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A26396 A panegyric on our late sovereign Lady Mary Queen of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, of glorious and immortal memory who died at Kensington, on the 28th of December, 1694 / by James Abbadie ...; Panegyrique de Marie, reine d'Agleterre, d'Ecosse, de France, et d'Irlande. English Abbadie, Jacques, 1654-1727. 1694 (1694) Wing A56; ESTC R6372 22,151 34

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those first Hours of the Day which she sometimes stole from her ordinary rest and took from Nature to bestow them on Grace which made a far better use of them Her Devotions were succeeded by her Charity her Contemplations by Practice and her Prayers by good Works so that she had no time left from these Holy Occupations that was not devoted to God nor almost a Thought that did not ascend up to Heaven While she sustain'd the Load of an infinite number of Affairs and Persons that depended on her she still found leisure to serve God without distraction and in the midst of so many different Occupations she establish'd in her well-ordered Life a Lasting Worship and a perpetual and uninterrupted Course of Religion Her days began as the Days of Glory shall begin with the Adoration of her Creator and ended like the Life of man with Meditations on the Vanity of the World Casting her Eyes sometimes on those things which perish to wean her Love and Inclinations from them and sometimes on that which perisheth not to make it the Object of all her Hopes and Affections she liv'd like one that knew she should shortly die her Christian Prudence producing the same effect in her that might have been expected from a distinct Revelation of her End and of the Measure of her Days Her Piety was Universal she practis'd all the Vertues because she knew they were all acceptable to God It had been impossible to determine which of all the Duties of Morality she observ'd most carefully and it might have been doubted which of her Vertues had the advantage over the rest if it had not been known that they were all happily united and blended together in her Piety Such was the Foundation of her Vertue which in other respects was so variously diversified and still found new occasions to make it self be esteem'd by that happy mixture of Elevation and Humility Firmness and Mercy Courage and Charity Prudence and a holy Resignation to the Providence of God Sweetness and Resolution that produc'd an Effect on the Minds of those who heedfully consider'd her not unlike to that Impression which the Flowers of a beautiful Garden or the Stars of Heaven by their Variety and Order make on the Eyes of an attentive Beholder The Merit of our Illustrious MARY was Great but it was not greater than her Destiny She stood in need of no less Vertue and Perfection to fulfil the Design of God and the Expectations of Men being call'd by Providence to edifie a vicious World to comfort the drooping Church and to save her sinking Country Men may celebrate the Virtues of Great Princes but God himself endites the Praises of Great Deliverers He calls Cyrus his Anointed He proclaims him He promises him to the World a hundred years before he came inro it not because he was to be the Conqueror of Asia but because he was design'd to be the Restorer of the Jewish Liberties Yet how much more glorious had he been if at the same time that he freed them from Slavery he had also deliver'd them from Superstition And tho God does not think sit to speak to us by the Mouth of a Prophet does he not declare his Mind sufficiently by the Voice of his Providence We have not yet forgot those sad times when the State was divided into two Parties one of which endeavour'd to destroy it by introducing Error and the other to preserve it by defending the Truth When England like a disconsolate Rebecca felt two Children an Esau and a Jacob struggling and contending together with a Secret but implacable Animosity in her wretehed Bowels without being able to foresee the Success of those Intestine Broils that threaten'd to rend her Entrals to pieces Superstition that active and subtle Mistress inspir'd her Followers with a Zeal that prompted them to carry on their designs without losing a minute even during the life of the late King Never were Projects better contriv'd never Intrigues deeper laid or more cunningly manag'd and never was there more promising Hopes than those of that Party In what a sad condition had we been if God had deliver'd us up to that Violence and to that so well known and often experienc'd Cruelty which is so much the more dangerous as acting under a Sacred Disguise and usurping the Name of Religion Who would not have thought that England was just ready to be made a Prey to remediless Disorders and to be turn'd to a bloody Theater of endless Divisions Revenge and horrible Massacres But these Mischiefs could not be effected without gaining a Princess on whom as being the presumptive Heiress of the Crown they foresaw that the Fate of the State would in time depend And it was on this occasion that God exalted the strength of his Arm above all the power of men This wonderful Princess seem'd even almost assoon as she was born to know what she was call'd to by the Providence of God so firm and well grounded she appear'd in her heavenly Vocation And even at that time she was so fixt in her Religion so constant to her Duty and so unmoveable under all Tentations and in all other respects of so sweet a temper so wise moderate and resign'd that it may be said that she had already all those Perf●ctions that we could have wisht to see her afterwards adorn'd with and that the most illustrious Lives had scarce any advantage over the Beginning of Hers or could exceed the glory of so heroical an Infancy It was at the same time that there arose a Difference worthy of eternal Memory The State demanded our Princess as its Sure Refuge and the Source of all its Comforts and Superstition courted her for a Support and Foundation of its Hopes They contended for her Education with an eagerness that produc'd a contest the success of which was expected with a concern that held the World in suspence that fill'd the Reform'd part of it with Fears and Great Britain particularly with Anxiety and Disquiet But in vain had both Church and State interpos'd in the Quarrel between Religion and Superstition in vain had been all the Care and Courage of our Magnanimous Prelates and in vain had the Parliament that Council empower d both by the Crown and by the Nation that Sage and by the Regal Authority Legislative Assembly that perpetual Guardian of the Rights and Priviledges of the Kingdom that honourable and respected Mouth of the People Interpreter both of its Wants and of its Will in vain I say had the Parliament it self resolv'd to determine the difference brought before its August Tribunal if Grace had not already decided the Controversie in the Heart of that young Princess She believ'd that she ow'd her self to God and to the State and that she could not answer the Call of Heaven but by devoting herself intirely to her Country and her Religion Being only willing to live and ready to die for them both it may be said
still enjoy'd him whom She lov'd and gave us a yearly and memorable Instance that Authority may be receiv'd with Tears and laid aside with Raptures of Joy Yet it would have seem'd that Authority had been Natural to Her so well She knew how to use it She was capable of the greatest and exact in the smallest things She acquir'd the Art of managing the Business of State by an unweary'd Application She had the dexterity to extend Her Empire over the Minds of Her People and reign'd in their Hearts by Her Clemency She commanded in such a manner as to make Obedience a Pleasure and She obey'd in Her turn as if She had never commanded She was always ready to yield to Reason and Truth but would never be perswaded to bestow on Recommendations the Reward of Merit and Vertue She was prepar'd for all Events by Her Resolution and She provided for them all by Her Wisdom She enjoy'd an undisturb'd serenity of Mind in the midst of Troubles and Dangers She was secret in Her Designs steady in Her Maxims and of an invincible Constancy under Difficulties And it may be said without Flattery that She reign'd without a Fault as Her Life was without a Blemish It seem'd that the King by entrusting her with the Administration of Affairs inspir'd her with all his Wisdom and that the Queen for the Heart she gave him had in exchange receiv'd his Judgment 'T is not impossible for a common Person to live without Reproach but we find no faultless Heroes And even the Greatest Vertues seem to be usually accompanied with the greatest Imperfections as if that which raises us above our selves was apt to disorder our Souls by putting them out of their Natural Posture But here we find an Eminent Merit without the least Fault or Weakness in an admirable Person who was as free from blame as if she had been sav'd from it by the Meanness of her Condition The Greatness of her Fortune might have expos'd her to all the Shafts of Malice if her Vertues had not impos'd Silence on Malice it self And even her Vertues might have expos'd her to Envy if they had been mixt with any Faults But who could blame such a compleat Merit such high Perfection and such Spotless Glory without renouncing his Judgment and exposing his Reputation But after all it must be acknowledg'd that it was neither the Dignity of her Rank nor the Lustre of her Heroical Perfections that render'd her Condition worthy of Envy All that which made the World admire her could not have hinder'd her from being an Object of Compassion in her own Eyes Heroes are mortal as well as other men and neither all their Glory nor our Tears can preserve them from that fatal Necessity We are charm'd with that which is no more to us than a bare Idea of Perfection We begin late to admire a Vertue that has ceas'd to appear and complain in vain of the cruelty of Death that has robb'd us of our dear Protectors They have taken an eternal Leave of us Their Great Names serve only to adorn their Epitaphs and embelish their Tombs and those Vertues which the World admir'd are like the Funeral Torches that signalize the Pomp of their Obsequies whose Splendour serves only to encrease our Affliction And who was better acquainted with these Truths than the Queen She made the Meditation of Death a continual Support to her Vertue She lov'd to discourse on that Subject with others and to entertain her self with the Thoughts of it Thus forsaking Vanity long before she was forsaken by it and banishing the World out of her Mind even whilst she liv'd in the midst of it She prevented by a voluntary Separation from it that forc'd Exile to which all Mankind is condemn'd and it may be said that in this Respect her Humility had left little or no Work for Death How rare is that Vertue and how becoming a Companion to Greatness Humility is most advantagiously plac'd in the Heart of a Soveraign for there it makes great Restitutions to God there it opposes the Flattery of the People who are wont to idolize Grandeur and teaches the Prince to despise himself in the midst of that Croud of flattering Admirers who adore his Faults and prostrate themselves before his Fortune But how much more admirable is that Vertue in those Great Souls who are more truely elevated above Kings by their Vertue than Kings are rais'd above other men by their Rank and Dignity 'T is a shame to be Proud when such excellent Persons as these are Humble 'T is an Honour to renounce vain-Glory when the most eminent Heroes are eminent also for their Humility That was the Character of our Queen Her Life her Conversation and her Carriage were but one continued expression of that Vertue Her Palace was a Temple of Modesty so diligent She was to free it from Vanity and Luxury She deckt her self with her own Vertues and neglected the Ornaments of Dressing She appear'd rather Neat than Magnificent in her Train and Furniture She was an exact Observer of the Rules of Decency without injuring her Humility and bestow'd no more on the Pomp of a Court than what the Dignity of her Rank did absolutely require And yet she seem'd to grudge her own necessary Expences as if she had stoln them from the Funds of her Charity Never any hid their Faults with more care than she took to conceal her Vertues This is the only Fault that she could ever be accus'd of Wonders are made to be seen and to make a strong Impression upon us and how many Wonders did she hinder us from seeing by hiding from us the Noblest parts of so beautiful a Life She lov'd to edify but not to be admir'd as if she could have purchas'd Humility at the rate of her Glory She condemn'd Thankfulness to silence and made this seeming Ingratitude the Condition of her Favours With one Hand she dry'd the Tears of the Afflicted and with the other drew a Veil over their Misery She was no less charitable in her way of relieving them than in the Relief she gave them With equal care she sought Occasions to exercise her Vertue and avoided every Temptation to vain Glory She always conceal'd the Good that she did and has been seen to weep for that which she could not do But in vain she impos'd a silence which sooner or later would certainly be broken The whole Universe that was a Witness of her Vertues the World that is fill'd with her Charity which she scatter'd through all Nations and all Climates such an infinite number of Persons that felt the comfortable Influences of her Bounty cry so much the louder after her Death as they were forc'd to be silent during her Life Imprison'd Gratitude shakes off its Fetters and breaks out impetuously We send forth our Complaints and Lamentations the expressions of our Grief and her Glory because we are not able to retain them longer and tho that
bright Soul could from the Heavens whither she is ascended renew those Orders which her Modesty impos'd on Earth Sorrow and Gratitude would not suffer us to obey them Death which puts a period to the Glory of others seems only to begin hers How vast is the difference between her and the nameless Great those vulgar Princes who cease to be known assoon as they cease to live Her Works came out of the Grave when she enter'd into it Her Life hid her from us and her Death exposes her in all her Glory to our ravish'd Eyes Why cannot we do as much honour to her Memory as she was always ready to do to Merit and Vertue What do I say She made it her Pleasure to consider all sorts of Persons none were despicable in her sight She never spoke ill of any person nor ever suffer'd any person to be ill spoken of in her presence She esteem'd the Reputations of all mankind sacred and if ever the Serenity of her Mind was disturb'd by any motion of anger to which she was almost always a Stranger it was when any one had the confidence to speak ill of her Enemies in her presence She was so incredulous of the faults of others as if humane Nature had been faultless and so universally indulgent as if all mankind had belong'd to her What a noble Example has she set before Soveraigns who being the common Parents of their People are concern'd in the Reputation of all sorts of persons and ought no more to encourage Railing against their Subjects than they would against their own Children The Persons are usually despis'd whose Praises and Flatteries are esteem'd which is an Effect of Pride But MARY despis'd Praise and had an universal Charity for all sorts of persons This was the peculiar character of her Vertue Her Condescension and Bounty kept pace with the Advancement of her Fortune as if she had intended to comfort others and make amends for her surpassing them in Quality and Vertues She was easy of access to the unhappy she despis'd no Complaint and rejected no Request Her generous and magnanimous Temper would not suffer her to overcome Hatred and Envy any other way than by Kindness and good Offices She exceeded all other Women in Frugality but she was frugal only that she might be charitable and she was even more Charitable than Frugal reducing her self often to Poverty by her profuse Beneficency This is not an Idea of imaginary perfection It has been observ'd that after she had consum'd the regulated Fund of her Charity in extraordinary Bounties she distributed that which was appointed for her own necessary Charges to supply the Wants of the Poor And she felt a pleasure in this vertuous Poverty which they whose minds are addicted to the World shall never find in all their proud Abundance and cruel Superfluities 'T is certain that Self-love and Interest gain'd no ground in her Heart by her Advancement Her Greatness was for the benefit of others rather than for her own good She rejected the Pomp of it by her Humility and of all that Plenty of which she was Mistress she reserv'd nothing to her self but the pleasure of giving it away But what do I say She was also oblig'd to her Dignity for a thousand occasions to display her Clemency at a time when Severity might have seem'd not only pardonable but necessary to a Heart less heroical than hers Princes that regard their Safety more than their Honour content themselves with being prais'd for their rigorous Justice by which they serve the Interests of their own Preservation But Souls of the first form are not satisfied with the Empire that ●ear gives them over others but rather chuse to maintain their Authority by inspiring their Subjects with a Veneration for their Vertues They judge with reason that 't is nobler when possible to preserve the public Peace by Mercy than by Justice that 't is more honorable to conquer Hearts than to subdue Persons and that the State is doubly sav'd when the inclinations of its Enemies are disarm'd and they become its Friends and Servants Clemency is a Vertue that deserves to be more highly esteem'd for the greatness of the Dangers to which it exposes its Owners 'T is even more generous than Charity for the charitable man only gives away his Riches but he that is merciful hazards his very Life 'T is braver than Valour it self for it exposes it self to secret Foes which are more dangerous than those open Enemies whom Courage opposes And 't is greater than Moderation which finds its own security in forgetting private injuries whereas Clemency neglects the care of its own Preservation by pardoning the Enemies of the Public If Mercy had been to appear in a humane Form it would have certainly borrow'd that of the Queen It was sufficient to be unhappy to be esteem'd innocent by her She imitated God who exhorts Sinners to accept his Favors and adds Benefits to the Pardon that he gives them with a design to make them better she forc'd her greatest Enemies to be capable of Gratitude Her Clemency by an admirable Priviledge produc'd all the effects of Severity It deliver'd her every day from some new Enemy or crush'd some brooding Conspiracy The benefits that she bestow'd were Spies to discover the Plots of her Enemies and Guards to secure her against them and the Pardons which she granted so often and in so obliging a manner to those that had conspir'd against her Life furnish'd her with means to acquire new Glory and additional securities in every Attempt of her Enemies Blasphemy was the only crime that she would never forgive She was still struck with horror at the hearing of an impious Expression Yet she would not suffer her Indignation to transport her or make her forget that Calmness with which she administred Justice by depriving instantly of all Offices and banishing from her presence those that had dar'd to brave the Majesty of that God whom she serv'd with so much Fear By which she clearly show'd that it was not she that reign'd but God that reign'd by her Let the World admire as much as it pleases those humane Vertues which under great Names and venerable Out-sides hide our most real imperfections or rather those sacrilegious Vertues which rob God of our best Actions to ascribe them to our selves and are in some respect more criminal than the grossest Vices as being more injurious to God Piety alone deserves the name of Vertue because it seeks God in all things and refers all things to his Glory And Piety was the great business of the Queen's Life Her public and private Devotions from which no Trouble of State nor Danger that threaten'd her person could ever once divert her that Commerce of Piety which she held with God and the Commerce of Charity between her and her Brethren her Meditations and Reading of pious Books employ'd all her Mornings and consecrated to God the half of her Life
that from that very time she accepted the Crown and Death together being prepar'd to receive either Fortune for so precious and sacred an Interest In vain to tempt the Piety of that Heroical Soul they propose a Match to her able as they think to shake constancy it self In vain they speak of uniting her to a Prince who besides the amiable qualifications of his Person could boast the Expectation of a Throne and the Hopes of one of the most glorious Successions of the Universe but whose Alliance is equally opposite to the Interest of England and to the Conscience of that Princess She hears the Proposal with Horror and rejects it with Indignation and with a Resolution that could not be conquer d. Thus for her Countries sake she despises a Dignity which the Interest of that Nation alone shall one day make her accept and even then she show'd her self uncapable of receiving a Scepter but for the same Reasons for which she had already refus'd one Happy had she been if she had not found the Sacrifice of her natural Affections which she was afterwards oblig'd to offer up to God a harder Task than the Sacrifice of her Ambition which she offer'd then and if the Crown that she accepted had not more sensibly afflicted her than that which she rejected Thus with an unshaken Constancy she reserv'd her self for that important and necessary Marriage to which the Church and the State the Parliament and Council and God and the King had appointed her Never was the publick Joy better grounded than on this occasion and never any Festival was more worthy to be solemniz'd than this For then it was that Providence laid the Foundations of the Public Liberty And to this happy Marriage we owe the succeeding Union of England and Holland and the general Confederacy of their Allies When the Prince went to England accompanied with the Prayers and Acclamations of the whole World that was concern'd in the Success of his Voyage he seem'd to ask the Princess in the name of all those Nations that were one day to owe their liberty to this Blessed Match And if I might be allow'd to join the present Events with the Occurrences of those times I would not scruple to affirm that their Contract of Marriage was a Treaty which God by his Providence negotiated with all the Nations of Europe for their common Defence and Preservation After her arrival in Holland where Providence detain'd her several years as in a safe Retreat far from the Allurements and Hurry of the World where she employed her self in the exercise of all those Vertues that might fit her to serve the Great Designs of God There she did not cease to be useful to the Country which she had left by terrifyng Popery that disturb'd its Peace and by over-awing even those who seem'd not capable of being restrain'd by Fear In Holland she continues to be the Hope of England Her Life is a dear Pledge of the love of God to that Nation and so long as that lasts they fear not that he will forsake them But she was not only made for the Good of that Country that had the honour to give her Birth She was also eminently useful to others and above all she was the Joy and Admiration of that where Providence was pleas'd to fix her In less time than seems necessary to view that happy Climate she conform'd her self exactly to its Manners and Customs She became a Pattern to its Women even in their own peculiar Vertues She gave them an illustrious example not only of Modesty and Chastity but also of Frugality and Moderation The sweetness of her Temper and the winning mildness of her Deportment took away that haughty Air from Greatness with which it is usually arm'd She never suffer'd any Persons to depart unsatisfied from her presence and taught even those to love a Court who before esteem'd nothing but Liberty and an Equality of Conditions And it may be said that among all the Parties and Divisions that disturb'd the State the most opposite Factions were still united in the love and Admiration of her Vertues It was there that her Judgment besides all those great and early improvements with which it was already adorn'd became larger and more extensive by the help of a second Education There her Mind was polish'd and brighten'd by continual Reading and the Conversation of Ingenious Persons whom she always honour'd with her Protection And there she acquir'd that comprehensive Knowledge and those sublime Perfections which would have shone with greater lustre if they had not been cover'd with the veil of her Humility There in pious solitudes she acted the part of a Moses upon the Mount while her Illustrious Husband performed the Office of a Joshua at the Head of his Armies where his Valour and Conduct were equally admir'd in good and bad Fortune and while by making the best use of both he advanced apace to that Height of Merit and Honour that was necessary to deserve those glorious Favours that Heaven intended to bestow upon him We may easily remember that Time which our latest Posterity shall never forget for they also are concern'd in it A Time in which God set bounds to the Oppression of the people and to the Affliction of his Church In which by one sudden stroke he stopt the progress of that Power which threatened to devour all the World in which he preserved the Earth from the over-bearing Inundations of that raging Sea by writing on the Sand Hitherto shalt thou come and no further We saw and still have before our Eyes that important Juncture of Affairs when the All-wise Governour of the World who disposes second Causes according to his pleasure thought fit to chain the preservation of England and of so many other Countries to the Resolution of one Man when the Laws Rights Liberty and Religion of so many Nations were entrusted by Providence to the inconstancy of the Waves when even the Tempests serv'd in so admirable a manner to advance the Work of our Deliverance when unbloody Victories executed the designs of the God of Mercy when the Armies of the wicked were subdued by the Harmony and Union of our Minds when the Deliverer appear'd and the Terrors of God seiz'd on our Enemies and when by the miraculous Blessing of God on the noblest and most necessary undertaking of our Age England is still suffer'd to enjoy her Laws the Church to serve God and we to live and breath 'T was then that England became the Field of Battle where that surprizing Contest was decided between God who assisted us so visibly and Men that opposed the designs of his Wisdom But could the Almighty be defeated by his Creatures or could his Providence be resisted by his Enemies At at the same time the heart of the Princess was made the Scene of a no less extraordinary but more secret Engagement between Nature and Grace and here also God obtain'd the Victory