The ransome of time being captive Wherein is declared how precious a thing is time, how much he looseth that looseth it, & how it may be redeemed. Written in Spanish, by the R. Father Andreas de Soto, confessor to the most excellent Infanta Clara Eugenia. Translated into English by J.H.

The ransome of time being captive Wherein is declared how precious a thing is time, how much he looseth that looseth it, & how it may be redeemed. Written in Spanish, by the R. Father Andreas de Soto, confessor to the most excellent Infanta Clara Eugenia. Translated into English by J.H.

Table of contents

Title page

TO THE HIGH, AND MIGHTY PRINCESSE THE LADY KATHERINE DVTCHESSE MARCHIONESSE, AND COVNTESSE OF BVCKINGHAM▪ COVNTESSE OF COVENTRIE, VICE-COVNTESSE VILLIERS, AND BARRONESSE OF WHADDON▪ &c.

THE AVTHORS PREFACE TO THE READER.

The names of the Authors alleadged & cited in this tractate.

The Chapters in this treatise contained.

THE RANSOME OF TIME BEING CAPTIVE.

THE FIRST CHAPTER. What a pretious iewell Time is?

THE SECOND CHAPTER. That we are Lords of time, and for what end God bestowed it on vs, and in what manner it should be employed.

THE THIRD CHAPTER. How God abbr•uiateth, shortneth, yea taketh away time when there is great want thereof to him whosoeuer, who tooke no care thereof when be possessed it, nor sought he ought to make good vse thereof according to his duety and power.

THE FOVRTH CHAPTER. That euen now whilst we haue time it concerneth vs to take paines with feruency, and speed, and that we ought to employ it well.

THE FIFTH CHAPTER. How iustly the sluggish deserue reprehension, and who are so called.

THE SIXTH CHAPTER. How the body doth captiuat that time which is designed for the soule, and thereby exalteth it selfe.

THE SEAVENTH CHAPTER. That lawfully secular people may vse some entertainements of mirth, solace, and pastime to recreate their spirits.

THE EIGHTH CHAPTER. That it is lawfull also yea euen necessary, that spirituall men vse some conuenient exercise, which may tend for an intermission, recreation & solace.

THE NINTH CHAPTER. Of the meanes to redeeme time, where shalbe giuen to vnderstand more expresly who are they, and of what condition they are who lose it.

THE TENTH CHAPTER. How it is to be vnderstood, that the daies are bad, and how since so it is, that they are to be redeemed.

§

ERRATA.

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THE RANSOME OF TIME BEING CAPTIVE.

WHEREIN IS DECLARED how precious à thing is time, how much he looseth that looseth it, & how it may be redeemed.

Written in Spanish, by the R. Father ANDREAS DE SOTO, Confessor to the most excellent INFANTA CLARA EVGENIA.

Translated into Englich by I. H.

AT DOWAY, Printed by GERARD PINSONE att the signe of Coline, 1634.

TO THE HIGH, AND MIGHTY PRINCESSE THE LADY KATHERINE DVTCHESSE MARCHIONESSE, AND COVNTESSE OF BVCKINGHAM▪ COVNTESSE OF COVENTRIE, VICE-COVNTESSE VILLIERS, AND BARRONESSE OF WHADDON▪ &c.

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MADAME

This peece in its natiue language was happy by the protection of that glorious Princesse, and mirrour of vertuous Ladies, the Lady CLARA EVGENIA [Page] of happy memorie.

T'is now translated, and vested with an English hew: to whose protection, and tuition, with more conuenience, or more confidence, may this stranger flie, then to your most Gracious Highnesse? For if it bee the bookes ambition to scorne the publicke view, vnlesse it may hee graced with the sacred patronage of à Dutchesse, of à Noble, and vertuous Ladie; by [...]ying to the refuge of your Highnesse vnparrelled vertues, it shall onely change, not loose it's mistris.

MADAME, yet I most humbly bowe; craving pardon of your Grace that I present my homage so veiled as in à translation, not in à primary composition, best suting with my duety, and your most eminent worth; since that [Page] your Excellencyes splendor might well enlighten, make acute, giue full vigour, yea and most liuely spirit to each vulgar capacity; to me especially whose deuotion to your Greatnes and Goodnes well weighed, would be found as verily, it is, truely resigned.

Really I would haue attempted the deliverye of some notions wherewith aswell my zeale, as also your Graces singular vertues haue formerly prompted me.

But when I (let not this my Apology, MADAME, not finde grace with your Grace) perused this treatise (which I now dedicate to your Excellency) made English; and found it consonant to what the height of my imagination could arriue, yea and as well agreeing, aptly according with your Excellencyes example: Then was [Page] I acquieted, made no farther search, for that I was euen fully appayed, Alas! yet MADAME as confiding in your indulgency, your conniuency.

The Author most learnedly hath deliuered his charitable minde, in whose worke reading and curious notions are sweetly couched, euidently to bee seene in an appropriate Methode: yea and it is most assuredly embellished and practically confirmed by him, as being fraught vvith many rare patternes, among vvhich MADAME were I not à translator I would herein record, register your Grace, as one deseruedly.

Farther what are the particular contents of this piece will cleerly be shewē in the subsequēt preface, compiled by the Author himself; [Page] to which I referre your Excellency wherein may be contemplated à discourse vvhich may well and likely proue à generall benefitt to all Readers by your Grace.

MADAME

Your Excellencies Most humbly deuoted Seruant IOHN HAWKINS.

THE AVTHORS PREFACE TO THE READER.

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GOOD is not known, yea not even taken notice of (as a spanish Prouerb deliuereth) vntill that it be passed by; yea more, be vtterly lost. Alas! the trueth hereof I most apparantly perceiue in my self, it aptly agreeth with my state, and my runne course of life, for that I too late tooke notice thereof, too late knew what time is, and of what value it is, and what a precious and inestimable treasure it may be truely found to be. So farre forth that I am much aggreiued that I did not dis [...]erne it, and well might I, for that I haue lost so great à jewell: and earnestly I desire (if it were possible) [Page] that I were maister of my yeares already spent, to the end I might well and most solicitously employ them, as I-ought, and my well being requireth, and my duety commandeth, and that I might redeeme them from the Captiuity and enthrallment with which they haue been miserably detained, yea and enchained. Rather might I well say, that he who hath not known, and prized time bath justly deserued, that now he lament aud earnestly vvish for it, and that yet notvvithstanding he faile to possesie that vvhich he disesteemed, that vvhich he, alas! so slightly regarded. But I take for a singular, a rare grace and mercy of notable value that our Lord (although at the end of my dayes) hath giuen me this capacity, this vnderstanding, and feruent desire of à better employing my time, vvhich from hence for vvard his mercy vvill grant me, that I may exhort and giue some counsaile to the remisse; [Page] carelesse and as it vvere altogether negligent.

And to give beginning to vvhat is fore deliuered, I haue desired that he please to make me his Attorney or Proctor that I may petitionarily plead for the ransome, the redemption thereof: and that I may instruct them, who haue lost it, hovv they may regaine it, and that I may declare hovv much it importeth them, hovv farr it concerneth them, of vvhat great consequence it is to them, and likevvise further I may earnestly, and vvith fulnes of charity craue of thē and piously, yea euen mooue them that they cast not avvay one hovver: vvhat say I? no nor moment of time. I vvill be breife, though vvere it I should spend neuer so much time in the account hereof, I should not judge it lost time.

I shall not be able to bringe to passe vvhat Pythagoras doth aduise, vvhich is to contract many sentences in fevv [Page] vvordes, as good Philosophers ought, and are accustomed to doe. Hence Diogenes to one vvho talking vvith him seemed to taxe some vvhat the breuity of the Philosophers sentences, ansvvered, you say right vvell truely they are in fevv vvords couched indeed, yet deserue not hence reprehension, for vvere it possible, so likevvise should be the syllables.

But I vvill doe the fall extent of my povver, contracting this vvhole subject vnder tenne Chapters onely. Herein obserue Gentle Reader that I cast not time avvay neither in the definition or description of Time (vvhere it might seeme that the Treatise should take his beginning) for that it is not necessary (as said Saint Augnstine) for there is not ought more knovvn, nor more familiar, more frequently spoken of by humane tongue, then is that of time.

Let it gratiously please God Almighty [Page] our good and glorious Lord through his precious blood (which vvas the price of our redemption) that this treatise of the redeeming of lost time may ansvverably profit the Reader.

The names of the Authors alleadged & cited in this tractate.

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SAint Ambrose.

F. Alphonso de Castro.

Andrew bishop of Cesarea.

Aristotle.

S. Augustine.

B.

S. Basil.

V. Bede.

S. Bernard.

S. Bernardino of Siens.

S. Bonauenture.

C.

S. Cassianus.

Cesario.

D.

Dionysius Carthusianus.

Dionysius Cassius.

E.

Elianus.

Euthymius.

G.

S. Gregorie Pope.

Gregorius Nissenus.

H.

Haimon.

Horace.

I.

[Page]S. Ierome.

S. Iohn Damaseene.

S. Iohn Chrysostome.

Iohn Stobeus.

Don Iohn Orozcory.

L.

Laërtius.

B. Laurentius Iustianus.

Ludouicus Blosius.

M.

F. Maldonato Ies.

N.

S. Nicolas Diukespu.

O

Origen.

Ovid.

P.

Plutarch.

S.

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.

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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 abbre [...]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 go [...] 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 [Page] vvhich may tend for an intermission; recreation and solace. pag. 148.

Cap. 9. Of the meanes to redeeme time, vvhere shalbe 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.

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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 prepare [...] vs with the fore sending of some marvailous and extraordinary vision or figure, which may invite and rayse serious attention, [Page] 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;Apoc. 10. 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 Ephesiās Redeeme thy time, Ephes. 9 for thy daies are euill) shall be the Theme and groūd of this our treatise and exhortatiō.

He then further sayth that he sawan Angell goodly, mighty, and powerfull to apprehēsion, 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 [Page] 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 mā ner, that he seemed not vnlike a Lion, when he roareth: and pointing at Heauē with his fore-finger sware, by him who liveth, and shall live for ever ād ever; him who created heauen, earth, and sea ād whatsoever is in thē cōtained, that after the dayes of the seavēth 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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. [Page] 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,Psa. 49. he shall come casting forth fire abūdantly.

The Forme and figure of Colum [...]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 [Page] 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,Psal. 13. 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 accomplishmēt, and cōpleat executiō of that, which hee declareth, he pronoūceth, he preacheth to mākinde: [Page] 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 last period, the vttermost day of their lives.

And that the Angell published the Edict with so many and such like circumstances and ceremonyes, that time should haue its end once for ever and ever and when this is to take effect, it is for that we be informed, and begiven [Page] fully to vnderstand of what price, value, and great esteeme it is, and what greate benefit God imparteth to vs, bestovveth on vs, to make vs Lords thereof, the whole course of our dayes, of our life, and contrary wise what a great punishment it is that he subtract it from any one, as being altogether vnworthy of it, it being ill employed: And to know how precious time is it would suffice to contēplate that in an instant the infinite eternity of Glory may therein be acquired, since that man may gaine it in so litle a space. And hence is it that the Holy Ghost adviseth vs to conserue time,Eccles. 4. as gold carefully wrapped vp, as the apple of our eye, and that we carefully eschewe vice, yea and with perseverance, successiuely, continually: which is, as if he should say that we spend [Page] it in good workes, and that thereof we loose not ought, no not one sole moment. Againe by the selfe same Ecclesiasticus he counsaileth vs,Eccles. 14. saying; Consume not, cast not away a good day, not without profit let passe the one onely particle of a good guift. One text readeth Particula bonae diei, and the other which is the vulgar translatiō, Bonidoni: whether the one or other be h [...]s wordes, his true meaning is, his realle scope is to advertise vs, to give vs counsaile, and to exhort vs earnestly to account of time, to vse time well; oh! yea carefully, solicitously, and most tenderly, not onely of a day, but also of each day; for he who well vnderstādeth and well disposeth of one day, may take patterne there by to square, proportiō, and well dispose of, well order his whole life; and he cōpleatly is maister thereof, as also maketh [Page] thereof right vse, vvho vvorketh his owne proper good and that of his Neighbours to his full povver, employing himselfe, and his time in workes of piety and mercy. King David feared a litle parcell of time of much, and so much desired he to spēd it all well, that he was even agonized in contention, in strugling with the Sunne who should rise soonest to giue laudes to God, to honor and praise God; & at length the King overcame, got the victory, according to those wordes,Psalm. 118. by which it is testified, praeuenerūt oculi mei ad te diluculo vtmeditarer eloquia tua: My eyes gott ground of the sunne, fore rāne it to cōt̄eplate, to meditate on thy wordes; for before it att all appeared, I was all ētertained seriously attētive and earnestly busied thereō, which according to the exposition of S. [Page] Ambrose is, as if he should speake more plainly, and more at large: oh, thou who art a Christian rise before the Sunne is vp, before the Sunne appeareth at all. For I cannot but hold it for a great lazines, and a meerly most indefensible and most strangely careles negligence, marvailously blamable, and aboue all discretion, that the beames of the Sunne rising should finde thee idle, thee I say sluggish, and drowsing in thy soft couch. Art thou peradventure so ignorāt, so stupid as that thou apprehendest not, that thou oughtest to offer, and freely give to God each day the first fruits of thy tongue, and heart?

Behold, observe well the guifts bestowed on thee; thou possessest dayly harvest, and hence each day is fruite. And in an other Psalme [Page] Prophet saith Anticipauerunt vigilias oculi mei. My eyes haue anticipated,Psa. 79. prevented, and raised themselfes vp, before the sentinells and Citty watch; which importeth (according to S. Hierome) before any was awake, any had opened their eyes, euen then I was with watchfull eyes at Midnight, when each one sweetly slept, and profoundly, then risse I, not onely then, but in the morning, and at midday, also at evening, in a word; seaven times a day I giue laud and praise to God, and his praise vvas alwaies in my mouth, and at all howers. It was he who knew well to conserue time, he exactly and most prudētly observed & vnderstood what it was, and of what value it was and how to avail himselfe, to make true vse of so precious a gemme vvithout the losse of any [Page] one the least either of the good day, or good guift. A precious hazard is tyme Theophrastus said; and Seneca in his first Epistle (which he wrote to Lucilius his friend) delivereth his minde in this follovving manner;Theophras. Seneca. Epist. 1. vvhat man will you bring forth, can you produce, who can rightly value time, who knovveth the price of one onely day? & well cōsidering that wee daylie incline to our end, our death, and that we euer dye? Herein we extremely deceive our selues that our phantasie, and our eyes make not death our obiect. Much of time tending to our end, is already passed: the rest of our a [...]e, and life that thou canst expect aftervvards is vvhat death doth chal [...]enge to it self; for one foote is then accounted to be in the graue Therefore my good friend (Lucilius) be thou even answerably to that vvhich thou writest [Page] in thy letter to me thou art, as one who vvell knoweth the price of time. Entertaine, make accoūt, value all howers, and each tēderly, so shall lesse depēd on the howers of to morrow, of the next day, taking strict account and carefull esteeme of the presēt day, not slightly and caresly letting it passe of, for life though never so much prolonged, yet in this his course passeth not withstandnig although at length, yea and swiftly flyeth. And we cānot account ought our proper owne but time; for that all other thinges are strangers to vs, divers, not agreeing with vs;alas! not in our iurisdictiō, ūder our power, our cōmād; nature hath impatronized vs here with, we are possessed, though of what is nimble, vvhic rū neth, flyeth, and passeth beyond expressiō swiftly frō vs. And is humā kinde so vnwise, so indiscreete [Page] that it is appassionated and looketh after meanes, thinges, almost matters of nothing, and likewise recoverable, which lost they miserably lament for? There is not any bodie to be found who will acknowledg that he is indebted ought for being made Lord of time, although vndoubtedly true it is, that time is of a nature so pretious, that be one never so thankfull, yet is he never able to pay answerably to the greatnes of the due debt; the price thereof hath so large extent; no, not the debt of one dayes time. And in his booke of the brevity,Idem lib. de breuitate vitae. the litle extent of life he pursueth further: There is not any bodie living who desireth to consume and cast away his patrimony, his meanes, his goods of fortune, nor to vtterly despoile himself, farre rather to conserve [Page] it carefully, yea and more to make encrease thereof; time and life is easily rendred, giuen over, and cōsumed in many and divers waies. Worldlings are couetous, are marvailous greedy of wealth, and strangely solicitous thereō, and oftentimes immeasurably profuse, wonderfully prodigall, although such is the condition of thinges that coueteousnes, the earnest desire of having, possessing, and compleatly enioying of time, is that vvhich is truely iust and really laudable, vvorthy to be esteemed, and honored vvith praise for truely, as immediately after in the same booke he delivereth, time is the most pretious ievvell of all others, to bee farre preferred before any, vvhat soever is or can bee conceived, yet notvvithstanding it of all other things is least valued, yea and indeed to say more, despised, for it [...] reckoned as a thing of nothing, of [Page] no vvorth at all. There is not any vvho esteemeth it vvhen hee hath it, if so it occurre that any one be sicke, nay their [...]ingers but even ake, you shall see them croutch, cringe, yea even bovv their knees before the Physition; and be it that he feare the prognostick; the sentēce, the doome of death, he vvill give the physition his vvaight in gold for his recovery, for ransome of his life. The blessed S. Laurence Iustinian cōsidering vvhat time is,Laurēs. Iust. de vita solitaria. cap. 10. and of vvhat value, breaketh forth into these vvords: Ah! vvho is there, vvho is capable? vvho is he, vvho can vvith full extent of spirit and vnderstanding apprehend of vvhat price, of vvhat vvorth is time? Oh! vvhat grace of delivery, vvhat eloquence, what sweetly-spun, or flowing speech of man can declare it, lively and sprightly expresse it? they who want time, and haue it not at all know it. Then would they trucke all [Page] the possessions of the world, honors, dignities, prelacyes, pompes of the age, corporall delights, and all that is vnder the Sunne, wherewith they are taken, entertained, and marvailously pleased with, for one, one-sole houres-time, if possibly they might regaine it, acquire it, possesse it. For in this breife time, in this most short space, they might appease the diuine Iustice, they might reioyce the Angells, they might escape the terrible, dreadfull, most direfull doome of eternall losse, euerlasting damnation, and hence might they merit, and (without all doubt) might winne euerliving life, eternall blisse. The carelesse, vnhappy, ah! vnfortunate are those to whom the sunne of mercy is set. And they are passed of, without hope of any recovery, they are descended to the Lake of misery, vvhere is nothing but confusion and ever lasting horror. And not [Page] without all reason pardon is denyed them, for that they misseprised it,Iob 10. when it was offered vnto them, nay they did not once desire either to meditate, to consider, or know what time its worth was, nor the much necessity thereof, and the great want that they vvere to suffer thereby, so living to please their palates, and their appetites, as if they vvere never to dy. Oh! if they to ke [...]t into consideration, they should vvell apprehend (they I sav vvho employ their time ill, and liue car [...]lesly) hovv they vvithout once reflecting thereō miserably loose it; for vvhat is there more precious then time? vvhat is more excellent? vvhat more deare? vvhat of greater benefit? oh! vvhat is there more beautifull, more to be beloved then time? More is the pitty, greater is the griefe, that there is not any thing so vilified, so despised, so the least of leasts esteemed of, nor [Page] so vnvvorthily possessed, it being that, through vvhich may be heaped treasures, and eternall revvards vvonne in any one part thereof. Hence is that they, vvho well observe; vvell knovve that, vvhich is vvorth let not the least time passe, be it never so short vvithout fruite, vvithout returne of profit; and vvhy? for that they haue to render to God an exact and strict account. And glorious S. Bernard saith that there is not any thing,Bern. serm. ad Schol: vvhich is more of value, more pretious then is time; but novv a daies is there foūd ought more despicable, more contemptible? The day of safety, of vvell being doth like shadovves passe, and there is not any body vvho according to reason doth lament the losse of that, vvhich hath no regresse, no returne. But let men vnderstand that even as no haire of the head shall perish,Luc. 1 [...]. evē so neither more nor lesse [...] any [Page] least moment of time, vnlesse there be thereof an account, and reason. None of you bretheren esteeme ought the time you cast avvay in idle and most vaine vvordes; Wordes irrecouerable fly, yea and time flyeth irremediably, not to be repaired, alas! not to be helped, and the sottish foole taketh no notice of vvhat he looseth. It is not amisse, nay rather I may vvell say that it is euen lavvfull, vvill some one vrge to chatt, to talke a vvhile, and to continue familiar discourse betvveene man and man, vntill one hower be runn out; vvhat! that hovver that God almighty freely and mercifully gave thee to doe pennāce, that hence thou mightest obtaine pardon, hence to vvinne grace, and merit glory? oh! vntill time glide away, fully make his flight vntill the houre compleatly be runne? Time, oh! that time thou hadst to labour, to procure to vvinne divine [Page] mercyes, propiriousnes, favour, indulgency, and vvhē thou oughtest to haue made all hast, vvith fulnes of diligence to come vnto the society of Angells, to sigh, and breath for the eternall inheritance, to suscitate, to avvakē thy luke-vvarme, thy sluggish vvill, and to vveepe bitterly on thy forepassed life, the iniquities thou hast transgressed in. All these are S. Bernards wordes. Oh! if this merchā dise (sayth the blessed S. Bernardin of Siena) of time could be saleable in hell,S. Bernardin. [...]o. vlt. serm. 13 art. 3. & 4. & tom. vl. serm. 1 [...] pag. 1 princip. there for one halfe hovver what vvould they proffer, nay what would they give? ah! alas yes! they vvould part with a thousand worldes, if they were possessed of them, their state cōsidered, they there knovving hovv it is with such miserably distressed, although they vvere in being againe. Time is of more value then is vvhat soever the vvorld hath, for of such nature is it, that thereby may be acquired, [Page] gained merits, through which one may arriue to the possession and enioying eternall be atitude God himself the infinite good and [...]easure. And if the deuill vvere but maister of a litle time, in vvhich he might doe acts of repentance, he vvould saue himselfe, and gaine, that, which vvithout all redemption he hath vtterly lost. The selfe same Saint further delivereth: That thing is of great value, very pretious of vvhich asmall quantity is as much vvorth as is a greater vvaight and quantity of an other. And so it is vvith gold, for that with litle there of is bought great waight of any other thinge or mettall what soever. Then contemplate time, vveigh it vvell, for that there with in an instant, if you were practized in trading, you shall be enabled to get heavē, and life everlasting, as did the good Theife. Well knevv Arsenius the Abbo [...], the [Page] price of time,Dionys. ciuit. in opuscul. for when as he vvas in the hermitage of custome so vvell busied,Dionys. Carthus. in opusc. and vvas so earnestly coveteous of time, that is vvas his wonted saying: An houre of sleepe is enough for a Monke. And vvhen once he found himselfe much incited, marvailously surprised, yea altogether overcome, calling on sleepe vttered these vvordes to him: Come, oh! come novv thou forcibly oppressing enimy, and even then setting himselfe dovvne, gaue himselfe ouer to repose, slumbred, tooke a nappe. And if so that it may be granted vnto me as lavvfull to the confusion of bad Christiās to recite the Gentiles,Plut [...]rch. the Heathens, Pl [...]tarch writeth of Marcus Cato Censorius that three thinges he declined, yea exceedingly abhorred; The first to deliver to the discretion of vvomankinde, what he would not each one should know. The second to make [Page] any iourney by water, vvhen commodiously he might goe by Land. And the third was that negligently and through his owne fault any day should passe vvithout having vvell emploied the time thereof. Plinius the elder on a day seeing one of his nephevves to walke vp and dovvne, although seeming by him donne for his recreation, chidd him and sharply reprehended him saying: you might well haue aright known the price of time; you need not haue lost these howers. Sertorius the Proconsull,Plutarc. in Sertorio. and Captaine generall of the Romans when he had bought ad redeemed by money of the Barbarians a passage, and that hence some murmured, and tooke it in ill part, it seeming to them that this act of his was to enslaue the Romanes, as that they should give vnto others tribute, answered: Alas! what vrge you, what may be called your true meanings [Page] herein? I haue not donne ought else but redeemed and bought time, which is the treasure more pretious then is any thing obiect to the eyes of men, though neuer so covetous, though never so greedy of great matters. Then well may I say, if the Heathens valued time at so high a rate, with what greater reasō should the Christian esteeme of it, compleatly prise it? since that through it he may acquire, gaine, and winne eternall beatitude, and infinite glory.

The end of the first Capter.

[Page]

THE SECOND CHAPTER.
That we are Lords of time, and for what end God bestowed it on vs, and in what manner it should be employed.

ALL other thinges (sayth the blessed Laurentius Iustinian and Seneca before delivered the selfe same, are alienes, strangers, not appertaining to vs as our owne, they are not ours, time is that which we challenge as ours, time is that which is our proper owne and we Lords thereof; for that it lyeth in vs to employ it as we desire, and will our selues. And it is not a small grace, favour, and benefit where with we are endowed, that he giveth vs freely for our owne so pretious a iewell, & especially giving vs so much, that though the greatest extent of time is very short, saith [Page] Seneca, it is not a litle which we retaine, possesse; and without all reason doth human kinde complaine of lifes brevity, its shortnes, its soonerun race; they should rather reflect on time lost, what time is carelesly cast away, lamentably consumed; let here be the [...]eate of their vvhisperings, their murmures, their indiscreetly placed Complaints. Ah! life is long enough to operate, to vvo [...]ke atchieument, prais-vvorthy, and of singular note, if it so bee that it be vvell distributed, vvell dispensed. God almighty yea even vvith the Angells themselues vvas so reserved herein, that he gaue them for their boundes Instants of time, and prefixed times of vvell or ill deserving. He gave them short spaces, and moments vvhich some say vvere tvvo, or three, and those, vvho goe farthest doe assigne but foure (true it is that [Page] it sufficed in respect of their guiftes and perfection of their nature) but to man who is slow, inconstant, and most variable, God giveth time of life and many yeares, and ages. But he was not endowed, and enlarged there with to live sluggishly, not to runn over it, not to consume it in sports, delights, iests, laughters, pastimes, and corporall entertainments, and much lesse in sinnes; but it was to be seriously employed in goodworkes, in well-doeing, and iust and lawfull exercises, and in taking paine, labouring in his vyneyard, gaining by labour, and sweat of thy browes thy daily pay,Matth. 10. which is the wages of the paines-taker and the reward of happines. To the like end the Apostle delivereth: doeing good workes,Gala. 6 in thē employing our time: for to such end he gaue it vs; let vs not faile, let vs not be discouraged, ought dismayed, or weary, for [Page] the time will come that we shall reape and get in our harvest, and our fruite. Since so it is whilst we are impatronized of time, let vs doe the vttermost of our power. And Seneca, Seneca. though a Heathen delivereth thus, time was not bestowed on vs so liberally, so benignely; that wee might lawfully loose ought thereof. This is the time that is acceptable,2. Cor. 6. the time which will be receiued, and well accounted of, this is the even day of happines, of health, of safety (my brethrē) therefore in this worke your salvations by meritorious workes acceptable, and such as may please God. The time of this life is likewise by him called, the time of a faire; for even as in them there are found, bought commodities at small rates, at litle price; even so in this life merchandises, and iewells of inestimable and infinit value are bought with small cost; and yet with a momentary [Page] and easy, light tribulation, and small trouble is obteined an eternall weight of glory (as saith the same Saint Paul) which shall be possessed, shall be compleatly enioyed in heaven. And by the way it is worth our observation to note how he giveth it the name of waight, for that with its waight and greatnes it easeth and maketh light all the difficulties, greifes, and anxieties of this world, and that which in this world maketh vs waighe most, to suffer, beare, and endure, compared with it, is of no more waight then a straw, is as light as a fly. And even so the waight of reward put in one balance maketh light, lifteth vp to the very height the other scale of tribulations; even as a great waight put into a scale ouerturneth the other, in which there was one onely straw. Answereable to which the same Apostle hath deliuered [Page] in another place,Rom. 8. the passions and tribulations of this life, its anxieties are not condigne, not of a like worth, altogether improportionable to the glory to come, which shall be reuealed and manifested in vs, rather (if you compare them) they are truely very litle, and of no waight. And to this our purpose which we intend to follow Christ our Lord maketh a like Comparison to that of faires,Luc. 19. when he compared the Kingdome of heauen to a man buying and selling,Matth. 13. to a Merchant. And whē (as to men of employment) he spake to all the faithfull; Be busy, make your merchādize, and loose no time therein vntill I come, for then all traffique ceaseth, hath it's end, there shall be no more Faire in being. Hence further more the time of this life is called, a time of leisure, a vacation (free from all other things, free from all other entertainements, other [Page] [...] [Page] [...] [Page] emploiments) for man to busy and seriously attend the seruice of our Lord: It is likewise called a time of labour, according to those wordes of our Sauiour, by S. Iohn Euangelist his wordes,Iohn. 9. Now is the time of paines taking whilst day is yet in being, for night will come, in which no body can worke. There is a time enstyled a time of sowing, and a time of reaping, and of carrying in the Corne, the graine, the haruest: for it is the time that one may deserue well, and gather in the fruites of merit, whereby the reward of heauen is to be gained. Hence it is that the Holy Ghost sendeth the idle, careles and sluggish for his shame and confusiō, to the carefull & fully solicitous Ante: goe thou to the Ante (saith he in the Prouerbs of Salomon) and obserue well how that in the summer season, he maketh his prouision, for the fall of the leafe, for that time of [Page] the yeare, and how he laboureth and gathereth his graine, and how he hoordeth and keepeth it in such places, not vnlike granaries, corne lofts; and hee maketh his prouision, for that in winter there is no time to gather graine, but to eate, and liue by what is before gotten and conserued. Our Lord bestowed time on vs (said the blessed Laurentius Iustinianus) that we should lament,Laur [...]t. lustinian. and sigh, and bitterly be waile our trespasses, it was giuen vs for to doe pennance, to acquire vertue, to multiply merits, to obtaine grace, to excuse, hence to defend, and to vindicate our selues from the tormēts of hell, and to acquire the glory of heauen. And such is this truth that time hath been giuen vnto vs to employ in good workes that that onely which we spend on them, and practises of vertue is ours properly, and that onely time is registred in the account [Page] of our life, and of our dayes, and of whatsoeuer else is no reckoning made, nor memory in heauen, nor in the booke of life. Although the world numbreth them, and recordeth thē, our Lord knoweth not those dayes; at the least, to vnderstād him aright, he saith he knovveth them not, as that which neither pleaseth him, nor is ou [...]ht agreable to him, but rather offendeth him. And in like manner Origenes expounding these wordes of Dauid, our Lord knoweth the dayes of men who are without blott or staine, who are the iust thus deliuereth. It is written in sacred scriptures that God knoweth nothing else but what is good, and that hee knoweth not euill, he forgette [...]h it, not for that his science, his vnspeakable fulnes of all knowledg doth not reach, apprehendeth not, all what good, or euill is; the meaning hereof is, for that they are vnworthy of his sight, [Page] his taking notice of, his knowledge. I know you not said he to the foolish virgins;Matth. 25. and as much to the workmen of mischeife, of iniquity. Our Lord knoweth the way of the iust, said the kingly Prophet Dauid. And Salomon delivereth that our Lord vnderstandeth the right hand way. Prouer. 4. And likewise saith Dauid that our Lord knoweth the howers and the daies, and their time who liue without staine of sinne, and knoweth not the dayes of transgressors. Sacred Scripture registreth no more then onely two yeares of Saul his Raigne,1. Reg. 13. although he bore the scepter forty yeares,Act. 20. for that he liued well but two yeares, and vvithout blemish of sinne, all the rest of his dayes vvere inquinated vvith foule and shamefull blotts. Dionysius Cassius vvriteth that in a Citty of Italy vvas found an auncient sepulcher,Dionisius Cassius. on the tombestone vvhereof vvere insculp't [Page] vvere these vvordes vvritten. Here lieth Similus a Roman Captaine, vvhose life although long it vvas, yet he liued not in all this time, but seauen yeares onely, for during that time, he being retired from Court, and freed from the sollicitude, the care, the charges vvhich hee had held, dedicated, and fully deuoted himself to vertue, & to it's schoole, it's exercise,Damas. Hist. Barla cap. 18. it's practise. The glorious Damas. in the history of S. Barlaā and Iosaphat recounteth, that Iosaphat demanding of Barlaam vvhat vvhere his yeares, of vvhat age he vvas, had deliuered to him this answere; I am (if I deceiue not my self) forty and fiue yeares old, to many there are runne, since I vvas borne: What is your ansvvere, I vnderstand you not (said Iosaphat) for to my eye, to my coniecture you are aboue seuenty? if so that you account strictly from the time of my natiuity, you say right [Page] vvell, and you erre not ought, for I am aboue seuenty; but I can no wayes admitt, they be reckoned more, for they seeme not to me at all yeares of life, nor cā the rest which I haue misspent in the vanities of the world be accounted of For as at that time being slaue to sinne, I liuing at pleasure, at full swinge of sensuality of my body, and outward man, I was then vndoubtedly a dead man without life according to the inward mā, so farre forth that I cānot call them, enstile them vnder the title of yeares of life, which were of death, I liued not then: But after that by the grace of our Lord I was crucified and dead to the world, likewise the world to me, and that I haue despoiled my selfe of the old man, and quite cast him of, now I liue no more sensually nor to please the body the spirits enemy, but onely for Iesus Christ, and such my yeares liued in I call yeares [Page] of life, of health, safety and saluation. And beleeue it most assuredly that all they who are in sinne, and obey the deuill, and passe away, I say cōsume their liues in delights, and vaine concupiscences, are dead and buried, vtterly lost; for that sinne is death of the soule as Saint Paul affirmeth.Rom. 6. Diuine S. Ierome in his exposition on the third chapter of the Prophet Aggaeus deliuereth.Hiero. in Aggaeum. cap. 3. That all the time in which we serue vice, perisheth, becommeth vtterly lost, and so is it reputed, as if it had not beene at all, it is reckoned for a thing of nothing. It is recorded of Titus Vespasian, that being at supper one day, when hee called to minde, that he had donne no good office for any one, that he had not been to any beneficial, to all the standers by, to each one present, with resentment, with sensiblenes, and not vvithout greife he breathed forth these words. [Page] O my friends hovv much I am perplexed, and afflicted that I haue passed of this day vnproffitably, that I haue lost this day. Let the Christian obserue vvell, let him knovv that the day vvhich hee hath ill passed, hath ill spent let him account it not his, that in it he hath no propriety at all. And that this is euident Seneca vvitnesseth in these vvordes; that many there are vvho leaue to liue, before they begin to liue. Time vvas benignely bestovved on vs, saith that famous Doctor Thomas de Kempis, to spēd it well,Thomde Kē pis. [...]. p. Ser. ad Nonit cap. 7. to employ it well in good workes; not to let it passe idely nor to heare, nor to tell Fables, and recount vaine entertainements of time. ah! since so it is, let not passe avvay from you my sonnes (he deliuereth this to the Nouices of his order) neither hovvre, nor any instant of time vvithout some fruite, and if so that novv and then there shall be liberty [Page] of enterchanging words of discourse, of speaking among your selues or others be giuen, it is not granted vnto you, it is not allowed to you, that any word should be vttered by you, which may not be of good vse, and profit; for euen as you haue to giue God Almighty an account of each idle world, so likewise you must doe of all the time you haue lost, and ill employed. Ludouicus Blosius among other aduertisements,Ludou. Blosius. other counsailes which he deliuereth to him, vvho newly beginneth to practise a spirituall life, saith, that he ought to value, waighe to a graine times worth, and account the losse thereof, be it neuer so litle. And the mysticall Thaulerus Thauler. among other lessōs, & counsailes which he giueth to religious sayth: Carry your selues in such māner that you haue great care, as of the eschewing of the most pestiferous, most mortall poyson, of [Page] the losse of any time. And likewise one of the officers of the exchequer, and of the accusers that the day of Iudgement hath against vs is to be that of time, according to vvhich the vvords of the Prophet Ieremias. are inculcated,Ierem. gi [...]ing vs to vnderstand, in his Lamentations Vocauit aduersum me tempus. My Lord against me called Time for vvitnes. The vvhich place the glorious Doctor S. Thomas shevveth to be at the day of doome,Thom. de Aquin. Sap. [...]. for that among other things that there are to accuse vs, one vvill be found to be that of time. And in that place it is it's office to contest vvith sinners, vvho are insensible, dull, blockish; and with all the vniuerse, all the vvorld, applying it self, addicting it selfe vvholy and zealously for God his honor, and it's owne, accusing them, and against them requiring iustice for the heauy offence vvhich they against their Lord, and [Page] his creatures haue trespassed in, with abuse of them, vvith iniury donne to them, and disgrace, and for drawing these creatures by force, & whether they vvould or not, to the end they might serue them in their ill courses, misled vvaies, and monstrous vices.

The end of the second Chapter.

[Page]

THE THIRD CHAPTER.
How God abbr [...]uiateth, shortneth, yea taketh away time when there is great want thereof to him whosoeuer, who tooke no care thereof when be possessed it, nor sought he ought to make good vse thereof according to his duety and power.

ALthough that solemne oath of the Angell, (of which we haue spoken of in the first Chapter) that a day will come whē as time shall haue his end, that the day of vniuersall iudgement for all in generall shall be accōplished, shall haue it's cōclusiō, after which there is no time to deserue well or ill, nor to doe pennance which may be of any profit, and for any each man in particular in the last day, last period of his life, in vvhich he vvill hope, and there vvill be his particular iudgement: Not [Page] withstanding it is much to be feared, and to be seriously considered that customarily God Almighty vseth, for chastisement, and deserued punishment to bereaue a negligent and altogether carelesse sinner of time, to shorten his life, because he doth not auaile himself of time, as he ought seeing that it is spent ill. So teacheth the glorious S. Bernardine of Siena, Bern. art. 3. cap. 4. and he to proue it citeth that place of the Apocalypse; Sinon vigilau [...]ris, V [...]ian ad te tanquam fur, If thou watch not I will come to thee vnawares like a Theife. Hence is it that God Almighty threatneth a careles sinner, whose manner was to post of his conuersion and pennance from day to day, it seeming to him that he had time, I and euen time more then was sufficient, very aboundant, and he thus deliuereth himselfe: Be not too negligent, be not careles, play not with time, [Page] mocke it not, nor value it for thine owne surely, and certainely, nor at thy extent, nor so much at thy command, as thou imaginest, as thou dreamest; awake, sleepe not I say, stand on thy guard, least death come on thee as a theife is wont to doe when he entendeth to robbe, and that by a suddaine assault it reduce thee into a miserable exigent, and all this without that thou know the houre of its approach. A theife cō meth to doe mischeife, and taketh the goods which are not well looked vnto, not carefully preserued, and with such diligence which is required, whiche they deserue, and such like is time in the house of a sinner. And hence iustly our Lord abridgeth him thereof, for that he doth not spend it in such sort that thereby he may gaine, and exchange, and make himself very rich and happy. And answerable to this our Lord [Page] saith by his Euangelist S. Matthew: To him that hath, more shall be giuen; from him who hath not, shall be taken away, what he had or seemed to possesse. The iust man esteemeth time his owne, and is thereof Lord, and Maister, for that hee well knoweth the vse thereof; and to this he who is maister of time, more time shall be afforded him at the period of his life, more space to recollect himselfe, to examine, discusse, and purifie his conscience; and he shall haue aboundance, he shall be supplied with fulnes, all plenty will be bestowed on him as compleate indulgency, plentifull grace, and infinite glory, and he is not Lord of time, who whilst he liueth doth not vse it carefully and tenderly; hence when as thus deceiued by the deuill, with his dilation, with his deferring this amendment, he thinketh that yet he hath time, he shall be found by God [Page] his iust iudgement to be depriued thereof, space of repentance will be wanting vnto him, either by suddaine death, or by some vnhappy chance, or other: all hitherto are the vvordes of the glorious S. Bernardine. And hence is it that so often our Lord doth admonish vs to watch,Matth. 25. to be vigilant, for that vve knovv not the day, the hovver in vvhich our time shall haue it's end. And the holy Church, as a solicitous, carefull and most tender mother doth counsaile vs in a responsory, in ansvvere deliuered in the office of Lent, the self-same saying Let vs amēd that vvherein hitherto ignorantly vve hane trespassed in, Oh! let it not come to that exigent that hereafter vvee seeke for time of pennance, vvhen it is not to be had. And to this purpose that God, cutteth of his [Page] thred of life immaturely, vvho auailed not himselfe therof to serue him: the glorious S. Bernardine of Siena recounteth a most fearefull and maruailous accident vvhich happened in his time amongst the Catalonians next neighbours to the Kingdome of Valencia. A youth arriued to eighteene yeares old had beē most disobediēt to his parēts, and altogether disordered, vvho oftētimes bare no reguard of thē, tendred no duety; for punishment of such his misdemeanour God Almighty subtracting his assistāce from him, he became a great robber, for vvhich he vvas hanged in the same Tovvne vvhere he vvas bred, and being their hung on a gibet, and dead, and in the presē ce of all the people there assēbled vvas [...]eene his beard to grovv, [Page] and that in like manner the haire of his head grevv, that there hee vvas seene to haue a vvrinckled face; also his head vvas all ouer gray, and in semblance, in countenance, he vvas not vnlike to be of the age of fourescore and tēne yeares, vvhich made them all admire, yea and affrighted them; the Bishop of the Diocesse being informed hereof, commanded that all the people should poure forth their feruent prayers, he in like manner doeing the same, desiring of God Almighty if it vvere his divine vvill and pleasure to reveale this mystery. A vvhile after he craving silence and audience, and speaking vvith a loud voice deliuered thus much: Novv yee see (my sonnes) that this youth died at eighitene yeares old, and here he seemeth in his countenance to be [Page] fourescore and tenne yeares old, Hence vnderstād that which God Almighty is pleased to teach vs, vvhich is, that really according to the course of nature he had to liue to the yeares of fourescore & tēne, and so many had he runne, had he been obedient to his parents, but in regard of his sinnes, and disobediēce God Almighty hath permitted him to dye a violent death, cutting of so much time of his life, as is betvveene eighteene years and fourescoure and tenne; and that all the vvorld might hereof take expresse notice, it vvas his diuine vvill to vvorke this miracle. Sainct Hierome, S. Hieronym. Epist. 21. that rare diuine, vseth these vvordes, that the shortnes of life is a chastisemēt and iudgement of sinnes, and hence is it that our Lord hath abreuiated, and cut of short the life, and yeares of men [Page] from the beginning of the world to this day.Isai [...]s 38. God decreed that the life of king Ezechias should be lessened fifeteene yeares of vvhat he vvas to haue liued according to the course of nature, and yet againe he gratiously granted him them, through his teares, and hearts sorrow. And to this purport saith Haimon, expounding the wordes of the Prophet Isaias, Haimon in Isai. our Lord hath heard thy prayers, and thy teares obserued indulgētly, is pleased fo adde fifeteene yeares to thy life, that euen as he spake to Adam conditionally that he should be immortall if so that he obeyed his diuine commands, euen so in God his predestination vvere giuen these yeares to king Ezechias so that liuing vvithout sinne he vvere not svvollen, and puft vp [Page] vvith pride, and euen those vvho were foretaken vvith pride, vvere mercifully restored through their humility. Viri sanguinum & dolo [...]i non dimidiabunt dies suos, Psalm. 34. saith the Prophet Dauid: Bloody men, and men vvho deceiue shall not runne out their race, shall not liue halfe their dayes, vvhich is as much as to say more cleerly, they shall not liue the moity, the halfe of their age, vvhich they should runne out, if so that they had spent their time vvell. Sinners thall not obtaine and enjoy as they designe and think, for euen as o [...]r Lord said to the Iewes. Auferetur à vobis regnum Dei, &c. Matth. 21. The Kingdome of heauen is to be transferred from yee, and it will be bestowed on an other people, who may make vse thereof, and yeild fruite, and may better know, and value it. Euen so God [Page] will abridge sinners of time, for that they produce no fruite therein, they doe no good, and he will bestow it on them, to whom it may deseruedly be giuen, and who know to make right good vse thereof. Those words of Dauid the Prophet in his hundred and one Psalme,Psalm. 101. Ne reuoces me in dimidio dierum meorum, in which he petitioned our Lord, that he might not be taken of, that he might not dye in the midst of his dayes, rather according to the exposition of some, it is as if he should say: My God cut not the thred of my life, let not me dye in the middest of my daies, for this time and age is the dangerousest time, euen the gulph of life, full of idle cares, phantasies, and many vaine and misvnderstood courses, and farre more dangerous is it to dye in these yeares, [Page] then in an age compleatly runne, in it is not the same security nor in it the same confidence, alas! the same trust.

Other deliuer the self-same according to what vve discourse in other vvordes: I feare my Lord: I feare my Lord that for my demerits, my sinnes, and for that I haue so ill spent my tyme, that thou vvilst shorten my life, vvhich punishment thou didst therefore inflict on some; and hence is it that I humbly craue of thee that thou take me not avvay inseasonably, in the middest of my yeares and daies, but that I may runne them out, accomplish them vvhich thou determinedst of, had I been correspondent to my duety. The holy and most patient Iob sayeth in like manner of a sinner:Iob. 15. [Page] Antequam dies impleatur peribit, &c. Before that his time shall be run, he shall dye, and his hand is to become arid, dry; to fade, to perish euen as a branch of a vine in his first blooming shallbe withered; which is as much as to say, that in greene yeares before a full age run he shall dye, and that his life shall be shortened and shall be cut of in the midst of his dayes, as the dayes of an vnworthy and vniust possessor. And besides that it is a great punishement here in the world, to come it willbe greiueous and of great torment to the condemned the remembrance of the time they had, and let slippe without makeing vse thereof, and to see that they failed thereof which was to be well employed, as for a better time. It is read in the booke [Page] of the seauen guifts, that a Mōke of Claraual deuoute, and of a good and tender conscience on a time persisting a lōger time in his prayers then was his custome, heard a dolorous sad yea and most lamentable voice, as euen of one who miserably plained, sighed, and breathed forth grones, and the religious earnestly beseeching God Almighty with feruent teares, that the meaning thereof might be declared vnto him, the voice which he heard answered him: I am the soule of such an one a sinner (calling himselfe by his owne name) and I lamēt my misfortune ād condemnation, and among all the torments I poore wretch in this my miserable estate suffer, which doth not torment me alone but also the rest of my company most extremely, and mooueth bitter [Page] greifes, woefull weeping and lamentations, is the remembrāce of the grace and mercy, which our Lord the Sauiour of the world hath offered, of which we haue made no account, no reckoning at all; as also the memory of time which we haue lost, yea and to too ill employed alas! being made capable to gaine in so short a space so much mercy,S. Nicol de Kesp and such like rich and innumerable treasures; and this worme and remorse will alwaies be gnawing their hearts and entrailes.Bern. serm. de falaci [...] praesentis vitae And the glorious S. Bernard in one of his sermōs entitled, of the Fallacyes and wyles of this present life, sheweth, how it ensnareth, entrappeth and deceiueth sinners, one while vnder the persuasion that it is long, that they may a great space run on and deferre their pennance; in such manner [Page] doth it winne them, so ouercome are they by this meanes that they neuer make vse thereof, that they neuer doe pennance; and otherwhile making the same short, very breife,Sap. 2. that they may say, life is short alas! a breath, a blast, hence let vs hasten to enjoy all the flowers, delights, and pastimes of the world, least that we be depriued of them, before we take notice of thē: He farther among many other remarkeable thinges deliuereth that God Almighty doth shorten their paces, their walkes, their course in the midst of their pleasures, their delights, seeing their shamlesnes in offending him, and he cutteth of both their time and life, for that they who will not leaue to sinne willingly giuing themselues ouer to their disordinate [Page] affections, trespasses, and vices he abridgeth them of time, taketh away their longer life, and maketh them to leaue their further practise therein necessarily through death.

And hence doe many sinners dye vvhether they vvill or noe, for that the world conceiueth, that it is for accidents or in dispositions occulte, hidden, or for manifest occasions, notwithstanding that those dayes which they passed in sinne, were not (as we haue already said) truely good, were not well spent, nor the life candide and sincere, but shadowed, and alas! painted, I wis. Hence is it that in holy scripture sinners are valued as dead.Tim. 5. The vviddow (sayeth the Apostle.) who liueth in pleasures, is dead: [Page] And our Lord sayth in the Apocalypse to a Bishop vvho liued not answerable to his calling,Apoc. 3. who lived not according to his duety: Thou art thought to liue; the opinion of the world is no otherwise, but notwithstanding I knovv, Thou liuest not, I say thou art dead, and so doe I value thee, when thy soule is dead in thy living body; hence say I, that a sinner is said not to liue but retaineth onely the name of a liuing creature. And if the time which he passeth in vice, he liueth not, to speake properly, and that God Almighty customarily taketh away the halfe, he liueth much lesse time then the world apprehendeth, he shall proue short and scanted of time, of dayes. But what? the iust farre otherwise liveth a fairer, yea and a longer age [Page] then the world imagineth, and full of dayes; and timely and in his good season his maister will cut him of from the tree.

The end of the third Chapter.

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THE FOVRTH CHAPTER.
That euen now whilst we haue time it concerneth vs to take paines with feruency, and speed, and that we ought to employ it well.

IF time be so precious, and that it was giuen vs to operate well, and to labour in the vineyard of our Lord all the day to the setting of the Sunne, and that if so that we auaile not our selues thereof, it wilbe taken from vs, that we shall be vtterly depriued thereof, and that it so fall out that it will faile vs when we most desire it and haue most neede thereof, it will stand with good reason that we employ it well and that vve be very solicitous thereof, and that [Page] we make all hast to labour and to trafficke therein to make right and ready vse thereof: And euen so doth Ecclesiasticus aduise vs,Eccles. 9. saying: let thy hands labour in their vttermost abilityes, earnestly, diligently, feruently, and speedily. all he deliuereth is as much as to say: let not there be in thee any good thought, which thou canst remember, which thou keepe not, and which thou procurest not to conserue; nor good word which thou maist come to the hearing of, which thou harken not to, or what in duety and charity thou shouldst say, that thou speake not, nor good worke that thou canst doe, that thou doe not; without loosing occasion or time. And further he deliuereth, that what thine owne can doe, seeke not a strangers assistance, for thou must by [Page] no meanes trust thy saluation on others, nor must thou think or imagine ought that thy seruant, or thy friend, or any whosoeuer in the world is, are to winne heauen for thee thou iocundizing in fulnes of delights: I tell thee plainly and indeed that thy hand, thine arme, thy strēgth, thy vertue are to worke and bring this to passe, & thou must labour with great desir, much earnestnes, and maruailous solicitude, and most vigilant care, yea and with viuacity, euē to all speed, for that life passeth and suddainly flyeth avvay, and vvhen so that thou least thinkest on it, the sunne vv [...]ll set, and euen then indeed shalt thou be heartily glad, that thou hast taken much paines, for that proportionably so much more vvil [...] bethy revvard, and thy rest. And the reason vvhich is deliuered [Page] by Ecclesiasticus of all vvhich is foresayed is, for that after this life (vvhich so svviftly runneth his stage, his course) no vvorke either of reason, or vnderstanding, or the act of vvill, or any such faculty or povver vnder what title soeuer it be, shall be of any validity, any force, of any fruite, any commodity, or benefit whatsoeuer hence to deserue grace or glory.

The seauen fruitefull, and most plentifull years (figured,Genes. 41. designed, noted by the seauen fatt kine which Pharoah saw in a dreame) signified the time of this life, which by weekes (each weeke cō prising seauen daies) goe on successiuely, making their returnes and running their course; but after are to succeed other seauen yeares (which will be all that other space of time, wherein the other life, [Page] which is without end, and so shall endure, shall last, haue being and continuance) figured, designed by the seauen leane, and euen hungerstarued, kine barrē & without any [...] of deserte. Therefore in imitation of the discreete and prudent Ioseph fill thy Granaries (my Sonne) thy corne lofts, and make thou prouision for time of want, for time of dearth; for if so that thou deferrest thy gathering of Manna vntill the Sabbath of the other life,Exod. 16. the other world, it will not auaile thee ought, rather it will proue vnto thee wormes, for that there will be in thy soule (as we before said) a perpetuall worme, and stinge of conscience. Faire beyond what tongue can expresse was Rachael the most beautifull,Genes 30. but shee was barren, and on the other part Lya was farre from [Page] being beautifull, farre otherwise shee was very homely, oh! farre inferior to such an excellēt cōelines with gratious beauty, yet was this Lya fertill, shee was fruitefull. The life to come is beyond all account most faire, most sweet, most amiable, but it is barren, for alas! yea euen alas! there meritorious workes haue no place, haue no being at all; such like are onely and solely proper to this time, to this present life; which although in comparison thereof it is duskish, foule, and full of trouble, full of anguish, yet is it notwithstanding fruitefull and hath in it this good, that prepareth and bringeth forth good workes, and meritorious, with which grace is encreased, and glory is acquired, and who so will not regard it and entertaine it's tribulations [Page] and it's paines, and will not endure it's mole [...]ations, it's vnquietnes, and will not mortifie himself in the customary waies thereof, shall not here-after enioy the most comely, yea and most beautiful Rachel. Giue thy earnest attention oh Christian,Matth. 20. make all the speede thou any waies artable to vndergoe, for hereafter thou wilt be bereaued of all power, for it will be found impossible for thee to auaile thy selfe of ought to thy well being Wee are all of vs worke men, hirelings, and iourney-men, we worke from day to day, so it clearly appeareth to be voide of all reason that we passe ouer our timē of life in idlenes, either in delights, or nicenes, as if we were great Maisters, great Lords, great Potentates.Gen. 3. Before Adam sinned God Almighty placed him in a place of [Page] delights, it was Paradise, which he wrought and finished with his owne hands, to the end that in this gardē, à place of pleasure, he might entertaine himself, might enioy his time with content, with great delight and singular recreation; but after his delict, his sinne, expulsing him, yea and banishing him from thence, made him a labourer, a paines-taking man, and a workeman on his owne vine, alas! contemplate here his estate: Well since so it is, labour, take paines, and be very solicitous, and make all the hast possible (my good friend) if so that thou hast a minde to liue without want, and to dye rich in spirituall goods, in heauenly treasures. And for so much as that mē vnderstēd not thus much, (to speake more plainly) for that they will not, desire not to apprehend, [Page] to weigh and theron consider, they conuerte the vine that is so fruitefull into gardens and places of pleasure, and of ouerweaning curious and nice solace, alas! and many are so vainely gilien ouer that their sence must be entertaind with odoriferous smells and curious perfumes; and many of such appeare to be like to King Achaz of whom it is written,4. Reg. 16. that when as he had veiwed attentiuely the Altar of Damascus, he sent the the modell thereof from that Citty, and draught to Vrias the Preist, who erected an Altar according to to the King's designe, and appointment; but the Altar of brasse, and of other mettall which was to that very time before our Lord, he caused to be past of, sent avvay, and that it should be no more seen in his temple, nor in his presence. [Page] My meaning, my application is, that novv a dayes are many Christians vvho beleiue, and adore a God; but hovv? On the Altar of the Gentiles, for their liues are correspondent, answereable to theirs, they liue euen as they were heathens, giuing themselues ouer to as many sumptuous entertainemēts, pleasures, voluptuousnes, & height of delights as they can inuent, any way finde out, and are able to compasse, without taking notice diligently from time to time what are those things vvhich the appetite requireth of them, nor doe they make any resistance, farre othervvise they giue thēselues ouer to sensuality, to that vvhich vtterly destroyes them. Oh Christian! I say oh Christiā! tame thou this thy body, bring it vnder, bring it in to true subiection, set it a worke with [Page] the paines of a Christian labourer solicitously, most carefully and most serious to make thy vine fruitefull, prune it, breake vp the ground about it, open it at the roote, then trench it, and manure right well thy soules inheritance, and hence will plainely appeare to thee how thy sensuality declineth, yea abandoneth his willfulnes, his folly; ye [...] franticknes, and in it there will not be so many bryers, brambles, and thistles of sinne; euen so to the end that the children of Israël should not encrease, nor become willfull & [...]ubborne, but that they should liue in subiection and slauery, Ph [...]roah made them worke hard, and assigned them their daily taskes,Exod 1. which were not small ones, but heauy and very toilesome Oh! Christian take notice of this good and happye [Page] time, herein take care of thine owne house; set it in order, that it may not be said to thee as to the Iewes: Iorem. 87. The Kite, the Storke, and the Swallow know their time, and they well vnderstand how to aduantage themselues, to worke their endes, to winne their benefit, but Israël taketh no notice, enquireth not, hearkneth not after the time of it's visitation, help, and redresse, not taketh it hold, no norknoweth to make his goodvse, opportunity; and hence he will lament hereafter most bitterly, and will deerely wish for that which now he esteemeth not, he valeweth not, nor indeed knoweth. The people of Israël, the riuer Iordan, d [...]y and that hence they were well assertained of free and safe passage,Iosue 4. least that they might let passe so good an opportunity made all the hast [Page] possible to goe over it, vvhich they did most securely; and had they never so litle delayed likely they vvould vnhappily haue found the passage barred, stopt, by no meanes to be past. To morrovv is never secure, alas! it is not in our hands, vnder our command and vvill, and if so that vvhat you can doe to day, you practise not, you put not in prosecution, apply your selfe vvholy to God; it may so fall out that to morrovv you cannot, that to morrovv you be abridged of all meanes therevnto tending. If to day,Psalm. 95. saith the Prophet Dauid you heare the voice of our Lord, vvho inviteth you, and calleth on you to repentance, and amendmēt of life, deferre it not to the next day, in such māner hardning your hearts. Looke on thy self, behold thy felfe, poore vvr [...]tch that thou [Page] art, alas! thou art an ignorāt sinner and dimmely sighted, yea blinde, that the devill to deceive thee, saith, allovv me this day to my selfe, and that thou givest to God, offer vp to God the next day, the selfe same vvill he deliver the day follovving, in such sort as that he vvill dravv thee on perverted and lost alas! to vtter ruine. There hath been obserued (Saint Basilius reaccounteth) a marvailous craft of a small bird (which according to the referēce of Elianus is the Partridge) vvho seeing à fovvler approach nigh the places vvhere his young one's were in their nest,S. Basilius ho [...]. 13. exhort. ad Bapt. fearing least he should approach nigher he vvould discouer, and take them (for they knew not yet their wing, they vvere vnready in flight) sprung vp from her nest, and boldly shevved her selfe before [Page] the fowler, hence gathered that he would speedily follow (as thus inuited) her with all attention, and that by this meanes would forget the nest, and her young birds, her litle ones, taking so tender care of them; and when as the fowler sought after and prosecuted this partridg, and that hee tooke himselfe most certaine of the taking of her, yea euen so sure, as if so that shee vvere in his hands, shee made à flight with à small turning about, and hence got aduantage, and in this manner flitting and fluttering hence and thence, aud attending to such various motions, at length got the vpper hand; and in à vvord by these vvayes deceiued the fowler of his expectation, and in such manner perplexed him and kept him busy, vntill that the young partridges by litle, & litle, by short [Page] skipps & turnings vvearied, & like ground pines betooke themselues into à lovv and safe place, there hiding themselues very vvell: then their notably subtle damme made à great flight, & deceiued the fowler, yea put him into à great rage, that he could neither catch the damme, nor her young ones This euen selfe same practise is that of the deuill, to deceiue thee, alas! to cheate thee (blind and sottishly-ignorant sinner) and in like manner he detaineth thee, yea and entertaineth thee vvith shadovved, and false pleasures, false delights, yea euē from day to day, and yeare to yeare, yea and alas! too many, and many, vvith à false glosed hope, sophisticated all ouer that time vvill be sufficiently afforded and supplyed for repentance, yea and vndoubtedly, which if it happē not [Page] to day, either it vvill fall out to morrovv, or next day, or some other day,Act. 10. at one time or other (as if so that dayes and time vvere at thy command vvhich God Almighty hath reserved to himself onely) to the end that thou casting avvay thy time in such manner, & the present opportunity thereof, that time faile thee altogether, & that thou become in such state that thou haue that for vvhich thou may bevvaile for euer. Grant it good to conuerte one's selfe to God (deliuereth the glorious Austine) yet thou sayst,Aug ad fra [...]res in eremo. and boldly, I vvill change my life to morrovv, I vvill be another manner of man to morrovv, I vvill serue God to morrovv. Ah! poore vvretch if to morrovv, vvhy not to day? for there is no trust, alas no certainty of to morrovv, therein is no security [Page] at all; pray speake plaine and vnderstandingly, like à vvise man vvho knovveth the vvorld; are vve not subiect, and dayly exposed to suddaine death? tell me farther, doe not many dye vvithout confession, vvithout giuing account penitently of their trespasses? but you vvill not prosecute your vvay, and vrge that as God shall help you, you take notice of no ill in that you say, that to morrovv shall be the day, vvherein I vvill be an humble penitent, and that I vvill turne à new leafe, and not vnlikely it may be, yea euen this very day? but as God Almighty shall help me, what haue you to say to me (ansvvereth Sainct Austine) vvherein speake I ill, th [...]t there bee no dilatiō herein, that this euen novv day, be the day? this being the safest, the most secure, hence the best? so [Page] that obserue thy will I speake with more reason then doe you, for you are not maister of any time but of this present day, vvhat say I? no, alas no, you are not Lord of all the day, you cōmand onely presents moments, or rather instants of time, and well so. As nigh as thou canst, let all thy life be good; wherefore desirest thou that it be amended, & become good by peice-meales, and as litle at once as thou canst possible? Thou desirest that thy fare be all good, that thy vvife be good, thy house likewise, thy garments decent, thy stockins yea [...]uen thy shoes; dost thou make more esteeme of thy shoes, then of thy soule? art thou so void of consideration and iudg [...]ment? hitherto are the vvords of glorious Sainct Austine. S [...]neca. Seneca doth distribute the course of our life into three [Page] sections, three parts; into time past, present, and yet to come; and of these the present is as breife as can be imagined, the time to come is not ours, is doubtfull; of all these the time passed is certaine and nature hath lost her power thereof, nor is it in any human power, to make it returne, to repossesse it. Since so it is, that we let passe, let glide away that vvhich is present to abide for euer and à day vvithout it, and to be stated in euerlasting damnation, and vtter losse, vtter ruine, by so much the rather (open thine eyes, and be of my opinion, yea my sentence) that throughout the whole course of time, euen frō the time of vse of reason, there is all reason, all discretion that thou bring forth fruite, that thou carefully looke aboute thee, that thou be prepared, that thou be not [Page] vnready for that time in which thy Lord and Maister is to come, and to call vpon thee, since that there is not à moment; farre lesse an hower, in which any one can say he may not come, and cite vs to particular doome, wherein revvard is giuen to the vvorkemen of the vineyard, answereable to their labour, and great paines. This is saint Ierome his sentence, and to confirme what he hath deliuered the parable of the figg tree is opposite,Matth. [...]9. and vvell alludeth, to which the planter thereof came nigh being hungry, and entending to satisfie his hunger, and earnest appetite to eate figgs, and found none on the tree, he laid his curse on the tree;Marc. 13. and the sacred Euangelist sayth that he gaue his malediction on the tree, vvhen as it vvas not it's season to beare fruite, [Page] the scope of this vvas not much appertaining to the punishment of the tree, but vnder it is meant that men voide of vvorkes are hereby denoted, designed, so much is signified by the figg tree: for that human kinde is seriously to attend, is strictly bound at all time to yeild fruite, and hence is it that our Lord vvhen he commeth with expresse intention to seeke and findeth not, giueth his sentence of eternall malediction, of eternall damnation.

All things (sayeth Salomon) haue their determinate and precise time,Eccles. 3. in such like manner, that each time is not time, & season for all things, but that onely which is proper & so appointed for à particular, not for any other whatsoeuer to well being, farre rather for it proueth [Page] to it assured hurt, as for example sake vvould it be conuenient to sow, vvhen it is haruest, to grubbe vp rootes, vvhen the fittest time is to plant, to speake, vvhen it is best to be silent, to laugh when it is proper to vveepe? There is no time lim [...]ted, there is no precise time to labour in good vvorkes, to toile on the well ordering, vvell cultiuating the vine of our Lord, each time is opportune, it will be euermore seasonable, in whatsoeuer houre it fall, and in whatsoeuer age, forevnderstād, and well know that it is not lawfull to sinne at any time, and that there is not allotted, nor set out any time to sinne in. According to those words of Ecclesi [...]sti [...]s, Eccles 15. to none giue God command to doe ill, nor afforded he space of t [...]me vvherein to sinne,Eccles 4. but he counsaileth all the world, [Page] and admonisheth each one that they conserue, that they be tender of time, & that they leaue to sinne, that they forsake euill, for that this iewell of time was not benignely bestowed on them to the end they should doe ill, but they should doe well.Matth. 10. And the state of an idle man in the person of a worke man and day-labourer is also reprehended by the maister of à family; much more reprehension might be and iustly laid of him who' is more aged, who hath runne à longer course of life, alas! à longer time. And if so that the Kingly Prophet Dauid in the beginning of his Psalmes, compareth the truely iust man, vvith the tree which is planted hard by à current of waters which yeildeth his fruite seasonably, yet doth not he at all imply, he meaneth not that euen [...]s [Page] the tree yeildeth no fruite but in his proper moneth and destined time of yeare, and not othervvise; so hath the iust man to tender his one dayes, moneths, and precise times, strictly determined of, and not in any other, but vnderstand aright that euen as that the owner of à tree, vvhich giueth fruite in it's due season, vvould cut it vp, and grubbe it by the roote vvere it not so: euen so man ought to doe his duety, according to his vocatiō, his being and his profession timely, novv man's time runneth the full end, and vvhole course of his life. And so it is aduised,Luc. 18. and coūsailed in the name of God, that it is expedient for à man to pray euermore, yea and vvithout ceasing,Luc. 12. and to be alvvaies vvatchfull, and avvake vvith à burning candle in hand, for that it is not [Page] known at vvhat time his Lord and Maister will come to reckon with him; and that he be à good accountant of what is laid out, and receiued of those thinges which were comitted to his charge and of the profit of the vineyard which they let and set, and of his traffique and commerce, all which are manifest tokens, that at all times our Lord requireth of vs that we bring fruite and he that so doth is valued to be à true seruant, à true, à prudent, & à most discreet seruant. And the time which man is maister of is the whole time of his life; vvherefore after it (as the Angell hath solemnely svvorne) time hath to haue no more being.Apoc. 1. The tree vvhich the Euangelist S. Iohn in his Apocalypse did see (which euer more and at all times bare fruite,Apoc [...]. 22. & each moneth gaue it mature, ripe, all which [Page] was very wholesome, yea and euen to the very leaues of the tree) is an embleme or figure of the iust man, who alwaies, and in all times beareth fruite, as vvel in each moneth, as also in the vvhole course of his age, and vvhatsoeuer he attendeth to is of great benefit and singular profit, as well his thoughts, as also his workes, and words.

The end of the fourth Chapter.

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THE FIFTH CHAPTER.
How iustly the sluggish deserue reprehension, and who are so called.

AMong all men (saith Seneca) those cheifely yea and onely are to be accounted idle,S [...]neca de breuitate vitae. least busy, though most serious, who employ themselues, giues themselues ouer quite to the practise of piety and wisedome, and these solely and onely liue, for that hence they doe not alone conserue, and well keepe their owne time, but likewise they annexe to their owne dayes, other ages, and other times, for that which they haue gathered and are made Lords of turneth to their vse, their profit, their well being & hereof they auaile themselues, hereof [Page] they make singular benefit. This vacancy, this idlenes so well employed is laudable, is worthy of all praise indeed, set this apart thus vnderstood,Iob. 15. all other vacancy, all other idlenes which is really such, and so esteemed of, so truely valewed, is right worthy of reprehension euen as the bird was ordained to fly, so is man to labour, to take paines. And of this vacancy, this idlenes speaketh the fame Seneca, Seneca. that it was the sepulcher of a living man; in such sort that an idle man, not employed, and one who addicteth himselfe to nothing but idlenes is buried therein, and in extreme danger to fall into many sinnes and greiuous trespasses against God. Hence is that Ecclesiasticus deliuereth that idlenes hath occasioned mach malice,Eccles. 33. much sinne; our Seraphick Father S. Francis [Page] in one of his rules calleth it the enemy of the soule: and the glorious Augustine sayeth,Augustin. ad fratres in e [...] mo. ser. 19. that it will ne [...]er come to passe, nor can it be that à Citizen of heauen be freind of idlenes, of sluggishenes. And S. Chrysostome professeth that idlenes is a part of vice,Chrys. hom. 1 [...]. in ca. 4. ad Ephesios. or to say more oppositely is no part, but is the occasion, and peruerse roote, for that it is the teacher of all sinnes and director to them. The great Anthony spake earnestly yea and cryed out with à loud voice in the heremitage, which voice was heard in heauen, and these were his wordes.

O my God, and my Lord, true Samaritan, and true wat [...]h, and protector of soules, and bodyes, resuscitate in me, raise a new in me thy grace newly enable me herewith, and grant vnto thy seruant, so much mercy, [Page] that indulgently thou permit not, that I euer be in the desert idle; to these his feruent acclamations is answered from one of heauē from some one or other appointed messenger of God: Anthony desirest thou indeed, in earnest, really to please God? then doe thou pray, and vvhen so that thy spirits in prayer are enfeebled are become weake, then labour, let thy hands worke and euermore entertaine thy self in some what or other, doe but thy endeauour, so will the diuine fauour neuer be vvanting vnto thee. It was the sentence, the iudgement of the Fathers, who liued in Egipt, Cassianus lib. 10. collat. c. 3. that one Deuill waited to doe mischeife through his temptations to one onely monke employed, but on him who is idle, many attend; yet for that of this idlenes, of this sluggishnes, of this [Page] remissenes much hath been vvritten, and that hereof hath been various disputes on one & the other parte, and that my principall aimeth at the spirituall, against that sluggishnes I will arme my self, I will moore processe against it by making apparant to many (who in their opinions are well employed) the deceipt hereof, declaring and sufficiently proouing, that they are no otherwise to be v [...]ewed then idle persons, and that they loose their time, and that so it is, and no otherwise with them, alas! For necessarily you must grant that he is an idle & sluggish man, vvho maketh not the same vse of time which is conformable to it's vse, to it's end, for vvhich God Almighty bestowed it, yea farre other wise employeth it vnlawfully and vniustly, vvhere appeareth that [Page] nothing in such his course goeth, or can any waies tend to God his seruice or to the benefit of his neighbour, nor can they be made good as to any vpright, laudable, and praise worthy end. And euen so as many handy crafts men there are, and labourers, and Merchants, and tradsmen, workemen, and iour neymen; Kinges, Princes, Counsailors, Aduocats, and Officers, & all and each persō 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, [Page] 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,Psalm. 14 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 euē Seneca himsef came to the knowledg of:Seneca. when he sayd, God Almighty created all exterior thinges [Page] 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 mā 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 milliōs of people shall be in hell, vvho according to their hallucination, their misdeeming, [Page] their alas! misseco [...]ceit, thought that they were not idle, farre other wise that they were alwayes attētiue on affaires. All the howers spēt in vnlawfull games, murmurings, grumblings, detractiōs, and in writing and reading vaine letters and lasciuious bookes, and prophane bookes, which often haue corrupted formerly chast soules, to chāge 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 hāds, who is there, [Page] 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 [Page] 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 rum [...]nating [Page] 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 vnlawfu [...]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 ran [...]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 [Page] well may it be said it is farre gonne herein) that any Christiā 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,Psalm. 72. entire, & cōpleate dayes, not empty, and it is à māner of speach frequētly vsed, in the old testamēt, to say, that they died full of yeeres, [Page] that they died when they vvere aged, as it is related of Abraham, Genes. 25. & 35. & of other Saints, freinds, and beloued of God,Iobvlt. 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,Iobs. Mens [...]s vacuos enumerau [...] 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. [Page] To this purpose saith Saint Ambrose, Ambrose. the life of à iust man is compleatly full and empty are the daies of those vvho are vvicked, and really vaine, and they retaine nothing, but appearance, s [...]doth the greene reed vvithout pith, or substance. Of the same indgement is the glorious Gregory in his Moralls,Greg. in Moral. sup. ca. vlt. Iob in his Exposition on the l [...]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 [Page] 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, [...]et by, by their depraued tasts, deceiued by outwardly seeming dainties though vgly be they and bitter mo [...]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 foūd to haue vtterly lost it, nor obserue they what they haue neglected, what they haue passed from, & what they might haue acquired [Page] are foūd therein, nor of their duety to God vvho at so great à price redeemed them, & vvhō 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 m [...]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. [Page] They may be accounted alike to those vvho cōming a shoare from à shipp or galley, to land, to make prouision of vvhat they vvant to accomplish & bring the [...]r iourney to à happy end, & the long wished for hauen, keepe themse [...]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 [Page] 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 Cl [...]ticus à faire conditioned,Laēt. in vit [...] Philosoph [...]. graue and vvise man (as Laërtiu [...] 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 [Page] these idle persons, vvho so much and beyond measure passe their time vvithout fruite and heartsgreife 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 [Page] vvidow (of vvhom is made mentiō in the fourth booke of the Kings) in carefully taking and reseruing the oyle which the Prophet Elizeus, 4. Reg. 4. gaue vnto her miraculously therewith to satisfie for her husbands death, that the creditors might not haue power to leade avv [...]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 [Page] 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,Iob 24. Dedit ei [...]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.

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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 seruāt 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 m [...]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 grāts [Page] it that time vvhich is required and by her challenged. That to such her miserable state shee hath drawē 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 [Page] 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,Bern. 6 de Aduen [...]u [...] Domini. 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 [Page] 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. Philip. 3. 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 [Page] 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,Eccles. 3. suffer and consent, that the soule may worke freely, nor be thou any impedimēt vnto it, rather helpe it and labour iointly vvith it;2. Tim 2. 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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 it vvilbe vvhen so that it is fully reconciled with him, and in his grace, vvhen so it shall [Page] 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,Genes. 40. 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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 [Page] might deuote himself to my seruice, and vvhat best appertained to me. Nor is there any the least imaginable doubt, but that the Scripture wilbe fulfilled, which deliuereth. Our Lord will correspōd to the vvill of those vvho truely feare him,Psalm. 144. 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 [Page] 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 forewritten [Page] 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,Iob 24. 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 shalbe no remembrance of them to any their vvellbeing.

They shall from coole snowy water passe to an excessiue heate, [Page] 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) [Page] for the loue of IESVS-CHRIST marke seriously and maturely and all yee whosoeuer doe abridge yr 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.

[Page]

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,Iob 5. 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 [Page] 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 while, some relaxation from cares, and affaires, labours, and bodily toyles is certainely expedient; for if à man should alvvaies labour & toile his vnderstanding and memory incessantly, he vvould destroy his forces, and his health, and he vvould quickly consume and end his dayes. And for so much as the vniuersall labour of men should haue limit, and ease, and rest, yea and that of brute beasts, nature prouided then with sleepe, and vvith successiue variety and change of time, ordaining, that the day should succeed the night: in [Page] vvhich as is vvritten in the booke of vvisdome,Sap. 18. All things, all creatures are silent, and husht are (as sayeth Virgil) all the vvide feilds and vvildernes and as vvell the birds as beasts; and for so much as yet this rest, this repose vvas not sufficient, there vvere appointed holy daies, vvhich vve call Festiuall dayes, vvhich are celebrated among all people, and all Nations and in all ages. It vvas expedient then that vve should by rest repaire our weary selues, that we might hold out, through the benefit thereof, for that hence strength and vigour is reassumed, and as vvel desire as also vvill is hence recouered to returne to take paines à new; vvith vvhich repose vvere vve not endowed, any toile, yea any vvhatsoeuer labour, affaire, or exercise vvould be extreamely [Page] burthen-some, nor could our feeblenes or imbecillity sustaine long such continuance of toile & wearisomnes.Ovid. For (as saith Ovid,) that vvhatsoeuer it be, cannot long continue vvhich hath not sometimes rest, which incessantly toileth; this repose according to Plutarch Plutarch. is the restore of labours burthen, as also of minds agitation, and eares. It is written of kinge Amasis, that vvhen so he had dispatched his graue and serious affaires, hee vvould à vvhile be pleasant and recreate himselfe amōg his familiar freinds and fauorites: and it is rehearsed of Sceuola that in part of his leasure and out of hovvers from his charge, he vvould passe time in playing at hand ball: and although it is deliuered of CHRIST our Lord (to leaue the examples of the Gentiles) it is noe vvhere read that he [Page] laughed,Ioan. 11. but that he hath wept, as namely in the raising of Lazarus, Lu [...]. 19. and vpon the vngratefull citty of Ierusalem, and vpon the sacred vvood of the Crosse;Heb. 3. Not-vvithstanding he some times tooke out his disciples into the feildes, whē so he thought it expedient for recreation sake and spake to them in this manner: Vnweary your selues, repose à while, take breath againe, recouer your spirits, and enioy the fresh aire (yee are indeed men, hence vveake, subjects of sufferances (yee are in à word mortall men) that yee may be hence enabled to reassume your vocations and dueties vvith à more liuely and rigourous spirit. So that by the former Chapters deliuered vve condemne not altogether time spent in sports, pastimes, recreations, and entertainements, [Page] solaces, and glorious shevves, fights, which haue in them such scope, such end, such motiues and reasons; but vve, vvillingly counsaile and vvarne, that necessary it is to keepe order, and temperance, & moderation in these things which are reall and serious, much more in friuolous toyes, in vvhich some times very graue men doe forget themselues some vvhat, such is the danger of excesse. Therefore that (according to the Apostle) à Christian ought to doe all things in good order,1. Cor. 14. he should set down à taske,S. Tho. 2. 2. qu. 168. and measure on his recreations, and on that time which is passed in them, and hence is there à known vertue called Eutrapelia, or like à true vnderstanding courtly and vvell-bred gentleman, answereable to vvhich God Almighty vvould that men doe so recreate [Page] themselues (as wrot Saint Ambrose,) that they loose not their grauity altogether whilst they are in their pastimes,S. Ambrose. for the harmony of àgē tile life and liuing vvell, is not to be dissolued, is not to be disordered. And Aristotle asseuereth that litle recreation is enough to sustaine life with,Aristotle. as doth a small portion of salt serue to giue season to meate in its right preparation, and for the palate, and that recreation should be vsed to its end as is salt to the other: And in like manner pastime and entertainements ought to be lawfull, then of no long continuance, seldome, faire conditioned, and without the preiudice of any body, and accōmodated to the time, place, and persons, and so tempered with à fit moderatiō, that it proue not à hinderance vvhich is ordained, [Page] is appointed for à helpe, and furtherance and for à solace, nor let that be an impediment of vertuous exercises, and your expresse duetyes which is destined to repaire, and recouer your forces, and full vigour, and be the better able in accomplishments by their meanes without want; Wherfore now that it is adjudged good that vve repaire the weaknes of our nature, & reinforce it, and giue it animosity and spirit, so on the other part the selfe same is so great an enimy of labour, paines taking, and pennance, and so vnbridledly vvithout all rule and order doth affect and doth appetit and couet pleasures; if so that there be not much care taken and that meane be not obserued in vvhich the vertues are placed, idlenes taketh place easily and vice is entertained [Page] for labour, and wearisomnes is no way admitted of, so falleth it out, and to such passe is it come vvhen the inward man is out of frame, and so desisteth from labour and due entertainements, exercises, & practizes, there cannot be beheld à person more heartlesse, sluggish, lither, and lesse apt, one altogether indisposed. Hence the Philosophers, and the Ciuill lawes haue ordained and prescribed and assigned certaine boundes: Aud vvho vvill not professe, and vvith all reason maintaine that the recreations of Christians ought to surpasse them in moderation, & grauity and sobriety, and that they ought to be according to the squares & rules of Iustice farre beyond those of the Philosophers, or Ciuill Lavves haue either permitted or granted.

[Page] The Lacedemonians tooke great care that none breathing should loose their time,Aelianus de varia Hist. li. 2. norliue idly, nor passe it of in jestings, and fopperyes, and in such like as are called witty sayings, but in workes and in right worthy and vertuous exercises and practises: Hence vvhen as the Gouernour of many people among whom were those of De [...]aleya was informed that they who liued there carelesly and without regard walked vp and downe, vvrote them à letter to this purpose: Walke not vp and downe so much to satisfie your selues, and for recreation, but so farre forth as may concerne the exercise of your bodyes, for expedient it is that the Lacedemonians acquire & conserue their health not vvith walking, but with exercising themselues in those things which are [Page] lawfull, and vvhence may be deriued profit. There are many allowable conditions,S. Tho. 2. 2. q. 168. and occasions, and times in vvhich to play & passe of some time vould proue vertuous, as vvhen it vvere necessary that à man might be hence made the better able to doe his offices, & charges on him laid, and by them to satisfy, they being vertuous and answereable to the seruice of our Lord that he may not faile in his wayand that according to the Prouerbe, he fling not his burthen in the mire. But by degrees by litle, and litle as it were insensibly Custome hath crept in, and pastimes are so differently vsed from the end & intent for which they were fir [...] inuented, especially after that in certaine entertainements coueteousnes, and interest of gaine hath crossed and ouerthwarted, [Page] these such gamings I vnderstand vvith the rest to be hurtfull, and that so farre is it that they are helpes, assistances to accomplish the better their offices, and their expresse and precise duetyes that they owe to God, and their conscience, as that they are directly found to be impediments, lets, hinderāces, and euident cause that there arise many imperfections and vvhat worse is many foule offēces against the Majesty of God as are lies, false oathes, impatience, furious ire; and quarrells, which customarily beget disgusts, distasts, ill language, enmityes, and malitious rancours, hence doe I account that which is passed in such gamings & wagers to be ill employed, and vtterly lost; To visite one another and interchangeably, to communicate charity, is à very lawfull recreation, [Page] and is necessary to the cō seruation of freindshipp among them; ansvverably to this à Philosopher sayed, that silēce hath broken of, hath cutt of many freindshipps. The discourses of comforts & crosses one to another, doe ease one another; and hence they continue freindshipp. But I vvill ingeniously & freely deliuer my minde, many visits in these dayes are so tedious, & without any benefit, or good to be hence acquired, and to so much prejudice of thy neighbour, and of those who are absent, or are such, as that all which is treated of is meere vanity, vvorldly, & of the world, & of it's language, as that I esteeme them for dāgerous, and for time ill employed, & time meerely lost, being past of in such like visits; & I beleeue that the tongue is that which hath consumed [Page] most time & vnthriftily scattered it for this worme neuer ceaseth or is weary, and his fire is that which dilateth it selfe most at large, and his spotts are such as are most spred although by litle and litle, and this moth is that vvhich destroyeth more cloathes, nor spareth it those which are of the finer sort▪ Feasts and banquetts to the end of conseruation of peace, freindship, and concord, and for other just reason, are lawfull, being temperate and moderate as they ought to be, and vvith their due circumstances, and vvhat is requisite. But as now it is for the most part they are so disordinately vsed, and vvith so great excesse yea so long, and so tedious, protracted to so many howers that I will not engage my selfe to make them good, nor to take their iustification on my conscience, for [Page] that rather my iudgement is convinced, that their time is ill employed, and the most part thereof so vtterly lost. Of these called feasts, balls, or great meetings to dau [...]ce I know not what to say, but that I esteeme them to many of the Company for dangerous and wanton, and sometime awaken him who sleepeth, and chāge quiet soules and heart, & disquiet them, moue sedition in them and are the occasiō of vnlawfull thoughts, & disordinate desire, I hold much of the time so spēt, for ill employed and lost. And to the end it may appeare with what discretion, and moderatiō, pleasures, recreatiōs & pastimes are to be vsed Lodouicus Blosius relateth that the sister of S. Cosme & Damian was fififteene daies in purgatory,Ludo [...]icus Blo [...]us App [...]. for no other cause but that once shee attentiuely obserued [Page] out of à window with some small content and delight certaine persons, who in the streete were sporting, and merrily iesting, playing the buffons. And he writeth of a deuout maide, that shee suffered there à longer time, for that in her last sicknes shee had eaten vvith delight those meates which vvere prepared for her, and tooke them as solaces and entertainements vvith some roote of earthly pleasure. And it would not be out of purpose to loppe and cutt of the superfluities of the worlds pleasures, to aptly dispose here in this place vvhat the diuine Chrysostome deliuereth reprehending the speeches, vvhich vsurpe the name of jests or witty sayings,Chrysost. in expos [...]. [...] ad Ephes serm 17. merry conceits, fond and ridiculous gibings, and such kinde of carriages, especially being from nipping and biting [Page] tongues, & who season them with malices, which declare themselues so by incōuenien [...]ies which hence arise. This life (sayth hee) bretheren, & its course is a time of warre, of watch, and for all to goe harnessed with corslets on their shoulders and eyes quick, sprightly, and attentiue against the ambushes of the enimy and ponder it vvell, here is noe place nor time of laughter, that belongeth to those of the world and to it's oftsprings vvho professe and practize their lavves and customes and abuses. Heare thou Christian the vvords of our Lord,Ioan. 16. vvho speaketh to his faithfull: The vvorld shall rejoyce and laugh; but yee shall runne the course in grauity, soberly and sadly: Christ vvas crucified for thy sinnes, and buffeted, sharply strucken, and thou desirest to passe thy [Page] time in jests, scoffs, and profuse laughters, and pastimes.

The end of the seauenth Chapter.

THE EIGHTH CHAPTER.
That it is lawfull also yea euen necessary, that spirituall men vse some conuenient exercise, which may tend for an intermission, recreation & solace.

THere were certaine Hereticks who moued by the words of the Euangelist. Saint Luck,Castro aduers. heres. lib. [...]1. verb. oratio Luc. 18it is expe; dient to pray alwayes, and incessantly- these words being ill apprehended by them, they brought into the Church à false and new doctrine, teaching that dayly & nightly, one was neuer to cease from praying, & [Page] therein they should passe their time so cōtinually as that they were to doe nothing else, without any intermission, & that à man should not employ himself at all to any thing whatsoeuer else. But with expresse grounds of reason these hereticks were condemned, and excō municated, cutt of frō the Church, for it is insupportable and impossible, to our weake nature to pray alwaies, as they deliuered, nor is that the iudgement and sense of holy Church, nor hath the high & profound Trueth taught any such doctrine. And what in those words are taught vs it is expedient yee pray alwaies: and in those of the Apostle, Pray without intermission, 2. Thes. 5. is this. That vvhen à great exigent occurreth to petition God ought,almer [...]n. or soe vvhen as vve are fallen into some vnwonted distresse, [Page] tribulation or aduersity and are euen then in such māner afflicted, vve are then to be suppliants vvith great instance, vvith great earnestnes and perseuerance once, and tvvice, and the third time that he vvill be mercifull vnto vs, and that he vvill help vs and be propitious, and gratious to vs without discouragement, vvithout ceasing, or being dismayed, and although at present that vvhich vve impetrate for, be not granted vs; that vve call out for it at the gate of his mercy, vntill it be opened vnto vs, and almes be giuen vs: Then it wilbe bestovved on vs for our earnestnes our importunity,Luc. 18. as our Lord hath taught vs in the Parable of the Widdovv and the vnjust Iudge (vvhich he thē to that purporse after he had sayed it is Expedient to pray euermore, propounded) vvho [Page] 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, Act. 12. 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, Dionysius 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:Simon de Cassia. Iob. 7. All human life is à continuall warefare and temptation, and through the [Page] 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 mā 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, vocatiōs & 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 [Page] 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 cōmand 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 [Page] 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,Theodoret l. de provid. and nevv desire in so much as aftervvards à man returneth vvith more ease & ability & feruour to spirituall practises, and à nevv acquired liuelynes.3. Reg. 3 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 sho [...]ld be deuided into equall parts, and each of [Page] 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,Genes. 29. 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, [Page] 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 refectiō. 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 thē, 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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:idem epistola ad Deme [...]riū. It concerneth you much, & is of great importance, that you [Page] loose no time, & that you employ yr selfe alwayes, yea & euen hauing saied thy Primes, Terses, Sexts, nones, Vespers, Cōplines, & Mattins vvhich thou art to daylie practise, yet shalt thou haue houres assigned thee for thy study, and to serious readinge of holie Scriptures, and to the informing & enabling thee therewith▪ and when so that thou hast passed some time, and the care of thy soule shall haue a-wakened thee and moued thee to kneele humbly and often on the ground, thou shalt if thou wilt be aduised by mee vse some corporall labour or some manufacture in thy cutt of howers, in the houres thou hast to spare, as the worke made of wooll or Cotton, spinne flax, or wind vp yarne, worke with the needle à while or some such like worke or entertainement of [Page] time: for if so that you employ your time, the dayes will neuer seeme long but euen very short. And diuine Bernard in the treatise of à solitary life aduiseth the same,D. Bernard. tract. de vitâ. solitaria. saying: After the daylie sacrifice of prayers, after study, after examination & discussion of conscience, thou shalt giue thy selfe to some entertainement, or corporall exercise where with the soule may solace and recreate it selfe à while, and breathing time, without that it be distracted, or remisse, out of which when thou wilt and shalt finde it expedient, thou canst not deliuer thy selfe, & freely part from without some difficulty.Genes. 2. For euen as man was not ereated for à woman, but à vvoman for à man; euen so corporall exercise is for spirituall and for to assist it, and not to bee à hinderance to it. And euen as the [Page] companion vvhich God gaue to Adam, vvas very like to him and made of his ribbe asvvell bone as flesh, euen so the help and exercise vvhich hath to accompany spirituall life, ought to haue à proportion and solicitude to the spirituall state, and to symbolize and correspond vvith it, euen as it is to meditate any thinge one vvrit, or vvrite ought one hath read, for vvere it soe that they vvere workes of great labour and wearisomnes, oppressing the spirits and senses much and vvearing the body, the spirits viuacity & deuotion would hence proue lessened, grovve weake and alas! feeble and cold. Yet let the religious and spirituall person be aduertised that long time bee not consumed in corporall exercises but breife, and in such manner [Page] that easily he from them call himselfe to those of the spirit, and the condition thereof ought not goe alone, and euen solely such, but it ought to be accompanied and to be associated vvith that of the spirit. Corporall exercises are those vvhich are vnder the denominatiō of manufactures, handy-vvorkes; for others vvherein necessary it is that the body take paines, and suffer vvatches, fastings, austerityes, and such like penances, and sharpes and mortifications do not onely not hinder, nor dravv on any prejudice to the spirit, nor are they workes aduerse to it; but farre othervvise they are favourers and friends, be it so that they be vsed vvith discretion, vvit, and ansvvereable to true iudgement. And the same Bernard writing [Page] to à certaine sister of his (à Nunne) delivereth himselfe in this:Idem tract. formae benevidendi ad sororemc. 51. the seruant of GOD must alwaies either read, pray, or worke, left that the luxurious spirit get advantage and possesse it selfe of an idle spirit; carnall pleasures are overcome with busines, paines-taking, and employments. Diuide thy day (Sister) into three parts, in the first, pray; in the second, read; in the third, doe some or other labour, and handy-worke. Prayer, doth purifie vs; reading, doth teach vs; and labour gaineth vs happinesse, according to what David sayed. Thou shalt be blessed,Psalm. 127. and thy affaires all vvill haue good successe, because thou shalt eate of the labours and works of thy hands: And he vvho shall dispose and passe his time ouer, shall haue [Page] no account to giue to God for time ill employed and lost, nor shall hee haue time to lament of, to complaine of, nor to accuse himselfe at the day of Iudgement that he neglected time, cast away time, lost time.

The end of the Eighth Chapter.

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THE NINTH CHAPTER.
Of the meanes to redeeme time, where shalbe giuen to vnderstand more expresly who are they, and of what condition they are who lose it.

The Apostle Saint Paul among other doctrines, exhortations and counsailes that he giueth to the Ephesians, and vnder them to all Christian people, after that hee had admonished them that they should beware of Luxury and couetousnes, and of all other workes of darkenes, and that they converse not,Eph. 5. cōmunicate not with hereticks the enimies of light, these are his words Videte quomodo cautè ambuletis, &c. You haue well seene already how many dangers there are [Page] and traps, snares, impediments & ambushes in the way to heauen, and how many theeues, pirats and enimies; hence vvell obserue, and take tender & most solicitous care how you trauaile, stand on your guard prudently, and that vvith very great sollicitude and cautelousnes, vvith watch and circumspection that you miserably fall not into their hāds; Runne not the course of fooles, but entertaine the discretion of the wise, discreete, prudent, subtle, and sound solid men, that vvell know what to doe; and hee following his intent and continuing his discourse sayeth: Redimentes tempus, &c. Redeeming time, for the dayes are ill,Viegas in Apoc. c. 10. citat Hiero [...]ymum and the first exposition of the first vvords is Saint Ierom's (the later shalbe explaned in the following Chapter) [Page] time vnto men that they might therein serue him, and that they might employ themselues in good workes and meritorious (vvhich is at large read in the second Chapter) hence appeareth it, that they loose time, vvhen so they employ it ill, and vnvvorthily, as in bad workes (which is the true losse most culpable, most to be blamed and most to be deplored) and euen so hath, time to be redeemed, to be ransomed by the doing of good workes; and then à man buyeth & redeemeth it and maketh it his owne proper, vvhich was formerly detained, impawned, engaged, nay sold. The second declaratiō is this: Many times God Almighty doth shorten, and cutt of sinners from daies and time, vvhich according to the course of nature they were to runne, had they been good (as [Page] the third Chapter sheweth) so that the just, the vertuous, and vvho so employeth his time vvell, redeemeth it, ransometh it, for he doth recover and re-assume that part of time, and space of life, that though he were à sinner, God Almighty as à just judge will acquitt him, and it so happily falleth out, that he liveth to his full yeares destined him, and dyeth enioying à long course of life and many years. The third exposition is, that he ransometh time, who parteth vvith parcell thereof from vvordly affaires to offer it vp to God, and in serious applying himselfe to God, and to enjoying of inward comfort of his soule, and that seeming to doe nothing he employeth it in an holy vacancy from worldly addictions, according to the exāple of S. Mary Magdalene. Luc. 10 And also he who carefully [Page] and strictly boundeth his time, in so much as he abridgeth it's addiction to tēporall affaires, & maketh as litle consuming thereof as he can, as it were some 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 edēptiō 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 stāding 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 [Page] 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 val [...]evv & vvorth. And ansvverable to what is here delivered is sayed by the glorious Doctor of the Church Saint Austine,August serm. 24 de verbis Apost [...]li.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, [Page] 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 merchādise; 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 [Page] 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:Chryso. in epiad Ephes. serm. 17. 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 (euē as another sayth that hee may dispose, of his money at will, so that he may euē 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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 [Page] 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, Baruch 4. 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 [Page] in ill casting away thy time. They shall redeeme their time likewise who doe answereably to what Saint Paul the Apostle aduiseth,Rom 6 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 spēd 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 frō mā & his nature, à thing feasible yea and easy to be donne and sufferable, notwithstanding thy frailty and [Page] 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, but to be in the state of sinne, and to be alas! à sinner [Page] and wicked, and to be so enstyled, to beare such domination, such name. And although true it is, that sanctification doth notably exceed, farre surmount iniquity, vnrighteousnes, yet should I be some what acquieted that they would employ so much earnestnes, so most vigilant sollicitude in vvelldoeing after conuersion; as they haue rendred, and formerly fully placed to sinne, and to displease the Majesty of God. But, ô pitty! although bold, and ill placed couragious many vvere to sinne, how luck warme, and euen cold, slacke, and hee [...]es are they to vndergoe repentance, and to exercise themselues in practise of vertue? A sinner maketh no difficulty of ought to give himselfe his intended delights, and pleasures, to obtaine his contents, and fulnes of his appetits: [Page] nothing is by him accounted hard to acquire: and if so be that you question him, can you suffer and endure such like? or such other? be it neuer so difficult, he will answere to all, yea, he can; time is very short of too quick speed for sinners to enjoy the fulnes of their delights, but to employ themselues in good-workes, they account the time long; masse is long; à sermon long, and tedious, prayer, as also meditation burthensome, and fasting very painefull; cold maketh them heartles, quelleth their spirits; and heat doth euen enfeeble them, and each thing whatsoeuer seemeth à great torment, or heauy burthen; euen soe as (to conclude this Chapter) it is à very good remedy, to redeeme time, to employ it vvell, yea and with à like agony, earnestnes, covetousnes, [Page] with such vvatch, diligence, and expeditenes, and mindfullnes, vvhich might equalize that vvhich vvas applyed, to loose time, and to haue it taken prisoner.

The end of the Ninth Chapter.

[Page]

THE TENTH CHAPTER.
How it is to be vnderstood, that the daies are bad, and how since so it is, that they are to be redeemed.

ALL things which God created are good,Genes. 1. considered in themselues, & cōformable to their nature, for from his good hands there could nothing come, vvorke nor vvhatsoeuer else, vvhich vvas not good: and euen the same all-Godnes after hee had created thē, hee valued them good, and gaue them for good to all. And that wee continue our discourse to our the selfe same purpose, the daies and yeares pondered in themselues by the same groūds cānot be bad, cannot be evill, nor can they beare in [Page] thē morall malice, which may be accoūted à fault in thē, for & in-so much as that they are not capeable thereof, as litle are they subjects or objects of sufferance & punishment, for as improper are they to receiue such inflictions, nor whatsoeuer other miseryes, vvhich men sustaine for their trespasses, their greivous transgressions: but euill dayes are called by such name, and goe vnder such like title, respect had to men, vvho then liue, for the ills of sinnes which they commit in those daies, or for the ills of punishements which are inflicted on them, and for, and by they suffer as Saint Chrysostome, and Saint Ierome declare.Chrys. & Hieron. super Psa. 26. And customarily sick, sad, and afflicted men vse to say: Oh! vvhat à day hath this been to mee, alas! how ill, oh! how bitter, ah! poore wretch as I am, vvas [Page] euer knowne the like? There are two things (sayth the glorious S. Austine) which are cause that the dayes are evill,Augu. serm. 24. de verb. Apost. are bad, and that they are so called, though in themselues they bee good; which are malice, and the misery of men; misery is common, but in no sort is malice. From the time that Adam sinned, and was banished from Paradice, the daies haue been evermore evill, bad and the crying of children in their being even newly borne is to fore-tell, to presage, to prophetize miseries, calamities, and heauy labours, and to say that in that day they make their entrance, and beginning in this valley of teares, and at least (although it fare well with them, & that they be happy in their lot, that they prove good) they shall not be free from temptations, and wherefore [Page] to feare, nor vvhy not. Euthymius expounding the vvords of the Psalmist: who is the man vvho desireth life,Euthymius in Psalm. 33. and to see good daies? delivereth that these good daies are those of the other vvorld, the other life, for that those of this time are evill, according to vvhat Iacob sayed to Pharaoh, Gen 4 [...] and the Apostle Saint Paul, Ephes 5 vvhen he spake to the people of Ephesus, redeeme time, for the daies are bad. And to the same purpose delivereth S. Basill: Basill. ibid. The daies of my pilgrimage (sayed S. Iacob, answering to Pharaoh, vvho questioned of him how old he vvas) are one hundred and thirty, fevv, and those bad. The King asked of him, how many are the yeares thou hast lived? and he replyed &c. and although he seemed at first sight that he answered not to the purpose, yet hee returned an [Page] admirable answere, & like himselfe, à Saint, and discreete, & as à wise and prudent man he cutt of in à tacite and silent way, the question which was asked of him: as the Maister doth with his scholler, when he demandeth an impertinent questiō, his meaning to Pharaoh was that the years of this life, are not years, but dayes: and the dayes, not dayes, but howers, and the howers, not howers, but moments: and the life of the seruants of God is not à place of setling in this world, but à journeying, a travelling frō place to place; à pilgrimage to the celestiall Ierusalē. They are passengers, & euen as such like, they make vse of the goods and commodities of the vvorld; and hee spake further that his yeares vvere fevv, although he vvere an hundred and thirty; for [Page] that those his, yea and many more are few,Genes. 29. & 32. for that the longest life is short, yea euen as à shadow.

And finally he enstyleth his daies bad for the many dangers and corporall & spirituall crosses,Iob 7. labours and afflictions, which in it are found, and which it suffereth, for temptation is mans life, are the time of his life. Hence is it that for the euills, for the labours, crosses, misfortunes which often occurre to man in his daies, the daies are said to be euill, and in the holy scripture they are called euill. Hence is the day of Doome called bad,Psalm. 29. respect had to the euill, and it goeth vnder the title of sharpe, and bitter, and from hence wee shall vnderstand the meaning of those words which our Lord and Sauiour deliuered by S. Mathevv: [Page] Bee not too much sollicitous of to morrow,Matth. 6. for each dayes ill, each dayes malice is enough: which is,Simon de Cassia. as if he should speake more at large: You haue enough to doe to day, take great care of this present day, and of it's labours, it's busines, it's entertainements, it's necessityes, without that thou seeke to redouble thy charge, and to take to thee to day the anxiety, and care of mind, and burthen that belongeth to the following day, thinking what thou hast to doe therein, or what may happen vnto thee, and I assure thee that, let it take sufficient care for it self. And euen to this same purpose, was that which the Apo [...]le deliuered to the Ephesians, when he sayed: Redeeme the time, for the dayes are ewill. Obserue well that the dayes are laborious, full of miseries, difficulties, [Page] and hinderances, employments, occasions, temptations, and impediments to thy salvation, and to thy safety; for which, for many other respects and affaires to which our vveake body draweth on vs, as necessity for conseruation of it and life, and our ill inclined nature after the sinne, much time is frequently lost without any fruite of good workes, and is impawned, sold and captivated, imprisoned; hence doe I craue of thee with all tendernes, I exhort thee vvith all sincerity, & recommend vnto thee with all fervour, that thou beware of employing thy time ill, & to let it bee imprisonned, alas! and lost, and that thou endeavour tooth and naile, vvith all thine endeavour, to the vtter most of thy power, to make vse thereof, to reedeeme it, and to value it, and so to cōmerce & carry [Page] thy busines, that vvhen our Lord shall come, & shall call for accoūt, thou may giue him vp à good, an exact and perfect one. And euen so we must each of vs doe, for moreover and aboue vvhat is delivered, the daies are as short as possibly may be, vncertaine, yea and irreuocable, not to be called backe, not to be returned vnto vs; and vve must be of time very sparing, euen to coveteousnes thereof, painefully, and most sollicitously endeavouring to recover that vve lost, those daies vvhich vve cast avvay, vvith making all hast to make vse of that time vvhich is lent vs, and left vnto vs, to the seruice of God, & repaire our omissions and negligēces with diligence & present care, multiplying penāce, sorrovv for our sinnes, mortificatiōs, meritorious workes, & of charity, as doth he, who hath à [Page] long iourney to make, the time prouing short for him, almost passed, and through his negligence and carelesnes and sloth is ca [...] very much behinde hand, endeauoureth afterwards to runne in such à manner, so speedily, that he dispatcheth in two howers that iourney, for the performance of which hee had sixe howers and therfore seeketh out' the shortest way, sweats, trauaileth paine fully, and forceth himself to runne à mile together, without giving ouer, or wearisomnes, although necessarily it be required to eate, and that he take vnto him some foode, à morcell, ot two, yea, and euen this doth he eate running and as first as he can. Euen so did the same Apostle to redeeme the time he had fore gone,Philip. 3. & 1. Cor. 9. and lost: Sequer si quomodo comprehendam. As if he should say; [Page] Since so it is that I had so much time, and went so farre astray, and gott so litle ground in the seruice of God, and was so negligent in endeauouring to gaine the reward of heauen, and had so many daies lost my time, I now earnestly desire to make à double hast, insomuch as I runne speedily, yea and without looking behinde mee at all, for that I make noe esteeme of all my former walkes, rather absolute forgetfulnes thereof hath taken me vp, euen as if I had not gonne astepp going forward, and boldly aduācing my pace through thicke and thinne, mine eyes attentiue on my waie I am to run, and my journey I haue to expedite, and finish, and not on that I haue already passed.Psalm. 118. The self same did king David put in practise after that God dilated, extended, and [Page] enlarged his heart with the loue of him, and charity, and released him of those fetters, thoses gyues which were on his feete, as he testifieth, in these words: Viam mandatorum tuorum cucurri &c. When as through thy great mercy (my Lord, my God) thou pleasedst to attract mee, and release mee from sinne, and misery, in vvhich I vvas plunged, surprised and fast-held so long, and in the breaking the chaines vvherevvith I was fast tyed, refreshing my heart vvith the vvater, the liquor more precious then that of Angels, from the bounty of thy all Soueraigne benignity and grace comforting it, consoling it therewith; I began (that I might redeeme time) to hasten and run, and I made all possible speed, all diligence imaginable, without getting vnto mee, or purchasing so [Page] much as one breathing, or other, n [...]thy way for the way of thy commandements. The deuout and mysticall Thaulerus (and then with him will we conclude this treatise) moueth a question in this manner how a man may redeeme,Thaulerus. and recouer time passed by, and lost; how hee may ransome it, since that there is not, no not one moment of time, which is not due to God, which wee are not to giue account of to God; and (as Gregory Nissenus sayed) if so that vvee should passe all our time in prayer,Gregor. Nissenin orat. Pater noster. and in rendring of thanks to God, hardly shall wee accomplish, fulfill the obligation, and duety which vvee euen at this present instant owe, & for it, how much more for the time passed, and to come; and thus he answereth; turne another way, retire your selues each one of you [Page] vvith all your power, and greatest height of your strength and abilityes, the highest yea and the lowest, from all time, and place, and let it all be recollected and drawne vnto that present instant of eternity, vvhere God is essentially and remaneth in one being, and in a most firme stability, vvithout that there be any thing passed, or to come, but that all is presēt, & in an euerlasting state, vniforme, durable fixed, permanent, constant, inuariable, vvithout change, & immoveable, vvithout time it's passing in so much as hath relation to him, there being and being found in him, all vvhat is present, passed, and to come, and all beginning, and ending of time, vvithout beginning and ending. And there vvith hee shall finde all those treasures, which he set at light, and despised, [Page] and infinitely more; and they who oftentimes accustome themselues, make it their practise, and raise themselues aboue themselues, and all creatures, and euen to hide thē selues, couer themselues, and to make their nest, and place of abiding in God, vvho is present in the hearts of all people, they vndoubtedly acquire riches, procure vnto themselues treasures, and finde therein much more thē, alas! they can haue lost. And in this their entrance and conuersiō to God each one ought fully, entirely, and perfectly to transforme himselfe into him, and euen from the very bottome of his heart say: ô my eternall God I would, that all the time which hath beene from the beginning of the world, and hath to cōtinue vntill the end thereof, that I had liued for thee, and thy seruice, [Page] and that I may hence forward live such as I may bepraise-worthy, & cleane with obedience, and all kind of vertues, as those men whosoeuer haue beene borne at any time who haue runn the course of their liues in afflictiōs, poverty, tribulations, & anxious toiles. Oh! could I distill, power forth, yea gush out from mine eyes all the water in the sea, & supply the necessities of those who want, and are poore, & conferre comfort to the heauy, afflicted, and sad, and for thee (my God) that I might love thee, praise thee, and exalt thee, and glorify thee, even as much as doe all the Saints and Angells of thy soueraigne, high, and mighty Court? For vndoubtedly all these things would I doe most willingly: And let him be most assured, who so hath taken into his heart this will, and liuely [Page] desires, that even accordingly that most just, and most vpright judge will accept them, as if they were put in execution; for to desire with sincere and efficacious will to doe any worke, is as much as if it were donne before God in his sight; so it is accounted of him, it being (as we formerly sayed) à perfect will, and it so being that the worke surmoūt the possibility,Chrys. homil. 19. in Math. S. Tho. 1. 2. q. 20. art. 4, and facultie of our forces, and hence I referre the Reader to the 4. Chapter, where mētion is made of the good theife which doctrine there deliuered agreeth well to that of this.

The end of the tenth and last Chapter.

LAVS DEO TRINO-VN [...].

§

§

[Page]

Hic liher cui titulus est, The Ransome of time being Captiue, id est, Redē ptio temporis captiui ex Hispanica lingua in Anglicanam, fideliter translatus, nihil habet fidei aut moribus bonis aduersum, Actum Duaci 27. Nouembris 1634.

Georgius Coluenerius S. Theol. Doctor & Professor, Collegiatae Ecclesiae S. Petri praepositus, Academiae Duacensis Caneellarius, & Librorum Censor.

ERRATA.

[Page]

P. 1. l. 3. dele (). p. 2. l. [...] for kookes, reade bookes. p. 15. l. 21. for [...] which. p. 26. for as, reade and p. 75. l. 19. after Isra [...] [...] p. 84. l. 13. for opposite, reade apposite. [...] appositely. reade appositely. p. 95. l. 7. for [...] [...]oue. p. 97. l. 1. after nor, add to. p. 101. l. 13. [...] not. p. 103. l. 12. for beleft, reade beleeued. p. 122. [...]. for dispensest, reade despisest. p. 135. l. 19. for rigorous, reade vigorous, the page 142. is putt twice, the latter shold be 144. p. 15 [...]. li. 4. for reinfortid, reade reinforced. p. 171. l. 1. the first line of this, page 171. shold haue beene putt the first line of the page 167. pag. 171. The second line of this page is [...] follow after the last line of the page 170. pag. 193. line 2. for the lettre n, reade in.

Some other faults in orthographie, the numbers of the pages, &c. the Readers courtesie may pardon, and the printers want of an English tongue excuse.

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The ransome of time being captive Wherein is declared how precious a thing is time, how much he looseth that looseth it, & how it may be redeemed. Written in Spanish, by the R. Father Andreas de Soto, confessor to the most excellent Infanta Clara Eugenia. Translated into English by J.H.

Soto, Andrés de, 1553?-1625.

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1634

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2004-05 (EEBO-TCP Phase 1).

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A12614

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STC 22937

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ESTC S101240

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99837056

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99837056

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1362

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— The ransome of time being captive Wherein is declared how precious a thing is time, how much he looseth that looseth it, & how it may be redeemed. Written in Spanish, by the R. Father Andreas de Soto, confessor to the most excellent Infanta Clara Eugenia. Translated into English by J.H., Soto, Andrés de, 1553?-1625., Hawkins, John, fl. 1635..

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[16], 198 [i.e. 196], [2] p.

Printed by Gerard Pinsone att the signe of Coline,. At Doway :: 1634.. (Dedication signed: John Hawkins.) (Spanish original not traced.) (Page numbers 140-141 omitted in page numbering.) (With a final errata leaf.) (Reproduction of the original in the Columbia University. Library.)

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Created by converting TCP files to TEI P5 using tcp2tei.xsl, TEI @ Oxford.

Editorial practices

EEBO-TCP is a partnership between the Universities of Michigan and Oxford and the publisher ProQuest to create accurately transcribed and encoded texts based on the image sets published by ProQuest via their Early English Books Online (EEBO) database (http://eebo.chadwyck.com). The general aim of EEBO-TCP is to encode one copy (usually the first edition) of every monographic English-language title published between 1473 and 1700 available in EEBO.

EEBO-TCP aimed to produce large quantities of textual data within the usual project restraints of time and funding, and therefore chose to create diplomatic transcriptions (as opposed to critical editions) with light-touch, mainly structural encoding based on the Text Encoding Initiative (http://www.tei-c.org).

The EEBO-TCP project was divided into two phases. The 25,363 texts created during Phase 1 of the project have been released into the public domain as of 1 January 2015. Anyone can now take and use these texts for their own purposes, but we respectfully request that due credit and attribution is given to their original source.

Users should be aware of the process of creating the TCP texts, and therefore of any assumptions that can be made about the data.

Text selection was based on the New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature (NCBEL). If an author (or for an anonymous work, the title) appears in NCBEL, then their works are eligible for inclusion. Selection was intended to range over a wide variety of subject areas, to reflect the true nature of the print record of the period. In general, first editions of a works in English were prioritized, although there are a number of works in other languages, notably Latin and Welsh, included and sometimes a second or later edition of a work was chosen if there was a compelling reason to do so.

Image sets were sent to external keying companies for transcription and basic encoding. Quality assurance was then carried out by editorial teams in Oxford and Michigan. 5% (or 5 pages, whichever is the greater) of each text was proofread for accuracy and those which did not meet QA standards were returned to the keyers to be redone. After proofreading, the encoding was enhanced and/or corrected and characters marked as illegible were corrected where possible up to a limit of 100 instances per text. Any remaining illegibles were encoded as <gap>s. Understanding these processes should make clear that, while the overall quality of TCP data is very good, some errors will remain and some readable characters will be marked as illegible. Users should bear in mind that in all likelihood such instances will never have been looked at by a TCP editor.

The texts were encoded and linked to page images in accordance with level 4 of the TEI in Libraries guidelines.

Copies of the texts have been issued variously as SGML (TCP schema; ASCII text with mnemonic sdata character entities); displayable XML (TCP schema; characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or text strings within braces); or lossless XML (TEI P5, characters represented either as UTF-8 Unicode or TEI g elements).

Keying and markup guidelines are available at the Text Creation Partnership web site.