from the lusts and affections of human flesh and made stiff nature yield and submit her self to God Seing now That our merciful and faithful High-Priest hath given up his Innocent holy Soul an Offering and a Sacrifice for all our Sins by suffering that ignominious Death of the Cross and since he victoriously routed all the Forces and loosed all the pains of Death and of Hell triumphing over them at his Resurrection first and Ascension afterwards all true Christians may for that Cause readily bear a part in St. Paul's joyful 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Song of Triumph composed it seems for those very solemn Festivals O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory And forasmuch as the Merits of Christ the second Adam are as mighty to save Mankind as the Transgression of the first was powerful to condemn we may repeat the same words again with comfort of hope and in full assurance of our Faith in a cheerful Eccho to that heavenly Voice Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them These Words do plainly contain two general Parts 1. The first Part is a perfect express and affirmative Proposition wherein is peremptorily asserted The blessed unalterable State of all those Men who depart hence in the Lord Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord or according to the Grammatical Order of the Words The dead which dye in the Lord are blessed 2. The Second general Part affords the strongest Reasons imaginable to prove and confirm the aforesaid Assertion This Confirmation thereof is twofold 1. From the best Authority that may be for 't is evidenced by the most infallible Testimony of the blessed Spirit full of Grace and of Truth 2. From Reason which is double The dead which die in the Lord are blessed 1. Because They rest from their Labours and 2. Because their Works do follow them For the clearer manifestation of the Truth now laid before us in the Method and Demonstration of the Spirit the Terms of the Proposition would be first of all explained in our Answers to these two Questions 1. What sort of men they be which the Spirit reckons to be dead in the Lord And 2. What is here understood by their being Blessed To the 1. Question What sort of Men they be which the Spirit reckons to be dead in the Lord Our Answer is briefly thus They are such Men as have not lived unto Themselves nor to the World but like Strangers and Pilgrims upon Earth having their Conversations and Hearts in Heaven That have mortifyed the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts being renewed in the Spirit of their Mind That have truly repented of all their Sins and subdued all the proud high Thoughts of their carnal minds in Obedience to Christ That have resisted and repelled the Devil in all his Attempts either by secret Suggestions or with open Force and have likewise renounced and overcome the World with all its Adherents Pomps and Vanities Now this Victory which all true Christians must obtain both over Themselves the Devil and the World before they can dye in the Lord is not otherwise to be gained than by sincere unfeigned Repentance manifest in all the Duties of self-denyal and mortification a lively persevering Faith in Christ and a constant hearty though not perfect Obedience to Gods Holy Commandments And seeing the best Men living are not able to perform that intire and exact Obedience which the Law requires at their hands to make them appear justifyed in the sight of a righteous holy God being judged of him according to their own Works but unprofitable Servants whosoever thinks to depart this Life in Peace with God with consolation to themselves must loath detest and abhor their past Wickedness like pious Job in dust and ashes and Jâ—b â—â—â— with S. Paul Phil. 3.9 cast off the polluted rags of their own imperfect Righteousness according to the Law to put on Christ by Faith and be found at last in the white robes of his Righteousness that was made perfect through Sufferings And there is no doubt but those Men who thus live unto the Lord by faith and perseverance in good works even unto their end may be sure of dying so too because they have discharged their whole duty so far as to render it an acceptable service unto God by Jesus Christ for having so duly testified both Repentance towards God and Faith working by Love in our Lord Jesus Christ they become thereby justifyed and obtain their peace and Reconciliation with God Whereupon they may safely cast the Anchor of their Hope on the promises which God once made unto their Fathers and then depart in peace according to his word in full assurance of an happy Resurrection from the Dead And having this hope what shall hinder Men from spending all their time their care and pains in exerting vigorously the powers and faculties of their Souls to purifie themselves from all filthiness of the Flesh and of the World that so they may grow still in Grace perfecting Holiness in the fear of God As the chased Heart pants after the Water Brook so these refined Spirits being wearied and heavy laden with all the frailties of their own Flesh tempted by Satan hated and persecuted by the World pant and groan earnestly for deliverance breathe and are athirst for their appearing before the presence of God where Mortallity shall be swallowed up of Life To the second Question what is here understood by their being Blessed who die thus in the Lord You may take this very plain yet apposite Solution notwithstanding Mens opinions about their Felicity present or to come have been as different numerous and irrational as concerning their very Gods themselves because one doth naturally presuppose and infer the other Felicity being nothing else but a close intimate Fruition of God in the notion of an All sufficient Immense Being that is absolutely good of himself and in his Nature and relatively too being the Fountain of all the goodness and pefection that can be met with amongst all the Creatures and Workmanship of his hands yet according to the common use and import of the word there have been always two things implied First a deliverance from evil and then a possession of something which is good And with regard unto the many kinds of good or evil which may befal the Sons of Men either in this present Life or in that which is to come so their happiness or misery doth both encrease and multiply And because every Man is naturally compounded of the Flesh and Spirit of an immortal Soul united with an earthly fading Body which nevertheless are by Gods infinite Power made capable of Life Eternal in dispight of Death or Hell it self therefore he may be counted happy 1 In respect of this present world and 2 with relation to the next and
A FUNERAL SERMON Upon the much lamented DEATH OF Col. Edward Cook Who died in LONDON Upon January the 29th and was Buried in the Chapple at HIGHNAM near GLOVCESTER on February the 2d 1683 4. By Edmond Thorne Master of Arts and Fellow of Oriel College in OXFORD 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phil. 1.21 LONDON Printed by T.B. for Walter Davies in Amen-Corner 1684. A FUNERAL SERMON Upon the much lamented DEATH of Collonel EDWARD COOK c. Revelations 14.13 I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them THE two several readings of this Text in our English Bibles and in the Common Service of our Church for the burial of the dead though different in words yet are the same in sense for let the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 be spoken either in Composition or Disjunction place it either at the beginning or end of the proposition to which it most emphatically belongs nevertheless it will have the same signification or importance in the scope and meaning of the words And as for that other seeming difference one Translation of the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 being that they may the other for they do rest from their Labours there is in truth no real difference at all but only so far as one and the same thing may be rightly stiled either a good effect or a prosperous event This Categorical Assertion that the dead are blessed proceeding from the command or impulse of the Spirit is the first thing which here offers it self and worthily bespeaks a serious observation which may the rather expect a favourable Audience as well for the great Improbability thereof whilst Men of all sorts have itching Ears after novelties as for the good tidings which it brings of eternal happiness for that is indeed the mark at which all Men level their affections though too too many do foolishly mistake and loose their aim Upon this account St. Paul may 't is like be much encountred as he was of old with some Stoicks and Epicureans of our evil days accused and condemned also for a Babler a Setter forth of strange Doctrine because he Preacheth unto them a state of Bliss and everlasting life in the very gates of Death for at first hearing 't is a Paradox incredible tedious and irksome to flesh and bloud contrary to the natural Sentiments of meer human Reason to the tendency of all Creatures and also to the received principles of true Philosophy for by those principles enforc'd with common experience it is every where observed that self preservation is the continual endeavour and one chief end of all things in the World nay the first principles of Religion it self do seem to countenance and abet the Charge for death was first of all threatned afterwards inflicted upon Adam Ro. 5.12 Gal. 3.13 and all his Off-spring as a punishment for their sin a curse only due because of their Transgression For as by one Man Sin entred into the World and Death by Sin so Death passed upon all Men for that all had sinned and therefore 't is affirmed That Christ hath Redeemed us and all mankind from the curse of the Law being himself made a Curse for us And that was compleatly done when he fulfilled the Law by his hanging on a Tree being obedient unto Death even the shamful death of the Cross wounded for our Transgressions and bruised for our Iniquities In Missali Rom. The Romanists to my best remembrance are ingenious even to that impious contradiction of applauding Adams transgression for its happiness in disserving such a mighty Ransom that no Sacrifice but only the Son of God himself could any way redeem the Criminal and expiate for his gilt O faelix Culpa Quae talem ac tantum habere meruit Redemptorem It would surely better become us all sadly to bewail our selves and imprecate with indignation the malicious nature of the fact which hath deserved so great and severe a Judgment so terrible indeed that without infinite Mercy should have rendred all mankind obnoxious to the dismal Curse both of Temporal and Aeternal Death beyond all hopes of any mitigation and releases and certainly be the Scene laid where it will either in the bottomless pit or no lower then the Grave each part will be very tragical grievous and full of horrour there is no question to be made as Origen did once in favour of the Devils themselves concerning the perpetual and insufferable pains of Hell as comprizing all the torments which an Omnipotent angry God is able to bring about or immortal Souls can possibly sustain for in the Scripture language Jude 6. Mat. 25.41 46. Isaiah 33.14 it is the vengeance of Eternal Fire and Everlasting punishment prepared for the Devil and his Angels In this respect Almighty God is termed a consuming Fire and his Judgment upon all impenitent Sinners are set forth in those lively but fearful Emblems devouring Flames and everlasting Burnings nor yet is even the first kind of death however common both to the righteous and the wicked a thing much to be desired but rather avoided were it not for the blessed hope of a future enduring and more happy state for doubtless 't is a bitter Potion a Cup of Wrath being the wages of Sin sharper than a two edged Sword more piercing and corosive to the vital Spirits then Vinegar and Gall And although some heathens have been highly valued by themselves and others for their brutish and almost senseless contempt of Death running first out of their wits and afterwards of their lives yet Aristotle passed a better judgment on it more like a Philosopher and a sober Man when he termed it the frightfullest of all Evils or the King of Terrours And certainly it is no small trouble and vexation of heart when as Christ himself in the substance of our mortal flesh toucht with feeling of our Infirmities hath left it on Record as one part of those bitter Agonies which preceeded his Crucifixion for notwithstanding his perfect innocency being altogether free from sin yet he prayed earnestly three times in the same words That if it were possible that Cup might pass from him insomuch that nothing else but a filial obedience and submission to the good will of his Heavenly Father could make him drink it without reluctancies and regret from which passage two things are easily Collected 1 the certain truth of our Saviours manhood with the malignity of sin that could make so pure a soul exceeding sorrowful even to death atd 2 the truth and reality likewise of his Godhead for without all peradventures it was that alone which enabled him to resist and withstand all the Powers of darkness even to bloud that was it which baffled all the Temptations of the Devil and the World confuted all the oppositions raised by sense
thereupon Mans happiness may be considered either as it is Temporal or Eternal Those Temporal and Earthly Blessings which are but equivocally good or profitable unto Men that are Creatures made for Eternity Philosophers have drawn out upon their Ethick Schems into the distinct parts of bona Animi bona Corporis bona Fortunae the first rank of these erroneously stiled Beatitudes are properly seated in the Soul the second pertain especially to the Body but the last are the poor Largesses of blind chance the treacherous Donatives of deceitful unconstant Fortune They are all summed up in three words Honour Profit and Pleasure which like Cyphers can signifie nothing by themselves and yet will enhanse our Accounts at the General Audit according as they have been superadded for the good use and improvement of better Talents 1 John 2.16 17. but after all St. John the Divine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath set a true Gloss upon that false Text by comprizing all that is in the World under the lust of the Flesh the lust of the Eyes and the pride of Life And then for the confusion of all vain Philosophers and wretched Miscreants who fix their affections and all their happiness on such pittiful empty things He concludes they be not of the Father but of the World that passeth away together with all the Vanities and Lusts thereof And what Men having but so much reason as to know themselves and their eternal Interests can be so very Brutish in the great business of Religion or so careless of their own precious and immortal Souls as to set up such gross and ridiculous Idols in their Hearts to fall down worship and serve the Creature instead of their Creatour that is God Blessed for ever Do not those unreasonable Men exceedingly deceive their own Souls who trust in their uncertain Riches and foolishly vaunt in those very things that perish even in their use and will certainly come to naught Are they not the most absurd Idolaters in the World that make their own Belly their God Who sacrifice to their own proud imaginations and ambitiously court other folks for the vanishing breath of popular applause Are any Men so mad or beside themselves as they be who count their happiness more or less by the numbers of their Flocks and Heards their large Fields and full Coffers Or as others who forsake the living and only true God and place all their Devotion upon the Service of their own Luxurious Tables and that for no better end but only the pampering of those fleshly Lusts that war against their Souls Believe it such worldly carnal Wisdom is but Foolishness with God it is not from above but from beneath it is earthly sensual devillish absurd and irrational in its nature destructive and pernicious in its end Eccles 5. For in short Riches may be kept unto the owners hurt because they can yield no real content or satisfaction but are the cause of much trouble and vexation of spirit both in their persuit and fruition too For as they will not suffer the greedy wretch to sleep or take his rest so they will certainly one time or other make themselves wings and fly away What confidence also can be reasonably fixed upon the strongest Arm of Human Flesh What true joy what comfort can arise from Gorgeous Apparel even to Crowns and Scepters Purple Robes and precious Jewels with a numerous train of obsequious hungry Servants wherein lies the delight and pleasure of the riotous Livers which are truely burdens to the Common-wealth and also to themselves being loaden with their Sins and miseries at once having their Brains besotted and their whole bodies infected with disease and surfeit from the spoils of nature and fopperies of art For when those voluptuaries have industriously ransackt all the Elements for the nourishment of their lusts having drawn up several courses in rank and file and made their assaults against the works of nature and of Art with fierce and keen Appetites rushing like wild Horses into the Battle and engaging all before them like those old Andebatae blindfold without either fear or wit it hath often come to pass the most unsatiable Assailants have been wounded shamefully with their own Weapons The preserving remedies of Health and Life were turned into the most unhappy Instruments of Sickness unto Death in spight of Nature and of God himself their Tables were become snares unto them and those very things that should have been for their wealth were unnaturally misused for the sad occasions of their fall There now remains of all things under the Sun but only one Blessing more that hath any pretence at all to the present or future happiness of Mankind namely the rare endowments both of intellectual and moral habits which at once enrich and adorn our Souls These were the best means whereby the Philosophers ever dreamt of attaining happiness with all their pains and studies But though knowledge and morality be two Pearls of no small price even with Christians and are both difficult in their acquisitions requiring the most accurate endeavours of our Hearts and Heads and also very profitable in their use being the most likely means for gaining that happiness which is in truth our end yet these things are insufficient of themselves till quickned by the warm influences of Gods Holy Spirit For the subtlest Polititians the most profound Scholars in the World could never come up to the knowledge of the Truth or of Gods reconciling the World unto himself by Jesus Christ with all their otherwise excellent abilities void of Divine Grace for the Gentiles or meerly natural men 1 Cor. 2.14 receive not those deep things of God which are foolishness unto them neither can they know them because they are spiritually discerned For the same reason the most learned Rabbies amongst the Jews also lived ignorant of those obscure mysteries which lay hid in Christ notwithstanding that unto them were committed the first written Elements of Religion those choice Oracles of God for had they known the great mystery of Godliness in Christ Jesus they would not have crucified the Lord of Life and Glory Wherefore it is manifest that neither Jews nor Gentiles remaining still ignorant of Christ and his Gospel could be made wise unto Salvation For Acts 3. 1 Cor. 2.8 Joh. 17.3 Lu. 10.22 This indeed is Life Eternal that they may know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent And no Man knoweth who the Son is but the Father and who the Father is but the Son and he to whom the Son will reveal him From hence 't is plain That Mans eternal Redemption from the jaws of death his peace and reconciliation with God in Christ Jesus could never have been discovered by the wise Men or Princes of this World that come to naught but meerly by the demonstration of the Spirit and Power of God as it is revealed in the Gospel And since the Gospel
part especially the vulgar live by sense more then by Faith and have better thoughts and apprehensions of their present lives then of any that is to come Whence it proceeds for currant practice that many persons appear honest and upright in their dealings to the eye of the World but are in truth very Knaves Theives and Murderers in their Hearts From a deep sense and apprehension of the Judgment to come Felix we read was very much dismayed and fearfully trembled So that an assurance of ensuing punishment makes the stoutest and most resolved Malefactor to be Conscious of their Crimes and though stolen Goods may be as sweet as Honey to their Mouths yet the sight of a Tribunal pricks them to their hearts and strangely turns all their sweets into gall and wormwood I 'le give you but one instance of the present Case our first parents had observed the forbidden Fruit in the 3d. of Genesis and the 6 Verse to be good for food pleasant also to their eyes and very much to be desired whereupon they never bogled at Gods positive Command for the satisfaction of their sensitive lusts and appetites But then perceiving themselves to be wretched and miserable because of the transgression they were presently surprized with horror and confusion of face they were extreamly scared upon the sight and presence of God as a most righteous incensed Judg whom they had wickedly disobeyed as a tender and loving Father And seeing that we their sinful off spring are all involved in the guilt and liable also to the punishment of that first and great offence blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that he left us not in such a desperate condition but hath raised us up to the lively hope of a glorious Resurrection from the Dead blessed also be the Fountain of all our deliverance the Lord Jesus Christ that Son of Righteousness which came down with healing under his Wings to visit us who sate in darkness and in the shadow of death and guide our feet into the way of peace to redeem us from the hands of all our Enemies and bless us with all Spiritual and Heavenly Blessings together with himself in glory Thus we come now to consider the Grounds and Reasons which the Spirit hath fitted and laid ready to our hand for the defence and confirmation of the Truth here asserted and consequently for the building up and establishing of us and all Christians in our most holy Faith which Faith and the good Fruits thereof manifested in a blameless and holy conversation would appear somewhat unreasonable and vain of little or none effest but only for the good assurance which God hath given us of a blessed enduring substance in that he raised up Jesus from the dead and hath exalted him in our Nature to the Throne of Heaven The truth of our assertion that the Dead in the Lord are blessed stands unmoveable and firmly fixt upon a double Basis visible in the very Letter of the Text the first is divine Revelation ordained purposely by God for the confutation of Socinians and all other vainly conceited Sophisters who take upon them to measure and weigh the profound Articles of our Christian Faith by the scant Line the false Ballance of their own corrupted Reasons Blessed are the Dead that die in the Lord even so saith the Spirit And because the Command here laid upon Saint John was to Write that saying as from Heaven or imprint the same in legible Characters on the fleshly Tables of mens hearts that should afterwards be recorded with Ink and Paper in all succeeding Ages it may serve to spoil the Papists of their needless Oral Traditions invented as it seems in opposition to the dictates of the Spirit and in derogation to the most indubitable perspicuous and sufficient Oracles of God which are able to make us wise to Salvation through Faith 2 Tim. 3.15 Rom. 15.4 Jo. 4. last Verse which is in Christ Jesus for if we believe St. Paul whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our Learning that we through patience and Comfort of the Scripture might have Hope and St. John says he wrote his Gospell in the later days concerning Christs Person Doctrines and Miracles for this end that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that so believing we might have life through his Name the second Ground or Basis whereon is built this impregnable fortress of our hope is the reason here alledged by the Spirit of such convincing evidence as to confirm his own saying and also to stop the mouths of all proud Opposers For it mightily confounds our Quakers and all fantastical Enthusiasts for divulging openly to the disturbance of the Church and their own Destruction their own private unreasonable Imaginations in despight of Scripture and all other Learning for immediate inspirations of the holy Ghost From the method here used by that infallible Spirit of God we may learn to beware of those false Prophets who put on such pretences for a cloak of maliciousness and then decry with insufferable noise and impudence all use of Reason as to matters of Religion that so they may safely bring in those damnable Heresies whereby the blind guides themselves and all their bewitched followers cannot choose but fall into the ditch For if any Man or an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel than that ye have received let him be accursâ—d Gal. 1.9 Notwithstanding all that Opposition which hath been made upon this account either by the Popes or the Devils Emissaries maugre all the wiles and stratagems the Winds and Waves of these implacable Enemies the first endeavouring with subtle Sophistry to defer the second wholely to make void the Saints recompence of Reward in everlasting Rest yet this Anchor of our Hope this Pillar of our Faith remains very sure and stedfast on the Rock of our Salvation the Lord Jesus Christ against which the Gates of Hell are ne're able to prevail for it is likewise ratified and sealed by the Spirit of Promise that is Faithful and cannot Lie For even so saith the Spirit from henceforth blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord. Against this interpretation of the Text there lies I conceive no probable exception but what must rise from the signification of the word singly consider'd or as it stands in relation to the Rest The word from henceforth singly consider'd and of it self is much varied amongst the Latines by those particles A modo Deinceps confestim Inde Jam jam and the like all which denote this instant or indivisible point of time wherein the Soul departs from the Body from henceforth if the person dies in the Lord with unfeigned Repentance for all his former sins and with a lively Faith in Christ he is presently blessed It 's true The Reverend Learned and Pious Doctor Hammond hath well enough applied this place and many more to those temporal Afflictions
own All tears will then be wiped from their eyes there will be no more death neither sorrow nor crying nor any more pain for the righteous men are in peace at the last being taken away from all Evil that is to come either of Sin or Judgment Death is then swallowed up in Victory the powers of Hell are all vanquisht and overcome and albeit they cease from all their Labours yet their works do follow them For amongst their Acquaintance of all sorts Enemys or Friends their Memories will survive their persons and preserve the Fruits of their own hands to praise them in the Gates And above all God Almighty will then call to Remembrance all their good works and recompence them for all their pains with full wages and above their deserts in those Heavenly Mansions where they shall for ever celebrate his holy Name with Hallilujahs or Songs of Triumph Honour Praise and Glory to Father Son and Holy Ghost one God World without end ALthough I have already wearied your Attention with a tedious very jejune Discourse and may therefore presume on your forgiveness of the Sermon for want of its Application Yet I will rather trespass more upon your patience then expect your pardon For however I am conscious of many Failings in this weak performance yet I don't fear the Censure nor seek the savour of this illnatur'd captious World but am sure of comfort and satisfaction to my self in that I have done it in Obedience to some irresistable Commands with singleness of heart as unto God and out of good will to the vindication of the Truth Everlasting Happiness consisting in a full immediate fruition of Almighty God the Cause and Author of every good and perfect Gift is a subject so very suitable and pleasing to the natural desires and propensities of our immortal Souls that whoever stupidly neglect the Message and like the deaf Adder stop their dull Ears to those ravishing Charms will prove themselves to be men of little understanding nothing better nay worse than the Beasts that perish And because ordinary prudence will engage Men upon the use of those means which appear most likely for obtaining of their ends whilst every one at his departure out of this World earnestly seeks for an Assurance of being ever Blessed in the next I see no cause to fear a kind reception of wholsom Exhortations to the practice of a good life at present so long as it is accounted a reviving Cordial at the hour of Death and the day of Judgment For I suppose there is no man of sufficient sense and reason to believe the Joys of Heaven or the wofull conditions of damned Spirits in Hell and is perswaded also that both sorts are Eternally decreed by the most Righteous Judge of all the Earth to be the certain Wages of all those good or evil Deeds which are transacted in the Flesh but he could wish with all his heart like Balaam to dye the death of the Righteous and that his latter end may be like his But alas what can such faint wishes avail without answerable Endeavours in the progress of our Lives For whoever yet won the prize before he set out upon the Race or else hath tired and sluggishly thrown himself down upon the way What Souldier yet hath gain'd the Victory with honour and good success which hath not held out and maintained the Fight unto the last Now that all Christians might happily finish the Race here set before us and accomplish their designs in that Holy War obtaining a Brabeum or Crown of Righteousness for all their pains and everlasting Rest after all their Travails in the ways of Holiness and Righteousness the Scripture abounds with Precepts and Examples Admonitions Promises and Threats for that purpose And seeing the Precepts of the Gospel seem difficult and grievous to the men of this World that walk by sight more than Faith and are sooner carried away with some Visible Example then with any troublesome Commands I cannot think of a readier way to beget their good liking to the Christian Precepts then by giving them some instance of their practice nor can I possibly remember for several years a better Example that what lies now before us Wherefore that we may take this Worthy persons Upright Life as a pattern for the well-framing of our own I most humbly beseech your leave to present some Lineaments thereof in this rude imperfect draught such as it is for want of a more skilful Hand that would polish and compleat the piece If Hercules could be seen at full stature by the demensions of his Foot and Historians are not thought much the worse for describing vast Empires with all their Periods in a few sheets 'T is hop'd you 'l pardon the Composer of these Lines though very short of that ample subject whereunto they do pretend And also that you will supply those defects you cannot choose but meet with from your own better knowledge or at least with a charitable interpretation of his audacious but well intended enterprize And if you please to cast a favourable Eye 't is believ'd the full measure of a Man will soon appear in the Perspective-glass that is here put into your hands 'T is true the person whose Funeral we are come hither to celebrate was enriched with many rare Accomplishments not easie to be discern'd by vulgar Eyes and hardly to be matched by those of greater advantages and higher stations in the World nor can they be set forth to their highest pitch by those mean parts that have undertook so difficult a task For which cause they must needs appear like the Stars twinkling and obscure by reason of their distance or like to the Sun it self when it strikes the silly Gezar blind with too much Light Nevertheless we may chance make some Discoveries by tracing out the course of his life in a few passages thereof in regard both of Himself his Neighbour and his God As for his own Person his Body was of a temper and constitution most healthy vigorous and active the strength whereof was not so much the good effect of Nature though descended from the Loins of Honourable and Virtuous Ancestours as the product of his better temper'd Mind which govern'd as Queen Regent of that little World and manfully subdu'd all his carnal Affections and Lusts to move in their proper Sphere and serve like Handmaidens unto Reason The sensitive Appetites that Beast with many Heads could never so much prevail as to dismount his Reason from the Saddle or so ride the Man as it often does in some others till they become like Brutes for Intemperance and Lust Now 't is truly said Animus cujusque is est quisque The Mind is indeed and effect the man because it is that alone which makes an essential difference betwixt him and the Beasts of the Field which being void of Reason do live and Act without knowledge or discretion and are uncapable of Commendation or