wisely urged by the holy Psalmist Ps 146.3.4 not to trust in man not in the greatest and best man whose life is so very uncertain but rather to make this pious reflexion upon all the withering glory of this world happy is the man who hath the God of Jacob for his help and whose hope is in the Lord his God But yet who is of so robust and morose a constitution as not to let fall a tear at the Funeral of a person whose life was so great a blessing to the world who can assume so much of the Stoick as to permit no motion of the most tender and soft passions in his nature when he beholds mighty delights of good to mankind unravell'd in an instant who does not find himself disorder'd at the sight of a Body warm and beautiful vigorous and active animated with a divine Soul adorn'd with all the accomplishments of wisdom and goodness but now a cold and useless carcass noisome and offensive and no longer to be endur'd above ground all its motions stopt its curious and amazing clock-work broke in pieces forsaken by its heavenly guest without the least traces of wisdom or knowledge or design remaining Quis talia fando Who can forbear bewailing the lot of human nature or unconcernedly contemplate so sudden but so strange an alteration in his state There remains yet one thing more to swell their grief on this occasion Jeremy and others had spoken of great evil that was coming upon them and Huldah the Prophetess of whom this good King had sent to enquire the time of the execution of the threatnings in the book of the Law 2 Kings 22.14 had foretold that this should be respited till after the death of Josiah which answer he had caused to be read in the ears of all the people and took that opportunity to exhort them to temperance this they could not but call to mind when they saw him unexpectedly taken away from them and this naturally suggested to them that God remov'd him in his anger that their sins had render'd it unagreeable with the divine methods observ'd in governing the world that he should be continued any longer amongst them that he was taken away from that evil which was now hastning to come upon them that having fill'd up the measure of their iniquities his death was the last warning of their ruine a sign from Heaven of their approaching fall and like a fatal knell rung out to the Funeral of their State In these circumstances what could be lookt for less than that all Judah and Jerusalem should unite as one man in mourning for Josiah It is now time to apply this piece of Scripture history to the very sad occasion of my present discourse This is too melancholly too dismal a subject to dwell long upon I found it no easie matter to command my self whilst in secret I was giving scope to my meditations and saw it necessary to confine them for fear of a greater disorder in relating them The history of the Text applies it self and I have endeavour'd to set it in such a light that your own reflexions may spare a great deal of my pains in drawing the parallel It would be hard to arbitrate betwixt these two Princes Josiah and our late Queen which of them excell'd in piety and had the largest designs for the honour of God and the interest of Religion whose authority and example gave the highest countenance to vertue and had the best influence upon the different ages in which they liv'd which of them did or was most likely to have done the most good whose life was more desired or tkeir deaths more deservedly lamented by their Subjects It would be vanity in me to pretend to draw the character of our Queen who have only heard of hers as the Queen of Sheba had done of Solomon's fame This is already done by those who had opportunities to observe the constancy and fervour of her Devotions the admirable example she set to all about her the visible effects of this in putting some vices formerly very fashionable so perfectly out of countenance as to sneak and not dare to appear openly in her Court to be witnesses to many useful designs of such a nature that it was impossible they could lye conceal'd and so many extraordinary works of charity diverse of them done to her enemies which though done in the most secret manner in regard of her station came necessarily under the notice of some near her Happy are those men happy are those her servants who stood continually before her and heard her Wisdom It is said of her that she not only perfectly hated all flattery but had so humble an opinion of her self that she would not bear the least part of the justest commendation So that whilst she liv'd it would have been rude to have drawn her character though in little but being dead it is fit this should be now done in its full length What has been attempted by several hands has I doubt not proceeded from a laudable design of proposing such an example as the world stands in need of and paying that just tribute to her memory which no Englishman can have so much of ill nature in him as to dispute much less to open his mouth and slily slander that is reported of her Experience witnesseth of what great use it is to transmit to posterity the lives and actions of such as have been famous in their generations these are found to make a deeper and more lasting impression and to have a better effect upon mankind than the choicest collection of precepts Here Vertue is drawn more to the life and according to the Philosophers wish assumes a body and appears in a visible shape commands with authority and becomes the most forcible and prevailing rule of Practice I am sensible much has been said of our late Queen but too much cannot be said on such a subject Such an instance of piety and goodness is like the appearing of a new Star in the heavens the wonder and enquiry of the Age. It would argue a great degeneracy of manners and a small regard to the publick good to suffer such an example to lye by neglected or not to take care to have it faithfully recommended to posterity When we come to see her life whole at large we shall be made sensible that her wisdom and piety do much exceed that we have yet heard of her and that the half has not been told I am much deceiv'd in my account of her if she did not every way answer the character given of Josiah 2 Chton 34.2.3 that she did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and served God and kept his commandments with all her heart and soul and might declining neither to the right hand nor to the left We are all sensible that she was snatch'd away by a violent distemper in the vigor of her age when we least dreamt
The Death of Good Josiah Lamented A SERMON Occasioned by the Death of our Late Most Gracious Soveraign Queen Mary OF Ever Blessed Memory Preach'd at Balsham in Cambridgshire March 3. 1695. By JOSEPH POWELL M. A. Rector of Balsham in Cambridgshire LONDON Printed for Thomas Speed at the Three Crowns near the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1695. A SERMON Occasioned by the Death of the Queen 2 Chron. XXXV 24. And all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah THese words are a record how sensibly affected the Kingdom of Judah was with the death of good Josiah for this general concern there was great reason considering his station his character and the circumstances of their affairs when this excellent Prince was snatcht from them The notice you have now had of the approaching Funeral of our late Queen of Blessed Memory will I hope render a discourse upon a Text of this nature very seasonable I could not satisfie my self that so extraordinary a Princess whose equal in all respects we do not yet know to be left behind her in the whole compass of the world should pass to her Grave without some notice taken of her in the most private corner of her Kingdom without paying some small but well meant tribute to her sacred memory some publick testimony given by us her meanest Subjects of our thankfulness to God for those eminent gifts and graces which shin'd in her with so bright and glorious a lustre the esteem of the present age and the wonder of all that shall follow of whom I may venture to affirm alluding to a passage of our Saviour concerning a former Mary whom she equall'd in her present piety Mat. 26.14 but was a great deal more happy in a constant innocency that in the whole world where-ever the praises of persons famous in their generations are rehearst there shall also the admirable graces and illustrious excellencies of this our Mary be told for a memorial of her I could not but think it a decency on this occasion to try to affect all of you with so great so unexpressible a loss sustain'd by this Nation in the Death of our incomparable Queen for whose death the people of England have full out as much reason to be sensibly concern'd as those of Judah could possibly have for the fall of that Religious Prince here mention'd of whom we read that all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah I shall first consider the words as they relate the death of Josiah and the behaviour of his Subjects thereupon and then I shall apply this historical passage to the sad occasion of my present discourse 1. The Person whose death is here mourn'd Josiah 2. The Concern his Subjects exprest at his death They mourn'd for him 3. This Mourning spoken of as general and universal his Mourners were not barely a few Courtires who attended immediately upon his person or held offices and employments by his Life but all the people of his dominions who lookt upon his death as a publick judgment and calamity in which their whole Nation was concern'd and all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for Josiah 1. The Person whose death is here related was Josiah He was King of Judah and Jerusalem and upon this account his life was of much more value than many lives where the Commonwealth receives no detriment The whole body of the people have an interest in the life of the Prince their safety does much depend upon the preservation of his person and they commonly suffer not a little by his fall especially as here it was when it is sudden and violent Hence David as a King is stil'd the light of Israel 2 Sam. 21.17 2 Sam 18.3 2 Kings 24.19 and said to be worth ten thousand of his Subjects for something very like to this is spoken of Zedekiah who by the account the Scripture gives of him appears to have been none of the best of Princes and his Fall from his Empire and Captivity in Babylon very passionately lamented by Jeremy Lam. 4.20 The breath of our Nostrils the anointed of the Lord is taken in their pit of whom we said under the shadow of his wings shall we live upon this reason is that Apostolical Precept grounded which the first Christians so very carefully observed 1 Tim. 2.1 to pray for Kings and all that are in Authority inasmuch as the community is immediately interested in their preservations and whatever their personal qualifications were their fall was found by sad experience to produce great disorders in the affairs of the Empire But Josiah was an extraordinary Prince of great wisdom unusual vertue of an exemplary piety of an uncommon goodness he had a great zeal for Gods honour a mighty regard to his worship and noble designs for the promoting and advancing Religion His general Character is 2 Kings 22.2 that he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of David his Father and turned not aside to the right hand nor to the left After this are remarkt the glorious actions of his reign 2 Kings 23. 2 Chron. cap. 34. cap. 35. 2 Chron. 34.3 for the imitation of succeeding Princes and that the ages to come might call him blessed In the eighth year of his reign while he was yet young being now not full sixteen years old he began to seek after the God of David his Father and with much application and seriousness to do something of moment and which might be lasting for the honour of God and the interest of Religion four years after this he resolutely undertook the removing all Idolatry and setting up the worship of the true God throughout all the land Six whole years he employ'd in bringing this great work to perfection after this he resolv'd upon repairing the breaches of the house of God and whilst some ruinous parts of the Temple were pull'd down in order to rebuild them in the Rubbish was found a Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses 2 Chron. 34.14 Grotius supposes this to have been the original copy of the Law deliver'd by Moses to the Israelites to be preserv'd I rather think with others that Manassah in the long reign of fifty five years designing utterly to abolish the Worship of the God of Israel and set up Idolatry had gathered in the Books of the Law and burnt them at which time some pious person who feared God and believed that he would still have mercy upon Sion and restore beauty and strength to his Sanctuary hid a Copy of the Law in some secret place of the Temple which lay there conceal'd all the age of Manassah and the short reign of his Son Amon but upon repairing the Temple was now discovered Josiah upon perusing those severe threatnings contain'd in it in case of their falling off from the worship of the true God and becoming dissolute in their manners and comparing those with the present state of Judah
2 Chron. 34.19 rent his clothes which was a receiv'd sign of great sorrow and concern and calling his people together exhorted them to a Reformation and engag'd them to enter with him into a covenant v. 31. before the Lord to walk after the Lord and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and with all their soul to perform the words of the covenant which were written in the book and to render this more awful the better to fix it upon their minds that they might remember to do it all the days of their life and to begin the work of diligently observing the Law he appoints a solemn Passover such a one as had not been from the days of Samuel 2 Kings 23.22 nor in all the days of the Kings of Judah to that time this was the work only of one year He lived after this thirteen years but all the remaining account left of him is only in the general that he applied his time and his power to the perfecting that good work he had began and this remembrance of him stands upon the Sacred Record when his Life was clos'd that like him There was no King before him 2 Kings 23.24.25 neither after him arose there any like him It is hard to be conceiv'd what a Blessing a Prince of so much piety and goodness is to a people what a wonderful influence his authority when thus used has upon reforming a Nation what is the force of his example and how strange a change and alteration it soon works in the manners of a people who will ever be disposed to imitate and follow the pattern set them by those who rule over them The holy Books have noted it of Josiah's example that it provoked all Israel to serve 2 Chron. 34.33 even to serve the Lord their God so that all his days they departed not from following the Lord the God of their fathers I might add to this a consideration of the eminent favours and unusual kindnesses God sometimes shews a Nation with respect to the piety and goodness of those who have had the rule over them so God is said to have done great things for Judah Isay 37.35 for his servant David's sake and this a long time after David was dead But behold a dark veil overspreading all this glory the scene is shifted and that which now appears strikes with horror and amazement the heavens darken the Inhabitants of the earth are fill'd with trembling and astonishment and all faces gather blackness This Prince of all their hopes was snatcht away by a violent and immature death in the flower of his age being but thirty nine years old and at a time too when they had reason to promise themselves the greatest blessings and advantages from his government There is still a more dismal thought he was snatch'd away in Judgment a very terrible and severe Judgment to the Kingdom of Judah God was angry with them and upon executing often denounc'd threatnings against them but good Josiah was first to be gathered to his fathers 2 Kings 22.20 that his eyes might not see the evil God was bringing upon them Of him those words of Isaiah are supposed to be spoken The Righteous perisheth c. 57.1 and no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away none considering that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come Jeremiah began to prophesie of this in the days of Josiah and when he fell he mentions it as near approaching that incomparable Prince whose Piety and Vertue had kept it off in his days being removed and the certainty of his Prophesie was proved by the event For soon after his death all things ran into confusion and evil hastned apace upon them and their long captivity in Babylon was at hand His immediate Successor had but a short reign of two months and was carried into Egypt and there dyed The next after eleven years was bound in Fetters and carried to Babylon The third came to the Crown at eight years of Age and left it again after three months and ten days when his Brother was plac'd in the Throne in whose time the Wall of Jerusalem was broken down and all the Palaces thereof with the house of God burnt with fire his Sons slain in his sight his own eyes after this put out and he bound with Fetters of Brass and carried into that long captivity which that Nation endur'd in Babylon There is but one thing more to be observ'd in the Death of this excellent Prince though his death was sudden and violent and in the vigor of his age yet the holy books speak of him as one who came to his grave in peace the same phrase is used in the mention of Abraham his death Gen. 15.15 who died in a good old age This phrase therefore of coming to his grave in peace used concerning Josiah notwithstanding the manner and circumstances of his death learns us that Death at whatever time he approaches cannot be untimely to a good man and though it may be a severe Judgment to others to himself it is a great blessing Well then may we allow them to be concern'd for the loss of such a Prince 2. They mourned for Josiah Mourning for the dead is very agreeable to the softest and most tender passions in our nature and some outward solemn significations of this have been in use and practice in all Nations Solomon speaks of it as a known and constant Funeral usage Man goeth to his long home Eccles 12.5 and the mourners go about the streets This being by custom limited to a certain time the Scripture calls the days of Mourning This was especially observ'd towards those who had been in eminent stations in the world whose Funerals were ever attended with mournful lamentations with regard to that power and authority they once had So David appointed a solemn lamentation for Saul and for Jonathan his Son 2 Sam. 1. and compos'd a Funeral Song on this occasion they took care also to deposit the earthly remains of their dead in their proper Sepulchres which places were always accounted sacred and not to be violated Abraham had such a regard to this that whilst he was yet a stranger in Canaan Gen. 23. he purchased a place to bury his dead in Where he himself and Sarah his Wise were afterward buried Jer. 22.19 and the Prophet pronounces it as a Judement upon Jehoiachim that he should be deny'd that solemn burial used to persons of his quality they did not grutch any cost expended upon their interments as appears by the account we have of Asa's Funeral 2 Chron. 16.14 and did all that was in their power to express an honourable regard to the memory of the deceased as we find done to Hezekiah at his death 2 Chron. 32.33 When great and good were in conjunction when the person was as