eat loss, or eschewing thereby the suffering of far
greater pain--he would be content and glad to sustain it for his
far greater advantage and commodity.

And this doth reason alone in many cases, where it hath much less
help to take hold of than it hath in this matter of faith. For you
know well that to take a sour and bitter potion is great grief and
displeasure, and to be lanced and have the flesh cut is no little
pain. Now, when such things are to be ministered either to a child
or to some childish man, they will by their own wills let their
sickness and their sore grow, unto their more grief, till it become
incurable, rather than abide the pain of the curing in time. And
that for faint heart, joined with lack of discretion. But a man who
hath more wisdom, though without cause he would no more abide the
pain willingly than would the other, yet, since reason showeth him
what good he shall have by the suffering, and what harm by refusing
it, this maketh him well content and glad also to take it.

Now then, if reason alone be sufficient to move a man to take pain
for the gaining of worldly rest or pleasure and for the avoiding of
another pain (though the pain he take be peradventure more, yet to
be endured but for a short season), why should not reason, grounded
upon the sure foundation of faith, and helped toward also with the
aid of God's grace--as it ever is, undoubtedly, when folk for a
good mind in God's name come together, our Saviour saying himself,
"Where there are two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I also even in the very midst of them." Why should not
then reason, I say, thus furthered with faith and grace, be much
more able first to engender in us such an affection, and afterward,
by long and deep meditation thereof, so to continue that affection
that it shall turn into a habitual purpose, fast-rooted and deep,
of patiently suffering the painful death of this body here in earth
for the gaining of everlasting wealthy life in heaven and avoiding
of everlasting painful death in hell?

VINCENT: By my troth, uncle, I can find no words that should have
any reason with them--faith being always presupposed, as you
protested in the beginning, for a ground--words, I say, I can find
none with which I might reasonably counter-plead this that you have
said here already.

But yet I remember the fable that AEsop telleth of a great old hart
that had fled from a little bitch, which had made pursuit