professors In Sionis gaudium Anglo-Papistarum luctum Amen Amen FINIS A BRIEF DISCOVRSE OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE and death of Mistris Katherin Brettergh late wife of Master William Brettergh of Bretterghoult in the Countie of Lancaster Gentleman who departed this world the last of May. 1601. With the manner of a bitter conflict she had with Satan and blessed conquest by Christ before her death to the great glorie of God and comfort of all beholders Micha 7. 8. Reiovce not against me O mine enemies though I fall I shall rise againe And when I sit in darkenes the Lord shall be a ligâ—â— vnto me Psalm 37. 37. Marke the vpright man and behold the iust for the end of that man is peace LONDON Imprinted by Felix Kyngston 1602. TO THE CHRISTIAN Reader grace and peace in Iesus Christ. WHen Achimaaz the sonne of Zadoc requested that he might be the messenger to bring Dauid word of Absoloms death Ioab would not suffer him Thou shalt not saith he be the messenger to day but thou shalt cary newes another time but to day thou shalt cary none for the Kings sonne is dead He knew Dauids affection was such that the newes of his childs death would be most heauie to him and the messenger himselfe not welcome for his message sake This is all our infirmity no tidings more grieuous to vs then when wee heare of the death of those whom wee loue The Parent bewayles his Child the Husband his Wife the Friend laments the death of his Friend and we thinke it the losse of another friend to depart with this our griefe Iacob mourned for Ioseph his son that he would not be comforted of a long season but thought he would weepe for him as long as he liued When the Amalekites had burned Ziklag and led away captiue the mens wiues and their children Dauid and his company wept till they could weepe no more When Lazarus dred his sisters Martha and Mary were much discomforted for him Gâ—egory Nazianzen reports that when Basil the great died euen the wisest men in the city stroue to exceede one another in weeping and complaining for his death And as for my selfe saith he now I am bereaued of the fellowship of such a man what shall I do but either dye or liue in miserie Which way shall I turne me What shall I do What counsell shall I take now I haue lost him that was my comfort So heauy a thing we see it is to be seuered for a time from those that are deere vnto vs. One only thing there is which is able in this case much to temper our affections when we see our friend to die in the Lord that is in comfort of conscience assurance of saluatioÌ„ through Christ. And this his comfort he expresseth outwardly vnto vs by performing those duties which are required of a man when he dyes and so he makes a ioyfull and a holy end When our friend departeth this life in this maner we haue iust cause to take his death the more comfortably And thus it pleaseth God many times to stirre vp some especiallie such as in their life time haue a care to pursue Religion and to keep themselues vndesiled of the world at their death to expresse wonderfull comfort of spirit and to shew forth such fruit of Religion that we wonder at it and acknowledge the extraordinary worke of Gods spirit in them They wrastle against temptations they confesse their faith feele the assurance of their saluation condemne their sinnes exhort the beholders praise God sing Psalmes wish to dye that in their death they are better Christians then euer they were in their life This blessed departure God giues to many for diuers good purposes 1. That the world may know that peace is the end of the iust and comfort in death is the portion of the righteous 2. That his eternall truth in our holy profession may appeare to be able to comfort vs not onely in our life but in our death also when all other comforts forsake vs. 3. That our enemies may see our faith is not in vaine 4. That the weake by their example may be incouraged to a holy life when they see it bring with it so happie a death and that they may be strengthened against the feare of death seeing it is alwaies comfortable to those that leade a godly life 5. and finally that the friends of the departed by their heaueÌ„ly departure may be admonished not to mourne so much for their death as to reioyce for their life and to thanke God that euer it was their lot in any degree to be ioined or matched with so blessed seruants of God This Gentlewoman Mistresse Katherine Brettergh was one of this number her life as long as God continued it was deere to those among whom she was as the life of a friend might be Her husband friends kinsfolks brethren sisters and all the godly that knew her inioyed a great blessing of God of her and her death no doubt was grieuous to her husband as the death of a vertuous yoke-fellow And if worldly affection would haue holpen it it was the same in him that Dauids was to Absolom his sonne when he mourned for his death O my sonne Absolom my sonne my sonne Absolom would to God I had dyed for thee ô Absolom my sonne my sonne But sure her death was such her behauiour in her sicknes so religious her heart so possessed with comfort her mouth so filled with the praises of God her spirit so strengthened against the feare of death her conquest so happy ouer her infirmities that such as loued her most haue greatest cause to reioyce in her death and by seeing the wonderfull worke of God in her to learne to renounce their owne affections This is the thing I thought with profit might be presenâ—â—d to the view of others also that knew her not for when I had for my own priuate vse and the vse of my friends faithfully collected out of the fresh memories of those that were present and eye-witnesses as wel as my selfe and set downe the manner of her sicknes and death I considered that the knowledge thereof could not but be welcome to al those that desire to die the death of the righteous And so the same causes that moued me to collect it gaue me also occasion to publish it I remembred the saying of one That it is great pietie to set foorth the vertues of the departed if they haue excelled therein yea it is a meanes to increase grace in our selues I thought so great mercie of God shewed to one among vs ought not to be forgotten but should remaine to vs our childre an example to teach vs how good God is to them that loue him and to assure vs that he will neuer forsake vs but in like manner as he did her helpe and comfort vs when we shall by death be called vnto him I considered the vngodly
in time make no delayes least afterward it be too late 3 The third circumstance to bee obserued in the text is the carelesse regard of the righteous mans death No man considereth it in heart It seemes that manie godly persons were already dead their death did declare that God had some speciall worke in hand yet the common people which were left behind them did little regard it This carelesse contemning of their death doth shew that the harts of the commō people were possessed with great securitie to make so small reckoning of such a strange worke of God All the workes of God are carefully to be regarded of vs who are set in this world to take a speciall view and to make an holy vse of them And therefore Dauid thought the wicked deserued to be broken downe and not built vp againe because they regarded not the workes of the Lord nor the operation of his hands Now the taking of the righteous away is one of his speciall workes For to him belong the issues of death It is he that turneth man to destruction The number of his moneths are with him he appointeth his bounds which he cannot passe If a sparrow shall not fall on the ground without our father in heauen then the righteous which are of more value then many sparrowes cannot perish without his will and appointment Certaine it is that none die sooner or later then he sends for them The works of Princes are much considered and often talked of among the people and ought not the Lords workes be much considered of vs Their works may be done foolishly rashly and vniustly but the works of God are done in number waight and measure in wisdome iustice and mercie Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of all his Saints and shall their death bee vile and contemptible in our eyes People most commonly do highly esteeme those things which are deare and precious among Princes and shall the death of the righteous which is so precious in the Lords sight the Prince of all Princes be lightly esteemed of vs his people None of them liueth to himselfe neither doth any die vnto himselfe Whether they liue they liue vnto the Lord or whether they die they die vnto the Lord whether they liue therefore or die they are the Lords Yea they do glorifie God both by life and by death And therefore we should not lightly passe ouer their life or their death But consider how they haue glorified God by their death and by their life and praise him for the same But why are we to consider their death What may we learne thereby We learne these foure things First the certaintie of death Secondly the nature of death Thirdly the cause of death and lastly the manner how we must die First by considering their death we may learne the certaintie of death in our selues that we must dye as well as they in which respect Salomon saith it is better to goe to the house of mourning then to goe to the house of feasting because this is the end of all men and the liuing shall lay it to his heart That is to say hee which remaineth aliue by seeing one dead shall consider in his heart that all men shall so die and that he himselfe shall die as well as others The death of others is as a looking glasse wherein we may clearly beholde the vncertaintie of our owne liues We may call their death as some doe the sacrament visible verbū a visible word or sermon teaching vs our owne mortality for we haue no better assurance of our liues then they had what we now are they haue beene and what they now are wee may be and we know not how soone He which hath taken them away now may within a while if it please him take vs also away and bring vs vnto them As death assaulted them so will it assault vs and we cā no more resist it then they could but must yeeld as they did We are ready to forget death and the forgetfulnesse of death maketh vs to forget our dutie vnto God let vs therefore consider the death of others thereby to be put in mind of our owne 2 Secondly by their death we may know the nature of death in al others for it deals with all alike We may there see how death doth deface that image of God which was in the bodie and how it doth destroy the bodie which was a temple for the holie Ghost to dwel in If one see a faire house of a noble man to bee much defaced fallen to ruine so as one stone is scarce left vpon another it will pitie his heart so should we be moued in our hearts to see the bodie of a righteous man which was an house for the holie ghost to dwel in to be so pitifully ruinated by death Againe we may see what strange separations death doth make The soule and the body which haue a long time liued together as two familiar cópanions are put asunder by death and no man knowes how long it shal be before they can meete together againe Besides this death makes a separation betwixt old louing friends The husband is separated from the wife of his youth with whom hee reioyced the wife is separated from her husband who was her vaile to shield and to saue her parents are taken from their tēder childrē which they leaue as orphans in the world not knowing what will become of them children are taken from their kind parents who could haue beene content to haue gone in their steed yea familiar friends whose soules were knit together in affectiō whose loue exceeded the loue of women as did the loue of Dauid and Ionathan are seuered one from another by death the knot of their friendship is broken their mutuall kindnes can be no more shewed by one to another W 〈…〉 griefe it is for louing friends to depart one from another we may see in Pauls friends and hearers when he tooke his leaue of them and told them that they must not see his face any more They wept all abundantly and fell on Pauls necke and kissed him being chiefly sory for the words which he spake that they should see his face no more We had need therfore by the death of others to be put in mind of this separatiō before-hand y◠when it comes we may be the better prepared for it Lastly death makes a separation betwixt the rich man and his wealth We brought nothing into this world neither must we carry any thing out of this world Yea men leaue their riches they cannot tell vnto whom If that question be asked many that are ready to die which was demanded of the rich man who had laid vp store for many yeeres This night shall thy soule be taken from thee then whose shall these things be which thou hast prouided they might truly answere that
they cannot tell Men heape vp riches and cannot tell who shall enioy them they bequeath them to some and others goe away with them We had neede to thinke of this before hand that we may vse this world as if we vsed it not and when we haue foode and rayment to be therewith content and to be more willing to leaue these things when death approcheth If a man doe not in his heart deeply and seriously consider of these things a long time and often before death he shall be as vnwilling to leaue all these things at the howre of death as the young man was to sell his goods and giue them to the poore when he was commaunded by Christ. In things that be of waight and importance and yet very difficult it is needful to vse preparation before hand for without it we shal be vnfit when we come to the pinch Souldiers which be chosen and appointed for the wars do exercise themselues with their weapons before hand and are content to be trained by others which haue better skill experience that so they may learne in time of peace how to behaue themselues in time of war So had we need in time of our life to learne how to die and to be taught by others which die before vs what we must do at the howre of death 3 Thirdly we must coÌ„sider the cause or end of their death Some of the righteous are taken away in iudgement and some in mercie In iudgemeÌ„t when God in displeasure doth strike them with death to correct them for their sinnes Thus was the man of God taken away which came out of Iudah and cried out against the Altar in Bethel that Ieroboam had set vp because he beleeued the lie of an old prophet in Bethel and did eate and drinke with him there contrarie to Gods commandement a Lyon met him by the way and slew him Thus also were many of the Corinthians taken away for abusing the Lords supper For this cause many were sicke and weake and many did sleepe yet they were righteous persons as Paul before had testified of them Ye are washed yee are sanctified yee are iustified in the name of the Lord Iesus and by the spirit of our God afterward he reputeth them which were sicke and did so sleep to be iudged of the Lord because they should not be condemned with the world The Lord is sometimes so sharp with his owne children that for the example of others hee will inflict a bodily death vpon theÌ„ as a correction for their sinnes That should be regarded of all others that their harmes may make them wise moue them to speedie repentance least they be more sharpely dealt withall For as Christ saith If these things be done to a greene tree what shall be done to the dry And as Peter saith If iudgement first begin at the house of God what shall the end be of theÌ„ which obey not the Gospell of God If the maister of a family do sharpely correct his owne children for their faults let not the seruants thinke that they shal escape vnpunished if they coÌ„mit the like faults If any one which sitteth at table with vs by eating of some dish or drinking of some cup do surfet or fall sick or into a swoune or die presently it will greatly moue vs and we cannot bee perswaded by anie to tast of that dish or drinke of that cup for feare of the like Euen so when we see Gods children that liue amongst vs to bee taken away by death for practising of some sinne it should greatly moue vs and wee should so abhorre that sinne that nothing in the world could perswade vs to practise it Againe others are taken away in mercy for their benefite and for a reward of their righteousnes to free theÌ„ from those iudgements which the Lord intendeth to bring vpon the world and thus were these righteous men taken away which here are mentioned Their death should be considered as a warning giuen vnto men of some fearfull iudgement to come therfore should cal theÌ„ to repentance that they might preuent the iudgement but of this I wil speake more afterward in the last circumstance 4 Lastly we must consider the manner of their death for thereby we may learne how to die it may be as a patterne or example to direct vs in our death The wicked die either sottishly or impatiently or else desperatly Sottishly like blocks idiots hauing neither penitent feeling of their sins nor comfortable assurance of saluation Being like vnto Nabal whose heart ten daies before his death died within him and he was like a stone Such men die like lambes and yet shall be a pray for the deuouring Lion they go quietly like fooles to the stocks for correction Others dye impatiently who doe not willingly beare the Lords correction deserued by their sinnes but rage fret and murmure as if God dealt too rigorously with them and through impatiencie will vse vnlawfull meanes for their recouery as Ahaziah did who being sicke sent messengers to enquire of Baal-zebub the god of Ekron if he should recouer of his disease Others dye desperately their consciences accusing them most terribly for their sins without any hope of pardon as Caine who said my sinne is greater then can be forgiuen or Iudas who despairing of pardon for his sin in betraying our Sauiour went and hanged himselfe The consciences of many wicked men lye quietly and neuer trouble them all their life time but are stirred vp at their death and then rage and torment them like a mad dog which is lately awaked out of sleep But the righteous die most comfortably they beleeuing in Christ and hauing repented of their sinnes are assured in their owne soules that all their sins are pardoned in Christ they will make confession of their faith and giue testimonies of their repentance vnto others for their comfort and example They will patiently indure all the paines of their sicknes â—s Iob did knowing that al comes from the Lord and that it is his fatherly correction and a signe of his loue because he chasteneth whom he loueth yea they receiue their sicknesse as the Lords messenger speaking to their soules as the Prophet Isaiah did to Hezekiah Put thine house in order for thou shalt dye and not liue and therefore they prepare themselues for another world Yea further in their sicknes they can pray most feruently as king Hezekiah did Isai 38. and then they will giue most fruitfull and comfortable instructions to those which they leaue behinde As the Swan sings most sweetly a little before his death so the righteous speake most diuinely a little before their end Whosoeuer searcheth the scriptures may reade the diuine prophecy of Iacob vnto the twelue Patriarches Gen. 49. the holy blessing of Moses vpon the twelue tribes Deut. 33. the godly exhortation of Ioshua to the people of Israel placed by him
in Canaan Iosh. 23. the wise counsell of Dauid vnto Salomon who was to succeede him in the kingdome 1. King 2. Whosoeuer readeth the Ecclesiasticall histories may not onely see the vertuous liues but also the christian like ends of the Saints and Martyrs in the Church And whosoeuer will be present at the death of those which truly feare God may thereby learne how they themselues ought to dye for when the outward man doth decay the inward man is renewed more and more They shew that the neerer they do approch vnto their end the neerer they draw toward heauen But in these our dayes many may bee found who either do not at al consider the death of the righteous or else do consider it amisse Though it be a matter worth consideration yet some do not consider it at all because they see so many die they make the lesse reckoning of it til death knock at their owne doores they neuer regard it they must needes die themselues before they can be brought to consider of death they care not who sinck so they swimme nor how many die so they may liue yea this is greatly to be lamented that some do regard the death of a Christian no more then they regard the death of a dog But seeing we may learne so many profitable instructions by their death let vs now begin to consider it better then euer we did before Others do consider it but yet amisse eyther fondly or frowardly Fondly through naturall affection arising from kinred affinitie or familiaritie If a stranger dye it nothing moues them but if one of their owne friends dye they sigh and sob they howle and lament If the father lose his sonne hee cryes most pitifully as Dauid did for Absolom O my sonne Absolom my sonne my sonne Absolom would God I had dyed for thee O Absolom my sonne my sonne If the mother lose her children she behaueth her self like Rachel weeping for her children and would not be comforted because they were not If children lose their parents they cry after them as Elisha did after Elias wheÌ„ he was taken vp my father my father If a sister lose her brother she weepeth for him as Mary did for Lazarus If the husband lose his wife he weepeth for her as Abraham wept for Sarah Yea he mourneth like a Turtle Doue which hath lost his marrow If the wife lose her husband she dealeth like Naomi who would not be called Naomi that is beautiful but Mara that is bitter because the Lord had giuen her much bitternes If one familiar friend lose another he lamenteth his death as Dauid did the death of Ionathan wo is me for thee my brother Ionathan very kinde hast thou been vnto me thy loue to me was wonderfull passing the loue of women Indeede I can not deny but yâ— we ought in a speciall manner to consider the death of those which are neere and deare vnto 〈…〉 for it may be they are takeÌ„ from vs because we were vnworthy of them or because we gloryed trusted ouer-much in them and were not so thankfull for them as we ought If we had any help by them we must consider whether God haue not depriued vs of them for the punishment of our sins as the widow of Sarepta did at the death of her son saying vnto Eliah Art thou come vnto me to call my sinne to remembrance and to slay my sonne Yet this consideration must be ordered by wisdome it must not be ioyned with excessiue sorrow Neither must we consider their death alone but also the death of others which dye in the Lord and to learne to make an holy vse thereof For as Sampson found sweete hony in the carkas of a dead Lyon so we may finde some sweet instructions in the dead corps of euery righteous man yea the more righteous that they are which do dye the more should their death be considered because it may yeeld greater store of instruction vnto vs. And it may be that God doth take away those which are neere vnto vs because we doe carelesly regard the death of those which be farre off Againe some consider the death of the righteous very frowardly and peeuishly yea I may say malitiously preposterously For if any of them be taken away by a sodaine and extraordinary death they presently censure them as plagued of God and coÌ„demne their former profession thinking that God would not haue so dealt with them if he approued either of them or their profession But they must be instructed in this point by wise Salomon who sayth that no man knoweth loue or hatred of all that is before him All things come alike to all and the same condition is to the iust and the wicked to the good and the pure and to the polluted to him that sacrificeth to him that sacrificeth not Eli was a Priest and a good man yet brake his neck by falling backward from his â—eate Ionathan was a sworne brother vnto Dauid a godly and faithfull friend yet was he slaine in battaile by the hands of the Philistines That Prophet of God which came out of Iudah to Bethel to speake against Ieroboam and the altars which he had built for idolatry was no doubt an holy man yet was he killed in yâ— way by a Lyon Iosiah was a good King like vnto him there was no King before him neither after him rose any like him yet was he slaine in the valley of Megiddo by Necho King of Egypt Iobâ— children were wel brought vp by their godly father and it is sayd that before Iob offered sacrifice for them they were sanctified yet within a while after as they were eating and drinking in their eldest brothers house a violent wind ouerthrew the house and killed them all We must not therefore iudge of men by their death but rather by their life Though sometime a good death may follow an euill life yet an euill death can neuer follow a good life Correct thine euill life and feare not an euill death he can not die ill that liues well saith Augustine And afterward answeres the obiections of these men and makes this the foote of his song Thou wilt say vnto mee haue not many iust men perished by shipwracke Certainely hee can not dye ill which liued well Haue not many iust men beene slaine by the enemies sword Certainly he can not die il which liued well Haue not many iust men been killed by theeues Haue not many righteous men bin torne in pieces by wild beasts Certainly hee can not die ill which liued wel c. But I wil say vnto such as censure the righteous for their strange and violent death as Christ said of those eighteen vpon whom yâ— tower of Siloam fell and flew them Thinke ye that these were greater sinners then others I tel you nay but except ye repent ye all shall likewise perish
and vncharitable tongues of the Papists abiding in our countrey who since her death haue not ceased to giue it out that she died despairing and by her comfortles end shewed that she professed a coÌ„fortles Religion Wherein they bewray their malice madnes and shew themselues of what generatioÌ„ they are euen a people as the Prophet Ieremy saith which bend their tongues like bowes for lyes and as Dauid saith make readie their arrowes to shoote at them which are vpright in heart And lastly when I remembred the censure giuen by our Sauiour Christ of the woman that poured costly ointment on his head a little before his Passion though some of his Disciples vniustly blamed her for the same saying What needed this wast yet he himselfe did not only excuse her for that fact saying she did it to bury him but also commaunded that wheresoeuer the Gospell should bee preached throughout the worlde there also that which she had done should be spoken of for a memoriall of her Euen so seeing this vertuous Gentlewoman hath bin vniustly accused by some popish persons I thought it sit that she should not onely be iustly excused and cleered from their false and slaunderous reports but also that a true historie of her holie life and christian death should be annexed to those learned Sermons which were preached at her Funerall by two godly Preachers and are now published in print that where soeuer they going before as the Gospell preached there also this briefe historie may follow after to be seene and read for a memoriall of her These reasons moued me both to collect and publish this treatise the doing whereof I trust as it will be acceptable to many so can it bee hurtfull to none vnlesse possible it be to the kingdome of darknes If there be any vnsatisfied and yet desire any other reasons I tell them further it is to burie her and the last balme that euer I can powre vpon her head it is my farewell and the last duty which I can performe vnto her and therefore I hope both excusable in me and also profitable to others because many things here spoken of her deserue imitation And this I assure the Reader that howsoeuer I may sometimes misse the for me of words which possibly the Gentlewoman vsed in her speech yet haue I faithfully set downe the substance of the matter and for the most part also faithfully related the words themselues and reported nothing but that which is most true and testified by persons of good and honest report as they are named in the margent out of whose fresh memories the substance of that which I publish was presentlie set downe This I humbly desire thee good Christian Reader to accept I had no other odours wherewith to imbalme her I am but the pen-man the thing it selfe was her owne wrought in her by Gods spirit and therefore not costly to me though more comfortable to me and all that heard it then I can now expresse and I doubt not but it shall yeeld thee also the same comfort and giue thee occasion both to praise God and imitate her wel-doing which the Lord graunt Amen A Post-script to Papists PEace and truth to as many of you as pertaine to God I am moued in conscience to deale with you by this manner of writing because of the false and slanderous reports which I heare some of your faction haue blazed and diuulged abroade concerning the death of Mistresse Katherin Brettergh a Christian Gentlewoman whose life indeed was holy and death most comfortable It is no noueltie or new thing to heare a lye from a Papist but rather a principle of your religion Therefore if you pleade antiquitie as a marke infallible to know your Church by for that point tak 't you you haue it from the Diuell your father by tradition diabolicall holding the same still in these succeeding ages so succinctly that for ought I know you will not leaue it till you be shut foorth of the heauenly Ierusalem and cast into Tophet which is prepared of old for liers and inchanters Yet it pities me to thinke of some of your poore sillie seduced soules how simple they be in Gods causes and yet malicious for the most of my popish neighbors what others be I know not flye but a very low pitch being people altogether void of learning wit and ciuilitie The furthest drift of their religion is to say the Pope is a good man to say it is safest to doe in religion as most doe to thump hard their breasts when they pray to crosse them when they meete a Protestant and to spit out when they name the Diuell to gallop ouer a Pater noster or Ladies Psalter vpon their beades and to say it was a good world when Masse was vp for then all things were cheape finallie some of them will say I beleeue as my father beleeued God baue mercie on his sweete soule and I hope to go to him when I die This is the very length broadth and depth of most part of Popery where I dwell euery one can reach this marke and few can goe beyond it Another opinion of these sottish people is to say If a man dye like a lambe and passe out of the world like a bird in a shell he is certainely saued although neither holines were in his life nor God in his mouth grace in heart nor yet repentaÌ„ce faith or feeling at his death Such blockish ends a reuerend man doth count fearefull saying such men excepting their fetherbeds and pillowes dye liker beasts then Christians Againe if the violence of any disease stirre vp impatience in a muÌ„ at his death straight say our country-Papists there is a iudgement of God seruing either to discouer an hypocrite or plague a wicked man especially if they proteste the truth of Iesus Christ as this Gentlewoman did then they cry and shout see the effect of this religion see the end of these men where as indeede the truth is farre otherwise as a learned writer doth notably determine It seemeth you Papists or who els so euer doe iudge thus are little acquainted with Scripturos nor yet were euer of Salomons minde who speaking of outward things happening to man doth say The same condition is to the iust and to the wicked both one to the pure and polluted Dauid saw the wicked without bands in their death noitâ—er were they troubled like other men and yet were they ropnobates and the children of Satan But if you Bapists had Dauids spirit which the Diuell would not that you had for Dauids kingdome you would iudge more charitably of Christians deaths especiallie such whose liues were holy notwithstanding any outward accident that might happen at the least you ought rather to mourne and conceale it then to laugh and deride the same for when Saul was dead in mount Gilboa who was a notorious wicked man and his death fearefull indeede
for he killed himselfe what did Dauid reioyce or lament Though Saul in his life time was alwaies his deadly enemie yet mourned hee and wept for Saul and Ionathan saying Tell it not in Gath nor publish it in the streetes of Askelon least the daughters of the Philistims reioyce and the vncircumcised triumph This did Dauid which was a man after Gods owne heart though you as it should seeme rather delight to solace your selues with the falles and infirmities of Gods children then once to be touched as feeling members of one bodie with an inward sighing and sorrow for the same But now touching the death of this Gentlewoman whereat some of your Romish faction haue bragged as though an oracle had come from heauen to proue you Catholicks and vs Hereticks Blessed be God and our Lord Iesus Christ the Diuell and you are all deceiued and God euen our mightie Iehouah hath you in derision and shall laugh you to skorne who hath not only frustrate your fond expectations but made your follie manifest to all men This Gentlewomans life being more holie and her death more comfortable then possiblie any of yours can be so long as you continue Papists The trueth whereof I haue compendiously set foorth in this present treatise following as will be testified by persons of honester note and condition then any of your generation And thus for this time I end praying God to forgiue you your sins because you know not what you doe and to open your eyes that you may see your errors and come out of Babylon Amen That by some taste of the truth of that which befell the vndoubted child of God Mistris Katherin Brettergh in the time of her sicknes neere before and at the instant of her death the mouth of the sclanderer which was soone opened might be some deale stopped the expectation of the godly in part satisfied and preiudice in all happilie suspended one both an eye and eare-witnesse thereof caused these few lines as an Epitaph to be fixed nigh her Hearse Id est Katherina quia Christi sanguine mundata igneaque teâ—tationum exploratione purgata Mundis eodemqus modo purgandis omnibus tum quae passa est tum etiam eorundem exitum testatissim cupit TRue it is I strone But 't was against mine enemie Strongly I struggled It was my strongest aduersarie Strongly not in my selfe but in my euer-helper strong Strongly alas weake woman weakely strong Strongly though faintly which was fleshes infirmitie Strongly and doubtfully through my soes lying subtiltie Strangely I grant till streÌ„gth it selfe in weakenes was sâ—eâ—â— strong And Sauiour mine did in the battailes throng Plainely display his banner-booke in open field VVhich seene mine aduersaries all gan shrinke fall yeeld So Christ the victor searching the spoiâ—e taking his pray Me found for him tooke to him So I past from you away VVitnes hereof my often'pplied faith's confessions VVitnes my prayers plainâ—s tearefull eyes hart yearning meditatioÌ„s VVitnes my sweate strong trembling thirst my biâ—ning â—caâ—e Peace ioy passage all harts that present then with mine did beate But be all silent One for me the truth will tell My witnes now in heauen with whom I crowned dwell And learne by me with God and 's word your childhood to acquaint Then aged finally though hap's at times you shall not saint Si non testantis side Monentis charitate Moueamini Anâ—iphonicâ—s eidem IT 's not vnlike Christ's deaâ—e such conflict you endur'de The members must be like the head vve are assur'de 'T vvas not amisse you did so fiâ—rce hot sirie triall bide To haue pure gold some seauen times is tride It were vnmeete the seruants better then their Lord should finde The Captaine passe the pikes the souldiers stay behinde 'T is meete for vvhom Christ dranke off all that bitter cup They of the same vvith him a little dram should sup And though your life your birth your vertuous education Your holy course in Reading Prayer Meditation Meekenes patience pitie and religious chastitie Both in your maried state and free virginitie Did vvorthilie import you vvere the same You did professe and as did sound your name Yet that your death prou'd cleerer seuen fold You t'he Christ's member seruent souldier and gold Noutheticon LEarne all by this and others more iust Abrahams breede Borne in the Church nurst of her brests begotteÌ„ of immortal seâ—d Learne you that stand haue peace feele ioy see light Partake God's spirit tasting his grace and heauenly gift The time may come that you may fall war rise peace seeme straÌ„ge You ioy vvith anguish light for deaths shadovv may exchange Satan may buffer Gods spirit driue you to the vvildernes The booke mouth sweetning be to your bellies bitternes Learne ye that in these heauie changingâ— be God changeth neuer neuer doe his graces die Graces fountaine runneth euer it floweth aboundantly We doe not alwaies thirst seeld called come oft drinke we sparingly Learne you that in these blessed feelings haue no pâ—â—t Nor of the bitter changings feele the smart Your wretched state who liuing are as dead withouten sence Who dead shall euer liue tormented going hence Learne all iudge not before the time happie and bless'd is he VVho of the sillie humbled poore doth iudge aduisedly Edw. Aspinwall Katherina Pura Christo quâ—â—â— purgata Vita Christo praparata Morte Christo dedicata Coelis Christo coniâ—gata W. F. The holie life and Christian death of Mistris Katherin Brettergh THis Gentlewoman was borne in Cheshyre the daughter of Iohn Bruen of Bruenstapleford Esquire well descended and of an auncient house Her education before her marriage was such as became the profession of the Gospell in godlinesse and puritie of life and Religion and well beseemed the house where she was brought vp The Scriptures she knew from a childe and by reading thereof gained such knowledge that she was able readilie to applie them when occasion was offered as wee may see at the time of her death and that so fitly and effectually that she seemed to haue made them her daily meditation For the things of this world she was moderate and sober and by her Christian life and death she might teach many Gentlewomen how vaine the pleasures and fashions of this world are and how farre vnable to bring that peace to a distressed heart that the embracing of true Religion can She vsed not to gad abroad with wandring Dinah to dancing greenes markets or publike assemblies but rather with Hannah did chuse to tread vpon the dust of the sanctuarie and walke in the waies of Sion yea with Dauid rather to be a doore keeper in the house of God then to haue societie with the wicked or to dwell in the tents and Tabernacles of the vngodlie The Sabbaoth day was alwaies deere and welcome to her what time she would not be without the word preached though many times she went farre for it Her delight was still to
of her sicknes after the Lord had once enlarged her heart from the temptations of Satan But vpon Saterday about eleuen of the clocke in the morning the Lord disclosed himselfe in mercie to her more plentifully then euer before and as I may say he dealt familiarly with his hand-mayd for from that time to her very death which ensued the next day the feeling of Satans temptations seemed quite to bee banished from her so that she made no shew of them her thoughts were not occupied with yâ— world husbaÌ„d child or any thing els to our thinking neither was her sicknes troublesome to her as before it had beene but as one raised from death to life or rauished in spirit so seemed she to vs that stood by her countenance ioyfull her tongue flowing with the praises of God and her voyce as most heauenly musicke and melodie of peace sounding praise and honour and glorie to God in a wonderfull manner as followeth About eleuen of the clocke she began to tremble and quake a little and withall she asked her husbaÌ„d if he would help her with prayer to God against the tempter saying will yee neither pray with me nor bring some godly man that may put holie things into my minde whereby I may be able to resist Satan Hauing thus said she vttered these words O Lord God of my saluation help my weaknes pleade thou my cause O God of truth for in thee doe I trust After this they prayed together and she answered Amen to euery petition Then after this she required him to reade some part of the scripture whereupon he read vnto her the 8. to the Romans the 91. Psalme and the 17. of Iohn the which as hee read and came to the 4. verse I haue finished the worke which thou gauest me to do and now glorifie me She desired him to pause a while and theÌ„ said Blessed be thy name O blessed Sauiour perfect the worke I humbly beseech thee which thou hast begun in me Then as he read the 9. verse I pray not for the world but for them which thou hast giuen me for they are thine she interrupted him againe saying O Lord Iesu doest thou pray for me O blessed and sweete Sauiour how wonderfull how wonderfull how wonderfull are thy mercies Reade on said she the blessedst reading that euer I heard the comfort whereof doth sweeten my soule Then reading verse the 22. And the glorie which thou gauest me I haue giuen them that they may be one at we are one With marueilous ioy she vttered the words of Dauid many times ouer I confesse before the Lord his louing kindnes and his wonderfull workes before the sonnes of men for he hath satisfied my soule and filled my hungrie soule with goodnes When he came to the 24. verse Father I will that they which thou hast giueÌ„ me be with me euen where I am that they may behold my glory which thou hast giuen me Stay said she and let me meditate on the goodnes of the Lord for this is the sweetest saying that euer came to my soule for now I perceiue and feele the countenance of Christ my redeemer is turned towards me and the bright shining beames of his mercie is spread ouer me Oh happy am I that euer I was borne to see this blessed day Praise praise ô praise the Lord for his mercies for he hath brought me out of darknes and the shadow of death he hath deliuered my soule from the snare of the hunter and hath taken me out of the den of Lyons euen from the iawes of Leuiathan that piercing crooked serpent and hath set me in a place of rest and sweete refreshing Oh praise the Lord O my soule al that is within me praiseh holy name my soule praise thou the Lord and forget not all his benefits which for giueth all thine iniquities and healeth all thine infirmities which hath redeemed thy life from the graue and crowneth thee with mercy and compassion This she often repeated And then againe remembring the 21. and 22. verses of the 17. of Iohn she said O my sweete Sauiour shall I be one with thee as thou art one with thy Father And wilt thou glorifie me with that glory which thou haddest with the father before the world was And doest thou so loue me which am but dust and ashes to make me partaker of glorie with Christ What am I poore wretch that thou art so mindfull of me Oh how wonderfull how wonderfull how wonderfull is thy loue Oh thy loue is vnspeakable that hast dealt so graciously with me oh I feele thy mercies and oh that my tongue and heart were able to sound forth thy praises as I ought and as I willingly would doe oh that you all would helpe me to praise the holy one of Israel the God of all consolations And thus for the space of fiue houres together at the least she continued praysing and lawding the Lord with such a gladsome and heauenly countenance testifying such inward ioy from a comfortable feeling of the mercies of God in her soule and vsing such sweete senteÌ„ces and sâ—gred phrases of perfect and holy eloquence as the trueth thereof if it could haue been taken were admirable continuing so many houres together some part whereof was this O my Lord oh my God blessed be thy name for euermore which hast shewed me the path of life Thou didst O Lord hide thy face from me for a little season but with euerlasting mercie thou hast had compassion on me And now blessed Lord thy comfortable presence is come yea Lord thou hast had respect vnto thy handmaid and art come with fulnes of ioy and abundance of consolations O blessed be thy name ô Lord my God Then she repeated part of the 16. Psalme saying The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance wherefore my heart is glad and my tongue reioyceth Thou wilt shew me the path of life In thy presence is fulnes of ioy and at thy right hand there are pleasures for euermore oh that I could therefore praise the Lord as he is worthie to be praised I will sing to the Lord I will sing to the praise of the God of Israel come come saith the and helpe me ô helpe me to praise the Lord. And with yâ— she began to sing the third Psalme and continued to the end of the Psalme as perfectly and with as sweete a voyce as euer she had before in her health and concluded with the 49. verse of the 106. Psalme The Lord the God of Israel be blest for euermore Let all the people say Amen praise ye the Lord therefore And after this she said O praise the Lord for hee hath filled me with ioy and gladnes of hart and brought me from the gates of hell and of death repeating that of the 16. Psalme My line is fallen vnto me in a pleasant place yea I haue a saire heritage for the Lord is the