dulcius esse solet lumen As a fair day often rears exhalations into a cloud which next day returns in showers upon us so did this pleasant Monday returne its dark clouds of sorrow and showres of teares on Tuesday for then her disease seizing her head took away her speech and so depriv'd us no doubt of many gracious speeches which would have fallen from her dying lips Yet what she could not doe in words she did in signes She some houres before her death took her woman by the hand and shooke it to let her know she was heartily reconciled to her notwithstanding some tart words that had some dayes before passed betwixt them In the afternoon of Aug. 23. 1664. God was pleased graciously to release her of all her pangs Her soul willingly and joyfully departed and hath left behind what of mortality it had for us to lay up in the house of all the living And now what can alleviate our sorrows for so great a losse But is she lost no the losse is ours she 's the great gainer As L. Florus saith of the City Alba t was pulled down to be set up in Rome to its higher honour advantage this Lady is but taken down here to be set up in heaven to her unspeakeable honour advancemeâ—t Let us not then too deeply lay â—o heart this blessed Saints Translation could we but stil our sorrowes a little while lend an ear to listen what the Saints on the otherside the lake of death do say it would not be the voice of those that cry for being overcome but the voice of those that sing the voice of those that shout for victory that we should hear Doe we believe the person that 's departed was a true servant of God I think you doe and we may as confidently say of her a St. Hierome does of Nepotian Scimus Nepatianum nostrum esse cum Christo we verily believe she is with Christ. Why then doe you so immoderately grieve Cur doleas saith Tertullian si periisse non credis cur impatienter feras subductum interim quem credis reuersurum esse So say I why doe we so take on for her who we know is not gone to be lost but only with drawn for a time and we believe will return again did the Church mourne when Peter was delivered out of Prison and his shackles knock'd off A Saint at death is freed from prison and all his fetters are then knockt off Did Mordicai weep and grieve or had he cause when the Emperour of the world tooke his Niece from him out of love he bare her to advance her above all other weomen and make her Queen This This is the case only the former paralel is too short the great Creatour of the world in great compassion and tender love to this young Lady has taken her betimes from the dirty country to preferre her at Court he has called her early from this beggarly low earth to advance her amongst the mighty in the heavens The Heathen Menander could say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whom God loves best he â—akes soonest Her soul being fledg'd betimes tooke wing for heaven and this curious robe of mortality which she put off at her departure we now are carrying with all solemnity into the suburbs of heaven after her for Saints graves are no otherwise they are next door to heaven They are the Saints sleeping Chambers for a little while till God call them up again The silence of the grave is but a kind of Pythagorean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a restraint only for a time and that but a little time the time is short Death the last enimy shall reign but a little longer he must resign his keyes ere long When the trumpet sounds death triumphs cease till then the Saints bodyes in the grave are in the safe custody of Christ as their Souls in heaven and Christ at his coming will as certainly unite them and clothe them with immortality and glory Wherefore let us comfort one another upon this sad occasion with these meditations One living relict of this Lady now with God remaines still with us her Son and is her lively picture for whom I pray as Eloquent St Ambros at the death of Theodosius the Emperour only changing one Article Tu solus domine invocandus tu rogandus es ut eam infilio repraesentes That he may resemble her in soul as well as in countenance God make him virtuous as she in this life and let the glory of his famous Ancestors rest upon him That he may keep up religion in the family which is the crown of its glory and the true innobling of it as his Mother his Grand Mother and other his ancestors have done before him that so after a happy and holy life here he may goe with honour to them who are now with Christ God blessed for ever in unspeakable glory ERRATA Pag. 1. l. 15 r. the. p. 13. l. 25. r. injoyments p. 15. l. 22. r name p. 32. l. 16. r. he p. 34. l. 26. r. Here. p. 35. l. 28. r. shooke FINIS * Nihil me facio· Chrisost. Verbum originale significat nauseare reprobare cum fastidio abjicere Pined in loc Adoraverunt eum ut Deum acquievit eorum obsequiis delinitus ut se ut Deum coli permitteret Hierom. Athan. Serm. 4. adv Arian Chrysost. Hom. 4. in lâ—c Aug. l. 2 de Symb. c. 6. Irenae l. 3. cap. 18 * Forma dei donum Ovid. de Am. Aug. de civ Dei l. 15. cap. 28. Turtul de cultu Foem Pont. Diaco in vit Cyp.
't is worse than marble if it doe not marble it selfe will weep at change of weather and shall not we at such a change especially we that knew how sweet her disposition how gracious her conversation was among us Wonder not then if I your Orator make teares my fluentest Rhetorick at this funeral broken sentences â—nd inconsistencies may passe at this time excusâ—ble if not commendable from him whose eyes make up the paragoge The Person that here lyes in state before us and is thus become the sad object of our sorrow was of no low extract she was the daughter of the honourable Sr. William Waller On the Mothers side she descended of the Right honourable family of the Finches the Earles of Winchelsie But these things she counted but membrana dignitatis she no more valued the gaudy pageantry of the world than her body now minds this her pompous funeral being dead and herein she shewed her selfe like that honorable Lady and St. Marcella of whom St. Hierom thus speaks quod facta est contempta nobilitate nobilior that she did the more innoble her selfe in disregarding her noble birth That which she most delighted with a holy kind of boasting to triumph in was the truly noble and religious education she received from her Mother in law for her own Mother dyed in her infancy of whose excellent virtues she never thought she could spake enough I have oft heard her most devoutly blesse God for that Mother in law like Alexander the great that praised his Instructor beyond him that got him 'T is highly probable she was the instrument of instilling grace into her heart in her tender years which made her so hartily praise the God of grace for her nor was there any love lost betwixt them for so highly did the Mother in law prize this her Daughter in law that she bestowed the chiefest jewel she had in the World upon her her only Son as conceiving her Son could be in none more happy than in this Person she really being for sweetnesse of nature amiablenesse of Person quicknesse of wit solidity of judgment noblenesse of Spirit innocency of life heavenlinesse of affection the crown and glory of her age and Sex What single excellencies made other Ladies eminent as this for wit that for beauty one for modesty the other for affability you might have found them all concentred in this single Person and shining there in their full lustre Take her in any in every of her relations as a Daughter Sister Wife Mistresse Freind she fild up each of these to the top I must but touch on these As a Daughter how full of duty and affection who can come forth and tell the time that ever she willingly displeased either her Father or Mother in all her life time As a Sister from the nurses brests to natures bed the grave she lived and dyed top-full of hearty love and tender respect to them their teares for the losse of her sufficiently testify to the world this truth As a Wife she was so full of respect tendernesse and overflowing love to her Dear as she call'd her husband that you would have deemd their whole life to have been but one wedding day There was no ebb to be seen in the tide of her affections 't was always high they seemd always ravisht in each others love she was to her Husband as the pleasant hynd the desire of his eyes and the joy of his heart I may truly say of them as David said of Ionathan and Saul they were lovely and pleasant in their lives and I may adde this too in their deaths they were not divided for at her departure his soule as unwilling to stay now strugled in a tyde of teares to launch out after her This current runs still too strong which cals rather for our pitie than our blame and of the two extreames this is the more alowable as bespeaking the Person generous and noble hearted for none but fooles and sordid Cowards are hard-hearted Therefore Homer describes his valiant men his Heroes to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tender hearted compassionate men men full of teares but what need excuses here she was his Wife the one halfe of him selfe the comfort of his life the crown of his glory how many losses are comprehended in this one the losse of a good and gracious Wife none can tell but they that feel it As a Governesse of a family her prudence and piety was eminent she had such a provident and diligent inspection into every thing that she seemed to be every body in it and with such facility and sedatenesse she ordered all things as if she had been no body in it I know many great families but never yet did I see any that was govern'd with so little noise or tumult and so free from disorders no oathes no drunkennesse no railing or dissentions to be heard or seen amongst any 'T is true the family was extraordinary happy in a stock of civil knowing faithful and religious Servants and 't was her goodnesse made them so Such was her pious care of her family that she desired that all her Servants might be the Lords and therefore twice a day she commanded every one all businesse lay'd aside to be present in her chappel at prayers and the hearing of God's word read and once a week every servant from the chiefest to the meanest she had chatechized in the principles of religion by her Chaplain in the open Chappel On the Lord's day her care was that she and her house might serve the Lord therefore she strictly commanded all that possibly could to attend her to the publick ordinances whether she constantly resorted to hear the word of God and if any Servant were negligent or tardie I have heard them sharply rebuked After the publick ordinances were over she commanded all her Maid Servants into her chamber where she examined them all what they remembred of the Sermon and would incourage the diligent hearers After this she would repeat the Sermon for the help of their memoryes then She would conclude with prayer Thus this Princely Lady to her eternall honour disdained not as too many great Ladies doe to become the hand-maids of the Lord in using all good means to save others souls as wel as her own As a Neighbour she was so familiar humble courteous and compassionate that you need not wonder to see Stanton Harcourt so full of teares for the losse of her Such was her charity to any in distresse especially to those that were religeous and therefore modest that when she heard or supposed they were in distresse she would send privately to them not pence but pounds Such was her privasy in it that nothing but the gratitude of the receivers since her death hath informed me of this truth By this we may guesse at her inlarged noble heart we shall never hear all her good deeds of this nature till God call her out reward her
openly That of her publike charity you that hear me of this parish can witnesse and my eyes have seen that there was not a day in the week but severall hungry bellyes were filled from her Kitchin once a week there was purposely made provision for them and once a year Six of the poor of the parish were new cloathed by her so that we may aply Iobes words to her the blessing of those that were ready to perish came upon her How oft has she sent and come to your houses when you have been sick to visit succour and comfort you what good office did she ever neglect amongst you she was as eyes to the blind feet to the lame a physician to the sick and a mother to the poore I may apply St Hieroms words of Nepotian to this Lady ita curam gessit pauperum quasi ab eos genuisset ita servivit quasi ab iis geniâ—a fuisset she wasso tender of the poor as if she had been their mother so serviceable as if their daughter As a private Christian she was by report of her Chaplain and others most intimate with her one of a thousand her discourse would be so spiritual heavenly that the Godly hearers have profess'd themselves even ravish'd with it She was much in fasting and prayer in reading meditation searching her heart I might here insert all which that learned Oratorin his funeral speech hath said of the Mother in law so exactly did she tread in that holy Lady's steps She kept in her Cabinet a large paper booke so privately that none no not her husband knew of it since her death I have seen it and only seen it T was a book I perceived designed to be her souls looking-glas or rather her souls recreatory both In this book I perceived by the severall heads in it she laid up het spirituall Cordials to refresh her soul in time of need Here she had set down Gods gracious and remarkable providences to her and her family to excite her soul to thankfulnesse Here she laid up spirituall directions how to order her life One paper being loose I obtein'd it I will give it you word for word by this you may guess at the rest April 14 1664. I have this day upon serious examination of my heart found this to be my condition 1. That I doe desire to love God and to love him for himself above all things 2. That I am if my heart deceive me not extreamely more in love with the wayes of God then ever 3. That I find my heart unfainedly sorry for all my frailtyes and sins committed and duties omitted and I doe here in the presence of God promise engage to strive against all my beloved sins and serve him more constantly then I have done I hope through Gods grace that as he has begun that good work in me so he will according to his promises perfect it in me Thus I have given you a glimps of this young Saints Closet works she was not perfuming her self with essences painting her face or trying where a black patch would set with most advantage and best insnare the eye of the wanton but she was tyreing her soul for her Lord the Bridegroomes comming Oh thou blessed Soul hee whom thou hast served so secretly will one day reward thee openly I cannot omit one remarkeable thing which happened a little before God called this young Saint to her sick bed I received it since her death from a Person of good credit who heard her tel it She had a dream that an Angel came to her and told her she must suddenly dye whereat she was affraid and trembled but the Angel told her she need not fear she should goe to heaven to Christ who would wellcome her there whereat she was fill'd with joy Now though I lay little stresse upon dreames as knowing it to be dangerous it being hard to discern them from Diabolicall delusions the Papists ridiculously impose upon the world their Fryers dreames to prove their fopperies and erronious opinions as if with the Heathen we were to believe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every dream came from God wheâ—eas the Devill many times is the Authour of them A wicked man may dream he shall goe to heaven Caesar a little before his death may dream he shall goe to the immortal God but no wicked man shall ever goe thither Yet for all this it must not be denyed but that God doth many times foretell to his Saints their deaths in dreames Polycarp that Saint and Martyr you may find him in the book of Martyrs had his death foretold him the kind of it He dreamt that his bed was on fire under him and St. Cyprian foresaw in a dream the Pro-Consul writing his sentence to be beheaded whereupon he desired him to set his house in order and t was granted him and just so it fell out as he had dreamed We might instance in many more if it needed For my part I believe this dream of this holy Ladys was a favour extraordinary from God to such a precious young Saint And I the rather think so because it so fell out as she had dreamed for soon after this she unexpectedly fell sick of a violent feaver which was the forerunner of death at hand And although she did not dye of that feaver yet before she had recovered her strength she lost by it God in his wise providence resolving to exercise her graces before she went hence call'd her back again to her sick bed which at last proved her death bed In this Sicknesse God exercised her with more tormentive pangs both in her back and bowels then before which inforced most bitter groanes and sighs from her to the peircing of the hearts of those about her yet under all those heavy pressures she did not charge God foolishly though she groaned yet she did not murmur or repine but in the midst of those pangs she still lifted up her hand and eyes to the God of her salvation That time of ease God gave her between her fits she was carefull to redeem by prayer and other holy exercises with her Chaplain whom she highly prized in her health for his singular good parts and piety Some few dayes before her death when her excessive pangs had so devoured her strength that they left her speechlesse and the company gave her up for a dying departing person I came to her bed side and perceiving her to move her head and her eyes which was more then she had done for some hours before I asked her Ladyship whether she were capable of discourse and she answered me yes but let it be good let it be heavenly So carefull was she to redeeme her sick bed time you may guesse where her treasure was by her heart The day before her death was to all our joy and admiration the most refreshing day she had had in all her sicknesse Sic Phoebi jâ—mjâ—m cadentis