of great joy and a multitude of the heavenly host joyned with him in a joyfull praising of God Glory be to God on high c. then Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seene thy Salvation After againe when Iohn Baptist had prepared the way and wone Disciples to Christ how rejoyced they at the sight of the Lamb of God Andrew to his brother Simon we have found the Messias and Philip to Nathaniel we have found him of whom Moses and the Prophets did write Both Iohn and Christ himselfe for the increase of their joy that heard them made this the summe of their preaching Repent for the Kingdome of God is at hand yet to bring it now home to our purpose all this was but the Kingdome of grace and if when that was at hand there was cause of so great joy as indeed there was then how much greater cause is there when the Kingdome of GLORIE is at hand and even come unto us how great joy and happinesse must there needs bee The truth is every mans death is suiting to his life if he be blessed in his life he is more so in his death which followes a good life In a word if thou shrink and draw back at the thought of thy death which is a common infirmity Tantam habet vim carnis animae dulce consortium of so great force in the sweet society betweene the body and the soule in case it be thus with thee it is because death comes not into thy frequent cogitations because thou diest not daily because thou receivest not the sentence of death in thy selfe Mortem effice familiarem saith Seneca ut si ita sors tulerit possis illi obviam ire be well acquainted with death that when he comes thou maist meet him as a friend and entertaine him with joy Facilè contemnit omnia qui semper cogitat se esse moriturum saith S. Ierom hee that continually thinkes of death easily tramples upon whatsoever may dismay him Or it is for that thou hast not yet learned of Saint Chrysostome Offeramus Deo promunere quod pro debito tenemur reddere be free in offering up thy selfe to God as a gift which wee are bound to yeeld to him as a debt Or because thy life hath beene vitious Mala mors putanda non est saith Saint Austin quam bona vita preces sit that death may not be counted evill which is foregon by a good life Thou art loth to die wherefore thou hast lived ill and so art unprepared for death know that the reason of this want of preparation is because thou art not throughly perswaded and resolved that thou shalt die nor dost truly beleeve it hap'ly thou canst say from a generall swimming thought of death that we are all mortall or the like but a firme and constant beleefe of it is farre from thee for otherwise thou wouldest live in continuall expectation of thy dissolution and prepare thy selfe for that day that houre knowing that then instantly thou art brought to judgement If newes be brought to a City that the enemie is comming against it and ready to besiege it shall we thinke they beleeve it when they make no preparation for defence Quotidiè morimur quotidie mutamur tamen aeternos nos esse credimus saith Saint Ierom we die daily and every day are we changed and yet we dreame of eternity even here in this life Or hap'ly the reason of thy feare of death is thou art fast glued to thy earthly portion thy riches thy pleasures thy honours thy friends Shake hand at least in contentment with these and all will bee well forsake them now while thou livest and then thou canst not in regard of them thinke death thine enemie or that it takes either thee from them or them from thee if thou have thy treasure in Heaven there thy heart will be and from thy heart and treasure thou wilt not be contentedly but wilt love and embrace the messenger and guide which conducts thee to them namely thy death But will some man say how can there bee happinesse in that which all men yea all the other creatures doe shunne for they all naturally desire to preserve their estate of being what they are and by all meanes avoid their being dissolved I answer first Death and dissolution is two waies to be considered either simply as it is an abolishing of a present estate or as it is a passage to a future better condition as it is the former naturally it is abhor'd but as it tends to perfection it is both in it selfe desirable and by the creatures desired and longed for before it comes and when it presents it selfe right welcome and embraced so was it by th' Apostle Phil. 1. 23 he desired to depart or as some translate it to be dissolved Why not in respect of death it selfe but because by this death he should passe to a better life he should live with Christ hee should bee deliver'd from his claiey house as that word dissolved imports or dismissed as Beza reads it and our newest translation that is set free from imprisonment in the body and from the miseries of this life and hence it is that the Apostle there professes that he shall gaine by death ver 21. he shall gaine Christ by it enjoy him fully and with him glory even the crowne which he aspires unto 2 Tim. 4. hence it is also that death is longed for and earnestly groned after as 2 Cor. 5. neither is this true which hath beene said onely of the faithfull among men but of the other creatures also with earnest expectation they grone and travaile in paine for the day of their renovation Rom. 8. 19 22. So then it is plaine that death though it be not simply and in it selfe good and desirable yet for that which commeth of it it is And this may be further manifested by similitudes with which the same Apostle doth furnish us First in the place afore-named 2 Cor. 5. 1. the body our earthly mansion is compared to a tabercacle a weake and moveable house or dwelling our heavenly habitation to a firme building not made with hands but eternall in the heavens and 1 Cor. 15. our interred bodies are likened to the seed which is cast into the ground and is there corrupted and dies I will apply these comparisons to our present purpose True indeed an old weake decayed house is not in this happy that it is taken downe better to be in that meane estate in which it was before then not at all to be but herein consists the happinesse of its demolishment that thereby it becomes a new faire building farre more glorious in it selfe and more profitable for use then before So againe the seed is not in that happy that it is corrupted and rotted in the earth but that corruptio unius is
not the body page 131. Death opens heaven gates page 132. Death brings happinesse page 134. Death is suiting to a mans life p. 137. Death why unwelcome p 137. Death imbittered by an ill life p. 138. Death imbittered by love of this world p. 140 Death how abhorrâ—…d and how desired p 141 Death a pulling downe of a tabernacle p. 143 Death as the corruption of seed page 144. Deaths curse removed p. 146. Death of infants causes of it p. 142. Death causes of it in child-hood p. 154. Death causes of iâ—… in Man-age p 154. Diseases befall all p. 1â—…0 Distemper of former ages makes Old-Age the neerer to death p. 151. Discontentednesse at ones estate page 7. Discomforts are no disparagement to Old-Age pageâ—…7 â—…7 Drunkennesse and uncleanenesse seldome severed p 79. E Experience a good teacher page 24. Evill of former ages followes Old-Age page 155. F Fabius Maximus Augur 6â—… yeares p 16. To order Families Old-Age the fittest p 42 Families Old-men worthy governours of them â—… 45. G Gadera a City in Spaine dedicated to Old-Age p 18â—… Georgius Leontinus had nothing to accuse Old-Age pâ—… â—… Glory of man wherein it consisteth p. 11. Good the object of pleasure p. 59. The Kingdome of Grace brings joy p. 135. Grace by growth gets strength p. 175. The Grave as a Gold-smiths forge p. 145. Good things must be communicated p. 205. H Health dangerous p. 12â—… Health common to beasts p. 1â—… House how best built up p. 122. I Imployment Old-Age makes not unfit for it page 10. Greatest Imployments elder yeares best fitted for page 12. Infirmity what it is page 86. Infirmity of child hood page 99. Infirmity of young-men page 95. Infants infirmities page 86. Infants come into the world crying p. 89. Infants how first handled p. 90. Infants deatli causes of it p. 152. L Lawfull things in danger let go p. 77. Learning increaseth by age p 26. True Learning what it is p 40. Liberty abused by youth p. 96. An ill Life imbitters death p. 138. Life uncertaine p. 151. M. Man age when it begins p. 103. Man-age in evill irremoveable p 103. Man age aspires high p 104. Man age prone to wrong p 105. Causes of death in Man-age p. 154. Mans glory wherein it consisteth p 21. Massarissa went bare-head and bare-foot at 90 yeares age p. 16. Matter of Meditation p 187. Meditation on Gods mercies a sinners cordiall p 194. Meditation Old-age fittest for it p. 195. Middle-age must redeeme the time p. 204. Minds abilities the best p 19. Most good done by the Mind p. 23. Ornaments of the Mind p. 162. Ministers work a weighty task p. 34. Ministers compared to Shepheards Builders Husband-men Watch-men Stewards Embassadours p 3â—… c. Monks of old p 190. Mothers care over children p. 94. N In what cases children may bee put out to Nurse p. 152. O Old-age what it is p 2. Old-age hath the best opportunities for wisdome p. 24. Old-ages defects most in the body p. 27. Old-age fittest for writing p. 40. Old-age fittest for ordering of Families p. 42 Spirituall pleasure most proper to Old-age p. 69. It is a glory to Old age that it takes off from pleasures p. 80. Old-age works joy in the want of pleasure p. 80 Old-age not to bee blamed with personall vices p. 109. Old-age hath experience p 124 172. Other ages as liable to death as Old-age p. 147. Every age hath a more certaine period then Old-age p 150. Distemper of former ages makes Old-age the neerer to death p 151. Evill of former ages followes Old-age p. 155 All priviledges meet in Old-age 162. Old-ages externall priviledges p. 164. Discomforts are no disparagements to Old-age p 167. Old-age an helpe to grace p. 169. Old-age hath best meanes for grace p. 170. The Old age of the World had great mysteries p 173. Old-age honourable p. 179. Great things done by Old-men p 13. Old age hath least disturbance p 194. Old age fittest for meditation p. 195. Old age most calls for repentance p. â—…09 Old-men must thinke of their former failings p. 208. Old-mens abilities in the graces of the mind p. 19. Old men of best use in peace p. 29. Old-men best Generalls in warre page 31. Old-men best counsellors for warre p. 32. Old men not so fit for the Pulpit as young page 37. Old men worthy Governors of families p 45 Old-men best furnished for writing p 41. Old-men fittest to cast up their accounts p 48 Old-men best apprehend Gods promises p. 49 Old mens motion to heaven the strongest p. â—…0 Old-mens care for others good p. 106. Old-men best use wealth p. 108. Old-men not covetous p. 110. The ground of Old-mens parsimony p. 111. Old-men warre p. 112. Old-men long for better times p. 112. Old-men why hard to please p. 113. Old-men praisers of former times p. 113. Old-men just reprovers p. 113. Old-men most think of their former failings page 208. Old men see how former yeares might have beene better imployed p. 203. Old-men must looke backe to their former passages p. 206. Old servant not cast of by God p. 49. Old servants respected by God p. 178. P Parents must well season children p. 198. In Peace old men of best use p. 29. Times of Peace fittest for Gods house p. 193 The old Patriarks advantage p. 175. Physick wherein usefull p. 118. Plato died with his pen in his hand at 81. yeares of age p. 16. Pleasure what it is p. 59. Pleasure the object of it is good p. 59. False Pleasure p. 60. Worldly Pleasures p 62. Worldly Pleasures how good p. 62. Pleasures are good only to the faithfull p 64 Pleasures corporall and spirituall how differenced p. 64 c. Pleasures spirituall most proper to Old-age page 69. Pleasure corporall want of it no great disadvantage p. 70. Pleasure corporall the vanity of it p. 70 c. Pleasures corporall dangerous p 74. Pleasures corporall can hardly be well used pag. 75. Pleasures make brutish p. 7â—… Pleasures are dangerous guests p. 81 c. Pleasures bodily lost recompensed with spirituall joyes p. 83. Prayer excellencies of it p. 184. Preaching the chiefest Ministeriall function page 38. Preaching by pen p. 38. The Pen goes further then the voice p. 39. Promises of God best apprehended by old men p 43. Q Quiet acceptable to old age p. 56. R Retirednesse a priviledge p. 184. S Old Servants not cast off by God p 49. Old Servants respected by God p. 178. Sicknesse whence it came p. 115. Sicknesse by sin p. 119. Sicknesse the benefits of it p. 120. Sicknesse no disgrace p 122. Solitarinesse sweetnesse of it p. 191. Sophocles wrote Tragedies in his dotage page 16. Soules excellency p. 19. Spirituall Pleasures See Pleasures Bodily Strength dangerous p 99. In bodily Strength nor all nor the best actions p. 23. T Testimonies humane how to be used p. 2. Time commonly too much mispent p. 55. Time losse of it worse in younger than in elder yeares
24. o Eccles. 9. 10. p Col. 4. 5. Every age hath proper imploymeÌ„ts God laies no more on any age then what its able to beare q Numb 8 25. r Senec. de brev vitae cap. 20. â—… Proper â—… 25. Time coÌ„monly too much mispent t Senec ad Lucil. Epist 1. u Senec de brev vitae c. 3. Quiet acceptable to old-age x Francisc. Petrar Losse of time vvorse in younger then in elder yeares What pleasure â—… Good is the object of pleasure False pleasures a Cit. 2. de finib Worldly pleasures How worldly pleasures are good b Psal 104 15. c Eccles. 3. â—… d â—…h v. 5. Pleasures are good onely to the faithfull â—… Tim 1. 4. f Psal. 32. 1â—… g Isa 57. 21. DiffereÌ„ces beâ—…wixt corporall and spirituall pleasures 1 In measure â—… In pedigree Psal 4. 6. 3 In satisfaction 4 In season h Eccle. 1. Psa â—…2 5. k 1 Cor. 9. ult l Luk. 16. 5 In stablenesse n Pro. 15. 15. 6 In Purity Spirituall pleasures most proper to old age o 2 Cor. 5. 4. Want of corporall pleasure is no great disadvantage The vanity of corporall pleasure p Cic 2. de finib q Boet. lib. 3. de consolat r Cic de oratore s Senec Epist 28. t Idem Epist 51. u Ethic. lib. 7. c. 11. Corporall pleasures dangerous x Gal. 6. 14 y Adsanct Bapt. z Pro. 27 6. a Luk. 8. 14. b â—… Tim 3. 4. c Heb. 11. 15. Corporal pleasures can hardly be well uâ—… sed AfflictioÌ„s to weane us from pleasures Lawfull things in danger let goe d 1 Cor. 6. 12. Drunkennes uncleannesse seldome severed In Tit. c. 1. Pleasures make brutish It is a glory to Old-age that it takes off from pleasure f Cic. deSe nect g Sâ—…nec Epist 12. h Idem Epist 67. Old age works joy in the waÌ„t of pleasures i 1 Cor. 7. 29 30. Pleasures are dangerous guests k Prov. 31. 30. l Job 31. m Prov. 25. 16. n Eccl. 15. 1. o Eccle. 12 Losse of bodily pleasures recompenced in spirituall joy Infirmity what it is Infants infirmities p In procem lib â—… nat hist. q Psal. 71. 6. Infants come into the world crying Infants how first handled r Eccl 7. 2 Infirmity of childehood s Reddere qui voces 〈◊〉 puer pe de certo sig rat humuÌ„ Horaâ—… de Arte Poet The yoke of childreÌ„ CorrectioÌ„ of childreÌ„ t Prov. 13. 34. u Prov. 22. 15. x Prov. 23 14. Mothers care over children â—… Pro. 23. 13. Infirmitie of young-men z Horst in Arte Poet a Tandem custâ—…de re moto gaudet equis canibusque c. Ibid. Liberty a bused by youth b Cereus in vitium slecti Ibid. Youth ea sâ—…ly seduced Youth scornes counsell c Monitoriâ—… asper Youth improvident and prodigall d Utiliuâ—… tardus provisor prodigus aeris Ibid. e Sublimis cupidusque Youth variable f â—…mata relinquere pernix Ib. Youth like a ship Bodily strength daÌ„gerous Youth secure g De interiâ—…re domâ—… cap. 46. h Greg pastâ—…ral par 3. c. 13. Youth most op posite to Old-age i Ovid. Metamorph lib. 1. Youth hath most need of reformation Mans age when it begins Mans age in evill immoveable Man-age aspires high k Quaerit â—…pes a micitias inservit â—…onori Horat Ibid. Mans-age proâ—…e to wrong l Dum vitant stulâ—…i vitia iâ—…oÌ„traria currunt Et a libi In vitium ducit culpae â—…uga â—…i caret arte Hora Old-meâ—… care for â—… ther 's goâ—… m Quaeri inve t is â—…ise abstinet timet â—… ubi supra n Mâ—…naÌ„der Old-men best use wealth Old-age not to bee blamed with personall vices o Psa. 113. p Cato major apud Ciâ—… de senectute Old-men not covetous The ground of Old-mens parsimoÌ„y q Dio. Cyn Old-men warie r Res omnes timide gelideque ministrat ubisupra s Arist. in Rhetor. Old-men long for better times t Avidusque futuri Why Old-men hard to please u Difficilis Ibid. Old-men praisers of former times x Laudator teÌ„poris acti se puerâ—… Ibid. Old-men just reprovers y Censor castigatorque minoruÌ„ Ibid. z Tum pietate graveÌ„ aut meritiâ—… fi forte virum quem coÌ„spexere silent c. Uirg in Aeneid Sicknesse whence it came a Super Gen. ad lit b Euripides Physicke wherein usefull c Lib. de constitut artis medicae d 2 Cor. 5. 1 e 1 Cor. 15 36. Sicknesse by sinne Benefits of sicknes Health dangerous Nâ—… quaÌ„ pej uâ—… quaÌ„ in sano cor pore aeger animue habitat Pet. lib. 1. dial 4. Health coÌ„ mon to beasts Sicknes no disgrace g Lib. 7. c. 50. Old-age hath experience Propinquity of death objected against Old age What makes death most grievous to good men MeÌ„s rashness in speaking against death h Luk. 14. 31. Death wherein terrible Remedy against death i Heb. 2. 14 k 1 Cor. 15 l Col. 2. 14 m Ro. 8 35 n Heb. 2. 15. Death a blessing o Rev. 14. 13. Corruption the way to generation The body not destroyed by death p in Gen. Cap. 1. Hom. â—…5 Death opens Heaven gates q Cie lib. 5. Tuse quest â—… Epist. 84. r Sup Iob. Death brings happinesse s Psal. 16. ult The kingdome of grace brings ioy By death life t De gratia novi Test. Why death unwelcome u 1 Cor. 15. 31. x 2 Cor. 1. 9. y In Epist. ad PauluÌ„ z Sup. Mat 10. Death embittered by an ill life a De Civitate Dei b In Epist. ad Heliod Death embittered by love of this world How death abhorred and how desired Death a pulling downe of a Tabernacle Death as the corruption of seed The grave as a Goldsmiths forge c 1 Cor. 3. 22. d In Cantio Serm. 51. Deaths curse removed Other ages as liable to death as Old-age e Hugo de Claustro Casualties befall all ages Deseases befall all Every age hath a more certaine period then Old-Age f Tho. 4 Sent. distinct 43. artic 3. g In epist. quadam No certainty of life Distemper of former agesmakes Old-Age the nearer to death Causes of infants death In what cases children may be put out to nurse Causes of death in childhood Causes of death in man-age Evill of former ages follow Old-Age h Ita â—…st non accepimus bre vem vitaÌ„ sed secimus non exiguum tempus habemus sed mulium perdimus necinoses ejus sed prodigi sumus De brevitate vitae i Ioseph de bello Iudâ—…ico lib. 2 cap. 7. k Iob. 5. 26. l Psal. â—… 5. â—…lt m Gen. 15 15. n Gen 35. 29 o Gen 47. â—…8 p Psal. 3â—… â—…lt q Psal. 71. 18. r Gen. 27. 33. s Prov 3. 16. t Iâ—… Hexam lib. 1. All priviledges meet in Old-Age OrnameÌ„ts of mind 1 Knowledge â—… Wisedome 3 Prudence â—… Courage 5 Patience 6 Constancy a Heb 5. â—…lt Externall priviledges of Old-Age Resemblances betwixt the seasons of the yeare and ages of man Fit Sâ—…mi liâ—…s Discomforts are no disparagements to Old-Age Old-Age an helpe to grace Fit time and place must bee for every thing Old-Age hath best meanes for grace Old Age hath experience b Iâ—…a Seges demil votâ—… respondet avari Agricolae bis quae solem bis frigora sensit Virg in Georg c Ier. 4 4. The Old-Age of the world had greatest mysteries d Gal. 4. The Apostles most excellent in their elder yeares The old Patriarks advantage Grace by growth gets strength e 1 Pet. 1. f 1 Cor. 13 11. g Mat. 13. 31. Old servants respected by God Old-Age honourable h Eccl. 7. 3 i Pro. 22. 1 k Prov. 16. 31. l Phocid Retirednesse a priviledge Excellencies of prayer Contemplation commended m Tho. 22. quest 180. artic 3. n Plato o Arist. moral lib. 10. Matter of meditation p Esa. 38. 3. Contemplation sweet Monkes of old Sweetnes of Solitatinesse q Tho. 20. 21. quest 188. artic 8. r Tho â—… 2 quest 172 artic 1. Contemplation an Old-mans joy Times of peace fit test for Gods house Old-Age hath least disturbance s Arist. Ethic. lib. â—…0 cap 7. Meditation on Gods mercies is a sinners cordiall Old-age fittest for meditation Children happy if well seasoned t 2 Tim. 3 15. u 1 Pet. 2. x Pro. â—…1 â—… Parents must well season children Youth must pluck out weeds growne in childhood Youth needs great circumspection y Ambros de viduis lib. 1. Hieron ad Nepot Carelesse young-meÌ„ worse then beasts a Terent. in Adelph Care in youth benefits future ages Old men see how former yeares might have been better imployed Youths fault to scorne Old-Age Youth must hearken to Old-men b In Epist. ad August c Lib. de ordine vitae Young men must be conversant with Old-men Middle-age must redeeme the time Good things must be communicated Old-men must look back to their former passages Old men must think of their former failings d Heb. 12. 13. e 2 Cor 6. 2. f Luk. 19. 42. Old-Age most calls for repentance
or later overcome by them During the time of mans innocency the great Creator so temper'd the contrary qualities of the elements of which his body consisted that they were not as since at strife among themselves but when man had sinned that way might be made to the execution of the sentence of death God drew backe his hand and left them to their naturall worke in seeking their mutuall destruction And by that meanes now as one saith vivere morâ—… est our living is a dying While we live and by living we come every day neerer and neerer to our dissolution This is now the weake estate of our earthly tabernacle to which the art of Physicke in diet and medicines may be as a prop to a decayed and tottering house but comes farre short of restoring it to the originall perfection in the creation Physick sayes Galen is an art of repairing not of building No this certainely requires the same hand which made man at the first and the way which God the Creator and recreator will take in it he hath plainely expressed in his word It is by demolishing in his time this decayed and daily decaying house and setting up a new The earthly house of this our weake Tabernacle must first be destroyed that we may have a building given of God not made with handes but eternall in the Heavens As the seed that is cast into the ground first dies and then is quickned so our bodies at the resurrection This corruptible shall then put on incorruption and this mortall immortality Perfect health man had but by his sinne he lost it Perfect health he shall recover but the way to it is death and the way to death is sicknesse and as the sting of death is sinne so the evill of sicknesse is sinne likewise and that not onely as the meriting cause but also as the thing to be prevented by it Would we alwaies live in health We know not our selves God that is better acquainted with our estate and condition sees that of all afflictions this of sicknesse is most beneficiall unto us and most necessary The reasons to note some of them may bee these The first to make us looke backe to see from whence we are fallen and why Another because other afflictions are not so direct premonitions of death which should be the meditation of our whole life A third for that this correction doth not onely minde us of our sinnes past and upbraid us with them that wee may repent but serves also for a curb or restraint to hold us in from rushing into the world of enormities and sinnes to which our corrupt and unbridled nature otherwise would carry us head-long for by sicknesse the flesh which rebels against the spirit is weakened and more easily observes that precept of not suffering sinne to reigne in our mortall bodies Fourthly health of body is an occasion of many evills especially when the soule is sicke or ill affected No where saies one can the corrupt heart dwell worse or more dangerously then in a healthy body Fiftly when we see a man in his bed of sicknesse how much doe wee finde him changed if there bee any sparke of grace in him from that hee was before Hee hates his former disorderly course and himselfe for it Hee resolves though hap'ly with great weakenesse and sometimes after recovery inconstancy yet he resolves or at least professes a resolution for amendment and he binds himselfe to God for it by many promises and vowes in health with most men it is farre otherwise Againe the want of health may be borne the more patiently both by aged and younger folke because health is a thing common with us to inferiour creatures not peculiar to man as Psal. 36. â—…6 Lord thou preservest man and beast From which place S. Austine observes that we should not bee proud of health and we may from the same ground that there is no cause of our being much dejected for the want of it Well then were it granted that old-age is followed with more diseases then the other this notwithstanding would be no disgrace to it a benefit rather as hath beene proved But by the concurrent judgement of Physitians it appeares to be otherwise For they tell us that old-men are not so subject to sicknesse as the younger and that the reasons of it are these One their temperance above others by which say they the most depraved and corrupt nature of man is preserved and held in a healthy constitution Another because they are sensible of the least causes of sicknesse and thereby become wary and suffer not the diseases to take root in them And the last is their cold and dry temper which frees them from hot fevers inflammations and corrupt humors Whence it is saith Plime that they are lesse subject to the pestilence Hereunto wee may adde the common Proverbe A Physitian or a foole A Physitian by experience and many observations or a foole for want of them Now we know none hath so much experience as the Old-man whose many yeares afford him opportunity and meanes to be to himselfe an Emperike a kinde of Physitian The carelesnesse of former ages have happily bred diseases in him and hee by his skill and knowledge gotten by experience practiseth the cure The other ages are as violent winds and stormes that by often beating upon this house of clay or as bad inhabitants that by their neglect bring it out of reparations and OLD-AGE is as the Carpenter to repaire it The IIII. Chapter Containing the next and last disgrace cast upon OLD-AGE and the answer THe last imputation is this that to the OLD-MAN death is at hand and knockes at the doore as it were ready to come in and ceaze upon him And here now we are fallen upon a meditation of Death and I rejoyce at the occasion imploring Gods helpe that I may bee profitably sensible of what I deliver touching this point and may bring it home to my selfe for my better preparation In it I will endeavour to prove first that to be neare to death is not a misery but a happinesse rather Secondly that were it an affliction as it is deemed to be the other ages are as liable to it as this And lastly that the former part of mans life ill order'd is one and not the least cause of Old-ages hasting to the grave Touching the first What is there in Death that may make it a misery to a good Old-man Is it that which David Psalm 6. and other where pleaded for the lengthening of his life In death there is no remembrance of thee c. And Hezekias Isaiah 38. The grave cannot confesse thee That indeed should bee a principall motive to the desire of life and the shunning of death The end of it should be not so much that wee may longer enjoy this world and the comforts of it as that we
may have longer time to goe on in the workes of our calling that God may by us bee yet more glorified in this world and that here now grace may grow and increase still more and more in us and so our glory bee answerable in the world to come The wisest and most valorous among the Heathen who could say much and have written also though to no purpose de morte contemnenda of the contempt of death who also that they might seeme no lesse couragious indeed than in word have many of them rush't upon this enemy and desperately encounter'd him as at this day some among us though better enformed of the danger of it doe in duello in single combat and other unwarrantable attempts they all I say may be likened to the man whom our Saviour taxes for his unadvisednesse In that going to warre hee consults not afore hand how able he is to meet him that comes against him Certainely death may bee counted as the last so the most potent and dangerous enemy when it is in its full strength that strength which God himselfe put into it immediately after the fall Gen. 2. And when we are naked and destitute of the armour of proofe Eph. 6. weake also as not strengthened by that victory wherein Christ our champion overcame this enemy for us For God hath set him upon us and strengthened him against us and what are we then of our selves to withstand him Yet our good God hath provided a remedy not that we should recover our former strength or be able of our selves to breake the Serpents head but that the seed of the woeman should doe it He it is through whom it comes that this enemy hath no power over us because hee hath destroyed the Divell who had the power of death and hath taken away the sting of it by his suffering for our sinnes and the rigour and curse of the law which is the strength of sinne and hath put out also the hand writing of ordinances that was against us By this great mercy of God we become conquerours over death yea more then conquerours Rom. 8. I but may some man say death when it comes may bereave us of our confidence in Christ. No saith the Apostle neither life nor death c. shall be able c. O but wee are in servitude to death all our life long True of our selves but we are delivered from this also by Christs death as in that place Thus we see that death is not misery It is as easie to proove that it is great happinesse Wee have it by a voice from Heaven Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. For the further manifesting of the point First let it be laid downe as a certaine truth that corruption is the way to generation Wee finde it to be so in things naturall Ayre becomes water but first it must leave to be aire water returnes to aire but withall it leaves to be water In things artificiall the mines bred in the bowels of the earth must first be digged up after by fire purged of their drosse then made malleable after cast into a mould for fashion and lastly filed and polished that they may become vessels for use The body of death is not destroyed saith Chrysostom as the brasse when it is melted and cast that a vessell may be made of it it loseth nothing but gaineth a better and more usefull fashion The Cedars which Hiram gave to Salomon for the building of the Temple were first cut downe squared and framed before they could become that glorious house of God The same is true of the point in hand The earthly Tabernacle must first be dissolved as we said before and then afterwards wee have a building of God And the seed that is cast into the ground must die and then be quickned and have a new body given unto it The way to the putting on of incorruption and immortality is the putting off of corruption and mortality Is it not a blessed thing that opens the gates of Heaven to us is it not the Merchants happinesse after his long travailes and his venturing on the Sea through many stormes and tempests that now at the last he is in the haven his ship full-fraught with rich wares and he neere his house and home the thing often wished and much longed for Death saith one is portus malorum the haven in which a man takes harbour freed from all former dangers Queri de cita morte saith Seneca est queri quod citò navigaris To complaine of a speedy death is to dislike that we have so soone passed the dangerous seas Can any thing more pleasingly befall the rightly affected soule then to be freed from imprisonment in the body and from the clog of that masse of clay which holds it downe and keepes it from its proper place to which it would mount up were it not so held Is not hee that runnes a race or travels a journey or workes hard all day glad when he is at the end of his labour and â—…oyle Or he that fights when he hath attained the victory Or would they be againe in the beginning or middle of their race journey or fight Pretiosa mors tanquam finis laborum tanquam victoriae consummatio tanquam vitae janua perfectae securitatis ingressio How pretious should death be to us saith S. Bernard death that is the end of our labours the consummation of our victory the gate to life and an entrance into perfect security S. Austin saith it is the laying downe of a heavy burden Is it not a happinesse to be deliver'd from sinning from the temptations of Satan the allurements of the world and the rebellion of the flesh against the Spirit in us Certainely death is a bed of peace and rest Isa. 57. 2. Who will or can doubt of the happinesse that death brings with it when he considers how many and great the good things are which accompanies it First the perfection of grace which before was weake and in small measure Secondly the mansion or place which Christ is gone before to prepare for us even a presence with God where there is fullnesse of joy c. Is not hee happy that is neare the thing he advisedly much desires I desire saith the Apostle to be with Christ. S. Austin tels us that he in whom this desire is doth not patiently die but lives patiently and dyes with joy and delight Hee saies S. Ierom that daily remembers and considers of his dissolution contems things present and hastens to that which is to come All the faithfull before the comming of our Saviour were in a joyfull expectation of his comming many Prophets and righteous men desired it they waited for the consolation of Israel as Simeon Luk. 2. After when hee was come what rejoycing was there Then the Angell brings tidings
generatio alterius the dying of the seed is the life of the corne that springs from it Thou foole saith th' Apostle that which thou sowest is not quickned except it die Thus we see there is still happinesse in death The grave may be likened to the Gold-smiths Forge in it our bodies are refined and polished by Gods Almighty hand and by the power of Christs Resurrection and they are made of corruptible incorruptible and of mortall immortall and so that comes to passe which we have Rom. 8. 28. That all things worke together for good to them that love God it is true of afflictions which are the fore-runners of death and true of death it selfe and therefore the Apostle tells us that whether it bee life or death things present or things to come all are ours and well saith Saint Bernard Bona mors quae vitam non aufert sed transfert in melius O happy death that deprives us not of life but changes this for a farre better Dies mortis saith Seneca quem tanquam extremum formidas aeterni natalis est How art thou deceived in thy thoughts of death the day of thy death which thou so much fearest as thy last day to thee is the Birth day of eternity and Euripides answerably vivere mori est mori autem vivere to live is to die and to die is to live viz. eternally But now another block lies in our way another Objection which must also bee answered How blessed by that may some man say which is a curse and punishment for sinne that which God hath armed against us as was said before for the execution of that doome In the day that thou eatest thou shalt die the death To this I say first that the Apostle answers it 1 Cor. 15. 54 55. the most hurtfull creatures if once they bee disarmed and weakned cannot hurt us much lesse when they are overcome and slaine for us and to our hand as we say so is death Christ hath taken away the sting of it and conquer'd it and all adverse power that might stop our passage to Heaven And as when Goliah was overcome by David this victory made all the people of Israel for whom hee fought Conquerours and freed them from the power of the enemie so our David having overcome and conquered death we are safe being all more then Conquerours by and in him Now the second point followes which I proposed for the answering of this last accusation that Old-age is a neere neighbour to death viz. that other ages are as liable to it as this and many times as neere It is observed by one that there are three messengers of death casuality sicknesse and Old-age Casualities and the unhappy accidents that doe befall men and shorten their lives are indeed many somewhere whole Cities have beene overthrowne by earthquakes others burnt up by lightnings some by fire whole regions swallowedup by the earths gaping for them many men and places destroyed by the inundations of the sea and many other casualities happen daily a haire drunke in milke a stone in a grape a small bone in a fish have beene meanes of choaking some have dyed with suddaine joy Warres and the Pestilence how many thousands doe they devoure a multitude of such accidents there are but no age is more free from these messengers then this we speake of and that for these reasons First because this is an age of the best temper and greatest moderation and circumspection whereby divers of those dangers are avoided Secondly because it is not so much in bodily action as the rest Thirdly for that it mooves lesse stirres lesse abroad giving it selfe to retirednesse Fourthly it is not prest to the warres where death compasses men about and is daily and hourely expected Besides it is free from quarrells and lesse subject to surfettings to breaking and disjoynting of limbs or to deadly wounds c. Touching the second messenger of death Bodily diseases they are in other ages moe more sharpe and more incurable every man will grant it If it be said that though these two messengers should passe by Old-men yet their age it selfe will stand ready every houre to arrest them I answer that neither is that so for the Schooleman tells us that OLD-AGE sometimes equals all the other in yeeres and durance and whereas of the rest there is a certaine set period and end of this there is none for no man knowes when an Old-man shall die and cease to be an Old-man Saint Ierome tells us that Nemotam fractis viribus decrepitae senectutis est quin non se putet unum adhuc annum esse victurum that there is not any in strength so decayed and in age so decrepit as not to thinke he shall live yet one yeere longer Further we know that the yongest hath no lease no certainty of the number of his daies and therefore must still be in expectation of death as well as the aged for it behooves him that hath no set day for his debt to be at all times solvendo ready for payment Socrates was wont to say that to Old-men death stands before them continually in their sight but to young men hee lurks behind that unawares he may come upon them as an enemy that lies in ambush The third part of my answer remaines which retorts the fault if it be one of Old-ages being so neere to death upon the true cause of it viz. mens intemperance and disorder in the former part of their life I will briefly passe through the particular foregoing ages In Infancy many times the milke in the nursing or food when it hath left the brest is unholsome whereby an ill foundation is laid for the bodily constitution And heere by the way I cannot but blame the indiscreet peremptorinesse of some who doubt not to make this a generall rule or Maxim that God never makes the wombe fruitfull and the brest barren and thereupon stick not to conclude that no woman may put forth her childe to nurse true not of nicenesse and to shunne the paines and trouble of it Yet it cannot be denied that there are many cases in which the mother not onely may refuse this office which in it selfe is most naturall I confesse and lies neerely upon her but is a cruell mother to her child to say nothing of her selfe if shee doe otherwise for what weaknesse and how many deseases may bee derived from a mother in some cases I say and of some constitutions to the child to its utter overthrow and undoing and besides it is not true that the mothers breasts are never dry nor that there can be no other thing that may justly excuse her refusing to be a nurse But I leave the digression having but occasionally and by the way fallen upon it And now further I say that often through want of attendance the poore infant falls into many
beginnings how weak were they for their little faith they were often checked by their Master and when they had beene for a good space in Christs Schoole they were notwithstanding but novices in their conceiving of some very necessary points as of his death of his Resurrection and of the vocation of the Gentiles and how little had they then profited in that patience and constancy which should have beene in them in suffering how weake was Peter when he denied his Master in that fearefull manner and all the Apostles at Christs death when they forsooke him yet afterwards in their elder yeares they were the trumpets of the Gospell in preaching Martyrs in suffering and with knowledge faith constancy zeale and all manner of gifts miraculously furnished It is true This was not to be ascribed chiefly to time as neither the other encrease afore mentioned but to the mighty working of the Spirit in them yet this that increase of age or time gave opportunity for it cannot be denied What thinke wee of the Patriarks before the flood their many yeeres their living some of them to almost a 1000 was it not a great advantage to them for the repairing of the Image of God so much defaced not long before The next Reason to prove that many yeeres give great helpe to increase of grace is from the nature of it It is naturally apt yea mighty and powerfull in growth Whence it followes that the longer it continues in any the more it may grow and increase and OLD-AGE affoords time for it As the Word of God from which it arises and springs is immortall seed and the sower or Seeds-man God himselfe the most skilfull and Almighty Husband-man who with the same hand plants waters and gives the increase so the grace and fruit it selfe is in such manner blessed by the worker of it as that it hath power to grow abundantly In the first of Geneses ver 28. It is said that God blessed his creatures by giving them power to bring forth fruit and multiply c. Now as the blessing upon those reasonlesse creatures was for increase and conveyed to them a power for the same which wee call the Law of nature so the other blessing upon man gives power likewise not onely for naturall propagation but also for spirituall growth which we may call the Law of grace because God by the gracious working of his Spirit confers on it this power of increasing Now as time is required for it so the more time which is a priviledge of OLD-AGE the more opportunity and meanes When I was a child saith the Apostle I spake as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became a man I put away childishnesse The seeds of grace when they are first sowne are the least of all seeds yet growth by time makes them the greatest our Saviour instances for it in the graine of mustard-seed So you have the second Reason to proove that by multitude of yeares grace is multiplied The third and last is taken from Gods speciall love and respect to an old servant a point before touched and his bounty in rewarding him above others Every good master doth so and God is the best Lord that any creature can serve He rewards not onely at the end of the day when all our worke is done with a crowne of righteousnesse but the meane while in the Kingdome of Grace likewise while we are in working and even by meanes of our work and for it as our reward with a greater measure of grace even heere in this life Such a servant shall double his talents and thereupon bee made ruler over much and enter into his Masters joy CHAP. III. Prooving that OLD-AGE is honourable VVe have seene the Old-Mans second priviledge the third is Honour Honour on whom soever it is rightly confer'd is a great gift A good name is better then a pretious oyntment To be chosen above great riches but that onely is true honour which is given by God himselfe primarily and by men his subdispensers of it according to his rule and direction Laus a laudato hee is rightly prais'd that is prais'd by the worthiest of praise Man judging of anothers worth may and often doth erre his judicium many times is prejudicium he judges with prejudice not uprightly but with partiality with a squint eye and upon sinister respects But God is the true and just Judge and the onely giver of Honour and God fastens it on the gray-haires in the fift Commandement But heere hap'ly some man will say The heary head is indeed a crowne of glory but how being found in the way of righteousnesse otherwise not and so Honour is not the Old-Mans priviledge but vertues shadow the reward of righteousnesse in whomsoever I answer Honour belongs to the very age of an Old-Man for it is certaine and will not be denied that men in yeeres even for their yeeres are to be ranked among the Fathers meant in the fift Commandement Now to all Fathers is Honour there allotted asto Fathers and therfore even for this to Old-men The Magistrate in the Common-weale the Minister in the Church the Father and Master in a Family have right to it as they are Fathers May the subject or the flock and people or the child and servant withhold this Honour in case the forenamed superiours doe faile of what is required of them no man may no man will say it The meaning of the place therefore I conceive to be 〈◊〉 That when the Old-man is not old onely but also vertuous then his honour is much the greater even a crowne of glory as is also the Magistrates the Ministers the Fathers and the Masters In the 1 Tim. 5. 17. it is said That the Elders which rule well are worthy of double honour of honour doubtlesse no man will gaine-say it as they are Elders and Rulers but when they rule well the honour must be doubled upon them So in that place of the Proverbs it is plaine therefore that honour is due to Old-men even for their yeeres which is a priviledge not granted to any of the other ages Elihu was silent before his Elders in reverence to their age Iob 32. 6. The glory of the aged is the Gray-head Prov. 20. 29. OLD-AGE carries honour in the very name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies both OLD-AGE and honour We reade of Agamemnon that when hee entertained the Worthies among the Greekes at a feast hee preferred Nestor old Nestor above the rest and invited him first And Gadera a City in Spaine is said to have had a Temple dedicated to OLD-AGE as to the mistresse of knowledge A good rule also it is which Menander gives that every one should honour a man of his Fathers age as his Father himselfe He would have also the Old-man and the Noble-man to bee of equall honour CHAP. IIII. In which we
It is this that yee must be so farre from the common sinne of casting a scornefull eye on Old-men as to thinke your selves never so well sorted as when yee are in their company And this counsell yee shall take not from me but from Saint Ierom Difficilibus ac morosis senibus aures libenter praebeto qui proverbiorum sententijs adolescentes ad recta studia cohortantur Lend thy attentive eare willingly to Old-men seeme they to you never so froward and hard to please for by their wise speeches and counsels young-men are brought into a right course of life And with him also agrees Saint Bernard Aequalium usuâ—… dulcior senum tutior hap'ly saith he thy converse with thy equalls who are ready to humour thee may bee more pleasing to thee but thy safest and most profitable way is to be conversant with thy betters and elders so much as thou maist Resolve therefore as one did Quoad possitis liceat a senis latere nunquam discedâ—…re never to depart from the side of the Old-man with whom thou maist have leave to converse And heere it may fitly be remembred that the young-men which gave Rehoboam bad counsell were such as had growne up with him 1 King 12. 8. Now to men of mature or middle-age thus much This is your Autumne the yeare of your life is whirl'd about and now come towards the period Have yee hitherto beene unthrifts hath your child-hood and youth brought in little or nothing O then how must you now bestirre you Yee have neglected the first spring of your yeere the latter is now come and that is your next season though not so hopefull as the other Yet now at last awake and begin to looke about you Repent you of your former failings and presse now hard towards the marke the harder because formerly ye have lost much time and that which remaines to you is but short On the contrary have yee thrived by your endeavours and Gods blessing upon them in times past are yee now increased both in outward and inward riches and become great among them with whom yee live O then let your neighbours bee the better for it Let there bee to them ali quid boni propter vicinum bonum Let not your greatnesse make others little either in themselves or in your esteeme Let not your wealth bee their woe and poverty your honour their disgrace and abasement Bee not like the tall Cedars that overtop the the lowly shrubs If yee be wise and know much let others light their candle at your lampes Know that whatsoever you have or are you have received it and not for your selves alone but that others may have from you as freely as you from the great DONOR Lastly to my selfe and my coetanei all that are farre gone in yeares Let us now being neere the end of our journey of our travaile towards the heavenly Canaan and having passed through the dangerous and trouble some wildernesse of our life imagine our selves to bee on some high mountaine on Pisgah the top of Nebo if you please where Moses was being of the age of 120 when he had finished his course and his many his 42. wearisome journeyes were at an end and from thence let us looke back to the sundry passages of our life past as hap'ly Moses did to his and the peoples wandring in the wildernesse though hee ascended the Mount to another end calling to mind how God hath dealt with us least wee fall into the unthankfullnesse of that people how God hath preserved and kept us continually in the wombe and in our comming into the world as forth of our prison in Egypt in our infancy childhood and riper age And on the other side that wee may see and acknowledge that Gods patience hath still gone along with his mercies and bounty towards us Let us cast up so neere as wee can all the particular failings and errors of our life How wee have wandred up and downe in the daies of our pilgrimage towards heaven How wee have as the Israelites in our journeyes gone crookedly sometimes forward otherwhile backward now neere to our Canaan anon further off never making straight steps to our feet And chiefly let our greatest sinnes stand ever before us as Davids did Psal. 51. 3. and be laid to heart and that now while it is a time accepted and the day of salvation While it is our day this certainely is ours whether the morrow will be our day we know not That which often deceives younger men the blind hope that they shall live yet many yeares and that therefore there is no hast of their repentance or amendment cannot have the least colour for our deferring Our very yeeres besides the sense of our frailty daily and hourely call upon us to prepare for death by making up our last account To conclude all because in the precedent Tract something hath beene said in the defence and praise of our despised age for admonition therefore least we should deceive our selves in our particulars let the following Distick bee ever remembred by us Qui laudat quasi jam facias quae non â—…acis ille Laudando wonet quae sacâ—…enda noâ—…at Art thou heere prais'd unworthily Then to be worthy learne thereby Imprimatur THO WYKES R P. Ep. Lond. Cap. Domest An Alphabeticall Table A ACtions nor all nor the best in bodily strength Page 23. Man casting up his Account a weighty worke Page 47. Old men fittest to cast up their Accounts Page 48. Afflictions are to weane us from pleasures Page 7â—… Agamemnon preferred old Nestor before the Worthies of Greece Page 83. Age increaseth learning Page 26. Every Age hath proper imployments P. 53 God laies no more on any Age then what it is able to beare Page 53. All Ages subject to casualties Page 148. Every Age hath a more certaine period then Old-Age Page 150. Resemblances betwixt the seasons of the yeare and Ages of man Page 165. Agesilaus his hardinesse Page 15. Apostles most excellent in their elder yeares Page 174. B Bodies abilities common to wicked and beasts Page 20. Body not destroyed by death Page 131. C Casualties befall all Ages page 148. Cato Major learned the Grecke tongue in his Old-Age page 16. Child-hoods infirmities page 91. Childrens yoke page 92. Contemplation an Old-mans joy page 192. Contemplation commended page 186. Contemplation sweet pag. 190. Correction of children page 93. Children in what cases they may be put out to nurse page 152. Children happy if well seasoned page 196. Causes of death in Child-hood page 154. Complaints should be against ones selfe p. 8. Corporall pleasures See Pleasures Corruption the way to generation page 130. D Death what makes it most greevous to good men page 126. Mens rashnesse in speaking against Death page 127. Death wherein terrible page 128. Death remedy against it page 128. Death a blessing page 130. Death destroyes