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I Am vniustly tormented.
What wouldest thou nowe say if it were iustly? For there is no torment greater then the torment of the conscience. If this be vpryght, contemne these outwarde thinges, for thou hast a comforter within thee.
I am tormented very vnwoorthily.
Take com∣passion vpon thy tormentour, he is more sharpely tormented then
thou: for although the world crye out agaynst thee, yet know this, that it is a lesse euil to suffer, then to offer an imurie.
I am tormented.
A newe lamentation for an olde greefe: wast thou neuer tormented before: Among tormentes thou wast borne, among tormentes thou hast lyued, & among tor∣mentes thou shalt dye: tell me now what newe thing is befal∣len thee? The kindes of tormentes are changed, but the tormentes them selues do not surceasse. Examine the whole course of thy forepassed life, & recount what euer day thou passedst ouer with∣out torment. Perhaps thou mayst finde somthinges shadowed with false ioyes, but al thinges full of true tormentes, wherof if thou iudge exactly, thou wilt confesse that there is no part of this life voyde. Wherby it commeth to passe, that some, not without iust cause, haue supposed this whole life to be a continual punish∣ment. But you neuerthelesse so demeane your selues, as though these Philosophical speeches concerned you not, they sticke in the enterance of your eares, they pearce not into the closet of your mindes: So that ye lament for euery small griefe of the bodie, but as for the euerlastyng and deadly punishment of the minde, ye do not feele it: in the first ye are impacient, but in the other without sense.
I am layde vpon the wheele.
What skilleth it whether thou goe vp to the wheele, or to the bed to be tormented? The tormentours knot shal wring thee, and put thee to payne: but heare now one with the ague, another with the gout, another with a shrewysh wyfe, another with his sonne, another with his louer, another with his ryches, another with po∣uertie, another by the Phisitions hand, another with the schoole∣maisters ferula, another with a naughtie seruaunt, another with a proude lorde, another is vexed with an infinite hope and coue∣tous desire, another with feare, that is more greeuous then any tormentour. Search through the whole state of mankynde, and thou shalt scarse finde one man that lyeth not vpon the wheele: and beyng a thousand sundry sortes of tortures, doo you feare none but those that are made of wood?
I am tor∣mented.
In the middest of thy tormentes comfort thy selfe, eyther with thyne innocencie, or with iustice: for if thou be vniustly tormented, thou hast a cause to reioyce, whereby thou
hast purchased experience to thy selfe and others, and also a cer∣tayne bryghtnesse is added vnto thy vertue: the fame of hand∣led and aduaunced thynges is more renowmed, and spices the longer they be beaten the sweeter they smell, and most excellent wares are set a loft to the viewe, that they may be seene the better. But yf thou be tormented deseruedly, thou hast thy remedye in thy handes: but clottered fylth is purged by fyre and difficultie, and a desperate sicknesse muste haue a sharpe cure: who so is weery of his disease, wyl not refuse any bytter thyng, and he that is sory for his synnes, wyll not eschewe any punishment.
I am laide on the racke.
If without desart, thou hast a meane to despise the crueltie of another from an hygh: But yf deseruedly, when thou art plucked from the earth, thou mayst the more euidently beholde thyne offence, and that which thou art now sorowful for the committyng, thou shalt not be grieued for the sufferyng of the punyshment.
I am tormen∣ted.
Eyther thy vertue is tryed, or thy vyce pu∣nyshed: the one is often profitable, the other alwayes expe∣dient. It is a good tryall for the ryghteous to suffer punysh∣ment, but there is nothyng woorse then to suffer the gyltie to es∣cape vnpunished.
I am tormented.
Learne the way vnto patience, and death.