living spirits the one Angelicall which is neither covered nor perisheth with the body the second bestiall which is both covered and perisheth with the body the third humane which is covered but doth not perish with the body but goeth forth Where our blessed Saviour saith Fear not them who kill the body but cannot kill the soul What doth he but clearly intimate that when the body dyeth the soul dyeth not for else they who kill the body would kill the soul too and where he faith again of Abraham Isaac and Jacob that they live to God and therefore God is not the God of the dead but of the living it plainly implyeth that though their bodies are dead their souls still live I end this with the gloss of Cajetan upon my Text who conceiveth that this title of spirit is here given to the soul in respect of its going forth As it is joyned with and giveth life to the body it is a soul and as it goeth forth and exists apart from the body it is a spirit since in this partaking with other spirituall substances which have a subsistence without any matter 2. Having given you this account of the egress of the soul pass we on to take a view of the regress of the body He turneth to his earth Had he only said he returneth it might be understood of the spirit which as it gooth forth so returneth and accordingly this very word is by Salomon applied to the spirit Had the Psalmist spoke of the Resurrection these words He returneth to his earth might have admitted a faire gloss in reference to the soul it returneth ad terram corporis sui to the earth of its body to which it shall then be united but it is manifest that these words are a periphrasis of dying And therefore with St. Jerome and Theodoret the sense is best given that the soul or spirit going forth {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} caro the body the flesh returneth to its earth Sutable hereunto is that note of the learned Muis who observeth that in the Hebrew whereas the Verb goeth forth is faeminine answering with the Noun spirit which is for the most part of that gender the Verb returneth is Masculine and so not to be referd to spirit but the son of man who in respect of his body returneth to his earth Returning in its proper notion is a going back to that place from whence we came so that in this clause here is a threefold truth implyed expressed inferd 1. That which is implyed in this phrase of returning is that man in respect of his body came from the earth and as it is here implyed so it is expressed concerning the first man by Moses The Lord God formed Man that is the body of man of the dust or according to the Hebrew dust of the ground and by St. Paul where he saith the first man is of the earth earthly True it is we are formed in our Mothers womb but yet inasmuch as we all came from the first man we are truly said to come from the earth only with this difference that he immediately we mediately are framed out of the earth This truth was engraven in full Characters upon the name of the first man who is called {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} Adam from a word that signifieth red earth and that very word is here used perhaps to mind us of that earth whereof man was first made yea according to the usuall Etymologie the name homo which in the Latins is a common name to both Sexes is derived ab humo from the ground For this reason it is that the earth is called by the Poet magna parens the great Parent of mankind and in the answer of the Oracle our mother and in this respect we are said by Eliphaz To dwell in houses of clay whose foundation is in the dust 2. That which is exprest is That Man when he dyeth returneth to the earth {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} saith the Poet We are all dust when dissolved As the white snow when melted is black water eso flesh and blood when bereaved of the soul becom the dust and ashes in which respect St. Paul giveth this Epithet of vile to our bodies Indeed mans originall being from the earth he had a naturall propensity to earth according to that Maxime Omne principiatum sequitur naturam principiorum every thing hath an aptitude of returning to the Principle whence it cometh but yet had he not turned away from God he had never actually returned thither It is sin which hath brought upon man a necessity of dying and that dying brings a necessity of returning to the earth in which respect it is observable that the threat thou shalt dye the death which was denounced against man before his fall being afterwards renewed is explained as to temporall death by those words to dust thou shalt return â—o that now the motion of the little world man is like that of the great Circulare ab eodem punctâ— ad idem from the same to the same and that as in his soul from God to God so in his body from the earth to earth The Rivers come from the Sea and they return thither The Sun ariseth out of the East and thither it returneth Man is formed of the earth and into earth he is again transformed with which agreeth that of the Poet Cedit item retro de terra quod fuit ante 3. That which is inferd in the emphaticall Pronoune his which is annexed to the Noun earth is that the earth to which man returneth is his this being that which ariseth out of both the former conclusions since it is therefore his earth because he cometh from and returneth to it Earth is mans Genesis and Analysis his composition and resolution his Alpha and Omega his first and last Ortus pulvis finis cinis earth is his both originally and finally So that our bodies can challenge no alliance with or property in any thing so much as earth For if we call those things ours which have only an externall relation to us as our friends our houses our goods our lands much more may we call that our earth whereof we are made and into which we shall moulder no wonder if as here it is said to be his so elsewhere he is said to be earth as being called by that name By this time you see how fitly death is described by the spirits going forth of the body and the bodies returning to his earth both which are the immediate consequents of death and informe us what becometh of either part when the whole is divided of the soul and body when the man dyeth It would be further observed that this is here affirmed of Princes and Great men as well as others Aequâ lance necessitas sortitur insignes imos said the Poet
to his two constitutive and essentiall parts soul and body the egresse of the one His soul goeth forth and the regresse of the other he returneth to his Earth the one whereof is verified In ipso articulo mortis in the very point of death and the other is most evident in sepultura corporis at the time of his Buriall Both which when I have handled by themselves I shall discuss with reference to the quality of the person of whom especially they are spoken and then close up this first and main part of the Text with a sutable of Application 1. Begin we with Mans egress in those words His Breath goeth forth The Hebrew word {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} being derived from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} as also the Greek {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} from {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} and the Latin spiritus from spiro most properly signifieth breath In this notion the Targum and our Translators here render it nor is it incongruous to the Psalmists design which is to give us a Character of death yea Calvin inclineth to this as the most genuine meaning of the word in this place And thus it is a most evident truth that when a man dyeth his Breath goeth forth Indeed it is not true that when a mans Breath goeth forth he dyeth Since life is maintained inspirando respirando by taking in and letting forth Breath but when we can no longer take in breath we are said expirare to breath forth our last and so dye In this respect man is fitly resembled to a bladder puffed up with wind which being by any prick let forth the bladder shrivels up when we cease to Breath we cease to live Upon how slender a thred doth our life hang it is but a puffe and we are gone we carry our lives in our hands or rather in our nostrils that is the Prophet Isaiahs Character Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils How easily how speedily is a mans breath beaten out of his body so quickly is he deprived of life our life doth not depend upon the soundness of our parts strength of our joynts one dyeth saith Job in his full strength but only upon our breath which how soon are we bereaved of no wonder if one Philosopher being asked what life was turned himself about and so went out and another resembles it by oculus clausus and apertus an eye shut and open or rather open and shut we dye in the twinkling of an eye and St. James putting the Question What is your life returneth this answer It is a vapour which appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away Oh that as we continually live by breathing so we would be thereby put in mind of dying when our breath shal go forth But though this construction be true yet I rather adhere to Theodorets and Hieromes gloss upon the place who by spirit understand the soul partly because when this word is applyed to man in holy writ it is most frequently so to be understood and where the sense will bear it is best to take words in their usuall acception partly because the next clause is generally referd to the other part of man his body and therefore it is most congruous to refer this to his soul chiefly because in that place of Salomon the Son which may very well be looked upon as fetched from and parallel to this of David the Father by spirit can be meant no other then the soul of man If you ask why the soul of man is called by this name of a spirit the answer is given both from the Etymology of the word and the nature of the thing 1. The word as you have already heard signifieth breath and the soul of a man is a breath both Passively and Actively 1. Passively Quia spiratur because it is breathed into us according to that of Moses in the Creation of Man God breathed into him the breath of life and however it be a controverted Question whither the rationall soul be propagated and infused generated or breathed yet it suiteth best as with the dignity of the soul so with the current of Scripture to affirme that the soul of man is still breathed into the body immediately by God himself 2. Actively Quia spirat because it is the fountain and originall of our breath which begins with the ingresse and ceaseth with the egresse of the soul upon which consideration the former sense appeareth to be included in this latter since together with the soul the breath goeth forth 2. The thing which this word spirit is used for the most part to signifie is an invisible immortall incorporeall immateriall substance upon which account God is said to be a Spirit and Angels are called spirits and in this respect the soul of man is a spirit as being not an accident but a substance and that void of gross corruptible matter This spirit when a man dyeth goeth forth for the further explication whereof it will be needfull to inquire the double term of this motion whence and whither it goeth 1. If you inquire whence the spirit goeth forth the answer is out of the body Conceive the body as an house or Tabernacle or rather with St. Paul to put both together the house of our Tabernacle the soul as an Inhabitant or sojourner in this house into which when it enters we begin to live and out of which when it goeth we dye The second death saith St. Austin Animam nolentem tenet in corpore detains the soul against its will in the body and the first Animam dâ—lentem pellitâ—e corpore driveth the sorrowfull soul out of the body when this bold Serpeant cometh with a Writt from the divine Majesty he entreth in and turneth this Tenant out of doores 2. If you would know whither the spirit goeth the Wise man giveth you the Answer where he saith the spirit of a man goeth upward and again where he saith it returneth to God that gave it as it goeth forth so it ascendith upward Sursum eam vocant initia sua saith Seneca it goeth whence it came To God it goeth and that for this end to receive its doome which being past it accordingly remaineth in a state of weal or woe to the day of the Resurrection By this it appeareth how dissonant both the Epicucuraean and the Pythagorean Philosophers are to truth the one whereof affirmeth that the spirit of a man goeth forth that is vanisheth away as the soul of a Beast doth and the other that his spirit goeth forth from one body to another whereas in truth the spirit of man goeth forth so as to subsist and that by it self till it be reunited with the body Tres vitales spiritus creavit omnipotens saith St. Gregory to this purpose very appositely The Almighty hath created three
the small To this tended that surcasme of Diogenes when he told Alexander that he had been seeking his Father Philips bones but could not distinguish between them and others And for this reason Alphonsus putting the Question what it was that did make high and low equall answered Death Pliny writeth of a River in Spaine wherein all the fish that are pnt are of a golden colour but being taken out of it they are of the same colour with other fishes They who whilest they live in this world glitter with gold and silver when taken out of it return to the same earth with the rest of mankind Whilest the Counters are upon the Table one stands for five another for ten while the Chasemen are upon the Board one is a King another a Queen a third a Bishop a fourth a Knight and those have their several walks but when put into the bag they are all alike Thus is it with men who though upon the earth they are of different orders and degrees are alike when they are cast into it And as the several kinds of herbs which are thrown into the Limbeck being distilled make one water so they but one earth Epictetus when asked What was common to the King with the Begger answered to be born and to die they come into and go out of the world one as well as the other Nor is there any difference between them in the womb and the tomb Let not those that are above insult over others since this grand Leveller Death will one day put them in the same condition with others 2. This Meditation of the going forth of the soul and return of the body is a no lesse powerfull disswasive from a voluptuous life then an haughty mind Oh that you who have vivendi voluptatem the pleasure of life would contemplate moriendi necessitatem the necessity of death That you who have the world at will would remember you have not death at command I die said Esau and what good will my Birth-right do me Oh that the voluptuous Epicure would say I die and what good will my vain and sensual pleasures do me Agathocles when a King having been a Potters Sonne drank in earthen Vessels It were not possible men should surfeit at their Tables carouse it in their Cups would they eat and drink as it were in earthen vessels in the midst of their delicacyes remember that they are earth Consider this you who spend your doyer in eating and drinking in playing and sleeping whose whole design is to pamper and feed to deck and adorn your bedies to gratifie your senses and glut your selves with the delights of the flesh Dic mihi ubi sunt amatores mundi Nihil ex eis remanet nisi cineres vermes Tell me what is become of those lovers of pleasures of whom nothing remaineth but wormes and ashes What will become of that body of thine which is so full fed and richly clod when it shall be laid in the grave They say of Bees that when they are buzzing and humming about our ears making a great and angry noise if you throw a little dust upon them they are quiet and hive again presently Surely it would still the roaring Gallant in the midst of his joviall revellings were the thoughts of dust frequently suggested to and seriously pondered on by him And yet were this all that the body returneth to the earth the Epicures plea might be good enough Let us eat and drink for to morrow we die But if we die to morrow as our body returneth to earth so our soul goeth forth to God to give an account to rereceive a sentence either of absolution or condemnation And oh think what fear will possesse thy spirit when it apprehends it self going forth to be arraigned at the Barre of Divine Justice yea how dismall the account will be of that time and strength and health and wealth which hath been expended upon carnal and sensual pleasures 2. Let those who are in the lower ranke of men learn to look upon great ones as subject to death and the grave and that for a double end so as not to fear them distrustfully nor trust in them presumptuously 1. Their breath goeth forth they return to their earth fear them not Indeed there is a fear which is due from Inferiours to Superiours God and the King are set down by the Wiseman as the joynt Objects of our fear and they will at last be found fooles who divide them When God saith If I be a Master where is my fear he intimateth that fear is due from the Servant to the Master whilst they live they are above and over us and therefore ought to be feared by us but with a fear of reverence not diffidence and that because their power and Honour is soon laid in the dust Have we not sometimes observed a Ball tossed up and down in the aire eyed and observed by every one which way it moveth least it should hit them yea and when it passeth by they ofttimes stoope to it and yet it is nothing but the skin of a dead beast filled with wind which is easily let out A fit embleme of Tyrants who are so observed and of whom we stand in so much awe when yet they are but mortal men whose breath quickly goeth forth Put them in fear oh Lord is the Prayer of the Psalmist that they may know themselves to be but men Indeed this consideration That the greatest enemies of the Church are but men may put them in fear and us out of fear no wonder if God bespake his Church in that vehement Interrogation Who art thou that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall dye and of the son of man which shall be made as Grasse and therefore as David resolves I will not feare what flesh can do unto me so let us not fear what earth can do against us 2. Their breath goeth forth they return to their earth trust them not This is the principall intendment of the Psalmist as appeareth by the former Dehortation Put not your trust in Princes nor in the son of man in whom there is no help to presse which this is annexed as a reason namely their mortall condition Excellently doth St. Chrysostome here enlarge He that cannot defend himself how shall he deliver another Do not say he is a Prince for in this he hath no greater priviledge then the meanest but is subject to the same uncertainty of life nay that I may at once speak what is true and yet strange {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} for this reason especially he is not to be trusted because he is a Prince for these earthly powers are slippery great men are subject to more casualities and dangers then private and when they fall they that trust to them are ruined with them as the body of the Church is beaten down with the fall of the Steeple How often
Instance of the rich fool in the Gospel whose thoughts were to pull down his barns and build greater and thereto bestow all his fruits and his Goods and to say to his soul Soul thou hast much good laid up for many years take thine ease eat drink and be merry but that night was his soul required from him and those thoughts perished St. James speaketh of those whose thoughts were that to day or to morrow they would go into such a City and continue there and buy and sell and get gain forgetting that their life was but a vapour which appeareth a little while and vanisheth away and together with it all such thoughts St. Gregory upon those words The eyes of the wicked shall fail giveth this as the reason Quia intentiâ—nes eorum desideria occupantur circa transitoria because their thoughts and desires are imployed about perishing objects Oh let it be our wisdome to six our thoughts and designes upon higher and better objects how we may obtain an Inheritance among them that are sanctified and enjoy the beatifical vision These are those thoughts which being pursued in life shall not be frustrated but fulfilled at our death He whose life hath been a continued Meditation on Heaven and whose endeavoures have been to make sure an Interest there in that very day when his body returneth to the earth his soul goeth forth to the fruition of it and so his thoughts receive a full a joyfull accomplishment Once more Not only our worldly but our charitable our penitential our Religious thoughts perish in that day of death How many have thoughts with themselves When I come to such and such years I will leave my sins and lead a new life When I have got this and that estate I will give Almes to the poor But in the mean time death hath unhappily prevented them Oh therefore let it be our prudence to lay hold on the present time and when good thoughts are in our minds if we have ability and opportunity to put them speedily in execution lest we too late condemn our own folly and be forced to say non putaram I did not think death would so soon have seized upon me I shut up this with that excellent Exhortation of the Wise man Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it withall thy might for there is no work nor device nor wisdome nor knowledge in the grave whether thou goest THe text is now finished but my discourse must not yet end What hath been from the text sounded in your eares is by this sad occasion fulfilled in your eyes We have before us a dolefull Instance of great mens mortality in this Noble Earl whose breath some daies past went forth from him and whose body is now returning to this earth Indeed it is that sad Providence which I cannot but mention as being fit to be laid to heart how Almighty God hath not only once but again and again within a little circuit of time exemplified the truth of this Doctrine in this Noble Family No lesse then three Persons of Honour the Father the Son the Grandson have in lesse then two years been taken away by death and that in the three several ages of life the Father in the evening of old age the Son in the noon of manhood and the Grandson in the morn of youth It seemed good to the wise God who doth not look in the Church-Book to see who is eldest and take men out in the same order that they come into this world to begin with the youngest of the three by death lopping off from this goodly tree a blossoming branch which might in probability have flourished long and brought forth much fruit But when his surviving relations consider what hath lately fallen out and is too likely to befall this Land they may look upon it as a mercy in that he was taken away from the evil to come Not long after it pleased divine providence to strike at the very root the aged Father of the Family who having lived many years was cut off in a few houres and is gone to his grave in a full age like a shock of corn in its season And now one main arme of this tree which first sprung from that root and from which that branch sprouted is hewen down the Father of that hopefull Son and the Son of that aged Father is brought to be Interred together with them both in the Sepulchre of his Ancestours It was not my happiness to have either long or much knowledg of this Honourable Person and therefore a large Panegyrick cannot be expected from me nor shall I say any thing concerning him more then truth as not daring for fear of the great God to speak false and flattering words of the greatest man To tell you how illustrious the Family is whereof he is descended were superfluous you can better tell me who have for many years beheld its splendor nor indeed doth that adde much to any mans commendation I shall not stay long to mind you how happy he was in his conjugall Relations having been the Husband of two excellent Ladyes whose memory is and will be precious though their bodies are rotted in the Grave by the former of whom he was the Father of that only Son who went before him and by the latter of three Daughters ingenuous and promising Ladyes which are left behinde him It will be needless to enlarge upon what all who knew him will readily testifie that he was a Person of excellent natural endowments of a sweet and loving temper affable and courteous behaviour and of a meek and lowly spirit not only before but after he was possessed of that dignity to which he was born He was in honore fine tumore lifted up with honour but not puffed up with pride That which I cannot forbear to mention since thereby he became an honour to his Family is as his untained loyalty to his Sovereign so his faithfull constancy in adhering to the Church of England in her Faith and Worship It pleased God in his latter dayes to visit him with many Diseases which as they were in mercy intended by God so I hope in charity they were looked upon by him as summons to the Grave and Monitors of his frailty In his last sickness I had the Honour to wait upon and administer to him in holy things wherein my conscience beareth me witnesse I dealt with him freely and faithfully and I trust not without good success Having set before him the sinfulness of sin and the necessity of repentance he did with tears and sighs as well as words acknowledge and bemoane the follyes of his youth and former life implore forgivenesse of them from God resolve if God should spare him that he would through Divine Grace be more carefull of his wayes And though it hath not seemed good to divine wisdome to give him opportunity of performing his Pious and Penitent resolves yet I hope they were sincere and being so I am sure they are mercifully accepted by his gracious God He was indeed willing to have lived longer but for good end namely to amend his own waies and see Jerusalem in prosperity and withall he desired to submit to Gods will and did wholly cast himself on Christs mertts for his salvation If there be any who like fleas which bite most when we are asleep shall speak evil of this dead Lord I wish they would consider that it was one of Solons Prohibitions {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} to stain the Honour of the dead God I trust upon his Repentance hath covered his sinnes let us do so too They were his earthly dusty ashy parts let them be buried with him This Honourable Person is dead and going to his long home But blessed be God the Earl of Warwick still liveth in his succeeding Brother who will I hope not only continue but encrease the Honour of his Family by endeavouring not only to equalize but excell his Predecessours in being a Friend to the Orthodox Religion of this despised Church a pattern to his Tennants Servants yea the whole Countrey of Piety Charity Humility and all Vertues And may there long long be found one of this line fit to enjoy the Revenue and weare the Title of this Earldome Amen FINIS Ps. 23. 4 5. John 18. 6. 2 Sam. 3. 38. Gen. 1. Calv. in loc. Isai. 2. 22. Job 21. 23. James 4. 14. Theod. in loc. Jerom. in loc. Eccl. 12. 7. Gen. 2. 7. John 4. 24. Heb. 1. 5. 2 Cor. 5. 1. Aâ—gâ—e civit deâ— Eccl. 3. 21. 12. 7. Sen. Epist. Greg. Mâ—â— Matth. 10. 28. Luke 20 38. Cajet in â—oc Eccl. 12. 7. Gen. 2. 7. 1 Cor. 15. 41. Ovid Job 4. 19. Phocyl Phil. 3. 20. Gen. 2. 17. 3. 19. Lucrâ—â— Horat. Gen. 26. Psal. 76. 12. Aug. in loc. Nehem. 5. 5. Prov. 22. 2. Gen. 3. 14. 1 Sam. 10. 2. Job 3. 19. Gen. 25. 32. Prov. 24. 21. Mal. 1. 6. Psal. 9. 20. Isai. 51. 12. Psal. 56. 4. Verse 5. Chryso in loc. Isai. 2. 〈◊〉 Jer. 17. 5. Trem. in loc. Lor. in loc. Isa 26. 4. Psal. 〈…〉 1 Maccab. 2. 62 63. Luk. 1â— 18 19. Jam. 4. 13 14. Job 11. 2â— Eccles. 9. 10.
death knocks at Palaces as well as Cottages and cuts down the Lillies of the garden as well as the grass of the Field It is not unfitly taken notice of That the sacred Historian mentioning the Kings and Dukes of Esau's race only nameth the Dukes but concerning every one of the Kings it is said he died indeed it was needless to affirme it of the Dukes who may well be conceived mortall when Kings are so Even they who are Rulers over men must be subject to death and though they have power to inflict it upon others they are no way able to preserve themselves from it It is reported of Cardinall Woolesy that he expostulated with himself what might prevent death â—f money could do it he had enough to buy a Crown if weapons he had as many as would defend a Kingdome if power he had sufficient to conquer a Nation but alas there is no weapon against death it cannot be bribed by the richest nor conquered by the greatest dye they must and when they dye their breath their soul goeth forth and their bodies returne to the earth The souls of the greatest Landlords are but Tenants at will to their bodies and that not their own but Gods who many times against their wils turneth them out according to that of the Psalmist He cutteth off the spirit of Princes In which respect St. Austin thus glosseth upon the Text Numquid quando vult exibit spiritus expirat quando non vult Shall his spirit go forth when he will I and when he will not The bodies of the highest when the breath and soul is gone out of them are but rotten Carcasses and must be laid in the earth If you look upon their extraction it is from no better an originall then the meanest though their immediate descent be noble yet the first progenitor of them as well as others was the earthly Adam The Prince and the Peazant are of the same earth only the one a little better mould of the same wooll only the one of a little finer thred out of the same Quarry only the one a little smoother stone so justly may great men take up those words in Nehemiah Our flesh is as the flesh of our Brethren There is common dust and Saw dust Pin dust Golden dust and the pouder of Diamons and all is but dust The Beggar the Labourer the Tradesman the Noble man the King are all but earth If you look upon their end it is the grave the house of all living like Nebuchadnezzars Image notwithstanding their gold and silver their feet are clay The rich and the poore saith Solomon meet together sometimes at one board in one bed certainly in one Grave The Noblest are but as flowers which peepe out of the earth and flourish for a time and when the Winter of death cometh they return thither they are but as dust which is raised up in the aire for a while but a few drops of rain lay it presently It is the language of the French King in his Epitaph Terra fui quondam rursus sum terra nihil sum I am again what once I was earth And among the spices of which the ointment for annointing the Kings as well as Priests was compounded one was Cinamon and that is cinericii coloris of the colour of ashes perhaps to tell them what they must one day be The Meditation of this doctrine may be of excellent use to Superiours and Inferiours and to all sorts 1. Oh that great men would in the midst of all their enjoyments entertain these thoughts That custome of presenting the Emperour on the day of his Inauguration with severall Marble stones desiring him to choose one of them for his Monument was designed no doubt for this end and for the same reason Johannes Eleemosynarius and King Philip had their Monitors to tell the one that his Monument was not yet finished and bid the other Remember he was a Man I have read that in Biscay there are old ruinous places which they to whom they belong often visit though they have else where stately Palaces Oh that they who dwell in sumptuous buildings would frequently visit the ruinous Graves It was a curse upon the Serpent that he should creep on his belly and eat dust all the daies of his life but surely it were a blessing to the highest in this world if they would learne to do it in a spirituall sense by the consideration of that dust to which they must return Happy is that Prince Qui non minus se hominem esse quam hominibus praeesse meminerit who no less mindeth that he himself is a man then that he ruleth over men More particularly it is that which would be pondered by them for a double end that it may both quell their pride and curb their voluptuousnesse 1. There is no sinne to which men are more prone then that of Pride It is like our shirt that sin we put on first and put off lost Nor have any greater temptations to this sinne then great ones In alto situm non altum sapere difficile Usually men of high estates are high-minded Nor is any thing more common then for the bunch of Pride to grow upon the back of Honour Among the many Antidotes against this sinne none more effectuall then this to consider that whilest they live they are but enlivened clay breathing dust moving ashes and that when their breath goeth forth they must return to the earth They say that the tympany is cured by stroaking the part with a dead mans hand Sure I am the serious thought of death is an excellent means to allay the swelling of Pride If you put fire to Gun-powder which is made of earth it will blow up Towers The fire of Meditation put to our earthy Original and end will blow up the turret of Pride It is well observed that one of the signes which Samuel gave Saul after he had anointed him King was that he should find two men by Rachels Sepulchre For this end perhaps that whereas the being anointed King might puff him up the sight of Rachels Sepulchre might humble him Oh that you who enjoy the Honours and Dignities of this world would often think with your selves I must die and when death comes I must exchange my Palace for a Grave my Robes for Dust I that am now atteded on by men must have wormes for my Companions I that am now so high must ere long be laid low that so you may be meek and lowly in heart That which may so much the more advance the efficacy of this thought in subduing the pride of great men is that when once they are returned to the earth and this dunghill element hath set its foot upon their face there is no difference between them and others There saith Job of the Grave are the great and small Nor can we tell which is the dust of the great which of
is it seen that when men think to make great ones their shadowes and shelters they vanish away and leave them to the scorching Sun by which meanes as Jonah was by the withering of his gourd they are disappointed and disquieted yea when the Cedars fall the lower shrubs which might have stood at a greater distance being near to and depending on are crushed by them let therefore the Prophet Isaiahs counsell be acceptable Cease from man whose breath is in his Nostrils for wherein is he to be accounted of so much the rather considering the curse denounced by the Prophet Jeremy against him who trusteth in man and maketh flesh his Arme The greatest man is but an arme of flesh which must rot nay a bruised reed upon which if you lean you fall say not therefore to a piece of clay thou art my fear or my hope to be afraid of the power or dote on the favour of great men are alike not only vain but cursed 3. Let all of all sorts lay this truth to heart our breath will certainly may speedily go forth Let good works be in our hands whiles the breath is in our Nostrils Our souls goeth forth at the houre of death to be judged let us labour for the renewing and sanctifying of our souls that they may appear with boldnesse We must return to our earth respice prospice oh homo let us look backward whence we came let us look forward whither we are going that we may be vile in our own eyes It is our body that returneth to the earth whilst our souls go forth to be happy or miserable Let us prefer that part which goeth forth before that which returneth to earth Merito poseit majora studia pars melior the better and nobler part deservedly challengeth our best and chiefest care nor is any thing more absurd though it be too common then to have regard of our vile body and neglect our precious soul Finally Every son of man is as sure to return to the earth as that he came from it and to breath forth the breath of his life as that he received it in let it be therefore his endeavour to provide for what he cannot prevent and so by keeping faith and a good conscience to work out his salvation that when death shall come he may comfortably say Egredere anima mea Go forth oh my soul go forth to that God whom thou hast served to that Jesus in whom thou hast believed and his flesh which returneth to the earth may rest in hope of a joyfull Resurrection to eternall life 2. There is yet one clause of the Text behinde of which I shall give a very brief account namely the dying of great mens purposes as it is expressed in those words In that very day his thoughts perish The thoughts which the Psalmist here no doubt especially intends are those purposes which are in the minds of great men of doing good to those who are under and depend upon them The Hebrew word here used is derived from a verb that signifieth to be bright Cogitationes serenae those candid serene benigne benevolous thoughts which they have of advancing their Allyes friends and followers These thoughts are said to perish in that day wherein they are conceived so Tremelius glosseth In which sense the instability of great mens favour is asserted whose smiles are quickly changed into frownes love into hatred and so in a moment their mind being changed their well-wishing thoughts vanish But more rationally their thoughts perish in that day wherein their persons die because there is no opportunity of putting their purposes in execution They perish like the childe which comes to the Birth and there is no strength to bring forth or like fruit which is plucked up before it be ripe Whilest they live we may be deceived in our expectations by the alteration of their minds but however their condition is mortal and when that great change by death comes their designes how well soever meant must want success From hence it followeth which is by some looked upon as a part of the meaning of the words that the thoughts or hopes of them who trust in them perish It is a true Apothegme Major pars hominum expectando moritur The greatest part of men perish by expectation And good reason inasmuch as their expectation being misplaced perisheth How strongly this Argument serveth to presse the Psalmists Caution against confidence in man though never so great is easily obvious It is true Princes and Nobles being invested with Honour Wealth and Authority have power in their hands and perhaps they may have thoughts in their hearts to do thee good but alas how uncertain is the execution of those intentions and therefore how foolish is it to depend upon them Trust in the Lord Jehovah saith the Prophet for with him is everlasting strength I and with him is unchangeable goodnesse It is safe building upon the rock trusting upon God whose thoughts of mercy are like himself from everlasting to everlasting But nothing more foolsh then to build on the sand trust to men whose persons together with their thoughts perish in a moment And therefore let our resolution be that of Davids It is better to 118. 8 â— in the Lord then to put confidence in man It is better to trust in the Lord then to put confidence in Princes To enlarge this a little further It is no lesse true of their thoughts of evil against then of good to others Sometimes their minds are changed from malice to mercy and by that meanes their thoughts perish So were Esau's towards Jacob and he embraced him in his armes whom he designed to tread under his feet Oft-times they are cut off by death so that they cannot bring their wicked devises to pass Thus Pharaoh parsuing Israel with a resolved rage to make them and theirs his prey is drowned in the red Sea and in that very day all his malicious thoughts perish In this respect there is as little reason to be afraid of the anger as to confide in the friendship of great ones And therefore Mâ—â—athias advised his Sons Fear not the words of a sinfull man for his glory shall be dung and wormes to day he shall be lifted up and to morrow he shall not be found because he is returned to his dust and his thought is come to nothing It is true of great mens of all mens thoughts in respect of themselves as well as others The hearts of the Sons of men are full of designes about worldly things Apollinarius interpreteth the word in my Text {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} carefull thoughts such saith Arnobius quae cos non sinunt quiescere which will not suffer them to be quiet Thoughts of buying selling building purchasing and a thousand such like which death intervening breaketh off and all such purposes prove to no purpose Theodoret upon my text brings in the