my prayers tended with that all mine instructions concluded in yâ— all mine endeuours were bounded that ah nothing but that was the center from which all my cogitations were drawne and the circle to which they tended But it was thy pleasure Lord in the meane space to make mee the point the marke where-at thou wouldest shoote so that I am now become mine owne burden Nay thou hast shot me thorow that through the sides of mine onely sonne striking Father and childe starke dead both at one stroke Alas thou Lord of mine are thine eares become deafe is thine heart growne obdurate also is that that eternall neuer-dried fountaine of thy free mercy frozen with colde or dryed with heate when I come to drinke and vnto none but mee It is true Lord that If I should dispute with thee I should not answere thee to one thing in a thousand Thou art wise in heart and mightie in strength When thou takest a prey who can enforce thee to restore it who shall say vnto thee why didst thou thus I but I do not sticke in the courts of thy power Lord I presse in vnto thy very sanctuarie and looke all about mee vpon thine exceeding power commixt and contemperate with thine vnmeasured goodnesse and thine inscrutable wisdome Thou Lord art righteâ—us in all thy wayes mercifully holy in all thy workes Nay thy mercy is aboue all thy workes Therefore are thy iudgements deep thy mercies a boundles a soundlesse depth thou giuest these as Cauterismes in Phisick not as hurtes in hostilitie Wee thoght thou hadst not heard our vowes and see thou hast heard them truer then wee were aware of our wordes it may bee thou refusedst but our intents thou hast admitted and signed both our desires with a better condition to vs both to our sonne thou hast done better in taking backe as thy iust due him that thou hadst but lent vnto vs during thine Almighty pleasure and seating him in Heauen whome thou hadst but shewen and scarcely that vnto the Earth to vs thou hast done better in taking him out of the dangers of the worlds deuouring whirle-pittes wherein perhaps wee might vnto our more excesse of sorrow haue seene him swallowed and haue swum after that Funerall in a Sea of more bitter teares Once againe here Lord seale vp my lippes once more here binde mine organs of speech for the flesh rebels and compels me nor see I meanes to bridle it it is growne so head-strong and so impatient of suppression It bids mee say why tookest thou him away ere his time thou inexorable creditor that wouldest not stay thy day but catche him vp ere his fate was ready to call him True thou fraile flesh and bloud why was it not his time to take him that was Times Creator and what is fate but the will of GOD the Father And what better limite hath life in any of vs all then the rest from all our labour And what matter is it whether the ship of our mortality bee brought to the hauen by a sterne tempest or a gentle gale by winde or by tide had not hee that from all eternitye predestinated the moment of his birthe the same power to decree the houre of his death by If thou haue any reason to complaine that thou lost him so soone the same cause hast thou to expostulate why thou hadst him no sooner or no later but eâ—en then when hee was giuen thee and doost thou thinke hee hath not liued long enough whose life his countrie extolleth whose funerall song the purest Christ of God singeth This as vertues desired rewarde haue many worthye men bestowed much toyle to attaine hardly deseruing it in their declining age and their frostiest part of nature which hee gotte signed him ere hee gotte out of his youth ere his age was at the Summer Solstice namely his wish and want in the hearts of al such as honor goodnesse Therefore thou talkest like a foolish Woman goe and learne better language of the wise It is not length of time but wisdome a life well lead a course well runne in the Lord come wee neuer so soone to the stake that is the true grauitie The sanctified man dye hee neuer so soone hath had a long time Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of such as hee holdeth deare and that for euer But thou hast no measure thou fraile corruption thou art in my bosome againe with an other friuolous obiection Hee was all all the sonnes I had and now I haue neithâ—r sonne nor daughter amongst my people nor any posteritie in my dwellings No GOD knowes not I and in the meane while the imaginers of mischiefe such as like Moles digge groueling in sinne vntill they haue cast vp a mount of hatefull enormitie against Heauen Their seede is established before them and their generation stands strong in their sight It doth O but stand stand a little and cast an eye about Now tell mee how many great Princes and Potentates thou seest to sit debarred from the fruite of progenie and the fruition of children in so much yâ— the whole world seemes to stagger for want of stayes from their loynes and to endeuour to make them fruitfull by bathing their barrennesse in fulnesse of teares And what hast thou foregone that thou shouldest so grieue at a modell of vertue whom all men respected more then hee in whom it was resident a patterne of honorable honesty forcing praise from others and following nature in himselfe Ah fixe thy fickle heart and giue the Deity his due praise How often are the branches of the wicked shiuered in sunder with the winde Nay let vs grant them that which God seldome granteth their full growth the fruite they bring is vnprofitable not relishing any taste nor befitting any vse But call thy thoughts home to thine owne issue why in him his sweetnesse of fruite thrust his sweete blossome from the stalke his vnparalleld vertue pressed out the delicious iuice of his sweete fruite and left it to bee casked vp by all succeeding posteritie And now the tents of the godly are perfumed with his rare and redolent fragrancie his heate nay and that in the height his ardor armes and animates them all to emulation of vertue Time ranked many with him in respect of age and gaue his fore-lock into diuerse hands assoone as his yet were there not any of his time that knit that lock into so many knots of vertue as he did what canst thou grumble further at yet mee thinkes thou art not satisfied oh thou wouldst faine haue had him as thou thoughtst thou hadst begotten him to beene the heire of thine intents to haue beene enfcoffed in thy determinations and haue suruiued to haue inherited thine honest and goldy endeuoures I pray thee now looke after him once for mee that hast longed so for him in thy selfe Now blind man hath he not discerned his heritage
the verdure into canker and the beames of the Sun beat vpon his head his courage at an instant conuerted into faintnesse It is better for me saith he to die then to liue Thus this great Prophet grew in passion against thee for shewing thy power vpon his poore shelter vpon that little shade he sat in what then shall poore I say to one so potent I that am sodden in sorrow and yet my boyling brought to no end exposed to the sonnes fierie rigor neuer to bee remooued neuer to bee refreshed Oh my LORD I feele a rebellious battell within me keepe downe my tongue let it loose to no language but those sounds of the Psalmist I am dumbe and do not open my mouth because thou hast done it But thou Lord laye thine hand vpon my mouth that my redoubling dolour burst not out into outragious murmure and I beeing a foole my selfe charge GOD with foolishnesse My sonne when as yet his child-hood swayed his estate in nature bent his full endeuour to the attaining perfection in the principall tongues and all honest and honourable disciplines hee neuer wanted instigation but rather inhibition his forwardnesse was so toward and his towardnesse so forward and still as his growth enabled him so hee enured himselfe to all illustrious exercises sharing his time betweene the splendor and light of learning and the thunder and lightning of warre that Mars did seeme to grudge that Minerua had so great a part in his perfections His youth saw him a traueler in most countries Christian extracting what euer made for vertue where euer he found it and expelling vicious affect farre from him where euer he met it The industry and ornament of each peculiar was in his obseruation as in a store-house carefully reposed for practise the defects and exorbitance of each obserued also but without the slightest acquaintance and with the carefullest auoydance of their least touch or tainte But now growing to one degree rearer the ful man beholding France her pacification with a minde not minding peace resoluing to set forth his vertue vpon the quest of Honor away he departeth to Holland the worlds Theater or the sepulcher whether to giue his valour action vnder Prince Maurice the Fortrazer of this our age and there duely performeth all the dueties of a future captaine and a present-hearted souldior For hauing had command in diuers seruices vnder the vnconquered King of France by his especiall appointment hee was firmely resolued to write in wounds vpon his enemies bodies that he was worthy of that enstalment from so worthy an aduocate Many held his resolution too hot and heady but that he would haue left had he liued the temperaâ—e affects that attend vpon the years of maturity would haue allaied his youthful feruor had he surniued to haue seene maturty Meane while all these illustrious instruments of industrious verture stored he togither for the glory of his God the seruice of his King the benefit of his country the defence of honesty in euery son of hirs they were also prepared by piety so seasoned by equity and so preserued by charity it was admirable to see Zeale haue so faire an harbour in such a youthfull and fiery spirit and Piety to stand supported with diuine studies higher by the head and shoulders theÌ„ al the other though high honorable vertues Here againe began I to set vp my rest and trust vpon him as on a stay to my feete and a staffe to mine age O my Lord said I Thou of thy louing kindnesse hast made my mountaine to stand strong thou Lord art the shadow on my right hand But ah behold the thing I feared is fallen vponmee the thing I was afraid of is befallen mee Here is a sad breach of natures order for the father to prepare the funerall of the Sonne for the father to bee the sons suruiuer All the thoughts of my heart are now turned into confusion All my affaires in my house in my heart all quite confouÌ„ded vtterly out of frame Goe then and guird thy selfe with sackcloth wretched man wallovv thy selfe in ashes make lamentation and bitter mourning Why let mee goe meete with death also what delight is there in delay I I that haue out-liued so many sorrowes so many perills nay now the losse of mine owne bowells and nerues and yet liue to record the cutting of mine owne heart-stringes nay my heart it selfe Thou hadest a King LORD and Israell had a light who when hee heard of the death of his Sonne albeit hee was a rebell and would haue beene a parricide yet burst out in a full presence and cried O Absalon my sonne vvould God I had died for thee O Absalon my son Thus turned hee the safety of his people into teares and mourning and shamed the faces of all his seruants beeing so loath to leaue the dust hee layd in that Ioab was faine to threaten him with the sedition and departure of the people from him What then shal I do ah what shall I not doe hauing lost an only sonne a companion a kinsman a brother theÌ„ whom choose which of these you can neuer man had a better what life is worth loue nay what death is not worth life to mee in this helplesse extremity Oh but my soule my soule returne a little vnto thy rest mans waies nor his life thou knowest are in his hand In the Lords hand is the breath of euery liuing thing and the soule of all mankinde And GOD cutteth of the daies of man for in his hand is in the number of his monethes which none either preuenteth or surpasseth and yet doth not GOD decree any thing with follie Therefore say rather to thy selfe and bee not sorie for saying so I am dumbe and doe not open my mouth because thou hast done it But thou LORD keepe a bridle within my mouth be sure Lord that thou see that my lips be not let loose to impute vniustice vnto thee oh no but let theÌ„ euer oppose iniquity attribute righteousnesse vnto my maker Ah! but my gracious Lord I am full of dolorous matter my spirit swells within me and compells mee Behold my belly is as the wine that hath no vent wanting vent resembles the embotteled aire that breakes through all that bindeth it in Therefore I wil speake I thinke it bee best that I may take some breath against this abundant excesse of sorrowe Thou knowest LORD of all mine and all others life what I aymed at in my Sonne my scope in him was not excluded from thy supereminent vnderstanding Had I any thought any intent but to imploy his lustre wholy to the illustration of thy glory the Churches good increase and his Kings countries grace no no I consecrated his yeeres in their fullest maturity his vnderstanding in the greatest perfection wholy and soly to those sacred employments At that all my vowes leuelled vnto that all
place of so blessed security The sonnes of men growe more and more peremptory against the prescriptions of the highest the monuments of goodnesse are so weather-beaten that iniquity and antiquity hath almost left no character thereof vndefaced the rust of irreligiousnes hath eaten into the most steely tempers of our age had our son thinkest thou any especiall protection promised him no effect in others confirmeth this to vs. Wipe away those teares once more that gush out in such abouÌ„dance seeming as if hee were not dead already to drowne him in his graue and consider but this How inumerable and almost ineuitable trap-falls are set in the tract of vertue in all her walkes Here you shall haue one that will kisse the visar of vertue but shew them her true face and you turne all their kisses vnto curses You shall haue other some that while shee is vnderfoote will lend her a hand to helpe her vp but when shee is vppe and hath gotten wing and mounteth then they either suspect hir themselues or buzze suspicions of her into the heads of others Affording hir all their diligent culture while shee is a springing but growing once aloft they make haie of her ere shee come to her hight and rend her vp by the rootes And then there is that pestilence reigning euer amongst men of equallity in what ranke soeuer I meane Envye and her nature and consequently her practise is euer to persecute that good which shee cannot paralell That hight which she cannot mount vnto shee presently vndermines setting all her Pioners cauillation detraction and derision on worke vpon the ruine of that glorie which shee cannot reach it is her food to bee felt heauy vpon the highest fortunes And this is the source of all the grudges malice and altercations that haue beene the pestilence which hath swept such multituds from the bosome of our mother France this malice oh this madnesse of the Nobility that for ought I can see are now but bastards to their ancestours valour these adulterous births haue obscured the rising glory of France with the mystes arising from the bleeding bodyes that haue fallen in this fatall warre wherein with thoughts more bloudy piercing then their armes Religion and all respect of goodnesse beeing thrust ouâ— of the true place the brother ranne head-long vpon his brother as vppon his fiercest enemie And looke now our sonne is acquit from hauing any hand in these desperate hacksters actions and sittes aloft looking downe and laughing at this little lumpe of earth so ouergrowne with Spuma Cerberi and the weedes of the Diuels haruest which he hath left beneath him But what comfort canst thou haue of this or I that share with thee in this sorrow if wee stand shaking our hands or arming our hearts against GOD who is the onely consolation in the extreamest agonie and anguish of heart Are not wee of them that haue receiued the seale of the Lion of Iudah are we not Christians Downe downe perturbed spirit thou abortiue of misery Why but God might haue shielded him from all these encounters of vicious extreames You neede not tell mee that I know hee might but had hee not made him a fraile mortall nay and had hee not appointed him a place in warres and instilled a Military vigor into him Being euery day betweene the chaps of death why might hee not be catcht at length is it possible to stand in a shower of hailstones haue not one to touch him GOD had made him valorous the likelier to bee ouerhaâ—dy in daring of death and so ouer-taken in his too much heat and too little dread God had made him with an heart that put forth his rigour in all the endeuoures of masculine vertue Alas what was hee in this but a fayre shotte-marke for foule Enuie a rocke for the vntaught billowes of iniurious suspect to beate against and perhaps though breaking manie of themselues first at length to shake downe into ruine Didst thou looke to haue him miraculously lifted vp from his seate in this sea of deprauation What warrant hath GOD giuen the for that what bargaine had Fate made with thee or mee including any such condition How much more com for t should we finde and how much more easily should wee settle the rebellious affects that keepe this coyle in our bosomes if wee would steppe a little out of this wildnesse of conceite and suffer our imaginations to bee guided vnto Truth by the sette order of nature by mans fraile estate in this order and by the reall cause of this frayltie of state Death ending man in this order time bringing him on to death and originall sinne the due deseruer of death bringing man forth to his first moment of time Such considerations as these were farre more fitte for vs then to cast off our thoughts at randon to suffer them flye beyond the pitche of our obedience to our maker And now tell mee true consideratis considerandis and all accompts beeing cast is not our sorrow exceedingly lightened to see our beloued sonne deliuered from those complete armed Battailions of deadly dangers that enuironed him on euery side Tell mee now thou vile and mis-beleeuing flesh hast thou not now reason to turne ouer a new leafe and to say with that holy singer I acknowledge O Lord that thy iudgements are iust and that thou hast afflicted me for my faith for tryall of my faith God is euer good vnto Israel and pure in heart He is so and when his wrath seemeth to threaten vs in most terrible thunder then raigneth hee his mercy vpon vs in a most mellifluous dew I will therefore turne mee I will leaue all and turne mee to my GOD and on him will I build my confidence And now shall my mouth bee shutte no more but I will turne it into a Trumpet in the cause and quarrell of the Almightie This will I resound and of this shall all the world returne an Eccho Thou hast done it O Lord and well hast thou done it Well hast thou done it for thou canst doe nothing but well being thy selfe the neuer dryed Well of goodnesse Vnto the good nothing befalls but good come it in neuer so horred a shape of mischiefe in a forme neuer so fearefull Well hast thou done vnto our sonne in taking him out of the perillous conflicts where-into hee had nowe set foote and that was all if hee had done that and bestowing his freedome gratis vpon him nay and besides crowned him with a Garland of such glory Had hee liued longer hee might haue runne astray the more the larger weight of worldly experience might haue bent him downewards and haue fixed his affections vpon fading glories For there was Salomon whose eminence of wisdome is by the diuinity of wisdome it selfe eternized vnto all after ages as also his fall is beeing the more amazefull vnto all posteritie by reason that is was from such an admired height of vniuersall vnderstanding Oh what a