VINCENT:  Our Lord reward you, good uncle, for your good labour with me.  But, for our Lord’s sake, take good heed, uncle, that you forbear not your dinner over-long.

ANTHONY:  Fear not that, cousin, I warrant you, for this piece will I make you but short.

XVII

The prophet saith in the said psalm, “He that dwelleth in the faithful hope of God’s help, he shall abide in the protection or safeguard of God in heaven.  And thou who art such a one, the truth of him shall so compass thee about with a shield, that thou shalt not be afraid of the business walking about in the darknesses.”

“Negotium, the business,” is here, cousin, the name of the devil who is ever full of busy-ness in tempting folk to much evil business.  His time of tempting is in the darknesses.  For you know well that beside the full night, which is the deep dark, there are two times of darkness, the one ere the morning wax light, the other when the evening waxeth dark.  Two times of like darkness are there also in the soul of man:  the one ere the light of grace be well sprung up in the heart, the other when the light of grace beginneth out of the heart to walk fast away.  In these two darknesses this devil who is called Business busily walketh about, and he carrieth about with him such foolish folk as will follow him and setteth them to work with many a manner of bumbling business.

He setteth some, I say, to seek the pleasures of the flesh in eating, drinking, and other filthy delight.  And some he setteth about incessant seeking for these worldly goods.  And of such busy folk whom this devil called Business, walking about in the darknesses, setteth to work with such business, our Saviour saith in the gospel, “He that walketh in darknesses knoweth not whither he goeth.”  And surely in such a state are they—­they neither know which way they go, nor whither.  For verily they walk round about as it were in a round maze; when they think themselves at an end of their business, they are but at the beginning again.  For is not the going about the serving of the flesh a business that hath no end, but evermore from the end cometh to the beginning again?  Go they never so full-fed to bed, yet evermore on the morrow, as new they are to be fed again as they were the day before.  Thus fareth it by the belly; thus fareth it by those parts that are beneath the belly.  And as for covetousness, it fareth like the fire—­the more wood there cometh to it, the more fervent and the more greedy it is.

But now hath this maze a centre or middle place, into which these busy folk are sometimes conveyed suddenly when they think they are not yet far from the brink.  The centre or middle place of this maze is hell.  And into that place are these busy folk who with this devil of business walk about in this busy maze, in the darkness, sometimes suddenly conveyed, unaware whither they are going.  And that may be even while they think that they have not walked far from the beginning, and that they have yet a great way to walk about before they should come to the end.  But of these fleshly folk walking in this busy pleasant maze the scripture declareth the end:  “They lead their life in pleasure, and at a pop down they descend into hell.”