devilish fear because they feared God as a judge and they hoped in him as a Saviour they feared him and so they sued for him appealing from the tribunall of his justice to the throne of his mercie ab irato Caesare ad placatum from an offended God in the height of his justice to a pacified God in the depth of his mercies And I would have the simple ignorant people to know here that outward disturbances in fits of heavie exasperate inveterate sicknesse are not evident and infallible tokens of a totall or finall desertion for the godly patients may have inward joy glorious and unspeakable which the standers by see not And by the contrarie some who have led a lewd life without any remorse of conscience or compunction or contrition of heart may seeme to have a peaceable death and say that they are ready for their God when in the meane time their heart giveth their mouth the lie Others desire to die because of great povertie or intolerable paines or losse of goods good name friends c. But God make us not to fear death because we are assured of his favour in the pardon of our huge and manifold transgressions and imputation of Christs righteousnesse for that is only the thing which justifieth us before God Use of encouragement Then why should we fear death Agathias calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mother of tranquilitie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the stayer of sicknesse Euripides 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the greatest remedie of evills Aeschylus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the medicine of incurable diseases Anacreon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a deliverie from travels which after trouble giveth us rest healeth our sicknes taketh away our povertie endeth our greatest feares and cares It is the way of all flesh and it is common to kings and beggars as well to die as to be borne And one of the seven sages Thales saith that they are both indifferent But to Christians they are both profitable for Christ in life and death is advantage Philip. 1. 21. If it please the Lord we live let us employ our life well for it is a talent given to us for the use of our Master if to die what need we to fear for all these who are gone before us cry out Come come after us there is no danger in death all the hazard we incurre and jeopardie wee run into is in our lives Is not this life a continuall miserie a perpetuall tempest a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a common hostage and receptacle of all calamities and our death is an issue of these miseries the harbrie mouth leading us to the most sure haven the heaven of heavens the bridegroomes chamber 1 Object Death is most dangerous and so most fearfull because it is the way to hell from the which there is no regresse Answer To the wicked indeed it is such but to the godly it is the gate to heaven and hither you must make your progresse 2 Object It takes away my life which is so near and dear unto me Answer Upon a condition to give a better which shall never bee taken from thee 3. Object But my losses are great Answer Let me never hear that of thee againe that it is a great losse of such a mans life or that thou losest any thing in death that is an idle querimony to the which Socrates answereth O dii boni quantum lucri est emori O what great gaine is it to die for ye may leave an earthly possession for an heavenly patrimonie uncertaine goods for a certaine treasure the company of the wicked for Saints and Angels earth for heaven basenesse for glory unsufficiencie for alsufficiencie 4. Object But there are paines in death Answer There is nothing without paines and the better the thing be the greater paines but to speak properly it is the remnant of thy life that tormenteth thee and not thy death for what is it but a not being in this world for when we are death is not and when death is wee are not Now a not being hath no dolour for as when wee were not at all wee found no dolour so when we shall not bee wee shall finde none Wherefore then fearest thou the day of death for every day of thy life is a preparation to it and that last period of dayes is not properly thy death allenarly for every day contributeth to it And as the last drop emptieth not nor filleth the bottle and the last path wearieth not nor the last stroake cutteth downe all the trunke of the tree but every one helpeth another so every day we go to death and the last wee arrive at it So that it boats with us it rideth behinde us and leaveth us no more then the shadow of our bodies till at last it cut the thred of our desires and lives and take us from the world and from our selves So that we die at all houres and all moments and if we desire to live long we enjoy a languishing death victorious in many assaults So that Epictetus answered well to Hadrian demanding this question Which is the best life he answered The shortest And Solomon saith That the day of our death is better then the day of our nativitie for this is the beginning of our dolours and that is the end and our accesse to supreme happinesse for then this body shall returne to the dust and the spirit to God the giver with whom we shall enjoy a full life and our passions shall be buried and our reason enlarged and the whole man placed in his owne element the heaven his countrey from the which hee was banished Furthermore did not Cicero Seneca and before them Theophrastus Crantor Xenocrates leave rare monuments and documents against immoderate dolour in death as also against the fear thereof but thou art better taught then those that death is the very entry to that eternall day nunc stans feast Sabaoth with the Ancient of dayes and that the separation of the soule from this body is nothing but an union and communion with God And shall naughtie souldiers under their temporarie captaine hazard their mispent life at the mouth of the canon in a furious skirmish for the pennie-pay and thou not lay down this tedious life for the kingdome of heaven whereunto thou hast undoubted right by thy triumphing generall the captaine of thy salvation the Lord Jesus the Lord of Hosts 5. Object But the pangs of death are insupportable who can abide these cruell and deadly wounds Answer That same Jesus by his glorious and meritorious death hath sweetned seasoned sanctified them to thee in such fashion that they shall be unto thee like the launcet of a Chirurgion which pricketh and healeth together like worme-wood or the potion of a skilfull mediciner which is sowre but wholesome 6. Object But the feare of judgement after death maketh me afraid Answer That same Lord Jesus judge of judges thy eldest brother shall be thy
the dust to the balance or a sparke to the bucket or a bucket to the boundlesse bottomelesse Ocean or a candle can adde to the matchles sun in his pride at the mid-day And thus far of the exposition of the third word Man The assertion It is appointed c. NOw I come to the doctrines The first is generall and it is the pillar whereupon I prop the rest viz. The demonstration of the invincible truth of this assertion It is appointed for men c. by these strong and forcible reasons The first reason is taken from the mother of all things and especiall hand-maid of God Nature for it hath appointed that all flowers from the stinking weed to the fair lilie that all trees from the Hyssope upon the wall to the Cedar in the forrest that all herbs from the green grasse to semperviva that all minerals from the iron to the gold from the rough stone to the precious pearle that all the fishes from the greatest Leviathan to the least minime that all fowles from the Eagle to the midge that all the creeping creatures from the Elephant or Crocodile to the basest wormes have their owne beginnings progresses ends Because the very foure elements whereof they are made are naturallie subject to their combined transmutations the earth being subtilized to the water the water unto the aire the aire unto the fire and these unto their prima materia their chaos and it unto nothing And this nature is so pregnant sedulous and wise that it keepeth its own appointed time as the wise man saith Ecles 3. There is an appointed time for every thing under heaven If time then there must bee a prius and a posterius a last as well as a first As for example the crane the swallow the stork the woodcock the cuckow with her titling know the seasons of the year according to the course of sun and moone from which proceedeth the beautie of the spring the heat of summer the fruitfulnesse of the harvest and the cold of winter one following after another and as one cometh so the other goeth by an alternative vicissitude of time which at the last seeing now it consumeth all things must be consumed by it self when it shall finde nothing to feed upon For now wee may say Where are those ancient works made of brick and stone yea of flint brasse adamant by the most cunning artificers are they not redacted unto their originall informe disforme dust Where is the tower of proud Babel the church of Ephesian Diana and that glorious one of Solomon Where is the Capitoll of Rome and the invincible Byrsa of Carthage where Thebes with her hundred ports spacious Nineve and beautifull Jerusalem Hath not time devoured all and much more with their builders indwellers upholders And shall not London Paris Rome Constantinople Cairo Quinsay go that same way Yes assuredly for things artificiall as well as naturall have their owne periods which they cannot outreach otherwise they were infinite a propertie which cannot be attributed to any thing created properly The second reason is taken from experience the schoolemistresse of fools for it is the surest that ever man got and it appointeth and teacheth that our life is a dying life and that the first step to it is the first step to our death and that the longer we live the nearer we are to death and our being here is equally divided between life and death Na scentes morimur finisque ab origine pendet Quidquid habens ortum finem timet ibimus omnes So that the continuall worke of our life is a building of death in us for we die daily and if we live but one day we see all so all dayes are alike it is that same day and night that same sun and moone these same elements and heaven which our forebears have seen before us and there is no new thing under heaven But to repeat things from the beginning doth not experience teach us that where there is one come to fiftie years there are ten not come but to see a man passe his climacterick and then 80. years it is rara avis in terris Never man yet lived a 1000 years which are but one day in the sight of God for one age is the death of another childhood the death of infancy youthhood the death of both manhood the death of these three old age the death of these foure death the death of all even so one generation is the death of another To the Hebrews succeeded Babylonians Chaldeans Assyrians Medes Persians Egyptians Sycionians Greeks Romanes and to them wee who live in this deficient and vicious age and as they have transferred the lamps of their lives to us so we by continuall succession of time must lay down the same without any contradiction to our posteritie That sun which ye see setting over your heads the ebbing and flowing of the sea which environeth us that earth whereupon we walk lately renewed now growing old and to come nearer these graves whereupon yee trode in your entrie this Church-yard these through stones that dead bell that beir that dolefull convoy these two corps and that wide opened sepulchre telleth us that we must die And as Catullus saith Ostentant omnia lethum Death is painted with the net of a fowler and with this ditto Devoro omnes I devoure all All things above us beneath us about us within us and without us tell us that we must die Doe not all the creatures summon one another to it the least is swallowed up by the most the weakest by the strongest And such is the gluttonie and insatiable appetite of man that he hath not spared one of them but from the tame to the wilde beasts from the fowle of the aire to the fish of the sea his wombe is become the tombe or rather filthie retract of them So that seeing he is nourished with perishingthings he cannot according to the maximes of Philosophy but perish himself too being corruptible in his conception of frothing sperme corruptible in his mothers belly of excrementitious bloud corruptible on her breast of vaporous milk corruptible in his whole life of earthly food but most of all corruptible in his death from the which he is called in Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in latine mortalis that is subject to death and this is so experimented by man that one premonisheth another our forebears our fathers and they us and we our posteritie to our journeys pilgrimages warfares end Death The third reason is taken from GOD whom the Egyptians call Theut the Persians Syro the Arabians Alla the Magicians Orsi the Latines Deus the greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Hebrews Jehovah Elohim Adonai all in foure letters to let you see that he is the God of all nations the God of gods who appointed all things to come to passe according to his good wil pleasure whose appointment is the Cardinal supreme
to live that I may live with Christ This made Ambrose to say I am not afraid to die because I have a good master This made the Apostle St. Paul to say I desire to be dissolved to be with Christ for that is the best of al and That al otherthings are but drosse and dung in respect of the excellencie of the knowledge of Christ God worke this desire in us for while wee are at home in these bodies we are absent from the Lord and ground it upon the assurance of the remission of our sinnes and our perfect union and plenary reconciliation with our God in Christ Jesus The Lord give us grace to be perswaded with the Apostle that if the earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternall in the heavens 2 Cor. 5. But alas here is our miserie that every one of our bodies is a remora to hinder the ship of our soules to stretch sail within the saving harborie of Gods crowning mercies God fasten the anchors of our faith and hope therein that after the tempest of this life we may enjoy peace and everlasting happinesse The third doctrine by way of consequence is this It is appointed Then let no man fear death for it is inevitable and whether we flie from it or goe to it it ever followeth us at the heels it hangeth over our heads as the rock doth Tantalus his head which cannot bee removed There are who desire not to hear tell of it at all and if the preacher urge this point hee becommeth odious To the old Latines this word was so ominous that they periphrased it by another for when they should have said in plaine termes Mortuus est He is dead they said Vixit He lived Abiit ad plures He went to moe for there are moe dead then living As for the vulgar sort they are so besotted with a bruitall stupiditie that they thinke not on death at all But a generous heart should make it its object its butt acquainting it selfe with it at all times representing it before its eyes even in the least occurrences it may seize upon us A king of France died of a small skelfe of a speare in the midst of his pastime An Emperour of the scratching of a pinne Anacreon of one graine of a raisin Aeschylus of the shel of a snaile which fell from the clawes of an Eagle in the aire Milon with both his hands in the clift of an oak Charles of Navarre of the fire of a candle in aquavitae Philemon and Philistion of laughter Dionyse Tyran Diagoras and others of joy O what a feeble creature is man that the very least vermine spider gnat doth kill him and yet feareth death which the Hart the Elephant Phoenix and longest living creatures must yeeld to without any grudging or reluctance Certainly there is no passion more violent in man then feare and produces more strange effects but of all feares the fear of death is the most foolish mad and desperate for it may wel hasten aggravate but never stay or diminish the dint thereof Multi ad fatum venere suum dum fata timent Many precipitate their end in fearing it Seneca in O Edip. Optanda mors est sine metu mortis mori the most desirable death is to dy without fear of death Idem Aristotle the chief of Philosophers calleth it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 most fearfull because as it cannot be eschewed so it killeth the man Yet this is a maxime that no sound naturalists will goe from that good and valiant citizens such as Pericles praised in his funerall oration should undergoe it for the defence of their wives children friends citie countrey gods And the Stoicks themselves defend their Philosophie to bee a continuall meditation upon death because the motion of the soule being ravished out of the body by contemplation is a prentiship or resemblance of death And they deemed him to be the best Philosopher who gave the surest precepts against the feare of death So in my opinion he is the best divine who teacheth himselfe and others to doe well to die well Would we die well let us first doe well Qualis vita finis ita such life such death August Non potest male mori qui bene vixerit he cannot die ill who lived well for a godly life hath a happie death The very Paganes of old the Romanes Greeks Egyptians who howbeit they became vaine in their imaginations and their foolish hearts were darkned Rom. 1. 21. and ignored the resurrection of the dead yet they might have taught many of us now adayes by a spotlesse life before the world to die well because they esteemed an easie death should follow after a reproachlesse life But alas men live now as if there were no death to follow no hell to swallow no count to render no judgement to be executed no soul to keepe no God to fear no devill to torment or else they lull themselves asleepe on the devils pillow the cradle of carnall securitie And with the Epicure Sardanapalus and the rich glutton they never thinke upon death till it surprise them and they either care not because they conclude there is no pleasure after this life or else they despaire casting themselves headlong into horrible agonies and inextricable perplexities In the mean time ye may wonder that Pythagoras Socrates Anaxarchus Codrus Cleombrotus Curtius Seneca Cato Cleopatra died resolvedly and yet they knew not where they were going Why then are we pultrons and cowards seeing we are assured to go upon the wings of angels to the bosome of Abraham Their naturall courage made them to disdaine it Mors non metuenda viris Manhood is not daunted with death Lucanus Shall not then our spirituall knowledge perswade us that our death is nothing but a passage to life a passe-port to immortalitie a doore to paradise a seasure of heaven a chartre upon glory or as saith Bernard a passage from labour to rest from hope to reward from the combate to the crowne from death to life from faith to knowledge from pilgrimage to our long home from the world to our father And as another saith It is a change of the crosse unto the crown of the prison to the palace of captivity unto liberty Scripture is more pithie it calleth it A sleep a rest of our flesh in hope a going to our fathers a gathering to our people a recommending of our spirit to God a rendring up of the ghost a walking with God and the Lambe Object But some may say here Why should we not fear seeing worthie persons yea reverend church-men who led a godly life and exhorted sundrie not to fear were mightily troubled at their death and when they should have had most peace they were most disquieted I answer Their fear was a diligent not a diffident a holy not a hellish a filial not a servile a godly not a
minded the meek as well as the angrie or angerlesse the courteous as well as the flatterer or churlish the sincere as well as the dissembler or bragger the civilized man as well as the rustick or the scoggen or the officious pleasant the just as well as the unjust must all once die The stout man may fight against death the temperate man keep a sober dyet to prolong his life the liberall propine it the magnificent make expences the magnanimous disdain it the modest smile at it the meek embrace it the courteous cherish it the civilized welcome it the just man execute judgements upon others but none of them can overcome death Look to the superiour faculties The religious divine in foro poli the curious lawyer in foro soli the skilfull mediciner in his shop must all once die The first of these may teach of it the second may make a testament after it the third may prescribe a recipe against it but none of them can cast off its yoke Look to the arts and sciences the experimented Grammarian may finde out sundrie significations of the word Death in divers languages the dainty Poet may make an Epitaph or Epicede the flowing oratour a funerall Sermon the subtile Logician may dispute pro contra the ingenuous moralist may discourse trimly upon it but what can these do but what mortall men can do after all that they can do die Therefore let not the beaten warriour thinke that all his stratagems can defend him or the polished polititian dreame that all the maximes of Matchiavel or the counsell of Achitophel can preserve him Let not the Geometer bee so busie as to search out the place or the Arithmetician number the day or the Astrologue tell the manner of his death let not the profound naturalist wade into the deep thereof nor the transcendent Metaphysician flee from it for there is no art nor science under heaven which will learn a man not to die Looke to the ages the embrion in its mothers bellie the babe on its mothers breast the wanton child the rash young man the strong man the wittie man the old man the decrepit man all must once die Look to the conditions of men Prince pastor and people all must once die And to compendize that which I thought to enlarge both elect and reprobate all must once die they for the abolition of their miseries and position of their happinesse these for the position of their miseries and remotion of all happinesse They to be glorified in soule and body these to bee damned in both So that the godly die that they may live to God and with God in heaven the ungodly die that they may live to the devill and with the devill in hell God preserve us from hell and reserve us to heaven I prove the second point of this doctrine which is this There is nothing more uncertain then the time place and manner of death as a poet saith Nemo novit mortis tempusve locumve modumve The time whether in the spring summer harvest winter of the year or of mans years whether at the point of the day morning mid-day evening night midnight it is uncertain He that dieth early in the morning is the babe he that dyeth at the third houre is the young man he that dieth at the sixt houre is the strong man he that dieth at the ninth houre is the old man and he that dieth at the eleventh houre is the decrepit man And therefore the Greek poet compareth man to an apple which is either pulled off before the time or else in time falleth off on the ground And Epictetus to a candle which is exposed to winde it may shine a little and then goeth out The place whether in thy house or in the temple in thy bed or at the table in the mountain or in the valley in the wildernesse or in the fields on sea or by land in or out of thy countrey it is uncertain The manner whether by sword famine pestilence sicknesse heat cold hunger thirst racke rope by peace or warre by a naturall or violent death it is uncertain Of all these I might bring both exotick and domestick examples but I leave them to your daily reading and hearing of divine and profane histories Onely I inferre these uses upon the precedent doctrine by way of direction from the dead and consequently from these two dead corps lying before us Receive first then three directions upon the first point viz. The certainty of death The first direction is Vive memor lethi fugit hora Persius In thy life remember of thy death for thy houre slippeth Time is precious but short and this is a hard lesson Memento mori This was accustomed to be said to the Emperours in that great triumph at Rome Memento mori homo es mortalem te esse memineris Remember to die man thou art and remember that thou art mortall All these did follow Philip Alexander the greats father who commanded his chamberlain thrice every day to round the same sentence in his eares To this effect when the Egyptians did solemnize their natall dayes they had a dead scull upon their table to put them in minde of their mortalitie One Church-yard in Paris I remarked hath moe sculls then there are living heads in Scotland St. Jerome was wont to have in his studie before him a dead mans scull with a running glasse But alas such is our follie that scarcely can wee remember of death when wee see the same painted upon the mort-cloath wee may lose a legge to day an arme to morrow an eye the third day and these will not teach us to prepare our selves towards it Consumption in the lights a stone in the bladder the gout in our feet the palsie in our hands 2000 known sicknesses in our bodies to omit unknown for every member of our bodie is subject to diverse diseases will not advertise us Our house is ruinous but we cannot flit out of it Chance telleth us that death is latent infirmitie that it is patent old age that it is present as saith Hugo What for all this we cannot be enough admonished And this is it that Jerome findeth fault with Quotidie morimur quotidie commutamur tamen aeternos esse credimus We die daylie we are changed daily yet we think our selves eternall In the mean time in our most lively life we may perceive the verie print and footstep of death For we do see continually and hear the cryes of mothers for their children of spouses for their husbands of servants for their masters visitation of sick mediciners preachers in our houses at our bedheads all warning us that we are besieged by death The second direction is Fac hodie quod moriturus agas so lead thy life as if thou wert even now dying Every day that we live complaineth Anselmus wee come from our countrey to our banishment from the sight of God to darknesse from
flumina roscidasque ripas Formosi Ligeris libentiusque Fingo carmina manibus litandis O divine senex tuis dicata Nam nunquam mihi te silere fas est Totam qui meritis tuam beasti Dilectam patriam entheaeque linquis Mentis pignora docta rara diva Vt te dicere nemo posset unum Praeter te O niveae parens loquelae Parisiis prius edita Anno 1629. Cal. Sextileîs IN OBITUM VIRI COLENDISSIMI archiepischopi de civitate Academiâ ecclesiâ ibidem meritissimi Ad civitatem Glascuensem ALmaquid incedis funesto Glascua cultu Et faedata modis tristibus ora geris An quod vester amor vitâ jactatus acerbâ Praesul post longae taedia dura morae Suspiret potiore frui qui gaudia laetae Carpat innocuis concelebratajocis Sentiat ac purum divini numinis haustum Atque nová multùm luce triumphet ovans Nonquae sublimis transcendit culmina mundi Celsa triumphatrix mens modò plena deo Tangitur immodico luctu Quid inania vota Fundis divino vivitur arbitrio Illum flere nefas cujus pars optima vitae Nil aliud docuit quam didic isse mori Si mors dicenda est per quam prope numenamicuÌ„ Inque serenati degitur arce poli Ad Academiam Glascuensem doctos qui ad funus exornandum eò confluxerant AH prima coelicura virtutum parens Lumen juventae vividum Phoebi supellex dia nutrix artium Sedes honorum splendida Quid nunc jaces afflicta curis acribus Et mersa patris funere Praeluxit olim qui tibi nunc additus Caelo jubar fulget novum Lugesne ademptum coetibus mortalium Qui gaudet aulâ caelicá Nec non beatus totus plenus Deo Portum salutis appulit Ast heu miselli volvimur nos fluctibus A patriâ ostraprocul Non hic querelis mollibus non planctibus Vrgendus heros amplius Tradux olympi nam soluta ergastulo Mens fessa terrae ponderis Miscetur albo coelitum qui concinunt Laudes dicatas numini Quod gloriosâ luce perfusi vident Mirantur fixi stupent Non est quod ergo prosequaris Nenia Manes quietos praesulis O turba vatum quae pia in fletum fluis Moerente lessu personans Cunctis terenda est haec semel lethivia Nos proximi fato sumus Quos continenter distrahunt moeror pavor Et mortis atrae vulnera Donec peractâ fata quam cernent vice Clemens Deus nos uniat Qui gestiamus libero vero bono Per tota laeti secula Anno 1632. Nonas Novembris IN OBITUM VIRI INTEGERRIMI GVLIELMI BLARI Pastoris vigilantissimi fidissimique apud Britannodunenses POstquam pastores divos tot lumina mundi Condidit obscuro mors inimica peplo Tune etiam pie Blare jaces ereptus amicis Et comitom tantis nox dedit atra viris Heu rerum ingenium probitas doctrina pudorque Vnius hâc plagâ suneris icta cadunt Nec non pullato squalens ecclesia cultu Luget et hoc feretro triste levavit onus En nos quos sophiae junxit tibi sacra cupidâ— Coelestis tessu tangimur usque tuo Sed de siderium lachrymae gemitusque dolorque Nil prosunt nusquam conspiciendus aâ—es Hins noâ—â—eâ—tendi non tu qui laeta capessis Gaudia justitiae sole nitente mieans Nam certe in tenebris vitae vitiique stupore Degimus hoc aviturâ—â— misella hominum Aliud in Nobilissima ejus verba suavissimae consolationis plenissima QVale melos cantat sinuoso flumine Cygnus Instantis praeco funeris ipse sui Tale canis nuper dum coeli gaudia cernis Pendet ab ore pio lecta corona tuo Dumque Deo raptus contendis in aethera nisu Mox novus ex ipso sunere factus olor Laetus ut aeterno moduleris carmina plectro Quéis summi resonant fulgida tecta patris Vtque leves temnens curas vota gementûm In cassum vero jam potiare bono Anno 1632. pridie Cal. Decembris Viri Nobilissimi Domini Gulielmi Coninghami Glencarniae Comitis illustrissimi apotheosis O Te beatum luce fulgentem novâ Gemmantis instar sideris Vîxti soli lumen polo nunc adderis In templo amaeno lucido Plenus deo sublimior multo meae Venae faventis numine Quamvis calorem sentiam mox entheum Qui pandit alas ingeni Per cuncta rerum non potest attollier Meâ—s pressa vinclo corporis Quò tu volasti plurimum fretus Deo Heros stupendis ausibus Vltrà minaces spes metus omnes leves Vitae fugacis toedia Et degis heroum choro mixtus pio Caelesti raptus gloriâ Nec tu jacebis diutius terrae in specu Qui nos egenos excipit Eheu misellos patriá dulci procul Quid non piget nos exilî Vt te sequamur qui praeivisti lubens Pars illa nostri nobilis Ast tantulum salve vale nostri cape haec Desiderî nunc pignora Nonas Novemb. 1631. In obitum viri clarissimi Guilielmi Strutheri Ecclesiae primûm Glascuensis deinde Edinburgensis Pastoris fidissimi facundissimi FAcunde praeco melle quovis dulcior Aut melle si quid dulcius Qui me solebas poculis rorantibus Suadae potentis me gere Demergis eheu lach ymosi funeris Me fluctibus nunc obrutum Quam semper altis imminent virtutibus Parcae ferocis vuine a Quaesensit aevi lumen noster soli Nestor Britanni Bodius O quantus heros judicet Phoebus licet Toti canendus seculo Nulli secundus Camero aeternùm silet Nec sensa prudens eruet Caelestis almi conspicandi oraculi Mirante doctorum choro Succedis illis qui voves morti nihil Nam posthumae laudis satur Transmittis orbi scripta tot vivacia Quot nullus expunget dies Struthere claras qui colis divûm domos Vitâque gaudes caelicâ Felix perenni qui refulges otio Liber caduco tempore Qui terra tanti muneris compos fuit Cui vasta coeli machina Arridet ultrò cuique supremus favor Stellantis aulae militat Huc advolasti gloriae actus curribus Et vectus alis ingenî Sic functa fato redditur natalibus Mens nomen in terris manet Dum sol corusca luce diffundet jubar Caeleste cunctis siderum Volventur orbes laudibus cresces novis O fax futuri seculi Anno 1633. idus Decembr IN OBITUM JOANNIS ROSAE oratoris poetae Philosophi Theo logi eximii Pastoris Mechlimensis facundissimi O Coeligermen charitum flos veris ocelle Gloria musarum dulcis amice Rosa Carperis heu parcae funesto pollice nunquam Culmine Parnassi conspiciende Rosa Cunctis anteferende rosis quèis gaudet Hybla Saltus Idalius littus O Ebalium Etpraedives Arabs Paestiroscidatempe Atque Paphos Tmolus Gnosia terra Cilix Vtlicet aeterno jam decantere triumpho Mox vatum numeris concelebrande Rosa Luxerunt obitum Muse Suadela filesâ—it Vocalis mundae cui labra picta rosae Amissum queritur longê pulchrima Cypris Qui modo vernabat lumina bina Rosam Nec myrtus placuit divae nec vitis laccho Nec Pani pinus nec platanus genio Mellea nec quercus grataest devota Tonanti Nec lauro cinxit tempora Phoebus ovans Ex quo decideras lethali vulnere carptus Ah Rosa jam nobis raptus ante-diem AEgide non gestit Pallas ralaria nedum Interpres divûm nectere vuli pedibus Quippe diique deaeque omnes hoc funere maerent Quod tibi jam faciant debita justa Rosa Non compus bellus non flumina viva Lycet Non Jovis aurifluae plurimus imber aquae Non tristes lachrymae non Castalis unda supernê Fonte fluens liquido te refovere queunt Quô minus arescas Pimplaei gratiaruris Nec non Pierii sedula curae soli Numte lacteolo gestabit pectore Musa Amplius aut Phoebus candidiore sinâ—e Excipiet posthac certê melioribus horis Crescis ubi zephyrus lenia flabra movet Nec sentis calidos aestus nec frigora brumae Neveprocellosi flamina saeva noti O Rosa ter felix de quo vel Jupiter ipse Certet ardenti captus amore tui Qui te plantavit cognati semen Olympi Afflat ubi Ely siis aura beata rosis Quid multis Rosa non intermoriture perennas Clara tuae stirpis gloria rara poli Sit tibi perpetui veris sit floris origo Caelica sitque liquor dius odorquetibi EPITAPHIUM ROSAE ad viatorem Quid stupeas qui prata vides defesse viator Quod pereat nostri gratia tanta Rosae Namque rosâ nil est brevius properantius aevi Nil ut mane viret sole cadente perit Pulchralicet durat sugitivo tempore Nonne Nutrit vna dies tollit unarosam Haecque tuae formae species haec lucis imago Viva docet vitam sic properare tuam Vt qui pubescis primo nunc flore juventae Moximproviso curva senecta premat Sis niveâ rutilâque rosâter pulchrior ora Inficiet pallor funereusque color Anno 1634. idus Octobr. NINIANUS CAMPBELLUS The division The exposition The appointment of death The description of death Man the map of misery Generall doctrine All men must die Reason 1. Whatsoever hath naturall originall tendeth to dissolution Reason 2 Experience daily teacheth us the necessity we have to die Manil. Statius Reason 3 What God decreeth nothing can disanull Use 1 of instruction When God decreeth man ought not to repine Use 2 of consolation Death of friends to be entertained with patience Doct. 1. Deaths stroak is inevitable Use of admonition This life should be a preparation to the other Doct. 2 What must be oncedone necessarily should be done couragiously Use of exhortation Timely preparation surest provision Doct. 3. It is bootlesse to feare what wee cannot avoid Use of encouragment Death is an enlargement from thraldome a delivery from troubles Doct. Death is certain in uncertaintie Three directions touching the certainty of death Direct 1. In life remember death Direct 2. So live as thou wert presâ—ntly dying Horace Martialis Horace Direct 3 Look alwayes to thy end 3 Directions touching the uncertainty of death Direct 1 Thinke everyday thy last day Direct 2 What we expect somewhere let us wait for every where Direct 3. An uncertain death requires a prepared life The conclusion
he climbed up to the heavens The other was my dear honourable father who before his departure out of this mortall life delighted much in reading hearing meditating on this discourse and hoping that others should get instruction direction and consolation thereby commanded me to publish it So that I could not disobey him who was Gods instrument to bring me unto this world to train me up in the fear of the Lord and who both in and out of the country did prosecute me with his tender fatherly affection in my painful travels and dangerous expeditions for the golden fleece of vertue whose life was a clear mirrour of Christian charity yea above his power oftentimes which he did recommend to his children for the Lord blessed him with abundance to the end and in the end crowned his former favours with a pleasant and peaceable death which he oft craved at Gods hands and which was a matter of greater contentment to me then if he had left me heire of whole territories which with the rest of the toyes of this perishing world have but transitorie joyes like clouds rising in the morning but dissolving ere night without any memorie of them at all Neverthelesse honourable birth good education the patterne of worthy acts and the immortall fame of renowned ancestors either in church or policy communicated to the emulous posteritie for imitation is not the least portion of humane inheritance and he who follows their famous examples ingraven with letters of gold in chests of cedar or in tables of marble in the never-decaying temple of sacred memory he I say is not only in the way to worldly honour and preferment but also their footsteps lead him from grace to glorie which is the most precious purchase a Christian can acquire Without the which all is but dung and drosse for one drachme of goodnesse is better then a whole world of greatnesse even as a little pearle is of greater worth then a big rock of flint or as the sun is higher esteemed then the whole body of the firmament spangled with stars every one striving with another in beautie To be short then it is no inbred opinion of my self who am conscious of many infirmities in this body of death that maketh me to acquaint thee O Christian Reader with this funerall meditation which perhaps may live when I am dead In the mean time I wish it may teach thee me and other mortall men our Christian duety in this point rest with us familiarly at home warne us in our journey remember us of our present mortalitie guard us against our last enemie prepare us for that future immortalitie and full happinesse of soul and body conquered to us by the victorious death and meritorious passion of the only son of God our only Saviour In whom I rest ever Thine to power N. C. Ad Lectorem SI procul obscuri tenebris ab inertibus Orci Sit tibi propositum succinctae stamina vitae ' Ducere per virtutis iter dum fata diesque Suppeditant animam ne mors inopina labantem Auferat incauto neu formidabile Lethi Imperium quod cuncta domat terrorve sepulchri Vltricesve mali furiae aut quascunque sinistro Nox genuit faetu pestes quodve horridus Orcus Spirat inexhaustum flagranti pectore sulphur Solicitent miseram trepid â formidine mentem Huc ades en Campbellus opem tibi praebet anhelo Ante ferens gressus Vt quae velut orba carina Remige Jactatur variis impulsa procellis Fortunae instabilis tandem mens edita coelo Assuescat patriam paulatim agnoscere sedem Ille etenim ingenii nixus pernicibus alis Judicioque nitens memori quae docta vetustas Naturae ê tenebris hausit ratione sagaci Et quae sancta cohors patrum quos inclyta virtus Reddidit aeternos veriquoque fontibus hausta Mandavit scriptis quae ter maximus orbis Conditor indulsit divina oracula terris Hoc except a tulit tenui comprensa libello Ex quibus instructus triplici penetralia Ditis Agmine perrupit saevi mortisque ferocis Spicula contundens vinclis dare colla coêgit Qud tu magnanimo superat â morte volatu Aethereas subeas sedes lautaeque Deorum Accumbas mensae factus novus incola coeli PATRICIUS CAMPBELLUS A preface before the Sermon YE are all here conveened this day to performe the last Christian duties to a respected and worthy Baron with his honourable Lady who both have lived amongst you in this land and whose embalmed corps both yee now honour with your mourning presence and happy farewell to their grave I am here designed to put you all in minde by this premeditate speech that the next case shall be assuredly ours and perhaps when we think least of it Therefore that I may acquaint these who need information in this point with the nature and matter of such exhortations let them remember with me that there are two sorts of funer all sermons approved and authorized by our reformed churches in Europe The first whereof I call for orders sake Encomiastick or Scholastick because it is spent in the praise of the defunct and only used in schooles colledges academies and universities by the most learned And this is ordinarily enriched with pleasant varietie of strange languages lively lights of powerfull or atorie fertile inventions of alluring poesie great subtilties of solid Philosophie grave sentences of venerable fathers manifold examples of famous histories ancient customes of memorable peoples and nations and in a word with all the ornaments of humane wit learning eloquence Which howbeit I might borrow for a while yet I lay them down at the feet of Jesus and being sent hither not by man but by God whose interpreter and ambassadour I am I prefer before them the smooth words of Moses the stately of Esay the royall of David the wise of Salomon the eloquent of saint Paul and the ravishing of saint John with the rest of divine writers Gods pen-men out of whose inexhausted treasurie of heavenly consolation and saving knowledge I wish to be furnished with the secret preparation of the sanctuarie and to be accompanied with the full power and evidence of the spirit of my God For there is another second sort of funerall sermons which I call Ecclesiastick or popular viz. when the judicious and religious preacher only for the instruction and edification of the living frequently assembled at burials and earnestly desiring at such dolefull spectacles to be rejoyced in the spirit of their mindes taketh some convenient portion of scripture and handleth it with pietie discretion moderation to his private consolation the edification of his hearers and the exaltation of the most high name of God So that having no other ends but these three and taking God to be my witnesse that I abhor all religious or rather superstitious worship given to the dead and being naturally obliged to come here and oftentimes
judge in that great day of retribution and remuneration and hee cannot but looke upon thee with compassionate eyes seeing he is flesh of thy flesh and bone of thy bones and thy cause is his cause for he is thy advocate and intercessour daily 7. Object But the paines of hell which are unspeakable universall eternall are very fearfull and much affright me Answ That same Jesus thy redeemer as he made the grave his bed so hee keeps the keyes of hell and the gates thereof cannot prevail against thee To conclude then let us all resolve couragiously to attend death laying aside all fear ever hoping that the Lord shall be with us to the end and in the end Blessed shall we be if we die in him for so we shall rest from our labours and in death celebrate three solemnities First our birth day for wee shall revive Secondly our mariage day which shall be accomplished with Christ Thirdly our triumph day for through Christ we shall triumph over the world our own flesh sinne death the grave hell the devill principalities and powers whatsoever and receive that crowne of glory So that through Christ we are more then conquerours who saith I will redeem them from death O death I will be thy death O grave I will be thy destruction Hosea chap. 13. 14. Are wee gods in Christ let us not fear death Lethum non omnia finit Propertius Death puts not a period to all things I say more death maketh us endlesse Cicero affirmeth that after death hee shall bee immortall Horace that the best part of him shall live Ovid that the best part of him shall be carried above the starres The Egyptians Brachmanes Indians Thracians Persians Macedonians Arabians Americanes and all polished nations have consented to the immortalitie of the soule But here wee surpasse them that after death and resurrection our bodies shall live for ever This is an essentiall and fundamentall point of our belief THE SUBIECT Men once to die NOw let me speak of the subject of this assertion Man once to die It is not said in the originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to all men but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to men because indefinite propositions in matters necessary are universall The meaning is All men and women must once die Ovid Tendimus huc omnes we tend all to death and that once Horace saith very well Omnes eodem cogimur Omnes manet una nox calcanda semel via lethi This is a passage common to all and let it be so wee should live again wee must runne over the same race Catullus and Epictetus say That as our life is but one day so our death is but one night The doctrine upon the subject is this As there is nothing more certain then death so there is nothing more uncertain then the time place and manner thereof This doctrine hath two points I prove the first that there is nothing more certaine then death leaving the former reasons First from the word fatum which expresseth the nature of death so called a fando because the Lord hath spoken it his word is his work And seeing he hath uttered this sentence That all men must once die it cannot but come to passe So that there is a fatall infallible inexpugnable necessitant necessitie laid upon man once to die Man is tearmed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the end of all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nature perfected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a visible God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a compend of this great world and as the heavens and earth wax old and perish so he the resemblance of both must follow the patterne I confesse with Zoroaster and Trismegistus that he is an admirable piece of nature because both natures superior and inferior uncreated and created do meet in him And if these visible creatures bee as so many scales to climbe to that invisible Creator man must be one of the most curious steps of that ladder If we look within the intrals of the earth we may see there rich mines of silver gold and precious stones If we behold the face of it we shall finde there such a varietie of herbs flowers fruits trees creatures which may breed admiration in the dullest spirits And is the sea lesse admirable by reason of the flux and reflux thereof the quantitie of fishes and monsters therein nourished And is the aire any thing inferior to these two full of fowles clouds raines snow haile lightnings thunder and innumerable meteors But when wee lift up our eyes to the astonishing vault of heaven whose curtaines are spread over these enlightned with the sunne and moone and twinkling stars with their towres retowres aspects effects influences we cannot but be ravished with a more singular and divine contemplation Yet here is a greater wonder that all these things are abridged in thee O man of seven foot-length And as the world is a book in the which God may be read in capitall letters so both the world and God may by the most ignorant easilie be read in thee as in a written table seene in thee as in a clear glasse Thy flesh represents the dust thy bones the rockes thy liver the sea thy veines rivers thy breath the aire thy naturall heat the fire thy head the heavens thy eyes the stars thy joynts moving so actively sinnews stirring so nimbly senses working so quickly like the secret resorts of nature But I pray thee enter within thy inward parts so excellent thy spirit so supernatuall thy reason so divine thy appetite so infinite thy soule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the engraven image of God thou maist justly say that thou art ultimus naturae foetus the last essay and effort of nature and the theater whereupon God may be seene with mortall eyes representing the foure corners of the world thy face the east thy back the west thy right side the south thy left the north And whereas other creatures have their countenance downward towards their naturall mother the earth thine are upward toward thy spirituall father God that thou mayest raise thy self from all earthly vanitie to a serious contemplation of the divinitie wherein are placed thy unchangeable comfort thy unspeakable contentment thy unconceivable felicitie Whence I inferre this Whatsoever of us is like to the creature must die but that which hath received the indeleble character of God is perpetuall So that our souls are immortall our bodies are vassals and slaves of death in which respect wee are all said to die And that this doctrine may bee the more clear I shall prove it in the second place by way of induction Look to the vertues the stout as well as the rash or the coward the temperate as well as the untemperate or stupid the liberall as well as the prodigall or avaricious the magnificent as well as the niggard or vainglorious the magnanimous as well as the proud or pusilanimous the modest as well as the ambitious or base