is a pilgrimage vnto death Giue me a possession of buriall with you here is the home of pilgrimes and the house of death Then Sarah died Thence obserue the generall condition of mankinde euen that which the Apostle hath confirmed * Heb. 9. It is appointed vnto men that they shal once die And Abraham came to mourne and weepe for her thence obserue that naturall affection towards the dead is commendable in all Then Abraham said I am a stranger and a forrenner among you Thence obserue that all men are but strangers and pilgrims here on earth Giue me a possession of buriall with you Thence obserue that the dead are to be honoured with buriall and a graue That all men must once die that naturall affection towardes the dead is commendable in all that all are but pilgrims and strangers here on earth that all after death are to be honoured with buriall a graue are the foure sad seuerall subiects of my ensuing sad discourse which whiles I applie to this sad spectacle applie you your hearts to sorrow your eyes to teares if not for her that is dead and gone for she is blest and resteth from her labours yet for your owne sinnes which will cause you will you nill you God knowes how soone looke you how well to follow after her we will by Gods assistance and your much desired patience trauish the same ground we haue began to tread tracing the steppes and following the method in the selfe same order we haue propounded it Then Sarah died Was Sarah the first that died was not mother Eue with her daughters and her daughters daughters dead long before if dead and why not mentioned what was rare and singular in Sarahs death that shee alone aboue all other women aboue Eue her selfe should deserue to haue the first memoriall then Sarah died surelie I know no other reason but this that as Abraham was the father so Sarah was the mother of the faithfull and therefore the holie Ghost vouchsafeth vnto her that which he denied to other women before her an honourable mention both of her age how long she liued and of the tyme of her death when shee died when Sarah was an hundreth twentie and seuen yeeres olde so long liued she then Sarah died Sarah though the mother of the faithfull though a holy and religious matrone though a Saint of God yet then Sarah died Whence we obserue the generall condition of mankinde It is appointed vnto men that they shall once die all must drinke of Sarahs cup the cup is full of one and the same liquour the liquour is drawne from one and the same fountaine the fountaine it selfe is poisned and if the fountaine be vncleane the streames will be troubled too if the root be cankred the branches will wither also if the head be diseased the members will be distempered too Now the head the roote the fountaine as of Sarah so of all mankinde was father Adam as therefore Adam by rushing against the law like a pitcher that dasheth against the wall sinned not onlie in his owne person but in his humane nature not onlie in himselfe but in his descent so he purchased the punishment of sinne which is death not onlie vnto himselfe vnto his owne person but vnto others vnto his humane nature of which we all partake For as by one man saith the Apostle by one Adam and one Eue two in sex but one in nature one in mariage one in sinning the woman seduced by the Serpent the man induced by the woman sinne entered into the world and death by sinne so by the sinne of one man death went ouer all men in whom all men had sinned * Rom. 5.12 But how did sinne enter by one into the world not by propagation of kinde onlie as Socinus the hereticke auerreth but by participation of the fault also and by imputation of the guilt And how did death enter by sinne euen as an effect that followeth yts cause or as a shadowe that accompanieth a bodie in the sunne And how went death ouer all as a plague grassantis in domo depopulating the citie or a house where it entereth or like an enemie pervagantis vastantis sternentis raging ranging destroying all that he meets with or like a hidden poyson that diffuseth it's venome vnto euery member and penetrateth vnto all and euerie part not onlie vnto a few sicke weaklings and poore staruelings but generallie vnto all high and lowe rich and poore bond and free of what age sex condition degree soeuer all men and women young and old great and litle strong and weake are subiect to deaths stroke whence the poet cryeth out Heu mortem invisam quaesola vltricibus armis Elatos fraenas animos communia toti Genti sceptra tenens aeternaque faedera seruans Quae magnos parvosque teris quae fortibus aequas Imbelles populisque duces seniumque iuventae Maphaeus True it is indeed that which Saint Austen taught long agoe God at first created man as a meane betweene Angels and beasts that if he obeyed the Lord his true creatour and kept his hestes he might be transported to the Angels societie but if he became peruerse in will and offended the Lord his God then that he might be cast vnto death like a bruit beast And to this end he placed him in the garden of Eden the paradise of God stored with matchlesse varietie of whatsoeuer delightes heart could desire especiallie garnished begnets hacaim with the tree of life and begnets haddagneth the tree of knowledge which two trees he appointed him for two Sacraments by the tree of life mystically importing that if he continued his obedience he should surely enioy life neuer feele nor feare hunger thirst sickenes age or death by the tree of knowledge that if he transgressed the commandement ipso facto In the very act * Gen. 2. moth tamuth dyinge dye he should most certainlie die or he should die a double death the death of the body the death of the soule which accordingly happened as had beene threatned for in the same houre he began to eate he began to die not onelie a spirituall death which is a seperation of man from God who is the life of man and the length of * Deut. 30. dayes vnto which and vnto which onlie the hereticke Socinus restraineth it conceating the death of the bodie to be a sequele not of sinne but of nature euen of of nature vncorrupted so that the body should haue died though man had neuer sinned but also and not onelie as Ambrose erroneouslie thinketh a corporall death which is the dissolution of nature and the soules last farewell vntill the generall resurrection vnto the bodie which actuall dissolution though instantlie it followed not yet was to be seared euerie moment for as in ciuill iudgements Iuridicall proceedings among men a man condemned to death though after his condemnation he be committed vnto the Iaylour by him cast
to grieue what teares should wee powre forth for those that die a spirituall death so * Luke 15. as did the prodigall sonne so as did many of the Corinthians whom * 2. Cor. 12 21. Paul bewailed so as did those pleasure-mungers who though they liued yet as the * Tim. 5.6 Apostle saith were dead So as do too many among vs who neither regard the word of God which is the life of our soules nor our own soules vvhich are the life of our selues Oh that my head vvere full of water and mine eies a fountaine of teares that I might weepe day and night for this supine foolish and retchlesse securitie * Ecc. 22.12 Seuen dayes saith the Wise-man doe men mourne for him that is dead but the lamentation for the foole and the vngodly should indure all the dayes of their life and why for the dead he is at rest but the life of the foole and the vngodly is vvorse then death Let vs therefore doe that saith Saint Chrysostome for our soules which wee doe for mens bodies let vs bewaile the losse of our saluation and let vs lament the death of our soules for greater is the losse saith Saint Austen of one soule then of a thousand bodies In so much that the vvhole world saith Saint Bernard is not of value enough for the price of one soule But who is more dead saith he then him that carrieth fire in his bosome sin in his soule and neither feeles it nor feares it nor flies from it And such is euery vngodly man for him therefore whether it bee our selues or others vvee are specially to mourne and vveepe And yet in both these there is a golden meane vvhich vvee must warily obserue and keepe to vvit a meane in vveeping for our sinnes and a meane in vveeping for our friends in weeping for our sinnes that wee weepe in faith and not despaire in vveeping for our frends that vvee vveepe in loue and not as without hope Elegant to which purpose are those verses of his vvhosoeuer vvere the author Deflendi sunt mortui sed temperant ius Nam mortui non sunt eandem sed viam Quam cogit omnes ingredi necessitas Praemuniere nobis nos in posterum Idem sequemur ipsos in confortium Communis vita fruemur patriae Which will vs to weepe for the dead but yet to obserue a measure in weeping because dead they are not whom wee call dead but onely gone before vs the way vnto eternall life which wee must follow after The Prophet Abraham kept this measure in weeping for Sarah here for when he had wept and mourned for her i. when hee thought he had wept enough then he arose from the sight of his corps i. hee left weeping for her bodie and tooke care for her buriall hee was not senselesse at her death for hee did that for her which he did not when he was to sacrifice his owne and onely sonne Isaac he wept for her he vvept not for him but he kept a meane in his weeping and therefore he rose vp and vvent away from her wherein hee shewed himselfe not void of affection but obseruant of a moderation and this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is it which the Lord commendeth and it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Apostle condemneth * 1. Thes 4. I would not brethren saith he haue you ignorant concerning them which are asleepe that yee sorrow not euen as other which haue no hope How did other sorrow euen excessiuely vnmeasurably immoderately without meane measure or moderation Some cutting and slashing their faces some renting and tearing their lockes their beards their haire their attire some shauing their heads in token of sorrow so did the * Alex. ab Alex. lib. 3. cap. 7. Egyptians Amorites Milesians and Persians and do not our owne eies witnes the same in the Greekes at euerie solemne funerall how do the silly women dishiuer their golden traces how doe they disfigure their amiable faces vvhat buffets do they giue their gentle breasts what pitifull shriekings what hideous howlings what heart bleeding sobs vvhat bloud-drawing sighs doe they vtter and all for outward manifestation of their inward contristation and this excessiue vnmeafurable immoderate lamentation the Apostle condemneth and good reasons there are why wee should not sorrow beyond a measure whereof the first may bee First Diuina voluntas the diuine vvill vnto vvhich humane vvill must submit and conforme it selfe Now nothing is done vvithout the diuine vvill vvithout it a * Mat. 10. Sparrow falleth not to the ground much lesse a man vvhy then O base man doest thou striue against the pleasure of the most high God * Eccl. 41. vvhy rather saiest thou not vvith Christ Not as I vvill but as thou vvilt my Father Hath a master power of his seruant saith Saint * De fide resur Ambrose to lead him vvhether hee vvill and hath not God ouer man Placeat ergo homini saith the Heathen * In Epist ad Lucullū Seneca quicquid Deo placet therefore let man be pleased with the diuine wil and pleasure and thus resolue vvith himselfe that God alwaies calleth him out of this life when he is at his best if he be good that he turne not euill if euill that he wax not worse Secondly Diuina aequitas diuine right and equity it is reason and equity that what is receiued vpon bare lending should be restored at demanding * Iob. 1. as the holy man Iob confessed It is lawfull for euery one to require his owne now all that we haue our very life and being is not our owne * Psal 100 but Gods he made vs and not we our selues hee may with good equity recall vs when hee pleaseth Wee see how patiently the greatest Basha either in Port or abroad yeeldeth his necke to the Bow-string at the hatmaum and command of his King whether it be right or wrong for why sayth he I am his slaue my life was long agoe at his dispose it is through his clemencie that I liued vntill now And shall wee be lesse obedient vnto our good God whose slaues we are whose call is euer iust Nay rather let vs be thankefull vnto him that he hath lent vs our life so long So was Saint Bernard who after his mourning for his brother Satirus comforts himselfe and breaketh forth into this acknowledgement Ingratus diuinitati esse non possum I may not be vnthankefull to the diuine Maiesty I am rather to reioyce that I had such a brother then to sorrow that I lost him for that was but a gift this was a debt Thirdly Fraterna vtilitas the benefit of the departed for from how many euils is he freed that dyeth in the * Rom. 7. Phil. 1. Apoc. 14. Lord How great the benefit is Christ sheweth where he saith if you * Iohn 14 loued me you would reioyce because I
go to my Father and if we loue our friend indeed vve vvould rather reioyce then too much grieue at his death for hee is departed from vs he is gone out of the vvorld hee hath left the earth but hee is gone vnto Christ he is entred the Citie of God the celestiall Ierusalem Non ergo amissi sed praemissi saith Fulgentius therefore the godly deceased are not lost foreuer but left for a time not gone away finally from vs but onely gone to God before vs. Fourthly Fletus inutilitas the vnprofitablenes of excessiue weeping for as a moth the garment a worme the wood so too much sorrow hurteth the heart * Pro. 25. therefore the wise man as hee exhorteth to weepe for the dead so he counselleth to comfort our selues againe for our heauinesse for of heauinesse commeth death and the heanesse of the heart breaketh the strength * Eccl. 18.19 The last is Resurrectio generalis the generall Resurection we put not off our apparall saith Lud. Viues vnwillingly because we thinke to put them on againe so neither let vs be vnwilling to lay aside our bodie which after a while we shall resume againe And as we greiue not at the setting of the Sunne because we know it will rise againe So let vs not sorrow at the departure of a soule which vvee knovv vvill returne againe For vvhy saith * Tertul in lib. de pati Tertullian shouldest thou too impatiently greiue at the departure of him vvith-vvhome thou beleeuest shortly to meete againe Hee is not to bee lamented vvho is gone before hee is onely vvanted for a time and his want is vvith patience to bee borne Cur enim immoderatè feras abijsse quem mox subsequeris For why shouldest thou immoderately lament his absence whom thou thy selfe must soone follow after and all of vs shall surely meet againe at the generall resurrection We may indeed saith S. Ierome wish for them because we want them but wee must not weepe out of measure for them because they are with God Loue I grant compells vs to weepe but faith forbids vs to weepe immoderately and therfore Paulinus saith that we may notwithstanding our faith performe to the dead the duties of loue yet we must first notwithstanding the duties of loue afford to our selues the comforts of faith And thus Abraham wept for Sarah here loue inforced him to weepe but faith restrained him from exceeding the bounds of moderate lamentation You see then that wee are to weepe for the death of our godly friends departed but withall you see how sparinge wee ought to bee in weepinge considering our good hope that are aliue and their good hap that are dead And this that dead bodie or rather that Cadauer that Caro data vermibus for her flesh and bones by this time are turned into dust and ashes which is the present spectacle obiect of our eyes which some of you perhaps euen at this instant so seriously think of others so much lament for If it I say should receiue againe her soule vntie her winding knots breake through her Coffin stand vp before you she would preach say the same vnto you weepe if you please for my departure for this shall be a token of your affection but weepe not too immoderately for this will argue your indiscretion for know that though I be departed yet I am not perished but am rather perfected I am now in the state of perfection where I feele no infirmitie where I am not tempted vnto sinne but sing a continuall Halleluiah to the Lord. I am now where I behold the glorious Maiestie of the Trinity where I looke on the amiable countenāce of my Sauiour where I enioy the sweet society of Saints and Angels where I haue saciety without loathsomnesse loue without hatred peace without discord ioy without sorrow eternall blisse without ende or intermission and therefore spare teares for mee weepe not too much for the more you weepe the more you disquiet and disturbe me This would the soule of this dead body say if it should returne againe but she is past speaking and her soule returning vntill the generall returne of all Wee will therefore leaue her to her happinesse and passe to the third subiect of our sad discourse which is the Lot of humane Life and that is a pilgrimage on earth The life of man is a pilgrimage on earth Now Man may be said to be a stranger and a pilgrime on earth either in respect of his soule which is not of the earth but by diuine infusion or in respect of the whole man which was sometime the Citizen of Paradise but now a vvanderer vpon the face of the vvhole earth or most properly in respect of the heauenly Hierusalem from vvhence as also from the Lord the faithfull here on earth vvhose conuersation is in * Phil. 3. Heauen are strangers as long as they are in the * 2. Cor. 5. body Whence Saint Augustine inferreth Omnis homo est aduena nascendo incola viuendo quia compellitur migrare moriendo Euery man is a forreiner by birth and a stranger by life because he is compelled to depart hence by death Therefore said Abraham vnto the Hittites I am a stranger and a forreiner among you among them yea on the vvhole earth for his vvhole life was a pilgrimage on earth as his grādchild Iacob calleth both it and his ovvne The vvhole course of my pilgrimage sayth hee vnto Pharaoh is an hundred and thirtie yeares few and euill haue the daies of my life beene and I haue not attained vnto the yeares of the life of my fathers in the daies of their pilgrimage Gen. 47. Heb. 11. vers 13. And Paul bringing in a whole Catalogue of pilgrimes in the eleauenth to the Hebrewes Abel Enoch Noah Abraham and the rest at length concludeth of all All these died in faith and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrimes on the earth vpon which Saint Augustine inserreth Ipse est Christianus he alone is a Christian that in his owne house and in his owne Countrie acknowledgeth himselfe to be a pilgrime Our Countrie is aboue there we shall be no strangers but here euerie man is a stranger euen in his owne house Let no man deceiue himselfe he is a stranger Velit nolit hospes est whether hee will or no he is a stranger Now if this were the lot of Gods dearest children in olde time we may not looke for a permanent Citie here We see then where we must make the beginning of all godlinesse euen in denying this world and acknowledging our selues to bee but pilgrimes in the same Consider saith the Prophet Isay Isai 51.2 Abraham your father and Sarah that bare you consider that Abraham was a stranger and a pilgrim on earth he had not so much land where he liued as might suffice for the buriall of his dead for in hope of future things he despised the present and
Caesar thus Nil agis hac ira tabesue cadauera soluat An rogus haud refert placido natura receptat Cuncta sinu In this thy wrath is worthless all is one Whether by fire or putrefaction Their carkasses dissolue kind nature stil Takes all into her bosome And a little after Capit omnia tellus Quae genuit caelo tegitur qui non habet vrnam Earths ofspring still returnes into earths wombe Who wants a graue heauen serueth for his tombe And so the declaimer in Seneca Nature giues euerie man a graue to the shipwrackt the water wherein hee is lost the bodies of the crucified drop from their crosses vnto their graues those that are burned quicke their verie punishment entombs them And Virgil who appoints a place in hell for the vnburied Yet in Anchises his words shew how small the losse of a graue is Nec tumulum curo sepelit natura relictos I weigh no tombe nature intombes the meanest And hence it is that the heathens obsequious vnto these Philosophers and Poets as vnto so many Prophets and Oracles haue no more esteemed the bodies of the dead then of the carkasse of an Asse but some of them haue throwne their dead bodies vnto the foules of the aire to be deuoured as the Parthians and Iberians others vnto dogs as the Massagites and Hircanians others vnto fishes as the Lotophagoi and the Ichthyophagoi others vnto men themselues of bodies of men haue made tombes of men as the Indians Padeans Issedonians and those of Scythia Yet we Christians should be no imitatours of their barbarous inhumanitie nor contemne and cast away the bodies of our dead chiefely of the righteous and faithfull whom the holy Ghost saith Saint Austen vsed as organes and instruments vnto all good vvorkes For if the Law will vs saith Saint * Ciuitate Dei cap. 13. ad Paulinum Lib. Tob. ca. 1. Ambrose to couer the naked how much rather ought we to interre the dead and if loue and kindnes moue vs to accompany our friends some part of the way when they set forwards to trauell into farre Countries how much sooner in their iourney vnto the celestial mansions whence they shall neuer returne againe And if the garment or ring of ones father as Saint Austen saith bee so much the more esteemed of his posteritie by how much they held him deere in affection then are not our bodies to be despised seeing vvee weare them more neere vnto our selues then any ring or attire whatsoeuer And therefore the funeralls of the righteous in time of old were performed with a zealous care their funerals celebrated and their monuments prouided and they themselues in their life time would lay a charge vpon their children and acquaintance concerning the burying or translating of their bodies Iacob at his death charged his sonne Ioseph to carrie his body vnto the Sepulcher of his Elders and not to leaue it in * Gen. 47 Egypt and Ioseph himselfe commanded his brethren that they should remember and tell their posteritie that vvhen they went away into the Land of Promise they should carrie his bones thither with them * Gen. vlt. * Tob. 2. Tobie in burying the dead well pleased the Lord as the Angell testified And the Lord himselfe being to rise againe the third day commended the good worke of that religious woman * Mat. 26 Marie Magdalen who powred the precious ointment vpon his head and bodie and did it to bury him And the * Iohn 19 Gospell hath crowned Ioseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus with eternall praise that tooke downe his bodie from the crosse and gaue it honest and honourable buriall And what thinke you might Iacob deserue but for burying Rachel and Abraham for burying Sara here Nay the very Gentiles in old time bare such respect and reuerence towards the dead For at Venice our English haue no buriall place allowed them but onely the Sea nor at Zant but are carried vp intâ— the Morea among Turkes at Ligornes and other places in Italie an Englishman dying without Confession is throwne into some ditch and made a prey for the fowles that they denied not their verie enemies the honour of a burial the humanity of Alexander vnto Darius of Hanniball vnto Marcellus of Caesar vnto Pompey sufficiently witnesse the same and at this day we our selues finde the like respect among the Turkes though they hold vs base and hate vs liuing yet heerein more kinde then Papists they neither hinder our burials nor violate our graues a hidden sence and natural humanity moueth them to this and what an vncouth thing is it to see a Turke kinde and a Christian cruell But yet these and the like authorities proue not any sence to bee in the dead carkasses themselues but signifie that the prouidence of God extendeth euen vnto the verie bodies of the dead for hee is pleased vvith such good deeds and doe build vp the beliefe of the resurrection We doe not accompany or burie honourably a dead Asse or a dead Oxe because they shall not rise againe but this office we performe vnto dead men to signifie that there is one condition of beasts another of men for men shal rise againe with their bodies vnto euerlasting life a beast shall perish and vanish into nothing To vvhich purpose the custome vvas in ancient time as Origen obserueth that the Priests and the Laiety yeerely vpon certaine daies did assemble at the graues and tombes of their Parents and friends and there render thankes vnto God for the dead that had departed in faith and pray not for the dead nor offer any sacrifice for them but for the like godly and peaceable departure vnto themselues which was wel accepted of God Where by the way we may learne this profitable lesson how great the reward of almesdeeds done vnto the liuing may be seeing this dutie and fauour shewed vnto the dead is not forgotten of God And if they were worthily praised and blessed by * 2. Sam. 2. Dauid the king that shewed mercy vnto the drie bones of Saul and Ionathan how much more praise shall they deserue and how shall they be blessed that for Christs sake shew mercy vnto the liuing bodies of his members they shall be sure to heere the sweet voice of their Sauiour saying vnto them * Mat. 25. Come ye blessed of my Father take the inheritance of the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was a hungry and yee gaue me meat I thirsted and yee gaue me drinke I was a stranger and yee tooke mee vnto you I was naked and yee clothed mee I was sicke and yee visited mee I was in prison and yee came vnto mee In as much as you haue done it vnto one of the least of these my brethren verily I say vnto you you haue done it vnto mee Come therefore I say take the inheritance of the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of
dailie experience sheweth * Iam. 4.14 It is a vapour that soone vanisheth a drie lease carried with euerie winde a sleepe fed with imaginarie dreames a Tragedie of transitorie things it passeth awaie like a post in the night like a ship in the Sea like a Bird in the aire whose tract the aire closeth concerning the shortnesse thereof the Heathen Poet could saie A man is but a man of a daie old the kinglie Prophet said it was but a span long Moses and Salomon saie It is a life of daies Iob Esay Paul compare it to a bubble a sleepe a booth a shepheards tent vvhich euerie daie is renewed yea they come so farre at length that they compare it to a thought whereof there may bee a thousand in one day But what need we these resemblances sith wee can turne our selues no waie but something there is which may put vs in minde of our mortalitie Can you enter your Counting houses and cast eie vpon your houre-glasse and not consider that as the houre passeth so doth our life Can you sit in your chaires by the fire side and see a great quantitie of vvood turned into smoake and ashes and not consider vvith the Poet Sic in non hominem vertitur omnis homo So man no man will suddenlie become Can you walke forth into the fields and see how some grasse is comming some newlie vvithered some alreadie come and not consider vvith the * Esa 40.6 Prophet That all flesh is grasse and all the grasse thereof is as the flower of the field Can you feele the aire moue and the winde beat in your faces and not consider the breath of man is in his nostrils stop his * Esa 2.22 nostrils and his breath is gone and that the strongest tenure of your life is but by a puffe of vvinde Can you sit on the riuers bank not consider that as the riuer runneth and not returneth so doth your life Can you shoot in the fields and not consider that as the arrow flieth in the aire so swiftlie doe your daies passe Or if wee be like Horse and Mule without vnderstanding to consider this yet I am sure wee cannot bee so senselesse as not to consider that which euerie daies light presenteth to our view To daie our superiours to morrow our inferiours next daie our equalls one vvhile our friends another while our foes are taken from vs and life from them And maie not the same happen vnto anie one or euerie one of vs which happeneth vnto them are we more free then they It is a good comparison of one who likeneth death vnto an Archer that shootes sometime beyond vs not sparing our superiours sometime short of vs striking our inferiours somtime at our right hand depriuing vs of our friends sometime at our left hand hitting our foes and now and then it hits the marke it selfe and wee are dead as well as others And surelie if we goe no further then our owne selues and consider how manie diseases we continuallie carrie about vs what aches affect our bones what heauinesse our bodies what dimnesse our eies what deafenesse our eares what trembling our hands what rottennesse our teeth what balnesse our head what graines our haires All and euerie one of these as so many loud alarums would sound vnto vs Death is neere or if none of these did affect vs within yet how many thou sand dangers doe daily threaten vs without and seeme to shew vs present death Goe into the ship Caluin there is but a foots thicknesse betweene thee and death Sit on horsebacke in the slipping of one foot thy life is in danger goe through the streets of the Citie euen how manie tiles are vpon the houses to so manie perils art thou subiect If there bee an Iron toole in thy hand or thy friends the harme is readie prepared how manie wilde beasts thou seest they are all armed to thy destruction If thou mean to shut vppe thy selfe in a garden well senced where may appeare nothing but pleasantnesse of aire and ground there sometime lurketh a Serpent The house which is subiect to windes and stormes doth continually threaten thee with falling on thy head I speake not of poysonings treasons robberies open violence of which part do besiege vs at home and part doe follow vs abroad examples tending to this purpose are infinite wherof I will produce a few thereby to put vs in minde that the same things may happen vnto our selues for which cause hardly should a moment of our life time bee spent without due and intire consideration of our death If then we ascend the theater of mans life and looke about we shall see some to haue perished with sudden death 1 Ananias Sap. others with griefe 2 Eli. others w th ioy 3 Rhodius Diagoras others with gluttony 4 Domit. Afer others with drunkennesse 5 Attila King of Hunnes others with hunger 6 Cleanthes others with thirst 7 Thales milesius others in their lasciuious dalliances 8 Corneiius Gal. others with ouerwatching 9 M. Attilius others with poyson 10 Phociō Henric. 7. Emp. in a feast by a Mounke some by fire from heauen 11 The Sodomites Anastatius the Emperour an Euty chiāhaer some by waters 12 M. Marcellus some by earthquakes 13 Ephrasius bish of Antioch some swallowed vp quicke 14 Coran Dathan and Abiron some stifled with smoake and vapours 15 Catulus some choaked with flies 16 Adrian the Pope 1159. some with a fall sliding off their foot 17 Nestorius the haer some at the disburdening of nature 18 Arrius haer some vvith a suddaine fall from their horse 19 Philip K. of France Iudge Glanuil of Tanestock in Deuō others killed and torne asunder by Dogs 20 Heraclitus Lucian the Apost Horses 21 Hippolitus Lions 22 Licus Em. Beares 23 40. Child Boares 24 Ancaeus K. of Samos Rats 25 Hato bish of Menas Trag. 3. act 1. and the like I forbeare to speake of other strange and vnfortunate deaths as that of Milo Crotoniates by the stocke of an Oake which he had desired to teare asunder but his strength failing him and the clift suddenly closing was so fast held by the hands that he became a prey to the beasts of the field And that of Poet Aeschylus who vncouering his bald pate in the warme sunne had his brain pan broken by the blow of a Tortuise which an Eagle taking his head for a white Marble stone let fall to breake that afterward she might deuoure it And that of Charles King of Nauarre who for the curing of some aches hauing his bodie wrapped about with a linnen cloth that first had beene well steeped in Aqua vitae was suddenly and vnfortunately burnt by a candle which his Physician hauing sowed the cloath about him and wanting a knife to cut the thred
tooke to burne asunder and the thred flaming to the cloth caught such a suddaine hold of the same and Aqua vitae that before any meanes could bee applied the King in this flame vvas burnt to death I speake nothing of others who haue vntimely perished some by one meanes some by another I conclude all with that saying of * Seneca Eripere vitam nemo non homini potest at nemo mortem mille ad hanc aditus patent What shall I say then doe so manie things vvithin vs so many things vvithout vs so manie things about vs threaten a continuall death vnto vs Miser homo cur te ad mortem non componis cum sis pro certo moriturus Then vvretched man thou art that doest not prepare thy selfe for death seeing thou must certainely die But alas the diuell doth so deafe vs the world doth so blind vs and the sensualitie of the flesh maketh vs so extreamely sencelesse that we neither heare nor see nor feele what is euerie minute likely to befall vs. If wee be young wee feare not death at our backes if old wee looke a squint and see not death before our eyes But hearken O young man and learne as the old man can not liue long so the young man may die quickly certaine it is thou shalt die vncertaine when beause thou shouldest alwaies liue readie to die But if it were so that in thy youth thou hadst a lease of thy life till age granted by the Father of heauen ratified by his Sonne and sealed vnto thee by the whole Trinitie then perchance there might be some pretence of thy carelessenesse But now seeing euery houre may be the last vnto thee since euerie moment may dissolue this earthly Tabernacle since a thousand chances may at all times take thee vnawares and bereaue thee of thy soule who but more then mad would not consider of his end and follow the Prophet Esaies counsell to seeke the Lord in time and Salomons precept to learne wisedome in his youth In like manner the olde man hee will not thinke of death vntill the time of his death thinking to become a sudden Saint who hath all his life time liued a wicked worldling But hearken thou old man and learne by the rich man in the Gospell so he had also cast vp his rest hee was setled rich and ioyfull and deferred to bee godly till he saw occasion but what saith the Spirit of God O foole this night shall they take thy soule from thee this night in middest of thy ioylitie in the securitie of thy sleepe suddenly vnwittingly shalt thou die O miserable case saith Saint Austen when suddenly the senses faile the bodie languisheth death readie to burst in sunder the heart strings the conscience heauie with sinne the diuell readie to entertaine thee Who in this plight would not value a minute of repentance to a Monarchy of wealth and yet we banish away daies and moneths and yeeres not regarding the casualtie in the end I vvish therefore that old men as they haue a priuiledge of yeeres so also they had the priuiledge of foresight heerein that as they see their bodies bending towardes the earth so they learne to send their soules towards heauen and if they should not vvish for their dissolution with Paul yet they should wait all the daies of their life for their changing with Iob. Finally all men almost both young and olde rich and poore of all fashions and of all degrees put off this consideraon of death and neuer thinke or prepare to die till they finde and feele they can no longer liue But O let me beseech you all that heere mee this day to exempt your selues from this supine and oxe like securitie You know for certaine you must die you are euerie moment subiect vnto death a thousand thousand chances maie euerie daie bereaue you of your life why then esteeme of euerie present daie as the daie of your death and make such conscience of all your waies words and works as if you were presently to giue an account of your life Qui considerat qualiter erit in morte pauidus prouidus erit in operatione He that thinkes alwaies of dying will bee circumspect in his doing Thinke therefore O thinke and bethinke your selues of this and in the depth of these thoughts prepare your selues for death Set your houses yea set your hearts in order call your soules to account turne your selues as * 2. Kin. 20 Ezechias did to the wall that is from the world to God weepe weepe and bewaile your sinnes past keepe a narrow watch ouer your heart for the time to come * Psa 38. praie with Dauid Lord remember not the sinnes of my youth and with Saint Ambrose Lord forgiue me my faults here where I haue sinned for else where I cannot be relieued except I haue my pardon heere It is in vaine to expect the restfull comfort of forgiuenesse heereafter * 2. cor 6.2 Now is the acceptable time as Saint Paul speaketh now is the daie of saluation This world is for thy repentance the other for thy recompence Hic locus luctae ille coronae hoc cunaeorum tempus est illud coronatorum as Saint Chrysostome speaketh This is the place and time of combating that of crowning this of working that of rewarding this for thy mourning that for thy comforting Now God is helping vnto all men seeke yee therefore the * Isa 55. Lord whiles he is neere and post not off till to morrow for you know not what a daie maie bring forth It is certaine death will come but it commeth for the most part like a theefe stealing and creeping without any warning take heede you bee not taken vnawares You see the stroke thereof is vniuersall for if the reuerence of old age could haue discountenanced it Methushaleth had not died If strength of bodie could haue resisted it Sampson had not died If maiestie could haue terrified it if counsel could haue perswaded it if riches could haue bribed it Nor Solomon nor Achitophel nor Diues had died But Methushaleth is dead and Samson is dead and Salomon and Achitophel and Diues are dead and what is it can free a man from death Nay if youth if beautie if vertue if pietie could worke any relent in death from embracing his cruell hands in mortall bloud see where youth where beautie where vertue where pietie lye enshrined whollie now defaced obscured eclipsed and ouershadowed in death O death how irrelenting is thy heart how bloudy are thy hands how vnpartiall is thy stroake how generall is thy arrest oh that the liuing would consider this And let this suffice to be spoken of the vniuersalitie of deaths stroake Then Sara died And Abraham came to mourne for Sarah and to weepe for her Whether Sara died in absence of Abrahā because Abraham is here said to come to mourn for her as the Iewes affirm she did to this end faine that whē Abraham
the world Into the inheritance of which blessed kingdome there is no doubt but this worshipfull person I meane the meeke and vertuous Lady Anne Glouer whose funerall we here celebrate is by the free mercy of God entred and aduanced for why as shee liued so she died she liued a Saint and died a Saint and precious wee know in the sight of the Lord is the death of the Saints In her life shee loued and serued God and now being dead shee liueth and raigneth vvith the Lord. Of whom I might say much and of whom I can say little much what I haue heard little yea nothing what I haue seene For it was not my hap vvhich I count a great part of my vnhappinesse either to see her liuing or to heare of her life before I heard of her death Her life procured loue her death fame whose swift wings more swift then the wings of loue possessed a great part of the world with her death before it knew of her life But who could heare of her death that did not presently inquire of her life and who hauing beene informed of her life did not weepe and mourne for her death so that the hearing of her death and the hearing of her life and the weeping and mourning for her death as in mee so in many met together Sparing therefore to speake much of her of whom I knew so little and yet willing to speake all good of her of whom I haue heard so much I will so temper my speech that I vvill neither speake too much nor too little not too much because I knew so little not too little because I haue heard so much To begin then where her life began England little England yet farre and greatly renowned England happie weight to bee borne in so renowned a Countrey At Padley and happie Countrey to bring forth so renowned a weight Of England in that fruitfull and rich shire of Suffolke rich indeed in affording the vvorld so rich a treasure but yet againe most poore in the losse and want of it Shall I tell you of her Linage ancient and worshipfull of her education vertuous and religious partly vnder a vertuous mother but for the most part vnder an honorable religious Lady Shall I tell you of her bodily forme and outward feature so full of grace and beautie that shee procured many vvorthy louers Of her externall carriage and behauiour so louing so lowly so innocent that we may rightly say of her such vvas her name such was her nature a Lambe in name and a Lambe in nature Conueniunt rebus nomina saepe suis so name so nature oftentimes agree And yet againe in greatest dangers perils and feares in dangers of the Sea in perils of shipwrack in feares of men of warre when as somtimes it happened all others in her companie were all at their wits ends and knew not which way to resolue to sinke or swimme to fight or to yeeld shee alone a woman and therefore by sex feeble by nature fearefull yet farre beyond both her nature and her sexe remained so constant so bold Daughter to M. Lamb of Padley in Suffolke so couragious that such as were present in admiration of her stoutnes haue confessed she rather resembled a Liō then a Lambe But all this is nothing to the internall vertues and endowments of her mind these alone would require a Panegerical Oration of these I may say as S. Ierome vpon the like occasion said of the holy religious Matron Paula Si cuncta corporis mei mēbra verterentur in linguas omnes artus humana voce resonarent nihil vtique dignū sacrae ac venerabilis Paulae virtutibus dicerem So may I say of this vertuous religious Lady If all the members of my body if my eies my eares my hands my feet were turned into tongues euery arct veine nerue muscle that I haue could vtter humane language I should come farre short of Annes worthily deserued commendations Therefore leauing this to others who can speak better of them vpō their owne knowledge then my self I come frō the manner of her life to acquaint you with the manner of her death Of which I againe remember you that what I speake I speake not from my selfe but from the mouth of such who being eie and eare witnesses of her actions and speeches I presume haue informed me nothing but the truth From the time then of her arriuall into this Countrey some of you know others may vnderstand that it is now full 5. yeeres and somwhat more wherof wanting but a little she liued vvith the right worshipfull and worthy Knight her husband Sir Thomas Glouer then Ordinary Ambassador in this Port for his Maiestie of Great Brittaine in such great ioy honor and happinesse that the greatnesse of her contentment oftentimes procured her griefe knowing that after a great calme their ariseth a great storme and excesse of ioy for the most part ends in griefe and dolour And so indeed it happened as she suspected her ioy soone turned into sorrow and her health suddenly changed into sickenes The Saturday she eat she dranke she was merrie and pleasant the Sunday morning being the thirtieth of October Anno. 1608. she sickened the Wensday following being the second of Nouember she dyed one weeke yea a day yea an houre is enough to turne the world vpside-downe The soule of man saith the Oratour before its departure from the bodie doth oftentimes diuine and it may bee well thought that the soule of this blessed Lady in her last sickenesse had by diuine inspiration a foreknowledge of her death in that presently shee deliuered the keyes of her Iewells and the rings from her fingers which in more suspected dangers she was neuer wont to pull off shee bespake mourning garments and tooke care for her funerall before her Physicians doubted any thing at all of her death she prefixed a time wherein shee should depart out of this life speaking verie strangely that Wensday of her death before the ordinarie houre of supper which time approaching she desired her honorable husband to pray to God vvith her for her which hee did according to the institution ordained for the sicke which ended shee made a most diuine and heauenly praier her selfe wherein shee disclosed the hidden flames of diuine loue the euident tokens of a liuely faith the firme hold of our Sauiours passion for her soules redemption with such zeale and feruencie of spirit vttered in words so full of diuinitie and confirmed with action of eies hands and shrilnes of voice that it gaue admirable comfort to all that were present vpon which her Physician requesting her then Lord husband to retire himselfe a while to leaue her to her heauēly preparation which otherwise by the view of his grieuous passions might perhaps bee disturbed which he hauing done her Physician still remaining she said vnto him My heart is at ease but I can take no rest and therewithall pulling forth her hand bid him feele her pulse which hee told her he found weake but God was strong and able if hee pleased to restore her to her former health O no quoth she I feele it pleaseth his diuine Maiestie to dispose otherwise of me hee demanded what shee did feele or where her paine was that hee might administer some remedie I feele no paine no paine at all said shee but with great ioy I goe cheerefully to my Lord and Sauiour Christ Iesus and therewithall earnestly called for her Lord where is he where is my sweet heart where is he call him quickly that I may kisse him before I die I pray God almightie giue him much ioy prosperitie and happinesse His honour being come and iudging by her perfect voice speech and memorie that shee was not neere her death began to comfort her with trust in almightie God that shee should haue good remedy and bee restored to her former strength O no sweet heart said she I draw on to a better world and doe desire to goe to my Lord and Sauiour Christ Iesus into whose blessed hands I commend my soule And then she praied and required praiers for her againe which ended after many redoublings and repeatings Into thy hands O Lord I doe commend my soule Into thy hands O Lord I doe commend my soule without any grone or sigh gently breathing yeelded vp the ghost And thus dyed Anna as dyed Sarah Sarah in her old age and yet so beautifull at a hundred yeeres old as shee was at twentie so say the Iewish Rabbins and Anna in her young age and yet so vvise and vertuous at twentie yeeres as if she had liued an hundreth Sarah dyed in a strange Countrey farre from her kindred and parents So did Anna from hers Sarah in Kiriatharba vvhose founder was Arba and Anna in Constantinople whose chiefe founder was Constantine Sara among the Hittites and Anna among the Turkes Then Sarahs husband came to mourne and weepe for her and Annahs husband is come to mourne and weepe for her Then Sarahs husband rose vp from the sight of his corps hee left off weeping and so should Annahs husband too And Sarahs husband prouided a place of buriall for her and so hath Annahs husband done for her What remaineth now but as Sarahs vvas honourably buried so Annah should be buried too Vp let vs bee going FINIS