The first Chapter. VVhither a man should cast in hys mynde and appoynt in his heart before, that if he vvere t

Vincent. WEl fare your heart good vncle for this good coū saile of yours, for surely me thinketh that thys is maruelouse good: but yet heard I once a right cōning & a very good mā saye, yt it were great foly, & very perylous to, that a man should thinke vpō ani such thing, or imagine any such case in his mynd for feare of double peril yt may folow therupō: for eyther shal he be lykely to aūswere himself to ye case put by himself, yt he wil rather suffre any paineful death thā forsake hys faith, and by that bolde appointmēt, should he fal in the fault of. S. Peter, y• of ouersighte made a proude promyse, & soone had a foule fal, or els were he likely to thinke yt rather thā abide ye payn, he would forsake god in dede, and by that mind should he synne deadly thorow his own foly, wheras he nedeth not as he y• shal peraduenture neuer come in y• perel, to be put therunto, & yt therfore it were most wisedō neuer to thinke vpō any suche maner case

☞Antony. I beleue well Cosin yt you haue heard some mā y• would so say: for I can shewe almost as much as that, left of a good man and a greate solemne doctor in writing: but yet Cosin, although I should hap to fynde one or two moe, as good men, and as wel learned too, that would both twayne say & write ye same, yet would I not feare for my part to coūsayle my frend to ye contrary. For Cosin, if his mind answere him, as. S. Peter answered Christ, that he wil rather die, thā forsake him, though he say therin more vnto himselfe, than he should be paraduenture able to make good, if it came to ye poīt, yet perceiue I not yt he doth in yt thought, any deadly displeasure vnto god nor. S. Peter, […]hough he said more thā he coulde perfourme, yet in his so saying offended not god greatly neither: but his o[…]fence was, whē he did not after so wel as he said before. But now may this mā be lykely neuer to fal in ye per[…]l of breakīg that appointment, si[…]h of some.x. M. yt so shal examyn thēself, neuer one shal fal in ye perel, & yet to haue that good purpose al their lyfe, semeth me no more harme ye while, thā a poore begger yt hath neuer a pēny, to thinke yt if he had great substaūce, he would geue great almose for gods sake. But now is al ye perel, if the mā answere himself yt he would in such case rather forsake the faith of Christ wt his mouth, & kepe it stil in his heart, thā for ye cōfessing of it, to endure a paynful death: for by this mind falleth he in deadly sinne, which while he neuer cometh in ye case in dede if he neuer had put him selfe ye case he neuer had fal in: but in good fayth me thinketh yt he which vpō ye case put vnto himself by himself, wyl make himself yt answere, hath ye habite of faith so faint & so cold yt to ye better knowledge of himself, & of his necessitie, to pray for more strēgth of grace, he had nede to haue the questiō put him, either bi himself, or some other mā. Besides this, to coūsayle a mā neuer to thinke on ye case, is in my mynd as much reason, as ye medicine yt I haue heard taughte one for ye tooth ache to goe thrise about a churche yard, & neuer thinke vpō a foxe taile: for if ye coūsaile be not geuē thē, it cannot serue thē, & if it be geuē thē, it must put y• point of ye matter in their minde, which by & by to reiect, & thinke therin neither one thīg or other, is a thing yt may be sooner bidden then obeied. I wene also that very fewe men can escape it but that thoughe they woulde neuer thynke thereon by them selfe, but that yet in one place or other where they shall happe to come in companye, they shall haue the question by aduenture so proponed and putte forth, that like as while he heareth one talkyng to him, he may wel winke if he wil, but he cānot make himselfe slepe: so shal he whether he wil or no thinke one thing or other therin. Finally, whē Christ spake so often & so playne of the matter that euerye man shoulde vpon payne of damnacion, openly confesse hys fayth if men toke hym, and by dreade of death would driue hym to the contrary, it semeth me in a maner implied therein that we be bound cōdicionally, to haue euermore that mynde actually, sometyme & euermore habitually: that if the case so shoulde fal, than with goddes helpe, so we woulde, and thus much thinketh me necessary for euery man and woman, to be alwaye of thys mynde, and often to thinke thereupon: and where thei finde in the thynkyng theron, theyr heartes agryce, and shrinke in the remembraunce of the payne […]hat their imaginaciō representeth to the minde, than must they call to mind and remember the great payne & torment that Christ suffred for them, and hartely praye for grace, that if the case shoulde so fall, god shoulde geue them strength to stande: and thus with exercise of suche medytacion, though men shoulde neuer stande full out of feare of fallyng, yet muste they perseuer in good hope, & in full purpose of standing, and thys semeth me Cosin so farforth the mynde, that euery christen man and woman must nedes haue that, me thinketh that euery Curate should oftē coūsaile al his parishions, and euery man & woman, their seruauntes, and their children euen beeginning in theyr tender youth, to know this point, and to thinke theron, & litle & litle fro theyr very childhode to accustome them dulcely and pleasaūtly in the meditacion therof, wherby the goodnes of GOD, shal not fayle so to aspyre the grace of his holy spirite into thei[…] heartes in reward of that ve[…]teous diligence, that thorow such actual meditacion, he shal confirme them in such a sur[…] habite of spiritual faithful strength, that all the deuilles in hell with all the wrestlyng that they can make, shal neuer be able to wrest it out of […]heir hearte.

☞Vincent. By my trouth vncle, me thinketh you saye very well.

Antony. I say surely Cosin as I thinke, and yet all this haue I sayde concerning them that dwell in such places as thei be neuer like in their liues to come in the daunger to be put to the proofe: howbeit many a man may wene himself farther fro, that yet may fortune by some one chaunce or other to fall in the case, that either for the trouth of fayth, or for the trouth of iustice, which goe almost alike, he may fal in the case. But now be you and I Cosin, and all our frendes here, farre in an other poynt. For we be so likely to fall in the experience thereof so sone, that it had been more time for vs (al other thinges set asyde) to haue deuised vpon thys matter, and formely to haue setled our self vpon a stedfas[…] poynt long agoe, than to begyn to common and counsayle vpon it nowe.

☞Vincent. In God fayth vncle, you saye therein verye trouth, and would God it had come soner in my mynd, but better is yet late, then neuer. And I trust God shal yet geue vs respyte and tyme, whereof vncle that we lese no parte, I pray you procede nowe with your good counsayle therin.

☞Anthony. Uery gladly Cosin, shall I nowe goe furth in the fourth temptacion, which onely remayneth to be […]reated of, and properlye pertayneth whole vnto this present purpose.