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diff --git a/17075-8.txt b/17075-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1900b58 --- /dev/null +++ b/17075-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10341 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation, by Thomas More + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation + With Modifications To Obsolete Language By Monica Stevens + +Author: Thomas More + +Translator: Monica Stevens + +Release Date: November 16, 2005 [EBook #17075] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIALOGUE OF COMFORT *** + + + + +Produced by David McClamrock + + + + + +DIALOGUE OF COMFORT AGAINST TRIBULATION + +by St. Thomas More + +with modifications to obsolete language by Monica Stevens + +______________________________ + + +PUBLISHED 1951 +BY SHEED AND WARD, LTD. +110/111 FLEET STREET, +LONDON, E.C.4 +AND +SHEED AND WARD, INC. +830 BROADWAY, +NEW YORK, 3 + +______________________________ + + +NOTE + +This edition of the Dialogue of Comfort has been transcribed from +the 1557 version as it appears in Everyman's Library. The Everyman +edition is heartily recommended to readers who would like to taste +the dialogue in its original form. + +The first plan was to change only the spelling. It soon became +evident that the punctuation would have to be changed to follow +present usage. The longest sentences were then broken up into two +or three, and certain others were rearranged into a word order +more like that of today. Nothing was omitted, however, and nothing +was added except relative pronouns, parts of "to be," and other +such neutral connectives. Finally, obsolete words were changed to +more familiar equivalents except when they were entirely clear and +too good to lose. Thus "wot" became "know" but "gigglot" and "galp +up the ghost" were retained. Words that have come to have a quite +different meaning for us, such as "fond" and "lust" were replaced +by less ambiguous ones--wherever possible, by ones that More +himself used elsewhere. + +The text has not been cut or expanded, re-interpreted or edited. +Any transcription seems to involve some interpretation, conscious +or otherwise, but an effort has been made to keep it to a minimum. +Passages that seemed to make no sense have therefore been left +unaltered. If other readers find solutions for them their +suggestions will be welcomed. + +This is not in any sense a scholarly piece of work. That would +require a very different method, as well as a far more thorough +knowledge of sixteenth-century English. It would be a most +commendable undertaking, but it might result in an edition for the +learned. This one is for everyone who has the two essentials, +faith and intelligence, presupposed by Anthony in Chapter II. + +MONICA STEVENS + +Middlebury, Vermont. +Feast of St. Benedict, 1950. + +______________________________ + + +BOOK ONE + +VINCENT: Who would have thought, O my good uncle, a few years +past, that those in this country who would visit their friends +lying in disease and sickness would come, as I do now, to seek and +fetch comfort of them? Or who would have thought that in giving +comfort to them they would use the way that I may well use to you? +For albeit that the priests and friars be wont to call upon sick +men to remember death, yet we worldly friends, for fear of +discomforting them, have ever had a way here in Hungary of lifting +up their hearts and putting them in good hope of life. + +But now, my good uncle, the world is here waxed such, and so great +perils appear here to fall at hand, that methinketh the greatest +comfort a man can have is when he can see that he shall soon be +gone. And we who are likely long to live here in wretchedness have +need of some comforting counsel against tribulation to be given us +by such as you, good uncle. For you have so long lived virtuously, +and are so learned in the law of God that very few are better in +this country. And you have had yourself good experience and assay +of such things as we do now fear, as one who hath been taken +prisoner in Turkey two times in your days, and is now likely to +depart hence ere long. + +But that may be your great comfort, good uncle, since you depart to +God. But us of your kindred shall you leave here, a company of +sorry comfortless orphans. For to all of us your good help, +comfort, and counsel hath long been a great stay--not as an uncle +to some, and to others as one further of kin, but as though to us +all you had been a natural father. + +ANTHONY: Mine own good cousin, I cannot much deny but what there +is indeed, not only here in Hungary but also in almost all places +in Christendom, such a customary manner of unchristian comforting. +And in any sick man it doth more harm than good, by drawing him in +time of sickness, with looking and longing for life, from the +meditation of death, judgment, heaven, and hell, with which he +should beset much of his time--even all his whole life in his best +health. Yet is that manner of comfort to my mind more than mad when +it is used to a man of mine age. For as we well know that a young +man may die soon, so are we very sure that an old man cannot live +long. And yet there is (as Tully saith) no man so old but that, for +all that, he hopeth yet that he may live one year more, and of a +frail folly delighteth to think thereon and comfort himself +therewith. So other men's words of such comfort, adding more sticks +to that fire, shall (in a manner) quite burn up the pleasant +moisture that should most refresh him--the wholesome dew, I mean, +of God's grace, by which he should wish with God's will to be +hence, and long to be with him in Heaven. + +Now, as for your taking my departing from you so heavily (as that +of one from whom you recognize, of your goodness, to have had here +before help and comfort), would God I had done to you and to others +half so much as I myself reckon it would have been my duty to do! +But whensoever God may take me hence, to reckon yourselves then +comfortless, as though your chief comfort stood in me--therein +would you make, methinketh, a reckoning very much as though you +would cast away a strong staff and lean upon a rotten reed. For God +is, and must be, your comfort, and not I. And he is a sure +comforter, who (as he said unto his disciples) never leaveth his +servants comfortless orphans, not even when he departed from his +disciples by death. But he both sent them a comforter, as he had +promised, the Holy Spirit of his Father and himself, and he also +made them sure that to the world's end he would ever dwell with +them himself. And therefore, if you be part of his flock and +believe his promise, how can you be comfortless in any tribulation, +when Christ and his Holy Spirit, and with them their inseparable +Father, if you put full trust and confidence in them, are never +either one finger-breadth of space nor one minute of time from you? + +VINCENT: O, my good uncle, even these selfsame words, with which +you prove that because of God's own gracious presence we cannot be +left comfortless, make me now feel and perceive how much comfort we +shall miss when you are gone. For albeit, good uncle, that while +you tell me this I cannot but grant it for true, yet if I had not +now heard it from you, I would not have remembered it, nor would it +have fallen to my mind. And moreover, as our tribulations shall +increase in weight and number, so shall we need not only one such +good word or twain, but a great heap of them, to stable and +strengthen the walls of our hearts against the great surges of this +tempestuous sea. + +ANTHONY: Good cousin, trust well in God and he shall provide you +outward teachers suitable for every time, or else shall himself +sufficiently teach you inwardly. + +VINCENT: Very well, good uncle, but yet if we would leave the +seeking of outward learning, when we can have it, and look to be +inwardly taught by God alone, then should be thereby tempt God and +displease him. And since I now see the likelihood that when you are +gone we shall be sore destitute of any other like you, therefore +methinketh that God bindeth me of duty to pray you now, good uncle, +in this short time that we have you, that I may learn of you such +plenty of good counsel and comfort, against these great storms of +tribulation with which both I and all mine are sore beaten already, +and now upon the coming of this cruel Turk fear to fall in far +more, that I may, with the same laid up in remembrance, govern and +stay the ship of our kindred and keep it afloat from peril of +spiritual drowning. + +You are not ignorant, good uncle, what heaps of heaviness have of +late fallen among us already, with which some of our poor family are +fallen into such dumps that scantly can any such comfort as my poor +wit can give them at all assuage their sorrow. And now, since these +tidings have come hither, so hot with the great Turk's enterprise +into these parts here, we can scantly talk nor think of anything +else than his might and our danger. There falleth so continually +before the eyes of our heart a fearful imagination of this terrible +thing: his mighty strength and power, his high malice and hatred, +and his incomparable cruelty, with robbing, spoiling, burning, and +laying waste all the way that his army cometh; then, killing or +carrying away the people thence, far from home, and there severing +the couples and the kindred asunder, every one far from the other, +some kept in thraldom and some kept in prison and some for a +triumph tormented and killed in his presence; then, sending his +people hither and his false faith too, so that such as are here and +still remain shall either both lose all and be lost too, or be +forced to forsake the faith of our Saviour Christ and fall to the +false sect of Mahomet. And yet--that which we fear more than all +the rest--no small part of our own folk who dwell even here about +us are, we fear, falling to him or already confederated with him. +If this be so, it may haply keep this quarter from the Turk's +invasion. But then shall they that turn to his law leave all their +neighbours nothing, but shall have our goods given them and our +bodies too, unless we turn as they do and forsake our Saviour too. +And then--for there is no born Turk so cruel to Christian folk as +is the false Christian that falleth from the faith--we shall stand +in peril, if we persevere in the truth, to be more hardly handled +and die a more cruel death by our own countrymen at home than if we +were taken hence and carried into Turkey. These fearful heaps of +peril lie so heavy at our hearts, since we know not into which we +shall fortune to fall and therefore fear all the worst, that (as +our Saviour prophesied of the people of Jerusalem) many among us +wish already, before the peril come, that the mountains would +overwhelm them or the valleys open and swallow them up and cover +them. + +Therefore, good uncle, against these horrible fears of these +terrible tribulations--some of which, as you know, our house hath +already, and the rest of which we stand in dread of--give us, while +God lendeth you to us, such plenty of your comforting counsel as I +may write and keep with us, to stay us when God shall call you +hence. + +ANTHONY: Ah, my good cousin, this is a heavy hearing. And just as +we who dwell here in this part now sorely fear that thing which a +few years ago we feared not at all, so I suspect that ere long they +shall fear it as much who now think themselves very sure because +they dwell further off. + +Greece feared not the Turk when I was born, and within a while +afterward that whole empire was his. The great Sultan of Syria +thought himself more than his match, and long since you were born +hath he that empire too. Then hath he taken Belgrade, the fortress +of this realm. And since that hath he destroyed our noble young +goodly king, and now two of them strive for us--our Lord send the +grace that the third dog carry not away the bone from them both! +What of the noble strong city of Rhodes, the winning of which he +counted as a victory against the whole body of Christendom, since +all Christendom was not able to defend that strong town against +him? Howbeit, if the princes of Christendom everywhere would, where +there was need, have set to their hands in time, the Turk would +never have taken any one of all those places. But partly because of +dissensions fallen among ourselves, and partly because no man +careth what harm other folk feel, but each part suffereth the other +to shift for itself, the Turk has in a few years wonderfully +increased and Christendom on the other hand very sorely decayed. +And all this is worked by our wickedness, with which God is not +content. + +But now, whereas you desire of me some plenty of comforting things, +which you may put in remembrance, to comfort your company +with--verily, in the rehearsing and heaping of your manifold fears, +I myself began to feel that there would be much need, against so +many troubles, of many comforting counsels. For surely, a little +before you came, as I devised with myself upon the Turk's coming, +it happened that my mind fell suddenly from that to devising upon +my own departing. Now, albeit that I fully put my trust in God and +hope to be a saved soul by his mercy, yet no man is here so sure +that without revelation he may stand clean out of dread. So I +bethought me also upon the pain of hell, and afterward, then, I +bethought me upon the Turk again. And at first methought his terror +nothing, when I compared with it the joyful hope of heaven. Then I +compared it on the other hand with the fearful dread of hell, +casting therein in my mind those terrible fiendish tormentors, with +the deep consideration of that furious endless fire. And methought +that if the Turk with his whole host, and all his trumpets and +timbrels too, were to come to my chamber door and kill me in my +bed, in respect of the other reckoning I would regard him not a +rush. And yet, when I now heard your lamentable words, laying forth +as though it were present before my face that heap of heavy +sorrowful tribulations that (besides those that are already +befallen) are in short space likely to follow, I waxed myself +suddenly somewhat dismayed. And therefore I well approve your +request in this behalf, since you wish to have a store of comfort +beforehand, ready by you to resort to, and to lay up in your heart +as a remedy against the poison of all desperate dread that might +arise from occasion of sore tribulation. And I shall be glad, as my +poor wit shall serve me, to call to mind with you such things as I +before have read, heard, or thought upon, that may conveniently +serve us to this purpose. + + +I + +First shall you, good cousin, understand this: The natural wise men +of this world, the old moral philosophers, laboured much in this +matter. And many natural reasons have they written by which they +might encourage men to set little by such goods--or such hurts, +either--the going and coming of which are the matter and cause of +tribulation. Such are the goods of fortune, riches, favour, +friends, fame, worldly honour, and such other things: or of the +body, as beauty, strength, agility, liveliness, and health. These +things, as you know, coming to us, are matter of worldly wealth. +And, taken from us by fortune or by force or the fear of losing +them, they are matter of adversity and tribulation. For tribulation +seemeth generally to signify nothing else but some kind of grief, +either pain of the body or heaviness of the mind. Now that the body +should not feel what it feeleth, all the wit in the world cannot +bring that about. But that the mind should not be grieved either +with the pain that the body feeleth or with occasions of heaviness +offered and given unto the soul itself, this thing the philosophers +laboured very much about. And many goodly sayings have they toward +strength and comfort against tribulation, exciting men to the full +contempt of all worldly loss and the despising of sickness and all +bodily grief, painful death and all. + +Howbeit, indeed, for anything that ever I read in them, I never +could yet find that those natural reasons were ever able to give +sufficient comfort of themselves. For they never stretch so far but +that they leave untouched, for lack of necessary knowledge, that +special point which not only is the chief comfort of all but +without which also all other comforts are nothing. And that point +is to refer the final end of their comfort unto God, and to repute +and take for the special cause of comfort that by the patient +sufferance of their tribulation they shall attain his favour and +for their pain receive reward at his hand in heaven. And for lack +of knowledge of this end, they did, as they needs must, leave +untouched also the very special means without which we can never +attain to this comfort, which is the gracious aid and help of God +to move, stir, and guide us forward in the referring of all our +ghostly comfort--yea, and our worldly comfort too--all unto that +heavenly end. And therefore, as I say, for the lack of these +things, all their comforting counsels are very far insufficient. + +Howbeit, though they be far unable to cure our disease of +themselves and therefore are not sufficient to be taken for our +physicians, some good drugs have they yet in their shops. They may +therefore be suffered to dwell among our apothecaries, if their +medicines be made not of their own brains but after the bills made +by the great physician God, prescribing the medicines himself and +correcting the faults of their erroneous recipes. For unless we +take this way with them, they shall not fail to do as many bold +blind apothecaries do who, either for lucre or out of a foolish +pride, give sick folk medicines of their own devising. For +therewith do they kill up in corners many such simple folk as they +find so foolish as to put their lives in the hands of such ignorant +and unlearned Blind Bayards. + +We shall therefore neither fully receive these philosophers' +reasons in this matter, nor yet utterly refuse them. But, using +them in such order as may beseem them, we shall fetch the principal +and effectual medicines against these diseases of tribulation from +that high, great, and excellent physician without whom we could +never be healed of our very deadly disease of damnation. For our +necessity in that regard, the Spirit of God spiritually speaketh of +himself to us, and biddeth us give him the honour of all our +health. And therein he thus saith unto us: "Honour thou the +physician, for him hath the high God ordained for thy necessity." +Therefore let us pray that high physician, our blessed Saviour +Christ, whose holy manhood God ordained for our necessity, to cure +our deadly wounds with the medicine made of the most wholesome +blood of his own blessed body. And let us pray that, as he cured +our mortal malady by this incomparable medicine, it may please him +to send us and put in our minds at this time such medicines as may +so comfort and strengthen us in his grace against the sickness and +sorrows of tribulation, that our deadly enemy the devil may never +have the power, by his poisoned dart of murmur, grudge, and +impatience, to turn our short sickness of worldly tribulation into +the endless everlasting death of infernal damnation. + + +II + +Since all our principal comfort must come from God, we must first +presuppose, in him to whom we shall give any effectual comfort with +any ghostly counsel, one ground to begin with, on which all that we +shall build may be supported and stand; that is, the ground and +foundation of faith. Without this, had ready before, all the +spiritual comfort that anyone may speak of can never avail a fly. + +For just as it would be utterly vain to lay natural reasons of +comfort to him who hath no wit, so would it undoubtedly be +frustrate to lay spiritual causes of comfort to him who hath no +faith. For unless a man first believe that holy scripture is the +word of God, and that the word of God is true, how can he take any +comfort in that which the scripture telleth him? A man must needs +take little fruit of scripture, if he either believe not that it be +the word of God, or else think that, though it were, it might yet +for all that be untrue! As this faith is more strong or more faint, +so shall the comforting words of holy scripture stand the man in +more stead or less. + +This virtue of faith can no man give himself, nor yet any man to +another. But though men may with preaching be ministers unto God +therein; and though a man can, with his own free will, obeying +freely the inward inspiration of God, be a weak worker with +almighty God therein; yet is the faith indeed the gracious gift of +God himself. For, as St. James saith, "Every good gift and every +perfect gift is given from above, descending from the Father of +lights." Therefore, feeling our faith by many tokens very faint, +let us pray to him who giveth it to us, that it may please him to +help and increase it. And let us first say with him in the gospel, +"I believe, good Lord, but help thou the lack of my belief." And +afterwards, let us pray with the apostles, "Lord, increase our +faith." And finally, let us consider, by Christ's saying unto them, +that, if we would not suffer the strength and fervour of our faith +to wax lukewarm--or rather key-cold--and lose its vigour by +scattering our minds abroad about so many trifling things that we +very seldom think of the matters of our faith, we should withdraw +our thought from the respect and regard of all worldly fantasies, +and so gather our faith together into a little narrow room. And +like the little grain of mustard seed, which is by nature hot, we +should set it in the garden of our soul, all weeds being pulled out +for the better feeding of our faith. Then shall it grow, and so +spread up in height that the birds--that is, the holy angels of +heaven--shall breed in our soul, and bring forth virtues in the +branches of our faith. And then, with the faithful trust that +through the true belief of God's word we shall put in his promise, +we shall be well able to command a great mountain of tribulation to +void from the place where it stood in our heart, whereas with a +very feeble faith and faint, we shall be scantly able to remove a +little hillock. + +And therefore, as for the first conclusion, since we must of +necessity before any spiritual comfort presuppose the foundation of +faith, and since no man can give us faith but only God, let us +never cease to call upon God for it. + +VINCENT: Forsooth, good uncle, methinks that this foundation of +faith which, as you say, must be laid first, is so necessarily +requisite, that without it all spiritual comfort would be given +utterly in vain. And therefore now shall we pray God for a full and +fast faith. And I pray you, good uncle, proceed you farther in the +process of your matter of spiritual comfort against tribulation. + +ANTHONY: That shall I, cousin, with good will. + + +III + +I will in my poor mind assign, for the first comfort, the desire +and longing to be comforted by God. And not without some reason +call I this the first cause of comfort. For, as the cure of that +person is in a manner desperate, who hath no will to be cured, so +is the comfort of that person desperate, who desireth not his own +comfort. + +And here shall I note you two kinds of folk who are in tribulation +and heaviness: one sort that will not seek for comfort, and another +sort that will. + +And again, of those that will not, there are also two sorts. For +the first there are the sort who are so drowned in sorrow that they +fall into a careless deadly dullness, regarding nothing, thinking +almost of nothing, no more than if they lay in a lethargy. With +them it may so befall that wit and remembrance will wear away and +fall even fair from them. And this comfortless kind of heaviness in +tribulation is the highest kind of the deadly sin of sloth. + +Another sort there are, who will seek for no comfort, nor yet +receive none, but in their tribulation (be it loss or sickness) are +so testy, so fuming, and so far out of all patience that it +profiteth no man to speak to them. And these are as furious with +impatience as though they were in half a frenzy. And, from a custom +of such behaviour, they may fall into one full and whole. And this +kind of heaviness in tribulation is even a dangerous high branch of +the mortal sin of ire. + +Then is there, as I told you, another kind of folk, who fain would +be comforted. And yet are they of two sorts too. One sort are those +who in their sorrow seek for worldly comfort. And of them shall we +now speak the less, for the divers occasions that we shall +afterwards have to touch upon them in more places than one. But +here will I say this, which I learned of St. Bernard: He who in +tribulation turneth himself unto worldly vanities, to get help and +comfort from them, fareth like a man who in peril of drowning +catcheth whatsoever cometh next to hand, and that holdeth he fast, +be it never so simple a stick. But then that helpeth him not, for +he draweth that stick down under the water with him, and there they +lie both drowned together. So surely, if we accustom ourselves to +put our trust of comfort in the delight of these childish worldly +things, God shall for that foul fault suffer our tribulation to +grow so great that all the pleasures of this world shall never bear +us up, but all our childish pleasure shall drown with us in the +depth of tribulation. + +The other sort is, I say, of those who long and desire to be +comforted by God. And as I told you before, they undoubtedly have a +great cause of comfort even in that point alone, that they consider +themselves to desire and long to be comforted by almighty God. This +mind of theirs may well be cause of great comfort to them, for two +great considerations. + +One is that they see themselves seek for their comfort where they +cannot fail to find it. For God both can give them comfort, and +will. He can, for he is all-mighty; he will, for he is all-good, +and hath himself promised, "Ask and you shall have." He who hath +faith--as he must needs have who shall take comfort--cannot doubt +but what God will surely keep his promise. And therefore hath he a +great cause to be of good comfort, as I say, in that he considereth +that he longeth to be comforted by him who, his faith maketh him +sure, will not fail to comfort him. + +But here consider this: I speak here of him who in tribulation +longeth to be comforted by God, and who referreth the manner of his +comforting to God. Such a man holdeth himself content, whether God +comfort him by taking away or diminishing the tribulation itself, +or by giving him patience and spiritual consolation therein. For if +he long only to have God take his trouble from him, we cannot so +well warrant that mind for a cause of so great comfort. For a man +may desire that who never mindeth to be the better, and also may he +miss the effect of his desire, because his request is haply not +good for him. And of this kind of longing and requiring, we shall +have occasion hereafter to speak further. But he who, referring the +manner of his comforting to God, desireth of God to be comforted, +asketh a thing so lawful and so pleasing to God that he cannot fail +to fare well. And therefore hath he, as I say, great cause to take +comfort in the very desire itself. + +Another cause hath he to take of that desire a very great occasion +of comfort. For since his desire is good, and declareth to him that +he hath a good faith in God, it is a good token unto him that he is +not an abject, cast out of God's gracious favour, since he +perceiveth that God hath put such a virtuous, well-ordered appetite +in his mind. For as every evil mind cometh of the world and +ourselves and the devil, so is every such good mind inspired into +man's heart, either immediately or by the mean of our good angel or +other gracious occasion, by the goodness of God himself. And what a +comfort then may this be to us, when we by that desire perceive a +sure undoubted token that towards our final salvation our Saviour +is himself so graciously busy about us! + + +IV + +VINCENT: Forsooth, good uncle, this good mind of longing for God's +comfort is a good cause of great comfort indeed--our Lord in +tribulation send it to us! But by this I see well, that woe may +they be who in tribulation lack that mind and who desire not to be +comforted by God, but either are of sloth or impatience +discomfortless, or else of folly seek for their chief ease and +comfort anywhere else. + +ANTHONY: That is, good cousin, very true, as long as they stand in +that state. But then you must consider that tribulation is a means +to drive them from that state, and that is one of the causes for +which God sendeth it unto man. For albeit that pain was ordained by +God for the punishment of sins (so that they who never do now but +sin cannot but be ever punished in hell) yet in this world, in +which his high mercy giveth men space to be better, the punishment +that he sendeth by tribulation serveth ordinarily for a means of +amendment. + +St. Paul himself was sorely against Christ, till Christ gave him a +great fall and threw him to the ground, and struck him stark blind. +And with that tribulation he turned to him at the first word, and +God was his physician and healed him soon after both in body and in +soul by his minister Ananias and made him his blessed apostle. Some +are in the beginning of tribulation very stubborn and stiff against +God, and yet at length tribulation bringeth them home. The proud +king Pharaoh did abide and endure two or three of the first +plagues, and would not once stoop at them. But then God laid on a +sorer lash that made him cry to him for help. And then sent he for +Moses and Aaron and confessed himself for a sinner and God for good +and righteous. And he prayed them to pray for him and to withdraw +that plague, and he would let them go. But when his tribulation was +withdrawn, then was he wicked again. So was his tribulation +occasion of his profit, and his help in turn was cause of his harm. +For his tribulation made him call to God, and his help made hard +his heart again. Many a man who in an easy tribulation falleth to +seek his ease in the pastime of worldly fantasies, in a greater +pain findeth all those comforts so feeble that he is fain to fall +to the seeking of God's help. + +And therefore is, I say, the very tribulation itself many times a +means to bring the man to the taking of the aforementioned comfort +therein--that is, to the desire of comfort given by God. For this +desire of God's comfort is, as I have proved you, great cause of +comfort itself. + + +V + +Howbeit, though the tribulation itself be a means oftentimes to get +a man this first comfort in it, yet sometimes itself alone bringeth +not a man to it. And therefore, since unless this comfort be had +first, there can in tribulation no other good comfort come forth, +we must consider the means by which this first comfort may come. + +Meseemeth that if the man of sloth or impatience or hope of worldly +comfort have no mind to desire and seek for comfort of God, those +who are his friends, who come to visit and comfort him, must before +everything put that point in his mind, and not spend the time (as +they commonly do) in trifling and in turning him to the fantasies +of the world. They must also move him to pray God to put this +desire in his mind. For when he once getteth it, he then hath the +first comfort--and, without doubt, if it be well considered, a +comfort marvellously great. His friends who thus counsel him must +also, to the attaining thereof, help to pray for him themselves, +and cause him to desire good folk to help him to pray for it. And +then, if these ways be taken to get it, I doubt not but the +goodness of God shall give it. + + +VI + +VINCENT: Verily methinketh, good uncle, that this counsel is very +good. For unless a person have first a desire to be comforted by +God, I cannot see what it can avail to give him any further counsel +of any spiritual comfort. + +Howbeit, what if the man have this desire of God's comfort: that +is, that it may please God to comfort him in his tribulation by +taking that tribulation from him--is not this a good desire of +God's comfort, and a desire sufficient for him who is in +tribulation? + +ANTHONY: No, cousin, that it is not. I touched before upon this +point and passed it over, because I thought it would fall in our +way again, and so know I well that it will, oftener than once. And +now am I glad that you yourself move it to me here. + +A man may many times, well and without sin, desire of God that the +tribulation be taken from him. But neither may we desire that in +every case, nor yet very well in any case (except very few) save +under a certain condition, either expressed or implied. For +tribulations are, as you know well, of many sundry kinds. Some are +by loss of goods or possessions, some by the sickness of ourselves, +and some by the loss of friends or by some other pain put unto our +bodies. Some are by the dread of losing these things that we fain +would save, under which fear fall all the same things that we have +spoken of before. For we may fear loss of goods or possessions, or +the loss of our friends, or their grief and trouble or our own by +sickness, imprisonment, or other bodily pain. We may be troubled +most of all with the fear of that thing which he feareth least of +all who hath most need to do so--that is, the fear of losing +through deadly sin the life of his blessed soul. And this last kind +of tribulation, as the sorest tribulation of all, though we may +touch some pieces of it here and there before, yet the chief part +and the principal pain will I reserve to treat apart effectually at +the end. + +But now, as I said, since the kinds of tribulation are so diverse, +a man may pray God to take some of these tribulations from him, and +may take some comfort in the trust that God will do so. And +therefore against hunger, sickness, and bodily hurt, and against +the loss of either body or soul, men may lawfully many times pray +to the goodness of God, either for themselves or for their friends. +And toward this purpose are expressly prayed many devout orisons in +the common services of our mother Holy Church. And toward our help +in some of these things serve some of the petitions in the Pater +Noster, in which we pray daily for our daily food, and to be +preserved from the fall into temptation, and to be delivered from +evil. + +But yet may we not always pray for the taking away from us of every +kind of temptation. For if a man should in every sickness pray for +his health again, when should he show himself content to die and to +depart unto God? And that mind must a man have, you know, or else +it will not be well with him. It is a tribulation to good men to +feel in themselves the conflict of the flesh against the soul and +the rebellion of sensuality against the rule and governance of +reason--the relics that remain in mankind of old original sin, of +which St. Paul so sore complaineth in his epistle to the Romans. +And yet may we not pray, while we stand in this life, to have this +kind of tribulation utterly taken from us. For it is left us by +God's ordinance to strive against it and fight with it, and by +reason and grace to master it and use it for the matter of our +merit. + +For the salvation of our soul may we boldly pray. For grace may we +boldly pray, for faith, for hope, and for charity, and for every +such virtue as shall serve us toward heaven. But as for all the +other things before mentioned (in which is contained the matter of +every kind of tribulation), we may never well make prayers so +precisely but that we must express or imply a condition +therein--that is, that if God see the contrary better for us, we +refer it wholly to his will. And if that be so, we pray that God, +instead of taking away our grief, may send us of his goodness +either spiritual comfort to take it gladly or at least strength to +bear it patiently. + +For if we determine with ourselves that we will take no comfort in +anything but the taking of our tribulation from us, then either we +prescribe to God that he shall do us no better turn, even though he +would, than we will ourselves appoint him; or else we declare that +we ourselves can tell better than he what is better for us. And +therefore, I say, let us in tribulation desire his help and +comfort, and let us remit the manner of that comfort unto his own +high pleasure. When we do this, let us nothing doubt but that, as +his high wisdom better seeth what is best for us than we can see it +ourselves, so shall his sovereign high goodness give us that thing +that shall indeed be best. + +For otherwise, if we presume to stand to our own choice--unless God +offer us the choice himself, as he did to David in the choice of +his own punishment, after his high pride conceived in the numbering +of the people--we may foolishly choose the worst. And by +prescribing unto God ourselves so precisely what we will that he +shall do for us, unless of his gracious favour he reject our folly, +he shall for indignation grant us our own request, and afterward +shall we well find that it shall turn us to harm. + +How many men attain health of body for whom it would be better, for +their soul's health, that their bodies were sick still? How many +get out of prison who happen outside on such harm as the prison +would have kept them from? How many who have been loth to lose +their worldly goods have, in keeping of their goods, soon afterward +lost their life? So blind is our mortality and so unaware what will +befall--so unsure also what manner of mind we ourselves will have +tomorrow--that God could not lightly do a man more vengeance than +to grant him in this world his own foolish wishes. + +What wit have we poor fools to know what will serve us? For the +blessed apostle himself in his sore tribulation, praying thrice +unto God to take it away from him, was answered again by God (in a +manner) that he was but a fool in asking that request, but that the +help of God's grace in that tribulation to strengthen him was far +better for him than to take that tribulation from him. And +therefore, perceiving well by experience the truth of the lesson, +he giveth us good warning not to be too bold of our minds, when we +require aught of God, at his own pleasure. For his own Holy Spirit +so sore desireth our welfare that, as men say, he groaneth for us, +in such wise as no tongue can tell. "What we may pray for, that +would be behovable for us, we cannot ourselves tell," saith St. +Paul, "but the Spirit himself desireth for us with unspeakable +groanings." + +And therefore I say, for conclusion of this point, let us never ask +of God precisely our own ease by delivery from our tribulation, but +pray for his aid and comfort by such ways as he himself shall best +like, and then may we take comfort even of our such request. For we +may be sure that this mind cometh of God. And also we may be very +sure that as he beginneth to work with us, so--unless we ourselves +fly from him--he will not fail to tarry with us. And then, if he +dwell with us, what trouble can do us harm? "If God be with us," +saith St. Paul, "who can stand against us?" + + +VII + +VINCENT: You have, good uncle, well opened and declared the +question that I demanded you--that is, what manner of comfort a man +might pray for in tribulation. And now proceed forth, good uncle, +and show us yet farther some other spiritual comfort in tribulation. + +ANTHONY: This may be, methinketh, good cousin, great comfort in +tribulation: that every tribulation which any time falleth unto us +is either sent to be medicinable, if men will so take it; or may +become medicinable, if men will so make it; or is better than +medicinable, unless we will forsake it. + +VINCENT: Surely this is very comforting--if we can well perceive +it! + +ANTHONY: There three things that I tell you, we shall consider +thus: Every tribulation that we fall in, either cometh by our own +known deserving deed bringing us to it, as the sickness that +followeth our intemperate surfeit or the imprisonment or other +punishment put upon a man for his heinous crime; or else it is sent +us by God without any certain deserving cause open and known to +ourselves, either for punishment of some sins past (we know not +certainly which) or for preserving us from sin in which we would +otherwise be like to fall; or finally it is not due to the man's +sin at all but is for the proof of his patience and increase of his +merit. In all the former cases tribulation is, if we will, +medicinable. In this last case of all, it is better than +medicinable. + + +VIII + +VINCENT: This seemeth to me very good, good uncle, save that it +seemeth somewhat brief and short, and thereby methinketh somewhat +obscure and dark. + +ANTHONY: We shall therefore, to give it light withal, touch upon +every member of it somewhat more at large. + +One member is, as you know, of them that fall in tribulation +through their own certain well-deserving deed, open and known to +themselves, as when we fall in a sickness following upon our own +gluttonous feasting, or when a man is punished for his own open +fault. These tribulations, and others like them, may seem not to be +comfortable, in that a man may be sorry to think himself the cause +of his own harm. Yet hath he good cause of comfort in them, if he +consider that he may make them medicinable for himself if he will. +For whereas there was due to that sin, unless it were purged here, +a far greater punishment after this world in another place, this +worldly tribulation of pain and punishment, by God's good provision +for him put upon him here in this world before, shall by the mean +of Christ's passion, if the man will in true faith and good hope by +meek and patience sufferance of his tribulation so make it, serve +him for a sure medicine to cure him. And it shall clearly discharge +him of all the sickness and disease of those pains that he should +otherwise suffer afterward. For such is the great goodness of +almighty God that he punisheth not the same thing twice. + +And albeit that this punishment is put unto the man, not of his own +election and free choice but by force, so that he would fain avoid +it and falleth in it against his will, and therefore it seemeth +worthy of no thanks; yet the great goodness of almighty God so far +surpasseth the poor imperfect goodness of man, that though men make +their reckoning here one with another such, God yet of his high +bounty in man's account alloweth it toward him far otherwise. For +though a man fall in his pain by his own fault, and also at first +against his will, yet as soon as he confesseth his fault and +applieth his will to be content to suffer that pain and punishment +for the same, and waxeth sorry not only that he shall sustain such +punishment but also that he hath offended God and thereby deserved +much more, our Lord from that time counteth it not for pain taken +against his will. But it shall be a marvellous good medicine, and +work as a willingly taken pain the purgation and cleansing of his +soul with gracious remission of his sin, and of the far greater +pain that otherwise would have been prepared for it, peradventure +forever in hell. For many there are undoubtedly who would otherwise +drive forth and die in their deadly sin, who yet in such +tribulation, feeling their own frailty so effectually and the false +flattering world failing them, turn full goodly to God and call for +mercy. And so by grace they make virtue of necessity, and make a +medicine of their malady, taking their trouble meekly, and make a +right godly end. + +Consider well the story of Acham, who committed sacrilege at the +great city of Jericho. Thereupon God took a great vengeance upon +the children of Israel, and afterward told them the cause and bade +them go seek the fault and try it out by lots. When the lot fell +upon the very man who did it--being tried by the lot falling first +upon his tribe and then upon his family and then upon his house and +finally upon his person--he could well see that he was deprehended +and taken against his will. But yet at the good exhortation of +Josue saying unto him, "Mine own son, give glory to the God of +Israel, and confess and show me what thou hast done, and hide it +not," he confessed humbly the theft and meekly took his death for +it. And he had, I doubt not, both strength and comfort in his pain, +and died a very good man. Yet, if he had never come in tribulation, +he would have been in peril never haply to have had just remorse in +all his whole life, but might have died wretchedly and gone to the +devil eternally. And thus made this thief a good medicine of his +well-deserved pain and tribulation. + +Consider well the converted thief who hung on Christ's right hand. +Did not he, by his meek sufference and humble knowledge of his +fault, asking forgiveness of God and yet content to suffer for his +sin, make of his just punishment and well-deserved tribulation a +very good special medicine to cure him of all pain in the other +world, and win him eternal salvation? + +And thus I say that this kind of tribulation, though it seem the +most base and the least comfortable, is yet, if the man will so +make it, a very marvellous wholesome medicine. And it may therefore +be, to the man who will so consider it, a great cause of comfort +and spiritual consolation. + + +IX + +VINCENT: Verily, mine uncle, this first kind of tribulation have +you to my mind opened sufficiently. And therefore, I pray you, +resort now to the second. + +ANTHONY: The second kind, you know, was of such tribulation as is +so sent us by God that we know no certain cause deserving that +present trouble, as we certainly know that upon such-and-such a +surfeit we fell in such-and-such a sickness, or as the thief +knoweth that for a certain theft he is fallen into a certain +punishment. But yet, since we seldom lack faults against God worthy +and well-deserving of great punishment, indeed we may well +think--and wisdom it is to do so--that with sin we have deserved it +and that God for some sin sendeth it, though we know not certainly +for which. And therefore thus far is this kind of tribulation +somewhat in effect to be taken alike unto the other. For you see, +if we thus will take it, reckoning it to be sent for sin and +suffering it meekly therefor, it is medicinable against the pain of +the other world to come for our past sins in this world, And this +is, as I have showed you, a cause of right great comfort. + +But yet may then this kind of tribulation be, to some men of more +sober living and thereby of more clear conscience, somewhat a +little more comfortable. They may none otherwise reckon themselves +than sinners, for, as St. Paul saith, "My conscience grudgeth me +not of anything, but yet am I not thereby justified," and, as St. +John saith, "If we say that we have no sin in us, we beguile +ourselves and truth is there not in us." Yet, forasmuch as +the cause is to them not so certain as it is to the others +afore-mentioned in the first kind, and forasmuch as it is also +certain that God sometimes sendeth tribulation to keep and preserve +a man from such sin as he would otherwise fall in (and sometimes +also for exercise of their patience and increase of merit), great +cause of increase in comfort have those folk of the clearer +conscience in the fervour of their tribulation. For they may take +the comfort of a double medicine, and also of that thing that is of +the kind that we shall finally speak of, that I call "better than +medicinable." + +But as I have before spoken of this kind of tribulation--how it is +medicinable in that it cureth the sin past and purchaseth remission +of the pain due for it--so let us somewhat consider how this +tribulation sent us by God is medicinable in that it preserveth us +from the sins into which we would otherwise be like to fall. If +that thing be a good medicine that restoreth us our health when we +lose it, as good a medicine must this one be that preserveth our +health while we have it, and suffereth us not to fall into that +painful sickness that must afterward drive us to a painful remedy! +Now God seeth sometimes that worldly wealth is coming so fast upon +someone (who nevertheless is good) that, foreseeing how much weight +of worldly wealth the man may bear and how much will overcharge him +and enhance his heart up so high that grace should fall from him, +God of his goodness, I say, doth anticipate his fall, and sendeth +him tribulation betimes while he is yet good. And this he doth to +make him know his maker and, by less liking the false flattering +world, to set a cross upon the ship of his heart and bear a low +sail thereon, so that the boisterous blast of pride blow him not +under the water. + +Some lovely young lady, lo, who is yet good enough--God seeth a +storm come toward her that would, if her health and fat feeding +should last a little longer, strike her into some lecherous love +and, instead of her old-acquainted knight, lay her abed with a +new-acquainted knave. But God, loving her more tenderly than to +suffer her to fall into such shameful beastly sin, sendeth her in +season a goodly fair fervent fever, that maketh her bones to rattle +and wasteth away her wanton flesh. And it beautifieth her fair skin +with the colour of a kite's claw, and maketh her look so lovely +that her love would have little pleasure to look upon her. And it +maketh her also so lusty that if her lover lay in her lap she +should so sore long to throw up unto him the very bottom of her +stomach that she should not be able to restrain it from him, but +suddenly lay it all in his neck! + +Did not, as I before told you, the blessed apostle himself confess +that the high revelations that God had given him might have +enhanced him into so high a pride that he might have caught a foul +fall, had not the provident goodness of God provided for his +remedy? And what was his remedy but a painful tribulation, so sore +that he was fain thrice to call to God to take the tribulation from +him. And yet would not God grant his request, but let him lie +therein till he himself, who saw more in St. Paul than St. Paul saw +in himself, knew well the time was come in which he might well +without his harm take it from him. + +And thus you see, good cousin, that tribulation is double +medicine--both a cure of the sin past, and a preservative from the +sin that is to come. And therefore in this kind of tribulation is +there good occasion for a double comfort; but that is, I say, +diversely to sundry diverse folk, as their own conscience is +cumbered with sin or clear. Howbeit, I will advise no man to be so +bold as to think that his tribulation is sent him to keep him from +the pride of his holiness! Let men leave that kind of comfort +hardly to St. Paul, till their living be like his. But of the rest +men may well take great comfort and good besides. + + +X + +VINCENT: The third kind of tribulation, uncle, remaineth now--that +is, that which is sent a man by God, and not for his sin either +committed or which otherwise would come, and therefore is not +medicinable, but is sent for exercise of our patience and increase +of our merit, and therefore better than medicinable. Though it be, +as you say (and as indeed it is) better for the man than any of the +other two kinds in another world, where the reward shall be +received, yet I cannot see by what reason a man can in this world, +where the tribulation is suffered, take any more comfort in it than +in any of the other twain that are sent him for his sin. For he +cannot here know whether it be sent him for sin before committed, +or for sin that otherwise should befall, or for increase of merit +and reward after to come. For every man hath cause enough to fear +and think that his sin already past hath deserved it, and that it +is not without peril for a man to think otherwise. + +ANTHONY: This that you say, cousin, hath place of truth in far the +most part of men. And therefore must they not envy nor disdain, +since they may take in their tribulation sufficient consolation for +their part, that some other who is more worthy may take yet a great +deal more. For, as I told you, cousin, though the best must confess +himself a sinner, yet there are many men--though to the multitude, +few--who for the kind of their living and the clearness of their +conscience may well and without sin have a good hope that God +sendeth them some great grief for the exercise of their patience +and for increase of their merit. This appeareth not only by St. +Paul, in the place before remembered, but also by the holy man Job, +who in sundry places of his disputations with his burdensome +comforters forbore not to say that the clearness of his own +conscience declared and showed to himself that he deserved not that +sore tribulation that he then had. Howbeit, as I told you before, I +will not advise every man at adventure to be bold upon this manner +of comfort. But yet know I some men such that I would dare, for +their more ease and comfort in their great and grievous pains, to +put them in right good hope that God sendeth it unto them not so +much for their punishment as for exercise of their patience. + +And some tribulations are there, also, that grow upon such causes +that in those cases I would never forbear but always would, without +any doubt, give that counsel and comfort to any man. + +VINCENT: What causes, good uncle, are those? + +ANTHONY: Marry, cousin, wheresoever a man falleth in tribulation +for the maintenance of justice or for the defence of God's cause. +For if I should happen to find a man who had long lived a very +virtuous life, and had at last happened to fall into the Turks' +hands; and if he there did abide by the truth of his faith and, +with the suffering of all kinds of torments taken upon his body, +still did teach and testify the truth; and if I should in his +passion give him spiritual comfort--might I be bold to tell him no +further but that he should take patience in his pain, and that God +sendeth it to him for his sin, and that he is well worthy to have +it, though it were yet much more? He might then well answer me, and +other such comforters, as Job answered his: "Burdensome and heavy +comforters be you." Nay, I would not fail to bid him boldly, while +I should see him in his passion, to cast sin and hell and purgatory +and all upon the devil's pate, and doubt not but--as, if he gave +over his hold, all his merit would be lost and he would be turned +to misery--so if he stand and persevere still in the confession of +his faith, all his whole pain shall turn all into glory. + +Yea, more shall I yet say than this. If there were a Christian man +who had among those infidels committed a very deadly crime, such as +would be worthy of death, not only by their laws but by Christ's +too (as manslaughter, or adultery, or other such thing); and if +when he were taken he were offered pardon of his life upon +condition that he should forsake the faith of Christ; and if this +man would now rather suffer death than so do--should I comfort him +in his pain only as I would a malefactor? Nay, this man, though he +would have died for his sin, dieth now for Christ's sake, since he +might live still if he would forsake him. The bare patient taking +of his death would have served for the satisfaction of his +sin--through the merit of Christ's passion, I mean, without help of +which no pain of our own could be satisfactory. But now shall +Christ, for his forsaking of his own life in the honour of his +faith, forgive the pain of all his sins, of his mere liberality, +and accept all the pain of his death for merit of reward in heaven, +and shall assign no part of it to the payment of his debt in +purgatory, but shall take it all as an offering and requite it all +with glory. And this man among Christian men, although he had been +before a devil, nothing would I doubt afterward to take him for a +martyr. + +VINCENT: Verily, good uncle, methinketh this is said marvellous +well. And it specially delighteth and comforteth me to hear it, +because of our principal fear that I first spoke of, the Turk's +cruel incursion into this country of ours. + +ANTHONY: Cousin, as for the matter of that fear, I purpose to +touch it last of all. Nor meant I here to speak of it, had it not +been that the vehemency of your objection brought it in my way. But +otherwise I would rather have put instead some example of those who +suffer tribulation for maintenance of right and justice, and choose +rather to take harm than to do wrong in any manner of matter. For +surely if a man may--as indeed he may--have great comfort in the +clearness of his conscience, who hath a false crime put upon him +and by false witness proved upon him, and who is falsely punished +and put to worldly shame and pain for it; a hundred times more +comfort may he have in his heart who, where white is called black +and right is called wrong, abideth by the truth and is persecuted +for justice. + +VINCENT: Then if a man sue me wrongfully for my own land, in which +I myself have good right, it is a comfort yet to defend it well, +since God shall give me thanks for it? + +ANTHONY: Nay nay, cousin, nay, there walk you somewhat wide. For +there you defend your own right for your temporal avail. But St. +Paul counseleth, "Defend not yourselves, my more dear friends," and +our Saviour counseleth, "If a man will strive with thee at the law +and take away thy coat, leave him thy gown too." The defence +therefore of our own right asketh no reward. Say you speed well, if +you get leave; look hardly for no thanks! + +But on the other hand, if you do as St. Paul biddeth, "Seek not for +your own profit but for other folk's" and defend therefore of pity +a poor widow or a poor fatherless child, and rather suffer sorrow +by some strong extortioner than suffer them to take wrong; or if +you be a judge and have such zeal to justice that you will abide +tribulation by the malice of some mighty man rather than judge +wrong for his favour--such tribulations, lo, are those that are +better than only medicinable. And every man upon whom they fall may +be bold so to reckon them, and in his deep trouble may well say to +himself the words that Christ hath taught him for his comfort, +"Blessed be the merciful men, for they shall have mercy given them. +Blessed be they that suffer persecution for justice, for theirs is +the kingdom of heaven." + +Here is a high comfort, lo, for those that are in this case. And +their own conscience can show it to them, and can fill their hearts +so full with spiritual joy that the pleasure may far surmount the +heaviness and grief of all their temporal trouble. But God's nearer +cause of faith against the Turks hath yet a far surpassing comfort +that by many degrees far excelleth this. And that, as I have said, +I purpose to treat last. And for this time this sufficeth +concerning the special comfort that men may take in this third kind +of tribulation. + + +XI + +VINCENT: Of truth, good uncle, albeit that every one of these +kinds of tribulations have cause of comfort in them, as you have +well declared, if men will so consider them, yet hath this third +kind above all a special prerogative therein. + +ANTHONY: That is undoubtedly true. But yet even the most base kind +of them all, good cousin, hath more causes of comfort than I have +spoken of yet. + +For I have, you know, in that kind that is sent us for our sin, +spoken of no other comfort yet but twain: one that it refraineth us +from sin that otherwise we would fall in; and one that it serveth +us, through the merit of Christ's passion, as a means by which God +keepeth us from hell and serveth for the satisfaction of such pain +as we should otherwise endure in purgatory. Howbeit, there is +therein another great cause of joy besides this. For surely those +pains here sent us for our sin, in whatsoever wise they happen to +us (be our sin never so sore nor never so open and evident unto +ourselves and all the world too), yet if we pray for grace to take +them meekly and patiently; and if, confessing to God that it is far +too little for our fault, we beseech him nevertheless, since we +shall come hence so void of all good works for which we should have +any reward in heaven, to be not only so merciful to us as to take +our present tribulation in relief of our pains in purgatory, but +also so gracious unto us as to take our patience therein for a +matter of merit and reward in heaven; I verily trust--and nothing +doubt it--that God shall of his high bounty grant us our boon. + +For as in hell pain serveth only for punishment without any manner +of purging, because all possibility of purging is past; and as in +purgatory punishment serveth only for purging, because the place of +deserving is past; so while we are yet in this world in which is +our place and our time of merit and well-deserving, the tribulation +that is sent us for our sin here shall, if we faithfully so desire, +beside the cleansing and purging of our pain, serve us also for +increase of reward. And so shall, I suppose and trust in God's +goodness, all such penance and good works as a man willingly +performeth, enjoined by his ghostly father in confession, or which +he willingly further doth of his own devotion beside. For though +man's penance, with all the good works that he can do, be not able +to satisfy of themselves for the least sin that we do, yet the +liberal goodness of God, through the merit of Christ's bitter +passion--without which all our works could never satisfy so much as +a spoonful to a great vesselful in comparison with the merit and +satisfaction that Christ has merited and satisfied for us +himself--this liberal goodness of God, I say, shall yet at our +faithful instance and request cause our penance and tribulation +patiently taken in this world to serve us in the other world both +for release and reward, tempered after such rate as his high +goodness and wisdom shall see best for us, whereof our blind +mortality cannot here imagine nor devise the stint. + +And thus hath yet even the first and most base kind of tribulation, +though not fully so great as the second and very far less than the +third, far greater cause of comfort yet than I spoke of before. + + +XII + +VINCENT: Verily, good uncle, this pleaseth me very well. But yet +are there, you know, some of these things now brought in question. +For as for any pain due for our sin, to be diminished in purgatory +by the patient sufferance of tribulation here, there are, you know, +many who utterly deny that, and affirm for a sure truth that there +is no purgatory at all. And then, if they say true, is the cause of +the comfort gone, if the comfort that we should take be but in vain +and needless. + +They say, you know, also that men merit nothing at all, but God +giveth all for faith alone, and that it would be sin and sacrilege +to look for reward in heaven either for our patience and glad +suffering for God's sake, or for any other good deed. And then is +there gone, if this be thus, the other cause of our further comfort +too. + +ANTHONY: Cousin, if some things were as they be not, then should +some things be as they shall not! I cannot indeed deny that some +men have of late brought up some such opinions, and many more than +these besides, and have spread them abroad. And it is a right heavy +thing to see such variousness in our belief rise and grow among +ourselves, to the great encouragement of the common enemies of us +all, whereby they have our faith in derision and catch hope to +overwhelm us all. Yet do three things not a little comfort my mind. +The first is that, in some communications had of late together, +there hath appeared good likelihood of some good agreement to grow +together in one accord of our faith. The second is that in the +meanwhile, till this may come to pass, contentions, disputations, +and uncharitable behaviour are prohibited and forbidden in effect +upon all parties--all such parties, I mean, as fell before to fight +for it. The third is that in Germany, for all their diverse +opinions, yet as they agree together in profession of Christ's +name, so agree they now together in preparation of a common power, +in defence of Christendom against our common enemy the Turk. And I +trust in God that this shall not only help us here to strengthen us +in this war, but also that, as God hath caused them to agree +together in the defence of his name, so shall he graciously bring +them to agree together in the truth of his faith. Therefore will I +let God work, and leave off contention. And I shall now say nothing +but that with which they who are themselves of the contrary mind +shall in reason have no cause to be discontented. + +First, as for purgatory: Though they think there be none, yet since +they deny not that all the corps of Christendom for so many hundred +years have believed the contrary, and among them all the old +interpreters of scripture from the apostles' days down to our time, +many of whom they deny not for holy saints, these men must, of +their courtesy, hold my poor fear excused, that I dare not now +believe them against all those. And I beseech our Lord heartily for +them, that when they depart out of this wretched world, they find +no purgatory at all--provided God keep them from hell! + +As for the merit of man in his good works, neither are those who +deny it fully agreed among themselves, nor is there any man almost +of them all that, since they began to write, hath not somewhat +changed and varied from himself. And far the more part are thus far +agreed with us: Like as we grant them that no good work is worth +aught toward heaven without faith; and that no good work of man is +rewardable in heaven of its own nature, but through the mere +goodness of God, who is pleased to put so high a price upon so poor +a thing; and that this price God setteth through Christ's passion, +and also because they are his own works with us (for no man worketh +good works toward God unless God work with him); and as we grant +them also that no man may be proud of his works for his own +imperfect working, because in all that he may do he can do God no +good, but is an unprofitable servant, and doth but his bare +duty--as we, I say, grant them these things, so this one thing or +twain do they grant us in turn: That men are bound to work good +works if they have time and power, and that whosoever worketh in +true faith most, shall be most rewarded. But then they add to this +that all his reward shall be given him for his faith alone and +nothing for his works at all, because his faith is the thing, they +say, that forceth him to work well. I will not strive with them for +this matter now. But yet I trust to the great goodness of God, that +if the question hang on that narrow point, since Christ saith in +the scripture in so many places that men shall in heaven be +rewarded for their works, he shall never suffer our souls--who are +but mean-witted men and can understand his words only as he himself +hath set them and as old holy saints have construed them before and +as all Christian people this thousand year have believed--to be +damned for lack of perceiving such a sharp subtle thing. Especially +since some men who have right good wits, and are beside that right +well learned, too, can in no wise perceive for what cause or why +these folk who take away the reward from good works and give that +reward all whole to faith alone, give the reward to faith rather +than to charity. For this grant they themselves, that faith serveth +of nothing unless she be accompanied by her sister charity. And +then saith the scripture, too, "Of these three virtues, faith, +hope, and charity, of all these three, the greatest is charity." +And therefore it seemeth as worthy to have the thanks as faith. +Howbeit, as I said, I will not strive for it, nor indeed as our +matter standeth I shall not greatly need to do so. For if they say +that he who suffereth tribulation and martyrdom for the faith shall +have high reward, not for his work but for his well-working faith, +yet since they grant that have it he shall, the cause of high +comfort in the third kind of tribulation standeth. And that is, you +know, the effect of all my purpose. + +VINCENT: Verily, good uncle, this is truly driven and tried unto +the uttermost, it seemeth to me. And therefore I pray you proceed +at your leisure. + + +XIII + +ANTHONY: Cousin, it would be a long work to peruse every comfort +that a man may well take in tribulation. For as many comforts, you +know, may a man take thereof, as there be good commodities therein. +And of those there are surely so many that it would be very long to +rehearse and treat of them. But meseemeth we cannot lightly better +perceive what profit and commodity, and thereby what comfort, they +may take of it who have it, than if we well consider what harm the +lack of it is, and thereby what discomfort the lack should be to +them that never have it. + +So is it now that all holy men agree, and all the scripture is +full, and our own experience proveth before our eyes, that we are +not come into this wretched world to dwell here. We have not, as +St. Paul saith, our dwelling-city here, but we are seeking for the +city that is to come. And St. Paul telleth us that we do seek for +it, because he would put us in mind that we should seek for it, as +good folk who fain would come thither. For surely whosoever setteth +so little by it that he careth not to seek for it, it will I fear +be long ere he come to it, and marvellous great grace if ever he +come thither. "Run," saith St. Paul, "so that you may get it." If +it must then be gotten with running, when shall he come at it who +lifteth not one step toward it? + +Now, because this world is, as I tell you, not our eternal +dwelling, but our little-while wandering, God would that we should +use it as folk who were weary of it. And he would that we should in +this vale of labour, toil, tears, and misery not look for rest and +ease, game, pleasure, wealth, and felicity. For those who do so +fare like a foolish fellow who, going towards his own house where +he should be wealthy, would for a tapster's pleasure become a +hostler by the way, and die in a stable, and never come home. + +And would God that those that drown themselves in the desire of +this world's wretched wealth, were not yet more fools than he! But +alas, their folly as far surpasseth the foolishness of that silly +fellow as there is difference between the height of heaven and the +very depth of hell. For our Saviour saith, "Woe may you be that +laugh now, for you shall wail and weep." And "There is a time of +weeping," saith the scripture, "and there is a time of laughing." +But, as you see, he setteth the weeping time before, for that is +the time of this wretched world, and the laughing time shall come +after in heaven. There is also a time of sowing and a time of +reaping, too. Now must we in this world sow, that we may in the +other world reap. And in this short sowing time of this weeping +world, must we water our seed with the showers of our tears. And +then shall we have in heaven a merry laughing harvest forever. +"They went forth and sowed their seeds weeping," saith the prophet. +But what, saith he, shall follow thereof? "They shall come again +more than laughing, with great joy and exultation, with their +handfuls of corn in their hands." Lo, they that in their going home +towards heaven sow their seeds with weeping, shall at the day of +judgment come to their bodies again with everlasting plentiful +laughing. And to prove that this life is no laughing time, but +rather the time of weeping, we find that our Saviour himself wept +twice or thrice, but never find we that he laughed so much as once. +I will not swear that he never did, but at least he left us no +example of it. But on the other hand, he left us example of weeping. + +Of weeping have we matter enough, both for our own sins and for +other folk's, too. For surely so should we do--bewail their +wretched sins, and not be glad to detract them nor envy them +either. Alas, poor souls, what cause is there to envy them who are +ever wealthy in this world, and ever out of tribulation? Of them +Job saith, "They lead all their days in wealth, and in a moment of +an hour descend into their graves and are painfully buried in +hell." St. Paul saith unto the Hebrews that those whom God loveth +he chastiseth, "And he scourgeth every son of his that he +receiveth." St. Paul saith also, "By many tribulations must we go +into the kingdom of God." And no marvel, for our Saviour Christ +said of himself unto his two disciples that were going into the +village of Emaus, "Know you not that Christ must suffer and so go +into his kingdom?" And would we who are servants look for more +privilege in our master's house than our master himself? Would we +get into his kingdom with ease, when he himself got not into his +own but by pain? His kingdom hath he ordained for his disciples, +and he saith unto us all, "If any man will be my disciple, let him +learn of me to do as I have done, take his cross of tribulation +upon his back and follow me." He saith not here, lo, "Let him laugh +and make merry." Now if heaven serve but for Christ's disciples, +and if they be those who take their cross of tribulation, when +shall these folk come there who never have tribulation? And if it +be true, as St. Paul saith, that God chastiseth all them that he +loveth and scourgeth every child whom he receiveth, and that to +heaven shall not come but such as he loveth and receiveth, when +shall they come thither whom he never chastiseth, nor never doth +vouchsafe to defile his hands upon them or give them so much as one +lash? And if we cannot (as St. Paul saith we cannot) come to heaven +but by many tribulations, how shall they come thither who never +have none at all? Thus see we well, by the very scripture itself, +how true the words are of old holy saints, who with one voice (in a +manner) say all one thing--that is, that we shall not have +continual wealth both in this world and in the other too. And +therefore those who in this world without any tribulation enjoy +their long continual course of never-interrupted prosperity have a +great cause of fear and discomfort lest they be far fallen out of +God's favour, and stand deep in his indignation and displeasure. +For he never sendeth them tribulation, which he is ever wont to +send them whom he loveth. But they that are in tribulation, I say, +have on the other hand a great cause to take in their grief great +inward comfort and spiritual consolation. + + +XIV + +VINCENT: Verily, good uncle, this seemeth so indeed. Howbeit, yet +methinketh that you say very sore in some things concerning such +persons as are in continual prosperity. And they are, you know, not +a few; and they are also those who have the rule and authority of +this world in their hand. And I know well that when they talk with +such great learned men as can, I suppose, tell the truth; and when +they ask them whether, while they make merry here in earth all +their lives, they may not yet for all that have heaven afterwards +too; they do tell them "Yes, yes," well enough. For I have heard +them tell them so myself. + +ANTHONY: I suppose, good cousin, that no very wise man, and +especially none that is also very good, will tell any man fully of +that fashion. But surely such as so say to them, I fear me that +they flatter them thus either for lucre or for fear. + +Some of them think, peradventure, thus: "This man maketh much of me +now, and giveth me money also to fast and watch and pray for him. +But so, I fear me, would he do no more, if I should go tell him now +that all that I do for him will not serve him unless he go fast and +watch and pray for himself too. And if I should add thereto and say +further that I trust my diligent intercession for him may be the +means that God should the sooner give him grace to amend, and fast +and watch and pray and take affliction in his own body, for the +bettering of his sinful soul, he would be wonderous wroth with +that. For he would be loth to have any such grace at all as should +make him go leave off any of his mirth, and so sit and mourn for +his sin." Such mind as this, lo, have some of those who are not +unlearned, and have worldly wit at will, who tell great men such +tales as perilously beguile them. For the flatterer who so telleth +them would, if he told a true tale, jeopard to lose his lucre. + +Some are there also who tell them such tales for consideration of +another fear. For seeing the man so sore set on his pleasure that +they despair of any amendment of his, whatsoever they should say to +him; and then seeing also that the man doth no great harm, but of a +courteous nature doth some good men some good; they pray God +themselves to send him grace. And so they let him lie lame still in +his fleshly lusts, at the pool that the gospel speaketh of, beside +the temple, in which they washed the sheep for the sacrifice, and +they tarry to see the water stirred. And when his good angel, +coming from God, shall once begin to stir the water of his heart, +and move him to the lowly meekness of a simple sheep, then if +he call them to him they will tell him another tale, and help to +bear him and plunge him into the pool of penance over the hard +ears! But in the meanwhile, for fear lest if he would wax never the +better he would wax much the worse; and from gentle, smooth, sweet, +and courteous, might wax angry, rough, froward, and sour, and +thereupon be troublous and tedious to the world to make fair +weather with; they give him fair words for the while and put him in +good comfort, and let him for the rest take his own chance. + +And so deal they with him as the mother doth sometimes with her +child, when the little boy will not rise in time for her, but will +lie slug-abed, and when he is up weepeth because he has lain so +long, fearing to be beaten at school for his late coming thither. +She telleth him then that it is but early days, and he shall come +in time enough, and she biddeth him, "Go, good son. I warrant thee, +I have sent to thy master myself. Take thy bread and butter with +thee--thou shalt not be beaten at all!" And thus, if she can but +send him merry forth at the door, so that he weep not in her sight +at home, she careth not much if he be taken tardy and beaten when +he cometh to school. + +Surely thus, I fear me, fare many friars and state's chaplains too, +in giving comfort to great men when they are both loth to displease +them. I cannot commend their doing thus, but surely I fear me thus +they do. + + +XV + +VINCENT: But, good uncle, though some do thus, this answereth not +the full matter. For we see that the whole church in the common +service uses divers collects in which all men pray, specially for +the princes and prelates, and generally every man for others and +for himself too, that God would vouchsafe to send them all +perpetual health and prosperity. And I can see no good man praying +God to send another sorrow, nor are there such prayers put in the +priests' breviaries, as far as I can hear. And yet if it were as +you say, good uncle, that perpetual prosperity were so perilous to +the soul, and tribulation also so fruitful, then meseemeth every +man would be bound of charity not only to pray God send his +neighbour sorrow, but also to help thereto himself. And when folk +were sick, they would be bound not to pray God send them health, +but when they came to comfort them, they should say, "I am glad, +good friend, that you are so sick--I pray God keep you long +therein!" And neither should any man give any medicine to another +nor take any medicine himself neither. For by the diminishing of +the tribulation he taketh away part of the profit from his soul, +which can with no bodily profit be sufficiently recompensed. + +And also this you know well, good uncle, that we read in holy +scripture of men that were wealthy and rich and yet were good +withal. Solomon was, you know, the richest and most wealthy king +that any man could in his time tell of, and yet was he well beloved +with God. Job also was no beggar, perdy, nor no wretch otherwise. +Nor did he lose his riches and his wealth because God would not +that his friend should have wealth, but rather for the show of his +patience, to the increase of his merit and the confusion of the +devil. And, for proof that prosperity may stand with God's favour, +"God restored Job double of all" that ever he lost, and gave him +afterward long life to take his pleasure long. Abraham was also, +you know, a man of great substance, and so continued all his life +in honour and wealth. Yea, and when he died, too, he went unto such +wealth that when Lazarus died in tribulation and poverty, the best +place that he came to was that rich man's bosom! + +Finally, good uncle, this we find before our eyes, and every day we +prove it by plain experience that many a man is right wealthy and +yet therewith right good, and many a miserable wretch is as evil as +he is wretched. And therefore it seemeth hard, good uncle, that +between prosperity and tribulation the matter should go thus, that +tribulation should be given always by God to those that he loveth, +for a sign of salvation, and prosperity sent for displeasure, as a +token of eternal damnation. + + +XVI + +ANTHONY: I said not, cousin, that for an undoubted rule, worldly +prosperity were always displeasing to God or tribulation evermore +wholesome to every man--or else I meant not to say it. For well I +know that our Lord giveth in this world unto either sort of folk +either sort of fortune. "He maketh his sun to shine both upon the +good and the bad, and his rain to fall both on the just and on the +unjust." And on the other hand, "he scourgeth every son that he +receiveth," yet he beateth not only good folk that he loveth, but +"there are many scourges for sinners" also. He giveth evil folk +good fortune in this world to call them by kindness--and, if they +thereby come not, the more is their unkindness. And yet where +wealth will not bring them, he giveth them sometimes sorrow. And +some who in prosperity cannot creep forward to God, in tribulation +they run toward him apace. "Their infirmities were multiplied," +saith the prophet, "and after that they made haste." To some that +are good men, God sendeth wealth here also; and they give him great +thanks for his gift, and he rewardeth them for the thanks too. To +some good folk he sendeth sorrow, and they thank him for that too. +If God should give the goods of this world only to evil folk, then +would men think that God were not the Lord thereof. If God would +give the goods only to good men, then would folk take occasion to +serve him but for them. Some will in wealth fall into folly: "When +man was in honour, his understanding failed him; then was he +compared with beasts and made like unto them." Some men with +tribulation will fall into sin, and therefore saith the prophet, +"God will not leave the rod of the wicked men upon the lot of +righteous men, lest the righteous peradventure extend and stretch +out their hands to iniquity." So I deny not that either state, +wealth or tribulation, may be matter of virtue and matter of vice +also. + +But this is the point, lo, that standeth here in question between +you and me: not whether every prosperity be a perilous token, but +whether continual wealth in this world without any tribulation be a +fearful sign of God's indignation. And therefore this mark that we +must shoot at, set up well in our sight, we shall now aim for the +shot and consider how near toward, or how far off, your arrows are +from the mark. + +VINCENT: Some of my bolts, uncle, will I now take up myself, and +readily put them under my belt again! For some of them, I see well, +are not worth the aiming. And no great marvel that I shoot wide, +while I somewhat mistake the mark. + +ANTHONY: Those that make toward the mark and light far too short, +when they are shot, shall I take up for you. + +To prove that perpetual wealth should be no evil token, you say +first that for princes and prelates, and every man for others, we +pray all for perpetual prosperity, and that in the common prayers +of the church, too. + +Then say you secondly, that if prosperity were so perilous and +tribulation so profitable, every man ought to pray God to send +others sorrow. + +Thirdly, you furnish your objections with examples of Solomon, Job, +and Abraham. + +And fourthly, in the end of all, you prove by experience of our own +time daily before our face, that some wealthy folk are good and +some needy ones very wicked. That last bolt, since I say the same +myself, I think you will be content to take up, it lieth so far +wide. + +VINCENT: That will I, with a good will, uncle. + +ANTHONY: Well, do so, then, cousin, and we shall aim for the rest. + +First must you, cousin, be sure that you look well to the mark, and +that you cannot do so unless you know what tribulation is. For +since that is one of the things that we principally speak of, +unless you consider well what it is, you may miss the mark again. + +I suppose now that you will agree that tribulation is every such +thing as troubleth and grieveth a man either in body or mind, and +is as it were the prick of a thorn, a bramble, or a briar thrust +into his flesh or into his mind. And surely, cousin, the prick that +very sore pricketh the mind surpasseth in pain the grief that +paineth the body, almost as far as doth a thorn sticking in the +heart surpass and exceed in pain the thorn that is thrust in the +heel. + +Now cousin, if tribulation be this that I call it, then shall you +soon consider this: There are more kinds of tribulation +peradventure than you thought on before. And thereupon it followeth +also, since every kind of tribulation is an interruption of wealth, +that prosperity (which is but another name for wealth) may be +discontinued by more ways than you would before have thought. Then +say I thus unto you, cousin: Since tribulation is not only such +pangs as pain the body, but every trouble also that grieveth the +mind, many good men have many tribulations that every man marketh +not, and consequently their wealth is interrupted when other men +are not aware. For think you, cousin, that the temptations of the +devil, the world, and the flesh, soliciting the mind of a good man +unto sin, are not a great inward trouble and grief to his heart? To +such wretches as care not for their conscience, but like +unreasonable beasts follow their foul affections, many of these +temptations are no trouble at all, but matter of their bodily +pleasure. But unto him, cousin, that standeth in dread of God, the +tribulation of temptation is so painful that, to be rid of it or to +be sure of the victory, he would gladly give more than half his +substance, be it never so great. Now if he who careth not for God +think that this trouble is but a trifle, and that with such +tribulation prosperity is not interrupted, let him cast in his mind +if he himself come upon a fervent longing for something which he +cannot get (as a good man will not), as perchance his pleasure of +some certain good woman who will not be caught. And then let him +tell me whether the ruffle of his desire shall not so torment his +mind that all the pleasures that he can take beside shall, for lack +of that one, not please him a pin! And I dare be bold to warrant +him that the pain in resisting, and the great fear of falling, that +many a good man hath in his temptation, is an anguish and a grief +every deal as great as this. + +Now I say further, cousin, that if this be true, as indeed it is, +that such trouble is tribulation, and thereby consequently an +interruption of prosperous wealth, no man meaneth precisely to pray +for another to keep him in continual prosperity without any manner +of discontinuance or change in this world. For that prayer, without +other condition added or implied, would be inordinate and very +childish. For it would be to pray either that they should never +have temptation, or else that if they had they might follow and +fulfil their affection. Who would dare, good cousin, for shame or +for sin, for himself or any other man, to make this kind of prayer? + +Besides this, cousin, the church, you know, well adviseth every man +to fast, to watch, and to pray, both for taming of his fleshly +lusts and also to mourn and lament his sin before committed and to +bewail his offence done against God, as they did at the city of +Nineve, and as the prophet David did for his sin put affliction to +his flesh. And when a man so doth, cousin, is this no tribulation +to him because he doth it himself? For I know you would agree that +it would be, if another man did it against his will. Then is +tribulation, you know, tribulation still, though it be taken well +in worth. Yea, and though it be taken with very right good will, +yet is pain, you know, pain, and therefore so is it, though a man +do it himself. Then, since the church adviseth every man to take +tribulation for his sin, whatsoever words you find in any prayer, +they never mean, do you be fast and sure, to pray God to keep every +good man (nor every bad man neither) from every kind of tribulation. + +Now he who is not in a certain kind of tribulation, as peradventure +in sickness or in loss of goods, is not yet out of tribulation. For +he may have his ease of body or mind disquieted (and thereby his +wealth interrupted) with another kind of tribulation, as is either +temptation to a good man, or voluntary affliction, either of body +by penance or of mind by contrition and heaviness for his sin and +offence against God. And thus I say that for precise perpetual +wealth and prosperity in this world--that is to say, for the +perpetual lack of all trouble and tribulation--no wise man prayeth +either for himself or for any man else. And thus I answer your +first objection. + +Now before I meddle with your second, your third will I join to +this. For upon this answer will the solution of your examples +fittingly depend. + +As for Solomon, he was, as you say, all his days a marvellous +wealthy king, and much was he beloved with God, I know, in the +beginning of his reign. But that the favour of God continued with +him, as his prosperity did, that cannot I tell, and therefore will +I not warrant it. But surely we see that his continual wealth made +him fall into wanton folly, first in multiplying wives to a +horrible number, contrary to the commandment of God, given in the +law of Moses, and secondly in taking to wife among others some who +were infidels, contrary to another commandment of God's written +law. Also we see that finally, by means of his infidel wife, he +fell into maintenance of idolatry himself. And of this we find no +amendment or repentance, as we find of his father. And therefore, +though he were buried where his father was, yet whether he went to +the rest that his father did, through some secret sorrow for his +sin at last--that is to say, by some kind of tribulation--I cannot +tell, and am content therefore to trust well and pray God that he +did so. But surely we are not so sure, and therefore the example of +Solomon can very little serve you. For you might as well lay it for +a proof that God favoureth idolatry as that he favoureth +prosperity; for Solomon was, you know, in both. + +As for Job, since our question hangeth upon prosperity that is +perpetual, the wealth of Job, which was interrupted with so great +adversity, can, as you yourself see, serve you for no example. And +that God gave him here in this world all things double that he +lost, little toucheth my matter, which denieth not prosperity to be +God's gift, and given to some good men, too; namely, to such as +have tribulation too. + +But in Abraham, cousin, I suppose is all your chief hold, because +you not only show riches and prosperity perpetual in him through +the course of all his whole life in this world, but after his death +also. Lazarus, that poor man, who lived in tribulation and died for +pure hunger and thirst, had after his death his place of comfort +and rest in Abraham's--that wealthy man's--bosom. But here must you +consider that Abraham had not such continual prosperity but what it +was discontinued with divers tribulations. + +Was it nothing to him, think you, to leave his own country, and at +God's sending to go into a strange land, which God promised him and +his seed forever, but in all his life he gave him never a foot? Was +it no trouble, that his cousin Loth and himself were fain to part +company, because their servants could not agree together? Though he +recovered Loth again from the three kings, was his capture no +trouble to him, think you, in the meanwhile? Was the destruction of +the five cities no heaviness to his heart? Any man would think so, +who readeth in the story what labour he made to save them. His +heart was, I daresay, in no little sorrow, when he was fain to let +Abimelech the king have his wife. Though God provided to keep her +undefiled and turned all to wealth, yet it was no little woe to him +in the meantime. What continual grief was it to his heart, many a +long day, that he had no child begotten of his own body? He that +doubteth thereof shall find in Genesis Abraham's own moan made to +God. No man doubteth but Ismael was great comfort unto him at his +birth; and was it no grief, then, when he must cast out the mother +and the child both? As for Isaac, who was the child of the promise, +although God kept his life, that was unlooked for. Yet while the +loving father bound him and went about to behead him and offer him +up in sacrifice, who but himself can conceive what heaviness his +heart had then? I should suppose (since you speak of Lazarus) that +Lazarus' own death panged him not so sore. Then, as Lazarus' pain +was patiently borne, so was Abraham's taken not only patiently +but--which is a thing much more meritorious--of obedience +willingly. And therefore, even if Abraham had not far excelled +Lazarus in merit of reward (as he did indeed) for many other things +besides, and especially for that he was a special patriarch of the +faith, yet would he have far surpassed him even by the merit of +that tribulation well taken here for God's sake too. And so serveth +for your purpose no man less than Abraham! + +But now, good cousin, let us look a little longer here upon the +rich Abraham and Lazarus the poor. And as we shall see Lazarus set +in wealth somewhat under the rich Abraham, so shall we see another +rich man lie full low beneath Lazarus, crying and calling out of +his fiery couch that Lazarus might, with a drop of water falling +from his finger's end, a little cool and refresh the tip of his +burning tongue. Consider well now what Abraham answered to the rich +wretch: "Son, remember that thou hast in thy life received wealth, +and Lazarus likewise pain, but now receiveth he comfort, and thou +sorrow, pain, and torment." Christ described his wealth and his +prosperity: gay and soft apparel with royal delicate fare, +continually day by day. "He did fare royally every day," saith our +Saviour; his wealth was continual, lo, no time of tribulation +between. And Abraham telleth him the same tale, that he had taken +his wealth in this world, and Lazarus likewise his pain, and that +they had now changed each to the clean contrary--poor Lazarus from +tribulation into wealth, and the rich man from his continual +prosperity into perpetual pain. Here was laid expressly to Lazarus +no very great virtue by name, nor to this rich glutton no great +heinous crime but the taking of his continual ease and pleasure, +without any tribulation or grief, of which grew sloth and +negligence to think upon the poor man's pain. For that ever he +himself saw Lazarus and knew that he died for hunger at his door, +that laid neither Christ nor Abraham to his charge. And therefore, +cousin, this story of which, by occasion of Abraham and Lazarus, +you put me in remembrance, well declareth what peril there is in +continual worldly wealth; and contrariwise what comfort cometh of +tribulation. And thus, as your other examples of Solomon and Job +nothing for the matter further you, so your example of rich Abraham +and poor Lazarus hath not a little hindered you. + + +XVII + +VINCENT: Surely, uncle, you have shaken my examples sorely, and +have in your aiming of your shot removed me these arrows, +methinketh, further off from the mark than methought they stuck +when I shot them! And I shall therefore now be content to take them +up again. + +But meseemeth surely that my second shot may stand. For of truth, +if every kind of tribulation be so profitable that it be good to +have it, as you say it is, then I cannot see why any man should +either wish, or pray, or do any manner of thing to have any kind of +tribulation withdrawn either from himself or from any friend of his. + +ANTHONY: I think indeed tribulation so good and profitable that I +might doubt, as you do, why a man might labour and pray to be +delivered of it, were it not that God, who teacheth us the one, +teacheth us also the other. For as he biddeth us take our pain +patiently, and exhort our neighbours to do also the same, so +biddeth he us also not forbear to do our best to remove the pain +from us both. And then, since it is God who teacheth both, I shall +not need to break my brain in devising wherefore he would bid us to +do both, the one seeming opposed to the other. + +If he send the scourge of scarcity and great famine, he will that +we shall bear it patiently; but yet will he that we shall eat our +meat when we can get it. If he send us the plague of pestilence, he +will that we shall patiently take it; but yet will he that we let +blood, and lay plasters to draw it and ripen it, and lance it, and +get it away. Both these points teacheth God in scripture, in more +than many places. Fasting is better than eating, and hath more +thanks of God, and yet will God that we shall eat. Praying is +better than drinking, and much more pleasing to God, and yet will +God that we shall drink. Keeping vigil is much more acceptable to +God than sleeping, and yet will God that we shall sleep. God hath +given us our bodies here to keep, and will that we maintain them to +do him service with, till he send for us hence. + +Now we cannot tell surely how much tribulation may mar the body or +peradventure hurt the soul also. Therefore the apostle, after he +had commanded the Corinthians to deliver to the devil the +abominable fornicator who forbore not the bed of his own father's +wife, yet after he had been a while accursed and punished for his +sin, the apostle commanded them charitably to receive him again and +give him consolation, "that the greatness of his sorrow should not +swallow him up." And therefore, when God sendeth the tempest, he +will that the shipmen shall get them to their tackling and do the +best they can for themselves, that the sea eat them not up. For +help ourselves as well as we can, he can make his plague as sore +and as long-lasting as he himself please. + +And as he will that we do for ourselves, so will he that we do for +our neigbour too. And he will that we shall in this world have pity +on each other and not be _sine affectione,_ for which the apostle +rebuketh them that lack their tender affection here. So of charity +we should be sorry too for the pain of those upon whom, for +necessary cause, we ourselves be driven to put it. And whosoever +saith that for pity of his neighbour's soul he will have no pity of +his body, let him be sure that, as St. John saith, "He that loveth +not his neighbour whom he seeth, loveth but little God, whom he +seeth not," so he who hath no pity on the pain that he seeth his +neighbour feel before him, pitieth little (whatsoever he say) the +pain of his soul that he seeth not. + +Yet God sendeth us also such tribulation sometimes because it is +his pleasure to have us pray unto him for help. And therefore, the +scripture telleth that, when St. Peter was in prison, the whole +church without intermission prayed incessantly for him, and at +their fervent prayer God by miracle delivered him. When the +disciples in the tempest stood in fear of drowning, they prayed +unto Christ and said, "Save us, Lord, we perish," and then at their +prayer he shortly ceased the tempest. And now see we proved often +that in sore weather or sickness by general processions God giveth +gracious help. And many a man in his great pain and sickness, by +calling upon God is marvellously made whole. This is the goodness +of God who, because in wealth we remember him not, but forget to +pray to him, sendeth us sorrow and sickness to force us to draw +toward him, and compelleth us to call upon him and pray for release +of our pain. When we learn thereby to know him and to pray to him, +we take a good occasion to fall afterward into further grace. + + +XVIII + +VINCENT: Verily, good uncle, with this good answer I am well +content. + +ANTHONY: Yea, cousin, but many men are there with whom God is not +content! For they abuse this great high goodness of his, whom +neither fair treating nor hard handling can cause to remember their +maker. But in wealth they are wanton and forget God and follow +their pleasure, and when God with tribulation draweth them toward +him, then wax they mad and draw back as much as ever they can, and +run and seek help at any other hand rather than at his. Some for +comfort seek to the flesh, some to the world, and some to the devil +himself. + +Consider some man who in worldly prosperity is very dull and hath +stepped deep into many a sore sin; which sins, when he did them, he +counted for part of his pleasure. God, willing of his goodness to +call the man to grace, casteth a remorse into his mind, after his +first sleep, and maketh him lie a little while and bethink him. +Then beginneth he to remember his life, and from that he falleth to +think upon his death, and how he must leave all his worldly wealth +within a while behind here in this world, and walk hence alone, he +knows not whither. Nor knows he how soon he shall take his journey +thither, nor can he tell what company he shall meet there. And then +beginneth he to think that it would be good to make sure and to be +merry, so that he be wise therewith, lest there happen to be indeed +such black bugbears as folk call devils, whose torments he was wont +to take for poet's tales. Those thoughts, if they sink deep, are a +sore tribulation. And surely, if he takes hold of the grace that +God therein offereth him, his tribulation is wholesome. And it +shall be full comforting to remember that God by this tribulation +calleth him and biddeth him come home, out of the country of sin +that he was bred and brought up so long in, and come into the land +of behest that floweth milk and honey. And then if he follow this +calling, as many a one full well doth, joyful shall his sorrow be. +And glad shall he be to change his life, to leave his wanton +pleasures and do penance for his sins, bestowing his time upon some +better business. + +But some men, now, when this calling of God causeth them to be sad, +they are loth to leave their sinful lusts that hang in their +hearts, especially if they have any kind of living such that they +must needs leave it off or fall deeper into sin, or if they have +done so many great wrongs that they have many amends to make if +they follow God, which must diminish much their money. Then are +these folk, alas, woefully bewrapped, for God pricketh them of his +great goodness still. And the grief of this great pang pincheth +them at the heart, and of wickedness they wry away. And from this +tribulation they turn to their flesh for help, and labour to shake +off this thought. And then they mend their pillow and lay their +head softer and essay to sleep. And when that will not be, then +they talk a while with those who lie by them. If that cannot be +either, then they lie and long for day, and get them forth about +their worldly wretchedness, the matter of their prosperity, and the +selfsame sinful things with which they displease God most. And at +length, when they have many times behaved in this manner, God +utterly casteth them off. And then they set naught by either God or +devil. "When the sinner cometh even into the depth, then he +contemneth," and setteth naught by anything, saving worldly fear +that may befall by chance, or that needs must, he knoweth well, +befall once by death. + +But alas, when death cometh, then cometh again his sorrow. Then +will no soft bed serve, nor no company make him merry. Then must he +leave his outward worship and comfort of his glory, and lie panting +in his bed as it were on a pine bench. Then cometh his fear of his +evil life and of his dreadful death. Then cometh his torment, his +cumbered conscience and fear of his heavy judgment. Then the devil +draweth him to despair with imagination of hell, and suffereth him +not then to take it for a fable--and yet, if he do, then the wretch +findeth it no fable. Ah, woe worth the time, that folk think not of +this in time! + +God sometimes sendeth a man great trouble in his mind, and great +tribulation about his worldly goods, because he would of his +goodness take his delight and confidence from them. And yet the man +withdraweth no part of his foolish fancies, but falleth more +fervently to them than before, and setteth his whole heart, like a +fool, more upon them. And then he betaketh him all to the devices +of his worldly counsellors, and without any counsel of God or any +trust put in him, maketh many wise ways--or so he thinks, but all +turn at length to folly, and one subtle drift driveth another to +naught. + +Some have I see even in their last sickness, set up in their +deathbed, underpropped with pillows, take their playfellows to them +and comfort themselves with cards. And this, they said, did ease +them well, to put fancies out of their heads. And what fancies, +think you? Such as I told you right now, of their own lewd life and +peril of their soul, of heaven and of hell, that irked them to +think of. And therefore they cast it out with cards, playing as +long as ever they might, till the pure pangs of death pulled their +heart from their play, and put them in such a case that they could +not reckon their game. And then their gamesters left them and slyly +slunk away, and it was not long ere they galped up the ghost. And +what game they came then to, that God knoweth and not I. I pray God +it were good, but I fear it very sore. + +Some men are there also that do as did King Saul, and in their +tribulation go seek unto the devil. This king had commanded all +those to be destroyed who used the false abominable superstition of +this ungracious witchcraft and necromancy. And yet fell he to such +folly afterwards himself, that ere he went to battle he sought unto +a witch and besought her to raise up a dead man to tell him how he +should fare. Now God had showed him by Samuel before that he should +come to naught, and he went about no amendment, but waxed worse and +worse, so that God would not look to him. And when he sought by the +prophet to have answer of God, there came no answer to him, which +he thought strange. And because he was not heard by God at his +pleasure, he made suit to the devil, desiring a woman by witchcraft +to raise up the dead Samuel. But he had such success thereof as +commonly they have who in their business meddle with such matters. +For an evil answer had he, and an evil fortune thereafter--his army +discomfited and himself slain. And as it is rehearsed in +Paralipomenon, the tenth chapter of the first book, one cause of +his fall was for lack of trust in God, for which he left off taking +counsel of God and fell to seek counsel of the witch, against God's +prohibition in the law and against his own good deed by which he +punished and put out all witches so short a time before. Such +fortune let them look for, who play the same part! I see many do +so, who in a great loss send to seek a conjurer to get their +belongings again. And marvellous things there they see, sometimes, +but never great of their good. And many a silly fool is there who, +when he lies sick, will meddle with no physic in no manner of wise, +nor send his urine to no learned man, but will send his cap or his +hose to a wisewoman, otherwise called a witch. Then sendeth she +word back that she hath spied in his hose where, when he took no +heed, he was taken with a spirit between two doors as he went in +the twilight. But the spirit would not let him feel it for five +days after, and it hath all the while festered in his body, and +that is the grief that paineth him so sore. But let him go to no +leechcraft nor any manner of physic--other than good meat and +strong drink--for medicines would pickle him up. But he shall have +five leaves of valerian that she enchanted with a charm and +gathered with her left hand. Let him fasten those five leaves to +his right thumb by a green thread--not bind it fast, but let it +hang loose. He shall never need to change it, provided it fall not +away, but let it hang till he be whole and he shall need it no +more. In such wise witches, and in such mad medicines, have many +fools a great deal more faith than in God. + +And thus, cousin, as I tell you, all these folk who in their +tribulation call not upon God, but seek for their ease and help +elsewhere--to the flesh and the world, and to the flinging +fiend--the tribulation that God's goodness sendeth them for good, +they themselves by their folly turn into their harm. And those who, +on the other hand, seek unto God therein, both comfort and profit +they greatly take thereby. + + +XIX + +VINCENT: I like well, good uncle, all your answers therein. But +one doubt yet remaineth there in my mind, which ariseth upon this +answer that you make. And when that doubt is solved, I will, mine +own good uncle, encumber you no further for this time. For +methinketh that I do you very much wrong to give you occasion to +labour yourself so much in matter of some study, with long talking +at once. I will therefore at this time move you but one thing, and +seek some other time at your greater ease for the rest. + +My doubt, good uncle, is this: I perceive well by your answers, +gathered and considered together, that you will well agree that a +man may both have worldly wealth and yet well go to God; and that, +on the other hand, a man may be miserable and live in tribulation +and yet go to the devil. And as a man may please God by patience in +adversity, so may he please God by thanks given in prosperity. Now +since you grant these things to be such that either of them both +may be matter of virtue or else matter of sin, matter of damnation +or matter of salvation, they seem neither good nor bad of their own +nature, but things of themselves equal and indifferent, turning to +good or to the contrary according as they be taken. And then if +this be thus, I can perceive no cause why you should give the +pre-eminence unto tribulation, or wherefore you should reckon more +cause of comfort in it than in prosperity, but rather a great deal +less--in a manner, by half. + +For in prosperity a man is well at ease, and may also, by giving +thanks to God, get good unto his soul; whereas in tribulation, +though he may merit by patience (as the other, in abundance of +worldly wealth, may merit by thanks), yet lacketh he much comfort +that the wealthy man hath, in that he is sore grieved with +heaviness and pain. Besides, a wealthy man, well at ease, may pray +to God quietly and merrily with alacrity and great quietness of +mind, whereas he who lieth groaning in his grief cannot endure to +pray nor can he hardly think upon anything but his pain. + +ANTHONY: To begin, cousin, where you leave off: The prayers of him +that is in wealth and him that is in woe, if the men be both +wicked, are both alike. For neither hath the one desire to pray, +nor the other either. And as one is hindered with his pain, so is +the other with his pleasure--saving that pain stirreth a man +sometimes to call upon God in his grief, though he be right bad, +whereas pleasure pulleth his mind another way, though he be good +enough. + +And this point I think there are few that can, if they say true, +say that they find it otherwise. For in tribulation (which cometh, +you know, in sundry kinds) any man that is not a dull beast or a +desperate wretch calleth upon God, not hoverly but right heartily, +and setteth his heart full whole upon his request, so sore he +longeth for ease and help of his heaviness. But when we are wealthy +and well at our ease, while our tongue pattereth upon our prayers +apace--good God, how many mad ways our mind wandereth the while! + +Yet I know well that in some tribulation there is such sore +sickness or other grievous bodily pain that it would be hard for a +man to say a longer prayer of matins. And yet some who lie dying +say full devoutly the seven psalms and other prayers with the +priest at their anointing. But those who for the grief of their +pain cannot endure to do it, or who are more tender and lack that +strong heart and stomach that some others have, God requireth no +such long prayers of them. But the lifting up of their heart alone, +without any words at all, is more acceptable to him from one in +such a state, than long service so said as folk usually say it in +health. The martyrs in their agony made no long prayers aloud, but +one inch of such a prayer, so prayed in that pain, was worth a +whole ell or more, even of their own prayers, prayed at some other +time. + +Great learned men say that Christ, albeit that he was true God, and +as God was in eternal equal bliss with his Father, yet as man +merited not only for us but for himself too. For proof of this they +lay in these words the authority of St. Paul: "Christ hath humbled +himself, and became obedient unto the death, and that unto the +death of the cross; for which thing God hath also exalted him and +given him a name which is above all names, that in the name of +Jesus every knee be bowed, both of the celestial creatures and of +the terrestrial and of the infernal too, and that every tongue +shall confess that our lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God his +Father." Now if it be so as these great learned men say, upon such +authorities of holy scripture, that our Saviour merited as man, and +as man deserved reward not for us only but for himself also; then +were there in his deeds, it seemeth, sundry degrees and differences +of deserving. His washing of the disciples' feet was not, then, of +like merit as his passion, nor his sleep of like merit as his vigil +and his prayer--no, nor his prayers peradventure all of like merit, +either. But though there was not, nor could be, in his most blessed +person any prayer but was excellent and incomparably surpassing the +prayer of any mere creature, yet his own were not all alike, but +one far above another. And then if it thus be, of all his holy +prayers, the chief seemeth me those that he made in his great agony +and pain of his bitter passion. The first was when he thrice fell +prostrate in his agony, when the heaviness of his heart with fear +of death at hand, so painful and so cruel as he well beheld it, +made such a fervent commotion in his blessed body that the bloody +sweat of his holy flesh dropped down on the ground. The others were +the painful prayers that he made upon the cross, where, for all the +torment that he hanged in--of beating, nailing, and stretching out +all his limbs, with the wresting of his sinews and breaking of his +tender veins, and the sharp crown of thorns so pricking him into +the head that his blessed blood streamed down all his face--in all +these hideous pains, in all their cruel despites, yet two very +devout and fervent prayers he made. One was for the pardon of those +who so dispiteously put him to his pain, and the other about his +own deliverance, commending his own soul to his holy Father in +heaven. These prayers of his, made in his most pain, among all that +ever he made, reckon I for the chief. And these prayers of our +Saviour at his bitter passion, and of his holy martyrs in the +fervour of their torment, shall serve us to see that there is no +prayer made at pleasure so strong and effectual as that made in +tribulation. + +Now come I to the reasoning you make, when you tell me that I grant +you that both in wealth and in woe a man may be wicked and offend +God, in the one by impatience and in the other by fleshly lust. And +on the other hand, both in tribulation and prosperity too, a man +may also do very well and deserve thanks of God by thanksgiving to +God for his gift of riches, worship, and wealth, as well as for his +gift of need and penury, imprisonment, sickness, and pain. And +therefore you cannot see why I should give any pre-eminence in +comfort unto tribulation, but you would rather allow prosperity for +the thing more comforting. And that not a little, but in manner by +double, since therein hath the soul comfort and the body too--the +soul by thanksgiving unto God for his gifts, and the body by being +well at ease--whereas the person pained in tribulation taketh no +comfort but in his soul alone. + +First, as for your double comfort, cousin, you may cut off the one! +For a man in prosperity, though he be bound to thank God for his +gifts, wherein he feeleth ease, and may be glad also that he giveth +thanks to God; yet hath he little cause of comfort in that he +taketh his ease here, unless you wish to call by the name of +comfort the sensual feeling of bodily pleasure. I deny not that +sometimes men so take it, when they say, "This good drink +comforteth well mine heart." But comfort, cousin, is properly +taken, by them that take it right, rather for the consolation of +good hope that men take in their heart, of some good growing toward +them, than for a present pleasure with which the body is delighted +and tickled for a while. + +Now, though a man without patience can have no reward for his pain, +yet when his pain is patiently taken for God's sake and his will +conformed to God's pleasure therein, God rewardeth the sufferer in +proportion to his pain. And this thing appeareth by many a place in +scripture, some of which I have showed you and yet shall I show you +more. But never found I any place in scripture that I remember in +which, though a rich man thanked God for his gifts, our Lord +promised him any reward in heaven for the very reason that he took +his ease and his pleasures here. And therefore, since I speak only +of such comfort as is true comfort indeed, by which a man hath hope +of God's favour and remission of his sins, with diminishing of his +pain in purgatory or else reward in heaven; and since such comfort +cometh of tribulation well taken, but not of pleasure even though +it be well taken; therefore of your comfort that you double by +prosperity, you may, as I told you, very well cut away the half. + +Now, why I give prerogative in comfort unto tribulation far above +prosperity, though a man may do well in both, of this will I show +you causes two or three. First, as I before have at length showed +you out of all question, continual wealth interrupted with no +tribulation is a very discomfortable token of everlasting +damnation. Thereupon it followeth that tribulation is one cause of +comfort unto a man's heart, in that it dischargeth him of the +discomfort that he might of reason take of overlong-lasting wealth. +Another is, that the scripture much commendeth tribulation as +occasion of more profit than wealth and prosperity, not only to +those who are therein but to those who resort unto them too. And +therefore saith Ecclesiastes, "Better is it to go to the house of +weeping and wailing for some man's death, than to the house of a +feast; for in that house of heaviness is a man put in remembrance +of the end of every man, and while he liveth he thinketh what shall +come after." And after yet he further saith, "The heart of wise men +is where heaviness is, and the heart of fools is where there is +mirth and gladness." And verily, where you shall hear worldly mirth +seem to be commended in scripture, it is either commonly spoken, as +in the person of some worldly-disposed people, or else understood +of spiritual rejoicing, or else meant of some small moderate +refreshing of the mind against a heavy and discomfortable dullness. + +Now, prosperity was promised to the children of Israel in the old +law as a special gift of God, because of their imperfection at that +time, to draw them to God with gay things and pleasant, as men, to +make children learn, give them cake-bread and butter. For, as the +scripture maketh mention, that people were much after the manner of +children in lack of wit and in waywardness. And therefore was their +master Moses called Pedagogus, that is, a teacher of children or +(as they call such a one in the grammar schools) an "usher" or +"master of the petits." For, as St. Paul saith, "the old law +brought nothing unto perfection." And God also threateneth folk +with tribulation in this world for sin, not because worldly +tribulation is evil, but that we should well beware of the sickness +of sin for fear of the thing to follow. For that thing, though it +be indeed a very good wholesome thing if we take it well, is yet, +because it is painful, the thing that we are loth to have. But this +I say yet again and again, that the scripture undoubtedly so +commandeth tribulation as far the better thing in this world toward +the getting of the true good that God giveth in the world to come, +that in comparison it utterly discommendeth this worldly wretched +wealth and discomfortable comfort. For to what other thing tend the +words of Ecclesiastes that I rehearsed to you now, that it is +better to be in the house of heaviness than to be at a feast? +Whereto tendeth this comparison of his, that the wise man's heart +draweth thither where folk are in sadness, and the heart of a fool +is where he may find mirth? Whereto tendeth this threat of the wise +man, that he who delighteth in wealth shall fall into woe? +"Laughter," saith he, "shall be mingled with sorrow, and the end of +mirth is taken up with heaviness." And our Saviour saith himself, +"Woe be to you that laugh, for you shall weep and wail." But he +saith, on the other hand, "Blessed are they that weep and wail, for +they shall be comforted." And he saith to his disciples, "The world +shall rejoice and you shall be sorry, but your sorrow shall be +turned into joy." And so it is now, as you well know, and the mirth +of many who then were in joy is now turned all to sorrow. And thus +you see plainly by scripture that, in matter of true comfort, +tribulation is as far above prosperity as the day is about the +night. + +Another pre-eminence of tribulation over wealth, in occasion of +merit and reward, shall well appear upon certain considerations +well marked in them both. Tribulation meriteth in patience and in +the obedient conforming of the man's will unto God, and in thanks +given to God for his visitation. If you reckon me now, against +these, many other good deeds that a wealthy man may do--as, by +riches to give alms, or by authority to labour in doing many men +justice--or if you find further any other such thing; first, I say +that the patient person in tribulation hath, in all these virtues +of a wealthy man, an occasion of merit which the wealthy man hath +not. For it is easy for the person who is in tribulation to be well +willing to do the selfsame thing if he could. And then shall his +good will, where the power lacketh, go very near to the merit of +the deed. But the wealthy man, now, is not in a like position with +regard to the will of patience and conformity and thanks given to +God for tribulation. For the wealthy man is not so ready to be +content to be in tribulation, which is the occasion of the +sufferer's deserving, as the troubled person is to be content to be +in prosperity, to do the good deeds that the wealthy man doth. +Besides this, all that the wealthy man doth, though he could not do +them without those things that are counted for wealth and called by +that name--as, not do great alms without great riches, nor do these +many men right by his labour without great authority--yet may he do +these things being not in wealth indeed. As where he taketh his +wealth for no wealth and his riches for no riches, and in heart +setteth by neither one, but secretly liveth in a contrite heart and +a penitential life, as many times did the prophet David, being a +great king, so that worldly wealth was no wealth to him. And +therefore worldly wealth is not of necessity the cause of these +good deeds, since he may do them (and he doth them best, indeed) to +whom the thing that worldly folk call wealth is yet, for his +godly-set mind, withdrawn from the delight thereof, no pleasure nor +wealth at all. + +Finally, whenever the wealthy man doth those good virtuous deeds, +if we rightly consider the nature of them, we shall perceive that +in the doing of them he doth ever, for the ratio and proportion of +those deeds, diminish the matter of his worldly wealth. In giving +great alms, he parteth with a certain amount of his worldly goods, +which are in that amount the matter of his wealth. In labouring +about the doing of many good deeds, his labour diminisheth his +quiet and his rest, and to that extent it diminisheth his wealth, +if pain and wealth be each contrary to the other, as I think you +will agree that they are. Now, whosoever then will well consider +the thing, he shall, I doubt not, perceive and see that in these +good deeds that the wealthy man doth, though it be his wealth that +maketh him able to do them, yet in so far as he doth them he +departeth in that proportion from the nature of wealth toward the +nature of some tribulation. And therefore even in those good deeds +themselves that prosperity doth, the prerogative in goodness of +tribulation above wealth doth appear. + +Now if it happen that some man cannot perceive this point because +the wealthy man, for all his alms, abideth rich still, and for all +his good labour abideth still in his authority, let him consider +that I speak only according to proportion. And because the +proportion of all that he giveth of his goods is very little in +respect of what he leaveth, therefore is the reason haply with some +folk little perceived. But if it were so that he went on giving +until he had given out all, and left himself nothing, then would +even a blind man see it. For as he would be come from riches to +poverty, so would he be willingly fallen from wealth into +tribulation. And in respect of labour and rest, the same would be +true. Whosoever can consider this, shall see that, in every good +deed done by the wealthy man, the matter is proportionately the +same. + +Then, since we have somewhat weighed the virtues of prosperity, let +us consider on the other hand the afore-named things that are the +matter of merit and reward in tribulation--that is, patience, +conformity, and thanksgiving. Patience the wealthy man hath not, in +so far as he is wealthy. For if he be pinched in any point in which +he taketh patience, to that extent he suffereth some tribulation. +And so not by his prosperity but by his tribulation hath he that +merit. It is the same if we would say that the wealthy man hath +another virtue instead of patience--that is, the keeping of himself +from pride and such other sins as wealth would bring him to. For +the resisting of such motions is, as I before told you, without any +doubt a diminishing of fleshly wealth, and is a very true kind (and +one of the most profitable kinds) of tribulation. So all that good +merit groweth to the wealthy man not by his wealth but by the +diminishing of his wealth with wholesome tribulation. + +The most colour of comparison is in the other two; that is, in the +conformity of man's will unto God, and in thanks given unto God. +For as the good man, in tribulation sent him by God, conformeth his +will to God's will in that behalf, and giveth God thanks for it; so +doth the wealthy man, in his wealth which God giveth him, conform +his will to God in that point, since he is well content to take it +as his gift, and giveth God also right hearty thanks for it. And +thus, as I said, in these two things can you catch the most colour +to compare the wealthy man's merit with the merit of tribulation. + +But yet that they be not matches, you may soon see by this: For no +one can conform his will unto God's in tribulation and give him +thanks for it, but such a man as hath in that point a very +specially good disposition. But he that is truly wicked, or hath in +his heart but very little good, may well be content to take wealth +at God's hand, and say, "Marry, I thank you, sir, for this with all +my heart, and I will not fail to love you well--while you let me +fare no worse!" _Confitebitur tibi, cum benefeceris ei._ Now, if +the wealthy man be very good, yet, in conformity of his will and +thanksgiving to God for his wealth, his virtue is not like to that +of him who doth the same in tribulation. For, as the philosophers +said very well of old, "virtue standeth in things of hardness and +difficulty." And then, as I told you, it is much less hard and less +difficult, by a great deal, to be content and conform our will to +God's will and to give him thanks, too, for our ease than for our +pain, for our wealth and for our woe. And therefore the conforming +of our will to God's and the thanks that we give him for our +tribulation are more worthy of thanks in return, and merit more +reward in the very fast wealth and felicity of heaven, than our +conformity and our thanksgiving for our worldly wealth here. + +And this thing saw the devil, when he said to our Lord of Job that +it was no marvel if Job had a reverent fear unto God--God had done +so much for him, and kept him in prosperity. But the devil knew +well that it was a hard thing for Job to be so loving, and so to +give thanks to God, in tribulation and adversity. And therefore was +he glad to get leave of God to put him in tribulation, and trusted +thereby to cause him to murmur and grudge against God with +impatience. But the devil had there a fall in his own turn, for the +patience of Job in the short time of his adversity got him much +more favour and thanks of God, and more is he renowned and +commended in scripture for that, than for all the goodness of his +long prosperous life. Our Saviour saith himself, also, that if we +say well by them or yield them thanks who do us good, we do no +great thing, and therefore can we with reason look for no great +thanks in return. + +And thus have I showed you, lo, no little pre-eminence that +tribulation hath in merit, and therefore no little pre-eminence of +comfort in hope of heavenly reward, above the virtues (the merit +and cause of good hope and comfort) that come of wealth and +prosperity. + + +XX + +And therefore, good cousin, to finish our talking for this time, +lest I should be too long a hindrance to your other business: + +If we lay first, for a sure ground, a very fast faith, whereby we +believe to be true all that the scripture saith (understood truly, +as the old holy doctors declare it and as the spirit of God +instructeth his Catholic church), then shall we consider +tribulation as a gracious gift of God, a gift that he specially +gave his special friends; a thing that in scripture is highly +commended and praised; a thing of which the contrary, long +continued, is perilous; a thing which, if God send it not, men have +need to put upon themselves and seek by penance; a thing that +helpeth to purge our past sins; a thing that preserveth us from +sins that otherwise would come; a thing that causeth us to set less +by the world; a thing that much diminisheth our pains in purgatory; +a thing that much increaseth our final reward in heaven; the thing +with which all his apostles followed him thither; the thing to +which our Saviour exhorteth all men; the thing without which he +saith we be not his disciples; the thing without which no man can +get to heaven. + +Whosoever thinketh on these things, and remembereth them well, +shall in his tribulation neither murmur nor grudge. But first shall +he by patience take his pain in worth, and then shall he grow in +goodness and think himself well worthy of tribulation. And then +shall he consider that God sendeth it for his welfare, and thereby +shall be moved to give God thanks for it. Therewith shall his grace +increase, and God shall give him such comfort by considering that +God is in his trouble evermore near to him--for "God is near," +saith the prophet, "to them that have their heart in trouble"--that +his joy thereof shall diminish much of his pain. And he shall not +seek for vain comfort elsewhere, but shall specially trust in God +and seek help of him, submitting his own will wholly to God's +pleasure. And he shall pray to God in his heart, and pray his +friends pray for him, and especially the priests, as St. James +biddeth. And he shall begin first with confession and make him +clean to God and ready to depart, and be glad to go to God, putting +purgatory to his pleasure. If we thus do, this dare I boldly say, +we shall never live here the less by half an hour, but we shall +with this comfort find our hearts lightened, and thereby the grief +of our tribulation lessened, and the more likelihood to recover and +to live the longer. + +Now if God will that we shall go hence, then doth he much more for +us. For he who taketh this way cannot go but well. For of him who +is loth to leave this wretched world, mine heart is much in fear +lest he did not well. Hard it is for him to be welcome who cometh +against his will, who saith unto God when he cometh to fetch him, +"Welcome, my Maker--spite of my teeth!" But he that so loveth him +that he longeth to go to him, my heart cannot give me but he shall +be welcome, albeit that he come ere he be well purged. For "Charity +covereth a multitude of sins," and "He that trusteth in God cannot +be confounded." And Christ saith, "He that cometh to me, I will not +cast him out." And therefore let us never make our reckoning of +long life. Let us keep it while we can, because God hath so +commanded, but if God give the occasion that with his good will we +may go, let us be glad of it and long to go to him. And then shall +hope of heaven comfort our heaviness, and out of our transitory +tribulation shall we go to everlasting glory--to which, good +cousin, I pray God bring us both! + +VINCENT: Mine own good uncle, I pray God reward you, and at this +time I will no longer trouble you. I fear I have this day done you +much tribulation with my importunate objections, of very little +substance. And you have even showed me an example of patience, in +bearing my folly so long. And yet I shall be so bold as to seek +some time to talk further of the rest of this most profitable +matter of tribulation, which you said you reserved to treat of last +of all. + +ANTHONY: Let that be surely very shortly, cousin, while this is +fresh in mind. + +VINCENT: I trust, good uncle, so to put this in remembrance that +it shall never be forgotten with me. Our Lord send you such comfort +as he knoweth to be best! + +ANTHONY: This is well said, good cousin, and I pray the same for +you and for all our other friends who have need of comfort--for +whom, I think, more than for yourself, you needed some counsel. + +VINCENT: I shall, with this good counsel that I have heard from +you, do them some comfort, I trust in God--to whose keeping I +commit you! + +ANTHONY: And I you, also. Farewell, mine own good cousin. + +______________________________ + + +BOOK TWO + +VINCENT: It is no little comfort to me, good uncle, that as I came +in here I heard from your folk that since my last being here you +have had meetly good rest (God be thanked), and your stomach +somewhat more come to you. For verily, albeit I had heard before +that, in respect of the great pain that for a month's space had +held you, you were, a little before my last coming to you, somewhat +eased and relieved--for otherwise would I not for any good cause +have put you to the pain of talking so much as you then did--yet +after my departing from you, remembering how long we tarried +together, and that we were all that while talking, and that all the +labour was yours, in talking so long together without interpausing +between (and that of matter studious and displeasant, all of +disease and sickness and other pain and tribulation), I was in good +faith very sorry and not a little wroth with myself for mine own +oversight, that I had so little considered your pain. And very +feared I was, till I heard otherwise, lest you should have waxed +weaker and more sick thereafter. But now I thank our Lord, who hath +sent the contrary. For a little casting back, in this great age of +yours, would be no little danger and peril. + +ANTHONY: Nay, nay, good cousin--to talk much, unless some other +pain hinder me, is to me little grief. A foolish old man is often +as full of words as a woman. It is, you know, as some poets paint +us, all the joy of an old fool's life to sit well and warm with a +cup and a roasted crabapple, and drivel and drink and talk! + +But in earnest, cousin, our talking was to me great comfort, and +nothing displeasing at all. For though we commoned of sorrow and +heaviness, yet the thing we chiefly thought upon was not the +tribulation itself but the comfort that may grow thereon. And +therefore am I now very glad that you are come to finish up the +rest. + +VINCENT: Of truth, my good uncle, it was comforting to me, and +hath been since to some other of your friends, to whom, as my poor +wit and remembrance would serve me, I did report and rehearse (and +not needlessly) your most comforting counsel. And now come I for +the rest, and am very joyful that I find you so well refreshed and +so ready thereto. But this one thing, good uncle, I beseech you +heartily. If I, for delight to hear you speak in the matter, forget +myself and you both, and put you to too much pain, remember your +own ease. And when you wish to leave off, command me to go my way +and seek some other time. + +ANTHONY: Forsooth, cousin, if a man were very weak, many words +spoken (as you said right now) without interpausing, would +peradventure at length somewhat weary him. And therefore wished I +the last time, after you were gone (when I felt myself, to say the +truth, even a little weary), that I had not so told you a long tale +alone, but that we had more often interchanged words, and parted +the talking between us, with more often interparling upon your +part, in such manner as learned men use between the persons whom +they devise, disputing in their feigned dialogues. But yet in that +point I soon excused you and laid the lack where I found it, and +that was even upon mine own neck. + +For I remembered that between you and me it fared as it did once +between a nun and her brother. Very virtuous was this lady, and of +a very virtuous place and enclosed religion. And therein had she +been long, in all which time she had never seen her brother, who +was likewise very virtuous too, and had been far off at a +university, and had there taken the degree of Doctor of Divinity. +When he was come home, he went to see his sister, as one who highly +rejoiced in her virtue. So came she to the grate that they call, I +believe, the locutory, and after their holy watchword spoken on +both sides, after the manner used in that place, each took the +other by the tip of the finger, for no hand could be shaken through +the grate. And forthwith my lady began to give her brother a sermon +of the wretchedness of this world, and frailty of the flesh, and +the subtle sleights of the wicked fiend, and gave him surely good +counsel (saving somewhat too long) how he should be well wary in +his living and master well his body for the saving of his soul. And +yet, ere her own tale came to an end, she began to find a little +fault with him and said, "In good faith, brother, I do somewhat +marvel that you, who have been at learning so long and are a doctor +and so learned in the law of God, do not now at our meeting (since +we meet so seldom) to me who am your sister and a simple unlearned +soul, give of your charity some fruitful exhortation. For I doubt +not but you can say some good thing yourself." "By my troth, good +sister," quoth her brother, "I cannot, for you! For your tongue +hath never ceased, but said enough for us both." + +And so, cousin, I remember that when I was once fallen in, I left +you little space to say aught between. But now will I therefore +take another way with you, for of our talking I shall drive you to +the one half. + +VINCENT: Now, forsooth, uncle, this was a merry tale! But now, if +you make me talk the one half, then shall you be contented far +otherwise than was of late a kinswoman of your own--but which one I +will not tell you; guess her if you can! Her husband had much +pleasure in the manner and behaviour of another honest man, and +kept him therefore much company, so that he was at his mealtime the +more often away from home. So happed it one time that his wife and +he together dined or supped with that neighbour of theirs, and then +she made a merry quarrel with him for making her husband so good +cheer outside that she could not keep him at home. "Forsooth, +mistress," quoth he (for he was a dry merry man), "in my company no +thing keepeth him but one. Serve him with the same, and he will +never be away from you." "What gay thing may that be?" quoth our +cousin then. "Forsooth, mistress," quoth he, "your husband loveth +well to talk, and when he sitteth with me, I let him have all the +words." "All the words?" quoth she, "marry, than am I content! He +shall have all the words with good will, as he hath ever had. But I +speak them all myself, and give them all to him, and for aught I +care for them, so shall he have them all. But otherwise to say that +he shall have them all, you shall keep him still rather than he get +the half!" + +ANTHONY: Forsooth, cousin, I can soon guess which of our kin she +was. I wish we had none, for all her merry words, who would let +their husbands talk less! + +VINCENT: Forsooth, she is not so merry but what she is equally +good. But where you find fault, uncle, that I speak not enough: I +was in good faith ashamed that I spoke so much and moved you such +questions as (I found upon your answer) might better have been +spared, they were of so little worth. But now, since I see you be +so well content that I shall not forbear boldly to show my folly, I +will be no more so shamefast but will ask you what I like. + + +I + +And first, good uncle, ere we proceed further, I will be bold to +move you one thing more of that which we talked of when I was here +before. For when I revolved in my mind again the things that were +concluded here by you, methought you would in no wise wish that in +any tribulation men should seek for comfort in either worldly +things or fleshly. And this opinion of yours, uncle, seemeth +somewhat hard, for a merry tale with a friend refresheth a man +much, and without any harm delighteth his mind and amendeth his +courage and his stomach, so that it seemeth but well done to take +such recreation. And Solomon saith, I believe, that men should in +heaviness give the sorry man wine, to make him forget his sorrow. +And St. Thomas saith that proper pleasant talking, which is called +_eutrapelia,_ is a good virtue, serving to refresh the mind and +make it quick and eager to labour and study again, whereas +continual fatigue would make it dull and deadly. + +ANTHONY: Cousin, I forgot not that point, but I longed not much +to touch it. For neither might I well utterly forbear it, where it +might befall that it should not hurt; and on the other hand, if it +should so befall, methought that it should little need to give any +man counsel to it--folk are prone enough to such fancies of their +own mind! You may see this by ourselves who, coming now together +to talk of as earnest sad matter as men can devise, were fallen +yet even at the first into wanton idle tales. And of truth, +cousin, as you know very well, I myself am by nature even half a +gigglot and more. I wish I could as easily mend my fault as I well +know it, but scant can I refrain it, as old a fool as I am. +Howbeit, I will not be so partial to my fault as to praise it. + +But since you ask my mind in the matter, as to whether men in +tribulation may not lawfully seek recreation and comfort +themselves with some honest mirth (first agreed that our chief +comfort must be in God and that with him we must begin and with +him continue and with him end also), that a man should take now +and then some honest worldly mirth, I dare not be so sore as +utterly to forbid it. For good men and well learned have in some +cases allowed it, especially for the diversity of divers men's +minds. Otherwise, if we were also such as would God we were (and +such as natural wisdom would that we should be, and is not clean +excusable that we be not indeed), I would then put no doubt but +that unto any man the most comforting talking that could be would +be to hear of heaven. Whereas now, God help us, our wretchedness +is such that in talking a while of it, men wax almost weary. And, +as though to hear of heaven were a heavy burden, they must refresh +themselves afterward with a foolish tale. Our affection toward +heavenly joys waxeth wonderfully cold. If dread of hell were as +far gone, very few would fear God, but that yet sticketh a little +in our stomachs. Mark me, cousin, at the sermon, and commonly +toward the end, somewhat the preacher speaketh of hell and heaven. +Now, while he preacheth of the pains of hell, still they stay and +give him the hearing. But as soon as he cometh to the joys of +heaven, they are busking them backward and flockmeal fall away. + +It is in the soul somewhat as it is in the body: There are some +who are come, either by nature or by evil custom, to that point +where a worse thing sometimes more steadeth them than a better. +Some men, if they be sick, can away with no wholesome meat, nor no +medicine can go down with them, unless it be tempered for their +fancy with something that maketh the meat or the medicine less +wholesome than it should be. And yet, while it will be no better, +we must let them have it so. + +Cassian (that very virtuous man) rehearseth in a certain +conference of his that a certain holy father, in making of a +sermon, spoke of heaven and heavenly things so celestially that +much of his audience, with the sweet sound of it, began to forget +all the world and fall asleep. When the father beheld this, he +dissembled their sleeping and suddenly said to them, "I shall tell +you a merry tale." At that word they lifted up their heads and +hearkened unto that, and afterward (their sleep being therewith +broken) heard him tell on of heaven again. In what wise that good +father rebuked then their untoward minds--so dull to the thing +that all our life we labour for, and so quick and eager toward +other trifles--I neither bear in mind nor shall here need to +rehearse. But thus much of that matter sufficeth for our purpose, +that whereas you demand of me whether in tribulation men may not +sometimes refresh themselves with worldly mirth and recreation, I +can only say that he who cannot long endure to hold up his head +and hear talking of heaven unless he be now and then between +refreshed (as though heaven were heaviness!) with a merry foolish +tale, there is none other remedy but you must let him have it. +Better would I wish it, but I cannot help it. + +Howbeit, by mine advice, let us at least make those kinds of +recreation as short and as seldom as we can. Let them serve us but +for sauce, and make themselves not our meat. And let us pray unto +God--and all our good friends for us--that we may feel such a +savour in the delight of heaven that in respect of the talking of +its joys, all worldly recreation may be but a grief to think on. +And be sure, cousin, that if we might once purchase the grace to +come to that point, we never found of worldly recreation so much +comfort in a year as we should find in the bethinking us of heaven +for less than half an hour. + +VINCENT: In faith, uncle, I can well agree to this, and I pray +God bring us once to take such a savour in it. And surely, as you +began the other day, by faith must we come to it, and to faith by +prayer. + +But now, I pray you, good uncle, vouchsafe to proceed in our +principal matter. + + +II + +ANTHONY: Cousin, I have bethought me somewhat upon this matter +since we were last together. And I find it a thing that, if we +should go some way to work, would require many more days to treat +of than we should haply find for it in so few as I myself believe +that I have yet to live. For every time is not alike with me. +Among them, there are many painful, in which I look every day to +depart; my mending days come very seldom and are very shortly done. + +For surely, cousin, I cannot liken my life more fitly now than to +the snuff of a candle that burneth within the candlestick's nose. +For the snuff sometimes burneth down so low that whosoever looketh +on it would think it were quite out, and yet suddenly lifteth up a +flame half an inch above the nose and giveth a pretty short light +again, and thus playeth divers times till at last, ere it be +looked for, out it goeth altogether. So have I, cousin, divers +such days together as every day of them I look even to die, and +yet have I then after that some such few days again as you +yourself see me now to have, in which a man would think that I +might yet well continue. But I know my lingering not likely to +last long, but out will go my snuff suddenly some day within a +while. And therefore will I, with God's help, seem I never so well +amended, nevertheless reckon every day for my last. For though, to +the repressing of the bold courage of blind youth, there is a very +true proverb that "as soon cometh a young sheep's skin to the +market as an old," yet this difference there is at least between +them: that as the young man may hap sometimes to die soon, so the +old man can never live long. + +And therefore, cousin, in our matter here, leaving out many things +that I would otherwise treat of, I shall for this time speak but +of very few. Howbeit, if God hereafter send me more such days, +then will we, when you wish, further talk of more. + + +III + +All manner of tribulation, cousin, that any man can have, as far +as for this time cometh to my mind, falleth under some one at +least of these three kinds: Either it is such as he himself +willingly taketh; or, secondly, such as he willingly suffereth; +or, finally, such as he cannot put from him. + +This third kind I purpose not to speak of now much more, for there +shall suffice, for the time, those things that we treated between +us the other day. What kind of tribulation this is, I am sure you +yourself perceive. For sickness, imprisonment, loss of goods, loss +of friends, or such bodily harm as a man hath already caught and +can in no wise avoid--these things and such like are the third +kind of tribulation that I speak of, which a man neither willingly +taketh in the beginning, nor can (though he would) afterward put +away. + +Now think I that, just as no comfort can serve to the man who +lacketh wit and faith, whatsoever counsel be given, so to those +who have both I have, as for this kind, said in manner enough +already. And considering that suffer it he must, since he can by +no manner of means put it from him, the very necessity is half +counsel enough to take it in good worth and bear it patiently, and +rather of his patience to take both ease and thanks than by +fretting and fuming to increase his present pain, and afterward by +murmur and grudge to fall in further danger of displeasing God +with his froward behaviour. + +And yet, albeit that I think that what has been said sufficeth, +yet here and there I shall in the second kind show some such +comfort as shall well serve unto this last kind too. + + +IV + +The first kind also will I shortly pass over, too. For the +tribulation that a man willingly taketh himself, which no man +putteth upon him against his own will, is, you know as well as I +(for it was somewhat touched the last day), such affliction of the +flesh or expense of his goods as a man taketh himself or willingly +bestoweth in punishment of his own sin and for devotion to God. + +Now, in this tribulation needeth he no man to comfort him. For no +man troubleth him but himself, who feeleth how far forth he may +conveniently bear, and of reason and good discretion shall not +pass that--and if any doubt arise therein, it is counsel that he +needeth and not comfort. And so the courage that kindleth his +heart and enflameth it for God's sake and his soul's health shall, +by the same grace that put it in his mind, give him such comfort +and joy therein that the pleasure of his soul shall surpass the +pain of his body. + +Yea, and while he hath in heart also some great heaviness for his +sin, yet when he considereth the joy that shall come of it, his +soul shall not fail to feel then that strange state which my body +felt once in a great fever. + +VINCENT: What strange state was that, uncle? + +ANTHONY: Forsooth, cousin, even in this same bed, it is now more +than fifteen years ago, I lay in a tertian fever. And I had +passed, I believe, three or four fits, when afterward there fell +on me one fit out of course, so strange and so marvellous that I +would in good faith have thought it impossible. For I suddenly +felt myself verily both hot and cold throughout all my body; not +in one part the one and in another part the other--for it would +have been, you know, no very strange thing to feel the head hot +while the hands were cold--but the selfsame parts, I say, so God +save my soul, I sensibly felt (and right painfully, too) all in +one instant both hot and cold at once. + +VINCENT: By my faith, uncle, this was a wonderful thing, and such +as I never heard happen to any other man in my days. And few men +are there out of whose mouths I could have believed it. + +ANTHONY: Courtesy, cousin, peradventure hindereth you from saying +that you believe it not yet of my mouth, neither! And surely, for +fear of that, you should not have heard it of me neither, had +there not another thing happed me soon thereafter. + +VINCENT: I pray you, what was that, good uncle? + +ANTHONY: Forsooth, cousin, this: I asked a physician or twain, +who then considered how this should be possible, and they both +twain told me that it could not be so, but that I was fallen into +some slumber and dreamed that I felt it so. + +VINCENT: This hap, hold I, little caused you to tell that tale +more boldly! + +ANTHONY: No, cousin, that is true, lo. But then happed there +another: A young girl here in this town, whom a kinsman of hers +had begun to teach physic, told me that there was such a kind of +fever indeed. + +VINCENT: By our Lady, uncle, save for the credence of you, the +tale would I not yet tell again upon that hap of the maid! For +though I know her now for such that I durst well believe her, it +might hap her very well at that time to lie, because she would +that you should take her for learned. + +ANTHONY: Yea, but then happed there yet another hap thereon, +cousin, that a work of Galen, _"De differentiis febrium,"_ is +ready to be sold in the booksellers' shops, in which work she +showed me then the chapter where Galen saith the same. + +VINCENT: Marry, uncle, as you say, that hap happed well. And that +maid had, as hap was, in that one point more learning than had both +your physicians besides--and hath, I believe, at this day in many +points more. + +ANTHONY: In faith, so believe I too. She is very wise and well +learned, and very virtuous too. + +But see now what age is: lo, I have been so long in my tale that I +have almost forgotten for what purpose I told it. Oh, now I +remember me: As I say, just as I myself felt my body then both hot +and cold at once, so he who is contrite and heavy for his sin +shall have cause to be both glad and sad, and shall indeed be both +twain at once. And he shall do as I remember holy St. Jerome +biddeth--"Both be thou sorry," saith he, "and be thou also of thy +sorrow joyful." + +And thus, as I began to say, to him that is in this +tribulation--that is, in fruitful heaviness and penance for his +sin--shall we need to give none other comfort than only to +remember and consider well the goodness of God's excellent mercy, +that infinitely surpasseth the malice of all men's sins. By that +mercy he is ready to receive every man, and did spread his arms +abroad upon the cross, lovingly to embrace all those who will +come. And by that mercy he even there accepted the thief at his +last end, who turned not to God till he might steal no longer, and +yet maketh more feast in heaven for one who turneth from sin than +for ninety-nine good men who sinned not at all. + +And therefore of that first kind of tribulation will I make no +longer tale. + + +V + +VINCENT: Forsooth, uncle, this is very great comfort unto that +kind of tribulation. And so great, also, that it may make many a +man bold to abide in his sin even unto his end, trusting to be +then saved as that thief was. + +ANTHONY: Very sooth you say, cousin, that some wretches are there +who so abuse the great goodness of God that the better he is the +worse in return are they. But, cousin, though there be more joy +made of his turning who from the point of perdition cometh to +salvation, for pity that God had and all his saints of the peril +of perishing that the man stood in, yet is he not set in like +state in heaven as he should have been if he had lived better +before. Unless it so befall that he live so well afterward and do +so much good that he outrun, in the shorter time, those good folk +that yet did so much in much longer. This is proved in the blessed +apostle St. Paul, who of a persecutor became an apostle, and last +of all came in unto that office, and yet in the labour of sowing +the seed of Christ's faith outran all the rest so far that he +forbore not to say of himself, "I have laboured more than all the +rest have." + +But yet, my cousin, though I doubt not that God be so merciful +unto those who, at any time of their life, turn and ask his mercy +and trust in it, though it be at the last end of a man's life; and +that he hireth him as well for heaven who cometh to work in his +vineyard toward night at such time as workmen leave work, and +goeth home, being then willing to work if time should serve, as he +hireth him who cometh in the morning; yet may no man upon the +trust of this parable be bold all his life to lie still in sin. +For let him remember that no man goeth into God's vineyard but he +who is called thither. Now he who, in hope to be called toward the +night, will sleep out the morning and drink out the day, is full +likely to pass at night unspoken to. And then shall he with ill +rest go supperless to bed! + +They tell of one who was wont always to say that all the while he +lived he would do what he pleased, for three words when he died +should make all safe enough. But then it so happed that long ere +he was old his horse once stumbled upon a broken bridge. And as he +laboured to recover him, when he saw that it would not be, but +that down into the flood headlong he must go, in sudden dismay he +cried out in the falling, "Have all to the devil!" And there was +he drowned with his three words ere he died, whereon his hope hung +all his wretched life. + +And therefore let no man sin in hope of grace, for grace cometh +but at God's will, and that state of mind may be the hindrance +that grace of fruitful repenting shall never after be offered him, +but that he shall either graceless go linger on careless, or with +a care that is fruitless shall fall into despair. + + +VI + +VINCENT: Forsooth, uncle, in this point methinketh you say very +well. But then are there some again who say on the other hand that +we shall need no heaviness for our sins at all, but need only +change our intent and purpose to do better, and for all that is +passed take no thought at all. And as for fasting and other +affliction of the body, they say we should not do it save only to +tame the flesh when we feel it wax wanton and begin to rebel. For +fasting, they say, serveth to keep the body in temperance, but to +fast for penance or to do any other good work, almsdeed or other, +toward satisfaction for our own sins--this thing they call plain +injury to the passion of Christ, by which alone our sins are +forgiven freely without any recompense of our own. And they say +that those who would do penance for their own sins look to be +their own Christs, and pay their own ransoms, and save their souls +themselves. And with these reasons in Saxony many cast fasting +off, and all other bodily affliction, save only where need +requireth to bring the body to temperance. For no other good, they +say, can it do to ourselves, and then to our neighbour can it do +none at all. And therefore they condemn it for superstitious +folly. Now, heaviness of heart and weeping for our sins, this +they reckon shame almost, and womanish childishness--howbeit, God +be thanked, their women wax there now so mannish that they are not +so childish, nor so poor of spirit, but what they can sin on as +men do and be neither afraid nor ashamed nor weep for their sins at +all. + +And surely, mine uncle, I have marvelled the less ever since I +heard the manner of their preachers there. For, as you remember, +when I was in Saxony these matters were (in a manner) but in a +mammering. Luther was not then wedded yet, nor religious men out +of their habits, but those that would be of the sect were suffered +freely to preach what they would unto the people. And forsooth I +heard a religious man there myself--one that had been reputed and +taken for very good, and who, as far as the folk perceived, was of +his own living somewhat austere and sharp. But his preaching was +wonderful! Methinketh I hear him yet, his voice so loud and +shrill, his learning less than mean. But whereas his matter was +much part against fasting and all affliction for any penance, +which he called men's inventions, he ever cried out upon them to +keep well the laws of Christ, let go their childish penance, and +purpose then to mend and seek nothing to salvation but the death +of Christ. "For he is our justice, and he is our Saviour and our +whole satisfaction for all our deadly sins. He did full penance +for us all upon his painful cross, he washed us there all clean +with the water of his sweet side, and brought us out of the +devil's danger with his dear precious blood. Leave therefore, +leave, I beseech you, these inventions of men, your foolish Lenten +fasts and your childish penance! Diminish never Christ's thanks +nor look to save yourselves! It is Christ's death, I tell you, +that must save us all--Christ's death, I tell you yet again, and +not our own deeds. Leave your own fasting, therefore, and lean to +Christ alone, good Christian people, for Christ's dear bitter +passion!" Now, so loud and shrill he cried "Christ" in their ears, +and so thick he came forth with Christ's bitter passion, and that +so bitterly spoken with the sweat dropping down his cheeks, that I +marvelled not that I saw the poor women weep. For he made my own +hair stand up upon my head. + +And with such preaching were the people so taken in that some fell +to break their fast on the fasting days, not of frailty or of +malice first, but almost of devotion, lest they should take from +Christ the thanks of his bitter passion. But when they were awhile +nursled in that point first, they could afterward abide and endure +many things more, for which, if he had begun with them, they would +have pulled him down. + +ANTHONY: Cousin, God amend that man, whatsoever he be, and God +keep all good folk from such manner of preachers! One such +preacher much more abuseth the name of Christ and of his bitter +passion than do five hundred gamblers who in their idle business +swear and foreswear themselves by his holy bitter passion at dice. +They carry the minds of the people from perceiving their craft by +the continual naming of the name of Christ, and crying his passion +so shrill into their ears that they forget that the Church hath +ever taught them that all our penance without Christ's passion +would not be worth a pea. And they make the people think that we +wish to be saved by our own deeds, without Christ's death; whereas +we confess that his passion alone meriteth incomparably more for +us than all our own deeds do, but that it is his pleasure that we +shall also take pain ourselves with him. And therefore he biddeth +all who will be his disciples to take their crosses on their backs +as he did, and with their crosses follow him. + +And where they say that fasting serveth but for temperance to tame +the flesh and keep it from wantonness, I would in good faith have +thought that Moses had not been so wild that for the taming of his +flesh he should have need to fast whole forty days together. No, +not Hely neither. Nor yet our Saviour himself, who began the +Lenten forty-days fast--and the apostles followed, and all +Christendom hath kept it--that these folk call now so foolish. +King Achab was not disposed to be wanton in his flesh, when he +fasted and went clothed in sackcloth and all besprent with ashes. +No more was the king in Nineveh and all the city, but they wailed +and did painful penance for their sin to procure God to pity them +and withdraw his indignation. Anna, who in her widowhood abode so +many years with fasting and praying in the temple till the birth +of Christ, was not, I suppose, in her old age so sore disposed to +the wantonness of the flesh that she fasted for all that. Nor St. +Paul, who fasted so much, fasted not all for that, neither. The +scripture is full of places that prove fasting to be not the +invention of man but the institution of God, and to have many more +profits than one. And that the fasting of one man may do good unto +another, our Saviour showeth himself where he saith that some kind +of devils cannot be cast out of one man by another "without prayer +and fasting." And therefore I marvel that they take this way +against fasting and other bodily penance. + +And yet much more I marvel that they mislike the sorrow and +heaviness and displeasure of mind that a man should take in +thinking of his sin. The prophet saith, "Tear your hearts and not +your clothes." And the prophet David saith, "A contrite heart and +an humbled"--that is to say, a heart broken, torn, and laid low +under foot with tribulation of heaviness for his sins--"shalt thou +not, good Lord, despise." He saith also of his own contrition, "I +have laboured in my wailing; I shall every night wash my bed with +my tears, my couch will I water." + +But why should I need in this matter to lay forth one place or +twain? The scripture is full of those places, by which it plainly +appeareth that God looketh of duty, not only that we should amend +and be better in the time to come, but also that we should be +sorry and weep and bewail our sins committed before. And all the +old holy doctors be full and whole of that opinion, that men must +have for their sins contrition and sorrow in heart. + + +VII + +VINCENT: Forsooth, uncle, this thing yet seemeth to me a somewhat +sore sentence, not because I think otherwise but that there is +good cause and great wherefore a man should so sorrow, but because +of truth sometimes a man cannot be sorry and heavy for his sin +that he hath done, though he never so fain would. But though he +can be content for God's sake to forbear it thenceforth, yet not +only can he not weep for every sin that is past, but some were +haply so wanton that when he happeth to remember them he can +scantly forbear to laugh. + +Now, if contrition and sorrow of heart be so requisite of +necessity to remission, many a man should stand, it seemeth, in a +very perilous state. + +ANTHONY: Many so should indeed, cousin, and indeed many do so. +And the old saints write very sore on this point. Howbeit, "the +mercy of God is above all his works," and he standeth bound to no +common rule. "And he knoweth the frailty of this earthen vessel +that is of his own making, and is merciful and hath pity and +compassion upon our feeble infirmities," and shall not exact of us +above the thing that we can do. + +And yet, cousin, he who findeth himself in that state, let him +give God thanks that he is no worse, in that he is minded to do +well hereafter. But in that he cannot be sorry for his sin passed, +let him be sorry at least that he is no better. And as St. Jerome +biddeth him who sorroweth in his heart for sin to be glad and +rejoice in his sorrow, so would I counsel him who cannot be sad +for his sin to be sorry at least that he cannot be sorry! + +Besides this, though I would in no wise that any man should +despair, yet would I counsel such a man while that affection +lasteth not to be bold of courage, but to live in double fear: +First, because it is a token either of faint faith or of a dull +diligence. For surely if we believe in God, and therewith deeply +consider his high majesty, with the peril of our sin and the great +goodness of God also, then either dread should make us tremble and +break our stony heart, or love should for sorrow relent it into +tears. Besides this, because, since so little misliking of our old +sin is an affection not very pure and clean, and since no unclean +thing shall enter into heaven, I can scantly believe but it shall +be cleansed and purified before we come there. And therefore would +I further give one in that state the counsel which Master Gerson +giveth every man: that since the body and the soul together make +the whole man, the less affliction he feeleth in his soul, the +more pain in recompense let him put upon his body, and purge the +spirit by the affliction of the flesh. And he who so doth, I dare +lay my life, shall have his hard heart afterward relent into +tears, and his soul in a wholesome heaviness and heavenly gladness +too--especially if he join therewith faithful prayer, which must +be joined with every good thing. + +But, cousin, as I told you the other day, in these matters with +these new men I will not dispute, but surely for mine own part I +cannot well hold with them. For as far as mine own poor wit can +perceive, the holy scripture of God is very plain against them, +and the whole corps of Christendom in every Christan region. And +the very places in which they dwell themselves have ever unto +their own days clearly believed against them and all the old holy +doctors have evermore taught against them, and all the old holy +interpreters have construed against them. And therefore if these +men have now perceived so late that the scripture hath been +misunderstood all this while, and that of all those old holy +doctors no man could understand it, then am I too old at this age +to begin to study it now! And I dare not in no wise trust these +men's learning, cousin, since I cannot see nor perceive any cause +wherefore I should think that these men might not now in the +understanding of scripture as well be deceived themselves as they +would have us believe all those others have been, all this while +before. + +Howbeit, cousin, if it so be that their way be not wrong, but that +they have found out so easy a way to heaven as to take no thought, +but make merry, nor take no penance at all, but sit them down and +drink well for our Saviour's sake--set cockahoop and fill all the +cups at once, and then let Christ's passion pay for all the +scot--I am not he who will envy their good hap. But surely, +counsel dare I give no man to adventure that way with them. But +those who fear lest that way be not sure, and take upon themselves +willingly tribulation of penance--what comfort they do take, and +well may take therein, that have I somewhat told you already. And +since these other folk sit so merry with such tribulation, we need +talk to them, you know, of no such manner of comfort. + +And therefore of this kind of tribulation will I make an end. + + +VIII + +VINCENT: Verily, good uncle, so may you well do, for you have +brought it unto a very good pass. + +And now, I pray you, come to the other kind, of which you purposed +always to treat last. + +ANTHONY: That shall I, cousin, very gladly do. The other kind is +the one which I rehearsed second, and (sorting out the other two) +have kept for the last. This second kind of tribulation is, you +know, of those who willingly suffer tribulation, though of their +own choice they took it not at first. + +This kind, cousin, we shall divide into twain; the first we might +call temptation, the second persecution. But here must you +consider that I mean not every kind of persecution, but only that +kind which, though the sufferer would be loth to fall in, yet will +he rather abide it and suffer than, by flying from it, fall into +the displeasure of God or leave God's pleasure unprocured. +Howbeit, if we well consider these two things, temptation and +persecution, we may find that either of them is incident into the +other. For both by temptation the devil persecuteth us, and by +persecution the devil also tempteth us. And as persecution is +tribulation to every man, so is temptation tribulation to a good +man. Now, though the devil, our spiritual enemy, fight against man +in both, yet this difference hath the common temptation from the +persecution: Temptation is, as it were, the fiend's snare, and +persecution his plain open fight. And therefore will I now call +all this kind of tribulation here by the name of temptation, and +that shall I divide into two parts. The first shall I call the +devil's snares, the other his open fight. + + +IX + +To speak of every kind of temptation particularly, by itself, +would be, you know, in a manner an infinite thing. For under that, +as I told you, fall persecutions and all. And the devil hath a +thousand subtle ways of his snares, and of his open fight as many +sundry poisoned darts. He tempteth us by the world, he tempteth us +by our own flesh; he tempteth us by pleasure, he tempteth us by +pain; he tempteth us by our foes, he tempteth us by our own +friends--and, under colour of kindred, he maketh many times our +nearest friends our most foes. For, as our Saviour said, _"Inimici +hominis domestici eius."_ + +But in all manner of so diverse temptations, one marvellous +comfort is that, the more we be tempted, the gladder have we cause +to be. For, as St. James saith, "Esteem and take it, my brethren, +for a thing of all joy when you fall into diverse and sundry +manner of temptations." And no marvel, for there is in this world +set up (as it were) a game of wrestling, in which the people of +God come in on the one side, and on the other side come mighty +strong wrestlers and wily--that is, the devils, the cursed proud +damned spirits. For it is not our flesh alone that we must wrestle +with, but with the devil too. "Our wrestling is not here," saith +St. Paul, "against flesh and blood, but against the princes and +potentates of these dark regions, against the spiritual wicked +ghosts of the air." + +But as God hath prepared a crown for those who on his side give +his adversary the fall, so he who will not wrestle shall have +none. For, as St. Paul saith, "There shall no man have the crown +but he who contendeth for it according to the law of the game." +And then, as holy St. Bernard saith, how couldst thou fight or +wrestle for it, if there were no challenger against thee who would +provoke thee thereto? And therefore may it be a great comfort, as +St. James saith, to every man who feeleth himself challenged and +provoked by temptation. For thereby perceiveth he that it cometh +to his course to wrestle, which shall be, unless he willingly play +the coward or the fool, the matter of his eternal reward. + + +X + +But now must this needs be to man an inestimable comfort in all +temptation if his faith fail him not: that is, that he may be sure +that God is always ready to give him strength against the devil's +might and wisdom against the devil's snares. + +For, as the prophet saith, "My strength and my praise is our Lord, +he hath been my safeguard." And the scripture saith, "Ask wisdom +of God and he shall give it thee," in order "that you may espy," +as St. Paul saith, "and perceive all the crafts." A great comfort +may this be in all kinds of temptation, that God hath so his hand +upon him who is willing to stand and will trust in him and call +upon him, that he hath made him sure by many faithful promises in +holy scripture that either he shall not fall or, if he sometimes +through faintness of faith stagger and hap to fall, yet if he call +upon God betimes his fall shall be no sore bruising to him. But as +the scripture saith, "The just man, though he fall, shall not be +bruised, for our Lord holdeth under his hand." + +The prophet expresseth a plain comfortable promise of God against +all temptations where he saith, "Whoso dwelleth in the help of the +highest God, he shall abide in the protection or defence of the +God of heaven." Who dwelleth, now, good cousin, in the help of the +high God? Surely, he who through a good faith abideth in the trust +and confidence of God's help, and neither, for lack of that faith +and trust in his help, falleth desperate of all help, nor +departeth from the hope of his help to seek himself help (as I +told you the other day) from the flesh, the world, or the devil. + +Now he then who by fast faith and sure hope dwelleth in God's +help, and hangeth always upon that hope, never falling from it, he +shall, saith the prophet, ever dwell and abide in God's defence +and protection. That is to say, while he faileth not to believe +well and hope well, God will never fail in all temptation to +defend him. For unto such a faithful well-hoping man the prophet +in the same psalm saith further, "With his shoulders shall he +shadow thee, and under his feathers shalt thou trust." Lo, here +hath every faithful man a sure promise that in the fervent heat of +temptation or tribulation--for, as I have said divers times +before, each is in such wise incident to the other that the devil +useth every tribulation for temptation to bring us to impatience, +and thereby to murmur and grudge and blasphemy; and every kind of +temptation, to a good man who fighteth against it and will not +follow it, is a very painful tribulation. In the fervent heat, I +say therefore, of every temptation, God giveth the faithful man +who hopeth in him the shadow of his holy shoulders. His shoulders +are broad and large enough to cool and refresh the man in that +heat, and in every tribulation he putteth them for a defence +between. And then what weapon of the devil may give us any deadly +wound, while that impenetrable shield of the shoulder of God +standeth always between? + +Then goeth the verse further, and saith unto such a faithful man, +"Thine hope shall be under his feathers." That is, for the good +hope thou hast in his help, he will take thee so near him into his +protection that, as the hen, to keep her young chickens from the +kite, nestled them together under her wings, so from the devil's +claws--the ravenous kite of this dark air--will the God of heaven +gather the faithful trusting folk near unto his own sides, and set +them in surety, very well and warm, under the covering of his +heavenly wings. And of this defence and protection, our +Saviour spoke himself unto the Jews, as mention is made in the +twenty-third chapter of St. Matthew, to whom he said in this wise: +"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that killest the prophets and stonest unto +death them that are sent to thee, how often would I have gathered +thee together, as the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, +and thou wouldst not." + +Here are, cousin Vincent, words of no little comfort unto every +Christian man. For by them we may see with what tender affection +God of his great goodness longeth to gather us under the +protection of his wings, and how often like a loving hen he +clucketh home unto him even those chickens of his that wilfully +walk abroad into the kite's danger and will not come at his +clucking, but ever, the more he clucketh for them, the farther +they go from him. And therefore can we not doubt that, if we will +follow him and with faithful hope come running to him, he shall in +all matter of temptation take us near unto him and set us even +under his wing. And then are we safe, if we will tarry there, for +against our will no power can pull us thence, nor hurt our souls +there. "Set me near unto thee," saith the prophet, "and fight +against me whose hand that will." And to show the great safeguard +and surety that we shall have while we sit under his heavenly +feathers, the prophet saith yet a great deal further, _"In +velamento alarum tuarum exaltabo."_ That is, that we shall not +only sit in safeguard when we sit by his sweet side under his holy +wing, but we shall also under the covering of his heavenly wings +with great exultation rejoice. + + +XI + +Now, in the two next verses following, the prophet briefly +comprehendeth four kinds of temptations, and therein all the +tribulation that we shall now speak of, and also some part of that +which we have spoken of before. And therefore I shall peradventure +(unless any further thing fall in our way) with treating of those +two verses, finish and end all our matter. + +The prophet saith in the ninetieth psalm, "_Scuto circumdabit te +veritas eius; non timebis a timore nocturno, a sagitta volante in +die, a negotio perambulante in tenebris, ab incurso et demonio +meridiano._ The truth of God shall compass thee about with a +shield, you shall not be afraid of the night's fear, nor of the +arrow flying in the day, nor of business walking about in the +darknesses, nor of the incursion or invasion of the devil in the +midday." + +First, cousin, in these words "the truth of God shall compass thee +about with a shield," the prophet for the comfort of every good +man in all temptation and in all tribulation, besides those other +things that he said before--that the shoulders of God should +shadow them and that also they should sit under his wing--here +saith he further that the truth of God shall compass thee with a +shield. That is, as God hath faithfully promised to protect and +defend those that faithfully will dwell in the trust of his help, +so will he truly perform it. And thou who art such a one, the +truth of his promise will defend thee not with a little round +buckler that scantly can cover the head, but with a long large +shield that covereth all along the body. This shield is made (as +holy St. Bernard saith) broad above with the Godhead and narrow +beneath with the Manhood, so that it is our Saviour Christ himself. +And yet is this shield not like other shields of the world, which +are so made that while they defend one part the man may be wounded +upon another. But this shield is such that, as the prophet saith, +it shall round about enclose and compass thee, so that thine enemy +shall hurt thy soul on no side. For "with a shield," saith he, +"shall his truth environ and compass thee round about." + +And then incontinently following, to the intent that we should see +that it is not without necessity that the shield of God should +compass us about upon every side, he showeth in what wise we are +environed by the devil upon every side with snares and assaults, +by four kinds of temptations and tribulations. Against all this +compass of temptations and tribulations that round-compassing +shield of God's truth shall so defend us and keep us safe that we +shall need to dread none of them at all. + + +XII + +First, he saith, "thou shalt not be afraid of the fear of the +night." By the night is there in scripture sometimes understood +tribulation, as appeareth in the thirty-fourth chapter of Job: "God +hath known the works of them, and therefore shall he bring night +upon them," that is, tribulation for their wickedness. And well you +know that the night is of its own nature discomfortable and full of +fear. And therefore by the night's fear here I understand the +tribulation by which the devil, through the sufference of God, +either by himself or by others who are his instruments, tempteth +good folk to impatience as he did Job. But he who, as the prophet +saith, dwelleth and continueth faithfully in the hope of God's +help, shall so be clipped in on every side with the shield of God +that he shall have no need to be afraid of such tribulation as is +here called the night's fear. And it may be also fittingly called +the night's fear for two causes: One, because many times, unto him +who suffereth, the cause of his tribulation is dark and unknown. +And therein it varieth and differeth from that tribulation by which +the devil tempteth a man with open fight and assault for a known +good thing from which he would withdraw him, or for some known evil +thing into which he would drive him by force of such persecution. +Another cause for which it is called the night's fear may be +because the night is so far out of courage, and naturally so +casteth folk into fear, that their fancy doubleth their fear of +everything of which they perceive any manner of dread, and maketh +them often think that it were much worse than indeed it is. + +The prophet saith in the psalter, "Thou hast, good Lord, set the +darkness and made was the night, and in the night walk all the +beasts of the woods, the whelps of the lions roaring and calling +unto God for their meat." Now, though the lions' whelps walk about +roaring in the night and seek for their prey, yet can they not get +such meat as they would always, but must hold themselves content +with such as God suffereth to fall in their way. And though they +be not aware of it, yet of God they ask it and of him they have +it. And this may be comfort to all good men in their night's fear, +that though they fall in their dark tribulation into the claws of +the devil or the teeth of those lions' whelps, yet all that they +can do shall not pass beyond the body, which is but as the garment +of the soul. For the soul itself, which is the substance of the +man, is so surely fenced in round about with the shield of God, +that as long as he will abide faithfully in the hope of God's help +the lions' whelp shall not be able to hurt it. For the great Lion +himself could never be suffered to go further in the tribulation +of Job than God from time to time gave him leave. + +And therefore the deep darkness of the midnight maketh men who +stand out of faith and out of good hope in God to be in far the +greater fear in their tribulation, for lack of the light of faith, +by which they might perceive that the uttermost of their peril is +a far less thing than they take it for. But we are so wont to set +so much by our body, which we see and feel, and in the feeding and +fostering of which we set out delight and our wealth; and so +little (alas) and so seldom we think upon our soul, because we +cannot see that but by spiritual understanding, and most +especially by the eye of our faith (in the meditation of which we +bestow, God knows, little time), that the loss of our body we take +for a sorer thing and for a great deal greater tribulation than we +do the loss of our soul. Our Saviour biddeth us not fear those +lions' whelps that can but kill our bodies and when that is done +have no further thing in their power with which they can do us +harm, but he biddeth us stand in dread of him who when he hath +slain the body is able then beside to cast the soul into +everlasting fire. Yet are we so blind in the dark night of +tribulation, for lack of full and fast belief of God's word, that, +whereas in the day of prosperity we very little fear God for our +soul, our night's fear of adversity maketh us very sore to fear +the lion and his whelps for dread of loss of our bodies. And +whereas St. Paul in sundry places telleth us that our body is but +the garment of the soul, yet the faintness of our faith in the +scripture of God maketh us, with the night's fear of tribulation, +not only to dread the loss of our body more than that of our +soul--that is, of the clothing more than of the substance that is +clothed therewith--but also of the very outward goods that serve +for the clothing of the body. And much more foolish are we in that +dark night's fear than would be a man who would forget the saving +of his body for fear of losing his old rain-beaten cloak, that is +but the covering of his gown or his coat. Now, consider further +yet, that the prophet in the afore-remembered verses saith that in +the night there walk not only the lions' whelps but also "all the +beasts of the wood." Now, you know that if a man walk through the +wood in the night, many things can make him afraid of which in the +day he would not be afraid a whit. For in the night every bush, to +him that waxeth once afraid, seemeth a thief. + +I remember that when I was a young man, I was once in the war with +the king then my master (God absolve his soul) and we were camped +within the Turk's ground many a mile beyond Belgrade--would God it +were ours now as it was then! But so happed it that in our camp +about midnight there suddenly rose a rumour and a cry that the +Turk's whole army was secretly stealing upon us. Therewith our +whole host was warned to arm them in haste and set themselves in +array to fight. And then were runners of ours, who had brought +those sudden tidings, examined more leisurely by the council, as +to what surety or what likelihood they had perceived. And one of +them said that by the glimmering of the moon he had espied and +perceived and seen them himself, coming on softly and soberly in a +long range, all in good order, not one farther forth than the +other in the forefront, but as even as a third, and in breadth +farther than he could see the length. His fellows, being examined, +said that he had somewhat pricked forth before them, and came back +so fast to tell it to them that they thought it rather time to +make haste and giving warning to the camp than to go nearer unto +them. For they were not so far off but what they had yet +themselves somewhat an imperfect sight of them, too. Thus stood we +on watch all the rest of the night, evermore hearkening when we +should hear them come, but "Hush, stand still! Methink I hear a +trampling," so that at last many of us thought we heard them +ourselves too. But when the day was sprung, and we saw no one, out +was our runner sent again, and some of our captains with him, to +show whereabout was the place in which he had perceived them. And +when they came thither, they found that the great fearful army of +the Turks, so soberly coming on, turned (God be thanked) into a +fair long hedge standing even stone-still. + +And thus fareth it in the night's fear of tribulation, in which +the devil, to bear down and overwhelm with dread the faithful hope +that we should have in God, casteth in our imagination much more +fear than cause. For since there walk in that night not only the +lion's whelps but all the beasts of the wood beside, the beast +that we hear roar in the dark night of tribulation, and fear for a +lion, we sometimes find well afterward in the way that it was no +lion at all, but a silly rude roaring ass. And sometimes the thing +that on the sea seemeth a rock is indeed nothing else but a mist. +Howbeit, as the prophet saith, he that faithfully dwelleth in the +hope of God's help, the shield of his truth shall so fence him +round about that, be it an ass or a colt or a lion's whelp, or a +rock of stone or a mist, the night's fear thereof shall be nothing +to dread. + + +XIII + +Therefore find I that in the night's fear one great part is the +fault of pusillanimity; that is, of faint and feeble stomach, by +which a man for faint heart is afraid where he needeth not. By +reason of this, he flieth oftentime for fear of something of +which, if he fled not, he should take no harm. And a man doth +sometimes by his fleeing make an enemy bold on him, who would, if +he fled not but dared abide, give over and fly from him. + +This fault of pusillanimity maketh a man in his tribulation first, +for feeble heart, impatient. And afterward oftentimes it driveth +him by impatience into a contrary affection, making him frowardly +stubborn and angry against God, and thereby to fall into +blasphemy, as do the damned souls in hell. This fault of +pusillanimity and timorous mind hindereth a man also many times +from doing many good things which, if he took a good stomach to +him in the trust of God's help, he would be well able to do. But +the devil casteth him in a cowardice and maketh him take it for +humility to think himself unfit and unable to do them. And +therefore he leaveth undone the good thing of which God offereth +him occasion and to which he had made him fit. + +But such folk have need to lift up their hearts and call upon God, +and by the counsel of other good spiritual folk to cast away the +cowardice of their own conceiving which the night's fear by the +devil hath framed in their fancy. And they have need to look in +the gospel upon him who laid up his talent and left it unoccupied +and therefore utterly lost it, with a great reproach of his +pusillanimity, but which he had thought to have excused himself, +in that he was afraid to put it forth into use and occupy it. + +And all this fear cometh by the devil's drift, wherein he taketh +occasion of the faintness of our good and sure trust in God. And +therefore let us faithfully dwell in the good hope of his help, +and then shall the shield of his truth so compass us about that of +this night's fear we shall have no fear at all. + + +XIV + +This pusillanimity bringeth forth, by the night's fear, a very +timorous daughter, a silly wretched girl and ever whining, who is +called Scrupulosity, or a scrupulous conscience. + +This girl is a good enough maidservant in a house, never idle but +ever occupied and busy. But albeit she hath a very gentle mistress +who loveth her well and is well content with what she doth--or, if +all be not well (as all cannot always be well), is content to +pardon her as she doth others of her fellows, and letteth her know +that she will do so--yet can this peevish girl never cease whining +and puling for fear lest her mistress be always angry with her and +she shall severely be chidden. Would her mistress, think you, be +likely to be content with this condition? Nay, surely not. + +I knew such a one myself, whose mistress was a very wise woman and +(a thing which is in women very rare) very mild also and meek, and +liked very well such service as she did her in the house. But she +so much misliked this continual discomfortable fashion of hers +that she would sometimes say, "Eh, what aileth this girl? The +elvish urchin thinketh I were a devil, I do believe. Surely if she +did me ten times better service than she doth, yet with this +fantastical fear of hers I would be loth to have her in mine +house." + +Thus fareth, lo, the scrupulous person, who frameth himself many +times double the fear that he hath cause, and many times a great +fear where there is no cause at all. And of that which is indeed +no sin, he maketh a venial one. And that which is venial, he +imagineth to be deadly--and yet, for all that, he falleth into +them, since they are of their nature such as no man long liveth +without. And then he feareth that he is never fully confessed nor +fully contrite, and then that his sins be never fully forgiven +him. And then he confesseth and confesseth again, and cumbereth +himself and his confessor both. And then every prayer that he +saith, though he say it as well as the frail infirmity of the man +will suffer, yet he is not satisfied unless he say it again, and +yet after that again. And when he hath said the same thing thrice, +as little is he satisfied with the last time as the first. And +then is his heart evermore in heaviness, unquiet, and fear, full +of doubt and dullness, without comfort or spiritual consolation. + +With this night's fear the devil sore troubleth the mind of many a +right good man, and that doth he to bring him to some great evil. +For he will, if he can, drive him so much to the fearful minding +of God's rigorous justice, that he will keep him from the +comfortable remembrance of God's great mighty mercy, and so make +him do all his good works wearily and without consolation or +quickness. + +Moreover, he maketh him take for a sin something that is not one, +and for a deadly sin one that is but venial, to the intent that +when he shall fall into them he shall, by reason of his scruple, +sin where otherwise he would not, or sin mortally (because his +conscience, in doing the deed, so told him) where otherwise indeed +he would have offended only venially. + +Yes, and further, the devil longeth to make all his good works and +spiritual exercises so painful and so tedious to him, that, with +some other subtle suggestion or false wily doctrine of a false +spiritual liberty, he should be easily conveyed from that evil +fault into one much worse, for the false ease and pleasure that he +should suddenly find therein. And then should he have his +conscience as wide and large afterward as ever it was narrow and +straight before. For better is yet, of truth, a conscience a +little too narrow than a little too large. + +My mother had, when I was a little boy, a good old woman who took +care of her children. They called her Mother Maud--I daresay you +have heard of her? + +VINCENT: Yea, yea, very much. + +ANTHONY: She was wont, when she sat by the fire with us, to tell +us who were children many childish tales. But as Pliny saith that +there is no book lightly so bad but that a man may pick some good +thing out of it, so think I that there is almost no tale so +foolish but that yet in one matter or another, it may hap to serve +to some purpose. + +For I remember me that among others of her foolish tales, she told +us once that the ass and the wolf came upon a time to confession +to the fox. The poor ass came to shrift in Shrovetide, a day or +two before Ash Wednesday. But the wolf would not come to +confession till he saw first Palm Sunday past, and then he put it +off yet further until Good Friday. + +The fox asked the ass, before he began _"Benedicite,"_ wherefore +he came to confession so soon, before Lent began. The poor beast +answered him that it was for fear of deadly sin, if he should lose +his part of any of those prayers that the priests in the cleansing +days pray for them who are then confessed already. Then in his +shrift he had a marvellous grudge in his inward conscience, that +he had one day given his master a cause of anger in that, with his +rude roaring before his master arose, he had wakened him out of +his sleep and bereaved him of his rest. The fox, for that fault, +like a good discreet confessor, charged him to do so no more, but +to lie still and sleep like a good son himself until his master +were up and ready to go to work, and so should he be sure that he +should wake him no more. + +To tell you all the poor ass's confession, it would be a long +work. For everything that he did was deadly sin with him, the poor +soul was so scrupulous. But his wise wily confessor accounted them +for trifles (as they were) and swore afterward to the badger that +he was so weary to sit so long and hear him that, saving for the +sake of manners, he had rather have sat all that time at breakfast +with a good fat goose. But when it came to the giving of the +penance, the fox found that the most weighty sin in all his shrift +was gluttony. And therefore he discreetly gave him in penance that +he should never for greediness of his food do any other beast any +harm or hindrance. And then he should eat his food and worry no +more. + +Now, as good Mother Maud told us, when the wolf came to Father +Reynard (that was, she said, the fox's name) to confession upon +Good Friday, his confessor shook his great pair of beads at him, +almost as big as bowling balls, and asked him wherefore he came so +late. "Forsooth, Father Reynard," quoth he, "I must needs tell you +the truth--I come, you know, for that. I dared not come sooner for +fear lest you would, for my gluttony, have given me in penance to +fast some part of this Lent." "Nay, nay," quoth Father Fox, "I am +not so unreasonable, for I fast none of it myself. For I may say +to thee, son, between us twain here in confession, it is no +commandment of God, this fasting, but an invention of man. The +priests make folk fast, and then put them to trouble about the +moonshine in the water, and do but make folk fools. But they shall +make me no such fool, I warrant thee, son, for I ate flesh all +this Lent, myself. Howbeit indeed, because I will not be occasion +of slander, I ate it secretly in my chamber, out of sight of all +such foolish brethren as for their weak scrupulous conscience +would wax offended by it. And so would I counsel you to do." +"Forsooth, Father Fox," quoth the wolf, "and so, thank God, I do, +as near as I can. For when I go to my meal, I take no other +company with me but such sure brethren as are of mine own nature, +whose consciences are not weak, I warrant you, but their stomachs +are as strong as mine." "Well, then, no matter," quoth Father Fox. +But when he heard afterward, by his confession, that he was so +great a ravener that he devoured and spent sometimes so much +victuals at a meal that the price of them would well keep some +poor man with his wife and children almost all the week, then he +prudently reproved that point in him, and preached him a sermon of +his own temperance. For he never used, he said, to pass the value +of sixpence at a meal--no, nor even that much, "For when I bring +home a goose," quoth he, "it is not out of the poulterer's shop, +where folk find them with their feathers ready plucked and see +which is the fattest, and yet for sixpence buy and choose the +best; but out of the housewife's house, at first hand, which can +supply them somewhat cheaper, you know, than the poulterer can. +Nor yet can I be suffered to see them plucked, and stand and +choose them by day, but am fain by night to take one at adventure. +And when I come home, I am fain to do the labour to pluck it +myself too. Yet, for all this, though it be but lean and, I know, +not well worth a groat, it serveth me sometimes both for dinner +and for supper too. As for the fact that you live of ravine, I can +find no fault in that. You have used it so long that I think you +can do no otherwise, and therefore it would be folly to forbid it +to you--and, to say the truth, against good conscience too. For +live you must, I know, and other craft know you none, and +therefore, as reason is, must you live by that. But yet, you know, +too much is too much, and measure is a merry mean, which I +perceive by your shrift you have never used to keep. And therefore +surely this shall be your penance, that you shall all this year +never pass the price of sixpence at a meal, as near as your +conscience can guess the price." + +Their shrift have I told you, as Mother Maud told it to us. But now +serveth for our matter the conscience of them both in the true +performing of their penance. The poor ass after his shrift, when he +waxed an-hungered, saw a sow lie with her pigs, well lapped in new +straw. And he drew near and thought to have eaten of the straw, but +anon his scrupulous conscience began therein to grudge him. For +since his penance was that, for greediness of his good, he should +do nobody else any harm, he thought he might not eat one straw +there lest, for lack of that straw, some of those pigs might hap to +die for cold. So he held still his hunger until someone brought him +food. But when he was about to fall to it, then fell he yet into a +far further scruple. For then it came in his mind that he should +yet break his penance if he should eat any of that either, since he +was commanded by his ghostly father that he should not, for his own +food, hinder any other beast. For he thought that if he ate not +that food, some other beast might hap to have it. And so should he, +by the eating of it, peradventure hinder another. And thus stayed +he still fasting till, when he told the cause, his ghostly father +came and informed him better, and then he cast off that scruple and +fell mannerly to his meal, and was a right honest ass many a fair +day after. + +The wolf now, coming from shrift clean absolved from his sins, +went about to do as a certain shrewish wife once told her husband +that she would do, when she came from shrift. "Be merry, man," +quoth she now, "for this day, I thank God, I was well shriven. And +I purpose now therefore to leave off all mine old shrewishness and +begin even afresh!" + +VINCENT: Ah, well, uncle, can you report her so? That word I +heard her speak, but she said it in sport to make her goodman +laugh. + +ANTHONY: Indeed, it seemed she spoke it half in sport. For in +that she said she would cast away all her old shrewishness, +therein I daresay she sported. But in that she said she would +begin it all afresh, her husband found that in good earnest! + +VINCENT: Well, I shall tell her what you say, I warrant you. + +ANTHONY: Then will you make me make my word good! + +But whatsoever she did, at least so fared now this wolf, who had +cast out in confession all his old ravine. For then hunger pricked +him forward so that, as the shrewish wife said, he should begin +all afresh. But yet the prick of conscience withdrew him and held +him back, because he would not, for breaking of his penance, take +any prey for his mealtide that should pass the price of sixpence. + +It happed him then, as he walked prowling for his gear about, that +he came where a man had, a few days before, cast off two old lean +and lame horses, so sick that no flesh was there left upon them. +And the one, when the wolf came by, could scant stand on his legs, +and the other was already dead and his skin ripped off and carried +away. And as he looked upon them suddenly, he was first about to +feed upon them and whet his teeth upon their bones. But as he +looked aside, he spied a fair cow in an enclosure, walking with +her young calf by her side. And as soon as he saw them, his +conscience began to grudge him against both those two horses. And +then he sighed and said to himself, "Alas, wicked wretch that I +am, I had almost broken my penance ere I was aware! For yonder +dead horse, because I never sad a dead horse sold in the market, +even if I should die for it, I cannot guess, to save my sinful +soul, what price I should set on him. But in my conscience I set +him far above sixpence, and therefore I dare not meddle with him. +Now, then, yonder live horse is in all likelihood worth a great +deal of money. For horses are dear in this country--especially +such soft amblers, for I see by his pace he trotteth not, nor can +scant shift a foot. And therefore I may not meddle with him, for +he very far passeth my sixpence. But cows this country hath +enough, while money have they very little. And therefore, +considering the plenty of the cows and the scarcity of the money, +yonder foolish cow seemeth unto me, in my conscience, worth not +past a groat, if she be worth so much. Now then, her calf is not +so much as she, by half. And therefore, since the cow is in my +conscience worth but fourpence, my conscience cannot serve me, for +sin of my soul, to appraise her calf above twopence. And so pass +they not sixpence between them both. And therefore may I well eat +them twain at this one meal and break not my penance at all." And +so thereupon he did, without any scruple of conscience. + +If such beasts could speak now, as Mother Maud said they could +then, some of them would, I daresay, tell a tale almost as wise as +this! Save for the diminishing of old Mother Maud's tale, a +shorter sermon would have served. But yet, as childish as the +parable is, in this it serveth for our purpose: that the night's +fear of a somewhat scrupulous conscience, though it be painful and +troublous to him who hath it, as this poor ass had here, is yet +less harm than a conscience that is over-large. And less harm is +it than a conscience such as a man pleases to frame himself for +his own fancy--now drawing it narrow, now stretching it in +breadth, after the manner of a leather thong--to serve on every +side for his own commodity, as did here the wily wolf. + +But such folk are out of tribulation, and comfort need they none, +and therefore are they out of our matter. But he who is in the +night's fear of his own scrupulous conscience, let him well +beware, as I said, that the devil draw him not, for weariness of +the one, into the other, and while he would fly from Scilla draw +him into Charibdis. He must do as doth a ship coming into a haven +in the mouth of which lie secret rocks under the water on both +sides. If by mishap he be entered in among them that are on the +one side, and cannot tell how to get out, he must get a +substantial clever pilot who can so conduct him from the rocks on +that side that yet he bring him not into those that are on the +other side, but can guide him in the mid way. Let them, I say +therefore, who are in the troublous fear of heir own scrupulous +conscience, submit the rule of their conscience to the counsel of +some other good man, who after the variety and the nature of the +scruples may temper his advice. + +Yea, although a man be very well learned himself, yet if he be in +this state let him learn the custom used among physicians. For if +one of them be never so learned, yet in his own disease and +sickness he never useth to trust all to himself, but sendeth for +such of his fellows as he knoweth to be able, and putteth himself +in their hands. This he doth for many considerations, and one of +the causes is fear. For upon some tokens in his own sickness he +may conceive a great deal more fear than needeth, and then it +would be good for his health if for the time he knew no such thing +at all. + +I knew once in this town one of the most learned men in that +profession and the most expert, and the most famous too, and him +who did the greatest cures upon other men. And yet when he was +himself once very sore sick, I heard his fellows who then took +care of him--every one of whom would, in his own disease, have +used his help before that of any other man--wish that yet, while +his own sickness was so sore, he had known no physic at all. He +took so great heed unto every suspicious token, and feared so far +the worst, that his fear did him sometimes much more harm than the +sickness gave him cause. + +And therefore, as I say, whosoever hath such a trouble of his +scrupulous conscience, let him for a while forbear the judgment of +himself, and follow the counsel of some other man whom he knoweth +for well learned and virtuous. And especially in the place of +confession, for these is God specially present with his grace +assisting the sacrament. And let him not doubt to quiet his mind +and follow what he is there bidden, and think for a while less of +the fear of God's justice, and be more merry in remembrance of his +mercy, and persevere in prayer for grace, and abide and dwell +faithfully in the sure hope of his help. And then shall he find, +without any doubt, that the shield of God's truth shall, as the +prophet saith, so compass him about, that he shall not dread this +night's fear of scrupulosity, but shall have afterward his +conscience established in good quiet and rest. + + +XV + +VINCENT: Verily, good uncle, you have in my mind well declared +these kinds of the night's fear. + +ANTHONY: Surely, cousin, but yet are there many more than I can +either remember or find. Howbeit, one yet cometh now to my mind, +of which I thought not before, and which is yet in mine opinion. +That is, cousin, where the devil tempteth a man to kill and +destroy himself. + +VINCENT: Undoubtedly this kind of tribulation is marvellous and +strange. And the temptation is of such a sort that some men have +the opinion that those who once fall into that fantasy can never +fully cast it off. + +ANTHONY: Yes, yes, cousin, many a hundred, and else God forbid. But +the thing that maketh men so to say is that, of those who finally do +destroy themselves, there is much speech and much wondering, as it +is well worthy. But many a good man and woman hath sometime--yea, +for some years, once after another--continually been tempted to do +it, and yet hath, by grace and good counsel, well and virtuously +withstood that temptation, and been in conclusion clearly delivered +of it. And their tribulation is not known abroad and therefore not +talked of. + +But surely, cousin, a horrible sore trouble it is to any man or +woman whom the devil tempteth with that temptation. Many have I +heard of, and with some have I talked myself, who have been sore +cumbered with it, and I have marked not a little the manner of +them. + +VINCENT: I pray you, good uncle, show me somewhat of such things +as you perceive therein. For first, whereas you call the kind of +temptation the daughter of pusillanimity and thereby so near of +kin to the night's fear, methinketh on the other hand that it is +rather a thing that cometh of a great courage and boldness. For +they dare with their own hands to put themselves to death, from +which we see almost every man shrink and flee, and many of them we +know by good proof and plain experience for men of great heart and +excellent bold courage. + +ANTHONY: I said, Cousin Vincent, that of pusillanimity cometh +this temptation, and very truth it is that indeed so it doth. But +yet I meant not that only of faint heart and fear it cometh and +growth always. For the devil tempteth sundry folk by sundry ways. + +But I spoke of no other kind of that temptation save only that one +which is the daughter that the devil begetteth upon pusillanimity, +because those other kinds of temptation fall not under the nature +of tribulation and fear, and therefore fall they far out of our +matter here. They are such temptations as need only counsel, and +not comfort or consolation, because the persons tempted with them +are not troubled in their mind with that kind of temptation. but +are very well content both in the tempting and in the following. +For some have there been, cousin, such that they have been tempted +to do it by means of a foolish pride, and some by means of anger, +without any fear at all--and very glad to go thereto, I deny not. +But if you think that none fall into it by fear, but that they +have all a mighty strong stomach, that shall you well see to be +the contrary. And that peradventure in those of whom you would +think the stomach more strong and their heart and courage most +bold. + +VINCENT: Yet is it marvel to me, uncle, that it should be as you +say it is--that this temptation is unto them that do it for pride +or anger no tribulation, or that they should not need, in so great +a distress and peril, both of body and soul to be lost, no manner +of good ghostly comfort. + +ANTHONY: Let us therefore, cousin, consider an example or two, +for thereby shall we better perceive it. + +There was here in Buda in King Ladilaus' days, a good poor honest +man's wife. This woman was so fiendish that the devil, perceiving +her nature, put her in the mind that she should anger her husband +so sore that she might give him occasion to kill her, and then +should he be hanged because of her. + +VINCENT: This was a strange temptation indeed! What the devil +should she be the better then? + +ANTHONY: Nothing, but that it eased her shrewish stomach +beforehand, to think that her husband should be hanged afterward. +And peradventure, if you look about the world and consider it +well, you shall find more such stomachs than a few. Have you never +heard a furious body plainly say that, to see such-and-such man +have a mischief, he would with good will be content to lie as long +in hell as God liveth in heaven? + +VINCENT: Forsooth, and some such have I heard. + +ANTHONY: This mind of his was not much less mad than hers, but +rather perhaps the more mad of the twain. For the woman +peradventure did not cast so far peril therein. + +But to tell you now to what good pass her charitable purpose came: +As her husband (the man was a carpenter) stood hewing with his +chip axe upon a piece of timber, she began after her old guise to +revile him so that he waxed wroth at last, and bade her get +herself in or he would lay the helm of his axe about her back. And +he said also that it would be little sin even with that axe head +to chop off the unhappy head of hers that carried such an +ungracious tongue in it. At that word the devil took his time and +whetted her tongue against her teeth. And when it was well +sharpened she swore to him in very fierce anger, "By the mass, +whoreson husband, I wish thou wouldst! Here lieth my head, lo," +and with that down she laid her head upon the same timber log. "If +thou smite it not off, I beshrew thine whoreson's heart!" With +that, likewise as the devil stood at her elbow, so stood (as I +heard say) his good angel at his, and gave him ghostly courage and +bade him be bold and do it. And so the good man up with his chip +axe and at a chop he chopped off her head indeed. + +There were other folk standing by, who had a good sport to hear +her chide, but little they looked for this chance, till it was +done ere they could stop it. They said they heard her tongue +babble in her head, and call, "Whoreson, whoreson!" twice after +the head was off the body. At least, thus they all reported +afterward unto the king, except only one, and that was a woman, +and she said that she heard it not. + +VINCENT: Forsooth, this was a wonderful work! What became, uncle, +of the man? + +ANTHONY: The king gave him his pardon. + +VINCENT: Verily, he might in conscience do no less. + +ANTHONY: But then was there almost made a statute that in such a +case there should never after be granted a pardon, but (if the +truth were able to be proved) no husband should need any pardon, +but should have leave by the law to follow the example of that +carpenter, and do the same. + +VINCENT: How happed it, uncle, that that good law was left unmade? + +ANTHONY: How happed it? As it happeth, cousin, that many more be +left unmade as well as that one, and almost as good as it too, +both here and in other countries--and sometimes some that are +worse be made in their stead. But they say that the hindrance of +that law was the queen's grace, God forgive her soul! It was the +greatest thing, I daresay, that she had to answer for, good lady, +when she died. For surely, save for that one thing, she was a full +blessed woman. + +But letting now that law pass, this temptation in procuring her +own death was unto this carpenter's wife no tribulation at all, as +far as men could ever perceive. For she liked well to think upon +it, and she even longed for it. And therefore if she had before +told you or me her intent, and that she would so fain bring it so +to pass, we could have had no occasion to comfort her, as one that +were in tribulation. But marry, counsel her we might, as I told +you before, to refrain and amend that malicious devilish intent. + +VINCENT: Verily, that is truth. But such as are well willing to +do any purpose that is so shameful, they will never tell their +intent to nobody, for very shame. + +ANTHONY: Some will not, indeed. And yet are there some again who, +be their intent never so shameful, find some yet whom their heart +serveth them to make of their counsel therein. + +Some of my folk here can tell you that no longer ago than even +yesterday, someone who came out of Vienna told us, among other +talking, that a rich widow (but I forgot to ask him where it +happened), having all her life a high proud mind and a malicious +one--as those two virtues are wont always to keep company +together--was at dispute with another neighbour of hers in the +town. And on a time she made of her counsel a poor neighbour of +hers, whom she thought she might induce, for money, to follow her +intent. With him she secretly spoke, and offered him ten ducats +for his labour, to do so much for her as in a morning early to +come to her house and with an axe unknown privily strike off her +head. And when he had done so, he was to convey the bloody axe +into the house of him with whom she was at dispute, in such manner +as it might be thought that he had murdered her for malice. And +then she thought she should be taken for a martyr. And yet had she +farther devised that another sum of money should afterward be sent +to Rome, and there should be measures made to the Pope that she +might in all haste be canonized! + +This poor man promised, but intended not to perform it. Howbeit, +when he deferred it, she provided the axe herself. And he +appointed with her the morning when he should come and do it, and +thereupon into her house he came. But then set he such other folk +as he wished should know of her mad fancy, in such place appointed +as they might well hear her and him talk together. And after he +had talked with her so much as he thought was enough, he made her +lie down, and took up the axe in his own hand. And with the other +hand he felt the edge, and found a fault that it was not sharp, +and that therefore he would in no wise do it, till he had ground +it sharp. He could not otherwise, he said, for pity, it would put +her to so much pain. And so, full sore against her will, for that +time she kept her head still. But because she would no more suffer +any more to deceive her and put her off with delays, ere it was +very long thereafter, she hung herself with her own hands. + +VINCENT: Forsooth, here was a tragical story, whereof I never +heard the like. + +ANTHONY: Forsooth, the party who told it to me swore that he knew +it for a truth. And he is, I promise you, such as I reckon for +right honest and of substantial truth. + +Now, here she forbore not, as shameful an intent as she had, to +make someone of her counsel--and yet, I remember, another too, +whom she trusted with the money that should procure her +canonization. And here I believe that her temptation came not of +fear but of high malice and pride. And then was she so glad in +that pleasant device that, as I told you, she took it for no +tribulation. And therefore comforting of her could have no place. +But if men should give her anything toward her help, it must have +been, as I told you, good counsel. + +And therefore, as I said, this kind of temptation to a man's own +destruction, which requireth counsel, and is outside tribulation, +was outside of our matter, which is to treat of comfort in +tribulation. + + +XVI + +But lest you might reject both these examples, thinking they were +but feigned tales, I shall put you in remembrance of one which I +reckon you yourself have read in the Conferences of Cassian. And +if you have not, there you may soon find it. For I myself have +half forgotten the thing, it is so long since I read it. + +But thus much I remember: He telleth there of one who was many +days a very special holy man in his living, and, among the other +virtuous monks and anchorites that lived there in the wilderness, +was marvellously much esteemed. Yet some were not all out of fear +lest his revelations (of which he told many himself) would prove +illusions of the devil. And so it proved afterwards indeed, for +the man was by the devil's subtle suggestions brought into such a +high spiritual pride that in conclusion the devil brought him to +that horrible point that he made him go kill himself. + +And, as far as my mind giveth me now, without new sight of the +book, he brought him to it by this persuasion: He made him believe +that it was God's will that he should do so, and that thereby he +should go straight to heaven. And if it were by that persuasion, +with which he took very great comfort in his own mind himself, +then was it, as I said, out of our case, and he needed not comfort +but counsel against giving credence to the devil's persuasion. But +marry, if he made him first perceive how he had been deluded and +then tempted him to his own death by shame and despair, then it +was within our matter. For then was his temptation fallen down +from pride to pusillanimity, and was waxed that kind of the +night's fear that I spoke of. And in such fear a good part of the +counsel to be given him should have need to stand in good +comforting, for then was he brought into right sore tribulation. + +But, as I was about to tell you, strength of heart and courage are +there none in that deed, not only because true strength (as it +hath the name of virtue in a reasonable creature) can never be +without prudence, but also because, as I said, even in them that +seem men of most courage, it shall well appear to them that well +weigh the matter that the mind whereby they be led to destroy +themselves groweth of pusillanimity and very foolish fear. + +Take for example Cato of Utica, who in Africa killed himself after +the great victory that Julius Caesar had. St. Austine well +declareth in his work _De civitate Dei_ that there was no strength +nor magnanimity in his destruction of himself, but plain +pusillanimity and impotency of stomach. For he was forced to do it +because his heart was too feeble to bear the beholding of another +man's glory or the suffering of other worldly calamities that he +feared should fall on himself. So that, as St. Austine well +proveth, that horrible deed is no act of strength, but an act of a +mind either drawn from the consideration of itself with some +fiendish fancy, in which the man hath need to be called home with +good counsel; or else oppressed by faint heart and fear, in which +a good part of the counsel must stand in lifting up his courage +with good consolation and comfort. + +And therefore if we found any such religious person as was that +father whom Cassian writeth of, who were of such austerity and +apparent ghostly living as he was, and reputed by those who well +knew him for a man of singular virtue; and if it were perceived +that he had many strange visions appearing unto him; and if after +that it should now be perceived that the man went about secretly +to destroy himself--whosoever should hap to come to the knowledge +of it and intended to do his best to hinder it, he must first find +the means to search and find out the manner and countenance of the +man. He must see whether he be lightsome, glad, and joyful or +dumpish, heavy, and sad, and whether he go about it as one that +were full of the glad hope of heaven, or as one who had his breast +stuffed full of tediousness and weariness of the world. If he were +found to be of the first fashion, it would be a token that the +devil had, by his fantastical apparitions, puffed him up in such a +childish pride that he hath finally persuaded him, by some +illusion showed him for the proof, that God's pleasure is that he +shall for his sake with his own hands kill himself. + +VINCENT: Now, if a man so found it, uncle, what counsel should he +give him then? + +ANTHONY: That would be somewhat out of our purpose, cousin, since +(as I told you before) the man would not be in sorrow and +tribulation, of which our matter speaketh, but in a perilous merry +mortal temptation. So that if we should, beside our matter that we +have in hand, enter into that too, we might make a longer work +between both than we could well finish this day. Howbeit, to be +short, it is soon seen that in such a case the sum and effect of +the counsel must (in a manner) rest in giving him warning of the +devil's sleights. And that must be done under such a sweet +pleasant manner that the man should not abhor to hear it. For +while it could not lightly be otherwise that the man were rocked +and sung asleep by the devil's craft, and his mind occupied as it +were in a delectable dream, he should never have good audience of +him who would rudely and boisterously shog him and wake him, and +so shake him out of it. Therefore must you fair and easily touch +him, and with some pleasant speech awake him, so that he wax not +wayward, as children do who are waked ere they wish to rise. + +But when a man hath first begun with his praise (for if he be +proud you shall much better please him with a commendation than +with a dirge) then, after favour won therewith, a man may little +by little insinuate the doubt of such revelations--not at first as +though it were for any doubt of his, but of some other man's, that +men in some other places talk of. And peradventure it shall not +miscontent him to say that great perils may fall therein, in +another man's case than his own, and he shall begin to preach upon +it. Or, if you were a man that had not so very great scrupulous +conscience of a harmless lie devised to do good with (the kind +which St. Austine, though he take it always for sin, yet he taketh +but for venial; and St. Jerome, as by divers places in his books +appeareth, taketh not fully for that much), then may you feign +some secret friend of yours to be in such a state. And you may say +that you yourself somewhat fear his peril, and have made of +charity this voyage for his sake, to ask this good father's counsel. + +And in the communication, upon these words of St. John, "Give not +credence to every spirit, but prove the spirits whether they be +of God," and these words of St. Paul, "The angel of Satan +transfigureth himself into the angel of light," you shall take +occasion (the better if they hap to come in on his side), but yet +not lack occasion neither if those texts, for lack of his offer, +come in upon your own--occasion, I say, you shall not lack to +enquire by what sure and undeceivable tokens a man may discern the +true revelations from the false illusions. A man shall find many +such tokens both here and there in divers other authors and all +together in divers goodly treatises of that good godly doctor, +Master John Gerson, entitled _De probatione spirituum._ As, +whether the party be natural in manner or seem anything +fantastical. Or, whether the party be poor-spirited or proud. The +pride will somewhat appear by his delight in his own praise; or +if, of wiliness, or of another pride for to be praised of +humility, he refused to hear of that, yet any little fault found +in himself, or diffidence declared and mistrust of his own +revelations and doubtful tokens told, wherefore he himself should +fear lest they be the devil's illusion--such things, as Master +Gerson saith, will make him spit out somewhat of his spirit, if +the devil lie in his breast. Or if the devil be yet so subtle that +he keep himself close in his warm den and blow out never a hot +word, yet it is to be considered what end his revelations tend +to--whether to any spiritual profit to himself or other folk, or +only to vain marvels and wonders. Also, whether they withdraw him +from such other good virtuous business as, by the common rule of +Christendom or any of the rules of his profession, he was wont to +use or bound to be occupied in. Or whether he fall into any +singularity of opinions against the scripture of God, or against +the common faith of Christ's Catholic Church. Many other tokens +are spoken of in the work of Master Gerson, by which to consider +whether the person, neither having revelations of God nor +illusions from the devil, do feign his revelations himself, either +for winning of money or worldly favour, and delude the people +withal. + +But now for our purpose: If, among any of the marks by which the +true revelations may be known from false illusions, that man +himself bring forth, for one mark, the doing or teaching of +anything against the scripture of God or the common faith of the +church, you may enter into the special matter, in which he can +never well flee from you. Or else may you yet, if you wish, feign +that your secret friend, for whose sake you come to him for +counsel, is brought to that mind by a certain apparition showed +unto him, as he himself saith, by an angel--as you fear, by the +devil. And that he cannot as yet be otherwise persuaded by you but +that the pleasure of God is that he shall go kill himself. And +that he believeth if he do so he shall then be thereby so +specially participant of Christ's passion that he shall forthwith +be carried up with angels into heaven. And that he is so joyful +for this that he firmly purposeth upon it, no less glad to do it +than another man would be glad to avoid it. And therefore may you +desire his good counsel to instruct you with some substantial good +advice, with which you may turn him from this error, that he be +not, under hope of God's true revelation, destroyed in body and +soul by the devil's false illusion. + +If he will in this thing study and labour to instruct you, the +things that he himself shall find, of his own invention, though +they be less effectual, shall peradventure more work with him +toward his own amendment (since he shall, of likelihood, better +like them) than shall things double so substantial that were told +him by another man. If he be loth to think upon that side, and +therefore shrink from the matter, then is there no other way but +to venture to fall into the matter after the plain fashion, and +tell what you hear, and give him counsel and exhortation to the +contrary. Unless you wish to say that thus and thus hath the +matter been reasoned already between your friend and you. And +therein may you rehearse such things as should prove that the +vision which moveth him is no true revelation, but a very false +illusion. + +VINCENT: Verily, uncle, I well allow that a man should, in this +thing as well as in every other in which he longeth to do another +man good, seek such a pleasant way that the party should be likely +to like his communication, or at least to take it well in worth. +And he should not enter in unto it in such a way that he whom he +would help should abhor him and be loth to hear him, and therefore +take no profit by him. + +But now, uncle, if it come, by the one way or the other, to the +point where he will or shall hear me; what be the effectual means +with which I should by my counsel convert him? + +ANTHONY: All those by which you may make him perceive that he is +deceived, and that his visions are no godly revelations but very +devilish illusion. And those reasons must you gather of the man, +of the matter, and of the law of God, or of some one of these. + +Of the man may you gather them, if you can peradventure show him +that in such-and-such a point he is waxed worse since such +revelations have haunted him than he was before--as, in those who +are deluded, whosoever be well acquainted with them shall well +mark and perceive. For they wax more proud, more wayward, more +envious, suspicious, misjudging and depraving other men, with the +delight of their own praise, and such other spiritual vices of the +soul. + +Of the matter may you gather, if it has happened that his +revelations before have proved false, or if they be strange things +rather than profitable ones. For that is a good mark between God's +miracles and the devil's wonders. For Christ and his saints have +their miracles always tending to fruit and profit. The devil and +his witches and necromancers, all their wonderful works tend to no +fruitful end, but to a fruitless ostentation and show, as it were +a juggler who would for a show before the people play feats of +skill at a feast. + +Of the law of God you must draw your reasons in showing by the +scripture that the thing which he thinketh God biddeth by his +angel, God hath by his own mouth forbidden. And that is, you know +well, in the case that we speak of, so easy to find that I need +not to rehearse it to you. For among the Ten Commandments there is +plainly forbidden the unlawful killing of any man, and therefore +of himself, as (St. Austine saith) all the church teacheth, unless +he himself be no man. + +VINCENT: This is very true, good uncle, nor will I dispute upon +any glossing of that prohibition. But since we find not the +contrary but that God may dispense with that commandment himself, +and both license and command also, if he himself wish, any man to +go kill either another man or himself, this man who is now by such +a marvellous vision induced to believe that God so biddeth him, +and therefore thinketh himself in that case discharged of that +prohibition and charged with the contrary commandment--with what +reason can we make him perceive that his vision is but an illusion +and not a true revelation? + +ANTHONY: Nay, Cousin Vincent, you shall in this case not need to +ask those reasons of me. But taking the scripture of God for a +ground for this matter, you know very well yourself that you shall +go somewhat a shorter way to work if you ask this question of him: +Since God hath forbidden once the thing himself, though he may +dispense with it if he will, yet since the devil may feign himself +God and with a marvellous vision delude one, and make as though +God did it; and since the devil is also more likely to speak +against God's commandment than God against his own; you shall have +good cause, I say, to demand of the man himself whereby he knoweth +that his vision is God's true revelation and not the devil's false +delusion. + +VINCENT: Indeed, uncle, I think that would be a hard question to +him. Can a man, uncle, have in such a thing even a very sure +knowledge of his own mind? + +ANTHONY: Yea, cousin, God may cast into the mind of a man, I +suppose, such an inward light of understanding that he cannot fail +but be sure thereof. And yet he who is deluded by the devil may +think himself as sure and yet be deceived indeed. And such a +difference is there in a manner between them, as between the sight +of a thing while we are awake and look thereon, and the sight with +which we see a thing in our sleep while we dream thereof. + +VINCENT: This is a pretty similitude, uncle, in this thing! And +then is it easy for the monk that we speak of to declare that he +knoweth his vision for a true revelation and not a false delusion, +if there be so great a difference between them. + +ANTHONY: Not so easy yet, cousin, as you think it would be. For +how can you prove to me that you are awake? + +VINCENT: Marry, lo, do I not now wag my hand, shake my head, and +stamp with my foot here on the floor? + +ANTHONY: Have you never dreamed ere this that you have done the +same? + +VINCENT: Yes, that have I, and more too than that. For I have ere +this in my sleep dreamed that I doubted whether I were asleep or +awake, and have in good faith thought that I did thereupon even +the same things that I do now indeed, and thereby determined that +I was not asleep. And yet have I dreamed in good faith further, +that I have been afterward at dinner and there, making merry with +good company, have told the same dream at the table and laughed +well at it, to think that while I was asleep I had by such means +of moving the parts of my body and considering thereof, so verily +thought myself awake! + +ANTHONY: And will you not now soon, think you, when you wake and +rise, laugh as well at yourself when you see that you lie now in +your warm bed asleep again, and dream all this time, while you +believe so verily that you are awake and talking of these matters +with me? + +VINCENT: God's Lord, uncle, you go now merrily to work with me +indeed, when you look and speak so seriously and would make me +think I were asleep! + +ANTHONY: It may be that you are, for anything that you can say or +do whereby you can, with any reason that you make, drive me to +confess that you yourself be sure of the contrary. For you cannot +do or say anything now whereby you are sure to be awake but what +you have ere this, or hereafter may, think yourself as surely to +do the selfsame thing indeed while you be all the while asleep and +do nothing but lie dreaming. + +VINCENT: Well, well, uncle, though I have ere this thought myself +awake while I was indeed asleep, yet for all this I know well +enough that I am awake now. And so do you too, though I cannot +find the words by which I may with reason force you to confess it, +without your always driving me off by the example of my dream. + +ANTHONY: Meseemeth, cousin, this is very true. And likewise +meseemeth the manner and difference between some kind of true +revelations and some kind of false illusions is like that which +standeth between the things that are done awake and the things +that in our dreams seem to be done when we are sleeping. That is, +he who hath that kind of revelation from God is as sure of the +truth as we are of our own deeds while we are awake. And he who is +deluded by the devil is in such wise deceived as they are by their +dream, and worse, too. And yet he reckoneth himself for the time +as sure as the other, saving that one believeth falsely, the other +truly knoweth. But I say not, cousin, that this kind of sure +knowledge cometh in every kind of revelation. For there are many +kinds, of which it would be too long to talk now. But I say that +God doth certainly send some such to a man in some thing, or may. + +VINCENT: Yet then this religious man of whom we speak, when I show +him the scripture against his revelation and therefore call it an +illusion, may bid me with reason go mind my own affairs. For he +knoweth well and surely himself that his revelation is very good +and true and not any false illusion, since for all the general +commandment of God in the scripture, God may dispense where he will +and when he will, and may command him to do the contrary. For he +commanded Abraham to kill his own son, and Sampson had, by +inspiration of God, commandment to kill himself by pulling down the +house upon his own head at the feast of the Philistines. + +Now, if I would then do as you bade me right now, tell him that +such apparitions may be illusions, and since God's word is in the +scripture against him plain for the prohibition, he must perceive +the truth of his revelation whereby I may know it is not a false +illusion; then shall he in turn bid me tell him whereby I can +prove myself to be awake and talk with him and not be asleep and +dream so, since in my dream I may as surely think so as I know +that I do so. And thus shall he drive me to the same bay to which +I would bring him. + +ANTHONY: This is well said, cousin, but yet could he not escape +you so. For the dispensation of God's common precept, which +dispensation he must say that he hath by his private revelation, +is a thing of such sort as showeth itself naught and false. For it +never hath any example like, since the world began until now, that +ever man hath read or heard of, among faithful people commended. + +First, as for Abraham, concerning the death of his son: God +intended it not, but only tempted the towardness of the father's +obedience. As for Sampson, all men make not the matter very sure +whether he be saved or not, but yet therein some matter and cause +appeareth. For the Philistines being enemies of God and using +Sampson for their mocking-stock in scorn of God, it is well likely +that God gave him the mind to bestow his own life upon the +revenging of the displeasure that those blasphemous Philistines +did unto God. And that appeareth clear enough by this: that though +his strength failed him when he lacked his hair, yet had he not, +it seemeth, that strength evermore at hand while he had his hair, +but only at such times as it pleased God to give it to him. This +thing appeareth by these words, that the scripture in some place +of that matter saith, "The power or might of God rushed into +Sampson." And so therefore, since this thing that he did in the +pulling down of the house was done by the special gift of strength +then at that point given him by God, it well declareth that the +strength of God, and with it the spirit of God, entered into him +for it. + +St. Austine also rehearseth that certain holy virtuous virgins, in +time of persecution, being pursued by God's enemies the infidels +to be deflowered by force, ran into a water and drowned themselves +rather than be bereaved of their virginity. And, albeit that he +thinketh it is not lawful for any other maid to follow their +example, but that she should suffer another to do her any manner +of violence by force and commit sin of his own upon her against +her will, rather than willingly and thereby sinfully herself to +become a homicide of herself; yet he thinketh that in them it +happened by the special instinct of the spirit of God, who, for +causes seen to himself, would rather that they should avoid it +with their own temporal death than abide the defiling and +violation of their chastity. + +But now this good man neither hath any of God's enemies to be +revenged on by his own death, nor any woman who violently pursues +him to bereave him by force of his virginity! And we never find +that God proved any man's obedient mind by the commandment of his +own slaughter of himself. Therefore is both his case plainly +against God's open precept, and the dispensation strange and +without example, no cause appearing nor well imaginable. Unless he +would think that God could neither any longer live without him, +nor could take him to him in such wise as he doth other men, but +must command him to come by a forbidden way, by which, without +other cause, we never heard that ever he bade any man else before. + +Now, you think that, if you should after this bid him tell you by +what way he knoweth that his intent riseth upon a true revelation +and not upon a false illusion, he in turn would bid you tell him +by what means you know that you are talking with him well awake +and not dreaming it asleep. You may answer him that for men thus +to talk together as you do and to prove and perceive that they do +so, by the moving of themselves, with putting the question unto +themselves for their pleasure, and marking and considering it, is +in waking a daily common thing that every man doth or can do when +he will, and when they do it, they do it but for pleasure. But in +sleep it happeneth very seldom that men dream that they do so, and +in the dream they never put the question except for doubt. And you +may tell him that, since this revelation is such also as happeneth +so seldom and oftener happeneth that men dream of such than have +such indeed, therefore it is more reasonable that he show you how +he knoweth, in such a rare thing and a thing more like a dream, +that he himself is not asleep, than that you, in such a common +thing among folk that are awake and so seldom happening in a +dream, should need to show him whereby you know that you be not +asleep. + +Besides this, he to whom you should show it seeth himself and +perceiveth the thing that he would bid you prove. But the thing +that he would make you believe--the truth of his revelation which +you bid him prove--you see not that he knoweth it well himself. +And therefore, ere you believe it against the scripture, it would +be well consonant unto reason that he should show you how he +knoweth it for a true waking revelation and not a false dreaming +delusion. + +VINCENT: Then shall he peradventure answer me that whether I +believe him or not maketh to him no matter; the thing toucheth +himself and not me, and he himself is in himself as sure that it +is a true revelation as that he can tell that he dreameth not but +talketh with me awake. + +ANTHONY: Without doubt, cousin, if he abide at that point and can +by no reason be brought to do so much as doubt, nor can by no +means be shogged out of his dead sleep, but will needs take his +dream for a very truth, and--as some men rise by night and walk +about their chamber in their sleep--will so rise and hang himself; +I can then see no other way but either bind him fast in his bed, +or else essay whether that might hap to help him with which, the +common tale goeth, a carver's wife helped her husband in such a +frantic fancy. When, upon a Good Friday, he would needs have +killed himself for Christ as Christ did for him, she said to him +that it would then be fitting for him to die even after the same +fashion. And that might not be by his own hands, but by the hand +of another; for Christ, perdy, killed not himself. And because her +husband would take no counsel (for that would he not, in no wise), +she offered him that for God's sake she would secretly crucify him +herself upon a great cross that he had made to nail a new-carved +crucifix upon. And he was very glad thereof. Yet then she +bethought her that Christ was bound to a pillar and beaten first, +and afterward crowned with thorns. Thereupon, when she had by his +own assent bound him fast to a post, she left not off beating, +with holy exhortation to suffer, so much and so long that ere ever +she left work and unbound him (praying nevertheless, that she +might put on his head, and drive well down, a crown of thorns that +she had wrought for him and brought him), he said he thought this +was enough for that year. He would pray God to forbear him of the +rest till Good Friday came again! But when it came again the next +years, then was his desire past; he longed to follow Christ no +further. + +VINCENT: Indeed, uncle, if this help him not, then will nothing +help him, I suppose. + +ANTHONY: And yet, cousin, the devil may peradventure make him, +toward such a purpose, first gladly suffer other pain; yea, and +diminish his feeling in it, too, that he may thereby the less fear +his death. And yet are peradventure sometimes such things and many +more to be essayed. For as the devil may hap to make him suffer, +so may he hap to miss, namely if his friends fall to prayer for +him against his temptation. For that can he himself never do, while +he taketh it for none. + +But, for conclusion: If the man be surely proved so inflexibly set +upon the purpose to destroy himself, as being commanded by God to +do so, that no good counsel that men can give him nor any other +thing that men may do to him can refrain him, but that he would +surely shortly kill himself; then except only good prayer made by +his friends for him, I can find no further shift but either to +have him ever in sight or to bind him fast in his bed. + +And so must he needs of reason be content to be ordered. For +though he himself may take his fancy for a true revelation, yet +since he cannot make us perceive it for such, likewise as he +thinketh himself by his secret commandment bound to follow it, so +must he needs agree that, since it is against the plain open +prohibition of God, we are bound by the plain open precept to keep +him from it. + +VINCENT: In this point, uncle, I can go no further. But now, if +he were, on the other hand, perceived to intend his destruction +and go about it with heaviness of heart and thought and +dullness--what way would there be to be used to him then? + +ANTHONY: Then would his temptation, as I told you before, be +properly pertaining to our matter, for then would he be in a sore +tribulation and a very perilous. For then would it be a token that +the devil had either, by bringing him into some great sin, brought +him into despair, or peradventure, by his revelations being found +false and reproved or by some secret sin of his being deprehended +and divulged, had cast him both into despair of heaven through +fear and into a weariness of this life for shame. For then he +seeth his estimation lost among other folk of whose praise he was +wont to be proud. + +And therefore, cousin, in such a case as this, the man is to be +fairly handled and sweetly, and with tender loving words to be put +in good courage, and comforted in all that men goodly can. Here +must they put him in mind that, if he despair not, but pull up his +courage and trust in God's great mercy, he shall have in +conclusion great cause to be glad of this fall. For before he +stood in greater peril than he was aware of, while he took himself +for better than he was. And God, for favour that he beareth him, +hath suffered him to fall deep into the devil's danger, to make +him thereby know what he was while he took himself for so sure. +And therefore, as he suffered him then to fall for a remedy +against over-bold pride, so will God now--if the man meek himself, +not with fruitless despair but with fruitful penance--so set him up +again upon his feet and so strengthen him with his grace, that for +this one fall that the devil hath given him he shall give the +devil a hundred. + +And here must he be put in remembrance of Mary Magdalene, of the +prophet David, and especially of St. Peter, whose high bold +courage took a foul fall. And yet because he despaired not of +God's mercy, but wept and called upon it, how highly God took him +into his favour again is well testified in his holy scripture and +well known through Christendom. + +And now shall it be charitably done if some good virtuous folk, +such as he himself somewhat esteemeth and hath afore longed to +stand in estimation with, do resort sometimes to him, not only to +give him counsel but also to ask advice and counsel of him in some +cases of their own conscience. For so may they let him perceive +that they esteem him now no less, but rather more than they did +before, since they think him now by this fall better expert of the +devil's craft and so not only better instructed himself but also +better able to give good advice and counsel to others. This thing +will, to my mind, well amend and lift up his courage from the +peril of that desperate shame. + +VINCENT: Methinketh, uncle, that this would be a perilous thing. +For it may peradventure make him set the less by his fall, and +thereby it may cast him into his first pride or into his other sin +again, the falling in to which drove him into this despair. + +ANTHONY: I do not mean, cousin, that every fool should at +adventure fall in hand with him, for so might it happen to do harm +indeed. + +But, cousin, if a learned physician have a man in hand, he can +well discern when and how long some certain medicine is necessary +which, if administered at another time or at that time over-long +continued, might put the patient in peril. If he have his patient +in an ague, for the cure of which he needeth his medicines in +their working cold, yet he may hap, ere that fever be full cured, +to fall into some other disease such that, unless it were helped +with hot medicine, would be likely to kill the body before the +fever could be cured. The physician then would for the while have +his most care to the cure of that thing in which would be the most +present peril. And when that were once out of jeopardy, he would +do then the more exact diligence afterward about the further cure +of the fever. + +And likewise, if a ship be in peril to fall into Scilla, the fear +of falling into Charibdis on the other side shall never hinder any +wise master thereof from drawing himself from Scilla toward +Charibdis first, in all that ever he can. But when he hath himself +once so far away from Scilla that he seeth himself safe out of +that danger, then will he begin to take good heed to keep himself +well from the other. + +And likewise, while this man is falling down to despair and to the +final destruction of himself, a good wise spiritual leech will +first look unto that, and by good comfort lift up his courage. And +when he seeth that peril well past, he will care for the cure of +his other faults afterward. Howbeit, even in the giving of his +comfort, he may find ways enough in such wise to temper his words +that the men may take occasion of good courage and yet far from +occasion of new relapse into his former sin. For the great part of +his counsel shall be to encourage him to amendment, and that is, +perdy, far from falling into sin again. + +VINCENT: I think, uncle, that folk fall into this ungracious +mind, through the devil's temptation, by many more means than one. + +ANTHONY: That is, cousin, very true. For the devil taketh his +occasions as he seeth them fall convenient for him. Some he +stirreth to it for weariness of themselves after some great loss, +some for fear of horrible bodily harm, and some (as I said) for +fear of worldly shame. + +One I knew myself who had been long reputed for a right honest +man, who was fallen into such a fancy that he was well near worn +away with it. But what he was tempted to do, that would he tell no +man. But he told me that he was sore cumbered and that it always +ran in his mind that folk's fancies were fallen from him, and that +they esteemed not his wit as they were wont to do, but ever his +mind gave him that the people began to take him for a fool. And +folk of truth did not so at all, but reputed him both for wise and +honest. + +Two others I knew who were marvellous afraid that they would kill +themselves, and could tell me no cause wherefore they so feared it +except that their own mind so gave them. Neither had they any loss +nor no such thing toward them, nor none occasion of any worldly +shame (the one was in body very well liking and lusty), but +wondrous weary were they both twain of that mind. And always they +thought that they would not do it for anything, and nevertheless +they feared they would. And wherefore they so feared neither of +them both could tell. And the one, lest he should do it, desired +his friends to bind him. + +VINCENT: This is, uncle, a marvellous strange manner. + +ANTHONY: Forsooth, cousin, I suppose many of them are in this +case. + +The devil, as I said before, seeketh his occasions. For as St. +Peter saith, "Your adversary the devil as a roaring lion goeth +about seeking whom he may devour." He marketh well, therefore, the +state and condition that every man standeth in, not only +concerning these outward things (lands, possessions, goods, +authority, fame, favour, or hatred of the world), but also men's +complexions within them--health or sickness, good humours or bad, +by which they be light-hearted or lumpish, strong-hearted or faint +and feeble of spirit, bold and hardy or timorous and fearful of +courage. And according as these things minister him matter of +temptation, so useth he himself in the manner of his temptation. + +Now likewise as in such folk as are full of young warm lusty blood +and other humours exciting the flesh to filthy voluptuous living, +the devil useth to make those things his instruments in tempting +them and provoking them to it; and as, where he findeth some folk +full of hot blood and choler, he maketh those humours his +instruments to set their hearts on fire in wrath and fierce +furious anger; so where he findeth some folk who, through some +dull melancholy humours, are naturally disposed to fear, he +casteth sometimes such a fearful imagination into their mind that +without help of God they can never cast it out of their heart. + +Some, at the sudden falling of some horrible thought into their +mind, have not only had a great abomination at it (which +abomination they well and virtuously had), but the devil, using +their melancholy humour and thereby their natural inclination to +fear for his instruments, hath caused them to conceive therewith +such a deep dread besides that they think themselves with that +abominable thought to be fallen into such an outrageous sin that +they are ready to fall into despair of grace, believing that God +hath given them over for ever. Whereas that thought, were it never +so horrible and never so abominable, is yet unto those who never +like it, but ever still abhor it and strive still against it, +matter of conflict and merit and not any sin at all. + +Some have, with holding a knife in their hand, suddenly thought +upon the killing of themselves, and forthwith, in devising what a +horrible thing it would be if they should mishap to do so, have +fallen into a fear that they would do so indeed. And they have, +with long and often thinking thereon, imprinted that fear so sore +in their imagination, that some of them have not afterwards cast +it off without great difficulty. And some could never in their +life be rid of it, but have afterward in conclusion miserably done +it indeed. But like as, where the devil useth the blood of a man's +own body toward his purpose in provoking him to lechery, the man +must and doth with grace and wisdom resist it; so must the man do +whose melancholy humours and devil abuseth, toward the casting of +such a desperate dread into his heart. + +VINCENT: I pray you, uncle, what advice would be to be given him +in such a case? + +ANTHONY: Surely, methinketh his help standeth in two things: +counsel and prayer. + +First, as concerning counsel: Like as it may be that he hath two +things that hold him in his temptation; that is, some evil humours +of his own body, and the cursed devil that abuseth them to his +pernicious purpose, so must he needs against them twain the +counsel of two manner of folk; that is, physicians for the body +and physicians for the soul. The bodily physician shall consider +what abundance of these evil humours the man hath, that the devil +maketh his instruments, in moving the man toward that fearful +affection. And he shall proceed by fitting diet and suitable +medicines to resist them, as well as by purgations to disburden +the body of them. + +Let no man think it strange that I would advise a man to take +counsel for the body, in such spiritual suffering. For since the +body and the soul are so knit and joined together that they both +make between them one person, the distemperance of either one +engendereth sometimes the distemperance of both twain. And +therefore I would advise every man in every sickness of the body +to be shriven and to seek of a good spiritual physician the sure +health of his soul. For this shall not only serve against peril +that may peradventure grow further by that sickness than in the +beginning men think were likely, but the comfort of it (and God's +favour increasing with it) shall also do the body good. For this +cause the blessed apostle St. James exhorteth men in their bodily +sickness to call in the priests, and saith that it shall do them +good both in body and soul. So likewise would I sometimes advise +some men, in some sickness of the soul, besides their spiritual +leech, to take also some counsel of the physician for the body. +Some who are wretchedly disposed, and yet long to be more vicious +than they are, go to physicians and apothecaries and enquire what +things may serve them to make them more lusty to their foul +fleshly delight. And would it then be any folly, on the other +hand, if he who feeleth himself against his will much moved unto +such uncleanness, should enquire of the physician what things, +without diminishing his health, would be suitable for the +diminishing of such foul fleshly motion? + +Of spiritual counsel, the first is to be shriven, that the devil +have not the more power upon him by reason of his other sins. + +VINCENT: I have heard some say, uncle, that when such folk have +been at shrift, their temptation hath been the more hot upon them +than it was before. + +ANTHONY: That think I very well, but that is a special token that +shrift is wholesome for them, since the devil is most wroth with +it. You find, in some places in the gospel, that the devil did +most trouble the person whom he possessed when he saw that Christ +would cast him out. Otherwise, we must let the devil do what he +will, if we fear his anger, for with every good deed will he wax +angry. + +Then is it in his shrift to be told him that he not only feareth +more than he needeth, but also feareth where he needeth not. And +besides that, he is sorry for a thing for which, unless he will +willingly turn his good into his harm, he hath more cause to be +glad. + +First, if he have cause to fear, yet feareth he more than he +needeth. For there is no devil so diligent to destroy him as God +is to preserve him; nor no devil so near him to do him harm as God +is to do him good. Nor are all the devils in hell so strong to +invade and assault him as God is to defend him if he distrust him +not but faithfully put his trust in him. + +He feareth also where he needeth not. For he dreadeth that he were +out of God's favour, because such horrible thoughts fall into his +mind, but he must understand that while they fall into his mind +against his will they are not imputed unto him. + +He is, finally, sad of that of which he may be glad. For since he +taketh such thoughts displeasantly, and striveth and fighteth +against them, he hath thereby a good token that he is in God's +favour, and that God assisteth him and helpeth him. And he may +make himself sure that so will God never cease to do, unless he +himself fail and fall from him first. And beside that, this +conflict that he hath against the temptation shall, if he will not +fall where he need not, be an occasion of his merit and of a right +great reward in heaven. And the pain that he taketh therein shall +for so much, as Master Gerson well showeth, stand him in stead of +his purgatory. + +The manner of the fight against temptation must stand in three +things: that is, in resisting, and in contemning, and in the +invocation of help. + +Resist must a man for his own part with reason, considering what a +folly it would be to fall where he need not, since he is not +driven to it in avoiding of any other pain or in hope of winning +any manner of pleasure, but contrariwise he would by that fall +lose everlasting bliss and fall into everlasting pain. And if it +were in avoiding of other great pain, yet could he avoid none so +great thereby as the one he should thereby fall into. + +He must also consider that a great part of this temptation is in +effect but the fear of his own fancy, the dread that he hath lest +he shall once be driven to it. For he may be sure that (unless he +himself will, of his own folly) all the devils in hell can never +drive him to it, but his own foolish imagination may. For it +fareth in his temptation like a man going over a high bridge who +waxeth so afraid, through his own fancy, that he falleth down +indeed, when he would otherwise be able enough to pass over +without any danger. For a man upon such a bridge, if folk call +upon him, "You fall, you fall!" may fall with the fancy that he +taketh thereof; although, if folk looked merrily upon him and +said, "There is no danger therein," he would pass over the bridge +well enough--and he would not hesitate to run upon it, if it were +but a foot from the ground. So, in this temptation, the devil +findeth the man of his own foolish fancy afraid and then crieth in +the ear of his heart, "Thou fallest, thou fallest!" and maketh the +foolish man afraid that he should, at every foot, fall indeed. And +the devil so wearieth him with that continual fear, if he give the +ear of his heart to him, that at last he withdraweth his mind from +due remembrance of God, and then driveth him to that deadly +mischief indeed. Therefore, like as, against the vice of the +flesh, the victory standeth not all in the fight, but sometimes +also in the flight (saving that it is indeed a part of a wise +warrior's fight to flee from his enemies' traps), so must a man in +this temptation too, not only resist it always with reasoning +against it, but sometimes set it clear at right naught and cast it +off when it cometh and not once regard it so much as to vouchsafe +to think thereon. + +Some folk have been clearly rid of such pestilent fancies with +very full contempt of them, making a cross upon their hearts and +bidding the devil avaunt. And sometimes they laugh him to scorn +too, and then turn their mind unto some other matter. And when the +devil hath seen that they have set so little by him, after certain +essays, made in such times as he thought most fitting, he hath +given that temptation quite over. And this he doth not only +because the proud spirit cannot endure to be mocked, but also +lest, with much tempting the man to the sin to which he could not +in conclusion bring him, he should much increase his merit. + +The final fight is by invocation of help unto God, both praying +for himself and desiring others also to pray for him--both poor +folk for his alms and other good folk of their charity, especially +good priests in that holy sacred service of the Mass. And not only +them but also his own good angel and other holy saints such as his +devotion specially doth stand unto. Or, if he be learned, let him +use then the litany, with the holy suffrages that follow, which is +a prayer in the church of marvellous old antiquity. For it was not +made first, as some believe, by that holy man St. Gregory (which +opinion arose from the fact that, in the time of a great +pestilence in Rome, he caused the whole city to go in solemn +procession with it), but it was in use in the church many years +before St. Gregory's days, as well appeareth by the books of other +holy doctors and saints, who were dead hundreds of years before +St. Gregory was born. + +And holy St. Bernard giveth counsel that every man should make +suit unto angels and saints to pray for him to God in the things +that he would have furthered by his holy hand. If any man will +stick at that, and say it needs not, because God can hear us +himself; and will also say that it is perilous to do so because +(they say) we are not so counseled by scripture, I will not +dispute the matter here. He who will not do it, I hinder him not +to leave it undone. But yet for mine own part, I will as well +trust to the counsel of St. Bernard, and reckon him for as good +and as well learned in scripture, as any man whom I hear say the +contrary. And better dare I jeopard my soul with the soul of St. +Bernard than with that of him who findeth that fault in his +doctrine. + +Unto God himself every good man counseleth to have recourse above +all. And, in this temptation, to have special remembrance of +Christ's passion, and pray him for the honour of his death, the +ground of man's salvation, to keep this person thus tempted form +that damnable death. + +Special verses may be drawn out of the psalter, against the +devil's wicked temptations--as, for example, _"Exsurgat Deus et +dissipentur inimici eius, et fugiant qui oderunt eum a facie +eius,"_ and many others--which in such horrible temptation are +pleasing to God and to the devil very terrible. But none is more +terrible nor more odious to the devil than the words with which +our Saviour drove him away himself: _"Vade Sathana."_ And no +prayer is more acceptable unto God, nor more effectual in its +matter, than those words which our Saviour hath taught us himself, +_"Ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos a malo."_ And I +doubt not, by God's grace, but that he who in such a temptation +will use good counsel and prayer and keep himself in good virtuous +business and good virtuous company and abide in the faithful hope +of God's help, he shall have the truth of God (as the prophet +saith in the verse afore rehearsed) so compass him about with a +shield that he shall not need to dread this night's fear of this +wicked temptation. + +And thus will I finish this piece of the night's fear. And glad am +I that we are past it, and come once unto the day, to those other +words of the prophet, _"A sagitta volante in die."_ For methinketh +I have made it a long night! + +VINCENT: Forsooth, uncle, so have you, but we have not slept in +it, but been very well occupied. But now I fear that unless you +make here a pause till you have dined, you shall keep yourself +from your dinner over-long. + +ANTHONY: Nay, nay, cousin, for I broke my fast even as you came +in. And also you shall find this night and this day like a winter +day and a winter night. For as the winter hath short days and long +nights, so shall you find that I made you not this fearful night +so long but what I shall make you this light courageous day as +short. + +And so shall the matter require well of itself indeed. For in +these words of the prophet, "The truth of God shall compass thee +round about with a shield from the arrow flying in the day," I +understand the arrow of pride, with which the devil tempteth a +man, not in the night (that is, in tribulation and adversity), for +that time is too discomfortable and too fearful for pride, but in +the day (that is, in prosperity), for that time is full of +lightsome pleasure and courage. But surely this worldly prosperity +in which a man so rejoiceth and of which the devil maketh him so +proud, is but a very short winter day. For we begin, many full +poor and cold, and up we fly like an arrow shot into the air. And +yet when we be suddenly shot up into the highest, ere we be well +warm there, down we come unto the cold ground again. And then even +there stick we still. And yet for the short while that we be +upward and aloft--Lord, how lusty and how proud we be, buzzing +above busily, as a bumblebee flieth about in summer, never aware +that she shall die in winter! And so fare many of us, God help us. +For in the short winter day of worldly wealth and prosperity, this +flying arrow of the devil, this high spirit of pride, shot out of +the devil's bow and piercing through our heart, beareth us up in +our affection aloft into the clouds, where we think we sit on the +rainbow and overlook the world under us, accounting in the regard +of our own glory such other poor souls as were peradventure wont +to be our fellows for silly poor pismires and ants. + +But though this arrow of pride fly never so high in the clouds, +and though the man whom it carrieth up so high be never so joyful +thereof, yet let him remember that, be this arrow never so light, +it hath yet a heavy iron head. And therefore, fly it never so +high, down must it needs come, and on the ground must it light. +And sometimes it falleth not in a very cleanly place, but the +pride turneth into rebuke and shame and there is then all the +glory gone. + +Of this arrow speaketh the wise man in the fifth chapter of the +book of Wisdom, where he saith in the person of them that in pride +and vanity passed the time of this present life, and after that so +spent, passed hence into hell: "What hath pride profited us? Or +what good hath the glory of our riches done unto us? Passed are +all those things like a shadow . . . or like an arrow shot out +into the place appointed; the air that was divided is forthwith +returned unto the place, and in such wise closed together again +that the way is not perceived in which the arrow went. And in like +wise we, as soon as we were born, are forthwith vanished away, and +have left no token of any good virtue behind us, but are consumed +and wasted and come to naught in our malignity. They, lo, that +have lived here in sin, such words have they spoken when they lay +in hell." + +Here shall you, good cousin, consider, that whereas the scripture +here speaketh of the arrow shot into its place appointed or +intended, in the shooting of this arrow of pride there be divers +purposings and appointings. For the proud man himself hath no +certain purpose or appointment at any mark, butt, or prick upon +earth, at which he determineth to shoot and there to stick and +tarry. But ever he shooteth as children do, who love to shoot up +cop-high, to see how high their arrow can fly up. But now doth the +devil intend and appoint a certain mark, surely set in a place into +which he purposeth--fly this arrow never so high and the proud +heart on it--to have them both alight at last, and that place is in +the very pit of hell. There is set the devil's well-acquainted +prick and his very just mark. And with his pricking shaft of pride +he hath by himself a plain proof and experience that down upon this +prick (unless it be stopped by some grace of God on the way) the +soul that flieth up with it can never fail to fall. For when he +himself was in heaven and began to fly cop-high, with the lusty +light flight of pride, saying, "I will fly up above the stars and +set my throne on the sides of the north, and will be like unto the +Highest," long ere he could fly up half so high as he said in his +heart that he would, he was turned from a bright glorious angel +into a dark deformed devil, and from flying any further upward, +down was he thrown into the deep dungeon of hell. + +Now may it, peradventure, cousin, seem that, since this kind of +temptation of pride is no tribulation or pain, all this that we +speak of this sorrow of pride flying forth in the day of +prosperity, would be beside our matter. + +VINCENT: Verily, mine uncle, and so seemed it unto me. And +somewhat was I minded so to say to you, too, saving that, whether +it were properly pertaining to the present matter or somewhat +digressing from it, methought it was good matter and such as I had +no wish to leave. + +ANTHONY: But now must you consider, cousin, that though +prosperity be contrary to tribulation, yet unto many a good man +the devil's temptation to pride in prosperity is a greater +tribulation, and more hath need of good comfort and good counsel +both, than he who never felt it would believe. And that is the +thing, cousin, that maketh me speak of it as of a thing proper to +this matter. For, cousin, as it is a right hard thing to touch +pitch and never defile the fingers, to put flax unto fire and yet +keep them from burning, to keep a serpent in thy bosom and yet be +safe from stinging, to put young men with young women without +danger of foul fleshly desire--so it is hard for any person, +either man or woman, in great worldly wealth and much prosperity, +so to withstand the suggestions of the devil and occasions given +by the world that they keep themselves from the deadly danger of +ambitious glory. And if a man fall into it, there followeth upon +it a whole flood of all unhappy mischief: arrogant manner, high +solemn bearing, overlooking the poor in word and countenance, +displeasant and disdainful behaviour, ravine, extortion, +oppression, hatred and cruelty. + +Now, many a good man, cousin, come into great authority, casteth +in his mind the peril of such occasions of pride as the devil +taketh of prosperity to make his instruments of, with which to +move men to such high point of presumption as engendereth so many +great evils. And, feeling the devil therewith offering him +suggestions to it, he is sore troubled therewith. And some fall so +afraid of it that even in the day of prosperity they fall into the +night's fear of pusillanimity, and they leave the things undone in +which they might use themselves well. And mistrusting the aid and +help of God in holding them upright in their temptations, whereby +for faint heart they leave off good business in which they would +be well occupied. And, under pretext (as it seemeth to themselves) +of humble heart and meekness, and of serving God in contemplation +and silence, they seek their own ease and earthly rest unawares. +And with this, if it be so, God is not well content. + +Howbeit, if it be so that a man, by the experience that he hath of +himself, perceiveth that in wealth and authority he doth his own +soul harm, and cannot do the good that to his part appertaineth; +but seeth the things that he should set his hands to sustain, +decay through his default and fall to ruin under him, and seeth +that to the amendment thereof he leaveth his own duty undone; then +would I in any wise advise him to leave off that thing--be it +spiritual benefice that he have, parsonage or bishopric, or +temporal office and authority--and rather give it over quite and +draw himself aside and serve God, than to take the worldly worship +and commodity for himself, with incommodity of those whom his duty +would be to profit. + +But, on the other hand, he may not see the contrary but what he +may do his duty conveniently well, and may fear nothing but that +the temptations of ambition and pride may peradventure turn his +good purpose and make him decline unto sin. I deny not that it is +well done to stand always in moderate fear, for the scripture +saith, "Blessed is the man that is always fearful," and St. Paul +saith, "He that standeth, let him look that he fall not." Yet is +over-much fear perilous and draweth toward the mistrust of God's +gracious help. This immoderate fear and faint heart holy scripture +forbiddeth, saying, "Be not feeble-hearted or timorous." Let such +a man therefore temper his fear with good hope, and think that +since God hath set him in that place (if he think that God have +set him in it), God will assist him with his grace to use it well. +Howbeit, if he came to it by simony or some such other evils +means, then that would be one good reason wherefore he should +rather leave it off. But otherwise let him continue in his good +business. And, against the devil's provocation unto evil, let him +bless himself and call unto God and pray, and look that the devil +tempt him not to lean the more toward the contrary. + +Let him pity and comfort those who are in distress and affliction. +I mean not that he should let every malefactor pass forth +unpunished, and freely run out and rob at random. But in his heart +let him be sorry to see that of necessity, for fear of decaying +the common weal, men are driven to put malefactors to pain. And +yet where he findeth good tokens and likelihood of amendment, +there let him help all that he can that mercy may be had. There +shall never lack desperately disposed wretched enough besides, +upon whom, as an example, justice can proceed. Let him think, in +his own heart, that every poor beggar is his fellow. + +VINCENT: That will be very hard, uncle, for an honourable man to +do, when he beholdeth himself richly apparelled and the beggar +rigged in his rags. + +ANTHONY: If there were here, cousin, two men who were both +beggars, and afterward a great rich man would take one unto him, +and tell him that for a little time he would have him in his +house, and thereupon arrayed him in silk and gave him a great bag +by his side, filled even with gold, but giving him this catch +therewith: that, within a little while, out he should go in his +old rags again, and bear never a penny with him--if this beggar +met his fellow now, while his gay gown was on, might he not, for +all his gay gear, take him for his fellow still? And would he not +be a very fool if, for a wealth of a few weeks, he would think +himself far his better? + +VINCENT: Yes, uncle, if the difference in their state were no +other. + +ANTHONY: Surely, cousin, methinketh that in this world, between +the richest and the most poor, the difference is scant so much. For +let the highest look on the most base, and consider how they both +came into this world. And then let him consider further that, +howsoever rich he be now, he shall yet, within a while-- +peradventure less than one week--walk out again as poor as that +beggar shall. And then, by my troth, methinketh this rich man much +more than mad if, for the wealth of a little while--haply less than +one week--he reckon himself in earnest any better than the beggar's +fellow. + +And less than thus can no man think, who hath any natural wit and +well useth it. But now a Christian man, cousin, who hath the light +of faith, he cannot fail to think much further in this thing. For +he will think not only upon his bare coming hither and his bare +going hence again, but also the dreadful judgment of God, and upon +the fearful pains of hell and the inestimable joys of heaven. And +in the considering of these things, he will call to remembrance +that peradventure when this beggar and he are both departed hence, +the beggar may be suddenly set up in such royalty that well were +he himself that ever was he born if he might be made his fellow. +And he who well bethinketh him, cousin, upon these things, I +verily think that the arrow of pride flying forth in the day of +worldly wealth shall never so wound his heart that ever it shall +bear him up one foot. + +But now, to the intent that he may think on such things the +better, let him use often to resort to confession. And there let +him open his heart and, by the mouth of some virtuous ghostly +father, have such things often renewed in his remembrance. Let him +also choose himself some secret solitary place in his own house, +as far from noise and company as he conveniently can, and thither +let him sometimes secretly resort alone, imagining himself as one +going out of the world even straight unto the giving up his +reckoning unto God of his sinful living. There, before an altar or +some pitiful image of Christ's bitter passion, the beholding of +which may put him in remembrance of the thing and move him to +devout compassion, let him then kneel down or fall prostrate as at +the feet of almighty God, verily believing him to be there +invisibly present, as without any doubt he is. There let him open +his heart to God and confess his faults, such as he can call to +mind, and pray God for forgiveness. Let him call to remembrance +the benefits that God hath given him, either in general among +other men or privately to himself, and give him humble hearty +thanks for them. There let him declare unto God the temptations of +the devil, the suggestions of the flesh, the occasions of the +world--and of his worldly friends, much worse many times in +drawing a man from God than are his most mortal enemies, as our +Saviour witnesseth himself where he saith, "The enemies of a man +are they that are his own familiars." There let him lament and +bewail unto God his own frailty, negligence, and sloth in +resisting and withstanding of temptation; his readiness and +proneness to fall into it. There let him lamentably beseech God, +of his gracious aid and help, to strengthen his infirmity--both to +keep him from falling and, when he by his own fault misfortuneth +to fall, then with the helping hand of his merciful grace to lift +him up and set him on his feet in the state of his grace again. +And let this man not doubt but that God heareth him and granteth +him gladly his boon. + +And so, dwelling in the faithful trust of God's help, he shall +well use his prosperity, and persevere in his good profitable +business, and shall have the truth of God so compass him about +with a shield of his heavenly defence that he shall not need to +dread of the devil's arrow flying in the day of worldly wealth. + +VINCENT: Forsooth, uncle, I like this good counsel well. And I +should think that those who are in prosperity and take such order +therein, may do much good both to themselves and to other folk. + +ANTHONY: I beseech our Lord, cousin, to put this and better in +the mind of every man who needeth it. + +And now will I touch one word or twain of the third temptation, of +which the prophet speaketh in these words: "From the business +walking in the darknesses." And then will we call for our dinner, +leaving the last temptation--that is, "from the incursion and the +devil of the midday"--till afternoon. And then shall we with that, +God willing, make an end of all this matter. + +VINCENT: Our Lord reward you, good uncle, for your good labour +with me. But, for our Lord's sake, take good heed, uncle, that you +forbear not your dinner over-long. + +ANTHONY: Fear not that, cousin, I warrant you, for this piece +will I make you but short. + + +XVII + +The prophet saith in the said psalm, "He that dwelleth in the +faithful hope of God's help, he shall abide in the protection or +safeguard of God in heaven. And thou who art such a one, the truth +of him shall so compass thee about with a shield, that thou shalt +not be afraid of the business walking about in the darknesses." + +"_Negotium,_ the business," is here, cousin, the name of the devil +who is ever full of busy-ness in tempting folk to much evil +business. His time of tempting is in the darknesses. For you know +well that beside the full night, which is the deep dark, there are +two times of darkness, the one ere the morning wax light, the +other when the evening waxeth dark. Two times of like darkness are +there also in the soul of man: the one ere the light of grace be +well sprung up in the heart, the other when the light of grace +beginneth out of the heart to walk fast away. In these two +darknesses this devil who is called Business busily walketh about, +and he carrieth about with him such foolish folk as will follow +him and setteth them to work with many a manner of bumbling +business. + +He setteth some, I say, to seek the pleasures of the flesh in +eating, drinking, and other filthy delight. And some he setteth +about incessant seeking for these worldly goods. And of such busy +folk whom this devil called Business, walking about in the +darknesses, setteth to work with such business, our Saviour saith +in the gospel, "He that walketh in darknesses knoweth not whither +he goeth." And surely in such a state are they--they neither know +which way they go, nor whither. For verily they walk round about +as it were in a round maze; when they think themselves at an end +of their business, they are but at the beginning again. For is not +the going about the serving of the flesh a business that hath no +end, but evermore from the end cometh to the beginning again? Go +they never so full-fed to bed, yet evermore on the morrow, as new +they are to be fed again as they were the day before. Thus fareth +it by the belly; thus fareth it by those parts that are beneath +the belly. And as for covetousness, it fareth like the fire--the +more wood there cometh to it, the more fervent and the more greedy +it is. + +But now hath this maze a centre or middle place, into which these +busy folk are sometimes conveyed suddenly when they think they are +not yet far from the brink. The centre or middle place of this +maze is hell. And into that place are these busy folk who with +this devil of business walk about in this busy maze, in the +darkness, sometimes suddenly conveyed, unaware whither they are +going. And that may be even while they think that they have not +walked far from the beginning, and that they have yet a great way +to walk about before they should come to the end. But of these +fleshly folk walking in this busy pleasant maze the scripture +declareth the end: "They lead their life in pleasure, and at a pop +down they descend into hell." + +Of the covetous man saith St. Paul, "They that long to be rich do +fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil, and into +many unprofitable and harmful desires, which drown men into death +and destruction." Lo, here in the middle place of this busy maze, +the snare of the devil, the place of perdition and destruction, in +which they fall and are caught and drowned ere they are aware! + +The covetous rich man also that our Saviour speaketh of in the +gospel, who had so great plenty of corn that his barns would not +receive it, but intended to make his barns larger, and said unto +himself that he would make merry many days--he thought, you know, +that he had a great way yet to walk. But God said unto him, "Fool, +this night shall they take thy soul from thee, and then all these +goods that thou hast gathered, whose shall they be?" Here, you +see, he fell suddenly into the deep centre of this busy maze, so +that he was fallen full into it ere ever he had thought he should +have come near to it. + +Now this I know very well: Those who are walking about in this +busy maze take not their business for any tribulation. And yet are +there many of them as sore wearied in it, and sore panged and +pained, their pleasures being so short, so little, and so few, and +their displeasures and their griefs so great, so continual, and so +many. It maketh me think on a good worshipful man who, when he +divers times beheld what pain his wife took in tightly binding up +her hair to make her a fair large forehead, and with tightly +bracing in her body to make her middle small (both twain to her +great pain) for the pride of a little foolish praise, he said unto +her, "Forsooth, madam, if God give you not hell, he shall do you a +great wrong. For it must needs be your own very right, for you buy +it very dear and take very great pain therefore!" + +Those who now lie in hell for their wretched living here do now +perceive their folly in the more pain that they took here for the +less pleasure. There confess they now their folly, and cry out, +"We have been wearied in the way of wickedness." And yet, while +they were walking in that way, they would not rest themselves, but +ran on still in their weariness, and put themselves still unto +more pain and more, for a little childish pleasure, short and soon +gone. For that they took all that labour and pain, beside the +everlasting pain that followed it for their further advantage +afterward. So help me God, but I verily think many a man buyeth +hell here with so much pain that he might have bought heaven with +less than half! + +But yet, as I say, while these fleshly and worldly busy folk are +walking about in this round busy maze of the devil called Business +who walketh about in these two times of darkness, their wits are +so bewitched by the secret enchantment of the devil that they mark +not the great long miserable weariness and pain that the devil +maketh them take and endure about naught. And therefore they take +it for no tribulation, so that they need no comfort. And therefore +it is not for their sakes that I speak of all this, saving that it +may serve them for counsel toward the perceiving of their own +foolish misery, through the help of God's grace, beginning to +shine upon them again. But there are very good folk and virtuous +who are in the daylight of grace, and yet the devil tempteth them +busily to such fleshly delight. And since they see plenty of +worldly substance fall unto them, and feel the devil in like wise +busily tempt them to set their hearts upon it, they are sore +troubled therewith. And they begin to fear thereby that they are +not with God in the light but with this devil that the prophet +calleth _Negotium_--that is to say, Business--walking about in the +two times of darknesses. + +Howbeit, as I said before of those good folk and gracious who are +in the worldly wealth of great power and authority and thereby +fear the devil's arrow of pride, so say I now here again of these +who stand in dread of fleshly foul sin and covetousness: they do +well to stand ever in moderate fear, lest with waxing over-bold +and setting the thing over-light, they might peradventure mishap +to fall in thereto. Yet, since they are but tempted with it and +follow it not, to vex and trouble themselves sorely with the fear +of loss of God's favour is without necessity and not always +without peril. For, as I said before, it withdraweth the mind of a +man far from the spiritual consolation of the good hope that he +should have in God's help. And as for those temptations, as long +as he who is tempted followeth them not, the fight against them +serveth him for matter of merit and reward in heaven, if he not +only flee the deed, the consent, and the delectation, but also (so +far as he conveniently can) flee from all occasions of them. + +And this point is in those fleshly temptations a thing easy to +perceive and plain enough. But in worldly business pertaining unto +covetousness the thing is somewhat more dark and there is more +difficulty in the perceiving. And very great troublous fear of it +doth often arise in the hearts of very good folk, when the world +falleth fast unto them, because of the sore words and terrible +threats that God in holy scripture speaketh against those who are +rich. As, where St. Paul saith, "They that will be rich fall into +temptation, and into the snare of the devil." And where our +Saviour saith himself, "It is more easy for a camel"--or, as some +say, "for a great cable rope," for "camelus" so signifieth in the +Greek tongue--"to go through a needle's eye than for a rich man to +enter into the kingdom of God." + +No marvel, now, if good folk who fear God take occasion of great +dread at so dreadful words, when they see the worldly goods fall +to them. And some stand in doubt whether it be lawful for them to +keep any goods or not. But evermore, in all those places of +scripture, the having of the worldly goods is not the thing that +is rebuked and threatened, but the affection that the haver +unlawfully beareth to them. For where St. Paul saith, "they that +will be made rich," he speaketh not of the having but of the will +and desire and affection to have, and the longing for it. For that +cannot be lightly without sin. For the thing that folk sore long +for, they will make many shifts to get and jeopard themselves for. + +And to declare that the having of riches is not forbidden, but the +inordinate affection of the mind sore set upon them, the prophet +saith, "If riches flow unto you, set not your heart thereupon." +And albeit that our Lord, by the said example of the camel or +cable rope to come through the needle's eye, said that it is not +only hard but also impossible for a rich man to enter into the +kingdom of heaven, yet he declared that though the rich man cannot +get into heaven of himself, yet God, he said, can get him in well +enough. For unto men he said it was impossible, but not unto God, +for "unto God," he said, "all things are possible." And yet, +beside that, he told of which manner of rich man he meant, who +could not get into the kingdom of heaven, saying, "My babes, how +hard is it for them that put their trust and confidence in their +money, to enter into the kingdom of God!" + +VINCENT: This is, I suppose, uncle, very true--and otherwise God +forbid! For otherwise the world would be in a full hard state, if +every rich man were in such danger and peril. + +ANTHONY: That would it be, cousin, indeed. And so I suppose it is +yet. For I fear me that to the multitude there are very few who +long not sorely to be rich. And of those who so long to be, there +are also very few reserved who set not their heart very sorely +thereon. + +VINCENT: This is, uncle, I fear me, very true, but yet not the +thing that I was about to speak of. But the thing that I would +have said was this: I cannot well perceive (the world being such +as it is, and so many poor people in it) how any man can be rich, +and keep himself rich, without danger of damnation for it. + +For all the while he seeth so many poor people who lack, while he +himself hath wherewith to give them. And their necessity he is +bound in such case of duty to relieve, while he hath wherewith to +do so--so far forth that holy St. Ambrose saith that whosoever die +for default, where we might help them, we kill them. I cannot see +but that every rich man hath great cause to stand in great fear of +damnation, nor can I perceive, as I say, how he can be delivered +of that fear as long as he keepeth his riches. And therefore, +though he might keep his riches if there lacked poor men and yet +stand in God's favour therewith, as Abraham did and many another +holy rich man since; yet with such an abundance of poor men as +there is now in every country, any man who keepeth any riches must +needs have an inordinate affection unto it, since he giveth it not +out unto the poor needy persons, as the duty of charity bindeth +and constraineth him to. + +And thus, uncle, in this world at this day, meseemeth your comfort +unto good men who are rich, and are troubled with fear of +damnation for the keeping, can very scantly serve. + +ANTHONY: Hard is it, cousin, in many manner of things, to bid or +forbid, affirm or deny, reprove or approve, a matter nakedly +proposed and put forth; or precisely to say "This thing is +good," or "This thing is evil," without consideration of the +circumstances. + +Holy St. Austine telleth of a physician who gave a man in a certain +disease a medicine that helped him. The selfsame man at another +time in the selfsame disease took the selfsame medicine himself, +and had of it more harm than good. This he told the physician, and +asked him how the harm should have happened. "That medicine," quoth +he, "did thee no good but harm because thou tookest it when I gave +it thee not." This answer St. Austine very well approveth, because, +though the medicine were the same, yet might there be peradventure +in the sickness some such difference as the patient perceived +not--yea, or in the man himself, or in the place, or in the time of +the year. Many things might make the hindrance, for which the +physician would not then have given him the selfsame medicine that +he gave him before. + +To peruse every circumstance that might, cousin, in this matter be +touched, and were to be considered and weighed, would indeed make +this part of this devil of Business a very busy piece of work and +a long one! But I shall open a little the point that you speak of, +and shall show you what I think therein, with as few words as I +conveniently can. And then will we go to dinner. + +First, cousin, he who is a rich man and keepeth all his goods, he +hath, I think, very good cause to be very afraid indeed. And yet I +fear me that such folk fear the least. For they are very far from +the state of good men, since, if they keep all, they are then very +far from charity, and do, as you know well, either little alms or +none at all. + +But now our question, cousin, is not in what case that rich man +standeth who keepeth all, but whether we should suffer men to +stand in a perilous dread and fear for the keeping of any great +part. For if, by the keeping of so much as maketh a rich man +still, they stand in the state of damnation, then are the curates +bound to tell them so plainly, according to the commandment of God +given unto them all in the person of Ezechiel: "If, when I say to +the wicked man, 'Thou shalt die,' thou do not show it unto him, +nor speak unto him that he may be turned from his wicked way and +live, he shall soothly die in his wickedness and his blood shall I +require of thine hand." + +But, cousin, though God invited men unto the following of himself +in wilful poverty, by the leaving of everything at once for his +sake--as the thing by which, being out of solicitude of worldly +business and far from the desire of earthly commodities, they may +the more speedily get and attain the state of spiritual +perfection, and the hungry desire and longing for celestial +things--yet doth he not command every man to do so upon the peril +of damnation. For where he saith, "He that forsaketh not all that +ever he hath, cannot be my disciple," he declareth well, by other +words of his own in the selfsame place a little before, what he +meaneth. For there saith he more, "He that cometh to me, and +hateth not his father, and his mother, and his wife, and his +children, and his brethren, and his sisters, yea and his own life +too, cannot be my disciple." Here meaneth our Saviour Christ that +no one can be his disciple unless he love him so far above all his +kin, and above his own life, too, that for the love of him, rather +than forsake him, he shall forsake them all. And so meaneth he by +those other words that whosoever do not so renounce and forsake +all that ever he hath in his own heart and affection, so that he +will lose it all and let it go every whit, rather than deadly to +displease God with the reserving of any one part of it, he cannot +be Christ's disciple. For Christ teacheth us to love God above all +things, and he loveth not God above all things who, contrary to +God's pleasure, keepeth anything that he hath. For he showeth +himself to set more by that thing than by God, since he is better +content to lose God than it. But, as I said, to give away all, or +that no man should be rich or have substance, that find I no +commandment of. + +There are, as our Saviour saith, in the house of his father many +mansions. And happy shall he be who shall have the grace to dwell +even in the lowest. It seemeth verily by the gospel that those who +for God's sake patiently suffer penury, shall not only dwell in +heaven above those who live here in plenty in earth, but also that +heaven in some manner of wise more properly belongeth unto them and +is more especially prepared for them than it is for the rich. For +God in the gospel counseleth the rich folk to buy (in a manner) +heaven of them, where he saith unto the rich men, "Make yourselves +friends of the wicked riches, that when you fail here they may +receive you into everlasting tabernacles." + +But now, although this be thus, in respect of the riches and the +poverty compared together, yet if a rich man and a poor man be +both good men, there may be some other virtue beside in which the +rich man may peradventure so excel that he may in heaven be far +above that poor man who was here on earth in other virtues far +under him. And the proof appeareth clear in Lazarus and Abraham. + +Nor I say not this to the intent to comfort rich men in heaping up +riches, for a little comfort will bend them enough thereto. They +are not so proud-hearted and obstinate but what they would, I +daresay, with right little exhortation be very conformable to that +counsel! But I say this for those good men to whom God giveth +substance, and the mind to dispose it well, and yet not the mind +to give it all away at once, but for good causes to keep some +substance still. Let them not despair of God's favour for not +doing the thing which God hath given them no commandment of, nor +drawn them to by any special calling. + +Zachaeus, lo, who climbed up into the tree, for desire that he had +to behold our Saviour: at such a time as Christ called aloud unto +him and said, "Zachaeus, make haste and come down, for this day +must I dwell in thy house," he was glad and touched inwardly with +special grace to the profit of his soul. All the people murmured +much that Christ would call him and be so familiar with him as, of +his own offer, to come unto his house. For they knew him for the +chief of the publicans, who were custom-men or toll-gatherers of +the Emperor's duties, all which whole company were among the +people sore infamous for ravine, extortion, and bribery. And then +Zachaeus not only was the chief of the fellowship but also was +grown greatly rich, whereby the people accounted him in their own +opinion for a man very sinful and wicked. Yet he forthwith, by the +instinct of the spirit of God, in reproach of all such temerarious +bold and blind judgment, given upon a man whose inward mind and +sudden change they cannot see, shortly proved them all deceived. +And he proved that our Lord had, at those few words outwardly +spoken to him, so wrought in his heart within that whatsoever he +was before, he was then, unawares to them all, suddenly waxed +good. For he made haste and came down, and gladly received Christ, +and said, "Lo, Lord, the one half of my goods here I give unto +poor people. And yet, over that, if I have in anything deceived +any man, here am I ready to recompense him fourfold as much." + +VINCENT: This was, uncle, a gracious hearing. But yet I marvel me +somewhat, wherefore Zachaeus used his words in that manner of +order. For methinketh he should first have spoken of making +restitution unto those whom he had beguiled, and then spoken of +giving his alms afterward. For restitution is, you know, duty, and +a thing of such necessity that in respect of restitution almsdeed +is but voluntary. Therefore it might seem that to put men in mind +of their duty in making restitution first, and doing their alms +afterward, Zachaeus would have spoken more fittingly if he had +said first that he would make every man restitution whom he had +wronged, and then give half in alms of that which remained +afterward. For only that might he call clearly his own. + +ANTHONY: This is true, cousin, where a man hath not enough to +suffice for both. But he who hath, is not bound to leave his alms +ungiven to the poor man who is at hand and peradventure calleth +upon him, till he go seek up all his creditors and all those whom +he hath wronged--who are peradventure so far asunder that, leaving +the one good deed undone the while, he may, before they come +together, change that good intent again and do neither the one nor +the other. It is good always to be doing some good out of hand, +while we think on it; grace shall the better stand with us and +increase also, to go the further in the other afterward. + +And this I would answer, if the man had there done the one out of +hand--the giving, I mean, of half in alms--and not so much as +spoken of restitution till afterward. Whereas now, though he spoke +the one in order before the other (and yet all at one time) it +remained still in his liberty to put them both in execution, after +such order as he should then think expedient. But now, cousin, did +the spirit of God temper the tongue of Zachaeus in the utterance +of these words in such wise that it may well appear that the +saying of the wise man is verified in them, where he saith, "To +God it belongeth to govern the tongue." For here, when he said +that he would give half of his goods unto poor people and yet +beside that not only recompense any man whom he had wronged but +more than recompense him by three times as much again, he doubly +reproved the false suspicion of the people. For they accounted him +for so evil that they reckoned in their mind all his goods wrongly +gotten, because he was grown to substance in that office that was +commonly misused with extortion. But his words declared that he +was deep enough in his reckoning so that, if half his goods were +given away, he would yet be well able to yield every man his due +with the other half--and yet leave himself no beggar either, for +he said not he would give away all. + +Would God, cousin, that every rich Christian man who is reputed +right worshipful--yea, and (which yet, to my mind, is more) +reckoned for right honest, too--would and could do the thing that +little Zachaeus, that same great publican, were he Jew or were he +paynim, said that he would do: that is, with less than half his +goods, to recompense every man whom he had wronged four times as +much. Yea, yea, cousin, as much for as much, hardly! And then they +who receive it shall be content, I dare promise for them, to let +the other thrice-as-much go, and forgive it. Because that was one +of the hard points of the old law, whereas Christian men must be +full of forgiving, and not require and exact their amends to the +uttermost. + +But now, for our purpose here: He promised neither to give away +all nor to become a beggar--no, nor yet to leave off his office +either. For, albeit that he had not used it before peradventure in +every point so pure as St. John the Baptist had taught them the +lesson: "Do no more than is appointed unto you," yet he might both +lawfully use his substance that he intended to reserve, and +lawfully might use his office, too, in receiving the prince's +duty, according to Christ's express commandment, "Give the Emperor +those things that are his," refusing all extortion and bribery +besides. Yet our Lord, well approving his good purpose, and +exacting no further of him concerning his worldly behaviour, +answered and said, "This day is health come to this house, for he +too is the son of Abraham." + +But now I forget not, cousin, that in effect you conceded to me +thus far: that a man may be rich and yet not out of the state of +grace, nor out of God's favour. Howbeit, you think that, though it +may be so in some time or in some other place, yet at this time +and in this place, or any other such in which there be so many +poor people, upon whom you think they are bound to bestow their +goods, they can keep no riches with conscience. + +Verily, cousin, if that reason would hold, I daresay the world was +never such anywhere that any man might have kept any substance +without the danger of damnation. For since Christ's days to the +world's end, we have the witness of his own word that there hath +never lacked poor men nor ever shall. For he said himself, "Poor +men shall you always have with you, unto whom, when you will, you +may do good." So that, as I tell you, if your rule should hold, +then I suppose there would be no place, in no time, since Christ's +days hitherto, nor I think in as long before that either, nor never +shall there be hereafter, in which any man could abide rich +without the danger of eternal damnation, even for his riches +alone, though he demeaned himself never so well. + +But, cousin, men of substance must there be. For otherwise shall +you have more beggars, perdy, than there are, and no man left able +to relieve another. For this I think in my mind a very sure +conclusion: If all the money that is in this country were tomorrow +brought together out of every man's hand and laid all upon one +heap, and then divided out unto every man alike, it would be on +the morrow after worse than it was the day before. For I suppose +that when it were all equally thus divided among all, the best +would be left little better then than almost a beggar is now. And +yet he who was a beggar before, all that he shall be the richer +for, that he should thereby receive, shall not make him much above +a beggar still. But many a one of the rich men, if their riches +stood but in movable substance, shall be safe enough from riches, +haply for all their life after! + +Men cannot, you know, live here in this world unless some one man +provide a means of living for many others. Every man cannot have a +ship of his own, nor every man be a merchant without a stock. And +these things, you know, must needs be had. Nor can every man have a +plough by himself. And who could live by the tailor's craft, if no +man were able to have a gown made? Who could live by masonry, or +who could live a carpenter, if no man were able to build either +church or house? Who would be the makers of any manner of cloth, if +there lacked men of substance to set sundry sorts to work? Some man +who hath not two ducats in his house would do better to lose them +both and leave himself not a farthing, but utterly lose all his +own, rather than that some rich man by whom he is weekly set to +work should lose one half of his money. For then would he himself +be likely to lack work. For surely the rich man's substance is the +wellspring of the poor man's living. And therefore here would it +fare by the poor man as it fared by the woman in one of Æsop's +fables. She had a hen that laid her every day a golden egg, till on +a day she thought she would have a great many eggs at once. And +therefore she killed her hen and found but one or twain in her +belly, so that for a few she lost many. + +But now, cousin, to come to your doubt how it can be that a man +may with conscience keep riches with him, when he seeth so many +poor men on whom he may bestow them. Verily, that might he not +with conscience do, if he must bestow it upon as many as he can. +And so much of truth every rich man do, if all the poor folk that +he seeth are so specially by God's commandment committed unto his +charge alone that, because our Saviour said, "Give to every man +who asketh thee," therefore he is bound to give out still to every +beggar who will ask him, as long as any penny lasteth in his +purse. But verily, cousin, that saying hath (as St. Austine saith +other places in scripture have) need of interpretation. For, as +holy St. Austine saith, though Christ say, "Give to every man who +asketh thee," he saith not yet, "Give them all that they will ask +thee." But surely they would be the same, if he meant to bind me +by commandment to give every man without exception something. For +so should I leave myself nothing. + +Our Saviour, in that place of the sixth chapter of St. Luke, +speaketh both of the contempt that we should have in heart of +these worldly things, and also of the manner that men should use +toward their enemies. For there he biddeth us love our enemies, +give good words for evil, and not only suffer injuries patiently +(both the taking away of our goods and harm done unto our body), +but also be ready to suffer the double, and over that to do good +in return to those who do us the harm. And among these things he +biddeth us give to every man who asketh, meaning that when we can +conveniently do a man good, we should not refuse it, whatsoever +manner of man he may be, though he were our mortal enemy, if we +see that unless we help him ourselves, the person of that man +should stand in peril of perishing. And therefore saith St. Paul, +"If thine enemy be in hunger, give him meat." + +But now, though I be bound to give every manner of man in some +manner of his necessity, were he my friend or my foe, Christian +man or heathen, yet am I not bound alike unto all men, nor unto +any many in every case alike. But, as I began to tell you, the +differences of the circumstances make great change in the matter. +St. Paul saith, "He that provideth not for those that are his, is +worse than an infidel." Those are ours who are belonging to our +charge, either by nature or by law, or any commandment of God. By +nature, as our children; by law, as our servants in our household. +Albeit these two sorts be not ours all alike, yet would I think +that the least ours of the twain--that is, the servants--if they +need, and lack, we are bound to look to them and provide for their +need, and see, so far as we can, that they lack not the things +that should serve for their necessity while they dwell in our +service. Meseemeth also that if they fall sick in our service, so +that they cannot do the service that we retain them for, yet may +we not in any wise turn them out of doors and cast them up +comfortless, while they are not able to labour and help +themselves. For this would be a thing against all humanity. And +surely, if a man were but a wayfarer whom I received into my house +as a guest, if he fell sick there and his money be gone, I reckon +myself bound to keep him still, and rather to beg about for his +relief than to cast him out in that condition to the peril of his +life, whatsoever loss I should happen to sustain in the keeping of +him. For when God hath by such chance sent him to me and there +once matched me with him, I reckon myself surely charged with him +until I may, without peril of his life, be well and conveniently +discharged of him. + +By God's commandment our parents are in our charge, for by nature +we are in theirs. Since, as St. Paul saith, it is not the +children's part to provide for the parents but the parents' to +provide for the children. Provide, I mean, conveniently--good +learning or good occupations to get their living by, with truth +and the favour of God--but not to make provision for them of such +manner of living as they should live the worse toward God for. But +rather, if they see by their manner that too much would make them +wicked, the father should then give them a great deal less. But +although nature put not the parents in the children's charge, yet +not only God commandeth but the order of nature compelleth, that +the children should both in reverent behaviour honour their father +and mother, and also in all their necessity maintain them. And +yet, as much as God and nature both bind us to the sustenance of +our father, his need may be so little (though it be somewhat) and +another man's so great, that both nature and God also would that I +should, in such unequal need, relieve that urgent necessity of a +stranger--yea, my foe, and God's enemy too, the very Turk or +Saracen--before a little need, and unlikely to do great harm, in +my father and my mother too. For so ought they both twain +themselves to be well content that I should. + +But now, cousin, outside of such extreme need well perceived and +known unto myself, I am not bound to give to every beggar who will +ask; nor to believe every imposter that I meet in the street who +will say himself that he is very sick; nor to reckon all the poor +folk committed by God only so to my charge alone, that no other +man should give them anything of his until I have first given out +all mine. Nor am I bound either to have so evil opinion of all +other folk save myself as to think that, unless I help, the poor +folk shall all fail at once, for God hath left in all this quarter +no more good folk now but me! I may think better of my neighbours +and worse of myself than that, and yet come to heaven, by God's +grace, well enough. + +VINCENT: Marry, uncle, but some man will peradventure be right +content, in such cases, to think his neighbours very charitable, +to the intent that he may think himself at liberty to give nothing +at all. + +ANTHONY: That is, cousin, very true. Some will be content either +to think so, or to make as though they thought so. But those are +they who are content to give naught because they are naught! But +our question is, cousin, not of them, but of good folk who, by +the keeping of worldly goods, stand in great fear to offend God. +For the quieting of their conscience speak we now, to the intent +that they may perceive what manner of having of worldly goods, and +keeping of them, may stand with the state of grace. + +Now think I, cousin, that if a man keep riches about him for a +glory and royalty of the world, taking a great delight in the +consideration of it and liking himself for it, and taking him who +is poorer for the lack of it as one far worse than himself, such a +mind is very vain foolish pride and such a man is very wicked +indeed. But on the other hand, there may be a man--such as would +God there were many!--who hath no love unto riches, but having it +fall abundantly unto him, taketh for his own part no great +pleasure of it, but, as though he had it not, keepeth himself in +like abstinence and penance privily as he would do in case he had +it not. And, in such things as he doth openly, he may bestow +somewhat more liberally upon himself in his house after some +manner of the world, lest he should give other folk occasion to +marvel and muse and talk of his manner and misreport him for a +hypocrite. And therein, between God and him, he may truly protest +and testify, as did the good queen Hester, that he doth it not for +any desire thereof in the satisfying of his own pleasure, but +would with as good will or better forbear the possession of +riches, saving them--as perhaps in keeping a good household in +good Christian order and fashion, and in setting other folk to +work with such things as they gain their living the better by his +means. If there be such a man, his having of riches methinketh I +might in a manner match in merit with another man's forsaking of +all. Or so would it be if there were no other circumstances more +pleasing unto God added further unto the forsaking besides, as +perhaps for the more fervent contemplation by reason of the +solicitude of all worldly business being left off, which was the +thing that made Mary Magdalene's part the better. For otherwise +would Christ have given her much more thanks to go about and be +busy in the helping her sister Martha to dress his dinner, than to +take her stool and sit down at her ease and do naught. + +Now, if he who hath these goods and riches by him, have not haply +fully so perfect a mind, but somewhat loveth to keep himself from +lack; and if he be not, so fully as a pure Christian fashion +requireth, determined to abandon his pleasure--well, what will you +more? The man is so much the less perfect than I would that he +were, and haply than he himself would wish, if it were as easy to +be it as to wish it. But yet is he not forthwith in the state of +damnation, for all that. No more than every man is forthwith in a +state of damnation who, forsaking all and entering into religion, +is not yet always so clear purified from worldly affections as he +himself would very fain that he were, and much bewaileth that he +is not. Many a man, who hath in the world willingly forsaken the +likelihood of right worshipful offices, hath afterward had much +ado to keep himself from the desire of the office of cellarer or +sexton, to bear yet at least some rule and authority, though it +were but among the bellies. But God is more merciful to man's +imperfection--if the man know it, and acknowledge it, and mislike +it, and little by little labour to amend it--than to reject and +cast off to the devil him who, according as his frailty can bear +and suffer, hath a general intent and purpose to please him and to +prefer or set by nothing in this world before him. + +And therefore, cousin, to make an end of this piece withal--of +this devil, I mean, whom the prophet calleth "Business walking in +the darknesses": If a man have a mind to serve God and please him, +and would rather lose all the goods he hath than wittingly to do +deadly sin; and if he would, without murmur or grudge, give it +every whit away in case God should so command him, and intend to +take it patiently if God would take it from him; and if he would +be glad to use it unto God's pleasure, and do his diligence to +know and be taught what manner of using of it God would be pleased +with; and if he be glad to follow therein, from time to time, the +counsel of good virtuous men, though he neither give away all at +once, nor give to every man who asketh him neither; and though +every man should fear and think in this world that all the good +that he doth or can do is a great deal too little--yet, for all +that fear, let that man dwell in the faithful hope of God's help! +And then shall the truth of God so compass him about, as the +prophet saith, with a shield, that he shall not so need to dread +the snares and the temptations of this devil whom the prophet +calleth "Business walking about in the darknesses." But he shall, +for all the having of riches and worldly substance, so avoid his +snares and temptations, that he shall in conclusion, by the great +grace and almighty mercy of God, get into heaven well enough. + +And now was I, cousin, after this piece thus ended, about to bid +them bring in our dinner. But now shall I not need to, lo, for +here they come with it already. + +VINCENT: Forsooth, good uncle, God disposeth and timeth your +matter and your dinner both, I trust. For the end of your good +tale--for which our Lord reward you!--and the beginning here of +your good dinner too (from which it would be more than pity that +you should any longer have tarried) meet even at the close +together. + +ANTHONY: Well, cousin, now will we say grace. And then for a +while will we leave talking and essay how our dinner shall please +us, and how fair we can fall to feeding. After that, you know my +customary guise (for "manner" I cannot call it, because the guise +is unmannerly) to bid you not farewell but steal away from you to +sleep. But you know I am not wont to sleep long in the afternoon, +but even a little to forget the world. And when I wake, I will +again come to you. And then is, God willing, all this long day +ours, in which we shall have time enough to talk much more than +shall suffice for the finishing of this one part of our matter +that now alone remaineth. + +VINCENT: I pray you, good uncle, keep your customary manner, for +"manner" may you call it well enough. For as it would be against +good manners to look that a man should kneel down for courtesy +when his knee is sore, so is it very good manners that a man of +your age (aggrieved with such sundry sicknesses besides, that +suffer you not always to sleep when you should) should not let his +sleep slip away but should take it when he can. And I will, uncle, +in the meanwhile steal from you, too, and speed a little errand +and return to you again. + +ANTHONY: Stay as long as you will, and when you have dined go at +your pleasure. But I pray you, tarry not long. + +VINCENT: You shall not need, uncle, to put me in mind of that, I +would so fain have up the rest of our matter. + +______________________________ + + +BOOK THREE + +VINCENT: I have tarried somewhat the longer, uncle, partly because +I was loth to come over-soon, lest my soon-coming might have happed +to have made you wake too soon. But I tarried especially for the +reason that I was delayed by someone who showed me a letter, dated +at Constantinople, by which it appeareth that the great Turk +prepareth a marvellous mighty army. And yet whither he will go with +it, that can there yet no man tell. But I fear in good faith, +uncle, that his voyage shall be hither. Howbeit, he who wrote the +letter saith that it is secretly said in Constantinople that a +great part of his army shall be shipped and sent either into Naples +or into Sicily. + +ANTHONY: It may fortune, cousin, that the letter of a Venetian, +dated at Constantinople, was devised at Venice. From thence come +there some letters--and sometimes from Rome, too, and sometimes +also from some other places--all stuffed full of such tidings that +the Turk is ready to do some great exploit. These tidings they blow +about for the furtherance of some such affairs as they have +themselves then in hand. + +The Turk hath also so many men of arms in his retinue at his +continual charge that, lest they should lie still and do nothing, +but peradventure fall in devising of some novelties among +themselves, he is fain yearly to make some assembly and some +changing of them from one place unto another, and part some +asunder, that they wax not over-well acquainted by dwelling +over-long together. By these ways also, he maketh those that he +intendeth suddenly to invade indeed, to look the less for it, and +thereby to make the less preparation before. For they see him so +many times make a great visage of war when he intendeth it not, but +then, at one time or another, they suddenly feel it when they fear +it not. + +Howbeit, cousin, it is of very truth full likely that into this +realm of Hungary he will not fail to come. For neither is there any +country throughout Christendom that lieth so convenient for him, +nor never was there any time till now in which he might so well and +surely win it. For now we call him in ourselves, God save us, as +Æsop telleth that the sheep took in the wolf among them to keep +them from the dogs. + +VINCENT: Then are there, good uncle, all those tribulations very +like to fall upon us here, that I spoke of in the beginning of our +first communication here the other day. + +ANTHONY: Very truth it is, cousin, that so there will of +likelihood in a while, but not forthwith all at first. For since he +cometh under the colour of aid for the one against the other, he +will somewhat see the proof before he fully show himself. But in +conclusion, if he be able to get it for that one, you shall see him +so handle it that he shall not fail to get it from him, and that +forthwith out of hand, ere ever he suffer him to settle himself +over-sure therein. + +VINCENT: Yet say they, uncle, that he useth not to force any man +to forsake his faith. + +ANTHONY: Not any man, cousin? They say more than they can make +good, those who tell you so. He maketh a solemn oath, among the +ceremonies of that feast in which he first taketh upon him his +authority, that he will diminish the faith of Christ, in all that +he possibly can, and dilate the faith of Mahomet. But yet hath he +not used to force every whole country at once to forsake their +faith. For of some countries hath he been content only to take a +tribute yearly and let them then live as they will. Out of some he +taketh the whole people away, dispersing them for slaves among many +sundry countries of his, very far from their own, without any +sufferance of regress. In some countries, so great and populous +that they cannot well be carried and conveyed thence, he destroyeth +the gentlefolk and giveth the lands partly to such as he bringeth +and partly to such as willingly will deny their faith, and keepeth +the others in such misery that they might as well (in a manner) be +dead at once. In rest he suffereth else no Christian man almost, +but those that resort as merchants or those that offer themselves +to serve him in his war. + +But as for those Christian countries that he useth not only for +tributaries, as he doth Chios, Cyprus, or Crete, but reckoneth for +clear conquest and utterly taketh for his own, as Morea, Greece, +and Macedonia, and such others--and as I verily think he will +Hungary, if he get it--in all those he useth Christian people after +sundry fashions. He letteth them dwell there, indeed, because they +would be too many to carry all away, and too many to kill them all, +too, unless he should either leave the land dispeopled and desolate +or else, from some other countries of his own, should convey the +people thither (which would not be well done) to people that land +with. There, lo, those who will not be turned from their faith, of +which God--lauded be his holy name!--keepeth very many, he +suffereth to dwell still in peace. But yet is their peace for all +that not very peaceable. For he suffereth them to have no lands of +their own, honourable offices they bear none; with occasions of his +wars, he plucketh them unto the bare bones with taxes and tallages. +Their children he chooseth where he will in their youth, and taketh +them from their parents, conveying them whither he will, where +their friends never see them after, and abuseth them as he will. +Some young maidens he maketh harlots, some young men he bringeth up +in war, and some young children he causeth to be gelded--not their +stones cut out as the custom was of old, but their whole members +cut off by the body; how few escape and live he little careth, for +he will have enough! And all whom he so taketh young, to any use of +his own, are betaken unto such Turks or false renegades to keep, +that they are turned from the faith of Christ every one. Or else +they are so handled that, as for this world, they come to an evil +end. For, besides many other contumelies and despites that the +Turks and the false renegade Christians many times do to good +Christian people who still persevere and abide by the faith, they +find the means sometimes to make some false knaves say that they +heard such-and-such a Christian man speak opprobrious words against +Mahomet. And upon that point, falsely testified, they will take +occasion to compel him to forsake the faith of Christ and turn to +the profession of their shameful superstitious sect, or else will +they put him to death with cruel intolerable torments. + +VINCENT: Our Lord, uncle, for his mighty mercy, keep those +wretches hence! For, by my troth, if they hap to come hither, +methinketh I see many more tokens than one that we shall have some +of our own folk here ready to fall in with them. + +For as before a great storm the sea beginneth sometimes to work and +roar in itself, ere ever the winds wax boisterous, so methinketh I +hear at mine ear some of our own here among us, who within these +few years could no more have borne the name of Turk than the name +of devil, begin now to find little fault in them--yea, and some to +praise them little by little, as they can, more glad to find faults +at every state of Christendom: priests, princes, rites, ceremonies, +sacraments, laws, and customs spiritual, temporal, and all. + +ANTHONY: In good faith, cousin, so begin we to fare here indeed, +and that but even now of late. For since the title of the crown +hath come in question, the good rule of this realm hath very sore +decayed, as little a while as it is. And undoubtedly Hungary shall +never do well as long as men's minds hearken after novelty and have +their hearts hanging upon a change. And much the worse I like it, +when their words walk so large toward the favour of the Turk's +sect, which they were ever wont to have in so great abomination, as +every true-minded Christian man--and Christian woman, too--must +have. + +I am of such age as you see, and verily from as far as I can +remember, it hath been marked and often proved true, that when +children in Buda have fallen in a fancy by themselves to draw +together and in their playing make as it were corpses carried to +church, and sing after their childish fashion the tune of the +dirge, great death hath followed shortly thereafter. And twice or +thrice I can remember in my day when children in divers parts of +this realm have gathered themselves in sundry companies and made as +it were troops and battles. And after their battles in sport, in +which some children have yet taken great hurt, there hath fallen +true battle and deadly war indeed. These tokens were somewhat like +your example of the sea, since they are tokens going before, of +things that afterward follow, through some secret motion or +instinct of which the cause is unknown. + +But, by St. Mary, cousin, these tokens like I much worse--these +tokens, I say, not of children's play nor of children's songs, but +old knaves' large open words, so boldly spoken in the favour of +Mahomet's sect in this realm of Hungary, which hath been ever +hitherto a very sure key of Christendom. And without doubt if +Hungary be lost and the Turk have it once fast in his possession, +he shall, ere it be long afterward, have an open ready way into +almost all the rest of Christendom. Though he win it not all in a +week, the great part will be won, I fear me, within very few years +after. + +VINCENT: But yet evermore I trust in Christ, good uncle, that he +shall not suffer that abominable sect of his mortal enemies in such +wise to prevail against his Christian countries. + +ANTHONY: That is very well said, cousin. Let us have our sure hope +in him, and then shall we be very sure that we shall not be +deceived. For we shall have either the thing that we hope for, or a +better thing in its stead. For, as for the thing itself that we +pray for and hope to have, God will not always send it to us. And +therefore, as I said in our first communication, in all things save +only for heaven, our prayer and our hope may never be too precise, +although the thing may be lawful to ask. + +Verily, if we people of the Christian nations were such as would +God we were, I would little fear all the preparations that the +great Turk could make. No, nor yet, being as bad as we are, I doubt +not at all but that in conclusion, however base Christendom be +brought, it shall spring up again, till the time be come very near +to the day of judgment, some tokens of which methinketh are not +come yet. But somewhat before that time shall Christendom be +straitened sore, and brought into so narrow a compass that, +according to Christ's words, "When the Son of Man shall come +again"--that is, to the day of general judgment--"thinkest thou +that he shall find faith in the earth?" as who should say, "but a +little." For, as appeareth in the Apocalypse and other places of +scripture, the faith shall be at that time so far faded that he +shall, for the love of his elect, lest they should fall and perish +too, abridge those days and accelerate his coming. But, as I say, +methinketh I miss yet in my mind some of those tokens that shall, +by the scripture, come a good while before that. And among others, +the coming in of the Jews and the dilating of Christendom again +before the world come to that strait. So I say that for mine own +mind I have little doubt that this ungracious sect of Mahomet shall +have a foul fall, and Christendom spring and spread, flower and +increase again. Howbeit, the pleasure and comfort shall they see +who shall be born after we are buried, I fear me, both twain. For +God giveth us great likelihood that for our sinful wretched living +he goeth about to make these infidels, who are his open professed +enemies, the sorrowful scourge of correction over evil Christian +people who should be faithful and who are of truth his falsely +professing friends. + +And surely, cousin, albeit that methinketh I see divers evil tokens +of this misery coming to us, yet can there not, to my mind, be a +worse prognostication of it than this ungracious token that you +note here yourself. For undoubtedly, cousin, this new manner of +men's favourable fashion in their language toward these ungracious +Turks declareth plainly not only that their minds give them that +hither shall he come, but also that they can be content both to +live under him and, beside that, to fall from the true faith of +Christ into Mahomet's false abominable sect. + +VINCENT: Verily, mine uncle, as I go about more than you, so must +I needs hear more (which is a heavy hearing in mine ear) the manner +of men in this matter, which increaseth about us here--I trust that +in other places of this realm, by God's grace, it is otherwise. But +in this quarter here about us, many of these fellows who are fit +for the war were wont at first, as it were in sport, to talk as +though they looked for a day when, with a turn to the Turk's faith, +they should be made masters here of true Christian men's bodies and +owners of all their goods. And, in a while after that, they began +to talk so half between game and earnest--and now, by our Lady, not +far from fair flat earnest indeed. + +ANTHONY: Though I go out but little, cousin, yet hear I +sometimes--when I say little!--almost as much as that. But since +there is no man to whom we can complain for redress, what remedy is +there but patience, and to sit still and hold our peace? For of +these two who strive which of them both shall reign over us--and +each of them calleth himself king, and both twain put the people to +pain--one is, as you know well, too far from our quarter here to +help us in this behalf. And the other, since he looketh for the +Turk's aid, either will not, or (I suppose) dare not find any fault +with them that favour the Turk and his sect. For of natural Turks +this country lacketh none now; they are living here under divers +pretexts, and of everything they advertise the great Turk full +surely. And therefore, cousin, albeit that I would advise every man +to pray still and call unto God to hold his gracious hand over us +and keep away this wretchedness if his pleasure be, yet would I +further advise every good Christian body to remember and consider +that it is very likely to come. And therefore I would advise him to +make his reckoning and count his pennyworths before, and I would +advise every man (and every woman, too) to appoint with God's help +in their own mind beforehand what they intend to do if the very +worst should befall. + + +I + +VINCENT: Well fare your heart, good uncle, for this good counsel +of yours! For surely methinketh that this is marvellous good. + +But yet heard I once a right learned and very good man say that it +would be great folly, and very perilous too, if a man should think +upon any such thing or imagine any such question in his mind, for +fear of double peril that may follow thereupon. For he shall be +likely to answer himself that he will rather suffer any painful +death than forsake his faith, and by that bold appointment should +he fall into the fault of St. Peter, who of oversight made a proud +promise and soon had a foul fall. Or else would he be likely to +think that rather than abide the pain he would forsake God indeed, +and by that mind should he sin deadly through his own folly, +whereas he needeth not do so, since he shall peradventure never +come in the peril to be put thereto. And therefore it would be most +wisdom never to think upon any such manner of question. + +ANTHONY: I believe well, cousin, that you have heard some men who +would so say. For I can show almost as much as that left in writing +by a very good man and a great solemn doctor. But yet, cousin, +although I should happen to find one or two more, as good men and +as well learned too, who would both twain say and write the same, +yet would I not fear for my part to counsel my friend to the +contrary. + +For, cousin, if his mind answer him as St. Peter answered Christ, +that he will rather die than forsake him, though he say therein +more unto himself than he should be peradventure able to make good +if it came to the point, yet I perceive not that he doth in that +thought any deadly displeasure unto God. For St. Peter, though he +said more than he could perform, yet in his so saying offended not +God greatly neither. But his offence was when he did not afterward +so well as he said before. But now may this man be likely never to +fall in the peril of breaking that appointment, since of some ten +thousand that shall so examine themselves, never one shall fall in +the peril. And yet for them to have that good purpose all their +life seemeth me no more harm in the meanwhile than for a poor +beggar who hath never a penny to think that, if he had great +substance, he would give great alms for God's sake. + +But now is all the peril if the man answer himself that he would in +such case rather forsake the faith of Christ with his mouth and +keep it still in his heart than for the confessing of it to endure +a painful death. For by this mind he falleth in deadly sin, which +he never would have fallen in if he had never put himself the +question. But in good faith methinketh that he who, upon that +question put unto himself by himself, will make himself that +answer, hath the habit of faith so faint and so cold that, for the +better knowledge of himself and of his necessity to pray for more +strength of grace, he had need to have the question put to him +either by himself or by some other man. + +Besides this, to counsel a man never to think on that question is, +to my mind, as reasonable as the medicine that I have heard taught +someone for the toothache: to go thrice about a churchyard, and +never think on a fox-tail! For if the counsel be not given them, it +cannot serve them. And if it be given them, it must put the point +of the matter in their mind. And forthwith to reject it, and think +therein neither one thing nor the other, is a thing that may be +sooner bidden than obeyed. + +I think also that very few men can escape it. For though they would +never think on it by themselves, yet in one place or another where +they shall happen to come in company, they shall have the question +by adventure so proposed and put forth that--like as, while a man +heareth someone talking to him, he can close his eyes if he will, +but he cannot make himself sleep--so shall they, whether they will +or not, think one thing or the other therein. + +Finally, when Christ spoke so often and so plain of the matter, +that every man should, upon pain of damnation, openly confess his +faith if men took him and by dread of death would drive him to the +contrary, it seemeth me (in a manner) implied that we are bound +conditionally to have evermore that mind--actually sometimes, and +evermore habitually--that if the case should so befall, then with +God's help so we would do. And thus much methinketh necessary, for +every man and woman to be always of this mind and often to think +thereon. And where they find, in the thinking thereon, that their +hearts shudder and shrink in the remembrance of the pain that their +imagination representeth to the mind, then must they call to mind +and remember the great pain and torment that Christ suffered for +them, and heartily pray for grace that, if the case should so +befall, God should give them strength to stand. And thus, with +exercise of such meditation, through men should never stand full +out of fear of falling, yet must they persevere in good hope and in +full purpose of standing. + +And this seemeth to me, cousin, so far forth the mind that every +Christian man and woman must needs have, that methinketh every +curate should often counsel all his parishioners, beginning in +their tender youth, to know this point and think on it, and little +by little from their very childhood accustom them sweetly and +pleasantly in the meditation thereof. Thereby the goodness of God +shall not fail so to inspire the grace of his Holy Spirit into +their hearts, in reward of that virtuous diligence, that through +such actual meditation he shall confirm them in such a sure habit +of spiritual faithful strength, that all the devils in hell, with +all the wrestling that they can make, shall never be able to wrest +it out of their heart. + +VINCENT: By my troth, uncle, methinketh that you say very well. + +ANTHONY: I say surely, cousin, as I think. And yet all this have I +said concerning them that dwell in such places that they are never +like in their lives to come in the danger to be put to the proof. +Howbeit, many a man may think himself far from it, who yet may +fortune to come to it by some chance or other, either for the truth +of faith or for the truth of justice, which go almost all alike. + +But now you and I, cousin, and all our friends here, are far in +another point. For we are so likely to fall in the experience of it +soon, that it would have been more timely for us, all other things +set aside, to have devised upon this matter, and firmly to have +settled ourselves upon a false point long ago, than to begin to +commune and counsel upon it now. + +VINCENT: In good faith, uncle, you say therein very truth, and +would God it had come sooner in my mind. But yet is it better late +than never. And I trust God shall yet give us respite and time. And +that we lose no part thereof, uncle, I pray you proceed now with +your good counsel therein. + +ANTHONY: Very gladly, cousin, shall I now go forth in the fourth +temptation, which alone remaineth to be treated of, and properly +pertaineth wholly unto this present purpose. + + +II + +The fourth temptation, cousin, that the prophet speaketh of in the +fore-remembered psalm is plain open persecution. And it is touched +in these words: _"Ab incursu et demonio meridiano."_ + +And of all his temptations, this is the most perilous, the most +bitter, the most sharp, and the most rigorous. For in other +temptations he useth either pleasant allectives unto sin, or other +secret sleights and snares; and cometh in the night and stealeth on +in the dark unaware; or in some other part of the day flieth and +passeth by like an arrow; so shaping himself sometimes in one +fashion, sometimes in another, and dissimulating himself and his +high mortal malice, that a man is thereby so blinded and beguiled +that he cannot sometimes perceive well what he is. But in this +temptation, this plain open persecution for the faith, he cometh +even in the very midday--that is, even upon those who have a high +light of faith shining in their hearts--and he openly suffereth +himself to be perceived so plainly, by his fierce malicious +persecution against the faithful Christians, for hatred of Christ's +true Catholic faith, that no man having faith can doubt what he is. +For in this temptation he showeth himself such as the prophet +nameth him, "the midday devil," so lightsomely can he be seen with +the eye of the faithful soul, by his fierce furious assault and +incursion. For therefore saith the prophet that the truth of God +shall compass that man round about who dwelleth in the faithful +hope of his help with a shield "from the incursion and the devil of +the midday," because this kind of persecution is not a wily +temptation but a furious force and a terrible incursion. In other +of his temptations, he stealeth on like a fox, but in this Turk's +persecution for the faith, he runneth on roaring with assault like +a ramping lion. + +This temptation is, of all temptations, also the most perilous. For +in temptations of prosperity he useth only delectable allectives to +move a man to sin; and in other kinds of tribulation and adversity +he useth only grief and pain to pull a man into murmuring, +impatience, and blasphemy. But in this kind of persecution for the +faith of Christ he useth both twain--that is, both his allectives +of quiet and rest by deliverance from death and pain, with other +pleasures also of this present life, and besides that the terror +and infliction of intolerable pain and torment. + +In other tribulation--as loss, or sickness, or death of our +friends---though the pain be peradventure as great and sometimes +greater too, yet is not the peril nowhere nigh half so much. For in +other tribulations, as I said before, that necessity that the man +must perforce abide and endure the pain, wax he never so wroth and +impatient with it, is a great reason to move him to keep his +patience in it and be content with it and thank God for it and of +necessity make a virtue, that he may be rewarded for it. But in +this temptation, this persecution for the faith--I mean not by +fight in the field, by which the faithful man standeth at his +defence and putteth the faithless in half the fear and half the +harm too; but I mean where he is taken and held, and may for the +forswearing or denying of his faith be delivered and suffered to +live in rest and some in great worldly wealth also. In this case, I +say, since he needeth not to suffer this trouble and pain unless he +will, there is a marvellous great occasion for him to fall into the +sin that the devil would drive him to--that is, the forsaking of +the faith. + +And therefore, I say, of all the devil's temptations, this +temptation, this persecution for the faith, is the most perilous. + +VINCENT: The more perilous, uncle, this temptation is--as indeed, +of all the temptations, the most perilous it is--the more need have +those who stand in peril of it to be well armed against it +beforehand, with substantial advice and good counsel. For so may we +the better bear that tribulation when it cometh, with the comfort +and consolation thereof, and the better withstand the temptation. + +ANTHONY: You say, Cousin Vincent, therein very truth. And I am +content therefore to fall in hand with it. + +But forasmuch, cousin, as methinketh that of this tribulation you +are somewhat more afraid than I--and of truth somewhat more +excusable it is in you than it would be in me, mine age considered +and the sorrow that I have suffered already, with some other +considerations upon my part besides--rehearse you therefore the +griefs and pains that you think in this tribulation possible to +fall unto you. And I shall against each of them give you counsel +and rehearse you such occasion of comfort and consolation as my +poor wit and learning can call unto my mind. + +VINCENT: In good faith, uncle, I am not wholly afraid in this case +only for myself, but well you know I have cause to care also for +many others, and that folk of sundry sorts, men and women both, and +that not all of one age. + +ANTHONY: All that you have cause to fear for, cousin, for all of +them, have I cause to fear with you, too, since almost all your +kinsfolk are likewise kin to me. Howbeit, to say the truth, every +man hath cause in this case to fear both for himself and for every +other. For since, as the scripture saith, "God hath given every man +care and charge of his neighbour," there is no man who hath any +spark of Christian love and charity in his breast but what, in a +matter of such peril as this is, in which the soul of man standeth +in so great danger to be lost, he must needs care and take thought +not only for his friends but also for his very foes. We shall +therefore, cousin, not rehearse your harms or mine that may befall +in this persecution, but all the great harms in general, as near as +we can call to mind, that may happen unto any man. + + +III + +Since a man is made of the body and the soul, all the harm that any +man can take, it must needs be in one of these two, either +immediately or by the means of some such thing as serveth for the +pleasure, welfare, or commodity of one of these two. + +As for the soul first, we shall need no rehearsal of any harm that +may attain to it by this kind of tribulation, unless by some +inordinate love and affection that the soul bear to the body, she +consent to slide from the faith and thereby do herself harm. Now +there remains the body, and these outward things of fortune which +serve for the maintenance of the body and minister matter of +pleasure to the soul also, through the delight that she hath in the +body for the while that she is matched with it. + +Consider first the loss of those outward things, as being somewhat +less in weight than the body itself. What may a man lose in them, +and thereby what pain may he suffer? + +VINCENT: He may lose, uncle, money, plate, and other movable +substance (of which I should somewhat lose myself); then, offices +and authority; and finally all the lands of his inheritance for +ever that he himself and his heirs perpetually might otherwise +enjoy. And of all these things, uncle, you know well that I myself +have some--little, in respect of that which some others have here, +but yet somewhat more than he who hath most here would be well +content to lose. + +Upon the loss of these things follow neediness and poverty; the +pain of lacking, the shame of begging (of which twain I know not +which is the most wretched necessity); besides, the grief and +heaviness of heart, in beholding good men and faithful and his dear +friends bewrapped in like misery, and ungracious wretches and +infidels and his mortal enemies enjoying the commodities that he +himself and his friends have lost. + +Now, for the body very few words should serve us. For therein I see +none other harm but loss of liberty, labour, imprisonment, and +painful and shameful death. + +ANTHONY: There needeth not much more, cousin, as the world is now. +For I fear me that less than a fourth part of this will make many a +man sore stagger in his faith, and some fall quite from it, who yet +at this day, before he come to the proof, thinketh himself that he +would stand very fast. And I beseech our Lord that all those who so +think, and who would yet when they were brought to the point fall +from the faith for fear or pain, may get of God the grace to think +still as they do and not to be brought to the essay, where pain or +fear would show them, as it showed St. Peter, how far they are +deceived now. + +But now, cousin, against these terrible things, what way shall we +take in giving men counsel of comfort? If the faith were in our +days as fervent as it hath been ere this in times past, little +counsel and little comfort would suffice. We should not much need +with words and reasoning to extenuate and diminish the vigour and +asperity of the pains. For of old times, the greater and the more +bitter the pain were, the more ready was the fervour of faith to +suffer it. And surely, cousin, I doubt little in my mind but what, +if a man had in his heart so deep a desire and love--longing to be +with God in heaven, to have the fruition of his glorious face--as +had those holy men who are martyrs in old time, he would no more +now stick at the pain that he must pass between than those old holy +martyrs did at that time. But alas, our faint and feeble faith, +with our love to God less than lukewarm because of the fiery +affection that we bear to our own filthy flesh, maketh us so dull +in the desire of heaven that the sudden dread of every bodily pain +woundeth us to the heart and striketh our devotion dead. And +therefore hath every man, cousin, as I said before, much the more +need to think upon this thing many a time and oft aforehand, ere +any such peril befall, by much devising upon it before they see +cause to fear it. Since the thing shall not appear so terrible unto +them, reason shall better enter, and through grace working with +their diligence, engender and set sure, not a sudden slight +affection of suffering for God's sake, but, by a long continuance, +a strong deep-rooted habit--not like a reed ready to wave with +every wind, nor like a rootless tree scantly set up on end in a +loose heap of light sand, that will with a blast or two be blown +down. + + +IV + +Let us now consider, cousin, these causes of terror and dread that +you have recited, which in his persecution for the faith this +midday devil may, by these Turks, rear against us to make his +incursion with. For so shall we well perceive, weighing them well +with reason, that, albeit they be indeed somewhat, yet (every part +of the matter pondered) they shall well appear in conclusion things +not so much to be dreaded and fled from as they do suddenly seem to +folk at the first sight. + + +V + +First let us begin at the outward goods, which are neither the +proper goods of the soul nor those of the body, but are called the +goods of fortune, and serve for the sustenance and commodity of man +for the short season of this present life, as worldly substance, +offices, honour, and authority. + +What great good is there in these things of themselves, that they +should be worthy so much as to bear the name by which the world, of +a worldly favour, customarily calleth them? For if the having of +strength make a man strong, and the having of heat make a man hot, +and the having of virtue make a man virtuous, how can these things +be verily and truly "goods," by the having of which he who hath +them may as well be worse as better--and, as experience proveth, +more often is worse than better? Why should a man greatly rejoice +in that which he daily seeth most abound in the hands of many who +are wicked? Do not now this great Turk and his pashas in all these +advancements of fortune surmount very far above a Christian estate, +and any lords living under him? And was there not, some twenty +years ago, the great Sultan of Syria, who many a year together bore +himself as high as the great Turk, and afterward in one summer unto +the great Turk that whole empire was lost? And so may all his +empire now--and shall hereafter, by God's grace--be lost into +Christian men's hands likewise, when Christian people shall be +amended and grow in God's favour again. But since whole kingdoms +and mighty great empires are of so little surety to stand, but are +so soon transferred from one man unto another, what great thing can +you or I--yea, or any lord, the greatest in this land--reckon +himself to have, by the possession of a heap of silver or gold? For +they are but white and yellow metal, not so profitable of their own +nature, save for a little glittering, as the rude rusty metal of +iron. + + +VI + +Lands and possessions many men esteem much more yet than money, +because the lands seem not so casual as money is, or plate. For +though their other substance may be stolen and taken away, yet +evermore they think that their land will lie still where it lay. +But what are we the better that our land cannot be stirred, but +will lie still where it lay, since we ourselves may be removed and +not suffered to come near it? What great difference is there to us, +whether our substance be movable or unmovable, since we be so +movable ourselves that we may be removed from them both and lose +them both twain? Yet sometimes in the money is the surety somewhat +more. For when we be fain ourselves to flee, we may make shift to +carry some of our money with us, whereas of our land we cannot +carry one inch. + +If our land be a thing of more surety than our money, how happeth +it then that in this persecution we are more afraid to lose it? For +if it be a thing of more surety, then can it not so soon be lost. +In the transfer of these two great empires--Greece first, since I +myself was born, and after Syria, since you were born too--the land +was lost before the money was found! + +Oh, Cousin Vincent, if the whole world were animated with a +reasonable soul, as Plato thought it were, and if it had wit and +understanding to mark and perceive everything, Lord God, how the +ground on which a prince buildeth his palace would loud laugh its +lord to scorn, when it saw him proud of his possession and heard +him boast himself that he and his blood are for ever the very lords +and owners of the land! For then would the ground think the while, +to itself, "Ah, thou poor soul, who thinkest thou wert half a god, +and art amid thy glory but a man in a gay gown! I who am the ground +here, over whom thou are so proud, have had a hundred such owners +of me as thou callest thyself, more than ever thou hast heard the +names of. And some of them who went proudly over mine head now lie +low in my belly, and my side lieth over them. And many a one shall, +as thou does now, call himself mine owner after thee, who shall +neither be kin to thy blood nor have heard any word of thy name." + +Who owned your village, cousin, three thousand years ago? + +VINCENT: Three thousand, uncle? Nay, nay, in any king, Christian +or heathen, you may strike off a third part of that well +enough--and, as far as I know, half of the rest, too. In far fewer +years than three thousand it may well fortune that a poor +ploughman's blood may come up to a kingdom, and a king's right +royal kin on the other hand fall down to the plough and cart, and +neither that king know that ever he came from the cart, nor that +carter know that ever he came from the crown. + +ANTHONY: We find, Cousin Vincent, in full ancient stories many +strange changes as marvellous as that, come about in the compass of +very few years, in effect. And are such things then in reason so +greatly to be set by, that we should esteem the loss so great, when +we see that in keeping them our surety is so little? + +VINCENT: Marry, uncle, but the less surety we have to keep it, +since it is a great commodity to have it, so much more the loth we +are to forgo it. + +ANTHONY: That reason shall I, cousin, turn against yourself. For +if it be so as you say, that since the things be commodious, the +less surety that you see you have of keeping them, the more cause +you have to be afraid of losing them; then on the other hand the +more a thing is of its nature such that its commodity bringeth a +man little surety and much fear, that thing of reason the less we +have cause to love. And then, the less cause we have to love a +thing, the less cause have we to care for it or fear its loss, or +be loth to go from it. + + +VII + +We shall yet, cousin, consider in these outward goods of +fortune--as riches, good name, honest estimation, honourable fame, +and authority--in all these things we shall, I say, consider that +we love them and set by them either as things commodious unto us +for the state and condition of this present life, or else as things +that we purpose by the good use of them to make matter of our +merit, with God's help, in the life to come. + +Let us then first consider them as things set by and beloved for +the pleasure and commodity of them for this present life. + + +VIII + +Now, as for riches, if we consider it well, the commodity that we +take of it is not so great as our own foolish affection and fancy +maketh us imagine it. I deny not that it maketh us go much more gay +and glorious in sight, garnished in silk--but wool is almost as +warm! It maketh us have great plenty of many kinds of delicate and +delicious victuals, and thereby to make more excess--but less +exquisite and less superfluous fare, with fewer surfeits and fewer +fevers too, would be almost as wholesome! Then, the labour in +getting riches, the fear in keeping them, and the pain in parting +from them, do more than counterweight a great part of all the +pleasure and commodity that they bring. + +Besides this, riches are the thing that taketh many times from its +master all his pleasure and his life, too. For many a man is slain +for his riches. And some keep their riches as a thing pleasant and +commodious for their life, take none other pleasure of it in all +their life than as though they bore the key of another man's +coffer. For they are content to live miserably in neediness all +their days, rather than to find it in their heart to diminish their +hoard, they have such a fancy to look thereon. Yea, and some men, +for fear lest thieves should steal it from them, are their own +thieves and steal it from themselves. For they dare not so much as +let it lie where they themselves may look on it, but put it in a +pot and hide it in the ground, and there let it lie safe till they +die--and sometimes seven years thereafter. And if the pot had been +stolen away from that place five years before the man's death, then +all the same five years he lived thereafter, thinking always that +his pot lay safe still, since he never occupied it afterward, what +had he been the poorer? + +VINCENT: By my troth, uncle, not one penny, for aught that I +perceive. + + +IX + +ANTHONY: Let us now consider good name, honest estimation, and +honourable fame. For these three things are of their own nature +one, and take their differences in effect only of the manner of the +common speech in diversity of degree. For a good name may a man +have, be he never so poor. Honest estimation, in the common +understanding of the people, belongeth not unto any man but him +that is taken for one of some countenance and possessions, and +among his neighbours had in some reputation. In the word of +"honourable fame," folk conceive the renown of great estates, much +and far spoken of, by reason of their laudable acts. + +Now, all this gear, used as a thing pleasant and commodious for +this present life, may seem pleasant to him who fasteneth his fancy +thereon. But of the nature of the thing itself I perceive no great +commodity that it hath--I say of the nature of the thing itself, +because it may by chance be some occasion of some commodity. For it +may hap that for the good name the poor man hath, or for the honest +estimation that a man of some possessions and substance standeth in +among his neighbours, or for the honourable fame with which a great +estate is renowned--it may hap, I say, that some man, bearing them +the better, will therefore do them some good. And yet, as for that, +like as it may sometimes so hap (and sometimes doth so hap indeed), +so may it hap sometimes on the other hand (and on the other hand so +it sometimes happeth indeed) that such folk are envied and hated by +others, and as readily take harm by them who envy and hate them as +they take good by them that love them. + +But now, to speak of the thing itself in its own proper nature, +what is it but a blast of another man's mouth, as soon past as +spoken? He who setteth his delight on it, feedeth himself but with +wind; be he never so full, he hath little substance therein. And +many times shall he much deceive himself. For he shall think that +many praise him who never speak word of him. And they that do, say +yet much less than he thinketh and far more seldom too. For they +spend not all the day, he may be sure, in talking of him alone. And +those who so commend him the most will yet, I daresay, in every +four-and-twenty hours, shut their eyes and forget him once! Besides +this, while one speaketh well of him in one place, another sitteth +and saith as ill of him in another. And finally, some who most +praise him in his presence, behind his back mock him as fast and +loud laugh him to scorn, and sometimes slily to his own face, too. +And yet are there some fools so fed with this foolish fancy of fame +that they rejoice and glory to think how they are continually +praised all about, as though all the world did nothing else, day +nor night, but ever sit and sing _"Sanctus sanctus, sanctus"_ upon +them! + + +X + +And into this pleasant frenzy of much foolish vainglory are there +some men brought sometimes by those whom they themselves do (in a +manner) hire to flatter them. And they would not be content if a +man should do otherwise, but would be right angry--not only if a +man told them truth when they do evil indeed, but also if they +praise it but slenderly. + +VINCENT: Forsooth, uncle, this is very truth. I have been ere +this, and not very long ago, where I saw so proper experience of +this point that I must stop your tale long enough to tell you mine. + +ANTHONY: I pray you, cousin, tell on. + +VINCENT: When I was first in Germany, uncle, it happed me to be +somewhat favoured by a great man of the church and a great estate, +one of the greatest in all that country there. And indeed, +whosoever could spend as much as he could for one thing and +another, would be a right great estate in any country of +Christendom. But vainglorious was he, very far above all measure. +And that was great pity, for it did harm and made him abuse many +great gifts that God had given him. Never was he satiated with +hearing his own praise. + +So happed it one day, that he had in a great audience made an +oration in a certain manner, in which he liked himself so well that +at his dinner he thought he sat on thorns till he might hear how +those who sat with him at his board would commend it. He sat musing +a while, devising, as I thought afterward, upon some pretty proper +way to bring it in withal. And at last, for lack of a better, lest +he should have forborne the matter too long, he brought it even +bluntly forth and asked us all who sat at his board's end--for at +his own place in the midst there sat but himself alone--how well we +liked his oration that he had made that day. But in faith, uncle, +when that problem was once proposed, till it was full answered, no +man, I believe, ate one morsel of meat more--every man was fallen +in so deep a study for the finding of some exquisite praise. For he +who should have brought out but a vulgar and common commendation, +would have thought himself shamed for ever. Ten said we our +sentences, by row as we sat, from the lowest unto the highest in +good order, as though it had been a great matter of the common weal +in a right solemn council. When it came to my part--I say it not, +uncle, for a boast--methought that, by our Lady, for my part, I +quit myself well enough! And I liked myself the better because +methought that, being but a foreigner, my words went yet with some +grace in the German tongue, in which, letting my Latin alone, it +pleased me to show my skill. And I hoped to be liked the better +because I saw that he who sat next to me, and should say his +sentence after me, was an unlearned priest, for he could speak no +Latin at all. But when he came forth for his part with my lord's +commendation, the wily fox had been so well accustomed in court to +the craft of flattery that he went beyond me by far. And then might +I see by him what excellence a right mean wit may come to in one +craft, if in all his life he studieth and busieth his wit about no +more but that one. But I made afterward a solemn vow unto myself +that if ever he and I were matched together at that board again, +when we should fall to our flattery I would flatter in Latin, that +he might contend with me no more. For though I could be content to +be outrun by a horse, yet would I no more abide it to be outrun by +an ass. + +But, uncle, here began now the game: he that sat highest and was to +speak last, was a great beneficed man, and not only a doctor but +also somewhat learned indeed in the laws of the church. A world was +it to see how he marked every man's word who spoke before him! And +it seemed that the more proper every word was, the worse he liked +it, for the cumbrance that he had to study out a better one to +surpass it. The man even sweated with the labour, so that he was +fain now and then to wipe his face. Howbeit, in conclusion, when it +came to his course, we who had spoken before him had so taken up +all among us before that we had not left him one wise word to speak +afterward. + +ANTHONY: Alas, good man--among so many of you, some good fellow +should have lent him one! + +VINCENT: It needed not, as it happened, uncle. For he found out +such a shift that in his flattering he surpassed us all. + +ANTHONY: Why, what said he, cousin? + +VINCENT: By our Lady, uncle, not one word. But he did as I believe +Pliny telleth of Apelles the painter, in the picture that he +painted of the sacrifice and death of Iphigenia, in the making of +the sorrowful countenances of the noble men of Greece who beheld +it. He reserved the countenance of King Agamemnon her father for +the last, lest, if he made his visage before, he must in some of +the others afterward either have made the visage less dolorous than +he could, and thereby have forborne some part of his praise, or, +doing the uttermost of his craft, might have happed to make some +other look more heavily for the pity of her pain than her own +father, which would have been yet a far greater fault in his +painting. When he came, therefore, to the making of her father's +face last of all, he had spent out so much of his craft and skill +that he could devise no manner of new heavy cheer and countenance +for him but what he had made there aleady in some of the others a +much more heavy one before. And therefore, to the intent that no +man should see what manner of countenance it was that her father +had, the painter was fain to paint him holding his face in his +handkerchief! + +The like pageant (in a manner) played us there this good ancient +honourable flatterer. For when he saw that he could find no words +of praise that would surpass all that had been spoken before +already, the wily fox would speak never a word. But as one who were +ravished heavenward with the wonder of the wisdom and eloquence +that my lord's grace had uttered in that oration, he set up a long +sigh with an "Oh!" from the bottom of his breast, and held up both +his hands, and lifted up his head, and cast up his eyes into the +welkin, and wept. + +ANTHONY: Forsooth, cousin, he played his part very properly. But +was that great prelate's oration, cousin, at all praiseworthy? For +you can tell, I see well. For you would not, I suppose, play as +Juvenal merrily describeth the blind senator, one of the flatterers +of Tiberius the emperor, who among the rest so magnified the great +fish that the emperor had sent for them to show them. This blind +senator--Montanus, I believe they called him--marvelled at the fish +as much as any that marvelled most. And many things he spoke of it, +with some of his words directed unto it, looking himself toward his +left side, while the fish lay on his right side! You would not, I +am sure, cousin, have taken upon you to praise it so, unless you +had heard it. + +VINCENT: I heard it, uncle, indeed, and, to say the truth, it was +not to dispraise. Howbeit, surely, somewhat less praise might have +served it--less by a great deal more than half. But this I am sure: +had it been the worst that ever was made, the praise would not have +been the less by one hair. For those who used to praise him to his +face never considered how much the thing deserved, but how great a +laud and praise they themselves could give his good Grace. + +ANTHONY: Surely, cousin, as Terence saith, such folk make men of +fools even stark mad. And much cause have their lords to be right +angry with them. + +VINCENT: God hath indeed, and is, I daresay. But as for their +lords, uncle, if they would afterward wax angry with them for it, +they would, to my mind, do them very great wrong. For it is one of +the things that they specially keep them for. For those who are of +such vainglorious mind, be they lords or be they meaner men, can be +much better contented to have their devices commended than amended. +And though they require their servant and their friend never so +specially to tell them the very truth, yet shall he better please +them if he speak them fair than if he telleth them the truth. + +For they be in the condition that Marciall speaketh of in an +epigram, unto a friend of his who required his judgment how he +liked his verses, but prayed him in any wise to tell him even the +very truth. To him, Marciall made answer in this wise: + +"The very truth of me thou dost require. +The very truth is this, my friend dear: +The very truth thou wouldst not gladly hear." + +And in good faith, uncle, the selfsame prelate that I told you my +tale of--I dare be bold to swear it, I know it so surely--had one +time drawn up a certain treaty that was to serve for a league +between that country and a great prince. In this treaty he himself +thought that he had devised his articles so wisely and composed +them so well, that all the world would approve them. Thereupon, +longing sore to be praised, he called unto him a friend of his, a +man well learned and of good worship, and very well expert in those +matters, as one who had been divers times ambassador for that +country and had made many such treaties himself. When he gave him +the treaty and he had read it, he asked him how he liked it, and +said, "But I pray you heartily, tell me the very truth." And that +he spake so heartily that the other thought he would fain have +heard the truth, and in that trust he told him a fault in the +treaty. And at the hearing of it he swore in great anger, "By the +mass, thou art a very fool!" The other afterward told me that he +would never tell him the truth again. + +ANTHONY: Without question, cousin, I cannot greatly blame him. And +thus they themselves make every man mock them, flatter them, and +deceive them--those, I say, who are of such a vainglorious mind. +For if they be content to hear the truth, let them then make much +of those who tell them the truth, and withdraw their ears from them +who falsely flatter them, and they shall be more truly served than +with twenty requests praying men to tell them true. + +King Ladislaus--our Lord absolve his soul!--used much this manner +among his servants. When one of them praised any deed of his or any +quality in him, if he perceived that they said but the truth he +would let it pass by uncontrolled. But when he saw that they set a +gloss on it for his praise of their own making besides, then would +he shortly say unto them, "I pray thee, good fellow, when thou +sayest grace at my board, never bring in a _Gloria Patri_ without a +_sicut erat._ Any act that ever I did, if thou report it again to +mine honour with a _Gloria Patri,_ never report it but with a +_sicut erat_--that is, even as it was and none otherwise. And lift +me not up with lies, for I love it not." If men would use this way +with them that this noble king used, it would diminish much of +their false flattery. + +I can well approve that men should commend such things as they see +praiseworthy in other men--keeping them within the bounds of +truth--to give them the greater courage to the increase of them. +For men keep still in that point one quality of children, that +praise must prick them forth. But better it were to do well and +look for none. Howbeit, those who cannot find it in their hearts to +commend another man's good deed show themselves either envious or +else of nature very cold and dull. But without question, he who +putteth his pleasure in the praise of the people hath but a foolish +fancy. For if his finger do but ache of a hot blain, a great many +men's mouths blowing out his praise will scantly do him, among them +all, so much ease as to have one boy blow on his finger! + + +XI + +Let us now consider likewise what great worldly wealth ariseth unto +men by great offices and authority--to those worldly-disposed +people, I say, who desire them for no better purpose. For of those +who desire them for better, we shall speak after anon. + +The great thing that they all chiefly like therein is that they may +bear a rule, command and control other men, and live uncommanded +and uncontrolled themselves. And yet this commodity took I so +little heed of, that I never was aware it was so great, until a +good friend of ours merrily told me once that his wife once in a +great anger taught it to him. For when her husband had no desire to +grow greatly upward in the world, nor would labour for office of +authority, and beside that forsook a right worshipful office when +it was offered him, she fell in hand with him, he told me. And she +all berated him, and asked him, "What will you do, that you will +not put yourself forth as other folk do? Will you sit by the fire +and make goslings in the ashes with a stick, as children do? Would +God I were a man--look what I would do!" "Why, wife," quoth her +husband, "what would you do?" "What? By God, go forward with the +best! For, as my mother was wont to say--God have mercy on her +soul--it is evermore better to rule than to be ruled. And +therefore, by God, I would not, I warrant you, be so foolish as to +be ruled where I might rule." "By my troth, wife," quoth her +husband, "in this I daresay you say truth, for I never found you +willing to be ruled yet." + +VINCENT: Well, uncle, I follow you now, well enough! She is indeed +a stout master-woman. And in good faith, for aught that I can see, +even that same womanish mind of hers is the greatest commodity that +men reckon upon in offices of authority. + +ANTHONY: By my troth, and methinketh there are very few who attain +any great commodity therein. For first there is, in every kingdom, +but one who can have an office of such authority that no man may +command him or control him. No officer can stand in that position +but the king himself; he only, uncontrolled or uncommanded, may +control and command all. Now, of all the rest, each is under him. +And yet almost every one is under more commanders and controllers, +too, than one. And many a man who is in a great office commandeth +fewer things and less labour to many men who are under him than +someone that is over him commandeth him alone. + +VINCENT: Yet it doth them good, uncle, that men must make courtesy +to them and salute them with reverence and stand bareheaded before +them, or unto some of them peradventure kneel, too. + +ANTHONY: Well, cousin, in some part they do but play at +gleek--they receive reverence, and to their cost they pay honour +again therefor. For except, as I said, a king alone, the greatest +in authority under him receiveth not so much reverence from any man +as according to reason he himself doth honour to the king. Nor +twenty men's courtesies do him not so much pleasure as his own once +kneeling doth him pain if his knee hap to be sore. And I once knew +a great officer of the king's to say--and in good faith I believe +he said but as he thought--that twenty men standing bareheaded +before him kept not his head half so warm as to keep on his own +cap. And he never took so much ease with their being bareheaded +before him, as he once caught grief with a cough that came upon him +by standing long bareheaded before the king. + +But let it be that these commodities be somewhat, such as they be. +Yet then consider whether any incommodities be so joined with them +that a man might almost as well lack both as have both. Goeth +everything evermore as every one of them would have it? That would +be as hard as to please all the people at once with one weather, +since in one house the husband would have fair weather for his corn +and his wife would have rain for her leeks! So those who are in +authority are not all evermore of one mind, but sometimes there is +variance among them, either for the respect of profit or the +contention of rule, or for maintenance of causes, sundry parts for +their sundry friends, and it cannot be that both the parties can +have their own way. Nor often are they content who see their +conclusions fail, but they take the missing of their intent ten +times more displeasantly than poor men do. And this goeth not only +for men of mean authority, but unto the very greatest. The princes +themselves cannot have, you know, all their will. For how would it +be possible, since almost every one of them would, if he could, be +lord over all the rest? Then many men, under their princes in +authority, are in such a position that many bear them privy malice +and envy in heart. And many falsely speak them full fair and praise +them with their mouth, who when there happeth any great fall unto +them, bark and bite upon them like dogs. + +Finally, there is the cost and charge, the danger and peril of war, +in which their part is more than a poor man's is, since that matter +dependeth more upon them. And many a poor ploughman may sit still +by the fire while they must arise and walk. + +And sometimes their authority falleth by change of their master's +mind. And of that we see daily, in one place or another, such +examples and so many that the parable of that philosopher can lack +no testimony, who likened the servants of great princes unto the +counters with which men do reckon accounts. For like as that +counter that standeth sometimes for a farthing is suddenly set up +and standeth for a thousand pound, and afterward as soon is set +down beneath to stand for a farthing again; so fareth it sometimes +with those who seek the way to rise and grow up in authority by the +favour of great princes--as they rise up high, so fall they down +again as low. + +Howbeit, though a man escape all such adventures, and abide in +great authority till he die, yet then at least every man must leave +at last. And that which we call "at last" hath no very long time to +it. Let a man reckon his years that are past of his age ere ever he +can get up aloft; and let him, when he hath it first in his fist, +reckon how long he shall be likely to live thereafter; and I +daresay that then the most part shall have little cause to rejoice. +They shall see the time likely to be so short that their honour and +authority by nature shall endure, beside the manifold chances by +which they may lose it sooner. And then, when they see that they +must needs leave it--the thing which they did much more set their +hearts upon than ever they had reasonable cause--what sorrow they +take for it, that shall I not need to tell you. + +And thus it seemeth unto me, cousin, in good faith, that since in +the having of authority the profit is not great, and the +displeasures neither small nor few; and since of the losing there +are so many sundry chances and by no means a man can keep it long; +and since to part from it is such a painful grief: I can see no +very great cause for which, as a high worldly commodity, men should +greatly desire it. + + +XII + +And thus far have we considered hitherto, in these outward goods +that are called the gifts of fortune, only the slender commodity +that worldly-minded men have by them. But now, if we consider +further what harm to the soul they take by them who desire them +only for the wretched wealth of this world, then shall we well +perceive how far more happy is he who well loseth them than he who +ill findeth them. + +These things are such as are of their own nature indifferent--that +is, of themselves neither good nor bad--but are matter that may +serve to the one or the other according as men will use them. Yet +need we little doubt but that for those who desire them only for +their worldly pleasure and for no further godly purpose the devil +shall soon turn them from things indifferent and make them things +very evil. For though they be indifferent of their nature, yet +cannot the use of them lightly stand indifferent, but must be +determinately either good or bad. And therefore he who desireth +them only for worldly pleasure, desireth them not for any good. And +for better purpose than he desireth them, to better use is he not +likely to put them. And therefore will he use them not unto good +but consequently to evil. + +And for example, first consider it in riches, and in him who +longeth for them as for things of temporal commodity and not for +any godly purpose. What good they shall do him, St. Paul declareth, +when he writeth unto Timothy, "They that long to be rich fall into +temptation and into the snare of the devil, and into many desires +unprofitable and noxious, which drown men into death and into +perdition." And the holy scripture saith also in the twenty-fourth +chapter of the Proverbs, "He that gathereth treasures shall be +shoved into the snares of death." So that whereas God saith by the +mouth of St. Paul that they shall fall into the devil's snare, he +saith in the other place that they shall be pushed and shoved in by +violence. And of truth, while a man desireth riches not for any +good godly purpose but only for worldly wealth, it must needs be +that he shall have little conscience in the getting. But, by all +evil ways that he can invent, shall he labour to get them. And then +shall he either niggardly heap them up together, which is, as you +well know, damnable; or else shall he wastefully misspend them upon +worldly pomp, pride, and gluttony, with occasion of many sins more, +and that is yet much more damnable. + +As for fame and glory desired only for worldly pleasure, they do +unto the soul inestimable harm. For they set men's hearts upon high +devices and desires of such things as are immoderate and +outrageous. And by help of false flatterers, they puff up a man in +pride and make a brittle man--lately made of earth, that shall +again shortly be laid full low in earth and there lie and rot and +turn again into earth--take himself in the meantime for a god here +upon earth and think to win himself to be lord of all the earth. +This maketh battles between these great princes, with much trouble +to much people, and great effusion of blood, and one king looking +to reign in five realms, who cannot well rule one. For how many +hath now this great Turk? And yet he aspireth to more. And those +that he hath, he ordereth evilly--and yet he ordereth himself worst. + +Then, offices of authority: If men desire them only for their +worldly fancies, who can look that ever they shall occupy them +well, and not rather abuse their authority and do thereby great +hurt? For then shall they fall from indifference and maintain false +suits for their friends. And they shall bear up their servants, and +such as depend upon them, with bearing down of other innocent folk, +who are not so able to do hurt as easy to take harm. Then the laws +that are made against malefactors shall they make, as an old +philosopher said, to be much like unto cobwebs, in which the little +gnats and flies stick still and hang fast, but the great +humble-bees break them and fly quite through. And then the laws +that are made as a buckler in the defence of innocents, those shall +they make serve for a sword to cut and sore wound them with--and +therewith wound they their own souls sorer. + +And thus you see, cousin, that of all these outward goods which men +call the goods of fortune, there is never one that, unto those who +long for it not for any godly purpose but only for their worldly +welath, hath any great commodity to the body. And yet are they all, +beside that, very deadly destruction unto the soul. + + +XIII + +VINCENT: Verily, good uncle, this thing is so plainly true that no +man can with any good reason deny it. But I think also, uncle, that +no man will do so. For I see no man who will confess, for very +shame, that he desireth riches, honour, renown, and offices of +authority only for his worldly pleasure. For every man would fain +seem as holy as a horse. And therefore will every man say--and +would it were so believed, too--that he desireth these things, +though for his worldly wealth a little so, yet principally to merit +thereby through doing some good with them. + +ANTHONY: This is, cousin, very surely so, that so doth every man +say. But first he who in the desire of these things hath his +respect unto his worldly wealth, as you say, "but a little so," so +much as he himself thinketh but a little, may soon prove a great +deal too much. And many men will say so, too, who have principal +respect unto their worldly commodity, and toward God little or none +at all. And yet they pretend the contrary, and that unto their own +harm. For "God cannot be mocked." + +And some peradventure know not well their own affection themselves. +But there lieth more imperfection secretly in their affection than +they themselves are well aware of, which only God beholdeth. And +therefore saith the prophet unto God, "Mine imperfection have thine +eyes beheld." And therefore the prophet prayeth, "From mine hidden +sins cleanse thou me, good Lord." + +But now, cousin, this tribulation of the Turk: If he so persecute +us for the faith that those who will forsake their faith shall keep +their goods, and those shall lose their goods who will not leave +their faith--lo, this manner of persecution shall try them like a +touchstone. For it shall show the feigned from the true-minded, and +it shall also teach them who think they mean better than they do +indeed, better to discern themselves. For there are some who think +they mean well, while they frame themselves a conscience, and ever +keep still a great heap of superfluous substance by them, thinking +ever still that they will bethink themselves upon some good deed on +which they will well bestow it once--or else that their executors +shall! But now, if they lie not unto themselves, but keep their +goods for any good purpose to the pleasure of God indeed, then +shall they, in this persecution, for the pleasure of God in keeping +his faith, be glad to depart from them. + +And therefore, as for all these things--the loss, I mean, of all +these outward things that men call the gifts of fortune--this is, +methinketh, in this Turk's persecution for the faith, consolation +great and sufficient: Every man who hath them either setteth by +them for the world or for God. He who setteth by them for the world +hath, as I have showed you, little profit by them to the body and +great harm unto the soul. And therefore, he might well, if he were +wise, reckon that he won by the loss, although he lost them but by +some common cause. And much more happy can he then be, since he +loseth them by such a meritorious means. And on the other hand, he +who keepeth them for some good purpose, intending to bestow them +for the pleasure of God, the loss of them in this Turk's +persecution for keeping of the faith can be no manner of grief to +him. For by so parting from them he bestoweth them in such wise +unto God's pleasure that at the time when he loseth them by no way +could he bestow them unto his high pleasure better. For though it +would have been peradventure better to have bestowed them well +before, yet since he kept them for some good purpose he would not +have left them unbestowed if he had foreknown the chance. But being +now prevented so by persecution that he cannot bestow them in that +other good way that he would have, yet since he parteth from them +because he will not part from the faith, though the devil's +escheator violently take them from him, yet willingly giveth he +them to God. + + +XIV + +VINCENT: In good faith, good uncle, I can deny none of this. And +indeed, unto those who were despoiled and robbed by the Turk's +overrunning of the country, and all their substance movable and +unmovable bereft and lost already, their persons only fled and +safe, I think that these considerations--considering also that, as +you lately said, their sorrow could not amend their chance--might +unto them be good occasion of comfort, and cause them, as you said, +to make a virtue of necessity. + +But in the case, uncle, that we now speak of, they have yet their +substance untouched in their own hands, and the keeping or the +losing shall both hang in their own hands, by the Turk's offer, +upon the retaining or the renouncing of the Christian faith. Here, +uncle, I find it, as you said, that this temptation is most sore +and most perilous. For I fear me that we shall find few of such as +have much to lose who shall find it in their hearts so suddenly to +forsake their goods, with all those other things before rehearsed +on which their worldly wealth dependeth. + +ANTHONY: That fear I much, cousin, too. But thereby shall it well +appear, as I said, that, seemed they never so good and virtuous +before, and flattered they themselves with never so gay a gloss of +good and gracious purpose that they kept their goods for, yet were +their hearts inwardly in the deep sight of God not sound and sure +such as they should be (and as peradventure some had themselves +thought they were) but like a puff-ring of Paris--hollow, light, +and counterfeit indeed. + +And yet, they being even such, this would I fain ask one of them. +And I pray you, cousin, take you his person upon you, and in this +case answer for him. "What hindereth you," would I ask, "your +Lordship," (for we will take no small man for an example in this +part, nor him who would have little to lose, for methinketh such a +one who would cast away God for a little, would be so far from all +profit, that he would not be worth talking with). "What hindereth +you," I say, therefore, "that you be not gladly content, without +any deliberation at all, in this kind of persecution, rather than +to leave your faith, to let go all that ever you have at once?" + +VINCENT: Since you put it unto me, uncle, to make the matter more +plain, that I should play that great man's part who is so wealthy +and hath so much to lose, albeit that I cannot be very sure of +another man's mind, nor of what another man would say, yet as far +as mine own mind can conjecture, I shall answer in his person what +I think would be his hindrance. And therefore to your question I +answer that there hindereth me the thing that you yourself may +lightly guess: the losing of the many commodities which I now +have--riches and substance, lands and great possessions of +inheritance, with great rule and authority here in my country. All +of which things the great Turk granteth me to keep still in peace +and have them enhanced, too, if I will forsake the faith of Christ. +Yea, I may say to you, I have a motion secretly made me further, to +keep all this yet better cheap; that is, not to be compelled +utterly to forsake Christ nor all the whole Christian faith, but +only some such parts of it as may not stand with Mahomet's law. +And only granting Mahomet for a true prophet and serving the Turk +truly in his wars against all Christian kings, I shall not be +hindered to praise Christ also, and to call him a good man, and +worship and serve him too. + +ANTHONY: Nay, nay, my lord--Christ hath not so great need of your +Lordship as, rather than to lose your service, he would fall at +such covenants with you as to take your service at halves, to serve +him and his enemy both! He hath given you plain warning already by +St. Paul that he will have in your service no parting-fellow: "What +fellowship is there between light and darkness? Between Christ and +Belial?" And he hath also plainly told you himself by his own +mouth, "No man can serve two lords at once." He will have you +believe all that he telleth you, and do all that he biddeth you, +and forbear all that he forbiddeth you, without any manner of +exception. Break one of his commandments, and you break all. +Forsake one point of his faith, and you forsake all, as for any +thanks that you get of him for the rest. And therefore, if you +devise, as it were, indentures between God and you--what you will +do for him and what you will not do, as though he should hold +himself content with such service of yours as you yourself care to +appoint him--if you make, I say, such indentures, you shall seal +both the parts yourself, and you get no agreement thereto from him. + +And this I say: Though the Turk would make such an appointment with +you as you speak of, and would, when he had made it, keep +it--whereas he would not, I warrant you, leave you so when he had +once brought you so far forth. But he would, little by little, ere +he left you, make you deny Christ altogether and take Mahomet in +his stead. And so doth he in the beginning, when he will not have +you believe him to be God. For surely, if he were not God, he would +be no good man either, since he plainly said he was God. But +through he would go never so far forth with you, yet Christ will, +as I said, not take your service by halves, but will that you shall +love him with all your whole heart. And because, while he was +living here fifteen hundred years ago, he foresaw this mind of +yours that you have now, with which you would fain serve him in +some such fashion that you might keep your worldly substance still, +but rather forsake his service than put all your substance from +you, he telleth you plainly fifteen hundred years ago with his own +mouth that he will have no such service of you, saying, "You cannot +serve both God and your riches together." + +And therefore, this thing being established for a plain conclusion, +which you must needs grant if you have faith--and if you be gone +from that ground of faith already, then is all our disputation, you +know, at an end. For how should you then rather lose your goods +than forsake your faith, if you have lost your faith and let it go +already? This point, I say, therefore, being put first for a +ground, between us both twain agreed, that you have yet the faith +still and intend to keep it always still in your heart, and are +only in doubt whether you will lose all your worldly substance +rather than forsake your faith in your word alone; now shall I +reply to the point of your answer, wherein you tell me the lothness +of the loss and the comfort of the keeping hinder you from forgoing +your goods and move you rather to forsake your faith. + +I let pass all that I have spoken of the small commodity of them +unto your body and of the great harm that the having of them doth +to your soul. And since the promise of the Turk, made unto you for +the keeping of them, is the thing that moveth you and maketh you +thus to doubt, I ask you first whereby you know that, when you have +done all that he will have you do against Christ, to the harm of +your soul--whereby know you, I say, that he will keep you his +promise in these things that he promiseth you concerning the +retaining of your well-beloved worldly wealth, for the pleasure of +your body? + +VINCENT: What surety can a man have of such a great prince except +his promise, which for his own honour it cannot become him to break? + +ANTHONY: I have known him, and his father before him too, to break +more promises than five, as great as this is that he should here +make with you. Who shall come and cast it in his teeth, and tell +him it is a shame for him to be so fickle and so false of his +promise? And then what careth he for those words that he knoweth +well he shall never hear? Not very much, though they were told him +too! + +If you might come afterward and complain your grief unto his own +person yourself, you should find him as shamefast as a friend of +mine, a merchant, once found the Sultan of Syria. Being certain +years about his merchandise in that country, he gave to the Sultan +a great sum of money for a certain office for him there for the +while. But he had scantly granted him this and put it in his hand +when, ere ever it was worth aught to him, the Sultan suddenly sold +it to another of his own sect, and put our Hungarian out. Then came +he to him and humbly put him in remembrance of his grant, spoken +with his own mouth and signed with his own hand. Thereunto the +Sultan answered him, with a grim countenance, "I will have thee +know, good-for-nothing, that neither my mouth nor mine hand shall +be master over me, to bind all my body at their pleasure. But I +will be lord and master over them both, that whatsoever the one say +and the other write, I will be at mine own liberty to do what I +like myself, and ask them both no leave. And therefore, go get thee +hence out of my countries, knave!" Think you now, my lord, that +Sultan and this Turk, being both of one false sect, you may not +find them both alike false of their promise? + +VINCENT: That must I needs jeopard, for other surety can there +none be had. + +ANTHONY: An unwise jeoparding, to put your soul in peril of +damnation for the keeping of your bodily pleasures, and yet without +surety to jeopard them too! + +But yet go a little further, lo. Suppose me that you might be very +sure that the Turk would break no promise with you. Are you then +sure enough to retain all your substance still? + +VINCENT: Yea, then. + +ANTHONY: What if a man should ask you how long? + +VINCENT: How long? As long as I live. + +ANTHONY: Well, let it be so, then. But yet, as far as I can see, +though the great Turk favour you never so much and let you keep +your goods as long as ever you live, yet if it hap that you be this +day fifty years old, all the favour he can show you cannot make you +one day younger tomorrow. But every day shall you wax older than +the day before, and then within a while must you, for all his +favour, lose all. + +VINCENT: Well, a man would be glad, for all that, to be sure not +to lack while he liveth. + +ANTHONY: Well, then, if the great Turk give you your goods, can +there then in all your life none other take them from you again? + +VINCENT: Verily, I suppose not. + +ANTHONY: May he not lose this country again unto Christian men, +and you, with the taking of this way, fall in the same peril then +that you would now eschew? + +VINCENT: Forsooth, I think that if he get it once, he will never +lose it after again in our days. + +ANTHONY: Yes, by God's grace. But yet if he lose it after our day, +there goeth your children's inheritance away again! But be it now +that he could never lose it; could none take your substance from +you then? + +VINCENT: No, in good faith, none. + +ANTHONY: No, none at all? Not God? + +VINCENT: God? Why, yes, perdy. Who doubteth of that? + +ANTHONY: Who? Marry, he who doubteth whether there be any God or +no. And that there lacketh not some such, the prophet testifieth +where he said, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God." +With the mouth the most foolish will forbear to say it unto other +folk, but in the heart they forbear not to say it softly to +themselves. And I fear me there be many more such fools than every +man would think. And they would not hesitate to say it openly, too, +if they forbore it not more for dread or for shame of men than for +any fear of God. But now those who are so frantic foolish as to +think there were no God, and yet in their words confess him, though +(as St. Paul saith) in their deeds they deny him--we shall let them +pass till it please God to show himself unto them, either inwardly, +in time, by his merciful grace, or else outwardly, but over-late +for them, by his terrible judgment. + +But unto you, my Lord, since you believe and confess, as a wise man +should, that though the Turk keep you his promise in letting you +keep your substance, because you do him pleasure in the forsaking +of your faith, yet God, whose faith you forsake, and thereby do him +displeasure, may so take them from you that the great Turk, with +all the power he hath, is not able to keep you them--why will you +be so unwise with the loss of your soul to please the great Turk +for your goods, since you know well that God whom you displease +therewith may take them from you too? + +Besides this, since you believe there is a God, you cannot but +believe also that the great Turk cannot take your goods from you +without his will or sufferance, no more than the devil could from +Job. And think you then that, if he will suffer the Turk to take +away your goods albeit that by the keeping and confessing of his +faith you please him, he will, when you displease him by forsaking +his faith, suffer you to rejoice or enjoy any benefit of those +goods that you get or keep thereby? + +VINCENT: God is gracious, and though men offend him, yet he +suffereth them many times to live in prosperity long after. + +ANTHONY: Long after? Nay, by my troth, that doth he no man! For +how can that be, that he should suffer you to live in prosperity +long after, when your whole life is but short in all-together, and +either almost half of it or more than half, you think yourself, I +daresay, spent out already before? Can you burn out half a short +candle, and then have a long one left of the rest? + +There cannot in this world be a worse mind than for a man to +delight and take comfort in any commodity that he taketh by sinful +means. For it is the very straight way toward the taking of +boldness and courage in sin, and finally to falling into infidelity +and thinking that God careth not or regardeth not what things men +do here nor of what mind we be. But unto such-minded folk speaketh +holy scripture in this wise: "Say not, I have sinned and yet there +hath happed me none harm, for God suffereth before he strike." But, +as St. Austine saith, the longer he tarrieth ere he strike, the +sorer is the stroke when he striketh. + +And therefore, if you will do well, reckon yourself very sure that +when you deadly displease God for the getting or the keeping of +your goods, God shall not suffer those goods to do you good. But +either he shall shortly take them from you, or else suffer you to +keep them for a little while to your more harm and afterward, when +you least look for it, take you away from them. + +And then, what a heap of heaviness will there enter into your +heart, when you shall see that you shall so suddenly go from your +goods and leave them here in the earth in one place, and that your +body shall be put in the earth in another place, and--which then +shall be the most heaviness of all--when you shall fear (and not +without great cause) that your soul first forthwith, and after that +at the final judgment your body, shall be driven down deep toward +the centre of the earth into the fiery pit and dungeon of the devil +of hell, there to tarry in torment, world without end! What goods +of this world can any man imagine, the pleasure and commodity of +which could be such in a thousand years as to be able to recompense +that intolerable pain that there is to be suffered in one year? +Yea, or in one day or one hour, either? And then what a madness is +it, for the poor pleasure of your worldly goods of so few years, to +cast yourself both body and soul into the everlasting fire of hell, +which is not diminished by the amount of a moment by lying there +the space of a hundred thousand years? + +And therefore our Saviour, in few words, concluded and confuted all +these follies of those who, for the short use of this worldly +substance, forsake him and his faith and sell their souls unto the +devil for ever. For he saith, "What availeth it a man if he won all +the whole world, and lost his soul?" This would be, methinketh, +cause and occasion enough, to him who had never so much part of +this world in his hand, to be content rather to lose it all than +for the retaining or increasing of his worldly goods to lose and +destroy his soul. + +VINCENT: This is, good uncle, in good faith very true. And what +other thing any of them who would not for this be content, have to +allege in reason for the defence of their folly, that can I not +imagine. I care not in this matter to play the part any longer, but +I pray God give me the grace to play the contrary part in deed. And +I pray that I may never, for any goods or substance of this +wretched world, forsake my faith toward God either in heart or +tongue. And I trust in his great goodness that so I never shall. + + +XV + +ANTHONY: Methinketh, cousin, that this persecution shall not only, +as I said before, try men's hearts when it cometh and make them +know their own affections--whether they have a corrupt greedy +covetous mind or not--but also the very fame and expectation of it +may teach them this lesson, ere ever the thing fall upon them +itself. And this may be to their no little fruit, if they have the +wit and the grace to take it in time while they can. For now may +they find sure places to lay their treasure in, so that all the +Turk's army shall never find it out. + +VINCENT: Marry, uncle, that way they will not forget, I warrant +you, as near as their wits will serve them. But yet have I known +some who have ere this thought that they had hid their money safe +and sure enough, digging it full deep in the ground, and yet have +missed it when they came again and found it digged out and carried +away to their hands. + +ANTHONY: Nay, from their hands, I think you would say. And it was +no marvel. For some such have I known, too, but they have hid their +goods foolishly in such place as they were well warned before that +they should not. And that were they warned by him whom they well +knew for such a one as knew well enough what would come of it. + +VINCENT: Then were they more than mad. But did he tell them too +where they should have hid it, to make it sure? + +ANTHONY: Yea, by St. Mary, did he! For else he would have told +them but half a tale. But he told them a whole tale, bidding them +that they should in no wise hide their treasure in the ground. And +he showed them a good cause, for there thieves dig it out and steal +it away. + +VINCENT: Why, where should they hide it, then, said he? For +thieves may hap to find it out in any place. + +ANTHONY: Forsooth, he counselled them to hide their treasure in +heaven and there lay it up, for there it shall lie safe. For +thither, he said, there can no thief come, till he have left his +theft and become a true man first. And he who gave this counsel +knew well enough what he said, for it was our Saviour himself, who +in the sixth chapter of St. Matthew saith, "Hoard not up your +treasures in earth, where the rust and the moth fret it out and +where thieves dig it out and steal it away. But hoard up your +treasures in heaven, where neither the rust nor the moth fret them +out, and where thieves dig them not out nor steal them away. For +where thy treasure is, there is thine heart too." + +If we would well consider these words of our Saviour Christ, +methinketh we should need no more counsel at all, nor no more +comfort either, concerning the loss of our temporal substance in +this Turk's persecution for the faith. For here our Lord in these +words teacheth us where we may lay up our substance safe, before +the persecution come. If we put it into the poor men's bosoms, +there shall it lie safe, for who would go search a beggar's bag for +money? If we deliver it to the poor for Christ's sake, we deliver +it unto Christ himself. And then what persecutor can there be, so +strong as to take it out of his hand? + +VINCENT: These things, uncle, are undoubtedly so true that no man +can with words wrestle therewith. But yet ever there hangeth in a +man's heart a lothness to lack a living! + +[YOU ARE HERE] + +ANTHONY: There doth indeed, in theirs who either never or but +seldom hear any good counsel against it, or who, when they hear it, +hearken to it but as they would to an idle tale, rather for a +pastime or for the sake of manners than for any substantial intent +and purpose to follow good advice and take any fruit by it. But +verily, if we would lay not only our ear but also our heart to it, +and consider that the saying of our Saviour Christ is not a poet's +fable or a harper's song but the very holy word of almighty God +himself, we would be full sore ashamed of ourselves--and well we +might! And we would be full sorry too, when we felt in our +affection those words to have in our hearts no more strength and +weight but what we remain still of the same dull mind as we did +before we heard them. + +This manner of ours, in whose breasts the great good counsel of God +no better settleth nor taketh no better root, may well declare to +us that the thorns and briars and brambles of our worldly substance +grow so thick and spring up so high in the ground of our hearts +that they strangle, as the Gospel saith, the word of God that was +sown therein. And therefore is God a very good lord unto us, when +he causeth, like a good husbandman, his folk to come on the +field--for the persecutors are his folk, to this purpose--and with +their hooks and their stocking-irons to grub up these wicked weeds +and bushes of our earthly substance and carry them quite away from +us, that the word of God sown in our hearts may have room there, +and a glade round about for the warm sun of grace to come to it and +make it grow. For surely those words of our Saviour shall we find +full true, "Where thy treasure is, there is also thine heart." If +we lay up our treasure in earth, in earth shall be our hearts. If +we send our treasure into heaven, in heaven shall we have our +hearts. And surely, the greatest comfort any man can have in his +tribulation is to have his heart in heaven. + +If thine heart were indeed out of this world and in heaven, all the +kinds of torments that all this world could devise could put thee +to no pain here. Let us then send our hearts hence thither in such +a manner as we may, by sending hither our worldly substance hence. +And let us never doubt but we shall, that once done, find our +hearts so conversant in heaven, with the glad consideration of our +following the gracious counsel of Christ, that the comfort of his +Holy Spirit, inspired in us for that, shall mitigate, diminish, +assuage, and (in a manner) quench the great furious fervour of the +pain that we shall happen to have by his loving sufferance of our +further merit in our tribulation. + +If we saw that we should be within a while driven out of this land, +and fain to fly into another, we would think that a man were mad +who would not be content to forbear his goods here for the while +and send them before him into that land where he saw he should live +all the rest of his life. So may we verily think yet ourselves much +more mad--seeing that we are sure it cannot be long ere we shall be +sent, spite of our teeth, out of this world--if the fear of a +little lack or the love to see our goods here about us and the +lothness to part from them for this little while that we may keep +them here, shall be able to keep us from the sure sending them +before us into the other world. For we may be sure to live there +wealthily with them if we send them thither, or else shortly leave +them here behind us and then stand in great jeopardy there to live +wretches for ever. + +VINCENT: In good faith, good uncle, methinketh that concerning the +loss of these outward things, these considerations are so +sufficient comforts, that for mine own part I would methinketh +desire no more, save only grace well to remember them. + + +XVI + +ANTHONY: Much less than this may serve, cousin, with calling and +trusting upon God's help, without which much more than this cannot +serve. But the fervour of the Christian faith so sore fainteth +nowadays and decayeth, coming from hot unto luke-warm and from +luke-warm almost to key-cold, that men must now be fain to lay many +dry sticks to it, as to a fire that is almost out, and use much +blowing at it. + +But else I think, by my troth, that unto a warm faithful man one +thing alone, of which we have spoken yet no word, would be comfort +enough in this kind of persecution, against the loss of all his +goods. + +VINCENT: What thing may that be, uncle? + +ANTHONY: In good faith, cousin, even the bare remembrance of the +poverty that our Saviour willingly suffered for us. For I verily +suppose that if there were a great king who had so tender love for +a servant of his that he had, to help him out of danger, forsaken +and lost all his worldly wealth and royalty and become poor and +needy for his sake, that servant could scantly be found who would +be of such a base unnatural heart that if he himself came afterward +to some substance he would not with better will lose it all again +than shamefully to forsake such a master. + +And therefore, as I say, I surely suppose that if we would well +remember and inwardly consider the great goodness of our Saviour +toward us, when we were not yet his poor sinful servants but rather +his adversaries and his enemies, and what wealth of this world he +willingly forsook for our sakes--for he was indeed universal king +of this world, and so having the power in his own hand to have used +it if he had wished, instead of which, to make us rich in heaven, +he lived here in neediness and poverty all his life and neither +would have authority nor keep either lands or goods. If we would +remember this, the deep consideration and earnest advisement of +this one point alone would be able to make any true Christian man +or woman well content rather for his sake in return to give up all +that ever God hath lent them (and lent them he hath, all that they +have) than unkindly and unfaithfully to forsake him. And him they +forsake if, for fear, they forsake the confessing of his Christian +faith. + +And therefore, to finish this piece withal, concerning the dread of +losing our outward worldly goods, let us consider the slender +commodity that they bring; with what labour they are bought; what a +little while they abide with whomsoever they abide with longest; +what pain their pleasure is mingled with; what harm the love of +them doth unto the soul; what loss is in the keeping if Christ's +faith is refused for them; what winning is in the loss, if we lose +them for God's sake; how much more profitable they are when well +given than when ill kept; and finally what ingratitude it would be +if we would not forsake them for Christ's sake rather than for them +to forsake Christ unfaithfully, who while he lived for our sake +forsook all the world, beside the suffering of shameful and painful +death, of which we shall speak afterward. + +If we will consider well these things, I say, and will pray God +with his holy hand to print them in our hearts, and will abide and +dwell still in the hope of his help, his truth shall, as the +prophet saith, so compass us about with a shield that we shall not +need to be afraid of this incursion of this midday devil--this +plain open persecution of the Turk--for any loss that we can take +by the bereaving from us of our wretched worldly goods. For their +short and small pleasure in this life forborne, we shall be with +heavenly substance everlastingly recompensed by God, in joyful +bliss and glory. + + +XVII + +VINCENT: Forsooth, uncle, as for these outward goods, you have +said enough. No man can be sure what strength he shall have or how +faint and feeble he may find himself when he shall come to the +point, and therefore I can make no warranty of myself, seeing that +St. Peter so suddenly fainted at a woman's word and so cowardly +forsook his master, for whom he had so boldly fought within so few +hours before, and by that fall in forsaking well perceived that he +had been too rash in his promise and was well worthy to take a fall +for putting so full trust in himself. Yet in good faith methinketh +now (and God will, I trust, help me to keep this thought still) +that if the Turk should take all that I have, unto my very shirt, +unless I would forsake my faith, and should offer it all to me +again with five times as much if I would fall into his sect, I +would not once stick at it--rather to forsake it every whit, than +to forsake any point of Christ's holy faith. + +But surely, good uncle, when I bethink me further on the grief and +the pain that may turn unto my flesh, here find I the fear that +forceth my heart to tremble. + +ANTHONY: Neither have I cause to marvel at that, nor have you, +cousin, cause to be dismayed for it. The great horror and fear that +our Saviour had in his own flesh, against his painful passion, +maketh me little to marvel. And I may well make you take this +comfort, too, that for no such manner of grudging felt in your +sensual parts, the flesh shrinking in the meditation of pain and +death, your reason shall give over, but resist it and manly master +it. And though you would fain fly from the painful death and be +loth to come to it, yet may the meditation of our Saviour's great +grievous agony move you. And he himself shall, if you so desire +him, not fail to work with you therein, and to get and give you the +grace to submit and conform your will unto his, as he did his unto +his Father. And thereupon shall you be so comforted with the secret +inward inspiration of his Holy Spirit, as he was with the personal +presence of that angel who after his agony came and comforted him. +And so shall you as his true disciple follow him, and with good +will, without grudge, do as he did, and take your cross of pain and +suffering upon your back and die for the truth with him, and +thereby reign with him crowned in eternal glory. + +And this I say to give you warning of the truth, to the intent that +when a man feeleth such a horror of death in his heart, he should +not thereby stand in outrageous fear that he were falling. For many +such a man standeth, for all that fear, full fast, and finally +better abideth the brunt, when God is so good unto him as to bring +him to it and encourage him therein, than doth some other man who +in the beginning feeleth no fear at all. And yet may he never be +brought to the brunt, and most often so it is. For God, having many +mansions, and all wonderful wealthful, in his Father's house, +exalteth not every good man up to the glory of a martyr. But +foreseeing their infirmity, that though they be of good will before +and peradventure of right good courage too, they would yet play St. +Peter if they were brought to the point, and thereby bring their +souls into the peril of eternal damnation, he provideth otherwise +for them before they come there. And he findeth a way that men +shall not have the mind to lay any hands upon them, as he found for +his disciples when he himself was willingly taken. Or else, if they +set hands on them, he findeth a way that they shall have no power +to hold them, as he found for St. John the Evangelist, who let his +sheet fall from him, upon which they caught hold, and so fled +himself naked away and escaped from them. Or, though they hold them +and bring them to prison too, yet God sometimes delivereth them +hence, as he did St. Peter. And sometimes he taketh them to him out +of the prison into heaven, and suffereth them not to come to their +torment at all, as he hath done by many a good holy man. And some +he suffereth to be brought into the torments and yet suffereth them +not to die in them, but to live many years afterward and die their +natural death, as he did by St. John the Evangelist and by many +another more, as we may well see both by sundry stories and in the +epistles of St. Ciprian also. And therefore, which way God will +take with us, we cannot tell. + +But surely, if we be true Christian men, this can we well tell: +that without any bold warranty of ourselves or foolish trust in our +own strength, we are bound upon pain of damnation not to be of the +contrary mind but what we will with his help, however loth we feel +in our flesh thereto, rather than forsake him or his faith before +the world--which if we do, he hath promised to forsake us before +his Father and all his holy company of heaven--rather, I say, than +we would do so, we would with his help endure and sustain for his +sake all the tormentry that the devil with all his faithless +tormentors in this world would devise. And then, if we be of this +mind, and submit our will unto his, and call and pray for his +grace, we can tell well enough that he will never suffer them to +put more upon us than his grace will make us able to bear, but will +also with their temptation provide for us a sure way. For "God is +faithful," saith St. Paul, "who suffereth you not to be tempted +above what you can bear, but giveth also with the temptation a way +out." For either, as I said, he will keep us out of their hands, +though he before suffered us to be afraid of them to prove our +faith (that we may have, by the examination of our mind, some +comfort in hope of his grace and some fear of our own frailty to +drive us to call for grace), or else, if we call into their hands, +provided that we fall not from the trust of him nor cease to call +for his help, his truth shall, as the prophet saith, so compass us +about with a shield that we shall not need to fear this incursion +of this midday devil. For these Turks his tormentors, who shall +enter this land and persecute us, shall either not have the power +to touch our bodies at all, or else the short pain that they shall +put into our bodies shall turn us to eternal profit both in our +souls and in our bodies too. And therefore, cousin, to begin with, +let us be of good comfort. For we are by our faith very sure that +holy scripture is the very word of God, and that the word of God +cannot but be true. And we see by the mouth of his holy prophet and +by the mouth of his blessed apostle also that God hath made us +faithful promise that he will not suffer us to be tempted above our +power, but will both provide a way out for us and also compass us +round about with his shield and defend us that we shall have no +cause to fear this midday devil with all his persecution. We cannot +therefore but be very sure (unless we are very shamefully cowardous +of heart and out of measure faint in faith toward God, and in love +less than luke-warm or waxed even key-cold) we may be very sure, I +say, either that God will not suffer the Turks to invade this land; +or that, if they do, God shall provide such resistance that they +shall not prevail; or that, if they prevail, yet if we take the way +that I have told you we shall by their persecution take little harm +or rather none harm at all, but that which shall seem harm indeed +be to us no harm at all but good. For if God make us and keep us +good men, as he hath promised to do if we pray well therefore, then +saith holy scripture, "Unto good folk all things turn them to good." + +And therefore, cousin, since God knoweth what shall happen and not +we, let us in the meanwhile with a good hope in the help of God's +grace have a good purpose of standing sure by his holy faith +against all persecutions. And if we should hereafter, either for +fear or pain or for lack of his grace lost in our own default, +mishap to decline from his good purpose--which our Lord forbid--yet +we would have won the well-spent time beforehand, to the +diminishment of our pain, and God would also be much the more +likely to lift us up after our fall and give us his grace again. +Howbeit, if this persecution come, we are, by this meditation and +well-continued intent and purpose beforehand, the better +strengthened and confirmed, and much more likely to stand indeed. +And if it so fortune, as with God's grace at men's good prayers and +amendment of our evil lives it may well fortune, that the Turks +shall either be well withstood and vanquished or peradventure not +invade us at all, then shall we, perdy, by this good purpose get +ourselves of God a very good cheap thank! + +And on the other hand, while we now think on it--and not to think +on it, in so great likelihood of it, I suppose no wise man can--if +we should for the fear of worldly loss or bodily pain, framed in +our own minds, think that we would give over and to save our goods +and lives forsake our Saviour by denial of his faith, then whether +the Turks come or come not, we are meanwhile gone from God. And +then if they come not indeed, or come and are driven to flight, +what a shame should that be to us, before the face of God, in so +shameful cowardly wise to forsake him for fear of that pain that we +never felt or that never was befalling us! + +VINCENT: By my troth, uncle, I thank you. Methinketh that though +you never said more in the matter, yet have you, even with this +that you have spoken here already of the fear of bodily pain in +this persecution, marvellously comforted mine heart. + +ANTHONY: I am glad, cousin, if your heart have taken comfort +thereby. But if you so have, give God the thanks and not me, for +that work is his and not mine. For neither am I able to say any +good thing except by him, nor can all the good words in the +world--no, not the holy words of God himself, and spoken also with +his own holy mouth--profit a man with the sound entering at his +ear, unless the Spirit of God also inwardly work in his soul. But +that is his goodness ever ready to do, unless there be hindrance +through the untowardness of our own froward will. + + +XVIII + +And now, being somewhat in comfort and courage before, we may the +more quietly consider everything, which is somewhat more hard and +difficult to do when the heart is before taken up and oppressed +with the troublous affection of heavy sorrowful fear. Let us +therefore examine now the weight and the substance of those bodily +pains which you rehearsed before as the sorest part of this +persecution. They were, if I remember you right, thraldom, +imprisonment, and painful and shameful death. And first let us, as +reason is, begin with the thraldom, for that was, as I remember it, +the first. + +VINCENT: I pray you, good uncle, say then somewhat of that. For +methinketh, uncle, that captivity is a marvellous heavy thing, +namely when they shall (as they most commonly do) carry us far from +home into a strange unknown land. + +ANTHONY: I cannot deny that some grief it is, cousin, indeed. But +yet, as for me, it is not half so much as it would be if they could +carry me out into any such unknown country that God could not know +where nor find the means to come at me! + +But now in good faith, cousin, if my migration into a strange +country were any great grief unto me, the fault should be much in +myself. For since I am very sure that whithersoever man convey me, +God is no more verily here than he shall be there, if I get (as I +can, if I will) the grace to set mine whole heart upon him and long +for nothing but him, it can then make no matter to my mind, whether +they carry me hence or leave me here. And then, if I find my mind +much offended therewith, that I am not still here in mine own +country, I must consider that the cause of my grief is mine own +wrong imagination, whereby I beguile myself with an untrue +persuasion, thinking that this were mine own country. Whereas in +truth it is not so, for, as St. Paul saith, "We have here no city +nor dwelling-country at all, but we seek for one that we shall come +to." And in whatsoever country we walk in this world, we are but as +pilgrims and wayfaring men. And if I should take any country for +mine own, it must be the country to which I come and not the +country from which I came. That country, which shall be to me then +for a while so strange, shall yet perdy be no more strange to +me--nor longer strange to me, neither--than was mine own native +country when first I came into it. And therefore if my being far +from hence be very grievous to me, and I find it a great pain that +I am not where I wish to be, that grief shall in great part grow +for lack of sure setting and settling my mind in God, where it +should be. And when I mend that fault of mine, I shall soon ease my +grief. + +Now, as for all the other griefs and pains that are in captivity, +thraldom, and bondage, I cannot deny that many there are and great. +Howbeit, they seem yet somewhat the more--what say I, "somewhat"? I +may say a great deal the more--because we took our former liberty +for a great deal more than indeed it was. + +Let us therefore consider the matter thus: Captivity, bondage, or +thraldom, what is it but the violent restraint of a man, being so +subdued under the dominion, rule, and power of another that he must +do whatever the other please to command him, and may not do at his +liberty such things as he please himself? Now, when we shall be +carried away by a Turk and be fain to be occupied about such things +as he please to set us, we shall lament the loss of our liberty and +think we bear a heavy burden of our servile condition. And we shall +have, I grant well, many times great occasion to do so. But yet we +should, I suppose, set somewhat the less by it, if we would +remember well what liberty that was that we lost, and take it for +no larger than it was indeed. For we reckon as though we might +before do what we would, but in that we deceive ourselves. For what +free man is there so free that he can be suffered to do what he +please? In many things God hath restrained us by his high +commandment--so many, that of those things which we would otherwise +do, I daresay it be more than half. Howbeit, because (God forgive +us) we forbear so little for all that, but do what we please as +though we heard him not, we reckon our liberty never the less. But +then is our liberty much restrained by the laws made by man, for +the quiet and politic governance of the people. And these too +would, I suppose, hinder our liberty but little, were it not for +the fear of the penalties that fall thereupon. Look then, whether +other men who have authority over us never command us some business +which we dare not but do, and therefore often do it full sore +against our wills. Some such service is sometimes so painful and so +perilous too, that no lord can command his bondsmen worse, and +seldom doth command him half so sore. Let every free man who +reckoneth his liberty to stand in doing what he please, consider +well these points, and I daresay he shall then find his liberty +much less than he took it for before. + +And yet have I left untouched the bondage that almost every man is +in who boasteth himself for free--the bondage, I mean, of sin. And +that it be a true bondage, I shall have our Saviour himself to bear +me good record. For he saith, "Every man who committeth sin is the +thrall, or the bondsman, of sin." And then if this be thus (as it +must needs be, since God saith it is so), who is there then who can +make so much boast of his liberty that he should take it for so +sore a thing and so strange to become through chance of war, +bondsman unto a man, since he is already through sin become +willingly thrall and bondsman unto the devil? + +Let us look well how many things, and of what vile wretched sort, +the devil driveth us to do daily, through the rash turns of our +blind affections, which we are fain to follow, for our faultful +lack of grace, and are too feeble to refrain. And then shall we +find in our natural freedom our bondservice such that never was +there any man lord of any so vile a bondsman that he ever would +command him to so shameful service. And let us, in the doing of our +service to the man that we be slave unto, remember what we were +wont to do about the same time of day while we were at our free +liberty before, and would be well likely, if we were at liberty, to +do again. And we shall peradventure perceive that it were better +for us to do this business than that. Now we shall have great +occasion of comfort, if we consider that our servitude, though in +the account of the world it seem to come by chance of war, cometh +unto us yet in very deed by the provident hand of God, and that for +our great good if we will take it well, both in remission of sins +and also as matter of our merit. + +The greatest grief that is in bondage or captivity, I believe, is +this: that we are forced to do such labour as with our good will we +would not. But then against that grief, Seneca teacheth us a good +remedy: "Endeavour thyself evermore that thou do nothing against +thy will, but the things that we see we shall needs do, let us +always put our good will thereto." + +VINCENT: That is soon said, uncle, but it is hard to do. + +ANTHONY: Our froward mind maketh every good thing hard, and that +to our own more hurt and harm. But in this case, if we will be good +Christian men, we shall have great cause gladly to be content, for +the great comfort that we may take thereby. For we remember that in +the patient and glad doing of our service unto that man for God's +sake, according to his high commandment by the mouth of St. Paul, +_"Servi obedite dominis carnalibus,"_ we shall have our thanks and +our whole reward of God. + +Finally, if we remember the great humble meekness of our Saviour +Christ himself--that he, being very almighty God, "humbled himself +and took the form of a bondsman or slave," rather than that his +Father should forsake us--we may think ourselves very ungrateful +caitiffs (and very frantic fools, too) if, rather than to endure +this worldly bondage for awhile, we would forsake him who hath by +his own death delivered us out of everlasting bondage to the devil, +and who will for our short bondage give us everlasting liberty. + +VINCENT: Well fare you, good uncle, this is very well said! Albeit +that bondage is a condition that every man of any spirit would be +very glad to eschew and very loth to fall in, yet have you well +made it so open that it is a thing neither so strange nor so sore +as it before seemed to me. And specially is it far from such as any +man who hath any wit should, for fear of it, shrink from the +confession of his faith. And now, therefore, I pray you, speak +somewhat of imprisonment. + + +XIX + +ANTHONY: That shall I, cousin, with good will. And first, if we +could consider what thing imprisonment is of its own nature +methinketh we should not have so great horror of it. For of itself +it is, perdy, but a restraint of liberty, which hindereth a man +from going whither he would. + +VINCENT: Yes, by St. Mary, uncle, but methinketh it is much more +sorry than that. For beside the hindrance and restraint of liberty, +it hath many more displeasures and very sore griefs knit and +adjoined to it. + +ANTHONY: That is, cousin, very true indeed. And those pains, among +many sorer than those, thought I not afterward to forget. Howbeit, +I purpose now to consider first imprisonment as imprisonment alone, +without any other incommodity besides. For a man may be imprisoned, +perdy, and yet not set in the stocks or collared fast by the neck. +And a man may be let walk at large where he will, and yet have a +pair of fetters fast riveted on his legs. For in this country, you +know, and Seville and Portugal too, so go all the slaves. Howbeit, +because for such things men's hearts have such horror of it, albeit +that I am not so mad as to go about to prove that bodily pain were +no pain, yet since it is because of this manner of pains that we so +especially abhor the state and condition of prisoners, methinketh +we should well perceive that a great part of our horror groweth of +our own fancy. Let us call to mind and consider the state and +condition of many other folk in whose state and condition we would +wish ourselves to stand, taking them for no prisoners at all, who +stand yet for all that in many of the selfsame points that we abhor +imprisonment for. Let us therefore consider these things in order. +First, those other kinds of grief that come with imprisonment are +but accidents unto it. And yet they are neither such accidents as +be proper unto it, since they may almost all befall man without it; +nor are they such accidents as be inseparable from it, since +imprisonment may fall to a man and none of them therein. We will, I +say, therefore begin by considering what manner of pain or +incommodity we should reckon imprisonment to be of itself and of +its own nature alone. And then in the course of our communication, +you shall as you please increase and aggravate the cause of your +horror with the terror of those painful accidents. + +VINCENT: I am sorry that I did interrupt your tale, for you were +about, I see well, to take an orderly way therein. And as you +yourself have devised, so I beseech you proceed. For though I +reckon imprisonment much the sorer thing by sore and hard handling +therein, yet reckon I not the imprisonment of itself any less than +a thing very tedious, although it were used in the most favourable +manner that it possibly could be. + +For, uncle, if a great prince were taken prisoner upon the field, +and in the hand of a Christian king, such as are accustomed, in +such cases, for the consideration of their former estate and +mutable chance of war, to show much humanity to them, and treat +them in very favourable wise--for these infidel emperors handle +oftentimes the princes that they take more villainously than they +do the poorest men, as the great Tamberlane kept the great Turk, +when he had taken him, to tread on his back always when he leapt on +horseback. But, as I began to say, by the example of a prince taken +prisoner, were the imprisonment never so favourable, yet it would +be, to my mind, no little grief in itself for a man to be penned +up, though not in a narrow chamber. But although his walk were +right large and right fair gardens in it too, it could not but +grieve his heart to be restrained by another man within certain +limits and bounds, and lose the liberty to be where he please. + +ANTHONY: This is, cousin, well considered of you. For in this you +perceive well that imprisonment is, of itself and of its own very +nature alone, nothing else but the retaining of a man's person +within the circuit of a certain space, narrower or larger as shall +be limited to him, restraining his liberty from going further into +any other place. + +VINCENT: Very well said, methinketh. + +ANTHONY: Yet I forgot, cousin, to ask you one question. + +VINCENT: What is that, uncle? + +ANTHONY: This, lo: If there be two men kept in two several +chambers of one great castle, of which two chambers the one is much +larger than the other, are they prisoners both, or only the one who +has the less room to walk in? + +VINCENT: What question is it, uncle, but that they are both +prisoners, as I said myself before, although the one lay fast +locked in the stocks and the other had all the whole castle to walk +in? + +ANTHONY: Methinketh verily, cousin, that you say the truth. And +then, if imprisonment be such a thing as you yourself here agree it +is--that is, but a lack of liberty to go whither we please--now +would I fain know of you what one man you know who is at this day +out of prison? + +VINCENT: What one man, uncle? Marry, I know almost none other! For +surely I am acquainted with no prisoner, that I remember. + +ANTHONY: Then I see well that you visit poor prisoners seldom. + +VINCENT: No, by my troth, uncle, I cry God mercy. I send them +sometimes mine alms, but by my troth I love not to come myself +where I should see such misery. + +ANTHONY: In good faith, Cousin Vincent (though I say it before +you) you have many good qualities, but surely (though I say that +before you, too) that is not one of them. If you would amend it, +then should you have yet the more good qualities by one--and +peradventure the more by three or four. For I assure you it is hard +to tell how much good it doth to a man's soul, the personal +visiting of poor prisoners. + +But now, since you can name me none of them that are in prison, I +pray you name me some one of all those whom you are, you say, +better acquainted with--men, I mean, who are out of prison. For I +know, methinketh, as few of them as you know of the others. + +VINCENT: That would, uncle, be a strange case. For every man is +out of prison who may go where he will, though he be the poorest +beggar in the town. And, in good faith, uncle (because you reckon +imprisonment so small a matter of itself) meseemeth the poor beggar +who is at his liberty and may walk where he will is in better case +than is a king kept in prison, who cannot go but where men give him +leave. + +ANTHONY: Well, cousin, whether every way-walking beggar be, by +this reason, out of prison or no, we shall consider further when +you will. But in the meanwhile I can by this reason see no prince +who seemeth to be out of prison. For if the lack of liberty to go +where a man will, be imprisonment, as you yourself say it is, then +is the great Turk, by whom we fear to be put in prison, in prison +already himself, for he may not go where he will. For if he could +he would go into Portugal, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and +England, and as far in the other direction too--both into Prester +John's land and into the Grand Cham's too. + +Now, the beggar that you speak of, if he be (as you say he is) by +reason of his liberty to go where he will, in much better case than +a king kept in prison, because he cannot go but where men give him +leave; then is that beggar in better case, not only than a prince +in prison but also than many a prince out of prison too. For I am +sure there is many a beggar who may without hindrance walk further +upon other men's ground than many a prince at his best liberty may +walk upon his own. And as for walking out abroad upon other men's, +that prince might be withstood and held fast, where that beggar, +with his bag and staff, might be suffered to go forth and keep on +his way. + +But forasmuch, cousin, as neither the beggar nor the prince is at +free liberty to walk where they will, but neither of them would be +suffered to walk in some places without men withstanding them and +saying them nay; therefore if imprisonment be, as you grant it is, +a lack of liberty to go where we please, I cannot see but the +beggar and the prince, whom you reckon both at liberty, are by your +own reason restrained in prison both. + +VINCENT: Yea, but uncle, both the one and the other have way +enough to walk--the one in his own ground and the other in other +men's, or in the common highway, where they may both walk till they +be weary of walking ere any man say them nay. + +ANTHONY: So may, cousin, that king who had, as you yourself put +the case, all the whole castle to walk in. And yet you deny not +that he is prisoner for all that--though not so straitly kept, yet +as verily prisoner as he that lieth in the stocks. + +VINCENT: But they may go at least to every place that they need, +or that is commodious for them, and therefore they do not wish to +go anywhere but where they may. And therefore they are at liberty +to go where they will. + +ANTHONY: I need not, cousin, to spend the time about impugning +every part of this answer. Let pass by that, though a prisoner were +brought with his keeper into every place where need required, yet +since he might not when he wished go where he wished for his +pleasure alone, he would be, as you know well, a prisoner still. +And let pass over also that it would be needful for this beggar, +and commodious for this king, to go into divers places where +neither of them may come. And let pass also that neither of them is +lightly so temperately determined by what they both fain would so +do indeed, if this reason of yours put them out of prison and set +them at liberty and made them free, as I will well grant it doth if +they so do indeed--that is, if they have no will to go anywhere but +where they may go indeed. + +Then let us look on our other prisoners enclosed within a castle, +and we shall find that the straitest kept of them both, if he get +the wisdom and grace to quiet his mind and hold himself content +with that place, and not long (as a woman with child longeth for +her desires) to be gadding out anywhere else, is by the same reason +of yours, while his will is not longing to be anywhere else, he is, +I say, at his free liberty to be where he will. And so he is out of +prison too. + +And, on the other hand, if, though his will be not longing to be +anywhere else, yet because if his will so were he should not be so +suffered, he is therefore not at his free liberty but a prisoner +still, since your free beggar that you speak of and the prince that +you call out of prison too, though they be (which I daresay few be) +by some special wisdom so temperately disposed that they will have +not the will to be anywhere but where they see that they may be +suffered to be, yet, since if they did have that will they could +not then be where they would, they lack the effect of free liberty +and are both twain in prison too. + +VINCENT: Well, uncle, if every man universally is by this reason +in prison already, after the proper nature of imprisonment, yet to +be imprisoned in this special manner which alone is commonly called +imprisonment is a thing of great horror and fear, both for the +straitness of the keeping and for the hard handling that many men +have therein. Of all the griefs that you speak of, we feel nothing +at all. And therefore every man abhorreth the one, and would be +loth to come into it. And no man abhorreth the other, for they feel +no harm and find no fault therein. + +Therefore, uncle, in good faith, though I cannot find fitting +answers with which to avoid your arguments, yet (to be plain with +you and tell you the very truth) my mind findeth not itself +satisfied on this point. But ever methinketh that these things, +with which you rather convince and conclude me than induce a +credence and persuade me that every man is in prison already, are +but sophistical fancies, and that except those that are commonly +called prisoners, other men are not in any prison at all. + +ANTHONY: Well fare thine heart, good Cousin Vincent! There was, in +good faith, no word that you spoke since we first talked of these +matters that I liked half so well as these that you speak now. For +if you had assented in words and your mind departed unpersuaded, +then, if the thing be true that I say, yet had you lost the fruit. +And if it be peradventure false, and I myself deceived therein, +then, since I should have supposed that you liked it too, you would +have confirmed me in my folly. For, in good faith, cousin, such an +old fool am I that this thing (in the persuading of which unto you +I had thought I had quit me well, and yet which, when I have all +done, appeareth to your mind but a trifle and sophistical fancy) I +myself have so many years taken it for so very substantial truth +that as yet my mind cannot give me to think it any other. But I +would not play the part of that French priest who had so long used +to say _Dominus_ with the second syllable long that at least he +thought it must needs be so, and was ashamed to say it short. So to +the intent that you may the better perceive me and I may the better +perceive myself, we shall here between us a little more consider +the thing. So spit well on your hands boldly, and take good hold, +and give it not over against your own mind, for then we would be +never the nearer. + +VINCENT: Nay, by my troth, uncle, that intend I not to do. Nor +have I done it yet since we began. And that may you well perceive +by some things which, without any great cause, save for the further +satisfaction of my own mind, I repeated and debated again. + +ANTHONY: That guise, cousin, you must hold on boldly still. For I +purpose to give up my part in this matter, unless I make you +yourself perceive both that every man universally is a very +prisoner in very prison--plainly, without any sophistry at all--and +also that there is no prince living upon earth who is not in a +worse case prisoner by this general imprisonment that I speak of, +than is many a simple ignorant wretch by that special imprisonment +that you speak of. And beside this, that in this general +imprisonment that I speak of, men are for the time that they are in +it, so sore handled and so hardly and in such painful wise, that +men's hearts have with reason great cause to abhor this hard +handling that is in this imprisonment as sorely as they do the +other that is in that. + +VINCENT: By my troth, uncle, these things would I fain see well +proved. + +ANTHONY: Tell me, then, cousin, first by your troth: If a man were +attainted of treason or felony; and if, after judgment had been +given of his death and it were determined that he should die, the +time of his execution were only delayed till the king's further +pleasure should be known; if he were thereupon delivered to certain +keepers and put up in a sure place out of which he could not +escape--would this man be a prisoner, or not? + +VINCENT: This man, quoth he? Yea, marry, that would he be in very +deed, if ever man were! + +ANTHONY: But now what if, for the time that were between his +attainder and his execution, he were so favourably handled that he +were suffered to do what he would, as he did while he was free--to +have the use of his lands and his goods, and his wife and his +children to have license to be with him, and his friends leave at +liberty to resort unto him, and his servants not forbidden to abide +about him. And add yet thereunto that the place were a great castle +royal with parks and other pleasures in it, a very great circuit +about. Yes, and add yet, if you like, that he were suffered to go +and ride also, both when he wished and whither he wished; only this +one point always provided and foreseen, that he should ever be +surely seen to, and safely kept from escaping. So though he had +never so much of his own will in the meanwhile (in all matters save +escaping), yet he should well know that escape he could not, and +that when he were called for, to execution and to death he should +go. + +Now, Cousin Vincent, what would you call this man? A prisoner, +because he is kept for execution? Or no prisoner, because he is in +the meanwhile so favourably handled and suffered to do all that he +would, save escape? And I bid you not here be hasty in your answer, +but advise it well that you grant no such thing in haste as you +would afterward at leisure mislike, and think yourself deceived. + +VINCENT: Nay, by my troth, uncle, this thing needeth no study at +all, to my mind. But, for all this favour showed him and all this +liberty lent him, yet being condemned to death, and being kept for +it, and kept with sure watch laid upon him that he cannot escape, +he is all that while a very plain prisoner still. + +ANTHONY: In good faith, cousin, methinketh you say very true. But +then one thing must I yet desire you, cousin, to tell me a little +further. If there were another laid in prison for a brawl, and +through the jailors' displeasure were bolted and fettered and laid +in a low dungeon in the stocks, where he might lie peradventure for +a while and abide in the meantime some pain but no danger of death +at all, but that out again he should come well enough--which of +these two prisoners would stand in the worse case? He that hath all +this favour, or he that is thus hardly handled? + +VINCENT: By our Lady, uncle, I believe that most men, if they +should needs choose, had liefer be such prisoners in every point as +he who so sorely lieth in the stocks, than in every point such as +he who walketh at such liberty about the park. + +ANTHONY: Consider, then, cousin, whether this thing seem any +sophistry to you that I shall show you now. For it shall be such as +seemeth in good faith substantially true to me. And if it so happen +that you think otherwise, I will be very glad to perceive which of +us both is beguiled. + +For it seemeth to me, cousin, first, that every man coming into +this world here upon earth as he is created by God, so cometh he +hither by the providence of God. Is this any sophistry first, or +not? + +VINCENT: Nay, verily, this is very substantial truth. + +ANTHONY: Now take I this, also, for very truth in my mind: that +there cometh no man nor woman hither into the earth but what, ere +ever they come alive into the world out of the mother's womb, God +condemneth them unto death by his own sentence and judgment, for +the original sin that they bring with them, contracted in the +corrupted stock of our forefather Adam. Is this, think you, cousin, +verily thus or not? + +VINCENT: This is, uncle, very true indeed. + +ANTHONY: Then seemeth this true further unto me: that God hath put +every man here upon the earth under so sure and so safe keeping +that of all the whole people living in this wide world, there is +neither man, woman, nor child--would they never so far wander about +and seek it--who can possibly find any way by which they can escape +from death. Is this, cousin, a fond imagined fancy, or is it very +truth indeed? + +VINCENT: Nay, this is no imagination, uncle, but a thing so +clearly proved true that no man is so mad as to deny it. + +ANTHONY: Then need I say no more, cousin. For then is all the +matter plain and open evident truth, which I said I took for truth. +And it is yet a little more now than I told you before, when you +took my proof yet but for a sophistical fancy, and said that, for +all my reasoning that every man is a prisoner, yet you thought +that, except those whom the common people call prisoners, there is +else no man a very prisoner indeed. And now you grant yourself +again for very substantial truth, that every man, though he be the +greatest king upon earth, is set here by the ordinance of God in a +place, be it never so large, yet a place, I say (and you say the +same) out of which no man can escape. And you grant that every man +is there put under sure and safe keeping to be readily set forth +when God calleth for him, and that then he shall surely die. And is +not then, cousin, by your own granting before, every man a very +prisoner, when he is put in a place to be kept to be brought forth +when he would not, and himself knows not whither? + +VINCENT: Yes, in good faith, uncle, I cannot but well perceive +this to be so. + +ANTHONY: This would be true, you know, even though a man were but +taken by the arm and in a fair manner led out of this world unto +his judgment. But now, we well know that there is no king so great +but what, all the while he walketh here, walk he never so loose, +ride he with never so strong an army for his defence, yet he +himself is very sure--though he seek in the meantime some other +pastime to put it out of his mind--yet is he very sure, I say, that +escape he cannot. And very well he knoweth that he hath already +sentence given upon him to die, and that verily die he shall. And +though he hope for long respite of his execution, yet can he not +tell how soon it will be. And therefore, unless he be a fool, he +can never be without fear that, either on the morrow or on the +selfsame day, the grisly cruel hangman Death, who from his first +coming in hath ever hoved aloof and looked toward him, and ever +lain in wait for him, shall amid all his royalty and all his main +strength neither kneel before him nor make him any reverence, nor +with any good manner desire him to come forth. But he shall +rigorously and fiercely grip him by the very breast, and make all +his bones rattle, and so by long and divers sore torments strike +him stark dead in his prison. And then shall he cause his body to +be cast into the ground in a foul pit in some corner of the same, +there to rot and be eaten by the wretched worms of the earth, +sending yet his soul out further into a more fearful judgment. Of +that judgment at his temporal death his success is uncertain and +therefore, though by God's grace not out of good hope, for all that +in the meanwhile in very sore dread and fear and peradventure in +peril inevitable of eternal fire, too. + +Methinketh therefore, cousin, that, as I told you, this keeping of +every man in this wretched world for execution of death is a very +plain imprisonment indeed. And it is, as I say, such that the +greatest king is in this prison in much worse case, for all his +wealth, than is many a man who, in the other imprisonment, is sore +and hardly handled. For while some of those lie not there attainted +nor condemned to death, the greatest man of this world and the most +wealthy in this universal prison is laid in to be kept undoubtedly +for death. + +VINCENT: But yet, uncle, in that case is the other prisoner too, +for he is as sure that he shall die, perdy. + +ANTHONY: This is very true, cousin, indeed, and well objected too. +But then you must consider that he is not in danger of death by +reason of the prison into which he is put peradventure but for a +little brawl, but his danger of death is by the other imprisonment, +by which he is prisoner in the great prison of this whole earth, in +which prison all the princes of the world be prisoners as well as +he. + +If a man condemned to death were put up in a large prison, and +while his execution were respited he were, for fighting with his +fellows, put up in a strait place, part of that prison, then would +he be in danger of death in that strait prison, but not by the +being in that, for there is he but for the brawl. But his deadly +imprisonment was the other--the larger, I say, into which he was +put for death. So the prisoner that you speak of is, beside the +narrow prison, a prisoner of the broad world, and all the princes +of the world are prisoners there with him. And by that imprisonment +both they and he are in like danger of death, not by that strait +imprisonment that is commonly called imprisonment, but by that +imprisonment which, because of the large walk, men call +liberty--and which you therefore thought but a sophistical fancy to +prove it a prison at all! + +But now may you, methinketh, very plainly perceive that this whole +earth is not only for all the whole of mankind a very plain prison +indeed, but also that all men without exception (even those that +are most at their liberty in it, and reckon themselves great lords +and possessors of very great pieces of it, and thereby wax with +wantonness so forgetful of their state that they think they stand +in great wealth) do stand for all that indeed, by reason of their +imprisonment in this large prison of the whole earth, in the +selfsame condition that the others do stand who, in the narrow +prisons which alone are called prisons, and which alone are reputed +prisons in the opinion of the common people, stand in the most +fearful and in the most odious case--that is, condemned already to +death. + +And now, cousin, if this thing that I tell you seem but a +sophistical fancy of your mind, I would be glad to know what moveth +you so to think. For, in good faith, as I have told you twice, I am +no wiser but what I verily think that it is very plain truth indeed. + + +XX + +VINCENT: In good faith, uncle, thus far I not only cannot make +resistance against it with any reason, but also I see very clearly +proved that it cannot be otherwise. For every man must be in this +world a very prisoner, since we are all put here into a sure hold +to be kept till we be put unto execution, as folk all already +condemned to death. + +But yet, uncle, the strait-keeping, collaring, bolting, and +stocking, with lying on straw or on the cold ground (which manner +of hard handling is used in these special imprisonments that alone +are commonly called by that name) must needs make that imprisonment +much more odious and dreadful than the general imprisonment with +which we are every man universally imprisoned at large, walking +where we will round about the wide world. For in this broad prison, +outside of those narrow prisons, there is no such hard handling +used with the prisoners. + +ANTHONY: I said, I think, cousin, that I purposed to prove to you +further that in this general prison--the large prison, I mean, of +this whole world--folk are, for the time that they are in it, as +sore handled and as hardly, and wrenched and wrung and broken in +such painful wise, that our hearts (save that we consider it not) +have with reason good and great cause to grudge against the hard +handling that there is in this prison--and, as far as pertaineth +only to the respect of pain, as much horror to conceive against +it--as against the other that there is in that one. + +VINCENT: Indeed, uncle, it is true that you said you would prove +this. + +ANTHONY: Nay, so much said I not, cousin! But I said that I would +if I could, and if I could not, then would I therein give over my +part. But I trust, cousin, that I shall not need to do that--the +thing seemeth to me so plain. + +For, cousin, not only the prince and king but also the chief jailor +over this whole broad prison the world (though he have both angels +and devils who are jailors under him) is, I take it, God. And that +I suppose you will grant me, too. + +VINCENT: That will I not deny, uncle. + +ANTHONY: If a man, cousin, be committed unto prison for no cause +but to be kept, though there be never so great a charge against +him, yet his keeper, if he be good and honest, is neither so cruel +as to pain the man out of malice, nor so covetous as to put him to +pain to make him seek his friends and pay for a pennyworth of ease. +If the place be such that he is sure to keep him safe otherwise, or +if he can get surety for the recompense of more harm than he seeth +he should have if he escaped, he will never handle him in any such +hard fashion as we most abhor imprisonment for. But marry, if the +place be such that the keeper cannot otherwise be sure, then is he +compelled to keep him to that extent the straiter. And also if the +prisoner be unruly and fall to fighting with his fellows or do some +other manner of ill turns, then useth the keeper to punish him in +some such fashions as you yourself have spoken of. + +Now, cousin, God--the chief jailor, as I say, of this broad prison +the world--is neither cruel nor covetous. And this prison is also +so sure and so subtly built that, albeit that it lieth open on +every side without any wall in the world, yet, wander we never so +far about in it, we shall never find the way to get out. So God +neither needeth to collar us nor to stock us for any fear of our +escaping away. And therefore, unless he see some other cause than +only our keeping for death, he letteth us in the meanwhile, for as +long as he pleases to respite us, walk about in the prison and do +there what we will, using ourselves in such wise as he hath, by +reason and revelation, from time to time told us his pleasure. + +And hence it cometh, lo, that by reason of this favour for a time +we wax, as I said, so wanton, that we forget where we are. And we +think that we are lords at large, whereas we are indeed, if we +would consider, even poor wretches in prison. For, of very truth, +our very prison this earth is. And yet we apportion us out divers +parts of it diversely to ourselves, part by covenants that we make +among ourselves, and part by fraud and violence too. And we change +its name from the odious name of prison, and call it our own land +and our livelihood. Upon our prison we build; our prison we garnish +with gold and make it glorious. In this prison they buy and sell; +in this prison they brawl and chide. In this they run together and +fight; in this they dice; in this they play at cards. In this they +pipe and revel; in this they sing and dance. And in this prison +many a man who is reputed right honest forbeareth not, for his +pleasure in the dark, privily to play the knave. + +And thus, while God our king and our chief jailor too, suffereth us +and letteth us alone, we think ourselves at liberty. And we abhor +the state of those whom we call prisoners, taking ourselves for no +prisoners at all. In this false persuasion of wealth and +forgetfulness of our own wretched state, which is but a wandering +about for a while in this prison of this world, till we be brought +unto the execution of death, we forget in our folly both ourselves +and our jail, and our under-jailors the angels and devils both, and +our chief jailor God too--God, who forgetteth not us, but seeth us +all the while well enough. And being sore discontent to see so ill +rule kept in the jail, he sendeth the hangman Death to put some to +execution here and there, sometimes by the thousands at once. And +he handleth many of the rest, whose execution he forbeareth yet +unto a farther time, even as hardly and punisheth them as sorely, +in this common prison of the world, as there are any handled in +those special prisons which, for the hard handling used in them, +you say your heart hath in such horror and so sore abhorreth. + +VINCENT: The rest will I not gainsay, for methinketh I see it so +indeed. But that God, our chief jailor in this world, useth any +such prisonly fashion of punishment, that point must I needs deny. +For I see him neither lay any man in the stocks, nor strike fetters +on his legs, nor so much as shut him up in a chamber, neither. + +ANTHONY: Is he no minstrel, cousin, who playeth not on a harp? +Maketh no man melody but he who playeth on a lute? He may be a +minstrel and make melody, you know, with some other instrument--a +strange-fashioned one, peradventure, that never was seen before. + +God, our chief jailor, as he himself is invisible, so useth he in +his punishments invisible instruments. And therefore are they not +of like fashion as those the other jailors use, but yet of like +effect, and as painful in feeling as those. For he layeth one of +his prisoners with a hot fever as ill at ease in a warm bed as the +other jailor layeth his on the cold ground. He wringeth them by the +brows with a migraine; he collareth them by the neck with a quinsy; +he bolteth them by the arms with a palsy, so that they cannot lift +their hands to their head; he manacleth their hands with the gout +in their fingers; he wringeth them by the legs with the cramp in +their shins; he bindeth them to the bed with the crick in the +back; and he layeth one there at full length, as unable to rise as +though he lay fast by the feet in the stocks. + +A prisoner of another jail may sing and dance in his two fetters, +and fear not his feet for stumbling at a stone, while God's +prisoner, who hath his one foot fettered with the gout, lieth +groaning on a couch, and quaketh and crieth out if he fear that +there would fall on his foot no more than a cushion. + +And therefore, cousin, as I said, if we consider it well, we shall +find this general prison of this whole earth a place in which the +prisoners are as sore handled as they are in the other. And even in +the other some make as merry too as there do some in this one, who +are very merry at large out of that. And surely as we think +ourselves out of prison now, so if there were some folk born and +brought up in a prison, who never came on the wall or looked out at +the door or heard of another world outside, but saw some, for ill +turns done among themselves, locked up in a straiter room; and if +they heard them alone called prisoners who were so served and +themselves ever called free folk at large; the like opinion would +they have there of themselves then as we have here of ourselves +now. And when we take ourselves for other than prisoners now, +verily are we now as deceived as those prisoners would be then. + +VINCENT: I cannot, uncle, in good faith deny that you have +performed all that you promised. But yet, since, for all this, +there appeareth no more but that as they are prisoners so are we +too, and that as some of them are sore handled so are some of us +too; we know well, for all this, that when we come to those prisons +we shall not fail to be in a straiter prison than we are now, and +to have a door shut upon us where we have none shut upon us now. +This shall we be sure of at least if there come no worse--and then +there may come worse, you know well, since it cometh there so +commonly. And therefore is it yet little marvel that men's hearts +grudge much against it. + +ANTHONY: Surely, cousin, in this you say very well. Howbeit, your +words would have touched me somewhat the nearer if I had said that +imprisonment were no displeasure at all. But the thing that I say, +cousin, for our comfort in the matter, is that our fancy frameth us +a false opinion by which we deceive ourselves and take it for sorer +than it is. And that we do because we take ourselves for more free +before than we were, and imprisonment for a stranger thing to us +than it is indeed. And thus far, as I say, I have proved truth in +very deed. + +But now the incommodities that you repeat again--those, I say, that +are proper to the imprisonment of its own nature; that is, to have +less room to walk and to have the door shut upon us--these are, +methinketh, so very slender and slight that in so great a cause as +to suffer for God's sake we might be sore ashamed so much as once +to think upon them. + +Many a good man there is, you know, who, without any force at all, +or any necessity wherefor he should do so, suffereth these two +things willingly of his own choice, with much other hardness more. +Holy monks, I mean, of the Charterhouse order, such as never pass +their cells save only to the church, which is set fast by their +cells, and thence to their cells again. And St. Brigit's order, and +St. Clare's much alike, and in a manner all enclosed religious +houses. And yet anchorites and anchoresses most especially, all +whose whole room is less than a good large chamber. And yet are +they there as well content many long years together as are other +men--and better, too--who walk about the world. And therefore you +may see that the lothness of less room and the door shut upon us, +since so many folk are so well content with them and will for God's +love choose to live so, is but a horror enhanced of our own fancy. + +And indeed I knew a woman once who came into a prison, to visit of +her charity a poor prisoner there. She found him in a chamber that +was fair enough, to say the truth--at least, it was strong enough! +But with mats of straw the prisoner had made it so warm, both under +foot and round about the walls, that in these things, for the +keeping of his health, she was on his behalf very glad and very +well comforted. But among many other displeasures that for his sake +she was sorry for, one she lamented much in her mind. And that was +that he should have the chamber door made fast upon him by night, +by the jailor who was to shut him in. "For, by my troth," quoth +she, "if the door should be shut upon me, I think it would stop up +my breath!" At that word of hers the prisoner laughed in his +mind--but he dared not laugh aloud or say anything to her, for +indeed he stood somewhat in awe of her, and he had his food there +in great part of her charity for alms. But he could not but laugh +inwardly, for he knew well enough that she used to shut her own +chamber door full surely on the inside every night, both door and +windows too, and used not to open them all the long night. And what +difference, then, as to the stopping of the breath, whether they +were shut up within or without? + +And so surely, cousin, these two things that you speak of are +neither one of so great weight that in Christ's cause they ought to +move a Christian man. And one of the twain is so very childish a +fancy, that in a matter almost of three chips (unless it were a +chance of fire) it should never move any man. + +As for those other accidents of hard handling, I am not so mad as +to say that they are no grief, but I say that our fear may imagine +them much greater grief than they are. And I say that such as they +be, many a man endureth them--yea, and many a woman too--who +afterward fareth full well. + +And then would I know what determination we take--whether for our +Saviour's sake to suffer some pain in our bodies, since he suffered +in his blessed body so great pain for us, or else to give him +warning and be at a point utterly to forsake him rather than to +suffer any pain at all? He who cometh in his mind unto this latter +point--from which kind of unkindness God keep every man!--he +needeth no comfort, for he will flee the need. And counsel, I fear, +availeth him little, if grace be so far gone from him. But, on the +other hand, if, rather than to forsake our Saviour, we determine +ourselves to suffer any pain at all, I cannot then see that the +fear of hard handling should anything stick with us and make us to +shrink so that we would rather forsake his faith than suffer for +his sake so much as imprisonment. For the handling is neither such +in prison but what many men, and many women too, live with it many +years and sustain it, and afterward yet fare full well. And yet it +may well fortune that, beside the bare imprisonment, there shall +happen to us no hard handling at all. Or else it may happen to us +for only a short while--and yet, beside all this, peradventure not +at all. And which of all these ways shall be taken with us, lieth +all in his will for whom we are content to take it, and who for +that intent of ours favoureth us and will suffer no man to put more +pain to us than he well knoweth we shall be able to bear. For he +himself will give us the strength for it, as you have heard his +promise already by the mouth of St. Paul: "God is faithful, who +suffereth you not to be tempted above what you may bear, but giveth +also with the temptation a way out." + +But now, if we have not lost our faith already before we come to +forsake it for fear, we know very well by our faith that, by the +forsaking of our faith, we fall into that state to be cast into the +prison of hell. And that can we not tell how soon; but, as it may +be that God will suffer us to live a while here upon earth, so may +it be that he will throw us into that dungeon beneath before the +time that the Turk shall once ask us the question. And therefore, +if we fear imprisonment so sore, we are much more than mad if we +fear not most the imprisonment that is far more sore. For out of +that prison shall no man ever get, and in this other shall no man +abide but a while. + +In prison was Joseph while his brethren were at large; and yet +afterward were his brethren fain to seek upon him for bread. In +prison was Daniel, and the wild lions about him; and yet even there +God kept him harmless and brought him safe out again. If we think +that he will not do the like for us, let us not doubt that he will +do for us either the like or better, for better may he do for us if +he suffer us there to die. St. John the Baptist was, you know, in +prison, while Herod and Herodias sat full merry at the feast, and +the daughter of Herodias delighted them with her dancing, till with +her dancing she danced off St. John's head. And now sitteth he with +great feast in heaven at God's board, while Herod and Herodias full +heavily sit in hell burning both twain, and to make them sport +withal the devil with the damsel dance in the fire before them. + +Finally, cousin, to finish this piece, our Saviour was himself +taken prisoner for our sake. And prisoner was he carried, and +prisoner was he kept, and prisoner was he brought forth before +Annas, and prisoner from Annas carried unto Caiphas. Then prisoner +was he carried from Caiphas unto Pilate, and prisoner was he sent +from Pilate to King Herod, and prisoner from Herod unto Pilate +again. And so was he kept as prisoner to the end of his passion. +The time of his imprisonment, I grant you, was not long. But as for +hard handling, which our hearts most abhor, he had as much in that +short while as many men among them all in a much longer time. And +surely, then, if we consider of what estate he was and also that he +was prisoner in that wise for our sake, we shall, I think, unless +we be worse than wretched beasts, never so shamefully play the +ungrateful coward as sinfully to forsake him for fear of +imprisonment. + +Nor shall we be so foolish either as, by forsaking him, to give him +the occasion to forsake us in turn. For so should we, with the +avoiding of an easier prison, fall into a worse. And instead of the +prison that cannot keep us long, we should fall into that prison +out of which we can never come, though the short imprisonment +should have won us everlasting liberty. + + +XXI + +VINCENT: Forsooth, uncle, if we feared not further, beside +imprisonment, the terrible dart of shameful and painful death, I +would verily trust that, as for imprisonment, remembering these +things which I have here heard from you (our Lord reward you for +them!) rather than that I should forsake the faith of our Saviour, +I would with help of grace never shrink at it. + +But now are we come, uncle, with much work at last unto the last +and uttermost point of the dread that maketh this incursion of this +midday devil--this open invasion of the Turk and his persecution +against the faith--seem so terrible unto men's minds. Although the +respect of God vanquish all the rest of the trouble that we have +hitherto perused (as loss of goods, lands, and liberty), yet, when +we remember the terror of shameful and painful death, that point +suddenly putteth us in oblivion of all that should be our comfort. +And we feel (all men, I fear me, for the most part) the fervour of +our faith wax so cold and our hearts so faint that we find +ourselves at the point of falling even for fear. + +ANTHONY: I deny not, cousin, that indeed in this point is the sore +pinch. And yet you see, for all this, that even this point too +taketh increase or diminishment of dread according to the +difference of the affections that are beforehand fixed and rooted +in the mind--so much so, that you may see a man set so much by his +worldly substance that he feareth less the loss of his life than +the loss of lands. Yea, you may see a man abide deadly torment, +such as some other man had rather die than endure, rather than to +bring out the money that he hath hid. And I doubt not but that you +have heard by right authentic stories of many men who (some for one +cause, some for another) have not hesitated willingly to suffer +death, divers in divers kinds, and some both with despiteful rebuke +and painful torment too. And therefore, as I say, we may see that +the affection of the mind toward the increase or decrease of dread +maketh much of the matter. + +Now the affections of men's minds are imprinted by divers means. +One way is by means of the bodily senses, moved by such things, +pleasant or unpleasant, as are outwardly offered unto them through +sensible worldly things. And this manner of receiving the +impression of affections is common unto men and beasts. Another +manner of receiving affections is by means of reason, which both +ordinately tempereth those affections that the five bodily senses +imprint, and also disposeth a man many times to some spiritual +virtues very contrary to those affections that are fleshly and +sensual. And those reasonable dispositions are spiritual +affections, and proper to the nature of man, and above the nature +of beasts. Now, as our ghostly enemy the devil enforceth himself to +make us lean to the sensual affections and beastly, so doth +almighty God of his goodness by his Holy Spirit inspire us good +motions, with the aid and help of his grace, toward the other +spiritual affections. And by sundry means he instructeth our reason +to lean to them, and not only to receive them as engendered and +planted in our soul, but also in such wise to water them with the +wise advertisement of godly counsel and continual prayer, that they +may become habitually radicated and surely take deep root therein. +And according as the one kind of affection or the other beareth the +strength in our heart, so are we stronger or feebler against the +terror of death in this cause. + +And therefore, cousin, will we essay to consider what things there +are for which we have cause in reason to master the fearful +affection and sensual. And though we cannot clean avoid it and put +it away, yet will we essay in such wise to bridle it at least that +it run not out so far like a headstrong horse that, in spite of our +teeth, it carry us out unto the devil. + +Let us therefore now consider and well weigh this thing that we +dread so sore--that is, shameful and painful death. + + +XXII + +And first I perceive well by these two things that you join unto +"death"--that is, "shameful" and "painful"--that you would esteem +death so much the less if it should come along without either shame +or pain. + +VINCENT: Without doubt, uncle, a great deal the less. But yet, +though it should come without them both, by itself, I know well +many a man would be for all that very loth to die. + +ANTHONY: That I believe well, cousin, and the more pity it is. For +that affection happeth in very few without the cause being either +lack of faith, lack of hope, or finally lack of wit. + +Those who believe not the life to come after this, and think +themselves here in wealth, are loth to leave this life, for then +they think they lose all. And thence come the manifold foolish +unfaithful words which are so rife in our many mouths: "This world +we know, and the other we know not." And some say in sport (and +think in earnest), "The devil is not so black as he is painted," +and "Let him be as black as he will, he is no blacker than a crow!" +with many such other foolish fancies of the same sort. + +There are some who believe well enough but who, through lewdness of +living, fall out of good hope of salvation. And then I very little +marvel that they are loth to die. Howbeit, some who purpose to mend +and would fain have some time left them longer to bestow somewhat +better, may peradventure be loth to die also forthwith. And albeit +that a very good will gladly to die and to be with God would be, to +my mind, so thankful that it would be well able to purchase as full +remission both of sin and pain as peradventure he would be like to +purchase, if he lived, in many years' penance, yet will I not say +but what such a kind of lothness to die may be approvable before +God. + +There are some also who are loth to die, who are yet very glad to +die and long for to be dead. + +VINCENT: That would be, uncle, a very strange case! + +ANTHONY: The case, I fear me, cousin, falleth not very often. But +yet sometimes it doth, as where there is any man of that good mind +that St. Paul was. For the longing that he had to be with God, he +would fain have been dead, but for the profit of other folk he was +content to live here in pain, and defer and forbear for the while +his inestimable bliss in heaven: _"Desiderium habens dissolvi et +esse cum Christo, multo magis melius, permanere autem in carne, +necessarium propter vos."_ + +But of all these kinds of folk, cousin, who are loth to die (except +for the first kind only, who lack faith), there is I suppose none +who would hesitate, for the bare respect of death alone, unless the +fear of shame or sharp pain joined unto death should be the +hindrance, to depart hence with good will in this case of the +faith. For he would well know by his faith that his death, taken +for the faith, should cleanse him clean of all his sins and send +him straight to heaven. And some of these (namely the last kind) +are such that shame and pain both joined unto death would be +unlikely to make them loathe death or fear death so sore but what +they would suffer death in this case with good will, since they +know well that the refusing of the faith, for any cause in this +world (seemed the cause never so good), should yet sever them from +God, with whom, save for other folk's profit, they so fain would +be. And charity it cannot be, for the profit of the whole world, +deadly to displease him who made it. + +Some are these, I say also, who are loth to die for lack of wit. +Albeit that they believe in the world that is to come and hope also +to come thither, yet they love so much the wealth of this world and +such things as delight them therein, that they would fain keep them +as long as ever they can, even with tooth and nail. And when they +can be suffered in no wise to keep it longer, but death taketh them +from it, then, if it can be no better, they will agree to be, as +soon as they be hence, hauled up into heaven and be with God +forthwith! These folk as as very idiot fools as he who had kept +from his childhood a bag full of cherry stones, and cast such a +fancy to it that he would not go from it for a bigger bag filled +with gold. + +These folk fare, cousin, as Æsop telleth in a fable that the snail +did. For when Jupiter (whom the poets feign for the great god) +invited all the poor worms of the earth unto a great solemn feast +that it pleased him upon a time--I have forgotten upon what +occasion--to prepare for them, the snail kept her at home and would +not come. And when Jupiter asked her afterward wherefore she came +not to his feast, where he said she would have been welcome and +have fared well, and would have seen a goodly palace and been +delighted with many goodly pleasures, she answered him that she +loved no place so well as her own house. With this answer Jupiter +waxed so angry that he said, since she loved her house so well, she +should never after go from home, but should always afterward bear +her house upon her back wheresoever she went. And so hath she ever +done since, as they say. And at least I know well she doth so now +and hath done so as long as I can remember. + +VINCENT: Forsooth, uncle, I should think the tale were not all +feigned, for I think verily that so much of your tale is true! + +ANTHONY: Æsop meant by that feigned fable to touch the folly of +such folk as so set their fancy upon some small simple pleasure +that they cannot find it in their heart to forbear it, either for +the pleasure of a better man or for the gaining of a better thing. +For by this foolish froward fashion they sometimes fall in great +disgrace and take by it no little harm. + +And surely such Christian folk as, by their foolish affection, +which they have set like the snail upon their own house here on +earth, cannot, for the lothness of leaving that house, find it in +their hearts to go with good will to the great feast that God +prepareth in heaven and of his goodness so graciously calleth them +to--they are, I fear me, unless they mend that mind in time, like +to be served as the snail was, and yet much worse too. For they are +like to have their house here, the earth, bound fast on their backs +for ever, and not to walk with it where they will, as the snail +creepeth about with hers, but to lie fast bound in the midst of it +with the foul fire of hell about them. For into this folly they +bring themselves by their own fault, as the drunken man bringeth +himself into drunkenness, whereby the evil that he doth in his +drunkenness is not forgiven him for his folly, but to his pain is +imputed to his fault. + +VINCENT: Surely, uncle, this seemeth not unlikely, and by their +fault they fall in such folly indeed. And yet, if this be folly +indeed, then are some folk fools who think themselves right wise. + +ANTHONY: Who think themselves wise? Marry, I never saw a fool yet +who thought himself other than wise! For as it is one spark of +soberness left in a drunken head when he perceiveth himself to be +drunk and getteth himself fair to bed, so if a fool perceive +himself a fool that point is no folly but a little spark of wit. + +But now, cousin, as for these kind of fools, who are loth to die +for the love that they bear to their worldly fancies which they +would, by their death, leave behind them and forsake: Those who +would for that cause rather forsake the faith than die, would +rather forsake it than lose their worldly goods, though there were +no peril of death offered them at all. And then, as touching those +who are of that mind, we have, you know, said as much as you +yourself thought sufficient this afternoon here before. + +VINCENT: Verily, uncle, that is very true. And now have you +rehearsed, as far as I can remember, all the other kinds of them +that would be loth to die for any other respect than the grievous +qualities of shame and pain joined unto death. And of all these +kinds, except the kind of infidelity--when no comfort can help, but +only counsel to the attaining of faith, for faith must be +presupposed to the receiving of comfort and had ready before, as +you showed in the beginning of our communication the first day that +we talked of the matter. But else, I say, except that one kind, +there is none of the rest of those that were before untouched who +would be likely to forsake their faith in this persecution for the +fear and dread of death, save for those grievous qualities--pain, I +mean, and shame--that they see well would come with it. + +And therefore, uncle, I pray you, give us some comfort against +those twain. For in good faith, if death should come without them, +in such a case at this is, in which by the losing of this life we +should find a far better, mine own reason giveth me that, save for +the other griefs going before the change, no man who hath wit would +anything stick at all. + +ANTHONY: Yes, peradventure suddenly they would, before they gather +their wits unto them and well weigh the matter. But, cousin, those +who will consider the matter well, reason, grounded upon the +foundation of faith, shall show they very great substantial causes +for which the dread of those grievous qualities that they see shall +come with death--shame, I mean, and pain also--shall not so sore +abash them as sinfully to drive them to that point. And for the +proof thereof, let us first begin at the consideration of the shame. + + +XXIII + +How can any faithful wise man dread death so sore, for any respect +of shame, when his reason and his faith together can shortly make +him perceive that there is no true shame in it at all? For how can +that death be shameful that is glorious? Or how can it be anything +but glorious to die for the faith of Christ, if we die both for the +faith and in the faith, joined with hope and charity? For the +scripture plainly saith, "Precious in the sight of God is the death +of his saints." Now if the death of his saints be glorious in the +sight of God, it can never be shameful in very deed, however +shameful it seem here in the sight of men. For here we may see and +be sure that not only at the death of St. Stephen, to whom it +pleased him to show himself with the heaven open over his head, but +at the death also of every may who so dieth for the faith, God with +his heavenly company beholdeth his whole passion and verily looketh +on. + +Now if it were so, cousin, that you should be brought through the +broad high-street of a great long city; and if, all along the way +that you were going, there were on one side of the way a rabble of +ragged beggars and madmen, who would despise and dispraise you with +all the shameful names that they could call you and all the +villainous words that they could say to you; and if there were +then, all along the other side of the same street where you should +come by, a goodly company standing in a fair range, a row of wise +and worshipful folk, lauding and commending you, more than fifteen +times as many as that rabble of ragged beggars and railing +madmen--would you willingly turn back, thinking that you went unto +your shame, for the shameful jesting and railing of those mad +foolish wretches? Or would you hold on your way with a good cheer +and a glad heart, thinking yourself much honoured by the laud and +approbation of that other honourable company? + +VINCENT: Nay, by my troth, uncle, there is no doubt but that I +would much regard the commendation of those commendable folk, and +regard not a rush the railing of all those ribalds. + +ANTHONY: Then, cousin, no man who hath faith can account himself +shamed here, by any manner of death that he suffereth for the faith +of Christ. For however vile and shameful it seem in the sight here +of a few worldly wretches, it is lauded and approved for very +precious and honourable in the sight of God and all the glorious +company of heaven, who as perfectly stand and behold it as those +foolish people do. And they are in number more than a hundred to +one; and of that hundred, every one a hundred times more to be +regarded and esteemed than a hundred such whole rabbles of the +other. + +And now, if a man would be so mad as to be ashamed, for fear of the +rebuke that he should have of such rebukeful beasts, to confess the +faith of Christ, then, with fleeing from a shadow of shame, he +would fall into a true shame--and a deadly painful shame indeed! +For then hath our Saviour made a sure promise that he will show +himself ashamed of that man before the Father of heaven and all his +holy angels, saying in the ninth chapter of Luke, "He who is +ashamed of me and my words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed +when he shall come in the majesty of himself and of his Father and +of his holy angels." And what manner of shameful shame shall that +be, then? If a man's cheeks glow sometimes for shame in this world, +they will fall on fire for shame when Christ shall show himself +ashamed of them there! + +The blessed apostles reckoned it for great glory to suffer for +Christ's faith the thing that we worldly wretched fools think to be +villainy and shame. For they, when they were scourged, with despite +and shame, and thereupon commanded to speak no more of the name of +Christ, "went their way from the council joyful and glad that God +had vouchsafed to do them the worship to suffer shameful despite +for the name of Jesus." And so proud were they of the shame and +villainous pain put unto them, that for all the forbidding of that +great council assembled, they ceased not every day to preach out +the name of Jesus still--not only in the temple, out of which they +were set and whipped for the same before, but also, to double it +with, they went preaching the name about from house to house, too. + +Since we regard so greatly the estimation of worldly folk, I wish +that we would, among the many wicked things that they do, regard +also some such as are good. For it is a manner among them, in many +places, that some by handicraft, some by merchandise, some by other +kinds of living, arise and come forward in the world. And commonly +folk are in their youth set forth to suitable masters, under whom +they are brought up and grow. But now, whensoever they find a +servant such that he disdaineth to do such things as his master did +while he was himself a servant, that servant every man accounteth +for a proud unthrift, never like to come to good proof. Let us, lo, +mark and consider this, and weigh it well withal: Our master Christ +(who is not only the master, but the maker too, of all this whole +world) was not so proud as to disdain for our sakes the most +villainous and most shameful death, after the worldly count, that +then was used in the world. And he endured the most despiteful +mocking therewith, joined to the most grievous pain, as crowning +him with sharp thorn, so that the blood ran down about his face. +Then they gave him a reed in his hand for a sceptre, and kneeled +down to him and saluted him like a king in scorn, and beat then the +reed upon the sharp thorns about his holy head. Now our Saviour +saith that the disciple or servant is not above his master. And +therefore, since our master endured so many kinds of painful shame, +very proud beasts may we well think ourselves if we disdain to do +as our master did. And whereas he through shame ascended into +glory, we would be so mad that we would rather fall into +everlasting shame, both before heaven and hell, than for fear of a +short worldly shame to follow him to everlasting glory. + + +XXIV + +VINCENT: In good faith, uncle, as for the shame, you shall need to +take no more pains. For I suppose surely that any man who hath +reason in his head shall hold himself satisfied with this. + +But, of truth, uncle, all the pinch is in the pain. For as for +shame, I perceive well now that a man may with wisdom so master it +that it shall nothing move him at all--so much so that it is become +a common proverb in almost every country that "shame is as it is +taken." But, by God, uncle, all the wisdom in this world can never +so master pain but that pain will be painful, in spite of all the +wit in this world! + +ANTHONY: Truth it is, cousin, that no man can, with all the reason +he hath, in such wise change the nature of pain that in the having +of pain he feel it not. For unless it be felt, perdy, it is no +pain. And that is the natural cause, cousin, for which a man may +have his leg stricken off at the knee and it grieve him not--if his +head be off but half an hour before! + +But reason may make a reasonable man not to shrink from it and +refuse it to his more hurt and harm. Though he would not be so +foolish as to fall into it without cause, yet upon good +causes--either of gaining some kind of great profit or avoiding +some kind of great loss, or eschewing thereby the suffering of far +greater pain--he would be content and glad to sustain it for his +far greater advantage and commodity. + +And this doth reason alone in many cases, where it hath much less +help to take hold of than it hath in this matter of faith. For you +know well that to take a sour and bitter potion is great grief and +displeasure, and to be lanced and have the flesh cut is no little +pain. Now, when such things are to be ministered either to a child +or to some childish man, they will by their own wills let their +sickness and their sore grow, unto their more grief, till it become +incurable, rather than abide the pain of the curing in time. And +that for faint heart, joined with lack of discretion. But a man who +hath more wisdom, though without cause he would no more abide the +pain willingly than would the other, yet, since reason showeth him +what good he shall have by the suffering, and what harm by refusing +it, this maketh him well content and glad also to take it. + +Now then, if reason alone be sufficient to move a man to take pain +for the gaining of worldly rest or pleasure and for the avoiding of +another pain (though the pain he take be peradventure more, yet to +be endured but for a short season), why should not reason, grounded +upon the sure foundation of faith, and helped toward also with the +aid of God's grace--as it ever is, undoubtedly, when folk for a +good mind in God's name come together, our Saviour saying himself, +"Where there are two or three are gathered together in my name, +there am I also even in the very midst of them." Why should not +then reason, I say, thus furthered with faith and grace, be much +more able first to engender in us such an affection, and afterward, +by long and deep meditation thereof, so to continue that affection +that it shall turn into a habitual purpose, fast-rooted and deep, +of patiently suffering the painful death of this body here in earth +for the gaining of everlasting wealthy life in heaven and avoiding +of everlasting painful death in hell? + +VINCENT: By my troth, uncle, I can find no words that should have +any reason with them--faith being always presupposed, as you +protested in the beginning, for a ground--words, I say, I can find +none with which I might reasonably counter-plead this that you have +said here already. + +But yet I remember the fable that Æsop telleth of a great old hart +that had fled from a little bitch, which had made pursuit after him +and chased him so long that she had lost him, and (he hoped) more +than half given him over. Having then some time to talk, and +meeting with another of his fellows, he fell into deliberation with +him as to what it were best for him to do--whether to run on still +and fly farther from her, or to turn again and fight with her. The +other hart advised him to fly no farther, lest the bitch might +happen to find him again when he would be out of breath by the +labour of farther fleeing, and thereby all out of strength too, and +so would he be killed lying where he could not stir himself. +Whereas, if he would turn and fight, he would be in no peril at +all. "For the man with whom she hunteth," he said, "is more than a +mile behind her. And she is but a little body, scant half so much +as thou, and thy horns can thrust her through before she can touch +thy flesh, by more than ten times her tooth-length." "By my troth," +quoth the other hart, "I like your counsel well, and methinketh +that the thing is even soothly as you say. But I fear me that when +I hear once that cursed bitch bark, I shall fall to my feet and +forget all together. But yet, if you will go back with me, then +methinketh we shall be strong enough against that one bitch between +us both." The other hart agreed, and they both appointed them +thereon. But even as they were about to busk them forward to it, +the bitch had found the scent again, and on she came yalping toward +the place. And as soon as the harts heard her, off they went both +twain apace! + +And in good faith, uncle, even so I fear it would fare by myself +and many others too. Though we think it reason, what you say, and +in our minds agree that we should do as you say--yea, and +peradventure think also that we would indeed do as you say--yet as +soon as we should once hear those hell-hounds the Turks come +yalping and howling upon us, our hearts should soon fall as clean +from us as those other harts fled from the hounds. + +ANTHONY: Cousin, in those days that Æsop speaketh of, though those +harts and other brute beasts had (if he say sooth) the power to +speak and talk, and in their talking power to talk reason too, yet +they never had given them the power to follow reason and rule +themselves thereby. And in good faith, cousin, as for such things +as pertain to the conducting of reasonable men to salvation, I +think that without the help of grace men's reasoning shall do +little more. But then are we sure, as I said before, that if we +desire grace, God is at such reasoning always present and very +ready to give it. And unless men will afterward willingly cast it +away, he is ever ready still to keep it and glad from time to time +to increase it. And therefore our Lord biddeth us, by the mouth of +the prophet, that we should not be like such brutish and +unreasonable beasts as were those harts, and as are horses and +mules: "Be not you like a horse and a mule, that hath no +understanding." And therefore, cousin, let us never dread but what, +if we will apply our minds to the gathering of comfort and courage +against our persecutions, and hear reason and let it sink into our +heart and cast it not out again (nor vomit it up, nor even there +choke it up and stifle it with pampering in and stuffing up our +stomachs with a surfeit of worldly vanities), God shall so well +work with it that we shall feel strength therein. And so we shall +not in such wise have all such shameful cowardous hearts as to +forsake our Saviour and thereby lose our own salvation and run into +eternal fire for fear of death joined therein--though bitter and +sharp, yet short for all that, and (in a manner) a momentary pain. + +VINCENT: Every man, uncle, naturally grudgeth at pain, and is very +loth to come to it. + +ANTHONY: That is very true, and no one biddeth any man to go run +into it, unless he be taken and cannot flee. Then, we say that +reason plainly telleth us that we should rather suffer and endure +the less and the shorter pain here, than in hell the sorer and so +far the longer too. + +VINCENT: I heard of late, uncle, where such a reason was made as +you make me now, which reason seemed undoubted and inevitable to +me. Yet heard I lately, as I say, a man answer it thus: He said +that if a man in this persecution should stand still in the +confession of his faith and thereby fall into painful tormentry, he +might peradventure happen, for the sharpness and bitterness of the +pain, to forsake our Saviour even in the midst of it, and die there +with his sin, and so be damned forever. Whereas, by the forsaking +of the faith in the beginning, and for the time--and yet only in +word, keeping it still nevertheless in his heart--a man might save +himself from that painful death and afterward ask mercy and have +it, and live long and do many good deeds, and be saved as St. Peter +was. + +ANTHONY: That man's reason, cousin, is like a three-footed +stool--so tottering on every side that whosoever sits on it may +soon take a foul fall. For these are the three feet of this +tottering stool: fantastical fear, false faith, and false +flattering hope. + +First, it is a fantastical fear that the man conceiveth, that it +should be perilous to stand in the confession of the faith at the +beginning, lest he might afterward, through the bitterness of the +pain, fall to the forsaking and so die there in the pain, out of +hand, and thereby be utterly damned. As though, if a man were +overcome by pain and so forsook his faith, God could not or would +not as well give him grace to repent again, and thereupon give him +forgiveness, as he would give it to him who forsook his faith in +the beginning and set so little by God that he would rather forsake +him than suffer for his sake any manner of pain at all! As though +the more pain that a man taketh for God's sake, the worse would God +be to him! If this reason were not unreasonable, then should our +Saviour not have said, as he did, "Fear not them that may kill the +body, and after that have nothing that they can do further." For he +should, by this reason, have said, "Dread and fear them that may +slay the body, for they may, by the torment of painful death +(unless thou forsake me betimes in the beginning and so save thy +life, and get of me thy pardon and forgiveness afterward) make thee +peradventure forsake me too late, and so be damned forever." + +The second foot of this tottering stool is a false faith. For it is +but a feigned faith for a man to say to God secretly that he +believeth him, trusteth him, and loveth him, and then openly, where +he should to God's honour tell the same tale and thereby prove that +he doth so, there to God's dishonour flatter God's enemies as much +as in him is, and do them pleasure and worship, with the forsaking +of God's faith before the world. And such a one either is faithless +in his heart too, or else knoweth well that he doth God this +despite even before his own face. For unless he lack faith, he +cannot but know that our Lord is everywhere present, and that, +while he so shamefully forsaketh him, he full angrily looketh on. + +The third foot of this tottering stool is false flattering hope. +For since the thing that he doth, when he forsaketh his faith for +fear, is forbidden by the mouth of God upon the pain of eternal +death, though the goodness of God forgiveth many folk for the +fault, yet to be bolder in offending for the hope of forgiving is a +very false pestilent hope, with which a man flattereth himself +toward his own destruction. + +He who, in a sudden turn for fear or other affection, unadvisedly +falleth, and after, in labouring to rise again, comforteth himself +with hope of God's gracious forgiveness, walketh in the ready way +toward his salvation. But he who with the hope of God's mercy to +follow, doth encourage himself to sin, and thereby offendeth God +first--I have no power to keep the hand of God from giving out his +pardon where he will (nor would I if I could, but rather help to +pray for it), but yet I very sorely fear that such a man may miss +the grace to ask it in such effectual wise as to have it granted. +Nor can I now instantly remember any example or promise expressed +in holy scripture that the offender in such a case shall have the +grace offered afterward, in such wise to seek for pardon that God, +by his other promises of remission promised to penitents, would be +bound himself to grant it. But this kind of presumption, under +pretext of hope, seemeth rather to draw near on the one side (as +despair doth, on the other) toward the abominable sin of blasphemy +against the Holy Ghost. And against that sin, concerning either the +impossibility or at least the great difficulty of forgiveness, our +Saviour himself hath spoken in the twelfth chapter of St. Matthew +and in the third chapter of St. Mark, where he saith that blasphemy +against the Holy Ghost shall never be forgiven, neither in this +world nor in the world to come. + +And where the man that you speak of took in his reason an example +of St. Peter, who forsook our Saviour and got forgiveness +afterward, let him consider again on the other hand that he forsook +him not upon the boldness of such a sinful trust, but was overcome +and vanquished by a sudden fear. And yet, by that forsaking, St. +Peter won but little, for he did but delay his trouble for a little +while, as you know well. For beside that, he repented forthwith +very sorely that he had so done, and wept for it forthwith full +bitterly. He came forth at the Whitsuntide ensuing, and confessed +his Master again, and soon after that, he was imprisoned for it. +And not ceasing so, he was thereupon sore scourged for the +confession of his faith, and yet after that imprisoned again +afresh. And, being from thence delivered, he stinted not to preach +on still until, after manifold labours, travails, and troubles, he +was in Rome crucified and with cruel torment slain. + +And in like wise I think I might (in a manner) well warrant that no +man who denieth our Saviour once and afterward attaineth remission +shall escape through that denial one penny the cheaper, but that he +shall, ere he come to heaven, full surely pay for it. + +VINCENT: He shall peradventure, uncle, afterward work it out in +the fruitful works of penance, prayer, and almsdeed, done in true +faith and due charity, and in such wise attain forgiveness well +enough. + +ANTHONY: All his forgiveness goeth, cousin, as you see well, but +by "perhaps." But as it may be "perhaps yea," so may it be "perhaps +nay," and where is he then? And yet, you know, he shall never, by +any manner of hap, hap finally to escape from death, for fear of +which he forsook his faith. + +VINCENT: No, but he may die his natural death, and escape that +violent death. And then he saveth himself from much pain and so +winneth much ease. For a violent death is ever painful. + +ANTHONY: Peradventure he shall not avoid a violent death thereby, +for God is without doubt displeased, and can bring him shortly to +as violent a death by some other way. + +Howbeit, I see well that you reckon that whosoever dieth a natural +death, dieth like a wanton even at his ease. You make me remember a +man who was once in a light galley with us on the sea. While the +sea was sore wrought and the waves rose very high, he lay tossed +hither and thither, for he had never been to sea before. The poor +soul groaned sore and for pain thought he would very fain be dead, +and ever he wished, "Would God I were on land, that I might die in +rest!" The waves so troubled him there, with tossing him up and +down, to and fro, that he thought that trouble prevented him from +dying, because the waves would not let him rest! But if he might +get once to land, he thought he should then die there even at his +ease. + +VINCENT: Nay, uncle, this is no doubt, but that death is to every +man painful. But yet is not the natural death so painful as the +violent. + +ANTHONY: By my troth, cousin, methinketh that the death which men +commonly call "natural" is a violent death to every may whom it +fetcheth hence by force against his will. And that is every man +who, when he dieth, is loth to die and fain would yet live longer +if he could. + +Howbeit, cousin, fain would I know who hath told you how small is +the pain in the natural death! As far as I can perceive, those folk +that commonly depart of their natural death have ever one disease +and sickness or another. And if the pain of the whole week or twain +in which they lie pining in their bed, were gathered together in so +short a time as a man hath his pain who dieth a violent death, it +would, I daresay, make double the pain that is his. So he who dieth +naturally often suffereth more pain rather than less, though he +suffer it in a longer time. And then would many a man be more loth +to suffer so long, lingering in pain, than with a sharper pang to +be sooner rid. And yet lieth many a man more days than one, in +well-near as great pain continually, as is the pain that with the +violent death riddeth the man in less than half an hour--unless you +think that, whereas the pain is great to have a knife cut the flesh +on the outside from the skin inward, the pain would be much less if +the knife might begin on the inside and cut from the midst outward! +Some we hear, on their deathbed, complain that they think they feel +sharp knives cut in two their heartstrings. Some cry out and think +they feel, within the brainpan, their head pricked even full of +pins. And those who lie in a pleurisy think that, every time they +cough, they feel a sharp sword snap them to the heart. + + +XXV + +Howbeit, what need we to make any such comparison between the +natural death and the violent, for the matter that we are in hand +with here? Without doubt, he who forsaketh the faith of Christ for +fear of the violent death, putteth himself in peril to find his +natural death a thousand times more painful. For his natural death +hath his everlasting pain so instantly knit to it, that there is +not one moment of time between, but the end of the one is the +beginning of the other, which never after shall have an end. + +And therefore was it not without great cause that Christ gave us so +good warning before, when he said, as St. Luke in the twenty-second +chapter rehearseth, "I say to you that are my friends, be not +afraid of them that kill the body, and when that is done are able +to do no more. But I shall show you whom you should fear. Fear him +who, when he hath killed, hath in his power further to cast him +whom he killeth into everlasting fire. So I say to you, be afraid +of him." God meaneth not here that we should not dread at all any +man who can but kill the body, but he meaneth that we should not in +such wise dread any such man that we should, for dread of them, +displease him who can everlastingly kill both body and soul with a +death ever-dying and that shall yet never die. And therefore he +addeth and repeateth in the end again, the fear that we should have +of him, and saith, "So I say to you, fear him." + +O good God, cousin, if a man would well weigh those words and let +them sink down deep into his heart as they should do, and often +bethink himself on them, it would (I doubt not) be able enough to +make us set at naught all the great Turk's threats, and esteem him +not a straw. But we should be well content to endure all the pain +that all the world could put upon us, for so short a while as all +they were able to make us dwell in it, rather than, by shrinking +from those pains (though never so sharp, yet but short), to cast +ourselves into the pain of hell--a hundred thousand times more +intolerable, and of which there shall never come an end. A woeful +death is that death, in which folk shall evermore be dying and +never can once be dead! For the scripture saith, "They shall call +and cry for death, and death shall fly from them." + +O, good Lord, if one of them were not put in choice of both, he +would rather suffer the whole year together the most terrible death +that all the Turks in Turkey could devise, than to endure for the +space of half an hour the death that they lie in now. Into what +wretched folly fall, then, those faithless or feeble-faithed folk, +who, to avoid the pain that is so far the less and so short, fall +instead into pain a thousand thousand times more horrible, and +terrible torment of which they are sure they shall never have an +end! + +This matter, cousin, lacketh, I believe, only full faith or +sufficient minding. For I think, on my faith, that if we have the +grace verily to believe it and often to think well on it, the fear +of all the Turk's persecution--with all this midday devil were able +to do in the forcing of us to forsake our faith--should never be +able to turn us. + +VINCENT: By my troth, uncle, I think it is as you say. For surely, +if we would often think on these pains of hell--as we are very loth +to do, and purposely seek us childish pastimes to put such heavy +things out of our thought--this one point alone would be able +enough, I think, to make many a martyr. + + +XXVI + +ANTHONY: Forsooth, cousin, if we were such as we should be, I +would scant, for very shame, speak of the pains of hell in +exhortation to the keeping of Christ's faith. I would rather put us +in mind of the joys of heaven, the pleasure of which we should be +more glad to get than we should be to flee and escape all the pains +of hell. + +But surely God is marvellous merciful to us in the thing in which +he may seem most rigorous. And that is (which many men would little +think) in that he provided hell. For I suppose very surely, cousin, +that many a man--and woman, too--of whom some now sit, and more +shall hereafter sit, full gloriously crowned in heaven, had they +not first been afraid of hell, would never have set foot toward +heaven. + +But yet undoubtedly, if we could conceive in our hearts the +marvellous joys of heaven as well as we conceive the fearful pains +of hell--howbeit, we can conceive neither one sufficiently. But if +we could in our imagination approach as much toward the perceiving +of the one as we may toward the consideration of the other, we +would not fail to be far more moved and stirred to suffering for +Christ's sake in this world, for the winning of those heavenly joys +than for the eschewing of all those infernal pains. But forasmuch +as the fleshly pleasures are far less pleasant than the fleshly +pains are painful, therefore we fleshly folk, who are so drowned in +these fleshly pleasures and in the desire of them that we have +almost no manner of savour or taste for any pleasure that is +spiritual, we have no cause to marvel that our fleshly affections +are more abated and refrained by the dread and terror of hell than +spiritual affections are imprinted in us and pricked forward with +the desire and joyful hope of heaven. + +Howbeit, if we would set somewhat less by the filthy voluptuous +appetites of the flesh, and would, by withdrawing from them, with +help of prayer through the grace of God, draw nearer to the secret +inward pleasure of the spirit, we should, by the little sipping +that our hearts should have here now, and that instantaneous taste +of it, have an estimation of the incomparable and uncogitable joy +that we shall have (if we will) in heaven, by the very full draught +thereof. For thereof it is written, "I shall be satiate" or +satisfied, or fulfilled, "when thy glory, good Lord, shall appear," +that is, with the fruition of the sight of God's glorious majesty +face to face. And the desire, expectation, and heavenly hope +thereof, shall more encourage us and make us strong to suffer and +sustain for the love of God and salvation of our soul, than ever we +could be made to suffer worldly pain here by the terrible dread of +all the horrible pains that damned wretches have in hell. + +Therefore in the meantime, for lack of such experimental taste as +God giveth here sometimes to some of his special servants, to the +intent that we may draw toward the spiritual exercise too--for +which spiritual exercise God with that gift, as with an +earnest-penny of their whole reward afterward in heaven, comforteth +them here in earth--let us labour by prayer to conceive in our +hearts such a fervent longing for them that we may, for attaining +to them, utterly set at naught all fleshly delight, all worldly +pleasures, all earthly losses, all bodily torment and pain. And let +us do this, not so much with looking to have described what manner +of joys they shall be, as with hearing what our Lord telleth us in +holy scripture how marvellous great they shall be. Howbeit, some +things are there in scripture expressed of the manner of the +pleasures and joys that we shall have in heaven, as, "Righteous men +shall shine as the sun and shall run about like sparkles of fire +among reeds." + +Now, tell some carnal-minded man of this manner of pleasure, and he +shall take little pleasure in it, and say he careth not to have his +flesh shine, he, nor like a spark of fire to skip about in the sky. +Tell him that his body shall be impassible and never feel harm, and +he will think then that he shall never be ahungered or athirst, and +shall thereby forbear all his pleasure of eating and drinking, and +that he shall never wish for sleep, and shall thereby lose the +pleasure that he was wont to take in lying slug-abed. Tell him that +men and women shall there live together as angels without any +manner of mind or motion unto the carnal act of generation, and he +will think that he shall thereby not use there his old filthy +voluptuous fashion. He will say then that he is better at ease +already, and would not give this world for that. For, as St. Paul +saith, "A carnal man feeleth not the things that be of the spirit +of God, for it is foolishness to him." + +But the time shall come when these foul filthy pleasures shall be +so taken from him that it shall abhor his heart once to think on +them. Every man hath a certain shadow of this experience in the +fervent grief of a sore painful sickness, when his stomach can +scant abide to look upon any meat, and as for the acts of the other +foul filthy lust, he is ready to vomit if he hap to think thereon. +When a man shall after this life feel in his heart that horrible +abomination, of which sickness hath here a shadow, at the +remembrance of these voluptuous pleasures, for which he would here +be loth to change with the joys of heaven: when he shall, I say, +after this life, have his fleshly pleasures in abomination, and +shall have there a glimmering (though far from a perfect sight) of +those heavenly joys which here he set so little by--O, good God, +how fain will he then be, with how good will and how gladly would +he then give this whole world, if it were his, to have the feeling +of some little part of those joys! + +And therefore let us all who cannot now conceive such delight in +the consideration of them as we should, have often in our eyes by +reading, often in our ears by hearing, often in our mouths by +rehearsing, often in our hearts by meditation and thinking, those +joyful words of the holy scripture by which we learn how wonderful +huge and great are those spiritual heavenly joys. Our carnal hearts +have so feeble and so faint a feeling of them, and our dull worldly +wits are so little able to conceive so much as a shadow of the +right imagination! A shadow, I say, for, as for the thing as it is, +not only can no fleshly carnal fancy conceive that, but beside that +no spiritual person peradventure neither, so long as he is still +living here in this world. For since the very essential substance +of all the celestial joy standeth in the blessed beholding of the +glorious Godhead face to face, no man may presume or look to attain +it in this life. For God hath said so himself: "There shall no man +here living behold me." And therefore we may well know not only +that we are, for the state of this life, kept from the fruition of +the bliss of heaven, but also I think that the very best man living +here upon earth--the best man, I mean, who is no more than +man--cannot attain the right imagination of it; but those who are +very virtuous are yet (in a manner) as far from it as a man born +blind is from the right imagination of colours. + +The words that St. Paul rehearseth of the prophet Isaiah, +prophesying of Christ's incarnation, may properly be verified of +the joys of heaven: _"Oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in +cor hominis adscendit, quae preparavit Deus diligentibus se."_ For +surely, for this state of this world, the joys of heaven are by +man's mouth unspeakable, to man's ears not audible, to men's hearts +uncogitable, so far excel they all that ever men have heard of, all +that ever men can speak of, and all that men can by natural +possibility think on. + +And yet, whereas such be the joys of heaven that are prepared for +every saved soul, our Lord saith yet, by the mouth of St. John, +that he will give his holy martyrs who suffer for his sake many a +special kind of joy. For he saith, "To him that overcometh, I shall +give him to eat of the tree of life. And I shall confess his name +before my Father and before his angels." And also he saith, "Fear +none of those things that thou shalt suffer . . . , but be faithful +unto the death, and I shall give thee the crown of life. He that +overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." And he saith +also, "To him that overcometh will I give manna secret and hid. And +I will give him a white suffrage, and in his suffrage a new name +written, which no man knoweth but he that receiveth it." They used +of old in Greece, where St. John did write, to elect and choose men +unto honourable offices, and every man's assent was called his +"suffrage," which in some places was by voices and in some places +by hands. And one kind of those suffrages was by certain things +that in Latin are called _calculi_ because, in some places, they +used round stones for them. Now our Lord saith that unto him who +overcometh he will give a white suffrage, for those that were white +signified approving, as the black signified reproving. And in those +suffrages did they use to write the name of him to whom they gave +their vote. Now our Lord saith that to him who overcometh he will +in the suffrage give him a new name, which no man knoweth but him +who receiveth it. He saith also, "He that overcometh, I will make +him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out +thereof, and I shall write upon him the name of my God and the name +of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem which descendeth from +heaven from my God, and I shall write on him also my new name." If +we wished to enlarge upon this, and were able to declare these +special gifts, with yet others that are specified in the second and +third chapters of the Apocalypse, then would it appear how far +those heavenly joys shall surmount above all the comfort that ever +came in the mind of any man living here upon earth. + +The blessed apostle St. Paul, who suffered so many perils and so +many passions, saith of himself that he hath been "in many labours, +in prisons oftener than others, in stripes above measure, at point +of death often times; of the Jews had I five times forty stripes +save one, thrice have I been beaten with rods, once was I stoned, +thrice have I been in shipwreck, a day and a night was I in the +depth of the sea; in my journeys oft have I been in peril of +floods, in peril of thieves, in peril by the Jews, in perils by the +pagans, in perils in the city, in perils in the desert, in perils +in the sea, perils by false brethren, in labour and misery, in many +nights' watch, in hunger and thirst, in many fastings, in cold and +nakedness; beside those things that are outward, my daily instant +labour, I mean my care and solicitude about all the churches," and +yet saith he more of his tribulations, which for the length I let +pass. This blessed apostle, I say, for all these tribulations that +he himself suffered in the continuance of so many years, calleth +all the tribulations of this world but light and as short as a +moment, in respect of the weighty glory that it winneth us after +this world: "This same short and momentary tribulation of ours that +is in this present time, worketh within us the weight of glory +above measure on high, we beholding not these things that we see, +but those things that we see not. For those things that we see are +but temporal things, but those things that are not seen are +eternal." + +Now to this great glory no man can come headless. Our head is +Christ, and therefore to him must we be joined, and as members of +his must we follow him, if we wish to come thither. He is our guide +to guide us thither, and he is entered in before us. And he +therefore who will enter in after, "the same way that Christ +walked, the same way must he walk." And what was the way by which +he walked into heaven? He himself showed what way it was that his +Father had provided for him, when he said to the two disciples +going toward the village of Emaus, "Knew you not that Christ must +suffer passion, and by that way enter into his kingdom?" Who can +for very shame desire to enter into the kingdom of Christ with +ease, when he himself entered not into his own without pain? + + +XXVII + +Surely, cousin, as I said before, in bearing the loss of worldly +goods, in suffering captivity, thraldom, and imprisonment, and in +the glad sustaining of worldly shame, if we would in all those +points deeply ponder the example of our Saviour himself, it would +be sufficient of itself alone to encourage every true Christian man +and woman to refuse none of all those calamities for his sake. + +So say I now for painful death also: If we could and would with due +compassion conceive in our minds a right imagination and +remembrance of Christ's bitter painful passion--of the many sore +bloody strokes that the cruel tormentors gave him with rods and +whips upon every part of his holy tender body; of the scornful +crown of sharp thorns beaten down upon his holy head, so strait and +so deep that on every part his blessed blood issued out and +streamed down; of his lovely limbs drawn and stretched out upon the +cross, to the intolerable pain of his sore-beaten veins and sinews, +feeling anew, with the cruel stretching and straining, pain far +surpassing any cramp in every part of his blessed body at once; of +the great long nails then cruelly driven with the hammer through +his holy hands and feet; of his body, in this horrible pain, lifted +up and let hang, with all its weight bearing down upon the painful +wounded places so grievously pierced with nails; and in such +torment, without pity, but not without many despites, suffered to +be pined and pained the space of more than three long hours, till +he himself willingly gave up unto his Father his holy soul; after +which yet, to show the mightiness of their malice, after his holy +soul departed, they pierced his holy heart with a sharp spear, at +which issued out the holy blood and water, whence his holy +sacraments have inestimable secret strength--if we could, I say, +remember these things, in such a way as would God that we would, I +verily suppose that the consideration of his incomparable kindness +could not fail so to inflame our key-cold hearts, and set them on +fire with his love, that we should find ourselves not only content +but also glad and desirous to suffer death for his sake who so +marvellously lovingly forbore not to sustain so far passing painful +death for ours. + +Would God that we would here--to the shame of our cold affection +toward God, in return for such fervent love and inestimable +kindness of God toward us--would God we would, I say, but consider +what hot affection many of these fleshly lovers have borne and +daily bear to those upon whom they dote. How many of them have not +stinted to jeopard their lives, and how many have willingly lost +their lives indeed, without any great kindness showed them +before--and afterward, you know, they could nothing win! But it +contented and satisfied their minds that by their death their lover +should clearly see how faithfully they loved. The delight thereof, +imprinted in their fancy, not only assuaged their pain but also, +they thought, outweighed it all. Of these affections, with the +wonderful dolorous effects following upon them, not only old +written stories, but beside that experience, I think, in every +country, Christian and heathen both, giveth us proof enough. And is +it not then a wonderful shame for us, for the dread of temporal +death, to forsake our Saviour who willingly suffered so painful +death rather than forsake us? Considering that, beside that, he +shall for our suffering so highly reward us with everlasting +wealth. Oh, if he who is content to die for his love, of whom he +looketh afterward for no reward, and yet by his death goeth from +her, might by his death be sure to come to her and ever after in +delight and pleasure to dwell with her--such a love would not stint +here to die for her twice! And what cold lovers are we then unto +God, if, rather than die for him once, we will refuse him and +forsake him forever--him who both died for us before, and hath also +provided that, if we die here for him, we shall in heaven +everlastingly both live and also reign with him! For as St. Paul +saith, "If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him." + +How many Romans, how many noble hearts of other sundry countries, +have willingly given their own lives and suffered great deadly +pains and very painful deaths for their countries, to win by their +death only the reward of worldly renown and fame! And should we, +then, shrink to suffer as much for eternal honour in heaven and +everlasting glory? The devil hath also some heretics so obstinate +that they wittingly endure painful death for vain glory. And is it +not then more than shame that Christ shall see his Catholics +forsake his faith rather than suffer the same for heaven and true +glory? + +Would God, as I many times have said, that the remembrance +of Christ's kindness in suffering his passion for us, the +consideration of hell that we shall fall in by forsaking him, and +the joyful meditation of eternal life in heaven that we shall win +with this short temporal death patiently taken for him, had so deep +a place in our breast as reason would that they should--and as, if +we would strive toward it and labour for it and pray for it, I +verily think they would. For then should they so take up our mind +and ravish it all another way, that, as a man hurt in a fray +feeleth not sometimes his wound nor yet is aware of it, until his +mind fall more thereon (so much so that sometimes another man +telleth him that he hath lost a hand before he perceive it +himself), so the mind ravished in the thinking deeply of those +other things--Christ's death, hell, and heaven--would be likely to +diminish and put away four parts of the feeling of our painful +death--either of the death or the pain. For of this am I very sure: +If we had the fifteenth part of the love for Christ that he both +had and hath for us, all the pain of this Turk's persecution could +not keep us from him, but there would be at this day as many +martyrs here in Hungary as there have been before in other +countries of old. + +And I doubt not but that, if the Turk stood even here with all his +whole army about him; and if every one of them all were ready at +hand with all the terrible torments that they could imagine, and +were setting their torments to us unless we would forsake the +faith; and if to the increase of our terror they fell all at once +in a shout, with trumpets, tabrets, and timbrels all blown up at +once, and all their guns let go therewith to make us a fearful +noise; if then, on the other hand, the ground should suddenly quake +and rive atwain, and the devils should rise out of hell and show +themselves in such ugly shape as damned wretches shall see them; +and if, with that hideous howling that those hell-hounds should +screech, they should lay hell open on every side round about our +feet, so that as we stood we should look down into that pestilent +pit and see the swarm of poor souls in the terrible torments +there--we would wax so afraid of the sight that we should scantly +remember that we saw the Turk's host. + +And in good faith, for all that, yet think I further this: If there +might then appear the great glory of God, the Trinity in his high +marvellous majesty, our Saviour in his glorious manhood sitting +on the throne, with his immaculate mother and all that glorious +company, calling us there unto them; and if our way should yet lie +through marvellous painful death before we could come at them--upon +the sight, I say, of that glory, I daresay there would be no man +who once would shrink at death, but every man would run on toward +them in all that ever he could, though there lay by the way, to +kill us for malice, both all the Turk's tormentors and all the +devils. + +And therefore, cousin, let us well consider these things, and let +us have sure hope in the help of God. And then I doubt not but what +we shall be sure that, as the prophet saith, the truth of his +promise shall so compass us with a shield that we shall never need +to fear. For either, if we trust in God well, and prepare us for +it, the Turk shall never meddle with us; or else, if he do, he +shall do us no harm but, instead of harm, inestimable good. +Wherefore should we so sore now despair of God's gracious help, +unless we were such madmen as to think that either his power or his +mercy were worn out already? For we see that so many a thousand +holy martyrs, by his holy help, suffered as much before as any man +shall be put to now. Or what excuse can we have by the tenderness +of our flesh? For we can be no more tender than were many of them, +among whom were not only men of strength, but also weak women and +children. And since the strength of them all stood in the help of +God; and since the very strongest of them all was never able to +himself to stand against all the world, and with God's help the +feeblest of them all was strong enough so to stand; let us prepare +ourselves with prayer, with our whole trust in his help, without +any trust in our own strength. Let us think on it and prepare +ourselves for it in our minds long before. Let us therein conform +our will unto his, not desiring to be brought unto the peril of +persecution (for it beseemeth a proud high mind to desire +martyrdom) but desiring help and strength of God, if he suffer us +to come to the stress--either being sought, found, and brought out +against our wills, or else being by his commandment, for the +comfort of our cure, bound to abide. + +Let us fall to fasting, to prayer, and to almsdeed in time, and +give unto God that which may be taken from us. If the devil put in +our mind the saving of our land and our goods, let us remember that +we cannot save them long. If he frighten us with exile and flying +from our country, let us remember that we be born into the broad +world, not to stick still in one place like a tree, and that +whithersoever we go, God shall go with us. If he threaten us with +captivity, let us answer him that it is better to be thrall unto a +man for a while, for the pleasure of God, than, by displeasing God, +to be perpetual thrall unto the devil. If he threaten us with +imprisonment, let us tell him that we would rather be man's +prisoner a while here in earth than, by forsaking the faith, be his +prisoners for ever in hell. If he put in our minds the terror of +the Turks, let us consider his false sleight, for this tale he +telleth us to make us forget him. But let us remember well that, in +respect of himself, the Turks are but a shadow. And all that they +can do can be but a flea-bite in comparison with the mischief that +he goeth about. The Turks are but his tormentors, for he himself +doth the deed. Our Lord saith in the Apocalypse, "The devil shall +send some of you to prison, to tempt you." He saith not that men +shall, but that the devil shall, himself. For without question the +devil's own deed it is, to bring us by his temptation, with fear +and force, into eternal damnation. And therefore saith St. Paul, +"Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood," etc. + +Thus may we see that in such persecutions it is the midday devil +himself that maketh such incursion upon us, by the men who are his +ministers, to make us fall for fear. For until we fall he can never +hurt us. And therefore saith St. James, "Stand against the devil +and he shall flee from you." For he never runneth upon a man to +seize him with his claws until he see him down on the ground, +willingly fallen himself. For his fashion is to set his servants +against us, and by them to make us fall for fear or for impatience. +And he himself in the meanwhile compasseth us, running and roaring +like a ramping lion about us, looking to see who will fall, that he +may then devour him. "Your adversary the devil," saith St. Peter, +"like a roaring lion, runneth about in circuit, seeking whom he may +devour." + +The devil it is, therefore, who, if we will fall for fear of men, +is ready to run upon us and devour us. And is it wisdom, then, to +think so much upon the Turks that we forget the devil? What a +madman would he be who, when a lion were about to devour him, would +vouchsafe to regard the biting of a little fisting cur? Therefore, +when he roareth out upon us by the threats of mortal men, let us +tell him that with our inward eye we see him well enough, and +intend to stand and fight with him, even hand to hand. If he +threaten us that we be too weak, let us tell him that our captain +Christ is with us, and that we shall fight with the strength of him +who hath vanquished him already. And let us fence with faith, and +comfort us with hope, and smite the devil in the face with the +firebrand of charity. For surely, if we be of the tender loving +mind that our Master was, and do not hate them that kill us but +pity them and pray for them, with sorrow for the peril that they +work unto themselves, then that fire of charity thrown in his face +will strike the devil suddenly so blind that he cannot see where to +fasten a stroke on us. + +When we feel ourselves too bold, let us remember our own +feebleness, and when we feel ourselves too faint, let us remember +Christ's strength. In our fear, let us remember Christ's painful +agony, that he himself would for our comfort suffer before his +passion, to the intent that no fear should make us despair. And let +us ever call for his help, such as he himself may please to send +us. And then need we never doubt but that he shall either keep us +from the painful death, or else strengthen us in it so that he +shall joyously bring us to heaven by it. And then doth he much more +for us than if he kept us from it. For God did more for poor +Lazarus, in helping him patiently to die for hunger at the rich +man's door, than if he had brought to him at the door all the rich +glutton's dinner. So, though he be gracious to a man whom he +delivereth out of painful trouble, yet doth he much more for a man +if, through right painful death, he deliver him from this wretched +world into eternal bliss. Whosoever shrinketh away from it by +forsaking his faith, and falleth in the peril of everlasting fire, +he shall be very sure to repent ere it be long after. + +For I am sure that whensoever he falleth sick next, he will wish +that he had been killed for Christ's sake before. What folly is it, +then, to flee for fear from that death which thou seest thou shalt +shortly afterward wish thou hadst died! Yea, I daresay almost every +good Christian man would very fain this day that yesterday he had +been cruelly killed for Christ's sake--even for the desire of +heaven, though there were no hell. But to fear while the pain is +coming, there is all our hindrance! But if, on the other hand, we +would remember hell's pain into which we fall while we flee from +this, then this short pain should be no hindrance at all. And yet, +if we were faithful, we should be more pricked forward by deep +consideration of the joys of heaven, of which the apostle saith, +"The passions of this time be not worthy to the glory that is to +come, which shall be showed in us." We should not, I believe, need +much more in all this matter than one text of St. Paul, if we would +consider it well. For surely, mine own good cousin, remember that +if it were possible for me and you alone to suffer as much trouble +as the whole world doth together, all that would not be worthy of +itself to bring us to the joy which we hope to have everlastingly. +And therefore, I pray you, let the consideration of that you put +out all worldly trouble out of your heart, and also pray that it +may do the same in me. + +And even thus will I, good cousin, with these words, make a sudden +end of mine whole tale, and bid you farewell. For now begin I to +feel myself somewhat weary. + +VINCENT: Forsooth, good uncle, this is a good end. And it is no +marvel if you are waxed weary. For I have this day put you to so +much labour that, save for the comfort that you yourself may take +from having bestowed your time so well, and for the comfort that I +have taken--and more shall, I trust--of your good counsel given, +else would I be very sorry to have put you to so much pain. + +But now shall our Lord reward and recompense you therefore, and +many, I trust, shall pray for you. For to the intent that the more +men may take profit of you, I purpose, uncle, as my poor wit and +learning will serve me, to record your good counsel not only in our +own language, but in the German tongue too. + +And thus, praying God to give me, and all others who shall read it, +the grace to follow your good counsel, I shall commit you to God. + +ANTHONY: Since you be minded, cousin, to bestow so much labour on +it, I would it had happed you to fetch the counsel at some wiser +man, who could have given you better. But better men may add more +things, and better also, thereto. And in the meantime, I beseech +our Lord to breathe of his Holy Spirit into the reader's breast, +who inwardly may teach him in heart. For without him little +availeth all that the mouths of the world would be able to teach in +men's ears. + +And thus, good cousin, farewell, till God bring us together again, +either here or in heaven. Amen. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Dialogue of Comfort Against Tribulation +by Thomas More + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DIALOGUE OF COMFORT *** + +***** This file should be named 17075-8.txt or 17075-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/0/7/17075/ + +Produced by David McClamrock + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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