Meditations Upon the Misery of Mankind 2, Title page – Dedication 2
HERACLITVS: OR MEDITATIONS VPONUPON THE vanity & miſery of humane life, firſt written in French by that excellent Scholler & admirable divine Peter Du Moulin Miniſter of the ſacred word in the reformed Church of Paris:
And tranſlated into Engliſh by R. S. Gentleman.
Printed at Oxford by Ioſeph Barnes. 1609.
TO HIS MVCH HONORED FATHER: S. F. S.
SIR,
The naturalreſpect, that an obſeruāt ſonne oweth to a worthy and carefull father, obligeth me to meditate on ſome thing that may deſerue your pervſall, and anſwere part of your expectation: hauing therefore taſted the fruites of many mens invē tions, I could not finde any ſort ſo holeſome for a man of your yeares, nor ſo pleaſing to mine ovvne reliſh as this enſuing treatiſe of that worthy Gentleman and admirable divine Peter Du Moulin, vvho by his tongue, and pen doth daily win many ſouls to God, which otherwiſe would by the ſubtill deluſion of Sathan, and the perſuaſiue diſcourſes of vvicked Maſſeprieſts, and ſin-plotting Ieſuits run headlong to their owne deſtruction. I know your expence in my breeding may iuſtlie require as great a worke as this immediatly frō my ſelfe, which I ſhoulde bee as willing to performe, as you to command, were it not that I looke backe into this age as ful of envious detractiōs, & idle cenſures, as voide of all true iudgement, and vertue. Moreover this matter being a diuine morality, or rather a morall diuinity woulde ſeeme too graue for my youth, and too high for my knowledge. Wherefore I am the rather deſirous to make vſe of this Tranſlatiō, becauſe it will ſerue not only as a buckler againſt thoſe criticall ſhafts, which ſome muſty quiuer might ſend out againſt me, but alſo as a comfort & reſtoratiue for your declining age. I hauehave preſumed to dedicate it to your fatherly cenſure, as being yet vnable to apprehend any other thing that may either adde perfection to it ſelfe, or deſervedlie attract any favor frō you: humbling craving that the errours of this Tranſlation may not any way impeach your good opiniō but as you hauehave formerly▪ ſo now & ever after you will bind me to reſt
Your moſt obſervant and reſpectiue ſonne R. S.
THE AVTHORS EPISTLE Dedicatory to the Lady ANN of Rohan, Siſter to the Duke of Rohan.
MADAM,
This book which warreth againſt the vanitie of humane life, is deſeruedlie due vntounto your Ladyſhip, who hath truly vanquiſhed it in your ſelfe. I encounter it with words, but you ouercome it by actions. And actions doe ſo far ſurpaſſe words, as health excelleth a medicine, and as victory is more honorable then a combat. Your name only in the beginning of my booke ſhall ſerue for a …ument: for if this little worke be a true portraiture of vices, your life is a perfect patterne of oppoſite vertues. Alſo I doe ingeniouſly confeſſe to hauehave receiued from your perfections much aid toward the perfecting of this ſmall inuention. For to drawe out the Image of vices I am to repreſent the contrary of that which I do both ſee and admire in you; to hauehave the ſacred word of God often in your hand, but more often in your mouth: to be daily in prayer; to hauehave Modeſty without Art: to hauehave your hand open to the afflicted, and your eare deafe to vice: In vnderſtanding aboue your ſex, to hauehave humility below your condition: to hauehave a firme and free zeale without any ſcruple, from which chriſtian prudency hath taken away al affected auſterity. Theſe are vertues that each apart is ſufficient to attract admiration, notwithſtanding they all concur in you. They are vertues that the greatneſſe of your houſe doth render more remarkable, and the corruption of our age more admirable. An age in which vices are māners, and wherein deboſching humors, and prophane vanity are paſſed into nature, and turned into complexion. In the midſt of theſe corruptions, you ſhine as a burning candle in an obſcure night. I am well aſſured that your modeſty permitteth not this diſcourſe; but the publike profit requireth it. To the end that each may knowe what eſtimation we hauehave of vertue. To the end alſo that thoſe vices which ſpread themſelues, & increaſe amongſt vsus, may be repelled by your good Example, and that your vertues ſeruing as accuſations may be a meanes to incite vsus to good. It is our glory that that ſacred ſeed which wee hauehave ſcattered abroad, hath fallen into ſo fertill a land where it hath brought forth ſo rare fruit, eſpecially amongſt vsus, who hauehave ſo many examples exſtant, that doe demonſtrat the difference betweene true piety, and that ſuperſtitious deuotiō, which endeuoureth to obtaine the fauour of God by a ſeeming penſiue action, which limiteth it ſelfe to a ſet number of reiterated prayers, and hath reduced religion to the fingers ends.
Hauing then had (Madam) ſo many reaſons to dedicate this writing vntounto your Ladyſhip. This one being ſufficient, that I had neuer vndertaken it but by your command. For I am deſtitute of thoſe ornamēts that are required in this diſtaſtfull age: I hauehave not any great words, nor thoſe ſwelling tearmes that only fit frolike humors: I ſpèake not of the Barriquades of greedy The fooleries of Father Corton in his ſermons before the K. of Frācedeſire, nor of the Eſcalades of vertues. I call not Ieſus Chriſt the Daulphin of heauen, neither doe I compoſe Orations vpō the Fanne and Noſegay, it ſufficeth me to write French, my intention being only to be vnderſtood; and in deciphering of vices to plant in your ſpirit the contēpt of the world▪ and the louelove of God. In meane tearmes I intend to diſcourſe of high matters, and with a coale to delineat out the truth. The defect that is in it ought to be imputed in part to my dulnes, in part to my condition, which is much buſied and diſturbed.
It is hard for a man to meditat amongſt the blowes of Harquebuſches, and to mount his ſpirit very high, when a thouſand oppoſed things doe tend downward and break his flight. But the ſelfe ſame ing enious diſpoſition, which ſolicited you to incite me to write, ſhall alſo cauſe you to ſupport the imperfectiōs of it. Becauſe (not thinking in the beginning, it ſhould hauehave paſſed forth of my houſe) it is not ſo well adorned as I could wiſh. But ſeeing that it muſt now trauerſe abroad by your commandement, my deſire is that it may be receiued as frō the hand of him, which prayeth to God for the proſperity of your moſt Noble family, which God hath honoured with his holy and diuine alliance, & who hath noe other ambition thē to obey you, and remaine all his life
Your Ladyſhips moſt humble and obedient ſervant, PETER du MOVLIN.
Meditations vponupon the vanity and miſery of humane life.
THE importuning diverſitie of worldly affaires, doth cut our time into a hūdred thouſand pieces. And every affaire doth take frō vsus one part of our life, leauing vsus no time, but that which wee gaine by theft; ſubſtracting ſome howers for to examine our ſelues in ſecret, & to entertaine our mind with religious thoughts. Theſe ſolitary meditations hauehave ſufficient in them to employ our wits. For the firſt ſubiect, which doth preſent it ſelfe to our pervſall, is a conſideration of the vanity, and miſery of humane life; not for to moleſ… vsus any way, while wee are in it; but to prepare our ſelues to depart wel out of it. No man can aſpire as he ought to the future life, which doth not contemne this preſent Neither can any man contemne this preſent, which doth not wel know it. And the way to truely know it, is to remoue it farre from vsus, to withdraw it frō our heart, and to baniſh it from our affection. For worldly goods being neere at hand do both dazell the minde, and diſtract the iudgement.
But let vsus firſt enquire, before wee proceede, of ſome one that hath paſſed this way. King Salomon in the beginning of Eccleſiaſtes, entring into that meditation, doth write, that vanitie is moſt vaine, all is vanity. That great & mighty King, which had riches without example, peace without trouble, glory without envy, who was obeyed of his ſubiectes, reſpected of his neighbours, and raigned fortie yeares, which was a ſufficient time to cōtent his minde, in ſumptuous buildings, in multitude of horſes, in al varietie of ſtudies & ſciences; who had traverſed his Spirit through all the ſecrets of nature, evē frō the Cedar, vntounto the Hyſſope; Nevertheleſſe in the concluſion of all, conſidering howe theſe ſweetes are confected with bitternes, how there is little cōſtācie in theſe things, how there is ſmal content in all this travaile, he makes this the cloſe of all his actions, That all is vanity, and affliction Eccleſiaſt. Cha. 1. 14.of Spirit. But before that Salomō had proved theſe things he learned that leſſon of David his father, which is written in the 39. Pſalme, True … every mā is nothing but vanity; hee wal…eth in a vaine ſhadow, & diſquieteth himſelfe in vaine, he heapeth vp riches, & knoweth not who ſhall gather them. Let vsus therefore according to the rules of ſuch excellent men, enter into that meditation, and taking that raſor out of their handes, make an Anatomie of our ſelues. There is no diſcourſe more ſerious thē that which treateth of vanity. Nor contemplation more high then to reaſon of our owne infirmities: ſeeing by that meanes man contemning himſelfe, is elevated aboue himſelfe. This vanity linked with miſerie, is to be conſidered, firſt in the Nature of man; ſecondly in his actions; & thirdly in his thoughts and deſires.