The.xv. Chapter. This kind of tribulacion trieth vvhat mind men haue to theyr goodes, vvhich they that are vvy

ME thinketh Cosin that this persecucion shal not onelye as I sayde beefore[…] trye mennes heartes when it cometh, & make them know their owne affeccions, whither they haue a corrupt gredy couetous mind or not: but also the very fame and expectacion therof may teache them this lesson ere euer the thing fall vpon them it selfe to theyr no little fruite, if they haue the witte and the grace to take it in tyme whyle they maye. For nowe maye they find sure places to lay their treasures in, so that al the Turkes armie shal neuer fynde it out.

Vincent. Mary vncle that way they will I warrant you not forgeat, as neare as their wittes wil serue thē. But yet haue I knowen some that haue ere this, thought that they had hidde their money safe ynough, digging ful diepe in the grounde, and haue missed it yet when they came agayne, and haue founde it digged oute and caried away to theyr handes.

An[…]ony. Naye, fro theyr handes I wene you woulde say: and it was no meruayle. For some suche haue I knowen too[…] but they haue hyd theyr goodes foolishly, in such place as they were well warned before that they shoulde not, and that were they warned by hym that they wel knewe for suche one, as wist wel inough what would come theron.

Vincent. Than were they more than madde. But did he tell them too where they should haue hydde it to haue it sure?

☞Anthony. Ye by S. Mary did he. For els had he told them but halfe a tale, but he tolde them a whole tale, byddyng them that they shoulde in no wise hyde theyr […]reasure in the ground: & he shewed thē a good cause, for there theues vse to digge it out, and steale it away.

Vincent. Why, where shoulde they hyde it than sayde he? For theues may happe to fynd it oute in any place.

Anthony. Forsothe he counsayled them to hyde theyr treasure in heauen, and there laye it vp, for there it shal lye safe. For thither he sayde there can no thefe come tyll he haue left hys thefte and be waxen a true man fyrst. And he that gaue this counsayle, wiste what he sayde well yonough. For it was oure Sauioure hymselfe, whiche in the syxth Chapter of Saincte Mathewe, sayeth: Nolite thezaurizare v obis thezauros in terra v bi erugo et tinea demolitur et v bi fures effodiunt et furantur. Thesaurizate vobis thesauros in celo, vbi ne que erugo neque tinea demolitur, et v bi fures non effodiunt nec furantur: vbi enim est thesaurus tuu[…], ibi est et cor tuum. Hoorde not vp for you treasures in earth where the […]ust and the mothes fret it oute, and where theues dygge it oute and steale it away. But hoorde vp your treasures in heauen, where […]eyther the ruste nor the mothe frette them oute, and where theues digge thē not out nor steale them away. For where as is thy treasure, there is thy hert too. If we would wel consider these wordes of our Sauiour Christ, we should as me thinke, nede no more coūsel at al, nor no more comfort neither, concerning the losse of our temporal substaunce in thys Turkes persecucion for ye fayth. For here our lord in these wordes teacheth vs where we may lay vp our substaunce safe before the persecucion come. If we putte it into the poore mens bosomes, there shall it lye safe. For who woulde goe searche a beggars bagge for moneye, if we deliuer it to the poore for Chrystes sake? we deliuer it vnto Christe himselfe: and than what persecutour can there bee so strong, as to take it out of hys hande.

☞Vincent. These thinges are vncle vndoubtedly so true, that no man may with woordes wrestle therwith, but yet euer there hangeth in a mans heart a lothenes to lacke a liuing.

Anthony. There doeth in dede, in theyrs that eyther neuer, or but seldom heare any good coūsel there against. And when they heare it, hearken it but as they would an ydle tale, rather for a pastime or for maner sake, thā for any substancial entēt or purpose, to folow good aduertisement, and take any frute therby. But verely, if we would not onely laye our eare, but also our hearte therto, & considre yt the saying of our sauiour Christe is not a Poetes fable, nor an harpers song, but the verye holy woord of almighty god himselfe, we would, & wel we might be full sore ashamed in our self, & ful sory to. when we felt in our affeccion those wordes to haue in our heart[…]s no more strength and wayght but that we remayn still of thesame dull mynde, as we did before we hearde them.

This maner of ours in whose breastes the great good counsaile of God no better setleth nor taketh no better roote, may wel declare vs, that the thornes & the bryers and brambles of our worldly substaunce growe so thicke, & spring vp so high in the ground of our hertes, that they strangle as the gospell sayeth, the woorde of God that was sowen therein. And therfore is god very good lord vnto vs, when he causeth like a good husband man his folke to come afield, (for the persecutors be his folke to this purpose) and with their hookes & their stocking yrons, grubbe vp these wicked wedes & busshes of our earthly substance, & cary them quite awaye from vs that the woorde of God sowen in oure heartes, may haue rowme therin, and a glad rounde aboute for the warmesome of grace to come to it and make it growe. For surelye these woordes of our Sauiour shal we finde full true. Vbi thesaurus tuus, ibi est et cortuum Where as thy treasure is there is also thy heart. If we lay vp our treasure in earth, in earth shalbe our herts. Yf we send our treasure into heauen, in heauen shall we haue our hertes. And surely the greatest coumfort that any man maye haue in this tribulacion, is to haue his heart in heauē. If thy heart wer in dede out of this world, and in heauen, al the kyndes of tormente that al this world could deuise, could put thē to no pain here. Let vs thē send our hertes hēce thither, in such maner as we may by sending thither our worldly substaunce hence, please god. And let vs neuer doubte it, but we shal (that once done) finde our heartes so conuersant in heauen, with the glad consideraciō of our folowing the gracious counsayle of Chri[…]t, that the coumfort of his holy spirite inspired vs therfore, shal mitigate, minishe asswage, & in a maner quenche the great furious feruour of the payn that we shal happe to haue by his louing sufferaunce for our farther merite in our tribulaciō. And therfore, like as if we saw that we should be within a while drieuen out of this land and fayn to flee into another, we would wene that man wer mad, whiche would not be content to forbeare his goodes here for the while, and sende them into that lande before him, where he sawe that he shoulde liue al the remnaunt of his life. So maye we verely thinke yet oure selfe muche more madde (seeyng that we be sure it can not be long ere we shalbe sent spyte of our teeth oute of this world) if the feare of a litle lacke, or the loue to see our goodes here about vs, and the lothnes to part from them for this litle while, which we may kepe thē here, shalbe able to let vs from that sure sendyng them before vs into the tother worlde, in which wee may be sure to liue wealthely with them, if we sende them thither, or els shortly leaue them here behinde vs, and thā stād in great ieopardy, there to liue wretches for euer.

Vincent. In good faythe vncle, me thinke yt concerning the losse of these outward thinges, these cōsideracions are so sufficiēt comfortes, y• for my own part saue onely grace well to remembre thē, I woulde me thinke desyre no more.