A dialoge of comfort against tribulacion, made by Syr Thomas More Knyght, and set foorth by the name of an Hu[n]garie[n], not before this time imprinted

¶The .xxii. Chapter. Of death considered by himselfe alone as a bare leauing of this lyfe onely.

ANd firste I perceyue well by these two thinges, that you ioyne vnto death, that is to witte, shameful and painful. You would esteme death so much the lesse if he should come alone without eyther shame or pain.

Vincent.

Without doubte vncle, a greate deale the lesse, but yet though he should come without thē ••oth by hymselfe, whatsoeuer I would, I wete wel many a man would be for all that, very loth to dye.

Antony.

That I beleue wel Cosin, and the more pitie it is, for that affeccion happeth in very fewe, but that eyther the cause is lacke of faith•• lacke of hope, or fi∣nally lacke of witte. They that beleue not the lyfe to come after thys, and wēne themselfe here in welth are loth to leaue this, for than they thynke they lese all, and therof cometh the manifold foolishe vnfaith∣full wordes, which are•• so rise in ouer many mennes mouthes this world we know and the other we know not, and that some say in sporte, and thinke•• in earnest, the deuil is not so blacke as he is painted, and let him be as blacke as he wil, he is no blacker than a crowe,

with many suche other foolishe fantasies of thesame sort: some that beleue wel inough, yet thorow the leude∣nes of liuing fal out of good hope of saluaciō, and thā though they be loth to dye, I very litle meruayle how∣beit some that purpose to mend, and would fayne haue some tyme left the lenger to bestowe some what bet∣ter, maye peraduenture be loth to die also by & by: and that maner lothenesse (albeit a very good wyl gladlye to die, and to be with god) were in mi mind so thankful that it were wel able to purchase as ful remissiō both of sinne and pain, as peraduenture he were like, if he liued to purchase in many yeres penaunce, yet will I not say, but that suche kinde of lothenes to die, may be before god alowable. Some are there also, y^t are loth to die, that are yet very glad to dye, and long for to be dead.

¶Vincent.

That were vncle a very straunge case

Antony.

The case I feare me Cosin falleth not oftē, but yet sometyme it doeth, as where there is any man of that good minde that. S. Paul was, which for the longing that he had to be with god, woulde fayne haue been dead, but for the profit of other folke, was content to liue here in payn, & differre and forbeare for y^e while his inestimable blisse in heauen. Cupio dissolui & esse cum chris∣to bonum autem mihi manere propter vos but of all these kyndes of folkes Cosin, that are loth to dye, (except the first kind onely that lacketh fayth) there is I suppose none, but that except the feare of shame, or sharpe paine ioyned vnto death, shoulde be the let, woulde els for the bare respect of death alone, let to departe hence with good wil in this case of fayth, well witting by his fayth, that his death taken for y^e fayth, shoulde clense him cleane of al his sinnes, and sende hym straight to heauen. And

some of those, (namely the laste kynde) are suche, that shame and payn both ioyned vnto death, were vnlike∣ly to make them loth death or feare death so sore, but that they woulde suffre death in thys case wi••h good wyll, sith they knowe well that the refusing of y^e fayth for any cause in thys worlde (were the cause neuer so good in sighte) shoulde yet seuer them from god: wi••h whō (saue for other folkes profit) they so faine would be. And charitie can it not b•• (for the profite of the whole worlde), deadly to displease him that made it. Some are there I saye also, that are loth to dye, for lacke of witte, whiche albeit that they bel••ue the worlde that is to come, and hope also to come thyther yet they loue so mu••he the wealth of thys worlde, and suche thynges as delight them therin, that they would fayne kepe them as long as euer they mighte, euen with tooth and nayle.

And when they maye be suffered in no wyse to kepe it no lenger•• but that death taketh them ••heref••o: than if it maye be no better, they will agree to be (as soone as they be hence) hawsed vp into heauen, and bee with GOD by and by. These folke & as verye nedyote fooles, as he that had kepte from hys chyldehodde a bagge full of chery s••ones, and cas••e suche a fantasye thereto, that he woulde not goe from it, for a bygger bagge fylled full of golde. These folkes fare Cosin•• as Esope telle••h in a fable that the snayle did: for when Iupiter (whom the Poetes fayne for the greate God) inuited al the poore wormes of thea••th vnto a greate solemne feaste, that it pleased hym (I haue forgotten vpon what occasion) vpon a tyme to prepare for them, the snaile kept her at home, & woulde not come therat.

And when Iupiter asked her after wher••ore she came not at his feast, where he sayd she shoulde haue bene welcome and haue faren well, and should haue seen a goodly palace, and been delighted with many goodly pleasures: she aunswered him, that she lo••ed no place so wel as her own house. With whiche aunswere I••∣piter waxed so angry, that he said, sith ••he loueth her house so wel, she should neuer after goe from home, but shoulde alwaye beare her house vpon her backe wheresoeuer she wen••e. And so hath she done euer since as they saye, and at the leastwise I wote wel she doe••h so nowe, and hath done as long time as I can remembre.

Vincent.

Forsoth vncle I would wene the tale were not all fayned? For I thynke verely that so muche of your tale is true.

Antony.

Esope meyn••e by that fained fable to touche ••he foly of suche folke, as so set their fantasye vpon some ••male simple pleasure, that they cannot fynde in their hear••es to forbeare it, neyther for the pleasure of a better man, nor for the gaining of a better thyng: by which their fond frowarde fashion, they sometime fal in great indignacion, and take thereby no litle harme. And surely such Christen folke, as by their foolishe a••∣fe••ciō, which they haue set like y^• snaile vpō their own house here this earth cannot for y^• lothenes of leuing that house find in their heart with their good wyll, to goe to y^e great feast y^t god prepareth in heauen, & of his goodnes so gentely calleth thē to. Be like I feare me (but if they mende that mind in tyme) to be serued as the snayle was, and yet much worse to, for they be like to haue their house here, y^• earth, bounde fast vpō thei•• ba••kes for euer, and not walke therewith where they

will as the snaile ••••epeth about with hers, but lye fast bound in the middes with the foule fyer of hel about them: for into this foly they bryng themselfe by theyr own fault, as the dro••ken man bryngeth him selfe in∣••o dronkennesse wherby the euyll that he doth in hys dronkennesse is not forgeuen hym for hys foly, but to hys payne imputed to his faulte.

Vincent.

Sur••ly vncle this semeth not vnlikely, and by their faulte they fall to such foly in dede. And yet if this be foly in dede, there are than some folke fooles that wene them selfe right wyse.

Anthony.

That wene themselfe wyse? mary I neuer sawe foole yet•• that thought himselfe other than wise. For as it is, one sparke of sobernes lefte in a dronken head, whē he perceyueth hymself dronke, and geatteth him fayre to bed: so if a foole perceyue himselfe a foole, that point is no foly but a litle sparke of wit. But now Cosin, as for those kynde of fooles, sith they be loth to dye for the loue that they beare to their worldly fanta∣syes, whiche they shoulde by their death leaue b••hind them and forsake: thei that would for that cause rather forsake the faith than die, would ra••her forsake it than sel their worldly goodes, though there were offered thē no perel of death at al. And thā as touching those that are of that mind, we haue you wote well, sayd as much as your self thought sufficient this after none here be∣fore.

Vincent.

Ue••ely that is vncle very true, & now haue you rehearsed as farre as I can remembre, al y^e other kindes of them that would be lo••h to die for any other respect than the greuous qualities of shame and pain ioyned vnto death: and of all those kyndes excepte the kinde of infidelitie whom no comforte can helpe, but coūsayle onely to thatteining of faith, which faith must

be to the receyuing of comforte presupposed and had ready before, as you shewed in the beginning of our communicaciō the first day that we talked of the mat∣ter. But els I say, except that one kynd, there is none of the remnaunt of those that were before vntouched which were lykely to forsake theyr fayth, in this perse∣cucion for the feare and dreade of ••eath, saue for those greuous qualities (pain I meane and shame) that thei see well would come therewith. And therfore vncle I pray you geue vs some comforte against those twain. For in good faith, if death should come without them in such a case as this is, wherby the lesing of this life, we should fynde a farre better myne owne reason geueth ••e: ••hat saue for the other griefes going before, the ••haunge, there would no man y^t witte hath, any thing sticke at al.

Antony.

Yes peraduenture sodaynly be∣fore they gather their wittes vnto them and therwith well way the matter, but they Cosin that wyl considre the matter wel reason grounded vpō the foundaciō of fayth, shal shewe them very greate sub••tancial causes for which the dreade of those greuous qualities that they see shal come with death (shame I meane & paine also) shal not so sore abashe them as sinfully to dryue them therfro: for the proofe wherof let vs first begin at the considera••ion of the shame.