baldnesse and the fairest yong men amongst you shall passe through the edge of the sword and the strongest shall be slaine and perish in the warres Many other vices could I largely discourse of as the sinne of Gluttony and drunkennes where with the whole earth is infected and I greatly marueile that many vnsatiable belly-gods doe not rot and burst in the middest of their riotous excesse that will sit bowsing in Tauerns spoiling that which might comfort many succourlesse people and in the meane time the poore Lazarus standeth at the gate cannot haue so much as the Crummes that fall from their table and to conclude these wicked vices of Gluttony Drunkennesse hath coÌ„tinued vpon the earth euer since the beginning of the world as for example The liquorous lusting of Adam and Eue was the cause that the gate of Paradice was shut vp against vs Esau sold his birth-right Saint Iohn Baptist was slaine after Herod had banquetted Nâ—ah being ouercome with wine slept with his priuy parts vncouered and was mocked of his Children Lot being drunke with wine deflowred his owne Daughters with many other examples that I could name touching these wicked vices which for this time I passe ouer And now I will discourse of other miseries and calamities belonging to mans woefull Pilgrimage CHAP. IX Of the misery of Age and of mans death with his resurrection and the terrible Iudgement of God at the latter day THus after man hath waded in a Sea of misery as it were therein ouerwhelmed euen from his birth at last Age comes créeping on and then when he ought to rest griefes and dolours are renued the heart afflicted the braine troubled the face withered the body crooked the sight dimmed the haires falling the téeth rotten and to be short the body is then as it were a similitude of death For in age man is wonderfully changed he is prompt to wrath hard to appease sad couetous and suspitious the which being well considered by the Emperour Augustus said That man till fifty yéeres liued in pleasure and felicity and he that liueth longer for the most part passeth his time in sorrow and grieuous sicknesse death of children losse of goods to bury his friends with an infinite number of other worldly troubles So that it were better to haue their eyes closed in youth than to liue to behold these things in their crooked age Thus after man hath sorrowed all his dayes vnder the heauy burthen of his sinnes he is forced at last to yeeld vnto Death yet by no meanes may he know after what manner he shall end his life Some there be that are forced to dye by hunger others by thirst others by fire others by water others by poyson others are smoothered others are torne in péeces by wilde Beasts others deuoured of the Fowles of the ayre others are made meate for Fishes and others for Wormes Yet for all this Man knoweth not his end and when he thinketh himselfe most at rest he sodainely perisheth What a dreadfull sight is it to sée him lying in bed that is oppressed with the paines of Death What shaking and changing of all the bands of nature will he make the Féete will become cold the Face pale the Eyes hollow the Lips and Mouth to retyre the Hands diminish the Tongue waxeth blacke the Téeth doth close the Breath faileth the cold Sweate appeareth by violence of Sicknes all which is a certaine token that Nature is ouercome But now when it commeth to the last gaspe or at the sorrowfull departure that the soule makes from his habitation all the bands of nature are broken beside when the diuell or wicked spirit is assured of our end what furious assaults wil he make against our soules to bring vs in despaire of Gods mercy it is the houre when as Sathan doth his power to striue against God for to hinder the saluation of mankind and he is more boysterous in these latter dayes for that hée knoweth that his time is but short and that the end of his Kingdome is at hand and therefore he is the more inflamed for he neuer more tormenteth those whom he doth possesse than when he knoweth that he must depart But now when man hath passed the bitter anguish of death where is then become his glories Where are his pompes and triumphes Where is his voluptuousnesse and wantonnesse Where is his maiestie excellence and holinesse they are vanished as the shaddow and it is chanced to them as to the Garment that the Wormes haue eaten or as the Wooll that the Moath hath deuoured Let vs behold man when he is in his graue who euer saw a monster more hidious than the dead Carkasse of man behold his excellence maiesty and dignity couered with a lumpe of earth here you may sée him that was chearished reuerenced and honoured euen to kisse his hands and féete by a sodaine mutation become a creature most abominable And to them it happneth as Salomon writeth in his booke of Wisedome What hath it profited saith he the pride and great abundance of riches All these things are passed as is the Arrow shot to the white or as the Smoake that is dispersed with the wind Let vs therefore now leaue the body of man resting in his graue as in a bed for a season and speake of his resurrection and the iudgement of God which was so much feared of the Prophet Dauid that he prayed God not to enter into iudgement with his seruant Being dead in this world hee must then appeare before the iudgement seate of God with such a terrour to those that consider it well that there is no member but trembleth It is the day that the Lord wil come like a tempest when euery ones heart shall faile them and all the world shall be astonied For euen as the Lightning that riseth in the East and extendeth to the West so shall the comming of the Son of man be Tribulation then shall be so extreme and great as the like hath not béen since the beginning of the world till now nor neuer shall be the like the Sun shall be darkned and the Moone shall giue no more light the Starres shall fall from heauen and the waues of the Sea shall rage and men shall be amazed with feare and the powers of heauen shall mooue Woe shall be in those dayes to them that are with Child and to them that giue sucke For as it was in the dayes before the Flood they did eate and drinke marry and were married euen vnto the day that Noah entred into the Arke and knew nothing till the Flood came and tooke them all away So shall the comming of the Lord bée and then shall all kindreds of the earth mourne and shall hide themselues in Dennes and Caues and in the Mountaines and shall say vnto them fall vpon vs and hide vs from the face of him that sitteth vpon the Throne Blow out the Trumpet saith the Prophet Ioel that all such as dwell in the world may tremble at it for the day of the Lord commeth and is hard at hand a darke day a gloomy day yea and a stormy day Before him shall be a consuming fire and behind him a burning flame Then the dead that are in their graues shall rise and come forth the bones and the other parts shall finde out their ioynts for to ioyne againe together with the body that the earth hath putrified and corrupted All those that the Beasts and Birds of the Ayre hath deuowred all those that the Sea hath swallowed vp all those that are inuapored in the Earth and all those that the Fire hath consumed shall be reduced and brought to their former state All the blood that Theeues Pyrates Murderers Tyrants and false Iudges haue vniustly shed shall then appeare before the Maiesty of God so that there shall not one drop of blood be lost from the time of Abel that was the first slaine of men vnto the last so that there shall not one haire perish If the Uaile of the Temple did breake the Earth quake the Sunne darken and change his brightnes for the wrong that was done to Iesus Christ being on the Crosse although in nothing he did offend What countenance may then poore sinners shew that haue offended him an innumerable times Who then shall abide the shining brightnesse of Gods Maiesty sitting vpon his Throne of Glory It is the dreadfull houre when wicked Monarchs Kings and Princes shall giue account of their vnlawfull exactions that they haue made vpon their subiects and of the blood that they haue wrongfully spilled It is the houre wherein Merchants and such as haue traded in the circle of the world that haue beguiled and sold by false waights and measures shall render iust account of the least fault that they haue committed It is the houre that couetous men and Usurers that haue beguiled some and vndone others shall pay themselues the cruell interests of that which they haue ill gotten It is the houre when Magistrates and wicked Iudges that haue corrupted violated and suspended iustice shall be countable for their corruption and iniquities It is the very houre wherin Widowes Orphants and other afflicted persons shal make their complaints before God of the wrong and oppression that hath béene shewed them It is the houre wherein the wicked shall say repenting in themselues troubled with horâ—ible feare behold these which in times past we had in derision infamy and reproach are now accounted amongst the children of God whose portion is amongst the Saints It is the houre wherein many foolish and dumbe persons shall bée more happier than the wise and eloquent Many shepheards and carters shall be preferred before Philosphers many Beggars before rich Princes and Monarches and many simple and ignorant before the witty and subtile FINIS