The devout hart or Royal throne of the pacifical Salomon. Composed by F. St. Luzuic S.I. Translated out of Latin into English. Enlarged with incentiue by F. St. Binet of the same S. and now enriched with hymnes by a new hand

THE PREAMBLE to the Meditation.

MOst worthy Painter,a 1.1 I pray, take the table in hand againe, for before thou, makest an end of thy worke in the escuchion of my hart, thou must needs paint thine armes, with some motto or other that by the deuise thou mayst be known to be the Master of the house.

The Palaces of Kings, and their houses, as wel in the Countrey as Citty, euery-where are wont to giue forth their titles, armes, and names of their Ancestours, to wit, the mo∣numents of their royal stock and ancient nobility. As for thine armes and tropheues of thy name good IESV; I take them to be thy Crosse;

nailes, laūce, crown' of thornes scour∣ges; that Pillar whereto thou wert boūd; & those very cords, wherewith thou wast tyed. I (sayd he) haue, been trained vp in labours frō my youth.

Goe to then, for my sake, among those foure images of the last things, which thou hast fully finished in al points, let these instruments, as Tropheye of thy Passion, be like∣wise pourtraited. The Crosse would be of Cedar, that is painted in his proper colour; the speare sprinckled with bloud, the nayles dipt in the same dye, the pillar marked with drops and streakes of bloud; lastly, the cords and scourges with bloud also, but so as washt away with teares here and there they make certain distinctions between. At sight of these armes, if they offer to en∣croch or approach neerer to the hart be the enemies dispersed; and fly as wax before the face of the fire. But

ho•• my Lord, print I pray that Crosse more deep into my hart; if it be chur∣lish & resist, vse violēce with it & sof∣ten it if need be; if with too much softnes it proue il and diffuse it-self, constraine the parts, to consist and hold together; but be sure that euery colour thou here workest with be wel mixed with thy bloud, for this colour pleaseth best, as being the simbol of loue. Be this Crosse to me sweet IESVS, as a buckler, to re∣bate and blunt the weapons of the enemyes: be it a wal, or trench to girt me in; armes for me to assaile my enemyes with al, may it stirre in me alwayes, first a fresh and liuely me∣mory of thy passion, then a burning desire of suffring with alacrity for thee al hard and cruel things; no otherwise indeed then of those thor∣nes were roses the black-berries; the whitest-lillyes: let this wood,

cast into my-mind, turne the bitter∣nes of the waters, into sweetnesb 1.2 change gaul into hony, alloes to su∣gar, Let the Crosse be the mast of the sayling ship, wherein transpor∣ted I may happily land at the hauen of saluation; my bed; where cou∣ching as the Phenix in her nest, and consumed with the flame of loue, and turned to ashes I may dye Iacobs ladderc 1.3 to mount to Heauen by; the Pilgrims staff to passe the Iour∣dan d 1.4 the sheep-hooke, to keep in the straying senses in their dutyes; Pharus whereto I may direct my course in the tempestuous Sea of the world, amid the thickest fogs or fowlest weather. May the launce and scourges strike a terrour to the proud and rebellious spirits, that menace a far-off, and reuewing the assault by sits try to inuade thy Sanctuary. Pitch Lord, and plant

this Crosse of thine in the turret of the hart; be it there a standard, which being aymed at, as the Captayns signe and signe of warre, may al the faculties of my mind anon, be sum∣moned with alarmes, and pel-mel directly rush vpon the enemy. Being armed with this Crosse as with the keenest sword, I may cut off the wretched head of the cruel Holofernes e 1.5 and rise vp against my Aduer∣saries, like that Angel, who in a night alone foyled & vanquished at once, a huge army of the proudf 1.6 Senacherib. Wherefore auant you hellish troops, packe hence away, & fly vnto those darkesome vaults. There is none of you that dares a∣bide before the Tower of the hart, where the armes of the Supreame Numen are now set vp: in sight whereof the Angelical squadrons stand in battle array; where not only

horrour and dread but imm••nent & most present ruine waits vpon you. For death himself at the sight only of the Crosse, turnes his back; sinne also takes his flight a long with him, and both togeather with th••ir common Captain Sathan the deuil, in great dispaire tumble headlong in the lowest Hel.

Notes

• a 1.1

  Psal. 87.
• b 1.2

  Exod. 5.
• c 1.3

  Gen. 28.
• d 1.4

  Gen. 32.
• e 1.5

  Iud••••••h 13.
• f 1.6

  4. Reg. 19.