The.xii. Chapter. The firste kynde of the foure temptacions

FYrste he sayeth: Non timebis a timore noc[…]urno. Thou shalt not be afrayd of the feare of ye nighte. By the nyghte is there in scripture sometyme vnderstand trybulacion as appeareth in the.xxxiiii. Chapter of Iob. Nouit […]nim deus opera […]orum, id […]irco induce[…] nocrem. God hath knowē the workes of them, & therefore shall he bring nighte vpon them, that is to witte tribulacion for theyr wyckednes: and well you wote, that the night is of the nature of it selfe verye discumfortable and full of feare. And therefore by the nightes feare, here I vnderstande the tribulacion by whych the deuill thorowe the sufferaunce of god, eyther by hym selfe or other that are hys instrumentes, tempteth good folke to impacience as he did Iob. But he that as the prophet sayth, dwelleth and continueth faythfully in the hope of goddes helpe, shall so be becleped in on euerye syde wyth the shielde or pauice of god, that he shal haue no nede to be afrayde of such tribulacion that is here called the nightes feare. And it maye be also conuenientlye called the nightes feare for two causes. The one[…] for that many times ye cause of hys trybulacyō is vnto him that suffereth it, darke and vnknowen, and therin varyeth it, and dyffereth from that trybulacion by whych the deuill tempteth a man wyth open fyght and assaulte for a knowen good thing frō which he would withdrawe him or for some knowen euill thing into which he would driue him by force of such persecuciō. An other cause for which it is called ye nightes feare, may be for yt ye night is so farre out of courage, & naturallye so casteth folke in feare, yt of euery thing wherof they perceiue any maner dreade, their fantasy doubleth theyr feare, and maketh them often wene that it were muche worse then in dede it is. The Phrophet sayth in the psalter. Posuisti tenebras & facta est no[…], in illa pertransibunt omnes besti[…] siluarum. Catuli leonum rugientes querentes a deo escam sibi Thou haste good lord set the darknes, and made was the night, and in the nighte walke al the beastes of the wood. The whelpes of the Lyons roaring and calling vnto GDO for theyr meate.

Nowe though that the Lyons whelpes walke aboute roaring in ye night and seke for theyr pray, yet can they not geat such meate as they woulde alway, but muste holde them selfe content wyth such as God suffereth to fall in theyr waye. And thoughe they be not ware therof, yet of god they aske it, and of hym they haue it. And thys maye be coumforte to al good men in theyr night feare, in theyr darke tribulacion: that thoughe they fall into the clawes or the tee[…]he of those Lyons whelpes, yet shall all that they can dooe not passe beyonde the bodye, which is but as the garmente of the soule. For the soule it selfe whiche is the substance of the mā, is so suerly fensed in rounde aboute wyth the shield or pauice of God, that as longe as he wyl abyde faythfully in adiutorio altissimi, in the hope of Godes helpe, the Lyons whelpes shall not be able to hurte it. For the greate Lyon hym selfe coulde neuer be suffered to goe farther in the trybulacion of Iob, than God from tyme to tyme gaue hym leaue. And therfore the depe darkenes of the midnight maketh men y• stande out of fayth and out of good hope in God, to be in theyr tribulacion farre in the greater feare for lacke of the light of fayth wherby they might perceiue that the vttermoste of theyr peryl is a farre lesse thing than they take it for, but we be so wonte to set so much by oure body whiche we see and fele, and in the feding and fos[…]ring wherof we set our whole delight and our welth, and so litle, alas, and so seld we thinke vpon our soule because we cannot see that, but by spirituall vnderstanding, & moste specially by the iye of our faith (in the meditaciō wherof, we bestowe, god wote, litle tyme) that the losse of our body we take for a sorer thyng and a greater tribulacion a greate deale, than we doe the losse of our soule. And wheras our sauiour biddeth vs that we should not feare these lyons whelpes that can but kill our bodies, and whē that is done haue no far […]her thing in their power wherwith they can dooe vs harme, but biddeth vs stande in dreade of him, whiche when he hath s[…]aine the body, is able thā beside to cast the soule into euerlasting fyer: we be so blinde in the darke nighte of tribulacion, for the lacke of full and fast belief of goddes worde, that whereas in the daye of prosperitie we very litle feare god for oure soule, oure nyghtes feare of aduersitie maketh vs verye sore to feare the Lion & his whelpes for dreade of losse of our body. And wheras. S. Paul in sūdry places sheweth vs that our body is but as the garment of the soule, yet the faintnes of our fayth to the Scripture of god maketh vs with the nightes feare of tribulacion more to dreade, not onely the losse of our body[…] thā of our soule: that is to witte, of the clothing thā of the substaūce that is clothed therewith, but also of the verye outwarde goodes that serue for the clothing of the body, and much more foolishe are we in that darke nightes feare, than were he that coulde forgeat the sauing of hys bodye, for feare of losing his olde rayne beaten cloke that is but the couering of his gown or his coate. Now consider farther yet, that the Prophete in the forecemembred vearses, sayeth not that in the night walk[…] onely the Lions whelpes, but also, Omnes besties siluarum all the beastes of the wood. Nowe wote you well, that if a man walke thorowe the wood in the nighte, many thynges maye make him afrayde, of which in the daye he woulde not be afrayde of a whit: for in the nyghte euery bushe (to him that waxeth once afrayde) semeth a thefe. I remember that when I was a younge man, I was once in the war[…]e with the king: than my master (God assoile his soule) and we were camped within the Turkes grounde, many a myle beyonde Belgrade, whiche woulde God were oures nowe as well as it was than: but so happed it, that in oure campe aboute midnighte, there sodaynlye rose a rumoure and a skrye that the Turkes whole armye was secretely stealing vpon vs, wherwith oure whole host was warned to arme them in haste, and sette themselfe in aray to fighte, and than were scurars of ours that brought these sodayne tidinges, examyned more laisorly by the counsayle, what suretye or what likelyhode they had perceyued therein: of whom one shewed that by the glimuring of the moone he had espyed and perceiued and sene them hymselfe, comming on softely and soberly in a longe raunge all in a good ordre, not one farther foorth than the other in the forefrunte, but as euen as the threde, and in bredth farther than he coulde see in length. Hys fellowes beyng examined, saied that he was somewhat pricked foorth beefore them, and came so fast backe to tel it thē, yt they thought it rather time to make haste and geue warning to the campe, than to goe nerer vnto them, for they were not so farre of, but that they had yet themselfe somewhat an vnperfecte syghte of them too: thus stoode we wat […]hyng all the remnaunte of the nyghte, euermore harkenyng when we shoulde heare them come with hushte, stande styll, me thynke I heare a tramplyng, so that at laste many of vs thoughte we heard them oure selfe also. But when the daye was sprongen, and that we sawe no manne, oute was oure scurer sente againe, and some of oure capitaines with him to shewe them where aboute the place was, in whiche he perceiued them: and when they came thyther, they found that great fearefull armye of the Turkes so soberlye commyng on, turned (God bethanked) into a fayre longe hedge, standyng euen stone styll. And thus fareth it in the nyghtes feare of trybulacyon, in whiche, the deuill to beare down and ouerwhelme with dreade the faythfull hope that we shoulde haue in GOD, casteth in oure imaginacion muche more feare than cause. For whyle there walke in the nighte, not onely the Lyons whelpes, but ouer that, all the beastes of the wood, beside the beastes that we heare roarīg in the darke nighte of tribulacion, and feare it for a Lyon, we sometyme fynde well afterwarde in the daye, that it was no Lyon at al, but a sely rude roaring asse: & the thyng yt on the sea semeth sumtime a rocke, is in dede nothing els but a mist: howbeit, as ye Prophet saith: He that faythfully dwelleth in the hope of gods helpe, the pauice of hys trouth shal so fence hym in roūd about, that bee it an asse colte, or a Lions whelpe, a rocke of stone or a mist. Non tim[…]it a timore nocturno, the nightes feare therof shal he nothyng nede to dreade at all.