Selected quad for the lemma: death_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
death_n	body_n	great_a	life_n	7,136	5	4.2263	3	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A40392	A sermon at the funeral of the High & Mighty Prince, Henry de La Tour d'Auvergne, Vicount of Turenne ... preach'd December 15, 1675 / by Claude Francis, Ministrier ; Englished out of French.	Menestrier, Claude François, 1631-1705.	1677 (1677)	Wing F2073; ESTC R16802	14,219	34

of Armies that made a fortunate or unfortunate Success to attend it Will ye not say Gentlemen that I speak the Elogium rather of a Saint than of a Prince or a General of an Army But what will ye say when I add that all this is but a shadow of his Christian Virtues and that this Piety which was the Soul and Principle of all his Actions was the pure effect of his own natural disposition Before that he was sensible of the impressions of Grace he acted thus We can very rarely observe in the world persons advanc'd above others whether by Fortune or their own Merit to be generally beloved till that they are dead As if there was a necessity to cease to be or else to be unfortunate for to avoid the aspersions of Envy Nevertheless we may say that Monsieur de Turenne has conquer'd even Envy it self in the last part of his Life His Glory was mounted to so high a pitch that one might compare it to the Sun which when at the highest hardly leaves any shadow upon the Earth He was the object of the Esteem of the Love and of the Veneration of all Europe He was lookt upon as the Prodigy and the Wonder of his Age. Every body seem'd transported when they talk'd of the greatness of his Genius his Labours his Exploits his wonderful Successes and his wise Conduct The Princes both of Germany and Italy coveted his Picture and Travellers that came amongst us went home satisfied when they had seen that great man Who can sufficiently express that ardent zeal with which he burn'd for the interest of Religion In the midst of his Victories he would be thinking of the Conquests of Faith he form'd the Models and the Designs of it he employed for that purpose all his Estate Care and Credit This man in whom the whole State repos'd the care of their Frontiers and the publick safety was as industrious in promoting the progress of Faith and Religion as in advancing the progress of his Masters Arms. Shall I be afraid after this to say that we have not seen more zealous or more pure Faith in Israel I mean not at Court where 't is rare to meet with that sincere submission to the light of the Gospel I mean not in Armies where Piety does so seldom appear I mean in the Sanctuary amongst the most Holy and Religious Souls Matth. 8. Amen dico vobis non inveni tantam fidem in Israel And Gentlemen if the Son of God hath thought the Faith of a Captain a fit Subject for his Elogiums and Admirations sure we have no reason then to refuse the paying of the just tribute of Praise to the Piety and Zeal of Monsieur de Turenne which is the only recompence that he can receive from us The Reputation and Glory of his Arms never made him forget his Duty to God He worshipped him as the only Author of his Triumphs and duly every Morning offered to him his Spirit and his Heart as the Victims of his Faith and Obedience The Sacrifices of the Spirit and the Heart are the most agreeable Sacrifices that we can make to the Almighty We discharge our selves of these Duties by Faith and Religion Faith is the Sacrifice of the Spirit and Piety the Sacrifice of the Heart and if one of these Sacrifices be a sincere resignation of our Spirit to the Spirit of God who is the Soveraign Understanding and the primitive Truth the other is a voluntary offering of all the Motions of our heart to the orders of his Providence 'T is to the Piety and to the Faith of Monsieur de Turenne that we owe these great Successes which so many persons have attributed to his Valour and his prudent Conduct Exod. 27. He was at the same time both the Moyses and the Joshua of his Army he both charged the Enemy in the Field and pray'd to Heaven too to bless his party with Victory One might say of his Camp as of those Heavenly Troops which came to the succor of Jacob that 't was the Camp of God Castra Dei sunt bec Gen. 32.2 for he had purged his Army of those Debaucheries that are committed in others and had established there a due Worship and publick Prayers He was in his Tent as those ancient Patriarchs who encamping under their Pavilions look'd upon this Life but as a place of passage which they were always ready to leave In the midst of his Victories and his greatest Successes he would be vehemently desiring of Heaven and solitary in his Tent after that he had given his Orders for the securing his Camp he in the midst of the noise of his Army would be making of his inward peace and conversing with the Almighty 'T is thou alone Great God! that canst effect in the World such surprizing Prodigies They are the effects of thy Grace and thy Mercy Christus milites suos quos in personam Ducis attollit inter acies quaerit Ennod orat dicenda Maximo Thou selects Souls brought up in the tumults of War to make them patterns of Virtue and Holiness Thy Goodness makes them sensible of the Divine beams of Grace to confound the dissolute Notions of those who think War and Piety to be inconsistent This man who always liv'd at Court and in Armies where Virtue is so little acquainted and holy matters so much slighted did die the best of Christians 'T is the thought of this Gentlemen which removes all our fears Though his Death was sudden yet he was not unprovided and I may say of him what the Divine Apostle said of an ancient Patriarch who was snatch'd away in a Whirlwind Gen. 5. that his Conscience and his Piety bore him witness that he was acceptable to God Ante translationem enim testimonium habuit placuisse Deo Ad Heb. 11. But how can a man keep from shedding of tears at the remembrance of so direful a death Our Hero now ceases to be and there remains with us nothing but empty Ashes and a Name pleasing in our Ears Glory Grandeur Authority Esteem Reputation are ye all so inconsiderable as not to be able to prevent Heroes from dying like the most vulgar sort of men Methinks Gentlemen this is the Fatal Moment that we receiv'd the News of the Death of that great man The Consternation then was universal and our Grief was a long while before it had power to break its silence and open a passage for our Sighs The general Astonishment which such doleful Tidings did disperse throughout all France made us sensible of the greatness of our loss before we had leisure to think of the mischievous Consequences it might make us dread The tears of the whole Army the cries and mourning of the Souldiers and the concern they shew'd to revenge his death though at the expence of their own lives did sufficiently demonstrate that they had lost their Father as well as their General Ye sad but

glorious Remains of that great man Ashes of his Body half burnt with that Thunderbolt which snatcht him from amongst his Triumphs go ye and receive the last Honours and the just Marks of the grief of the esteem and of the sense of the greatest of Kings The Tomb which is to enclose you what glorious Titles does it bear of so many brave Actions Go and divide this Honour amongst those great Captains whom Valour Alphonse de Brenne Bertrand du Queseline Lewis de Sancerre Lewis de Evereux Arnaud de Barbaran Guillaume du Chastel buried at S. Denis Wisdom and Piety did so much distinguish in their Life-times that they remain yet distinguished since their Deaths by those proud Monuments which the Magnificence of our Monarchs has caus'd to be erected for them in the Temple appointed for the Burial of Kings But Gentlemen might not this Prince hope for a more solid recompence of his Labours than the Glory of a vain Tomb So many wonderful Actions are they not able to procure him a further advantage than a cold Marble deck'd with the Adornments of Vanity Then he might say with the most afflicted and the wisest of Kings that nothing would remain of him but a Magnifick Silence a vain Ostentation of Elogiums and Specious Titles to cover the emptiness of his Tomb. Job 3.14 Dormiens silerem somno meo requiescerem cum Regibus Consulibus Terrae qui aedificant sibi Solitudines They are but Solitudes that the Powers of the Earth build in erecting of Tombs since that their Glory and Grandeur accompany not the Persons and there remains nothing of them but dumb Shadows Monsieur de Turenne has thought of a more solid Glory He entred so often into the bosom of Eternity in his wise reflections he was so often rais'd above the pitch of those foolish Idea's with which vain men are pleas'd that I date to say that his Soul has acquir'd an eternal happiness by the Innocence of his Life and the Holiness of his Manners He might have lived longer for the Glory of France for the Repose of the People for the Reputation of our Arms and for the Security of our Frontiers But what could he have added to his own Glory Go then Generous Soul go and enjoy that profound peace which you have so vehemently desired You have sought it already in the midst of the great successes of a Campagne so glorious and you have made haste to secure the repose of France that you might entirely apply your self to the thoughts of Eternity in the peaceable repose of a more quiet Life Pretiosa Mors haec quae emit immortalitatem pretio sanguinis Cypr. Epist 9. But in the very instant that your wishes were upon being perfectly fulfill'd you met with Death in the bosom of Glory Our Enemies themselves did commend you at the same time that we lamented you Both Rome and Vienna paid you the Devoirs of Esteem and Piety when Paris rendred you the Devoirs of their Acknowledgments Our Churches Quam opinionem nemo unquam mortalium assequi potuit sine eximia virtutis gloria Aug. l. 3. De Civ Dei c. 15. our Sanctuaries the Tribunals of Justice the Circles the Academies and the Publick Oratories have rung with your Praises both Prose and Verse have consecrated the remembrance of your glorious Actions in all the polite Languages They have said the very same things of you throughout all Europe as have been said throughout all France From the moment of his Death all our Joys have been changed into Torrents of Tears our publick Acclamations into a sorrowful Silence and our Songs of Victory and Triumph into most lamentable Sighs To conclude the People have mourn'd and the King Himself hath shed tears and that incomparable Monarch did make the best Elogium that could be made of your Glory when he publickly said that we had lost the wisest Captain and the Chief man in this Age. Flevit omnis Populus plangénsque Rex lugens ait Nequaquam ut mori solent ignavi mortuus est Num ignoratis quoniam Princeps Maximus cecidit Not being able to add to this Elogy which has proceeded from the mouth of Two great Kings I hold my peace and leave to History the care of making the Panegyrick and communicating to Posterity the Wonders of this Heroe FINIS