Funerall are presented to us 1. The Herse a dead man carried out 2. The Mourners his Mother the chief and much People with her 3. The process of the whole they carry him forth In the second the Cordiall 1. The Cordiall it self Weep not 2. The Holy Lymbeck from whence t is distilled the tender bowells of Jesus Christ He was moved with Compassion 3. The fire that gives it operation the seeing of this pittifull object a Desolate Disconsolate Mother When he saw her Then he was moved with Compassi n and when he was so moved then he said Weep not I begin with the First the Funeral and in that 1. The Herse 2. Then the Mourners and this order Custome approves Nature Compells Ceremony appoints and Necessity constrains the Herse leads the Mourners follow Our Noble Lord is gone before we must go after 1. The Herse And that as harsh and dark as if the Pall were of the Coursest Hair-Cloath and made more black and Heavy with these six sable Escutcheons which are its load and burden rather then its Ornament 1. A Man dead 2. He a Young Man 3. That young man a Great man 4 That Great man an Only Son 5. That only Son as Childless at his death as his decease did leave his Mother 6. That Mother a Widow like to continue Childless Heirless concluded and shut up under dispaire of having more to comfort and relieve her Solitude Each circumstance calls for an heavy accent and needs a mournful circumflex let 's drop them with our tears in Order that every Escutcheon may be Guttee only suppose those drops of Pearle and Argent to charge the dispairing Sable Field of Death with brighter hopes of an approaching Resurrection 1 Tim. 2.7 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 preco Caduceator predicator 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 predicare publice laudare Excuse this phrase a Preacher is properly an Herauld but chiefly so at such a time Each word like a slip of Ciprus sprouts up into a mournful Stem the Blazon of each Escutcheon is a dolefull Sentence in Order thus 1. Man is Mortall 2. Even Young men may dye and often do 3. Great Men must fall as well as others 4. Onely-Children cannot escape 5. Whole Families may fayle in Childless Heirs 6. Former Sorrows do not excuse us from Succeeding Ones She that was made a Widow by her Husbands death may yet be rendred more desolate by the loss of Children One comfort gone secures not the rest By the glimmering light which these six dim and lowring Tapers cast about the Herse you may distinctly read the Impress of each Shield 1. Man's Mortal This truth 's so obvious we cannot suppose the Ecce prefixt to it The wonder is greater that any man out-lives his Mothers travel then that he dyes so soon The many witty Emblems of our frailty devis'd and used by gravest Sages Ethnick and Christian are abundantly excused from all suspicion of Hyperbole's by what the holy spirit speaks so frequently in the same Argument Isa 40.6 7. Psal 103.15 Job 13.25 1 Pet. 1.24 Jam. 4.14 Job 7.7 Psal 144.4 Isa 40.17 comparing man to Grass to Flowers to dryed Leaves and Stubble to Dust to Vapours to Wind to Vanity to less then vanity and nothing And no truth is written in Gods Book with more Indelible and larger Characters then that It is appointed unto all men once to dye A time to be born a time to dye Mark how close they stand together nothing parts them Jos 23.14 1 Kings 2.2 'T is the way of all the Earth an universall Rule that doth admit of no Exception Gen. 5.5 8 11 14 17 20 the constant conclusion of all mens History And he dyed So that the challenge was very safe What man is he that liveth and shall not see death Psal 89.48 and shall he deliver himself from the hand of the Grave And the determination as warily made No man can give to God a Ransome for himself or Brother Psal 49.9 that he should still live for ever and not see Corruption 2. And 't is as obvious to common notice we need not Revelation to perswade our Credence they give assent who never saw the Bible and t is become a Proverb nothing so sure as death where seeing is believing there need no other Topicks to make a demonstration 3. And Natural Reason gives its perfect suffrage that must decay whose foundation is i' th dust as ours is who are but the sub-divisions of Adams red Clod crumbled into multiplied Atomes the stream cannot ascend beyond the Altitude of the Fountains Scituation From Corruptible Principles no Product can proceed Incorruptible Man that is born of a Woman is of few dayes it carries its own Evidence because he is so born A Tabernacle patcht together of sappy sticks Job 14.1 and rotten straw and mouldring dirt cannot stand long especially exposed to Storms without and Fire from within and such is mans body 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Nyss Orat. de Mortuis tost and consumed with dayly strife of hot and cold moyst and dry and which soever Conquers leads life it self a Captive to its Victory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Nyss ubi supra And Dust returns to dust 4. And there is a Moral cause i th' Soul as mortall as any Natural one i th' Body Eze. 18.20 Gen. 2.17 Rom. 6.23.5.12 the Soul that sinneth it shall dye In the day thou eatest thou shalt dye the death death is the wages of sin which shall be surely paid By one man Sin entred into the World 1 Kin. 8.46 and death by sin And in as much as no man liveth and sinneth not you may conclude that no man liveth Mors interficit omnes quos natura presentem perducit ad vitam ducit Reges trahit Populos gentes impellit non divitiis redimi non flecti precibus non lachrimis molliri non viribus potuit illa unquam superari Chrysologus Serm. 118. and dyeth not With what words then shall we bewaile or upbraid rather the Atheistical security and stupid madness of those men who will not be perswaded of this truth or which is ten times worse under convictions and confessions of it live here as if they should live here for ever and tempt us to believe they judge their Souls are Mortal they take so little care to save them and their Bodies Immortal they heap up so long provisions for them 2. Even young men may dye and often do Ours in the Text is expresly called so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the ver next following your common saying is Old men must dye and Young men may Senibus mors in januis Juvenibus in obsidiis sayth St. Bernard T is very remarkable how the Scripture Records the Death of Haran And Haran dyed before his Father Tera Gen. 11.21 in the Land of his Nativity Most Children dye before their Parents not one of an hundred
that are born lives to be old and consequently far the greatest part of men dye young Death passeth upon them who have not sinned after the similitude of Adams Transgression Rom. 5. that is actually and therefore dye whilst young Rachells Children are not while she remains to bewaile them because they are not Death keeps no turns observes no order that they should go first who came so but in this t is often The last shall be first and the first last Not only man but man in his best Estate is altogether vanity T is an Arabian Proverb Psal 39.5 the old Camell often carries the young Camells Skin to Market And the Jewish Scholler told his Master as an Argument to urge him to teach him betimes the Art of dying well that there were little graves in Golgotha When Jonahs gourd was fresh and green Jon. 4. fullest of sap and verdure then the worm smites it and t is gone And no wonder for their less confirmed constitution is sooner discomposed and out of temper Their fresher blood is more susceptive of Infection their warmer and agile spirits more easily blown up into a Feaverish heat and flame and in a word are so much less safe from death by how much they are the fairer marks for him to Levell at Awake then presumptuous Youths Sleep not so soundly in the Lap of Dalilah without the thoughts and care of rest in Abrahams bosome Put not the evil day far from you upon such slight and slender grounds Make no agreements with the Grave nor covenants with death and Hell Isa 28.18 least he forbid the banes and disanull it in whose hands your breath is but Remember your Creatour in the dayes of your youth Eccl. 12.1 and learn to live betimes yea and dye too for you may dye betimes and seek God early while he may be found knowing they are most welcome who come soonest and remembring the young Disciple was the best beloved Disciple Put not off no not a day Nescis quid serus vesper trabat Adag a work of such concernment because thou knowest not what a day may bring forth least thou be put to worse complaints then his who bitterly bewail'd his stay Too late O Lord did I begin to Love thee Nimis sero te amare caepi and least if thou think the Morn and Flower of thy age too good to give God judge the dreggs and twigh-light of it too bad to be accepted and take no pleasure in those dayes Of which thy self shalt say I have no pleasure in them Eccl 12.1 O know in this thy day the things that concern thy peace Vide Gr. Nyss Contra Bap. delat Sed dices tu qui es Juvenis nondum consenui Noli ergo decipi non definitur mors certo tempore aetatis neque timet eos qui sunt in ipso flore aetatis in solos autem senes obtinet dominium Hujus enim accipe magistrum quotidianam experientiam Vides enim quo mortui efferuntur feretrum quam in aequaliter ut contingit omnem effertae tatem hodie senem cras florentem elegantem adolescentem paulo post cui caeperat lanugo apparere russus virum robustum valentem viribus russus vetulam simul virginem Si non nunc quando 3. Great Men must fall as well as others this in our Text was such an one his Mother is termed Primaria Civitatis Matrona one of the Chief Ladies in the City where she dwelt We dye as Men as Sinners and what makes them greatest makes them not more then men nor less then sinners Therefore he who calls them Gods yet saith that they must dye like men Psal 82.6 7. The lofty Cedars of Lebanon and goodliest Oakes in Bashan must down as sure as the Sycamors in the Vally or Willowes by the Water-Brookes Job told us long agoe Job 34.19 20 that God accepteth not the Persons of Princes nor regardeth the Rich more then the Poor for they are all the work of his hands In a moment they shall dye and the Mighty shall be taken away without hand Man though in Honour abideth not Psal 49.12 when God takes away the breath of Princes even they returne unto their dust and their thoughts perish Though the Rich Mans Wealth be his Tower Pro. 10.15 and a strong hold in his conceite yet Death can scale his Walls and storm his Fort or pick his Locks and creep in at his Windows or slide in at a Loop-hole and Riches cannot bribe him nor a Golden Shield bear off his darts That Rich Fool in the Gospel who blest himself with Barnes-full as if nothing would destroy but starving was confuted with a vengeance when the summons came Stulte hac nocte Thou Fool Luke 12.21 this night thy Soul shall be required of thee Solomon and Craesus Alexander and Caesar Constantine and Charles and all the Magni Maximi are such loud Instances of this it were superfluous to weary you with more Be wise now therefore O Ye Kings Psal 2.20 be Instructed Ye Judges of the Earth Serve the Lord with Fear Kiss the Sun least he be angry and when you dye as dye you must you dye again and perish Everlastingly Know ere it be too late Prov. 11.4 that Riches will not profit in the day of wrath or be accepted as your Ransome and therefore trust not in them Psal 62.10 and when they encrease set not your hearts upon them I shall shutt up this with those Golden Words of St. Augustin which conclude the third Tome of his Works Thou pridest thy self in thy Riches and the Nobility of thy Ancestors thou boastest of thy Country and the Beauty of thy Body and the Honours conferr'd upon thee But consider thy self that thou art Mortal that thou art Dust and must return to dust Look upon them who before thee glistered with like gayeties Where now are those who were incircled with a traine of Citizens Where the Inconquerable Emperours Where those who called and could appoint Publick Assemblies and Solemn Meetings Now all is Dust all 's Ashes Now a few Verses comprehend their story Look now into their Graves and see which was the Servant which the Lord which the Poor Man which the Rich distinguish if thou canst the Captive from the King Divitiis floribus majorum Nobilitate te jactas exultas de Patria pucritudine corporis Honoribus qui tibi ab hominibus deferuntur respice te quia mortalis es Terra es in terram ibis Circumspice eos qui ante te similibus spendoribus fulsere Ubi sunt quos ambiebant Civium Potentatus Ubi in Superabiles Imperatores Ubi qui conventus dishonebant Festa Ubi equorum spendidi invectores Ubi exercicituum duces Ubi Satrapae Tyrannici Nunc omnia pulvis nunc omnia favillae nunc in paucis versibus eorum vitae
shall pierce through thy own Soul her former Pangs might rend her Flesh these smarter throws do Rack and Tear her very Heart and Soul and as before he was born for her Ease though with her Paine so now doth she bring him forth for her Safty though with great Danger she is in danger to weep to death at parting yet must they part If she 'l not send out him he 'l sent out her one House cannot hold them now such is our sad necessity Gen. 2.34 We must bury our dead out of our sight and smelling but she 's resolved to see him Hous'd and Lodg'd in his Long home and while he passes thither the Mourners go about the Streets Much People of the City was with her T is a Custome without date and might have urged prescription many Ages since Antiquorum pâ—…storum 〈◊〉 curati sunt exequiae celebratae sepultura provisa Aug. de cura pro murt for Friends to give attendance at the Obseques of their disceased Worthies this we read practised and approved both in Sacred and Common Story thus at the death of Abraham his Sons are said to bury him so Isaac so Jacob of whom it is Recorded Gen. 25.9.25.29 50 7 8. that Joseph went up to bury his Father and with him went up all the Servants of Pharaoh and the Elders of his House and all the Elders of the Land of Aegypt And all the House of Joseph and his Brethren and his Fathers House and they went up with Chariots and with Horse-men and it was a very great Company and they Mourned with a very great and sore Lamentation 2 Sam. 25.1 1 Kings 14.13 2 Chron. 24 15 16. Acts 8.2 So all Israel Lamented Samuel and buried him so David and Jeroboams Young Son and Jehojada and Josiah 2 Chron. 35.25 So St. Stephen in the New Testament Whom devout men buried and made great Lamentation for him Not that this avails them any thing as to their state in the other World For Corpori humano quicquid impenditur non est presidium salutis sed humanitatis officium But 1. Is for their Honour here being a decent Respect we pay to their Name and Memory it being a favour to live Desired and dye Lamented and a Curse and Reproach to be buried Jer. 22.19 with the burial of an Ass as was threatned against Jehojakim and others They shall not be lamented nor buried Jer. 6.4 but be as dung upon the face of the Earth which is an Earnest that their Names shall Rot. 2. Charitatis ergò In Charity to the Living for their Comfort and alleviating of their sorrow while their burden is made lighter by many helping them to bear it as the Jewes came lovingly to Comfort Martha and Mary because of their Brother Lazarus Curatio funeris John 11.31 conditio Sepulturae pompa exequiarum magis vivorum solatia sunt quam subsidia mortuorum August Ubi Supâ—ra 3. Pietatis ergò For their own advantage and increase of piety T is good to go to the House of Mourning Eccl. 7.3 for by the sadness of the Countenance the heart is made better while the living lay it to their heart The House of Mourning is the School of Wisdome the Grave hath a Teaching as well as a Devouring mouth and the Coffin is a Pulpit from whence the Dead yet speak and warn us to behold our mortality in their frailty and to prepare to follow them to dye to this uncertain World to mortifie our sins that they may dye before us and to make sure of the first Resurrection that as we must dye once we may dye but once 4. Fidei testisicandae ergò Propter fidem resurrectionis Astruendam to testifie our Faith in that great Article of the Resurrection of the dead which is the Basis of a Christians Comforts Tota spes Christianorum Resurrectio mortuorum For 1 Cor. 1â— if in this life onely we have hope we are of all men most Miserable Now in this Solemn Equipage these Mournfull Friends bring forth this Corps Hinc collâ—ge â—…deos Sepulchâ—… sua habuisse non in Urbe sed extra Urbem idque tum obnitorem tum obâ—…nâ— cadaâ—era sâ—…o foetore puâ—…dine aâ—…â—…cerent 〈◊〉 Lap. are carrying him out of the City both as the Jewes and Romans used to bury Ob nitorem sanitatem legalem munditiem 1. For Decency and Splendour that the Graves and Sepulchers might not deface the comliness and beauty of their Cities 2. For Safety and Health that the fetent exhalations and noysome and noxious vapours of the Graves might not infect the ayre and hazzard the health of the Living 3. For legal purity and cleaness that neither themselves nor habitations might be defiled by the dead and our present custome of burying in or about our Churches and places of our Solemne Assemblies for Gods Worship was brought in upon Opinion that it would advantage the dead to be buried near some holy Martyr over whose Graves usually those Basilicae Stately Edifices were Erected and the answering of that case propounded to him by Paulinus Bishop of Nola Vtrum prosit alicui pest mortem quod corpus ejus apud sancti alicujus memoriam sepelitur gave occasion to St. Augustin to Write that Book De Cura pro Mortuis gerenda in the 4th Tome of his Works where he resolves it in the Negative Thus have you past the cloudy side of the Text which hath besprinkled you with showers of sorrow whilst you were viewing of the Herse the Mourners and their Solemn March while they attend deaths Chariot that 's carrying home his prisoner to the house of darkness And now we have compast it so long untill the brighter side begins to glimmer and appear for Behold yea behold and wonder at the seasonable mercy the Lord of Life and Death most unexpectedly appears Jansenius in Loc. Christ Cujus occursus obtutus semper faelix est faustus Comes and meets them at the very Gate and brings relief and rescue and gives a cordial to the fainting Mother Weep not The Order is thus 1. He meets the Object seasonably both the Course and Mourners He saw her 2. That moves his heart effectually He was moved with compassion 3. That commands his tongue to speak good words and Comfortable Weep not Observe Affectum cordis affatem oris effectum operis commitatur Bonivent 1. The Lord is near and ready in our greatest streights 2. Christ was exceeding full of tenderest humanty and Bowells 3. Christs compassions are active and relieving full of help He pitties then He speaks 1. The Lord is near not in his essence only in which respect he 's never far from any Acts 17. For in him we live and move and have our being but in his gracious compassions willing to meet us in our moans and plaints Yea ready to prevent us and before we call to answer Our
fulfulled in your cares and eyes Lo here is an heavier Comment on our heavy Text alas but too exact a Counterpayne of that sad Narrative the Sermon translated into such a Language as your eyes can understand A Sacrament added to the Word to convince you and confirm your Faith of Mans Mortality beyond recoyle or hesitancy En magnum fragilitatis humanae Sacramentum the word confirmed by visible signes My Text of Death so painted to the Life that he that runs may read it If e're t were true t is now that Pictures are Idiots Books Look on that dolefull Picture of fading Youth and Greatness and you that can never a Letter in the Book may spell the whole Story word for word without Instructer Oh you Ingenious but Fruitless and so unhappy searchers for an universall character which may with still and silent glances conveigh and whisper to our Intilect the natures and notices of things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we find alas too soon what you have sought too long Though I were dumb or had forgot my Text one glance repeats it unto them recalls it unto me In paucis verbis quantae calamitates miseriae In that visible Sermon Behold A Dead Man A Young Man A Great a Noble Man An Onely begotten Son An Heir without an Heir Each wâ—rd's a wound Here are all the mournfull circumstances but one Quot verba tot vulnera and blessed be God that we meet a full stop before we read to the end of the line And she was a Widow let us lay hold on 't as a better Omen there may be yet a blessing in it Let this a while sustaine you till I can run and fetch you some more Cordialls which you must stay a little for because my way lyes round the Herse again the viewing which will stop my hast 1. That Mournfull sable Pall tells us sad tidings that a Man is Dead and shrouded under it and t is alas too true the dead remains of him who this day Seven-night was alive and this day Fort-night was a Lively Likely Man to live Verily every Man living is altogether vanity Hear what advice he whispers Watch for what 's my case to day may be thine to morrow Hodie mihi eras tiöi Be ye therefore ready also for the Son of Man cometh when you think not St. Luke 12.40 and in an hour when ye are not aware 2. A Young Man in the Flower and Blooming of his Age not fully yet of Age not of Disposing Age in the Laws and Stile of England Yet at Age to be dispos'd of in the Chambers of Death An Ear nay an whole Sheaf nay an whole Field Reapt by Death's Fatall Sickle before 't was ripe or set or Kern'd As if in an immature Harvest you should reap to * Being in May. morrow a Rose Bud gather'd ere 't was blown a Torch puft out not half consumed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Nyss de Pulch. an Hour-Glass dash't and pash't in peices and all the Sand spilt and lost before it was a third part run What Age is safe from Fate In the very mid'st of Life we are in Death Of whom may we look for help but from thee O Lord who for our sins most justly are displeased Psal 90.12 Oh Teach us to Number our dayes that we may apply our hearts to Wisdome and that we may know how frail we are 3. But those Coat Armours Ruby and Topas Diamond and Pearle speak him some Noted Personage Nobilis quasi noscibilis I need not aske the Question here which David ask't over Abner's Herse Know You not that a Prince and a Great Man is fallen this day You know it well unto your Cost and Sorrow and see by Dear Experience In this Fourth dolefull Instance in one Family all of Recent and Fresh-bleeding Memory that Earldoms and Perage Nobility and Honour Lordships and Manours Possessions and Apparances Gold and Silver Pallaces and Parks and store of Richest Lands and Tallest Timber and what ever else the World calls Noble Grand and Stately cann't shade or hide their Lords from Death are no good Brest-Works against his Bullets nor best charg'd Shields security against the Arrows of Mortality Death with his ill-match't-pair of Pale and Sable Hackneyes out-drives the goodliest Sets of Sixes 'T were as impertinent as the Philosopher's reading a Lecture of War-like Discipline in the presence of Hanniball for me to unfurle his crimson Ensigns and Vnfold and Display his Splendid Banners or paint out and Deliniate his thrice Honourable Stem amongst those to whom they have been now so long Familiar and as superfluous to Blazon his Scutcheons in that Country which hath to long been irradiated in every corner with the Illustrious Rayes of his cross-Crossets Sol in their Field Mars or inriched and secured by those Ruby Shields glistering with Topaz 'T would but Adorn Deaths spoyles and more Inhaunce his Triumphs to tell you that his Captive was the Onely-Son of an Antient Hereditary Earledome By Blood and Marriage The Son of Two the Grand-Child of Four Eminent Earls and as many Countesses and Nephew to more Peers then all Arithmetick hath Digits Deriv'd from or Alli'd to almost all the Noble Blood that runs in English and in English-Irish Veins A Branch of two Families The One the Grand Nursery of Antient Piety His Mother was the Lady Mary Boyl Daughter to the Earle of Corck the Other the Happy Source of Newest Ingenuity a Society of virtuosi within themselves the Original and Architypes of those Insigniz'd with that Noble Character In a word the Son of Two Bloods which I may boldly call not the least Ornaments of two Great Kingdomes And indued with all those Generous Lovely Innobling Excellencies which might Retribute what he Borrowed from such Blood and would Oh unhappiness he hath not have Transmitted it to his Posterity Inrich't if it be capable of more and hath not attain'd its Acme with increased glory Yet now must lye down in Obscurity and Dust under the Dishonours Reproaches and Squallidness of Death Stript and Desrobed of all his Amiable Manly Goodly Beauty Proportions Features calling Corruption Rottenness and Worms Mother Brother Sister Cease then from Man whose breath is in his Nostrills Isa 2.22 for wherein is he to be accounted of Psal 146.3 4. And Trust not in Princes nor in any Son of Man for when his breath goeth forth he returneth to his Earth in that very day his thoughts perish Surely all Flesh is Grass yea the goodliness thereof as the Flower of the Field 4. The next Impaled Shield tells me he was a Son and those unwelcome Labells hint immature death nay an Onely One yea an Onely Begotten One griefs in a cluster huic illae lacrymae this gives the killing Accent What the good Woman feared in a Parable is here fullfilled without one 1 Sam. 14.7 and his perplexed Mother may with anguish
of distress cry out My coal that was left is quenched and to my Husband is not left Name or Remainder upon the Earth This is so deep a Key no Base can touch it but the hoarsest sobbs and groans A Note so superlatively above Ela no female trebble's shrill enough to Reach it and keep Tune 'T will crack our sorrows into Schreeks and Squeling but to venture at it and would be some Apology if Rachell like his dearest Mother should be obstinate in sorrow and refuse to be comforted Fugientis naturae in successore pignus remanet extinquentis jam luminis lucerna ex parte accensa 5. Childless too himself more sorrow still had he but left an Heir and lived a vicarious life liv'd in another though he had dyed himself left but an Hostage in his steed rack't up one spark to kindle more we could have spared him better had he Knit on an end Nodosa aeternitas successio liberorum Aetatis incrementum to lengthen out his Line and fixt one Linck to keep the Chain intire the Wound had been Curable and the breach more Reparable Jer. 15.18 But now the pain is perpetual therefore will we Wayle Mich. 1.8 and Howle and go strip't and naked and make a Wayling like the Dragons and Mourning as the Owls But Lastly because no Sorrows are Superlative which want the Emphesis of Widow that ours may be more then such that's here with full Advantage Though his Right Honourable Mother be not so yet is his Sweet and Dearest Lady such with so much forer agravation as her tender years are less accustom'd to endure it and be distressed with the dolefull Epithite of Dowager so immaturely So soon so suddainly is she bereaved of him as if she had onely had him to be made miserable by loosing of him and in him such an Honour and Happiness as his High Ranck and Higher Sweetness Kindness Nobleness of mind possest her of in Him The smart and sorrows of our losses have no true Standard but the content and joy we had in their fruition But I forget my Self and You 't is Cruelty to gall your bleeding hearts afresh To Rake in your wounds and longer vex those eyes are half wept out already and draw more sluces when all the Banks run over Claudite jam rivos what I have drawn already was not to hurt but help you to give your sorrows vent least they should fester inward Tears help to swage our griefe Sedatur lacrymis egeriturque dolor Ovid. And yield us some reliefe Now let me hasten to refresh you and reassume the â—…ht side of my Text Weep not at least No more when we have wept enough already Not that he can soon or easily be sufficiently bewayled but we must not shed so many tears as he deserves least we shed abundance more then he needs or we can spare or God allowes Nihil difficilius quam magno dolori paria verba reperire Senec. And though the task be hard to counterpoize your sorrowes yet Accept these Anodines which may dissolve and mollifie the tumour asswage the smart and ease the throbbing they are Collyria fitted for such eyes And let me speak as if more of the most-concern'd were present 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for if any thing be spoken worth the carriage you that are present may transmit it to the absent As Gregory Nyssen spoke in his Funeral Oration for Young Pulcheria But because they must digg deep who will build sure and begin below who would ascend I will lay the First Stone under ground within the Earth of his Mortality and lead you gradually to higher Comforts Utrum stultius mortalitatis legem ignorare an recusare Weep not for he was Mortall he must have died ere long What wise man sheds his tears because his Roses shed their leaves He came into the World under this Law Seneca Nulli contigit impune nasci No man is born on cheaper terms then a necessity of dying He answered as became a Gallant man who entertain'd the Message of his Sons discease with Ego cum genui tum moriturum scivi I knew when I begat him he must dye huic rei sustuli 〈◊〉 't is but a little Maximum solatium est cogitare id sibi accidisse qu d ante se passi sunt omnes omnesquâ— passâ—…i ideo mihi videtur rerum natura quod gravissimum fecit commune fecisse ut crudelitatem fati consolaretur aequalitas Sen. ad Polys little sooner that he 's gone A few more changes of the Night and Day and fewer of the Summer and Winter would have brought him and will bring us where we shall change no more We all must follow in the Order set us had you a View larger then that which Xerxes took of all Man-kind at once You might conclude with him not one of them should be alive within an hundred years Fate 's impartiality makes some amends for it's Severity Yea the end of all things seems to hasten and not to be at such a distance as secure Atheists would fain perswade themselves Weep not he dyed not in a Forreign Land Ubi non licuerit matri ultima filii oscula gratumque entremi sermonem oris haurire Sen. ad Martiam at a neglected distance the Seas return'd him safe But in a Mothers Bosome where she both might and did assist his Soul and Body with the most pious tenderness and was her own witness with what faithfullness and Care Chaplain Physitians Nurses all Attendants performed towards him Weep not He dyed not suddenly by a surprize or ambushment of Death which grants no liberty to trim a Lamp He dyed not in a Broyle or Duell Mat. 25.7 he dyed not Flagrante Crimine in any Notorious Sin or with symptomes of unusuall Vengeance but in the way of all the Earth the common death of all Men Numb 16.29 Num. 27.3 Et suâ siccâ morte In his own sin as Zelophehad's Daughters spake of their Father in opposition to dying for any signall provocation Weep not He 's gone unsoyled Redditur illi aequale testimonium omaiam hominum desideratur in tuum honorem laudatur in suum Sene. ad Mort. free from reproachfull blots of Scandalous Enormities and needs no tears to rinsh him He did not out-live a good Report but hath left a Memory behind him Clean and Vnstained a Lovely Shaddow of his Lovely Person and his Fairer Mind His Part was Acted well and He 's gone off the Stage as Great Augustus Caesar thought he did and may with him require your Plaudite 2 Kings 22.20 In hoc tam procelloso in omnes tempestates ex posito mari navigantibus nullus portu nisi mortis est Seneca He 's come into his Grave in Peace which was the Great Promise to Gods Friends of Old He hath escap't the storms and is Arrived in the Port with safty He
the wise Argument of Holy David 2 Sam. 12.23 Could you weep Aquafortis your tears would not dissolve the chains of Death Si fletibus fata vincuntur eat omnis inter luctus dies sed si nullis planctibus defuncta revocantur desinat dolor qui perit Was the grave Council of the Sage Moralistâ— let Reason master Passion and spare those Tears you know are Fruitless and but spent in vain Weep not Tears may hurt you though they bring him no help 2 Cor. 7.10 and kill your selves though they 'l not quicken him The sorrow of the World worketh Death Facilius nos illi dolor adjiciet quam illum nobis reducet Too many tears reproach you both Him as if he needed them and dyed like Absolom whose Body onely he resembled not his Manners Mind or End Your selves for their Excess no less upbraids your Manhood then their defect would have reproached your Humanity Non sentire dolorem non est hominis non ferre non est viri Yea your Patience Faith and Christianity as if you sorrowed like those who have no hope Weep not Aâ— hac te infamia vindica ne videatur plus apud te valere unus dolor quam tam multa Solatia Least you provoke the Lord to Multiply his stripes as Children often suffer more for sullingness and sobbing then for the first occasion of Correction take heed you forfeit not the mercies which are left Weep not For 't is the Work of God Lev. 10.3 Psal 39.9 Aaron held his peace in a case more difficult and David was dumb with silence because God did it 1 Sam. 3.13 and Good Eli thus submitted 'T is the Lord let him do what seemeth him good He that hath Ruled the World now near Six Thousand Years and never yet committed over sight or errour guided this blow He call'd him back Iniquus est qui muneris sui arbitrium danti non relinquit avidus qui non lucri loco habet quod accepit sed damni quod reddidit Ingratus qui injuriam vocat finem voluptatis Senec. who gave him and had more Right and Title to him then a Wife or Mother and they too ungratefully forget God and themselves who reckon it an Injury for him to take his Own Gods absolute and Indisputable Sovereignty his Infallible and un-erring Wisdome and his constant and faithfull Goodness should at least make us lay our hand upon our heart and mouth that we may neither speak nor think amiss 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nyss of what he doth Knowing that he doth all things well But rather say with Holy Job The Lord giveth and the Lord hath taken away as it pleaseth the Lord so come things to pass blessed be the Name of the Lord. But because sorrow is very querulous witty to afflict it self and pregnant â—f Arguments to aggravate its burdens And he saith little to the purpose talk he never so much who takes not the Mourners Tears and Sighs from their own Eyes and Lips and measures out returns proportionable Let us suppose we heard them as we have heard them thus complaining Objection First that he Dyed Young in the very Spring and Flower of his Age when all their Comforts were expected from him and these budding pregnant hopes are nip't and blasted and suffer a sad Abortion Nimis cito periit immaturus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Answer I know the wound is tender and will not bear such handling therefore I shall not Answer so roughly as to say Optimum non nisci proximum quam citissime mori the sooner he dyed the better because the First best is not to be born the next best after that is to dye as soon as may be But I will refer you to what the Authour df the Book of Wisdome speaks concerning Enoch Honorable Age is not that which stands in length of time Chap. 4.8 nor that is measured by number of years Quicquid ad summum pervenit ad exitum properat Eripit se ausertque ex oculis perfecta virtus Nec ultimum tempus expâ—ctant quae in privio maturaerunt Indicium imminentis exitis Maturitas but Wisdome is the gray hair unto men and an unspotted life is Old Age. Speedily was he taken away least wickedness should alter his understanding or deceit beguile his soul He being made perfect in a short time fulfill'd a long time for his soul pleas'd the Lord therefore hasted he to take him away from amongst the Wicked and admit this be not the true Solomon yet He hath told us Eccl. 7.1.4.1 The day of Death is better then the day of ones Birth and again I praised the Dead which are already dead more then the Living which are yet alive He dyes not too soon who dyes in the time that God hath set and so dyed he and this should stay your hearts Job 7.1.14.5 Is there not an appointed time to man upon the Earth his days are determin'd the Number of his Months is with thee thou hast appointed his bounds which he cannot pass and the Phylosopher could see this Nemo nimis cito moritur qui victurus Soluitur quod culque promissum est Habebit quisque quaetum diis Primus ascripsit Ser diutius quam vixit non fuit sixus est cuique terminus manebit semper ubi positus est No man dyes too soon because no man hath less of life then was design'd and promist from the first And because Examples of the like sufferings soften those stroaks which are most pungent when they are conceiv'd least common and Esteemed Singular Take these few Instances in a Case where multitude hath made our choyce more difficult Thus dyed Blest Abell the First that ever dyed and Consecrated Early Death Thus the Good Son of that Bad Father Jeroboam Thus dyed the Holy Josiah Octavia Livia altera soror Augusti altera uxor amiserunt filios juvenes utraque spe futuri principis certa Octavia Marcellum Livia Drusum like whom was none in Zeal for God Thus dyed Marcellus and Drusus successively both Heirs Apparent to Augustus Caesar and the Worlds Empire Thus dyed sweet Titus Deliciae generis humani the Darling and Delights of Man-kind Thus dyed that Glory of the Roman Caesar Alexander Severus Paganus Christianizans and Happy had it been for Nero had he dyed so and his Quinquennium and his Life had had the same Period and the kinder hand of Death had drawn a preventing Vayle after the Glory of those rare beginnings Quam multis diutius vixisse nocuerit to cover the Reproach of what succeeded in the Obscurities of Everlasting Night But to come nearer home So dyed that Miracle of Grace and Greatness Edward the sixt So dyed Prince Henry le boon le grand So dyed of Later Date the much Admired Young Lord Hastings and that Early Confessour Son of the Royal Martyr the thrice Illustrious Duke of