I wonder why Tertullian was so stiffe and peremptory in that assertion of his , Remember . Tertul . lib . de Anima . cap . 23. Animam obliuionis capacem non cedam , That the soule could not forget ; holding Plato paradoxicall for affirming it could and did . For my part , I thinke Plato spake no paradox but plaine truth ; since amongst all the curious Caskets of Nature wherein the secrets of Art and Knowledge are lockt vp , there is not any so loose , so false a Cabinet as the Heart ; nor in the whole masse of Creation is there so thanklesse , so forgetting a Creature as Man . Who began early to practize his ingratitude , and that hee might iustifie the Prophets complaint which charges him with rebellion from the wombe , made himselfe perfect in the lessons of forgetfulnesse from the first day he could remember he was made Man .

It hath beene knowne that some old Persons haue liued so long that they haue outgon their reckoning , outliued the computation of their time , not being capable of so much Arithmeticke as to say how old they were . Which faile of memory is pardonable in such relikes and ruines of Nature , whose pergnant imperfections haue dispensed with their vnderstandings and giuen them now a priuiledge to dote . But how shall we excuse , or indeed how thinke charitably of Man ? who in his best state , in the freshnesse of his youth , and vigour of his intellectuall faculties reuolted from his creation . For whereas a little before , God in the reasonable Soule had aduanced his owne Colours , imprinted his owne Image , Bern . ser . Paru . 1. and for a richer testimony of his loue , Creauit quandam Trinitatem ad imaginem suam ( as Bernard hath it ) gaue him leaue to weare the sacred mystery of the Trinity as an Ensigne & badge of that high Order vnto wch his Maker intended him , in his Soules three faculties , consisting of Vnderstanding , Will , and Memory ; yet for all this , Bern . ib . Cecidit ab illa pulchrâ Trinitate in quandam contrariam & foedam Trinitatem , he willingly defaced and blurred the glorious Image of his Maker , and recoiling from his obedience , exchanged those three purer faculties wherein the blessed Trinity was at first pourtraied for a confused masse of imperfections ; his Memory became , like himselfe , perfidious and impotent ; his Knowledge darke and besotted ; his Will peruerse and most corrupt .

Who then is able to wonder enough at his disloialty , or speake his falshood in so high an Accent as it deserues ? who forfeited all his titles to Happinesse in lesse time than the readiest tongue can relate it . That when he was new from the Mint and hand of his Composer , the Articles betwixt God & him for his Allegeance not yet fully dry , himselfe scarce warme in the possession of the World then giuen him , flew off from his Allegeance , and with such speedy precipitate violence , that he left but very few houres betwixt his creation and his fall .

In the morning of the sixt day was Man made , Gen. 1.31 . and before the euening of that same day had he , vpon the Deuils short parley , surrendred vp his innocence & libertie , quite sold away his Patent , the priuiledges of his birth , and at that scornefull rate wherewith we purchase the loue of children , Gen. 3.6 . for an Apple . For this is euident out of the Text ; In the coole of the day God walked in the Garden , Vers . 8. and hauing receiued the confession of his guilt , cast him from thence , Vers . 23. making the same light a witnesse of his admission into Paradise , and his expulsion .

So that his happinesse was but like a waking dreame , which vanished before his bed-time ; or like a shadow , in the morning with him , at euening behinde him , past and forgotten .

How much more happie are other creatures in their deformities , than Man in all his perfections ! It is a kinde of comfort which deformitie hath , that it cannot impaire , but may enioy that being without the enuy of any , or danger of growing worse , so cannot wee , who are not yet at the bottome of our miserie , but still in danger of falling lower . How well were it for Man-kinde , if we might glorie in that infirmitie which beasts may doe , they cannot be sayd to haue lost what they neuer had , nor to forget what they neuer had organs to remember . We had a great dealelesse sin to answer for , could we say so too . Man once had what he now hath lost , and for default of a little memorie at the first , hath taught vs to forget wee might haue beene happie . And therefore ( saith the Psalmist ) Man being in honour had no vnderstanding , Psal . 49.12 . but was compared to the beasts that perish : Nay , it had beene well if he had not sunke below that meane comparison . In the Prophet Esay God iustifies the gratitude and knowledge of the verie beasts aboue mans : Esay 1.3 . The oxe knoweth his owner , but my people would not know , nor owne , nor remember me that made them .

Certainly , were our memories as strong as are our sins , were we as retentiue of Gods great fauours , as we are of the slightest iniuries which affront vs , there were no need of precepts to quicken our Remembrance , but rather of drowzie Opiats or Mandragora's , to dull and stupifie the braine that workes too strongly vpon the apprehension of a wrong . There would be no vse of Tutors to instruct vs in the Art of Memorie , but we should cry as Themistocles sometimes did to that famous Artist , who vndertooke to teach him that Art , Mallem obliuisci doceres . I had rather thou wouldest reade some Lectures of Obliuion to mee , that thou couldest teach me to forget , for there be many things that I remember too well .

Mans nature is a wondrous masterpeece of peruersnesse , a mettall not to bee wrought vpon by soft and easie wayes . He that thinkes by laying the obligation of a good turne vpon vs , to make vs remember him , takes the wrong course . We are not so soone apt to forget any , as those who haue done best for vs , nor is there any so certaine meanes to make vs Remember , as by doing vs some vnkindnesse or hurt . Wee write the benefits we receiue in water , they leaue no tracke behinde them longer than the verie doing ; but for our iniuries , wee print them in capitall letters , that hee that runs may reade them , — Scribunt in marmore laesi . We write them in Marble with points of Daggers for Pens , and in such Inke as Dracoes lawes were writ in , Bloud . By such fearfull Charters as these , doe too many contentious spirits amongst vs hold their wrongs .

Pardon the speech , I thinke if God had not done so much good for our soules as he hath , we should better haue remembred , beene more mindfull of him . Our Sauiour askt the Iewes , Ioh . 10.32 . for which of his good workes they ston'd him ? Certainly we expell God from our thoughts and memories for no other quarrell but this , his good deeds . Any crosse by him throwne vpon vs , awakes the slumbring faculties of our soules , Vexatio dat intellectum : like a warning-peece discharged at Sea , it makes vs stoope and come in , Psal . 85.7 . {αβγδ} . In the day of my trouble I sought vnto thee .

Our hearts are tough and stubborne as the Adamant : and as nothing but the dust of the Diamond can cut or shape it , so nothing but our owne Dust , Miserie , and Affliction can cut our hard hearts into any forme of duty or obedience to our Maker .

With what strange eyes doth man looke , that sees cleerest in an Eclipse , when God frownes vpon him ? and vnto whom the puddled troubled waters of aduersitie are the best perspectiues to shew him God ? How frowardly doe wee combine against our selues ? We shut vp our apprehensions , yet wee vnderstand ; wee winke , yet thus blind-fold we see God against our wils . We know not well how to remember him , and yet wee know worse how to forget him ; for euerie thing wee meet discouers him , and euerie creature without our enquirie doth not onely giue vs cause to Remember , but in visible demonstrations makes vs see the Creatour .

INdeed Mundus nil nisi Deus reuelatus , The whole vniuerse is nothing else but an Euidence , a Reuelation of God , Creatour . euerie creature {αβγδ} , Basil . a master in his Science , to instruct vs in the knowledge of our Maker . Those numberlesse Atomes of dust on which wee tread , bid our feet as wee walke informe our heads of his infinitie : That hee whose power did compact this great bodie of the earth , and from the aggregation of those small Atomes , made it grow into such a magnitude , is no more to bee contained in finite numbers than is that dust .

We cannot open our eyes to looke vp to Heauen , but at those casements we let in the confession of His Immensitie . When wee consider how many starres there fixt , are bigger farre than the Earth , and then againe lose our selues in the capacious extent of that Greater Bodie which containes those starres , we finde this Maxime to collect our scattered confounded apprehensions , that He who made those orbes , is farre more immense than is his worke .

Nay , euen whilest we thinke all this , yet are not able to weild our owne imaginations , to graspe , or circumscribe , or confine in any limit of Sea or Land , of Earth or Heauen , our quicke thoughts , or giue a reason why they in an instant comprehend all these , Bernard . Meditat . 1. Ex me intelligo quàm incomprehensibilis sit Deus quoniàm me ipsum intelligere non possum , quem ipse fecit . From this our owne incapacitie and inabilitie to vnderstand or know our selues , wee may learne how much more incomprehensible our Maker is . So that euerie thing is so full and pregnant in the proofe of its Creatour , that I may cry with Dauid , Psal . 139.7 . Quò aufugiam à spiritu tuo ? Whither shall I flie from Thee ? In what darke corner of the world shall I hide my vnderstanding from taking notice of Thee ? Not all the curtaines of night drawne about the Soule , not all the thicke vailes of ignorance , darker and blacker than the night , not all the blinde retreats wch a guiltie conscience hath sought , or wch is more , wisht for , to shrowd it selfe from the iustice of the Creator , are able to conceale our apprehensions so low that the confession of God shall not reach vs. Abyssus abyssum vocat , this is a theame which hath pierced as low as the region of darknesse , which one Abysse hath related to another . The power of the Creatour , is a perpetuall Tradition , which day and night successiuely deliuer , One day telleth another , Psal . 19.2 . and where the light failes , the night goes on and repeats those discoueries which day hath made . Iust as the Memorie wraps vp the speculations of the Phantasie , to deliuer them backe againe to vs , so oft as our vse requires them . The beames of the Sunne , which illuminate each part of the Horizon , stile Him the Father of light , and the moist collection of the clouds , Psal . 65.11 . which drop downe fatnesse vpon our Land , speake Him the God of plentie . And if there be any so stiffe in their misbeleefe , that will not bee informed by these still Messengers that daily deliuer Him to our thoughts , He hath louder Heraulds to proclaime Him , creatures that in a more exalted note voice the greatnes of their Creator . There is no Meteor , but in this argument , is able to be our Interpreter ; the tempestuous winds , that breake the Cedars of Lebanon , the quicke eiaculations of the lightning , which haue sometimes made the palaces of Tyrants , the tombes and funerall piles of their Owners , haue euinced deafe Atheisme , and made it acknowledge the Creatour . By such boisterous messengers as these , did He once treat with the Iewes ; for wee finde in the Gospell , that when all the miracles our Sauiour had wrought amongst them , nor his preaching vttered in such a Dialect , as neuer man spake in , could induce that stony-hearted people to beleeue his Deitie : The Elements in disdaine to see their Maker made the subiect of their scorne and tyrannie , vndertooke the cause , and like victorious Aduocates , vanquished their incredulous malice . The violent earth-quakes , that not onely affrighted the vpper world , but shooke the territories of death , leauing the graues without their Tenants , and dislodging the bodies of many Saints , which had long slept in the earth : the vnnaturall darknesse at Noone-day , the Rending of the vaile of the Temple , and aboue all , the Rhetoricke of thunder perswaded , nay extorted this confession from them , Matth . 27.54 . Of a truth this was the Sonne of GOD .

Thus you see , that as God out of stones can create sonnes to Abraham , so from euerie peece of his creation , can he raise proofes of the Creatour . For all creatures are but his tongue to speake him , and the mutest of them all is articulate , hath a peculiar language to vtter Him , Psal . 19.1 . Coeli enarrant ; Heauen declares , and Earth reports , and all that moue in the one , or on the other , conuay the praise of Him that made them . Therefore the Psalmist summons all things animate and inanimate , Psal . 145.10 . all seasons , all conditions , Angels and Men , Light and Darknesse , Dragons and Deepes , Wormes and Vegetables , to praise the Lord . Indeed , the whole Vniuerse is but Gods Lieger-Booke , wherein his Acts are written , euerie Species is a line in that booke , euerie peculiar work a character for Man , to read his Maker . And sure with much delight are the most of vs willing to read this booke , the curiositie of the stile , and varietie of the storie , inuites all eyes to run it ouer .

It is a most pleasing kinde of Geographie , in this large Map of the created world , in the Celestiall and Terrestriall Globe , to contemplate the Creatour : But when wee come to apply this studie , to bring it neerer to our selues , considering God not in his exteriour creation , but as he is our Creatour , in this application of the Obiect most faile :

Remember thy Creatour .

IT is the generall vice of Man , Thy Creatour . Bernard . he loues not to bee acquainted with himselfe , Multi multa sciunt & seipsos nesciunt , alios inspiciunt seipsos deserunt . Like an humerous Nouelist he trauels other Countries , but is not able to giue any account of his own : so censorious & criticall in surueying others , that he is still finding or making faults in them , but so indulgent to himselfe hee will not peruse his owne brest . The Elephant doth not more abhorre the representment of himselfe in the cleare streame , than Man declines all those occasions which might present himselfe vnto himselfe . Choosing rather to liue disguised in those phantastick dresses wherein flattery or selfe-loue attires him then to set his lookes by the true glasse of reason , which might make him vnderstand himselfe . Like those old Impostors the Soothsaiers , Seneca . Peritiores in alienô iecore quam suô , better read in the fate of others than their owne . Wee loue alwaies to be studying other men , when wee should first begin at home , and make our owne bosomes our chiefe Libraries .

Which is the maine cause that we are so raw , so ill studied in the knowledge of God , for ( as S. Bernard ) Quanto in cognitione mei procedo , tanto ad cognitionem Dei accedo , so much as I profit in the science of my selfe , so neere come I to the apprehension of my Maker .

And yet it is not sufficient onely to know him , vnlesse thou knowest him the right , the best way . When the Philosopher would interpret himselfe what he meant by knowing , Aristotle . he does it thus , Scire est per causam scire , the knowledge he meant reacht as farre as the discerning of the first cause : so the knowledge of God here vnderstood is not shallow or superficiall , only as he is in a generall consideration the cause of things , a Creatour at large , but in a neerer dependance , Thy Cause , thy Creatour .

True speculation doth not alwaies hunt obiects at the view , nor must it stop at the numerous effects wrought by the Creatour . This is rather to make thy selfe acquainted with the History of the Creation , than the knowledge of thy Creatour , but it must threed the whole Herd of the visible Creatures , and with a most intent vndiuerted eie trace & follow him home vnto the place elected for his aboad , thy Soule wch is his Temple . Iohn 20. And as Mary when she went in quest of her Sauiour , stopt not at the empty Monument , but searches and followes him so farre that she discouered him vnder the disguise of the Gardner , and then casting her selfe at his feet takes possession of him , with this acclamation Rabboni , which is in effect as much as Thomas his gratulation , My Lord and my God : Verse 28. So when thou hast trackt him to his retiring Chamber within thy selfe , in the humblest postures of obedience falling downe before Him . Apply Him to Thee , and deriue thy selfe from Him as the Authour of thy being , Thy Lord , Thy Creatour .

To remember , or to know God Historically , is a wilde vnusefull theory . If thou canst make no neerer approches than such , the deuils haue profited as farre in Faith as Thou : for Diaboli credunt , They beleeue the History of Christ : but such a beleefe doth no good at all . An Historicall faith which gazes on Christ , and takes Religion at a large distance , can neuer saue any .

There must be a neerer scale to bring thee to heauen , Fides iustificans , a iustifying , a sauing faith , which consists in the laying hold on Christ , and applying his merits to thee .

Was euer any fed by the report of a Feast ? or had any consultation of Physitians such good successe that it could talke the Patient into health ? The sight of meat nourisheth not me , nor can my wounds heale at the relation of other cures . Poisons and Antidotes haue all one effect vpon me , if not ministred ; and a soueraigne Plaister is as vnbeneficiall as a corsiue , if not applyed . Christ is both my Feeder , and my Meat , my Physitian , and my Remedy , if my Faith concoct him not in the Sacrament , if it apply him not in my Penitence , my wretched soule lies vnder two dangers , of a Famine , and of Death .

Woe vnto me if I know God onely by Report , my saluation will then proue as barren as my knowledge . Nor shall I enioy any thing of it beyond the name . I may heare of Heauen , but neuer must set foot within the gates . Religion and Faith are but aiery emptie sounds , if we possesse nothing of them beyond the words . The fruit of either consists in their Application . T is true that Christ is the Sauiour of the World , but that an vselesse truth to me vnlesse my Faith entitle me to Him , and by appropriating his worke be able to call him my Redeemer .

Therefore Luther saies well that Meum , Luther in Galat . 1. & 3. and Nostrum , these two words are the summe of all Christianity . In that Masterpeece of prayer , the first thing our blessed Sauiour taught his Disciples was to possesse themselues of God vnder the stile of Pater Noster , Our Father .

In these stiles of Mine and Thine , is not onely the whole world owned and diuided , but the possession of all Gods promises are deliuered and taken by those termes . And surely , if we were as apt to pleade our Titles to Heauen , as we are forward , though we wrestle with many troubles of suit to maintaine our right in Earth , we would not then so easily forfait the remembrance of God as we doe , but with Iacobs resolution hold him euen by force , making Him ours by all the ties which might confirme a iust possession .

But we are better Stewards for the world then for God : with more thrift doe we husband our Estates then our Time alotted for our Repentance ; with fuller intention doe wee pursue the businesse of Earth , than the great businesse of our Saluation . Either our thoughts are so taken vp in Temporall affaires that there is no roome for God . Wee Remember not our Creatour at all , or not so much , or not so oft , or not so early as wee ought ; In luuentute , In the daies of our Youth , Remember thy Creatour in thy Youth .

YOuth is a headstrong vnruly thing , In thy youth . rash in his apprehensions , violent in the execution of his designes , that acts first , and considers after . It is an easie combustible matter , apt to take fire at euery Traine . It is like Wax chafed and tempered by the excesse of heat raigning in the bloud to receiue the seales of damnation , and the impression of any sinne . It is like a beleagured Citie assailed on all sides , the Cinque Ports of his Senses so blockt vp with seuerall Temptations , that it is not safe for him to looke out at any of them . Oft-times euen with the Aire his Nostrils sucke vp the sauour of Death , and an harmonious witchcraft euer deludes his Eare , whispering to the abused Sense , that those Actions Ambition or Delight prompts him to , become his yeares .

In so much that the many Inuasions vnto which hee lies open and vnguarded , might iustly require this Admonition to fortifie him .

But yet it was not onely the contemplation of Youths pronenesse to doe ill which occasioned it , but as well the consideration of his abilities to serue his Maker , which moued the Wiseman thus farre before hand to be-speake Mans younger yeares for God . Trees that are newly planted beare the fairest and best relisht fruit , whereas a longer growth impaires them both in beauty and taste .

Salomon himselfe , whose Sunne-rise was so glorious , & in the morning of his reigne exprest so much maturity of iudgement in deciding Controuersies , so much deuotion to God , and receiued so much approbation from him againe , that whereas God did in a manner but soiourne with his Fathers in a Tent , he had the honour to make him his guest , and to raise a standing house , a Temple for him to dwell in ; Yet for all this in the declining of his yeares hee set as in a blacke cloud , darkly and ingloriously . For he fell by the practise of his strange Wiues , who alienated his heart not onely from the remembrance of what himselfe once was , but from his Creatour , who had aduanced his Throne aboue his Predecessours .

It doth not therefore euer follow , that the discerning of age is better than youths . It may be sometimes more stayd , but neuer so cleere : a dimme sight lookes longer , and with more intention vpon its obiect , and wee know the reason , because it can take but a slow suruay of what it sees . Yet who will denie , but that he who weares his eyes in his head , sees better than one that weares them cased vp at his girdle . A spectacle may present things bigger than they are , yet not so truely ; for any addition vnto truth is Imposture , as well as to detract from it . I may walke well enough by a candle enclosed in a Lanthorne , though I cannot reade by it so well as by a taper , whose free light is not immur'd or shadowed at all .

Vndoubtedly Adams youth , I meane his morning and first part of his birth-day , was his best : and so I doe not say is , but should be ours . Man should be then most Man , when the Ministers of Reason are most actiue , all which flag in his euening ; and therefore as they decrease and lessen , so must hee . Hee that remembers God but a little in his youth by the rule of Nature , should quite forget him when hee is old , and then wee know the doome that followes , August . Hom. 2. de Innocent . Hâc animaduersione punitur peccator , vt moriens obliuiscatur sui , qui dum viueret oblitus est Dei . Hee that hath no remembrance of God in his life time , shall be forgotten by him in death . Hee that hath expended his young dayes in ryot , shall grow old in want . He that hath beene vnfruitfull in the former part of his life , must needs be barren at his death . Nay ( saith S. Cyprian ) Fructus non inuenitur in arbore in quâ flos priùs non apparuerit . He that neuer blossom'd in youth , whose goodnesse neuer put forth into a flower , can neuer beare fruit when he is old . It is a great aduenture , for a man to let himselfe loose at One and Twentie , and thinke to reclaime , or take himselfe vp againe at Threescore : when decay hath preuailed vpon him , and age cast as many wrinckles vpon his minde , as hee weares vpon his fore-head . To haue liued till Fiftie or Three-score , is a faire kalendar of time , but vertue doth not goe by that kalendar . To be old , is not to be wise , nor doth antiquitie leaue off the vices which it nourisht from youth , but oft change them into worse . Men vse not to be superannuated in sinne , rather their impotence so deeply seduces their iudgement in their latter times , that they giue their euils leaue to prescribe vpon them , and plead custome .

I speake not this to credit youth , or diminish age , or by any rude comparison to take from riper yeeres that reuerence which their goodnesse or experience may challenge , {αβγδ} . I confesse , and must deliuer it from a more authenticke mouth , Iob 12.2 . that Amongst the ancient is wisdome . I do not here set youth as an emulous opposite to age contesting for prioritie , nor put the person of the young in balance with the old ; I onely conferre Mans younger time with his elder , his past dayes with his present : which is no more in effect , but to compare man with himselfe , and such a comparison can disparage none .

The scope of all I can say , discharges it selfe briefly vpon these two issues , to prepare youth , and to hasten age ; as a Monitor to the one , and a Remembrancer to the other .

Since ill customes grow strong vpon vs when we are weakest , I should aduise those that are the Guardians of youth , and whom the care of a family employes , to enter them betimes in the Schoole of Vertue , and season these new vessels with Religion , knowing that caskes long retaine the taste of their first liquors which were infused into them .

Youth is a fertile garden , and though the heat and ranknesse of the soile bee apt to send vp many weeds , yet if well drest in the fore-hand of the yeere , it is capable of faire plantations . Manure it therefore betimes , whilst it is Spring , and it can looke vpon the drooping Autumne at a great distance . Such a plot to worke on , as is Man in his prime , such a planter as Paul , and such a waterer as Apollos , would make it in short time {αβγδ} , fit to be reaped by Angels , 1 Cor . 3.9 . and inn'd by God . Aristotle was so precise in admitting schollers to his Morall Lectures , that he would haue them past their wardship first , thinking their greene capacities could not bee mellow enough for his Ethicks till Thirtie at least . But Christ our Master was of another minde ; Mar. 10.14 . his Sinite paruulos , &c. Suffer little ones to come vnto me , encouraged parents and superuisors of children to enroll them in his Bands , his Church , before they were Masters of so much tongue as to name Christ . What though their narrow apprehensions cannot reach the high principles of faith ? in a few yeeres , their vnderstandings eleuated with their statures , will grow vp to them , and the accession of a little time , digest those precepts which their infancie drew in , into the constant habit of a good life ; not bowing themselues into any crooked postures of errour , nor forgetting that straight forme into which their first education wrought them . Therefore it was the counsell of the wise King , Prou. 22.6 . Traine vp a childe in the way he should goe in , at the doore & entrance of his life , and when he is old he shall not depart from it . Such happie blossomes in youth , are the prognostications of a rich Autumne . And the wise Heathen vpon the same ground , vndertakes for the felicitie of that state and those subiects , who enioy the blessing to haue a religious Prince , train'd vp in goodnesse from his infancie , set ouer them ; Seneca . Nulla erit processu temporis difficilis clementia Principi , qui in annis puerilibus didicit seruire pietati . I need not ( though without flatterie I might ) giue it English , nor would I speake it in any lower vulgar language , but onely the language of thanksgiuing to Almightie God , who hath placed vpon this Throne such a King , whose religion sprang vp with him from his minoritie , and whose riper yeeres exhibit this fruit , which each day fals plentifully into the obseruation of all that are about Him , That He is not only the Defender of Religion , but morning and euening a Personall Actour in that seruice . Not only carefull to enact sawes for the continuance of the Gospell , but making Himselfe a Law and a glorious Example to his whole Court .

Lord , thou that knowest this truth , and bearest mee record , I doe not mingle this as an officious Parenthesis in my Errand , rather to adde glory to my present Master , than to Thee , Neuer , O Neuer be vnmindfull of Him who so early and so oft Remembers Thee .

I haue performed my first intent , in doing the office of a Remembrancer to the Elder , touching the Education of youth ; This last concernes themseles . And it were a shame for those that vndertake the manage of others time , to be vnthrifty in their owne ; to teach such as are submitted to their care to set out towards Heauen in the Morning , and yet themselues not follow till the Euening . I doe not preiudicate a gray-headed Penitence , though I must needs preferre the younger ; that may be True , but this more Safe . I will hope wel of the one , yet beleeue better of the other .

Winter voyages are very dangerous and vncertaine , by reason of the North-winde which is then let loose vpon the Earth , and sure hee were not wise that might take his iourney in the Summer , yet by delaying his Opportunity would expose himselfe to the inclemency of the weather or fury of the Sea . Old Age is Mans Winter , witnesse that Snow which couers his head more cold and lasting than the Russian Frosts which scarcely the raging Dog starre can thaw . Youth is his Summer , wherein the better temper of the Aire , the cleerenesse of his skie , wherein are fewer clouds , lesse stormes to hinder his prospect to Heauen , promise a more successefull voyage . Therfore whilst wee can see our way , whilst those Pilots which direct the body are able to discouer that Shoare whereunto wee bend our course , whilst our Lights are not damm'd vp , Eccles . 12.3 . nor they wax darke which looke out at our windowes , Let vs fix our Eyes , our Faith and Memory constantly both vpon the Iourney , and Him who is able to reward our trauell .

God did not place the Memory in the hinder part of the head , that wee should Remember Him last ; Nor did he place our last Day below all other Daies in our Almanacke , that wee should make it the farthest part of our Reckoning . By Christs rule our Last must be First , and as the end of euery Action is first in the intent of the Author , so should God be freshest in our Memory and our End alwaies in our sight .

How can He that preceded all Time take it well at our hands to be put backe vnto the last minute of Time ? How can He that requires the first-fruits of our Lands be content with the Latter haruest of our Liues ? How can He that expects a sacrifice of a sweet smell , but distaste our vnsauory zeale , when for a fragrant flower , wee present him with a dry stalke and withered leafe , the lees of our Age for the Vintage of our youth .

They that seeke mee early , Prou. 8.17 . shall finde mee ( saith He ) so if He bid vs come at morning our owne inexcusable neglect forfaits the appointment if wee goe not till the Euening . Let vs therefore Preuent the morning watch ; not deferre our iourney till the dusty Euening or Twilight of our Daies , but set forward whilst we are yet a few houres from the dawning of Time , and ( as the Apostle speakes ) Whilst wee can say to day . Hebr . 3.15 .

In the dayes of thy Youth .

HOw euery attribute lessens and shortens life , In the dayes . to make vs vnderstand what shadowes and dreames of happinesse take vp our Time ! Our whole Age , our Delights , and their Fruition as short as is the day , yea much shorter , since oft-times our Pleasures , our beloued sinnes , and their Repentance lodge but three Minutes asunder .

The Schoolemen distinguish the day into Temporall or Morall . By the Temporall day they vnderstand that common Measure of Time , whose compasse is 24. houres .

By the Morall day they meane our Prosperity , Eccl. 12.2 . whilst our Sunne is not darkned ; in which cleare vnclouded Time wee are most apt to forget God . 2 Chron . 12.1 . As it is said of Rehoboam , who when hee had established the kingdome , and strengthened himselfe , forsooke the law of the Lord . And then the sense of the Text is , that we not only then thinke vpon God , when want of his helpe & our owne Misery prompts vs , like Mariners at Sea , whose religion oft-times rises or falls with the waue ; who with Ionahs Shipmates pray deuoutly in a storme , but in a calme lay their deuotion to sleepe till the next Tempest awake it ; But in our happiest condition , in our abundance , before aduersitie like a blacke cloud ouershadowes vs , Whilst the euill dayes come not , Verse 1. nor the yeares wherein thou shalt say I haue no pleasure in them . Vpon which Interpretation , though proper to our Authours purpose , and warranted by the best Expositors , I dare not at the end of my iourney embarque my selfe , but insist vpon the literall meaning and Temporall acception of Dayes , taking the Dayes of our youth , for that short portion of Time set out for Mans being .

Which is best computed by Daies , & that Stylo veteri , the stile being drawne downe from our Fore-Fathers . Iacob demanded by Pharaoh how old he was , calculates himself by Dayes , and those summ'd vp in sorrowes in stead of houres , Gen. 47.9 . Few and Euill haue beene the Dayes of my Yeares . If hee whose Age doubled ours at the largest extent , numbred his Time by Dayes , wee that are be-dwarfed both in our Stature , and our Yeares so many spans below him , by what short measure shall wee take our life ? Dayes are too large a size . For when wee thinke that halfe our Timeis Night , which wee sleepe out ; and of the other part which wee call Day , much is laid out vpon Ceremony , & the circumstance of Life , our Dressings , our Meales , our Visits , our recreations ; I say , when wee consider this , wee shall confesse that Minimum est quod viuitur ; nay lower yet , Punctum est quod viuitur , Seneca . & adhuc puncto minus . Life hath the least share in our Dayes , the Dimensions of it appearing no bigger than one sand in the Houre-glasse to the whole houre , or lesse than a small point to a Line .

Wherefore then doth improuident Man sooth himselfe with the imagination of many yeares to come , when his whole Time is comprehended in a few Dayes ? nay begun and finisht in one Day , Factum est Mane , Biel . Lect . 70. de Missa . & véspere vnus Dies , sc . Mane Iuuentutis , & vespere Senectutis . Genes . 1.5 . As at first the Euening and Morning made the Naturall Day , so Youths morning , and Ages euening make but one Day of Life .

What haste then ought wee to make in our Conuersion ? when our whole terme is bounded by such narrow Confines , and the flying Minutes in their sly Motion beguile vs so fast , that wee are not sensible of times stealth , or our owne declining to the Euening . Why doe wee so adiorne religious duties , sending away those better thoughts which bring God neere vnto vs , Acts 24.26 . as Foelix did Paul , I will heare Thee some other Time , when wee are not Owners of so poore an Election , as to promise another peece of Time , which may bring those thoughts and vs together againe ? August . serm . 16. de verb . Dom . Indulgentiam Deus promisit , sed Crastinum non promisit . He that hath promised thee a Pardon this Day for thy Sin , hath not promised thee a Reprieue for thy Life one day longer . And therefore if thou dismisse Christ when he knocks for entrance at thy heart , Prou. 3.21 . with a Vade & cras reuertere , Goe and come againe to mee to morrow , thou forgettest Christs summons in the Gospell , Luc . 12.20 . Stulte hâc nocte , Foole thou hast no assurance of thy soule this night , nay past this minute : and therefore Now collect thy selfe , delay not beyond this instant . Ecce nunc tempus acceptabile : 2 Cor . 6.2 . Now is the accepted time .

Remember Now thy Creatour .

OF all the seuerall distributions of Time , Now . there is none that we can lay claime to but the Present , Aug. Confess . 11. Temp{us} praeteritum iam non est , tempus futurum nondùm est , praesens autem solùm temp{us} est , The past time is not now , the future is not yet , onely the present may be called a time , and that only called ours . Arist . Phys . lib . 4. Therefore Aristotle deliuered it in a blunt , but true phrase , Nihil habemus de tempore nisi Nunc ; Wee haue no interest in time beyond this present Now . And that so short , that like a flash of lightning , it leapes out and dies at once . That which I call Now , lasts no longer than the verie syllable , which deliuers it to your eare , but changes in the mid-way , past and gone in that breath which named it .

Thus doth Time incessantly feed on vs : it eats vpon our dayes , digesting them so fast and greedily , that our Future , which was a minute since before vs , not yet arriued , is in the twinckling of an eye behinde vs , lost and swallowed vp in the wide gulph of time Past . O wretched condition of Man-kinde , that stands accountant vnto God , for euerie sand that moues & passes thorow Times Houre-glasse , yet scarse is allowed so much of time as to number his receipts , and to compute his charge , which powres and empties it selfe so fast vpon him , that his Present is suddenly mingled with the Past , and all the seuerall pensions and contributions , which out of Times Exchequer are payed to life , no sooner grow due , but they become Arrerage .

In which fickle momentany flights , what securitie haue wee in life ? How shall wee make vp our Audit with God , for these summes so hastily throwne vpon vs , but by laying hold vpon this instant , Now ? Nay , how shall wee possesse our selues of that Now of time , which vanishes as it appeares , but by preuenting it , by anticipating the day before it climbe too farre out of our reach , and our Sunne in a precipitate descent haste towards the West ?

T is hard for a routed Armie to re-enforce it selfe in the end of the day , or but to make an orderly retreit ; and it is as hard for man in his old age , when an Armie of infirmities mustered against him , make the ministers of Reason disband , and euerie disease hath him vpon the execution ; when the approches of death affright his dayes , by looking in at his windowes , and by knocking at his doore , disturbe his rest , making his nights sleepelesse , to deliuer vp a cleere vndisturbed account to God , or to retire without confusion and disorder , vnto the dust from whence he was taken .

It is not a perfect will , when the Testator is not in perfect memorie . I would bee loth to make my last Audit with God , in worse state of minde than my Audit with the world ; the not disposing of my goods , being but a trifle , to the not disposing of my soule . My goods , if I haue any , will find an owner , though I appoint none , when I am gone , a brother , or a friend , or a childe ; but if on such loose vnsettled termes I part with my soule , who shall owne it ? He that by the right of creation hath best title to it , and made it mine , will not receiue it backe from me , vnlesse by my assignement , vnlesse my prayers and my penitence make it a Legacie fit for Him . It doth concerne me therefore to bequeath it to Him betimes , whilst I am in my right minde and perfect vnderstanding ; as S. Augustine aduises , Age poenitentiam dum sanuses : August . hom . 41. before my weake age confine mee to my chamber , or sicknesse lay mee on my death-bed . But then to leaue off sinning , when I am readie to leaue life , argues , I would yet sinne longer if I might liue ; That it is necessitie , not my owne will diuorces mee and my vices . Such a bed-rid recantation as this is scarse worth the name of a Repentance . For I cannot so properly be said to repent mee of my sinnes , rather my sinnes repent themselues of mee ; nor doe I discharge them , but more truely they discharge me , casting me off as an vnusefull minister , vnable and vnfit now to serue them any longer .

S. Ambros . lib . de Poenitent . Ambrose pronounces a woe vpon them , who put a period to their licentious courses and life together : Vae illis qui tunc habuerunt terminum luxuriae quandò vitae . S. August . Augustine goes neerer , Periculosum est & interitui vicinum ad mortem protrahere poenitentiae remedium : A repentance protracted and delayed to the last houre of life , borders vpon destruction . But yet though it be so dangerous , so neere the brinke , it is not desperate . God forbid that I or any should miscensure the late conuersion of a dying sinner . Christs pardon to that condemned , nay executed man vpon the Crosse , shewes that his mercie is not limited by any circumstance of time . Farre therefore be it from vs to lay such a stumbling block before the feet of those that are now falling into earth , as to imagine the penitence of Him that hath waxed old in his iniquities ( as the Prophets phrase is ) should not be acceptable to God . Though young-begun deuotion be more durable , an elder is not vnwelcome . God accepts a late conuersion better than none ; for , Ambros . l. 3. de Virgin . Omnis aetas habilis Deo .

Whilest wee haue any interest in life , we need not despaire ; wee are not past the acceptable time , or the day of our saluation . Gerson . Tempus opportunum est tempus vitae mortalis in quâ est opportunum tempus remissionis . Any part or moment of life is capable of Gods mercie in the remission of sinnes . T is true that after death Gods Court of Audience is shut vp , all prayers returne emptie , and repentance is ineffectuall : but the last part of age , though it be the picture of death , t is not the originall . Though it bee the Vigill and Eue of our last Festiuall , Reuel . 14.13 . wherein wee shall finally rest from all our labours , yet it is not death . There is yet a Nunc , a Now ; there is a sparke of Life , rak't vp in the embers of Age , able to kindle hopes as high as our Saluation . Psal . 148. Therefore the Psalmist inuites the Children of the Winter Snow and Haile , as well as Fire , old Men as well as Children , to praise God .

There are none that can so Adaequatè , so truly , so punctually be said to possesse this Now , as old Men . For they haue but barely this present Minute , so much of Time , and no more . T is true that Youth hath no Assurance of Life past this very Instant , but Age hath no Hope beyond it . Vitae summa breuis , Horat . Spem vetat inchoare longam . Yet all I enforce from hence is not to terrifie , but to hasten them , as deuout Ananias did Paul to his Conuersion , Acts 22.16 . {αβγδ} ; Now why tarriest thou ? arise , and wash away thy sinne . That they may employ this short allowance of Time to the best Aduantage ; that since they Now haue so little Day to trauell by , they gird vp their Loines , and hold that pace which Eliah did before the Chariot of his Enemy Ahab , Runne , not creepe , being as swift and instant in their preparation , as death is on them . Lest the consideration of themselues , that they are now like trees loosened at the root , falling into earth , and as they Now fall , so must they for euer lie , whether to the right hand , or to the left , to Mercie or to Iudgement ; or else the consideration of that great iourney which they are now going , from Earth to Heauen , and their feare of being benighted ere they get thither , hauing so small a time to iourney in , perplex and dissettle their thoughts , making them amazedly cry out , as they did in the Prophet , Woe vnto vs , Ierem . 6.4 . for the day declineth , and the shadowes of the euening are stretched out .

The Conclusion and Summe of all is ; Conclusion . that wee beseech Almightie God to feather vs with the wings of the morning , that wee may begin our flight to him betimes ; that wee may Remember him in the dayes of our youth . But if like sluggards wee haue outslept our Morning , yet that He will vouchsafe vs his grace , to bring vs to Him in the After-noone or Euening of our life : That Hee will entertaine vs into his Vineyard in his owne time , whether it bee at the Sixth , or Ninth , or Eleuenth Houre . I know the morning is the best to enter vpon this taske ; And to hide our selues out of the way , or out of a presumption to deferre it to the latter part of the day , is Sinne and Danger .

But yet if wee can stand in Christs way , to bee called by Him at any of his houres , wee need not feare that wee are tardy , or doubt our recompence . They that were hired at the Eleuenth and last houre , Matth . 20.9 . had their penny as well as the earliest that had borne the heat of the day . And Nicodemus had his accesse to Christ by night . Iohn 3.2 .

What then though our Lifes short Taper be wasted to a snuffe , and almost burnt out : if that snuffe of our dying candle will but last so long , Ecclus . 17.27 . that wee may see to praise God before our death ; if it will but serue to light vs fairely towards our graues , wee shall not then feare to goe vnto our last beds in the darke . Our Bodies will sleepe in their dust without a candle , and for our Soules they will need none , being translated into that region of light , Reuel . 22.5 . where there is no need of a candle , but the brightnesse of Gods face holds on the day euerlastingly , not suffering the night to riuall it any longer . Where their spring neuer droopes , nor their Youth declines : where the presence of their Creatour , whom they Now contemplate , perpetuates that Now vnto them , fixing it to an Eternall Consistence of Time , which cannot alter , or get beyond them , and makes their Fruition as Immortall as their Ioyes .

AMEN .