the Table seest before thee many and sundry sorts of Meats a Friend of thine secretly admonisheth thee that among so many dainty Dishes there is one Poysoned what in this Case wouldst thou do which of them darest thou touch or taste of wouldst thou not suspect them all I think though thou wert extremely hungry thou wouldst refrain from all for fear of that one where the Poyson is It is made manifest unto thee already that in one of thy seventy Years thy Death lieth hidden from thee and thou art utterly Ignorant which year that shall be how then can it be but that thou must suspect them all and fear them all O that we understood the shortness of our Life how great Profit and Commodity should we then receive by the Meditation thereof Thirdly and lastly the vanity and nullity of our Life after Death intimated in these words And afterward vanisheth away The whole Course of Mans Life is but a flying Shadow a little spot of time between two Eternities which will quickly disappear the same Earth which we now so negligently tread upon may suddainly receive us into her cold Imbraces Well may Life then be said to be vanishing away Though now we are in perfect Health yet before to morrow some dear Friend or other may passionately follow our Hearse to the Grave Our time past is like a Bird fled from the Hand of the owner out of sight and our present time is vanishing away and on Earth we have no abiding But here consider if Life be so vanishing and uncertain a thing then 1. This reproveth those that Squander away their precious time as if their abode on Earth would be too long to prepare for Eternity if they did not mispend it half but it is time for us to cry out The time past is more than enough to have wrought the Will of the Flesh 1. Pet. 4. 3. or as it is Rom. 13 14. 'T is high time to awake out of Sleep 2. If Life be thus vanishing then be not over solicitous as to future Events but willingly submit to a Divine Providence be not so much concerned for to Morrow do not cumber your selves with too much Provision for a short Voyage 3. If Life be thus short and vanishing then do much work in a little time shall we loose any of that time which is so fleeting and so uncertain And thus I have briefly shown you the frailty of the Life of Man and the profitable use we might make of this Consideration That our Life is but a Vapour which appeareth for a little time and afterward Vanisheth away 4. If Life be so short and uncertain then look upon every day as your last so did the Apostle Paul who said I die daily as there is nothing more certain than Death so there is nothing more uncertain than the time of Death We are all Tenants at Will and therefore the great Landlord of Heaven and Earth may turn us out of our Clay Houses when he pleaseth It was a worthy Custom of a Roman Emperor that would have his Man come every morning to his Bed-side and pronounce these Words Remember thou art a dying Man certainly such are justly to be reproved who look upon Death as at a great distance from them It is a common saying of some that they thought no more of such a thing than of their dying day surely it argues a very wicked frame of Heart to be so forgetful of Death when 't is that we are to expect every minute and know not but each day that comes may be our last THE EJACULATION GOOD Lord what is the Life of Man is it not like unto a Vapour which appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away Is it not like unto a Bubble which quickly swelleth to a considerable bigness and as quickly sinketh again Is it not like unto the Grass which groweth up and flourisheth in the Morning but is cut down before the Evening come Oh Lord though Life be sweet yet common experience shews that it is short and as our Life is shoââ¦t in it self though we should live to the very outside of the strength of Naeture so will it seem much shorter if it be compared with Eternity it self And yet as short and as uncertain as our Life is we have a long work to dispatch before we go away from hence and be seen no more we have a great way to go by a setting Sun a great Race to run by a short Breath and if Life be but as a Vapour how little reason have we then to squander away precious time Yea how great reason have we to redeem the time that is past and to improve every ââ¦nch of the present time Let us remember that we have no continuing City here and therefore it will be necessary for us to seek one that is to come Good Lord therefore do thou make us to know our end and the measure of our days what it is that so we may be throughly convinced how frail we are Dying Christian. SERMON X. Being the last Sermon this Author Preacht at Grafham in Huntingdonshire Beloved Brethren THE Lord hath set it home upon my Heart ever since I came amongst you earnestly to desire and to pray for the Salvation of your Souls it hath been no small Encouragement to me to lay forth my weak endeavours in the Ministry when I consider that he which converteth a Sinner from the Errour of his way shall save a Soul from Death and hide a multitude of Sin James 5. 20. To save a Soul from Death is so glorious an Imployment that herein I cannot chuse but rejoice with the Apostle when I see the word of the Kingdom working effectually in any Soul I bless God every day without ceasing that he hath given me a full proof of my Ministry in the Hearts and Consciences of some even in this place since I came among you so that I may say with Paul 1 Cor. 9. 2. and they indeed are and shall be unto me and I unto them a Crown of rejoicing at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and on their behalf I pray that their Faith may grow exceedingly and that their Love unto Jesus Christ and unto all Saints may every day more and more abound and I commend them unto God who is able to keep them from falling and to present them faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding Joy As for others I am jealous over them with a Godly Jealousie as the Apostle speaketh continually praying that they may not be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ but that they may hold fast the mystery of Faith in a pure Conscience Some indeed there are that cause me secretly to groan in my Spirit and my Heart I even bleed over them and I do pity them in the Bowels of Jesus Christ fearing least they should like the five foolish Virgins fall asleep and hereafter endeavour to enter into
Therefore a happy end is so desired from none but God Of which I will annex a short Example First Prayer Eight Verses chosen out of the Psalms of David by St. Bernard which he is reported to have repeated every Day for a Happy Hour of Death ENlighten my Eyes that I sleep not in death lest my Enemies say I have prevailed against him Psal. 12. v. 3 4. Into thy hands I recommend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord thou God of Truth Psal. 31. v. 6. At last I spake with my Tongue Lord let me know my end and the number of my days that I may know how long I have to live Psal. 39. v. 4 5. Shew some good token upon me for good that they which hate me may see it and be ashamed because thou Lord hast holpen me and comforted me Psal. 86. v. 17. Thou hast broken my Bands in sunder I will offer to thee the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving and will call upon the Name of the Lord Psal. 116. v. 14 15. I had no place to fly to and no Man car'd for my Soul I cry'd unto thee O Lord and said Thou art my Hope and my Portion in the Land of the Living Psal. 142. v. 5 6. Omnipotent Sempiternal God who didst prolong the Life of Hezekiah miserably imploring thee grant me thy unworthy Servant before the day of my Death so much time to live that I may be able to deplore all my Sins and may obtain from thy Compassion Pardon and Favour Omnipotent Gracious and Merciful God I most humbly beseech thee by the Death of thy Son grant me a happy and a blessed Hour when my Soul shall depart out of my Body Lord Jesu Crucified Christ by the Bitterness of the Death which thou didst suffer for me upon the Cross chiefly when thy Soul departed from thy Body have Mercy on my Soul at the last Hour who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost for ever and for ever Amen The Second Prayer For a Happy Departure MOST Merciful Lord Jesu if this be the Condition of a Dying Man if in such Dangers and Extremities my Spirit must depart out of this Life whither shall I fly but unto thee Oh my God Do thou take care of my Soul that it may not perish in that dreadful Hour Grant me I beseech thee according to the multitude of thy Mercies and by that servent Love and Grief wherewith thou who art Life it self didst die for me that I may have the Combat of Corporal Death always before my Eyes and that living I may so do as dying I would desire to have done and that I may expend my time and study in nothing more than that I may Spiritually die to my self and may mortifie all the Passions of my Sences that so after this Life I may live with thee Happy and Blessed to all Eternity The Conclusion of the first Chapter To the Reader DO this meditate upon this O Man and while thou art well learn to be sick learn to die To do both is a rare piece of Art which whether thou knowest or no it is not lawful for thee to try but when thou canst not err without the loss of Eternal Felicity We err but once in dying but that Error is never to be amended to all Eternity Therefore to abide as being still to depart But for the most part abide within thyself and search every cranny of thy Conscience Whatever thou enjoyest look upon it as the Lumber of a place where there is no Habitation Thou art not suffered to carry out any more than thou broughââ¦est in with thee Therefore act and bestir thy self Approve thy self right in the sight of God Thou art to go hence Believe that thou standest always at the Gate of Eternity Eternity is that we must look after Pleasure is short Punishment Eternal The labour is Easie the reward Everlasting Therefore we have given wholesom Instruction we have taught that Death is to be contemn'd but the thoughts of it never to be laid aside Now we will give the same Admonitions to the Sick CHAP. II. The Remembrance of Death is Recommended to the Sick Sect. 1. The Introduction and whether Sickness be an Evil CAunus is a Town in Caria in a Pestilent Air and unwholesom for the Inhabitant These People when Stratonicus the Musician and witty Man beheld he recited the Verse in Homer to them Like as the Leaves just so the People are Thereby he taunted their Icterical Yellowish and Wan Complexions But when the Caunians had given him a very rugged Entertainment for defaming their City as sickly and unwholesom Stratonicus return'd upon them again Must I not dare said he to call that a sickly place where the dead walk More wittily and more smartly than before But why do we deny and lift up our Noses We are most like to Leaves Very plainly Job Wilt thou break a Leaf saith he driven to and fro As if he had said When I am but a Leaf liable to all the Inconveniences of Life afraid of every Gust wilt thou hasten me with the wind of thy indignation I shall fall of my self without any constraint of thine Are not Men Leaves whom Sickness like dry Leaves and juiceless Flowers tosââ¦es to and fro and variously sports with Clement of Alexandria being of the same Opinion Go to said he Men of an obscure Life like the Generation of Leaves infirm Creatures Images of Waâ⦠things like shadows frail unsledg'd living but the Life of one day Certainly we are Leaves shaken by every puff of wind Sometimes a little Fever what do I say Nay a little Cough a little drop falling upon the little wicket of the Throat mortifies this Leaf and throws it into the Grave But whether or no is Sickness a Benefit and Death an Evil No Mortal no it is not saith Epictetus Health well us'd is a good thing ill us'd a mischief And therefore we may reap Benefit by Sickness What dost thou say of Sickness I wil shew thee its Nature then I shall be quiet I shall think my self well dealt with I shall not flatter the Physician I shall not wish for Death What wouldst thou more Whatever thou shalt give me that will I make happy prosperous honourable to be desir'd But there are some that deny this and say Take heed of being sick 't is an ill thing To them Epictetus again That is as much as to say saith he Take heed that thou dost not feign three to be four 't is an ill thing How evil If we so think of it as we ought What harm will it do me Rather will it not do me good If therefore I so think of Poverty Sick or Troubles of Church or State as I ought is not that enough to me will it not be profitable Truth Love thee O Epictetus How agreeable are all these things to Christian Doctrine This Foundation being laid we shall here teach ye to be mindful
a thousand years before These things are well coupled thou neither wert nor will be thou art ordain'd for that point of time wherein thou liv'st with that thou mayst extend how far wouldst thou prolong Why weepest thou what is it thou wouldst have thou losest thy labour Thou shalt go thither whither all things created go What is there that thou canst call a Novelty Thou wert born under this Law This hapned to thy Father to thy Ancesters to all before thee and will happen to all that come after thee It is established and decreed Death seizes upon all we are born to die Consider in thy Mind the vast throng of those that went before thee of those that are to follow thee and those that are to go along with thee Many thousands of Men and Creatures at this very moment that then fearest to die are now making several and various Exits out of this World Take a view of the whole World the new the unknown Most certain it is that every moment Millions are born and die and many die the same death Now couldst thou think that thou shouldst never come to that end to which thou art always going Death is a safe Road to Rest neither is there any thing of evil in Death but only the fear of Death therefore if we would live quietly the Soul must be always ready Shall I fear my end when I know I must have an end when I know that all things have their end Shall I fear my last gasp that puts an end to all my Sighs Why should I fear to restore that which I received upon that condition But you will say it is a difficult thing to contemn Death 'T is Death but to him that knows how to Live He that his hours on Vertue doth expend Neither doth wish for nor yet fears his end We do not deny but that there is something terrible in Death there we must learn not to be afraid of it No Man learns to be contented upon a Bed of Roses to sit down at a Banquet but this to be exercised not to give way to Grief He chearfully embraces Death who has long composed himself to wait for it And this is the greatest Argument of a generous Mind not to fear thy departure For he knows whither he shall go that remembers from whence he came Such a person was Theodosius the Emperour of whom Saint Ambrojs was wont to say I loved the man whom when he died was more grieved for the state of the Church than for his own Condition Therefore do thou make it thy business not to fear Death Sect. 6. An Example of the Contempt of Death NInachetus the Governour of Malaca in Judea being commanded to resign his Authority could not brook the Indignity ignorant of true Honour and solid Vertue Therefore making a Funeral Pile of Lignum Aloes and other Odoriforous Woods He spread a square Scaffold which he had erected near to the Pile with rich Tapestries and sumptuous Carpets Then he appeared himself upon the Scaffold glittering in a Robe of Tissue set with precious Stones and discoursed to the People of his Actions and the whole Course of his Life And having declared the Kindnesses which he had shewed the Captive Pottugalls at a time of necessity he most sadly and bitterly complain'd of his being undeservedly put by his Command Then reproaching the Ingratitude of the Pââ¦rtugalls such fatal Fury did his Ambition inspire him with he threw himself headlong into the burning Pile a Contemner of Death Aelian relates a Contempt of Death not much unlike this The end of Calamus saith he is worthy to be mentioned if not to be admired It was thus When he had taken his leave of Alexander the Macedonians and a long life he made him a Funeral Pile in the fairest part of the Suburbs of Pabylon composed of Cedar Cypress Myrââ¦le Laurel and oââ¦her sweet Wood and having performed his usual exercise of Running he ascended the Pile and stood Crown'd upon the heap of Wood the Sun whom he Ador'd shining all the while Which done he gave the Macedonians a Sign to kindle the Pile Which being now all of a light Fire Calanus wrapt up in Flames stood still unmov'd till he fell as the heap fell and expir'd in the midst of the Ashes Alexander admiring the Courage of the Man is reported to have said That Calanus had vanquish'd more Potent Enemies than he For Alexander had wag'd War with Prous Taxilus and Darius but Calanus with Labour and Death Shall the vain Heathens shew so much Courage in Death and Christians trusting in God be afraid and tremble Death is not an evil but the fear of Death is an evil Let us I beseech ye examine things themselves and not the Nature of things If we believe Seneca Death is the best Invention of Nature the Remedy of all Evils Why therefore do we fear at last Immortal Peace Eternal Joy will entertain us Let us take Courage from the despair of longer Life Make that a Vertue which would be necessity Certainly a prudent Christian does nothing unwillingly he avoids all necessity because he wills what that would compel him to Let us therefore do willingly what we cannot but do Let us with a contented Mind expect our end or rather our beginning He shall be always serene and calm in his Mind who contemââ¦s Death Sect. 7. A Man ready to dye ZENO the Critick as Swidas relates as he was going out of his Schoole chanc'd to stumble and hurt his Toe But he believing himself call'd to the Grave strook the Ground with his Hand adding these Words I come Wherefore dost thou call me Thus the old Man of Ninety Years of Age died without ever being Sick Hunger was a great Friend to Zeno for he frequently ââ¦asted till he fainted But willingly Zeno made himself so sick that he might not be sick and that he might enjoy a quiet old Age free from Diseases Both he attained to according to his wish Let us not wonder at the shortness of our Lives nor the incertainty of our Health For we wast our Health and our Lives with Giuttony and Drinking never thinking our selves satisfied till our cramm'd Bellies be as hard as a Drum Ridiculous yea Mad Men we shorten our Lives by those things which ought to lengthen it But that proceeds from this because we will not be perswaded that Abstinence has so great a power to prolong Life But daily experience tells us that the saying is true so much food as you spare so many days you add But to the Business Uââ¦sinus the Priest as St. Gregory witnesses being comforted with a Celestial Vision in his Sleep often cried out I come I come I return thanks and when he had declared to the standers by what he had seen he repeated the same Words I come behold I come and with these Words in his Mouth he expired A Mind prepared for Death thus speaks I come behold I come
insomuch that notwithââ¦nding the many Rich Presents he received at the ââ¦nds of the Emperor he died very Poor He used to say of Piety That Godliness always enriches the Possessor The Death of ATHANASIUS AFter all the Storms that were raised up against him he died in peace at Alexandria Anno ââ¦risti 375 having been Bishop of that See 46 ââ¦ars during which time he had been in many ââ¦at Perils and Hazards of his Life for not only ââ¦shops but Emperors and Nations sought his Deââ¦ustion But God delivered him oat of their ââ¦nds to the Glory of his Name for his only trust ââ¦s in God alone which caused him often to say ââ¦ough Armies should Encamp about me yet I would ãâã fear The Death of HILARIUS HE Travelled to Italy and France instructing the Bishops in those parts in the Catholick ââ¦ith He was very Eloquent and wrote many ââ¦reatises in Latin also Twelve Books of the Triniâ⦠Expounding the Canon containing the Clause ãâã One Substance being of sufficient proof against the Arrians He died under Valentinian and Valence Anno 355. The Death of CYRILLUS IN the midst of all his Afflictions he kept his resolution to die in the Faith He used to say concerning the benefit of Hearing Some come to Church to see Fashions others to meet their Friends yet it 's better to come so than not at all In the mean time the Net is cast out and they which intended nothing less are drawn into Christ who catches them not to destroy them but that being dead he may bring them to Life Eternal He died Anno 365. The Death of EPHREM SYRUS HE died Anno 404. He used to say concerning Perseverance The resolute Traveller knows that his Journey is long and the way dirty yet goes on in hopes to come to his House So let a Christian though the way to Heaven be narrow though it be set with Troubles and Persecutions yet let him go on till he has finished his Course with Joy for Heaven is his Home Concerning the Soul he used to say He that feasts his Body and starves his Soul is like him that feasts his Slave and starves his Wife He died Anno 404. The Death of BASIL BAsil died at Caesarea when he had sat Bishop there eight years departing this Life Anno Christi 370. At his departure he uttered these words Into thy hands O Lord I commend my Spirit He used to say of Self-knowledge To know thy Self is very difficult For as the Eye can see all things but it self so some can discern all faults but their own Of Love Divine Love is a never-failing Treasure he that hath it is Rich and he that wanteth it is Poor Of the Scriptures It 's a Physicians Shop of Preservatives against Poysonous Heresies A pattern of profitable Laws against Rebellious Spirits A Treasury of most costly Jewels against Beggarly Elements And a Fountain of most pure Water springing up to Eternal Life The Last Sayings of GREGORY NAZIENZEN IN his Minority he joined Studies with Basil and accompanied him to Arhens and Antioch where he became an Excellent Orator There is so much Perfection in all his Writings and such a peculiar Grace that he never tires his Reader but he always dismisseth him with a thirst after more Concerning Preaching he used to say That in a great multitude of people of several Ages and Conditions who are like a Harp with many Strings it is hard to give every one such a touch in Preaching as may please all and offend none He lived under Theodosius Anno 370. The Death of EPIPHANIUS VVHen he found himself Sick he said to his Friends God bless you my Children for I shall see you no more in this Life He died Aged 115. He used to say this was his Antidote against Hatred That he never let his Adversary sleep not that he disturbed him in his sleep but because he agreed with him presently and would not let the Sun go down upon his Wrath. The Death of AMBROSE AFter Ambrose had sate Bishop about Sixteen years Death summoned him to lay down this troublesom Life for a Life more lasting Before his Death he resolved to provide a Shepherd for his Flock and for that purpose sent for one Simplicianus and ordained him Bishop in his stead after having given many Godly Exhortations to such as were about him he gave up the Ghost dying in the third Year of Theodorus Anno Christi 397. He used to say of Repentance When Gold is offered to thee thou usest not to say I will come again to morrow and take it but art glad of present possession But Salvation being proffered to our Souls few Men haste to embrace it He used to say of true Charity It is not so much to be enquired how much thou givest as with what Heart It 's not Liberality when thou takest by Oppression from one and givest it to another Of Conscience A clear Conscience should not regard slanderous Speeches nor think that they have more power to Condemn him than his own Conscience hath to clear him The Death of GREGORY NISSEN HE lived under Constantins Julian Jovian Valentinian Valence Gratian and Theodosius the Great He was President in the Council of Constantinople against the Macedonian Hereticks 492. Amongst his Similitudes he compared the Userer to a Man giving Water to one in a Burning Fever which proves prejudicial So the Userer though he seems for the present to relieve his Brother yet afterwards he torments him This Character he also gave the Userer He loves no Labour but a Sedentary Life A Pen is his Plough Parchment his Field Ink his Seed Time is the Rain to Ripen his greedy desires his Sickle is calling in his Forfeitures his Horse the Barn where he Winnows his Clients he follows his Debtors as Eagles and Vultures do Armies to prey upon dead Corps Again Men come to Userers as Birds to a heap of Corn they covet the Corn but are caââ¦cht in the Nets He died under Valentine and Valence The Death of THEODORET HE died in the Reign of Theodosius Junior not with Age but hard Studies He used to say That the Delights of the Soul are to know her Maker to consider his Works and to know her own Estate The Death of HIEROM HE died Anno Christi 422 and of his Age 91. He wrote many large Volumes being a Man of singular Chastity of great Wit slow to Anger and in Learning exceeding most of his Time His usual Prayer was Lord let me know my self that I may the better know thee the Saviour of the World An Excellent Saying he had of Christian Fortitude If my Father was weeping on his Knees before me my Mother leaning on my Neck behind my Brethren Sisters Children and Kinsfolks howling on every side to retain me in a single Life I would fling my Mother to the ground run over my Father despise all my Kindred and tread them under my Feet that I might run to Christ. Of
eyes said Cast me not off O Lord now in my old Age when strength faileth me A while after he said He hath afflicted me sore but he will never never cast me off Being desired to arm himself with faith and a stedfast hope in God's Mercies against the Temptations of Satan He said I am wholly Christ's and the Devil has nothing to do with me and God forbid that I should not now have experience of the sweet Consolation in Christ. Then with a smiling Countenance gave up the Ghost and was interred nobly by the King's Commandment But in Q. Mary's time his Bowels being taken up they were burnt with Fagius's He died Anno Christi 1550. The Death of Gasper Hedio HE preached vigorously against Masses Indulgences and Auricular Confession and wrote many Books against them What time he could spare from his Ministerial Function he employed in writing Commentaries and Histories until the year of his Death which was Anno 1552. The Death of Oswald Myconius AFter the Death of Oecolampadius he was made chief Pastor in Basil where voluntarily laying down his Divinity Lectures upon some grudges the University had against him he inclining to Luther's Opinion about the real presence in the Sacrament he wholly applied himself to his Pastoral Office He died Anno 1552. aged 64. The Death of George Prince of Anhalt HE was a great Divine Learned in the Law and skilful in Physick he conserred with Camerarius about the mutation of Empires their Period and Causes about Heavenly Motions and the effects of the Stars The last Act of this Prince his Life expressed his Piety using frequent Prayer for himself and all the Princes of that ââ¦amily he often pondered upon these Texts God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son c. No Man shall take my Sheep out of my Hands Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest He died Anno 1557. aged 47. The Death of Justus Jonas HE employed himself much in Disputations about Religion in defence of the Truth and in School Divinity Several Churches were reformed by him and committed to his charge He was a Man of an excellent Wit great Industry and Integrity of Life joined with Piety and one whom Luther and most of the famous Men of that Age highly esteemed He died Anno 1555. aged 63. The Death of John Rogers HE was hurried to Newgate On the fourth of Febraary the Keeper told him he must prepare for Execution at which not being at all concerned said Then if it be so I need not tie my points Before he went to the Flames he was carried before Bonner Bishop of London who earnestly persuaded him to recant and live but he utterly refused life upon such conditions exhorting such as stood about him to repent and cleave fast to Christ. As he came out his Wife with Nine small Children about her and one sucking at her Breast waited to see him of which he took his leave bidding them trust in the Lord and he would plentifully provide for them After which he went couragiously to the Stake and with admirable patience embraced the Flames being the first that sealed his Testimony with his Blood during the Reign of that bloody Queen suffering Martyrdom Anno Christi 1555. The Death of Laurence Saunders DUring his Imprisonment he wrote to his Wife and Friends in this manner I am merry and I trust I shall be so maugre the Teeth of all the Devils in Hell Riches I have none to bestow amongst you but that Treasure of tasting how sweet Christ is to hungry Consciences whereof I thank my Saviour I do feel part that I bequeath to you and to the rest of my Beloved in the Lord. They offered to release him if he would Recant to which he replied That he did confess Life and Liberty were things desirable but that he would not murther his Conscience to save his life but by God's Grace said he I will abide the worst Extremity that Man can do against me rather than do any thing against my Conscience And when Gardiner threatned him with Death he said Welcom be it whatsoever the Will of the Lord be either life or death and I tell you truly I have learned to die but I exhort you to be ware of shedding innocent blood for truly it will cry aloud against you After a Year and three Months Imprisonment he was brought to the Stake which he embraced and afterwards kissing said Welcom Cross of Christ welcom everlasting life The Fire by the malice of his Enemies being made of green wood put him to exquisite Torments but he endured them with a Christian patience as being well assured when his fiery Tryal was at an end he should receive a Crown of Life that fadeth not away One thing I shall not think amiss to insert When the Nation was in fear of Queen Mary's bringing in Popery Mr. Saunder's being in company with Doctor Pedleton and seeming to be much dejected Pedleton said What man there is much more cause for me to fear than for you for asmuch as I have a big and fat Body yet will I see the utmost drop of this Grease of mine melted away and this Flesh consumed with Fire before I will forsake Jesus Christ and his Truth which I have professed Yet when Queen Mary came to the Crown he turned Apostate The Death of John Hooper BEing come to the County of Gloucester where he suffered he was received by the Sheriff who with a strong Guard conveyed him to the place of Execution being met by thousands of people who bewailed his Condition and sent up their Prayers to Heaven that he might be enabled to bear his Sufferings patiently many of them weeping to see so Reverend a Person fall into such misery but he comforted them and told them That he was unworthy who refused to suffer reproach or death for the sake of the Lord Jesus who refused not for our sakes to suffer a shameful and ignominious death upon the Cross. And hereupon he began to exhort them to be stedfast in their Faith but the Popish Varlets would not suffer him to proceed Then he addressed himself to the Sheriff saying Sir my request to you is that I may have a quick Fire which may soon dispatch me and I will be as obedient as you would wish I might have had my life with grrat advancement as to temporal things but I am willing to offer my life for the Testimony of the Truth and trust to die a faithful Servant to God and a true Subject to the Queen Then kneeling down he continued in servent Prayer for the space of half an Hour with an exalted and chearful Countenance and then rising up suffered them to fasten him to the Stake where such was the malice of his Enemies that they had prepared green Wood yet beââ¦re the Fire was kindled a Pardon was offered if he would Reââ¦ant but he cried out
am sure to see and to partake with them in Joy why then should not I be willing to dye to enjoy their perpetual Society in Glory And then with Tears told them That he was not unwilling to leave them for his own sake but for the sake of the Church Then having written his Farewel to the Senate and therein admonished them to take Care of the Churches and Schools and by their Permission chose one Ralph Gualter his Successor he patiently resigned up his Spirit into the Hands of his Redeemer dying Anno Christi 1575 and of his Age 71. The Death of Edward Deering DRawing near his end his Friends requested something from him for their Comfort and Edification The Sun shining in his Face he replyed There is but one Sun in the World nor but one Righteousness and one Communion of Saints if I were the most excellent of all Creatures in the World if I were equal in Righteousness to Abraham Isaac and Jacob yet had I reason to confess my self to be a Sinner and that I could expect no Salvation but in the Righteousness of Jesus Christ for we all stand in need of the Grace of God and as for my Death I bless God I feel and find so much inward Joy and Comfort in my Soul that if I were put to my Choice whether to die or live I would a thousand times rather chuse Death than Life if it may stand with the Holy Will of God He dyed Anno 1576. The Death of Peter Boquinus THE Popish Party being incensed against him sought all means to destroy him so that he was forced to fly to Heidelberg where upon a Lord's Day visiting of a Sick Friend he found his Spirits fail and said Lord receive my Soul and so quietly departed Anno 1582. The Death of Abraham Bucholtzer HE was full of Self denial Humble and an Enemy to Contentions He used often to meditate upon Death and used this Expression it hath always formerly been my Care in what Corner soever I have been to be ready when God called to say with Abraham Behold my Lord here I am but now above all other things I should be most willing so to answer if he would please to call me out of this miserable Life into his Glorious Kingdom for truely I desire nothing so much as the happy and blessed Hour of Death He dyed Anno 1584. Aged Fifty Five The Death of Gasper Olevian A Mortal Sickness seized upon him and preparing himself for Death he expressed to a Friend That by that Sickness he had learned to know the greatness of Sin and the greatness of God's Majesty more than ever he did before The next Day he told John Piscator That the day before for four Hours together he was filled with ineffable Joy so that he wondered why his Wife should ask him whether he were not something better whereas indeed he could never be better For said he I thought I was in a most pleasant Meadow in which as I walked up and down methought that I was besprinkled with a Heavenly Dew and that not sparingly but plentifully poured down whereby both my Body and Soul were filled with ineffable Joy To whom Piscator said That good Shepherd Jesus Christ led thee into fresh Pastures Yea said Olevian to the Springs of Living Waters Then repeating some Sentences out of Psalm 42. Isa. 9. Matth. 11. c. he said I would not have my Journey to God long deferred I desire to be dissolved and to be with my Christ. In his Agony of Death Alstedius asked him Whether he was sure of his Salvation in Christ c. He answered Most sure and so gave up the Ghost Anno 1587. Aged 51. The Death of John Wigandus HIS strength decaying he fell sick and preparing for Death he made his own Epitaph In Christ I liv'd and dy'd through him I live again What 's bad to Death I give my Soul with Christ shall reign So praying he resigned up his Spirit to God who gave it Anno 1587. Aged 64. The Death of John Fox MR. Fox together with his Wife and some others went to Antwerp and so to Basil which was then a place of free reception of poor distressed Fugitives who were forced to leave their Countreys for the sake of the Lord Jesus and his Everlasting Gospel And here he undertook to correct the Press and at such leisure times as he could spare he wrote part of the Acts and Monuments of the Church a Work Famous to all Posterity And in this station he continued till the death of Queen MARY whose death he had a little before foretold Upon certain notice of which he with several Pious and Learned Men returned into England and were kindly received by Queen Elizabeth where Mr. Fox prosecuted his Work begun at Basil and so laboured therein that he soon brought it to a period He finishing this great Work in Eleven years space searching all the Records himself He now growing in years and by reason of his former Hardships his great Study Travel and Labour he was reduced to a very weak Condition he laid down the troublesome Cares of the World to prepare himself for Death He resigned up his Spirit into the Hands of the Father of all Spirits dying Anno Christi 1587. in the 70th year of his Age. The Death of George Sohnius HE was full of Humility Piety and Patience falling sick he bore it with much Patience and with servent Prayer often repeated O Christ thou art my Redeemer and I know that thou hast redeemed me I wholly depend upon thy Providence and Mercy from the very bottom of my Heart I commend my Spirit into thy hands and so dyed Anno 1589. Aged 38. The Death of James Andreas THE year before his death he would say He should not live long That he was weary of this Life and much desired to be dissolv'd and to be with Christ which was best of all Falling sick he sent for James Heerbrand saying I expect that after my death many Adversaries will rise up to asperse me and therefore I sent for thee to hear the Confession of my Faith that so thou mayest testifie for me when I am dead and gone that I dyed in the true Faith The night before he dyed he slept partly in his Bed and pââ¦rtly in his Chair The Clock striking Six in the Morning he said My Hour draws near When he was ready to depart he said Lord ãâã thy hands I commend my Spirit He dyed Anno 1590. Aged 61. The Death of Hierom Zanchius ZAnchy being grown old had a liberal Stipend setled upon him by Prince Cââ¦ssimir and going to Heidleberg to visit his Friends he fell sick and quietly departed in the Lord Anno 159â⦠aged 75. The Death of Anthony Sadeel HE sell sick of a Pââ¦urisie which he Prophetically said would be Mortal and withdrawing himself from the World he wholly conversed with God He dyed Anno 1591. Aged 57. The Death of William
Spirit fainting he yielded up the Ghost in January Anno 1625. Aged 65. The Deaths of the KINGS and QUEENS of England since the Reformation to this present The Death of King Henry the VIII KING Henry being grown Fat fell into a languishing Fever and by Will appointed his Successor and Council did on the 28th of January 1547. in the 56 Year of his Age and 38 of his Reign leaving Issue by Queen Jane Prince Edward by his first Wife Katherine of Spain the Lady Mary and by Ann of Bullen the Lady Elizabeth who all Successively came to the Crown The Death of King Edward VI. ABout three hours before his Death his Eyes being closed thinking that none heard him he made this Godly Prayer Lord God deliver me out of this miserable and wretched Life and take me amongst thy Chosen howbeit not my VVill but thy VVill be done Lord I commit my Soul to thee O Lord thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with thee yet for thy Chosens sake send me Life and Health that I may truly serve thee O my Lord God bless thy People and save thine Inheritance O Lord God save thy Chosen People of England O my Lord God defend this Realm from Papistry and maintain thy true Religion that I and my People may praise thy Holy Name for thy Son Jesus Christ's sake Then turning his Face and seeing some by he said Are you so nigh I thought you had been further off Many servent Prayers he made but his last Words were these I am faint Lord have Mercy upon me and take my Spirit and so committed his Pious Soul into the hands of his Heavenly Father He died July 6. 1553. in the Seventeenth Year of his Age. He Reigned Six Years Five Months and Eight Days he was the one and Fortieth Sole Monarch of England and was Buried at VVestminster The Death of Queen Mary HER Husbands absence and the disappointment of proving with Child brought her into a Sickness whereof she died November 17. 1558. having Reigness 5 Years and 4 Months Cardinal Pool dying the day before but sometime before she declared to him That if when she were dead they would look into her Heart they would find Callis her great Distemper In her Reign there suffered 5 Bishops 21 Divines and in all 277 Persons The Death of Queen Elizabeth 1594. LOpez a Jew Physitian to the Queen was Executed for attempting to Poyson her In 1600. the Earl of Essex having incurr'd the Queens Displeasure in Ireland and more by scandalous Speeches and a kind of open Rebellion at his House in London being condemned by his Peers is Beheaded On the 24th of March 1602. died Queen Elizabeth having Reigned above 44 Years in as Troublesome times as any yet full of Honour and most happy in the Love of her People She was Interred in Henry the Seventh's Chappel at VVestminster The Death of King James the First THis King was Interred at VVestminster with great Solemnity his Queen was Ann Daughter of Frederick the Second King of Denmark by whom he had two Sons Henry and Charles and three Daughters Elizabeth Mary and Sophia the two last dyed young The Death of King Charles the First HE was led through the Park to the Seaffold before VVhite-Hall where having declared that he died a Martyr for the Laws and Liberties of his People he made a Confession of his Faith asserting that he died a true Son of the Church of England then he betook himself to his private Devotions and so patiently submitted his Royal Head to Martyrdom from the hand of a disguised Executioner His Body was put into a Black Velvet Coffin and afterwards wrapt in Lead was on the 7th of Feb. following Interred at St. George's Chappel at VVindsor in the same Vault with King Henry the 8th in presence of the Duke of Richmond Dr. Juxon and others but the manner appointed in the Liturgy could not be obtained to be used nor had he any Epitaph affixed but only on the Sheet of Lead ou a thin Plate fastned on the Breast this plain Inscription King Chaales 1648. The Death of King Charles the Second ON Monday Feb. 2. 1684. the King was seiz'd with a violent Fit of an Apoplexy which deprived him of his Senses but upon speedy Application of Remedies he returned to such a Condition as gave some Symptoms of his Recovery till VVednesday Night and then the Disease was so violent that he lay in a languishing Condition until Friday Feb. 6. and then expired He had Reigned Thirty six Years and Seven Days and was in the 55th Year of his Age. He was Interred in Henry the Seventh's Chappel being the Forty-sixth Sole Monarch of England The Death of Old Mr. Eliot of New-England WHILE he was making his Retreat out of this evil World his Discourses from time to time ran upon The coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was the Theme which he still had Recourse unto and we were sure to have something of this whatever other Subject he were upon On this he talk'd of this he pray'd for this he long'd and especially when any bad News arriv'd his usual Reflection thereupon would be Behold some of the Clouds in which we must look for the coming of the Son of Man At last his Lord for whom he had been long wishing Lord come I have been a great while ready for thy coming At last I say his Lord came and fetched him away into the Joy of his Lord. He fell into some Languishments attended with a Fever which in a few days brought him into the Pangs may I say or Joys of Death And while he lay in these Mr. Walter coming to him he said unto him Brother Thou art welcome to my very Soul Pray retire to my Study for me and give me leave to be gone meaning that he should not by Petitions to Heaven for his Life detain him here It was in these Languishments that speaking about the work of the Gospel among the Indians he did after this Heavenly manner express himself There is a Cloud said he a dark Cloud upon the Work of the Gospel among the poor Indians The Lord revive and prosper that Work and grant it may live when I am dead It is a work which I have been Doing much and long about But what was the word I spoke last I recal that word My Doings Alas they have been poor and small and lean Doings and I 'll be the Man that shall throw the ââ¦st Stone at them all It has been observed that they who have spoke many considerable ââ¦hings in their Lives usually speak few at their Deaths But it was otherwise with our Eliot who after much Speech of and for God in his Life-time uââ¦tered some things little short of Oracles on his Death-bed which 't is a thousand pities they were not more exactly regarded and recorded Those Authors that have taken the pains to Collect Apophthegmata Morentium have not therein been unserviceable to
A Mourning-Ring In Memory of your Departed Friend Containing The House of Weeping The Sick Man's Passing-Bell Death-Bed-Thoughts The Fatal Moment The Treatment of the Dead in order to their Burial The Funeral Solemnity A Conference between the Mourners The History of those that have died suddainly c. Observations on the Bills of Mortality A walk among the Tombs The Pilgrim's Guide from his Cradle to his Grave The Author's Tears or Meditations on his own Sickness Death and Funeral c. The Second Edition Recommended as proper to be given at Funerals London Printed for Iohn Dunton at the Raven in the Poultrey 1692. TO THE READER Courteous Reader I Remember a while ago there was a Question proposed to the Athenian Society Whether Books are not more proper to be given at Funerals than Bisquets Gloves Rings c. The Answer they returned was That undoubtedly a Book would be a far more convenient more durable and more valuable a Present than what are generally given as much exceeding them as the Soul does the Body and besides will much better and more profitably preserve the Memory of a Deceased Friend if good teaching him how to follow him if bad to avoid his Example that they may escape his End and the Truths contained therein we should think would make a more lasting Impression even than a Sermon it self much more than a Dull Deaths-head for having always before our Eyes the Idea of those for whom 't was given they 'll still as it were Preach from the Dead unto us Thus far you have the Opinion of the Athenian Society in this Matter And certainly nothing can more conduce to our eternal Well-fare and to put us in mind of Mortality than Books of this kind and to the end they may be more Profitable and Useful to Christians it were to be wished that this Mourning-Ring which is so Entituled that it might be given at Funerals instead of Gloves Bisquets Wine And those that think it proper may Print in a Sheet of Paper the most Material Passages in the Life of their Dead Friend and bind it up with those Mourning-Ring they give away at his Funeral and for the more effectually perpetuating the Memory of the Party Deceased There is room left in the Title of this Book for inserting his Name and Place of Burial And indeed all serious practical Books are proper for this Design and if Bound in Black with a Cypher of Mortality as this Mourning-Ring should be when given at Funerals will be very decent and proper for such a Solemn Occasion to make the serious Impressions of our Frailty more strong was I suppose the first Original of Funeral Sermons and for this purpose they are still Printed that the consideration of the Dead may further the Holyness and Salvation of the Living And doubtless Reading and Meditation would be much more decent at such Solemnities than Eating and Drinking and putting on Gay Attire Books of this Subject would make the People mind the present instance of Mortality and affect them with devout Meditations thereon How sad is it to consider the unsuitable Carriage of a great many Persons at Funerals those opportunities are usually spent in idle Chat in Eating and Drinking and that sometimes to Excess so that the House of Weeping is turned into a House of Mirth and Feasting Many have put in Practice this useful Design of giving Books at the Interment of Friends which if it were more general the good Effect thereof would be soon discerned in the Lives of Christians for it may be fitly be said of a Book given at Funerals as Divine Herbert says of a Verse viz. A Book may find him who a Sermon flies And turn a Gift into a Sacrifice When Christians attend at Funerals and sit over Graves and are amused with the doleful Passing-Bell and look upon Skulls and dead Bones and Ghastly Spectacles upen the dropping Eyes and despondent Looks of Mourners they have if ever some suitable self-humbling Apprehensions of their own Mortality which wou'd abide with 'em by a frequent perusal of such a Treatise as this which puts them in mind of their departed Friends and serves as King Philip's Boy who saluted him every Morning with a Remember Sir you are a Man There are no Ingredients in the Shop of Nature that are a sufficient Cordial to fortifie the Heart against this King of Terrors or his Harbingers The Velvet slipper cannot fence the Foot from the Gout nor the Gold Ring the Finger from a Fellon the richest Diadem cannot quit the Head-ach nor the purple Robe prevent a Fever Beauty Strength Riches Honour Friends nor any nor all can repeal that sentence Dust thou art and to Dust thou shalt return Every Fit of an Ague and every Distemper of this frail Constitution being as a light Skirmish before the main Battle of Death wherein weak Man being vanquished is led Captive to his long home And when once the Lines of Mortality are drawn upon the Face of the fairest Mortal he becomes a ghastly Spectacle how lovely soever before and the conclusion is Bury my Dead out of my sight This inevitable necessity however it be confesled and acknowledged of all yet lamentable experience teacheth that in the Christian World most Men so live as though they should never die Now That we may be fitted to encounter with this last Enemy besides the manifold helps which God hath reached to us in his Word in the Passages of his Providence in the frequent Examples of Mortality before us continually and in our own sensible Approaches to the Gates of Death I say besides these and infinite more this Mourning-Ring by Gods blessing and our endeavours may prove no small furtherance in our Pilgrimage The whole Work being the most Comprehensive history of Death and Funeral Monuments yet extant each Sermon and Meditation therein is as a several Legacy bequeathed by those upon the Occasion of whose Deaths they were written as by so many Testators who themselves have made a real Experiment of Mortality and left these for our Instruction that survive ve them It is true the dayly Examples of Mortality are so many real Lectures that by a kind of Dumb Oratory perswade us to expect our End but as they are Transcient so our Thoughts of them Vanish Therefore it can be no small Advantage to have always before us this Mourning Ring which will abundantly furnish us with Meditations in this kind and be still constantly putting of us in Mind of our Departed Friend It was a Custom in former times for Great Men to make them Sepulchres in their Gardens to mind them of Death in the midst of the Pleasures of this Life This present Work may not unfitly be termed a Garden wherein whosoever takes a dayly walk will find that Titles of Honour are written in Dust and that Princes and Great Men must Die that their very Monuments are Mortal and will in time be found as Archemedes his Tomb
by Cicero in vepretis overgrown with Thorns and Briars And that even Poor Men too who have no Comet Prodigy or Earthquake to Toll the Knell of their Departure But who do as it were steal into their silent Graves with no greater noise than can be made by a Branch of Rosemary Sprig of Lawrel or a Black Ribband have Precious and Immortal Souls to save as well as they with the Methods and Courses both should take to get Saving Grace and the Knowledge of Christ which will prove a Possession for them to Eternity In a word be thy Estate and Condition what it will be here thou maist have both Directions to guide thee and Comforts to support thee in thy Journey on Earth till thou arrive at thy Heavenly Countrey The Author of this Mourning-Ring spent a great part of his Time in Holy and Devout Contemplations upon the things of another Life as this Excellent Piece of his sufficiently shews Missenden gave him Breath And Cambridge Education His Studies are of Death Of Heaven his Meditation His great Care was so to fit and prepare himself for a Happy Death whilst in the World that after this Life ended he might enjoy Eternal Happiness in that which is to come Let us then imitate so great a pattern of Piety that so when we come to Die we may have nothing to do but to Die and willingly to resign up our Souls into the Hands of Almighty God And now being refreshed with these Fragrant Leaves what shall I say Blessed Author art thou yet Alive Breathe longer in this Fruitful Air and extract more out of this so Rich a Stock A Scribe so well Instructed cannot have spent all but must have new or old to bring out of his Treasury Do not hide but improve thy Talent be not only a good and wise but a faithful Steward and yield us more of thy pleasant Fruits Thou hast begun well who what shall hinder thee Thy present were there no succeeding Reward is Spur enough to future Work Religion is Recreation and Heaven is the way to Heaven Good Men are there on this side the Grave Thy longing Soul was still peeping into it and sending thy Thoughts as Spies to view this Promised Land But art thou at Rest from thy Labours This among others thy Work follows thee and hath here erected thy lasting Monument Where-ever thou wer 't Buried Obscurity shall not swallow thee Every good Heart that knew thee is thy Tomb and every Tongue writes thee an Epitaph Good Men speak well of thee but above all God delights in thee Thy Thoughts were still fluttering upwards richly fraught with Divine Meditations and ever aspiring till unlading themselves in the Bosom of thy Beloved We are hugely thankful that a few dropt from thee for the Comfort and Example of fainting weeping Mortals below Thou lived'st in deed whilst others live only in shew and hast changed thy Place but not thy Company But my Paper is short and my time shorter I must therefore conclude for the Book is wholly Printed and stops only until I have told thee that I am Thy Friend and Servant till Death c. In Praise of the Author of the Mourning-Ring with the Explanation of the Frontispiece Annext to his Book WIth sighs and groans and plunged Eyes attend The doleful Map of every Mortals End Enter the Sable House of Weeping see The lively Scene of Humane Misery Our Reverend Author could not stop a stream Of tears when treating on so sad a Theme Survey these pious Lines and there you 'l find The lively Pourtraict of the Authors Mind In tears he preacht with tears he seem'd to write And may be term'd the Christian Heraclite He wrote he spoke 'em thus whoever says Needs not another word to speak their praise Since all must follow him or soon or late His pattern let us strive to imitate Our Entrance and our Exit seem to meet Our Swadling Bands almost our Winding-sheet Poor Man from Mother Earth does just arise Then looks abroad returns again and dies Some forty years perhaps with much ado He has prolong'd his tedious Life unto Then under Griefs and Cares he sinks away His Carkass mouldring into native Clay See where his Friends surround the Sacred Urn Where all his fond Relations fondly Mourn And when the Solemn Bell does sadly call The drooping Pomp attends his Funeral How he from Fortunes store can only have A narrow Coffin and a scanty Grave Happy thrice happy they who had the Grace To fix their Treasures in a better place Who e're from hence they did their Lodgings move Were careful to lay in a Stock above Those Death may wound but never can destroy Their House of Weeping proves an House of Joy W. S. Another on the Frontispiece SEest thou frail Man the Emblem of thy State Th' exact Idea of thy hasting Fate The Figure 's drawn to th' Life yea ev'ry part Is grac'd and deckt with more than Zeuxian Art The first Scene shows when Man 's laid out for dead When th' sprightly Soul from the Body 's gone and fled His mournful Friends no longer can endure The lifeless Corps therefore they do immure And shut it close up in a Sable Hearse As totally unfit for all Commerce O're which they showre such store of tears that they Mourning exhaust their Moisture and decay With sorrow-wounded Hearts they sob and cry Themselves to death they take their turns to die Because one's death from th' other draws such grief As kills the Soul in spight of all relief Next is he brought on Shoulders of his friends Along the Streets where dismally attends A Croud of Mourners to the Church where they Are twice fore-told and warn'd they are but Clay First by the words of th' Preacher and then next The Corps tho' tacitly repeats the Text But lo the End 's more dismal than the rest Which brings the final Consummatum est Earth now is laid to Earth and Dust to Dust Earth ope's its Mouth the Coffin stop it must This is the Lot of all none can it flee Earth's not quite full there 's room yet left for thee Sic raptim Scripsit H. C. AN ACROSTICK In the cold House of Mother Earth must lye Our Mortal Bodies Holy Souls will fly Home to their God their King their Native Lands Not th' weeping House but th' House not made with hands Death then thou King of Terrors do thy worst Unto Christs chosen Ones his only Trust Now now thou raging Hector 't is too late To turn them out this House this blessed state Of Bliss Therefore thou Tyrant I reply Now dolor's exil'd and a Weeping Eye S. S. THE CONTENTS OF THE FIRST Part OF THE Mourning-Ring THE Introduction to the House of Weeping from p. 1. to p. 15. The house of weeping p. 15. The Subjects Treated on under this General Head are viz. Jesus wept John 11. 35. Sermon 1. p. 15. Death parts the dearest Friends p. 30. The last
sigh p. 36. Man giveth up the Ghost and where is he p. 44. He 's carried by Angels into Abraham's Bosom p. 49. The Winding-sheet p. 77. Tears for a Dead Husband p. 99. The Dying Knell p. 111. Put on Mourning Apparel p. 117. But now he is dead wherefore should I fast p. 126. Bury my Dead out of my sight p. 146. The Funeral Procession p. 150. The Worms shall feed sweetly on him p. 172. Prepare to follow p. 174. Look upon every day as your last p. 205. The Swan-like Note of a Dying Christian 216. The Eye that hath seen him shall see him no more p. 231. The Good Mans Epitaph p. 235. Hopes of a Joyful Resurrection p. 244. The Yearly Mourner p. 253. Weep not she is not dead but sleepeth p. 255. Good-night p. 262. Death-Bed Thoughts p. 81. The Fatal Moment p. 281. The Treatment of the Dead in order to their Burial p. 284. The Funeral Solemnity p. 291. An Account of the Death and last Sayings of the most Eminent Persons from the Crucifixion of our Blessed Saviour down to this present time To which will be added in the second part of the Mourning-Ring all the Remarkable Deaths omitted in the First Part. THE CONTENTS OF THE Second Part OF THE Mounrnig-Ring Which said Book is now going to the Press to supply what was wanting in the First Part and to compleat this Funeral Gift ADvice to those that are Diseased either in Body or Mind The solemn Wishes of a Person giving up the Ghost The Death watch The Sick-man's Passing-Bell A Conference between the Mourners The History of those that have died suddenly c. Observations on the weekly Bills of Mortaliââ¦y The Author's Tears or Meditations on his own Sickness Death and Funeral The Danger of a Death-bed Repentance A walk among the Tombs or a Discourse of Funeral Monuments of the several Customs of Burials from Adam to this time of Epitaphs and other Funeral Honours The Pilgrim's Guide from his Cradle to his Grave A Discourse of the Four last Things composed chiefly of the Authors own Experiences during his late Illness This Second Part will be Published in a few Weeks ERRATA IN Page 216. Of the House of Weeping for Dying Christian read The Swan-like Note of a Dying Christian. THE Introduction TO THE HOUSE OF Weeping Upon first hearing of the Death of a Neighbour or of a House-weeping for the loss of a Friend think with thy self and say HOW is my Neighbour Dead Then surely the Bell rings out and tells me in him that I am Dead also The Soul of my Neighbour is gone out and as a Man who had a Lease of 1000 years after the expiration of a short one or an Inheritance after the Life of a Man in a Consumption he is now entred into the possession of his better Estate Time was his Race but newly was begun Whose Glass is run He in the troubled Sea was heretofore Though now on Shore And 't is not long before it will be said Of me as 't is of him alas he 's Dead His Soul is gone whither Who saw it come in or who saw it go oââ¦t No body yet every body is sure he had one and hath none If I will ask not a few Men but almost whole Bodies whole Churches What becomes of the Souls of the Righteous at the departing thereof from the Body I shall be told by some That they attend an expiation a purification in a place of torment by some that they attend the fruition of the sight of God in a place of rest but yet but of expectation by some That they pass to an immediate possession of the presence of God Saint Augustine studied the nature of the Soul as much as any thing but the salvation of the Soul and he sent an express Messenger to Saint Hierome to consult of some things concerning the Soul But he satisfies himself with this Let the departure of my Soul to Salvation be evident to my Faith and I care the less how dark the entrance of my Soul into my Body be to my Reason It is the going out more than the coming in that concerns us The Soul of my Neighbour this Bell tells me is gone out Whither Who shall tell me that I know not who it is much less what he was The condition of the Man and the course of his Life which should tell me whither he is gone I know not I was not there in his sickness nor at his death I saw not his way nor his and nor can ask them who did thereby to conclude or argue whither he is gone But yet I have one nearer me than all these mine own Charity I ask that and that tells me he is gone to everlasting rest I owe him a good opinion it is but thankful Charity in me because I received benefit and instruction from him when his Bell tolled But for his Body How poor a wretched thing is that We cannot express it so fast as it grows worse and worse That Body which scarce three minutes since was such a House as that that Soul which made but one step from thence to Heaven was scarce throughly content to leave that for Heaven That Body which had all the parts built up ââ¦nd knit by a lovely Soul now is but a Statue of Clay and now these Limbs melted off as if that Clay were but Snow and now the whole House is but a handful of Sand so much Dust and but a peck of Rubbidge so much Bone If he who as this Bell tells me is gone now were some Excellent Artificer who comes to him for a Cloak or for a Garment now or for Counsel if he were a Lawyer if a Magistrate for Justice O my God thou dost certainly allow that we should do Offices of Piety to the dead and that we should draw instructions to Piety from the dead Is not this O my God a holy kind of raising up seed to my dead brother If I by the meditation of his death produce a better life in my self It is the blessing upon Reuben Let Reuben live and not dye and let not his men be few Deut. 33. 6. Let him propagate many And it is a malediction That that dyeth let it dye Zechar. 11. 9. Let it do no good in dying for Trees without fruit thou by thy Apostle callest Twice dead Jud. 12. It is a second death if none live the better by me after my death by the manner of my death Therefore may I justly think that thou madest that a way to convey to the Egyptians a fear of thee and a fear of death that there was not a house where there was not one dead Ex. 12. 30. For thereupon the Egyptians said We are all dead men The death of others should catechise us to death Thy Son Christ Jesus is the first-begotten of the dead Apoc. 1. 5. He rises first the eldest Brother and he is my Master in this science of death
shalt be pleased to command that Breath again out of Mans Body then will he presently become a dead Carkass and so short is the Life of Man that many times he doth but cry and Die yea sometimes his Mothers Womb doth prove his Tomb so that he doth not once cry to tell the World that he did once Live Neither is the Thread of Mans Life at any time spun so strong but at one word of thy Mouth it is soon snapt in two Seeing therefore we do but Live to Die we beseech thee Oh blessed God let us Die to Live let us live well that so we may die well let Death never surprize us unlooked for or unprepared nor let it ever seize upon us in an unconverted unregenerate State Good Lord let us not so live as to be ashamed to live any longer or to be afraid to look grim Death in the Face when it comes to separate our Souls from our Bodies and to summon them to make their appearance before the great Judge of the Quick and Dead Let us with thy Servant Job Wait all our appointed time untill our Change doth come Seeing it will be our greatest Wisdom to wait for Death which always waits for us and to expect that at all times which will come at some time and may come at any time Let us Pray and Preach and Hear and so spend our time as those who know and consider that all they do they do it for Eterninity and we shall never have but one Cast for Eternity Heaven and Glory is here to be won or lost for ever Blessed God thou hast taught us in thy Word that it is better to go to the House of Weeping than to the House of Feasting for that is the end of all men and thou hast said That the Living will lay it to heart Oh Lord we are this day come to the House of Mourning and Weeping and we have seen the end of one yea of many of our Friends and Acquaintance within a short space of time and in the Death of our Friends we may read our own Death and yet shall not we who are leââ¦t behind them in the Land of the Living lay these awakening instances of Mortality to heart shall we hear and see daily our nearest and dearest Relations giving up the Ghost and departing out of this into another World and yet shall we once think that we shall ever live to enjoy the Pleasures of this present evil World But seeing Lord this World is a dying World and all its glory is a dying Glory let our Minds and Hearts therefore be set upon the Glory of Heaven which is a never fading Glory Oh! did we believe and consider how much better a Believers future Estate will be than his present State is then should we think that Time is too long before we do and that Eternity will be too short when we shall enjoy our gracious Redeemer upon his Throne of Glory Let us ever live as those that have one Foot in the Grave already Thousands and Millions yea innumerable Millions of Thousands are gone to their Graves before us and do we think that we that are but enlivened Dust animated Shadows dying Lumps of Clay can keep our Bodies from being a Feast for Worms or our Souls from seeking new Lodgings in another World Oh! let us therefore every day be looking into our Graves and familiarize Death unto our Thoughts before it comes let us consider how many signal Admonitions thou dost daily give us of our approaching end Is not every Distemper and Sickness of Body as it were a little Death and a fair Warning to put us in mind of our last Change The Grey Hairs which are here and there upon our Heads the deep wrinkles which are engraven upon our Foreheads the loss of Teeth the Dimness of Sight our Deafness in Hearing our Palsie-hands our feeble trembling Limbs and the frequent Sight of seeing Friends laid out in their Winding Sheets for Dead and carried to their Houses of Clay the silent Grave are Circumstances and Symptoms serving to remind us that the time draws near wherein we must die and that our departure is at hand Let us therefore live as dying Men and let us die as Living Christians let us set our House and our Heart in order remembring the Text It is appointed for all Men once to Die but after this the Judgment The Mourners being all come first sing the following Psalms and after that Read part of 1 Cor. Chap. 15. to bring your minds into a serious frame Psalm 39. I Said I will look to my ways for fear I should go wrong I will take heed all times that I offend not with my Tongue verse 2 As with a bit I will keep fast my mouth with force and might Not once to whisper all the while the wicked are in sight verse 3 I held my Tongue and spake no word but kept me close and still Yea from good talk I did refrain but sore against my will verse 4 My Heart waxt hot within my breast with musing thought and doubt Which did increase and stir the fire at last these Words burst out verse 5 Lord number out my Life and days which yet I have not past So that I may be certify'd how long my Life shall last verse 6 Lord thou hast pointed out my Life in length much like a Span Mine age is nothing unto thee so vain is every Man verse 7 Man walketh like a shade and doth in vain himself annoy In getting goods and cannot tell who shall the same enjoy verse 8 Now Lord sith things this wise do frame what help do I desire Of truth my help doth hang on thee I nothing else require The Second Part. verse 9 From all the sins that I have done Lord quit me out of hand And make me not a scorn to Fools that nothing understand verse 10 I was as dumb and to complain no trouble might me move Because I knew it was thy work my patience for to prove verse 11 Lord take from me thy scourge and plague I can them not withstand I faint and pine away for fear of thy most heavy hand verse 12 When thou for sin dost Man Rebuke he waxeth wo and wan As doth a Cloth that Moths have fret so vain a thing is Man verse 13 Lord hear my suit and give good heed regard my Tears that fall I sojourn like a stranger here as did my Fathers all verse 14 O spare a little give me space my strength for to restore Before I go away from hence and shall be seen no more Psalm 90. Ver. 3 4 5 6 10 11. THou grindest Man through grief and Pain to dust or clay and then And then thou say'st again Return again ye sons of Men. verse 4 The lasting of a thousand years what is it in thy sight As yesterday it doth appear or as a watch by night verse 5 So soon as thou dost scatter them then
is their Life and Trade All as a sleep and like the grass whose beauty soon doth fade verse 6 Which in the Morning shines full bright but fadeth by and by And is cut down ere it be night all withered dead and dry verse 10 Our time is threescore years and ten that we do live on mold If one see fourscore surely then we count him wondrous old verse 11 Yet of this time the strength and chief the which we count upon Is nothing else but painful grief and we as blasts are gone 1 Cor. 15. Ver. 19 20 21 22 26 50 51 52 53 54 55. IF in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept For since by man came death by man came also the resurrection of the dead For as in Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death Now this I say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God neither doth corruption inherit incorruption Behold I shew you a mystery We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed In a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed For this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption and this mortal shall have put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written Death is swallowed up in Victory O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy Victory THE HOUSE OF Weeping Sermon I. John 11. 35. Jesus Wept WE may learn from the Example of Our blessed Saviour how we are to behave our selves what we are to do in the Sickness and Death of Friends In this World we are all Bennonies the Sons of Sorrow The way to Heaven is by Weeping Cross The Kalender tells us we come not to Ascention Day till the Passion Week be past It is the great work of a Preacher to consider the state of the people to whom he preaches so to prepare his work before hand as that he may hit the mark The Preacher sought out acceptable words now generally those words are most acceptable to and best received by the hearers that are suited to their present condition I considering therefore the secret hand of God upon this Congregation in taking away an eminent Servant of Christ thought it incumbent upon me to speak something at this time that might be suitable to the present dispensation of of God towards you and in meditations this Scripture was cast in Jesus Wept The occasion of this text is known unto you in the beginning of this Chapter you read that Lazarus was sick and the news thereof immediatly sent to Jesus who notwithstanding he dearly loved him yet as the sequel of the story acquaints you he doth not presently go up to Bethany to visit sick Lazarus but maketh a stay for several days the reason wherof is at hand viz. That a sentence of death might pass upon beloved Lazarus and he be laid in the grave and a stone rouled upon him and all this in order to the manifestation of the glory and power of Christ in his resurrection After Lazarus had been in the grave four days Christ he comes up to Bethany and the sisters of Lazarus viz Martha and Mary they come out to meet Jesus first Martha she cometh ver 20. and she saith Lord If thou hadst been here my brother had not died ver 21. After this comes Mary vers 32 and she falls down at Christs feet saying Lord If thou hadst been here my brother had not died When Jesus therefore saw her weeping and the Jews also weeping which came with her he groaned in the Spirit and was troubled and said Where have ye laid him They say unto him Lord come and see Jesus wept There is very much wrapt up in the bowels of this little Text Here we may take notice of the humanity of Christ it appears by Christs weeping that he is perfect man as well as perfect God That Christ wept is to be referred not to his Divinity but to his Humanity and so we shall find that Christ was subject as to this so to all natural infirmities as hunger thirst weariness c. which may comfort the Saints that groan under natural as well as sinful infirmities and that from the reason why Christ was made in all things like unto his brethren namely That he might be a merciful High-priest Hebr. 2. 17 18. And though Christ be now in glory yet he is touched with the feeling of the infirmities of his people here on earth Hebr. 4. 15. so touched as that he cannot but have compassion on them under all their pressures and grievances whatsoever Do'st thou then groan under natural weaknesses and infirmities Go boldly to the Throne of grace and Christ will enable thee to bear up under these weaknesses until mortality shall have put on immortality The Subject Matter of this Chapter is Lazarus redivivus it is a Relation of the miraculous raising up of Lazarus from the Dead From vers 1 3. we may observe thus much that a Believers interest in the distinguishing love of Christ doth not exempt him from outward Troubles or bodily Distempers He whom thou lovest is sick From vers 4. We may observe thus much that the darkest Dispensations of Providence they oftentimes usher in the brightest manifestations of God to the Soul or Gods Glory is most manifested in the Creatures Weakness From Vers. 6. We may take notice it was ever in Christ's intention to manifest his Love and Goodness to Lazarus and yet he comes not near him for the present but rather goes away and leaves him upon his sick Bed and suffers him at last to give up the Ghost From Vers. 14. We may observe that Christ his absence or the suspension of divine Grace and Love they are in infinite Wisdom ordered for the further advancing of Soul Comfort Had not Lazarus been sick had he not been dead and buryed the Wisdom Power and Goodness of Christ had never been so eminently discovered as it was towards him Martha and Mary cry out v. 21 32. Lord if thou hadst been here our Brother had not died It is true Christ might have recovered Lazarus upon his sick-bed but to fetch him out of the Grave after he had lain stinking four days was a higher demonstration of his Love Wisdom and Power There is not the like ground that Christ should shew forth his miraculous Power in raising up our dead Friends from the Grave as was then yet this special and useful conclusion may by way of Analogy be deduced from this instance namely That such Comforts and Mercies as are fetched out of the Grave as
now proceed to Application And first it affords matter of information as First if it be a Christ-like Frame to Weep over the Death of such as are truly pious it informs us how unlike to Christ such are who though they plead for Christian Burial yet do attend Funeral Solemnities with a vain wicked ungodly Spirit and Carriage making the house of Weeping a House of Laughter and filling themselves with Wine wherein is excess until they become more like beasts than men which is a practice too common at Funerals You may soon judge how fit such persons are to attend upon a Funeral Sermon but indeed I am apt to think Funeral Sermons have generally been rather for Ostentation and Vain Glory than for Profit Hereby is likewise condemned that heathenish practice of Ringing of Bells so soon as ever Funeral Solemnities are performed How unsuitable is it that so soon as ever the Husband or Wife or a godly Friend is laid in the Earth to set the Bells a Ringing which imports matter of joy rather than of sorrow 2. If it be a Christ-like-Frame of Spirit to weep over the Deaths of good men it informs us how unlike to Christ that Spirit is whereby men do censure and reproach good men when taken away by Death And I do the rather mention this because some have taken the boldness to judge and censure this Eminent Servant of Christ now in Glory and to speak very unworthily concerning him since his Death How unlike to Christ is this Spirit Thou that shouldst be judging and condemning thy self for Non-improvement of so great a mercy art judging this Eminent servant of Christ now dead The Liturgy of the Church of England will teach thee better for let persons be never so vile in their lives yet when they come to be laid in the Grave then they are dear Brethren and Sisters Therefore away with this Spirit to Hell with it for from thence it came Let it suffice That this glorified Saint suffered much in this kind while he was living I am apt to think the Heats and Passions and rash Censures of Professors hath made him oft go home with a sad Heart and cost him many a Tear in private Suffer him to be quiet in his Grave let this his suffering suffice let not his name suffer now he is dead suffer him to be quiet in his Grave leave his judgment to the Lord and let it be your Work to improve those many Sermons that he hath in the fear of his God preach'd unto you 2. Who made thee Lord over thy Brothers Conscience Must all professors be condemned by thee because they cannot see with thy eyes and tread in thy steps By what authority doest thou impose thy particular light and perswasion upon thy brother that so as almost to un-saint him This imposing spirit is an Antichristian spirit evermore The next use may be of Exhortation Is it so that it is a Christ-like Frame of Spirit to be deeply affected with and to weep over the death of such as are truly pious Then it concerns us seriously to consider the Providences of God this way and that more generally and more particularly First more generally God hath lately made sad breaches upon many of the Families of his precious Servants many a flourishing Family hath mouldred away in a little time And God hath lately taken away many very famous Instruments both Ministers and others so that we have cause to cry out with the Psalmist Psal. 12 1. Help Lord for the Godly Man ceaseth for the faithful fail from among the Children of Men. But Secondly and more particularly I would beg you of this Congregation to consider the present stroke of God upon you in taking away your worthy Pastor his Death justly calls for weeping and Tears if you consider First That he was one that had love for all Saints he had room in his heart for every soul that he did judge to be received into the heart of Christ he held communion with the Saints not upon the account of this or that form or name but upon the account of union with the Lord Jesus he loved no man upon the account of opinion but upon the account of union with Christ and this he hath declared many a time in this Congregation There was hardly a member that he did in the name of Christ and the Church give the right hand of fellowship unto but he did acquaint them with this his principle told them that Union with Christ was the ground of Communion among the Saints and the reason of their admission was not their being of this or that opinion but for that they were judged persons interested in Christ and such who by virtue of Christs purchase were heirs of that glory above that must receive all Saints not as Church of England men Presbyterians Independants or Anabaptists c. but as Saints into its everlasting habitations Secondly His Death justly calls for your Weeping and Tears for that you have lost a Pastor who had great light in the Covenant of Grace he preacht that Doctrine with the greatest alacrity and raisedness of spirit imaginable In the handling of other subjects he was more streightned and discomposed but when he came to speak of the unsearchable riches of the Grace of Christ he was as an Angel of God lifted up above himself he had a flood of words and yet seemed to want words to express what he did know and what he did enjoy of divine grace and favour This being true must needs be great To lose a pure Gospel Preacher is a great loss Eternity depends upon a right understanding of the great Doctrine of Justification by Christ. Eternity depends not upon being baptized once or twice upon this or the other Form we may be guilty of mistakes about the circumstances of worship and yet be happy but if we mistake about the great matter of our Justification by Christ we are lost for ever Thirdly His Death justly calls for Weeping for as much as we have all lost the Conversation of one who was an Experimental Christian one that had much communion with God and much experience of his goodness as you have heard him often express Many a Preacher dishes out largely to others of that which he tastes but little himself I am apt to think many a faithful Minister of Christ lives but low in comparison to what this blessed Saint enjoyed By this his Experience he was enabled to speak a word in due season to the weary Soul He walked close with God in his Family he was not a Saint abroad and a Devil at home but made it appear that he was really good by this that he was relatively good good in his Relations a good Husband a good Father c. He sate loose from this World he made not gain his godliness he did not design to make Merchandize of Christ and the Gospel His discourse was mostly heavenly and Spiritual If other
Charge to his Sons that when he was dead they should bury him in the Sepulchre wherein this man of God was buryed and lay his Bones close by the Bones of this Prophet When Death parts us from a Friend we shall never see him more he vanishes as it were out of our sight and we are never more to behold him or cast our Eyes upon him He is both actively and passively in an invisible State So Job mournfully speaks of himself chap. 7. ver 7 8. Oh! remember that my life is wind my eyes shall no more see good The Eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more thy Eyes are upon me and I am not What more cutting Expression what more sadning Inculcation what more provoking Incitation to Mourning can there be than the Sense of this that we shall behold the Face of our beloved Friend after his departure from us no more Were Man to Return though after never so many Years absence from his home or continuance in the Grave Were he to visit his habitation again and become the objective delight of his poor Mourning Friends and Relations it might be some alleviation to their Grief when he takes his journey to his Long home But Oh! What a prick to the heart what a stab to the Soul what a deadning to the Spirits what an inundation of Sorrow like the opening of Pandora's Box is this lamentable Thought to an ingenuous Man that he must never never never more behold the Face of this or that Relation in this Region of Mortality nor have any converse with him on this side the Bank of Eternity What Husband can think so of his Wife and not melt what Wife can have such a thought of her Husband and not faint what Parent can consider this with respect to his Child and not mourn what Child can reflect upon the impossibility of ever seeing his Father or Mother more and not be overwhelmed with grief In a word What Friend or Relation can ponder on such an eternal Farewel as is then given and not be dissolved into Tears It is the opinion of Divines That the chiefest of Saints happiness consists in Vision or in the use of the visive faculty which will then be enlarged and made glorious to perfection for they shall see the Face of God in Righteousness and be satisfied with his likeness they shall be for ever with open Face beholding as in a Glass the Glory of the Lord and be changed into the same Image from Glory to Glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Sure I am the Saints greatest comfort in this World consists in Vision or beholding God's Image in his People and that not only the work of his Power in their comly Features but the work of his Grace in the divine Characters of Wisdom engraven in their Souls and immediatly reflected upon in all their Actions Therefore it cannot but cause Mourning when such delightful Objects are removed out of sight and never more to be beheld And so much the more still if consider the great change and alteration Death makes in the place of the Deceased the great Vacuum there is when Man is removed and carried away to his Long home Concerning which Job excellently speaks chap. 7. v. 9 10 11. As the cloud is consumed and vanisheth away so he that goeth down to the Grave shall come up no more He shall return no more to his house neither shall his place know him any more Therefore I will not refrain my Mouth I Will speak in the anguish of my Spirit I will complain in the bitterness of my Soul Oh! It is very sad to consider what a great change one stroke of Death may make A Wife Husbandless poor Children Fatherless Servants Masterless and many Friends Comfortless And so great is the alteration in the Family that the whole House resents it and seems silently to Mourn for it There is as it were a Face of sadness in every place he was wont to be conversant in Look in his Parlour where he used to sit with his Wife and Children about him and there is nothing but a profound silence his voice is not to be heard Look at his Table where he used to sit with chearfulness eating his Bread with joy among his Relations and the dull demeanor and sorrowful posture of all the assessors do plainly yet dolefully speak Behold he is not here Look in his Shop where he used to be about his occasions and the disorder and confusion there proclaims aloud his being gone and not to be heard of In a word Look in every place where he us'd to be and you will find one mourning circumstance or other a legible Historian of his departure and being no more among them So that if you seek him you will not find him if you ask for him you will hear no news Now surely methinks the very miss of a Man in his Family the want of him in his place the great change immediately following his Departure in his Relations and in all his affairs and Concerns should be cause enough to enforce a Mourning from his Survivors if there were no other consideration and cause 'em to prepare for their own Deaths For How many have we known that were of as healthful and vigorous a Constitution as we are that by a Surfeit or an acute Feaver have in a few days been snatch'd away How many that were travelling on the same Road with us a while ago are now at their long Home lying in the Grave and should not we by their early departure learn to die It would not be tedious to us in this sense to live in Golgotha or to dwell among the Tombs when we have in them seen the End of all Men Eccles. 7. 2. We should not any more love the World nor its Enjoyments and Pleasures seeing they will vanish in the twinkling of an Eye and after all the poor satisfaction they have given us fall into the dead Sea The Passing-Bells of others loudly tell us that Man in his best Estate is altogether Vanity Psal. 39. 5. And what they have undergone will in a few days or hours more be our own Lot Though they are gone before we must tread in their steps and go the same way When that hour is come all our Friends and Acquaintance cannot hold us for we that now hear and move and speak shall fly away into a vast Expanse and not behold Man with the Inhabitants of this World any more Isa. 38. 11. As we have seen the pale Looks and have heard the last Voice of others so shall we our selves in the like manner be made Spectacles of Mortality to those that remain after us We and all our Companions must take along Farewel of each other and not meet again till the day of the general Resurrection And is it too soon to remember our Creator when we have seen many as Young as we are breathe their last And
grant that we may all do what he requireth at your hands Do not ye grieve too much that I am so near my rest For it is the Decree of my God and the longing expectation of my wearied self The Lord give you patience to endure this Affliction and the Lord give me patience and perseverance unto the end 1 King 2. 2 3. Now I go the way of all the Earth Keep ye the charge of the Lord your God to walk in his ways to keep his statutes and his Commandments and his judgments and his testimonies as it is written in the Sââ¦riptures that ye may prosper ââ¦n all that ye do and whithersoever ye turn your hands Deut. 33. 7. The Lord give you the blessing of Judah and hear your voices and let your hands be sufficient for you and let him be an helper to you from your Enemies And the Lord give you the blessing of Benjamin vers 12. The Lord cover you all the day long and dwell between your shoulders And the Lord give you the blessing of Joseph v. 13. Blessed of the Lord be your Land for the precious things of Heaven for the dew and for the deep that coucheth beneath v. 14. and for the precious Fruits brought forth by the Sun v. 16. and for the precious things put forth by the Moon and for the precious things of the Earth and ãâã thereof and for the good will of him that dwelt in ãâã bush v. 27. The eternal God be your Refuge and underneath you the everlasting Arms. 2 Sam. 7 ââ¦6 29. And now O Lord God let it please thee to bless the House of thy Servant and with thy blessing let the Family of thy Servant be blessed for ever Deut. 26. 15. ââ¦ook down from thine holy Habitation from Heaven and bââ¦ss them Psal. 67. 1. O my God be merciful unto them and bless them and cause thy face to shine upon them And now with Iââ¦ob I have made an end of commanding you and ready I am to gather up my Feet into the Bed and to yield up the Ghost and to be gathered unto my Fathers Gen. 49. 33. Only come ye near my dear ones that I may kiss you and that my cold and clammy hands may be laid upon your heads that I may once more bless you and die Fare well my pretty ones farewell the children of my dear affection I must leave you and I hope I shall leave my God with you who will be unto you a Father of mercies and a God of all consolation 2 Cor. 13. 11. Once more farewell Love as brethren and the God of love and peace be with you 1 Pet. 3. 8. The Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirits Grace be with you all Amen 2 Tim. 4. 23. Man giveth up the Ghost and where is he AMong the many serious and weighty Questions which a sober considering Person may propound unto himself that is of none of the least concernment which is mentioned by the Holy Man Job Chap. 14. verse 10. Yea Man giveth up the Ghost and where is he We may take the words asunder and consider them apart Yea and as much as to say it is a Truth past all doubt there is no nay to be said to it it is sealed with Yea and Amen for it shall certainly come to pass at some time or other that Man must give up the Ghost and as much as to say his Soul shall be separated from his Body Those two loving twins being at the point of Death to go several ways they must part at last And for as much as it is evident to sense that the body returns to the dust what way the Soul taketh is the great Question as followeth Man giveth up the Ghost and where is he Or what becometh of his Soul when it hath once taken its leave of the body This Question may more easily than comfortably be answered by most thus every separated Soul goes either to Heaven or Hell But alas those two places are not more distant than different in their Natures Heaven is a place of eternal happiness Hell is a place of everlasting Misery And therefore O my Soul it is both good and necessary that thou shouldst think before hand what will be the place of thy future abode The Body which is the Souls present habitation it is not as Job speaketh a body of Brass but a body of Clay and therefore when the stroke of death shall knock that earthen Vessel in pieces where then Oh my ââ¦oul ââ¦il be thy next lodging Either thou must lye down in everlasting burnings or else rest upon the Mountain of Myââ¦rh and the Hill of Frankinââ¦nse with sweet Jesus Man when he hath a an hireling accomplished his day ought seriously to consider of the approaching Night And seeing it may be said as of Ephraim thou hast here and there a gray hair upon thy head and the shadows of the Evening are lengthened out it is neither safe nor prudent Oh my Soul to be serious about triââ¦es or to trifle about serious things Before the great and terrible day of account therefore Oh my Soul do thou call thy self to account and ask these questions of thy self Canst thou think of going to Hell with comfort Or can the thoughts of Heaven be any otherwise comfortable than as thou believest it to be thy Heaven Canst thou rejoice when thou thinkest how many shall put on Crowns of Glory and yet thy self have no part or lot in that matter Art thou deeply convinced Oh Man what a glittering and a glorious Divine Ray doth quicken actuate and ennoble that Lump of Atoms which thy Body is composed of And when that Body of thine shall be crumbled into Ashes by one touch of the Almighty hast thou forethought what shall become of that immortal In-mate which for a little season hath been cloystered up in thy clay Breast And dost thou soundly believe that there is a future state of Infinite joy and eternal Sorrow And hast thou throughly pondered the certain uncertainty of all temporal Enjoyments And art thou heartily perswaded that Heaven is only worth the looking after What sayest thou to these things Oh my Soul Let the matter be urged home is everlasting damnation by all means possible to be prevented Or may Hell be supposed to be a tolerable Habitation Or can a poor guilty Worm endure with ease the burden of infinite Wrath Or is endless glory no whit desirable Or will it not repent thee Oh my Soul hereafter when it is too late if thou now neglect so great Salvation as is freely offered to thee in Christ Jesus Dost thou know Oh Man that thou must shortly give up the Ghost And yet hast thou not had one serious deep thought what place of entertainment thy naked Soul shall find in another world when it is stript of its present fleshly case and cloathing Oh press thy Soul hard with these thoughts how it is like to go with thee when
from an earthly prison to a heavenly Palace from the richmans gate to the City of the great God from pains to pleasures from miseries to joys from Adams corruption to Abrahams bosom It was carried by Angels into the Quires of Angels to have his being and moving in the very moving Heavens with God himself Where is life food and abundance and glory and Health and peace and eternity and all good things all above all that either can be wished or desired And this is the subject that I shall now speak of And here let it please you to consider the argument of this Scripture which is twofold First Our Saviour Christ hereby adviseth all rich men to be merciful to their poor Brethren in this Life lest they find no mercy in the life to come Secondly He doth comfort all poor men that although they are afflicted in this life with great miseries and calamities yet they shall be comforted in the life to come and rest in Abraham's bosom And here observe what one formerly Notes viz. That if Jesus Christ had said only thus much There was a certain Rich man that fared sumptuously daily and a certain Beggar laid at his Gate full of sores The wicked would have straightway inferr'd that the rich man was the happy man for at the first view it seems to be so But take all together and you 'l quickly see that there is no man in a worse condition than this miserable wretch 2. That if a man would judge of persons according to outward appearance he shall very often take his mark amiss Here is a man to outward appearance appears the only blessed man better by half than the Beggar in as much as he is rich the Beggar poor he is well clothed but peradventure the Beggar is naked he hath good food but the Beggar would be glad of Dogs meat and he desired to be fed with the Crumbs of the Rich Man's Table the Rich man fares well every day but the Beggar must be glad of a bit when and where he can get it O! who would not be in the Rich man's state A wealthy man sorts of new Suits dainty Dishes every day enough to make one who minds nothing but his belly and his back and his lusts to say O that I were in that mans condition Oh that I had about me as that man hath then I should live a life indeed then should I have hearts ease good store then should I live pleasantly and might say to my Soul Soul be of good chear eat drink and be merry Luke 12. 19. thou hast every thing plenty and art in a most blessed condition But if the whole Parable be well considered you will see Luke 26. 15. that that which is had in high estimation with men is an abomination to God And again John 16. 20 21 22. that condition that is the saddest condition according to outward appearance is oft-times the most excellent for the Beggar had ten thousand times the best of it though to outward appearance his state was the saddest Methinks to see how the tearing Gallants of the World will go strutting up and down the Streets Sometimes it strikes me with amazement surely they look upon themselves to be the only happy men but it is because they judge according to outward appearance they look upon themselves to be the only blessed men when the Lord knows the generality are left out of that blessed condition Not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called 1 Cor. 1. 26. Ah! did they that do now so brag that no body dare scarce look on them but believe this it would make them hang down their heads and cry Oh! give me a Lazarus's portion But I 'll proceed to the division of my Text and in this Scripture observe these following parts formerly taken notice of viz. The parts of the Text are four 1. The life of the rich man in these words There was a certain rich man cloathed in purple and fine linnen and fared sumptuously every day 2. The life of the Beggar in these words Also there was a certain Beggar named Lazarus which was laid at his Gate full of sores c. 3. The death of the Beggar in these words And it was so that the Beggar died and was carried c. 4. The death of the rich man The rich man also died and was buried In the first part I note these three circumstances 1. What this Rich Man was and whether there were any such man or no. 2. What his Apparel was not mean or ordinary but Purple and fine Linnen 3. That his Diet was not base nor homely but delicious and not once nor twice but every day In the Life of the Beggar I find four Circumstances 1. Where he lived in no Palace or House but at the Rich mans Gate 2. How he lived neither in Health nor Wealth but miserable full of Sores 3. That he desired in this life not Lordships or Houses or Land or Gold or Silver but Crumbs to save his Life 4. Who shewed the Beggar kindness in his Life Not the Rich man but the Rich mans Dogs The Dogs came also and licked his Sores In the death of the Beggar I note these three Circumstances 1. What became of his Body being dead No mention hereof is made in Holy Scriptures it may be it was Buried with little or no respect because he was a poor man or else cast into some Ditch by reason of his Sores 2. What became of his Soul It went not out to Purgatory for there is no such place but it was carried into Abraham's Bosom 3. By whom By Angels It was carried by Angels into Abraham 's Bosom In the Death of the Rich man I note these two Circumstances 1. What became of his Body being dead It was Honourably Buried because of his great Substance 2. What became of his Soul It went to Hell He being in torments lift up his Eyes and saw Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his Bosom Of these successively And first in the life of the Rich man we noted what this Rich Man was whether there was indeed any such man or no Wherefore here may a Question arise whether this be a Parable or History The Writers hereof do not agree Marlorat saith Quanquam quibusquam haec simplex Parabola esse videtur tamen quia his Lazari nomen exprimitur rem gestam narrari probabile Some are of that mind that this is a Parable yet because saith he Christ twice expresseth the name of Lazarus it argueth that he spake of a thing that was so done indeed Likewise saith Franciscus Lambertus Credendum magis esse historiam exemplum verum quà m Parabolam It must be believed that this is rather a History and a true Example than a Parable But Theophilactus is of a contrary opinion who saith Parabola haec est non vera historia This is a Parable and no History
altogether the meaning when some of the Creatures die yet it is but in part the meaning when it is said that Men Women or Children die for there is to them something else to be said more than a barely going out of the World for if when unregenerate Men and Women die there were an end of them not only in this World but also in the World to come they would be more happy than now for when ungodly men and women die there is that to come after Death that will be very terrible to them namely to be carryed by the Angels of Darkness from their Death beds to Hell there to be reserved to the Judgment of the great day when both Body and Soul shall meet and be united together again and made capable to undergo the uttermost vengeance of the Almighty to all Eternity Ah Beloved if this great Truth that men must die and depart this World and either enter into Joy or else into Prison to be reserved to the Day of Judgment were believed we should not have so many Wantons walk up and down the streets as there do at least it would put a mighty check to their filthy Carriages so that they would not could not walk so basely and sinfully as they do Belshazzar notwithstanding he was so far from the fear of God as he was yet when he did but see that God was but offended and threatned him for his Wickedness it made him hang down his head and knock his knees together Dan. 5. 5 6. If you read the Verses before you will find he was careless and satisfying his Lusts in Drinking and playing the Wanton with his Concubines But so soon as he did perceive the Finger of an hand writing Then saith the Scripture the King's countenance was changed and his thoughts troubled him so that the joynts of his Loins were loosed and his knees smote one against another And when Paul told Felix of Righteousness Temperance and Judgment to come it made him tremble Further this is a certain truth that not only the Wicked but the Godly also must have a time to depart this Life And the Beggar died the Saints of the Lord they must be deprived of this Life also they must yield up the Ghost into the hands of the Lord their God they must also be separated from their Wives Children Husbands Friends Goods and all that they have in the World for God hath decreed it It is appointed namely by the Lord for Men once to die and we must appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ as it is 2 Cor. 5. 10 11. But again in the Death of the Beggar First we noted what became of his Soul It was carried by Angels into Abrahams Bosom Whereby we learn the Immortality of the Soul Pythagoras was the first among the Grecians that taught the Soul was Immortal The Philosophers also and Heathen Poets do prove the Immortality of the Soul Cedit enim retro de terra quod fuit ante In terram sed quod missum est ex aetheris oris Id rursum coeli fulgentia templa receptant The part of Man that was made of Earth went to Earth and that part as came from Heaven went to Heaven again But leaving these we prove by Scripture the Immortality of the Soul Man was made a living Soul Therefore the Soul is Immortal And here in the Text Lazarus being dead his Soul was carried into Abraham 's Bosom Here therefore is the damnable Opinion of the Atheists overthrown For if they deny God they must also deny that they have Souls and so consequently that they are not men But St. John teacheth them that all things were made by the Word of God and without it nothing was made therefore if they are made they are made by the Word of God and of a reasonable Soul which do acknowledge and believe in the Creator Anima est primum principium vitae per se subsistens incorporea ac incorruptibilis The Soul is the first beginning of Life subsisting of it self incorporeal and incorruptible St. Austin Anima est spiritus est substantia incorporea corporis sui vita sensibilis invisibilis rationalis immortalis The Soul of man is a spiritual or incorporeal substance sensible invisible reasonable immortal For as he also saith Solum homo habet animam rationalem Only Man with an Immortal Soul Lazarus Soul was carried into Abraham's Bosom which is a quiet Haven which the faithful have gotten by the troublesom Navigation of this Life that is the Kingdom of Heaven Here therefore we note that the Souls of the Elect being separated from their Bodies are presently in Joys and are carried into Abraham's Bosom so called because it belongeth only to the Faithful Well then Lazarus Soul went to Heaven and Christ said to the Thief on the Cross This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Not to morrow or next Year but this day Therefore the Souls of the Elect being separated from their Bodies are in Joy and Rest. As also on the other side the soul of the Rich man and the Damned after they be separated from their Bodies are in Hell Torments And thus much concerning the place whither Lazarus soul was carried being dead namely into Abraham's Bosom Lastly We noted by whom by Angels It was carried by Angels into Abraham 's Bosom And here an Objection ariseth viz. If this be so that the Godly die as well as the Wicked and if the Saints must appear before the Judgment-seat as well as the sinners then what Advantage have the Godly more than the Ungodly and how can the Saints be in a better condition than the Wicked Answ. Read the ãâã Verse over again and you shall find a ãâã difference between them as much as is between Heaven and Hell everlasting Joy and everlasting Torment for you find when the Beggar died which represents the Godlâ⦠he was carried by the Angels into Abraham's Bosom or into everlasting Joy Psal. 1. But the Ungodly are not so but are hurried by the Devils into the Bottomless Pit drawn away in their Wickedness Prov. 14. 32. for he saith And in Hell he lift up his Eyes when the Ungodly do die their misery beginneth for then appear the Devils like so many Lions waiting every moment till the soul depart from the Body sometimes they are very visible to the dying Party but sometimes more invisible But always this is certain they never miss of the soul if it do die out of the Lord Jesus Christ but do hale it away to their Prison as I said before there to be tormented and reserved until the great and dreadful day of Judgment at which day they must Body and Soul receive a final Sentence from the Righteous Judge and from that time be shut out from the Presence of God into everlasting woe and distress But the Godly when the time of their departure is at hand then are also the Angels of the Lord at hand
lived 967 years and he died O the longest day hath its night and in the end man must die The Princes of the Nations pass sentence of death upon others Well it is not long but their turn will come Semel mori once to die Many of us live where our parents lived and live of the same lands which they lived of It is not long and our Children shall do as much for us For we must go hence and be seen no more Some ride Post some Hackney pace at serius citius sooner later all arrive at the Common Inn the grave and die Some have the Palsie some the Apoplexy some a Feaver some an Ague some a Consumption some none of them yet the sick the sound they all meet in the end at the same Rendezvouz at the House of Death The Scholar thinks to delude Death with hiââ¦s Fallacies The Lawyer puts in his Demur the Prince his plea is State affairs at ââ¦quo pulsat pede Death knocks at all doors alike and when he comes they all go hence from their houses to their graves Joseph the Jew in his best health made his Stone Coffin be cut out in his Garden to put him in mind of his Ego abeo I go hence The Persians they buried their dead in their houses to put the whole houshold in mind of the same lot Semel mori once to die Simonides when commanded to give the most wholsom rule to live well willed the Lacedemonian Prince ever to bear in mind Se tempore brevi moriturum ere long and he must die I have read of a sort of people that used dead mens bones for money and the more they have they are counted the more rich Herein consists my richest treasure to bear that about me will make me all my life remember my end Great Sultan Saladan Lord of many Nations and Languages commanded upon his death-bed that one shall carry upon a Spears point through all his Camp the Flag of Death and to proclaim for all his wealth Saladan hath nought left but this winding-sheet An ensured Ensign of Death triumphing over all the Sons of Adam I uncloath my self every night I put off all but what may put me in mind of my winding-sheet Anaxagoras having word brought him his onely son was dead his answer was Scio me genuisse mortalem I know he was born to die Philip of Macedon gave a Boy a pension every morning to say to him Philippe memento te hominem esse Philip remember thou art a man and therefore must die We read of Philostrates how he lived seven years in his Tomb that he might be acquainted with it against the time he came to be put into it Oh an Apprentiship of years is time little enough to make us perfect in the Mystery of Mortality Divine Meditations arising from the Contemplation of these sad and serious Sentences 1. Med. IS it not high time to make fit to die considering thy Winding Sheet lies ready for thee and the Bell tolls thee away Say with thy self My want is great my time is almost run If I make not market to day I am not sure to do it to morrow O the uncertainty of Life shall be the Alarum-Bell to give me now notice to work out my Salvation with fear and trembling O I am never so nigh my God as when I think of my end FRIEND let Death be in thy thoughts and God will be in thy heart 2. Med. Meditate since man must die Lord what danger in dying unprepared this is Maxima miseria A misery of miseries and St. Augustine gives the reason For that look how a man goeth to that prison the Grave so he goeth to the Judgment-hall to be tryed But oh Death thou Common Butcherer of human Nature after thy great stroak be struck I am not dead but asleep Blessed be thou my God who hast made my grave my bed in which after I have taken some silent rest the noise of the Archangel with his Trumpet shall awake and raise me from a Death for sin to a life of glory Death is the way we must all walk to Life Some ancient Fathers and some late Writers says the Lord Manchester have fixed upon the Love of God Some upon the Passion of Christ Some upon the Joys of Heaven Some upon Contempt of the World several others upon divers other subjects All opening that some one is to be chosen For whoso will live to himself must be at leisure for God And a wise man saith Wisdom is to be written in time of leisure Whoever is lessen'd by work he cannot tend it I being in my accustomed retiredness disengaged from publick affairs which was but seldom found it useful fruitful and delightful To bestow my thoughts upon my latter end There be four last things say the Fathers Heaven Hell Death and Judgment All subjects large enough But considering I had passed so much Employment so many Offices so long Practice in several professions I now thought it time to seize on Death before it seiz'd on me Lord teach me to number my days that I may apply my Heart to Wisdom After long meditation this I found that when Meditation had begotten Devotion then it applyed it self to Contemplation which required a settlement upon some Divine Object And what more heavenly than the thought of Immortality What so necessary as the thought of Death Herein therefore I complyed with my own desires and did so as it were weave my own windingsheet by making choice of Death for the Subject of my Contemplation We should not diffuse our thoughts into variety of Considerations but recollect them into one by Contemplation Herewith a man's soul being once affected hardly shall be obtain leave of his thoughts to return again to employments And lest I busied about many things should remain unknown unto my self for the old word is a true one Neither things read or understood profit him at all who does not both read and know himself I there applyed my self Ad meum novissimum to my last thing what man liveth and shall not see death And if after death The Righteous shall scarcely be saved we may well be fearful and had need be careful that we be not taken unprepared When I was a young Man saith Seneca my care was to live well I then practised the art of well living When age came upon me I then studied the art of dying well how to die well It is true The journey of Life appears not to busie men until the end Yet when I was most busie of all I delighted my self with this comfort that a time would come wherein I might live to my self hoping to have sweet leisure to enjoy my self at last And this I am now come to by disposing not by changing my self Lord let me be found in this posture when I come to die In the courses of my Life I have had interchanges The World it self stands upon
vicissitudes God hath interwoven my life with adversity and prosperity When I first took me to a Gown I put on this thought I desire a Fortune like my Gown not long but fit fit for my condition finding by others that a contented kind of obscurity keeps a Man free from Envy Although any kind of Superiority be a mark of envy yet Not to be so high as to provoke an ill eye nor so low as to be trodden on was the height of my Ambition But I must confess I have since had a greater portion of the World's favour than I looked for Nevertheless I never gave trust to fortune although she seemed to be at peace with me To check repining at those above me I always looked at those below me nor did any preferments so delight me or abuse me as to make me neglect preparing for my dying day And now I thank God I can say O Lord my heart is ready This I have considered that Life flows away by Hours and days as it were by drops Careful Martha was full busie about many things but was well advised by Christ There was only one thing necessary One thing have I desired of the Lord that I may dwell in his House for ever This was David's unum his one thing and God willing shall be mine Amidst these thoughts I had these things in contemplation 1. What Death was and the kinds of Death 2. Secondly What fears or joys death brings 3. Thirdly When Death is to be prepared for and How 4. Fourthly Death approaching what our last thoughts should be Of these things I thus believed That Death was but a fall which came by a Fall Our first-framed Father Adam falling in him we all fell It was not the Man but mankind Body and Soul parting BUt Oh how bitter at that time will be the parting of Soul and Body We see old acquaintance cannot part without tears What shall such intimate familiar friends do as the Soul and Body are which have lived together from the Womb with so much delight In that hour every man will make Balaam's suit O that I might die the death of the Righteous We all desire to shut up our last scene of Life with In manus tuas Domine Into thy hands O Lord I commend my Spirit At this Hour What would a man give to secure his Soul Quid dabis pro animâ tuâ tunc qui nunc pro nihiââ¦o das illam What wilt thou give then for thy Soul to save it who dost so prodigally throw it away now for nothing This thou canst not leave behind thee that will tell thee whether thou goest and what thou shalt look for Tunc quasi loquentia tua Opera dicent Tu nos egisti Tua opera sumus Tâ⦠non deseremus sed tecum iââ¦imus ad Judicium Then shall thy doings even speaking aloud say unto thee Thou hast done us we are thy works we will not leave thee but will go with thee to judgment In that day shall come into mens minds by the Divine Power in the twinkling of an Eye all their past good or evil Works Memory the Magazine of the Soul will then recount all that thou hast done said or thought all thy life long For there needs no other Art of memory for sin but misery Man is a great flatterer of himself but Conscience is always just and will never chide thee wrongfully it always takes part with God against a man's self It is a domestick Magistrate that will tell what you do at home It is well termed the pulse of the Soul therefore if you would know the true state of vour Body or Soul feel how this beats that will tell you Yet take heed you make not an Idol of your Conscience neither think as some do that it is a crime to make a Conscience of our Actions At point of death if a man will take his aim by the best men that ever lived or died that of David Ezekias yea and of Christ himself as he was man is able to amaze any man when as our Saviour Christ not many hours before he suffered said My soul is troubled and what shall I say and at the very point of Death said Father if it be thy will let this Cup pass from me When David said Save Lord for thy mercies sake For in Death there is no remembrance of thee And Ezekias wept sore when he was bid Put thy house in order for thou must die If the Patriarchs if the Prophets if the Apostles if the Martyrs if Christ himself was thus troubled at the hour of Death Wretched man that I am what shall I do We were all to seek but that Christ bids us Be of good chear for I have overcome Death Caesar Borgias being sick to death said When I lived I provided for every thing but death now I must die and am unprovided to die Previous preparation becomes a wise man But we are all deceived with this Error ãâã we think none but old men approaââ¦h to death neither experience nor age can work upon us so death that it may more easily sââ¦rprise us shrowds it self under the very name of life He that sââ¦es the Basilisk before he be seen of it avoids the poyson See Death before it comes you shall not feel it when it comes We pray daily Lord Give us this day our daily Bread whilst it is called to day We should remember Life is but a day 't is bââ¦t a day not an age Wherefore saith Solomon Talk not of to morrow for thou knowest not what to morrow will bring forth A man saith Luther lives forty years before he knows himself to be a fool and by that time he sees his folly his Life is finished So men die before they begin to live To die well is too busie a work to be done well on a sudden Deferring as well as presuming makes many men implicite Atheists It was a sweet Speech and might well have become an Elder Body which a young innocent Child of my own used in extremity of sickness Mother what shall I do I shall die before I know what death is I beseech you tell me what is Death and how I should die Now of the way to die well HE that would end his days well must spend them well 'T is no great matter to live all do as much but few die well But Death faââ¦s sad and heavy upon such Are little known at home abroad too much Man is ready to die before he lives but therefore he liveth a time in the world that he may die betime to the world His Years come to an end as a Tale that is ââ¦old His days deceive him for they pass as a shadow by moon-shine then appearing longest when they draw nearest to an end Job saith My days are swister than a Post they flee away and see no good The art of dying well is better learnt by Practice than by Precept Unto
dying well three Things are most requisite First To be often meditating upon Death Secondly To be dying daily Thirdly To die by little and little The first step of dying well OFten meditation of Death brings a man to die in ease for it alleviates pains expels fear eases cares cures sins corrects death it self The very Thought of Eternity will make easie and pleasant all things we suffer in a miserable Life How can we be said not to die when we live among the dead We live with so many deaths about us as we cannot but often think of dying Every Humour in us engenders Diseases enough to kill us so that our Bodies are but living Graves and we die not because we are sick but because we live And when we recover from sickness we escape not sickness but the disease All this life is but a death of an hour Familiarity with Death a soveraign Cordial against Death THerefore be acquainted with Death betimes for through acquaintance death will lose his horror like unto an ill Face though it be as formidable as a monster yet often viewing will make it familiar and free it from distaste walk every day with Joseph a turn or two in thy Garden with death and thou shalt be well acquainted with the face of death but shalt never feel the sting of death Death is black but comely Philostrates lived seven years in his Tomb that he might be acquainted with it against his bones came to lye in it Some Philosophers have been so wrapt in this contemplation of Death and Immortality that they discourse so familiarly and pleasingly of it as if a fair death were to be preferred before a pleasant life This is well for Nature's part and Moralists think this enough for their part to conceive so But Christians must go farther and search deeper They must try where the power of death lyes They shall find that the power of every man's death lyes in his own sin That death never hurts a man but with his own weapons It always turns upon us some sin it finds in us The sting of Death is sin Pluck out the sting death cannot hurt us The way to die well is to die often Let a man often and seriously think of dying then let him sin if he can said Picus Mirandula In Sardis there grew an Herb called Appium Sardis that would make a Man lie laughing when he was deadly sick Such is the operation of sin Beware therefore of this Risus Sardonicus laughter of Sardis We count it a fearful thing for a man to be author of his own death but a sinful life slays the soul. and so while we live we kill or lose our better life The Commandment that says Thou shalt not kill especially forbids the murthering of our own Souls And herein is our happiness though we live in sin yet we die without sin Therefore to me Death is welcome not as an end of troubles but of sin Into thy hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth The Second Step To be dying daily THE second step to dying-well is to die daily Methinks O my Soul it is but yesterday since we met and now we are upon parting neither shall we I hope be unwilling to take our leaves for what advantage can it be to us to hold out longer together Are we not assured that if our earthly house of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an house not made with hands eternal in the Heavens Why therefore O my Soul shouldst thou be loth to part upon fair terms Thou O my Soul to the possession of that happy Mansion which thy dear Saviour hath from all Eternity prepared for thee in his Father's house and thou O my body to that quiet repository of the grave till ye both shall happily meet in the blessed Resurrection of the Just. I die that I may not die I die daily saith Saint Paul So many days as thou livest reckon so many lives for he that disposeth all his days as one life can neither wish nor fear to morrow The old saying is a good saying Do that every day which thou wouldst do the same day that thou diest 'T is an excellent thing to make all we can of life before Death To die by little and little the third step THE third step to dying well is to die by little and little Naturally we are every day dying by degrees the faculties of our minds the strength of our bodies our common senses are every day decaying by little and little every sin is more than a disease and a wicked life makes a continual death Impie vivere est diu mori To live wickedly is to be long a dying Therefore saith the good Man We are killed all the day long He that useth this course every day To die by little and little to him let Death come when it will it can neither be terrible nor sudden If we keep a Courser to run a Race we lead him daily over the place to acquaint him by degrees with all things in the way that when he comes upon his speed he do not start or turn aside for any thing he sees So let us inure our souls and then we shall run with boldness the race that is set before us looking to Jesus the Author and finisher of our salvation To die by little and little is first to mortifie our lesser sins and not to say with Lot Is it not a little one There be also a sort of little deaths sickness of body loss of Friends and the like Use these in their kind and you may make them kindly helps to dying well Every change is a certain imitation of Death Let a man go out as he came into the World which was first by a life of Vegetation then of Senââ¦e afterwards of Reason To die daily is this daily to attend upon and exercise that great duty of Mortification according to our solemn Vow and Covenant made to God at our Baptisâ⦠which Vow and Covenant we renew at our first coming to the holy and blessed Sacrament of the Lord's Supper Alas how few do consider or understand this great duty of Mortification and fewer practise it And yet this above all others is the Grace which fitteth and prepareth us for Death this Grace putteth us into the possession of Life Spiritââ¦al and by perseverance in it into life Eternal Rom. 8. 13. But if ye live after the flesh that is after the appetites lusts affections of the flesh ye shall die But I bless God I have nothing to do with the World nor the World with me Riches Pleasures honours transport me not affect me not nor am I dejected and afflicted with poverty common pains sicknesses disgrace or scorn Christ liveth in me and I in him therefore I humbly thank the power of his grace I can die as willingly as I can go out of one Room into another For
the manner of dying AMongst Men it is a matter of chief mark the manner of a man's death The chief good of Man is his good departure out of this life Before you die set your house in order He that hath not a house yet hath a soul no soul can want affairs to set in order for this final dissolution The chief grace of the Theatre is the last Scene It is the Evening that Crowns the day and we think it no good sign of a fair Morrow when the Sun sets in a Cloud The end Crowns every Work Most men wish a short Death because death is always accompanied with pain We die groaning To lie but an hour under Death is tedious but to be dying a whole day we think beyond the strength of humane patience He that desires to be dissolved and be with Christ dies not only patiently but delightfully Happy is he that after due preparation dies ere he be aware so likewise is he happy that by long sickness sees death afar off for the one dies like Elias the other like Elisha both blessedly The best posture to be found in when Death comes is in the exercise of our calling Press saith St. Paul towards the mark for the prize of the high calling Phil. 3. A good Man by his good will would die praying and do as the Pilgrim doth go on his way singing and so adds the pains of singing to that of going Who yet by this surplus of pain unwearies himself of pain But some wretches think God rather curious than they faulty if a few sighs with a Lord have mercy upon us be not enough at the last gasp But commonly good Men are best at last even when they are dying It was a Speech worthy the commendation and frequent remembrance of so divine a Bishop as Augustine which is reported of an aged Father in his time who when his Friends comforted him on his sick bed and told him they hoped he should recover answered If I shall not die at all well but if ever why not now Surely it is folly what we must do to do unwillingly I will never think my Soul in a good case so long as I am loth to think of dying There is no Spectacle in the World so profitable or more terrible than to behold a dying man to stand by and see a man dismanned Curiously didst thou make me in the lowest part of the Earth saith David but to see those Elements which compounded made the Body To see them divided and the man dissolved is a ruful sight Every dying man carries Heaven and Earth wrapped up in his bosom and at this time each part returns homeward Certainly death hath great dependency on the course of man's life and life it self is as frail as the Body which it animates Augustus Caesar accounted that to be the best death which is quick and unexpected and which beats not at our doors by any painful sickness So often as he heard of a man that had a quick passage with little sense of pain he wished for himself that Euthanaââ¦ie While he lived he used to set himself between his two friends Groans and Tears When he died he called for his Looking-glass commanded to have his Hair and Beard kembed his reviled cheeks smoothed up Then asking his Friends if he acted his part well when they answered Yes why then says he do you not all clap your hands for me Despair in dying may as well arise from weakness of Nature as from trouble of Mind But by neither of these can he be prejudiced that hath lived well Raving and other strange Passions are many times rather the effect of the Disease than coming from the mind For upon Death's approaches choler ââ¦uming to the Brain will cause distempers in the most patient Soul In these cases the fairest and truest judgment to be made is that sins of sickness occasioned by violence of Disease in a patient man are but sins of infirmity and not to be taken as ill signs or presages A Son of so many Tears cannot but be saved I will not despair in respect of that man's impatient dying whom the Worm of Conscience had not devoured living Seldom any enter into Glory with ease yet the Jews say of Moses His soul was sucked out of his mouth with a kiss David in this case the better to make his way prayed and cried Lord spare me a little O spare me that I may recover my strength before I go hence and be no more Indeed to Ezekias some Years of Days were lent But we are not worthy of that favour we must not expect that God will bring back the shadow of degrees ââ¦hen ãâã it is gone down in the Dial of Aââ¦az we must time it as we may and be content to live and die at uncertainties Therefore as a sick man ãâã to the Clock so let us waââ¦h Death For sudden coming of Death finding a weak soul unprepared makes it desperate and leaves it miserable Death approaching what our last Thoughts should be SEneca saith the last day judgeth all the precedent The last is the best dying words are weightiest and make deepest imressions Our last thoughts are readiest to spend themselves upon somewhat that we loved best while we lived The soul it self when it is entring into glory breaths Divine things At this time a good man's tongue is in his breast not in his mouth his words are then so pithy and so pectoral that he cries O Lord Jesus take thine own into thy own custody Anatomists say there are strings in a man's tongue which go to his heart when these break Man speaks his heart Oh that they were wise said Moses and would understand and fore-see their latter end When he was dying Christs last words in the Bible are Surely I come quickly Our answer is Amen Even so come Lord Jesus c. I have but small acquaintance with the future State but this I 'm sure there will be no change that will be so surprizing to me as that By Death It is a thing of which I know but little and noââ¦e of the millions of Souls that have past into the invisible World have come again to tell me how it is I. It must be done my Soul but 't is a strange A dismal and Mysterious change Norris When thou shalt leave this Tenement of Clay And to an unknown somewhere wing away When Time shall be Eternity and thou not how Shalt be thou know'st not what and live thou know'st II. Amazing State no wonder that we dread To think of Death or view the Dead Thou' rt all wrapt up in the Clouds as if to thee Our very knowledge had Antipathy Death could not a more sad retinue find Sickness and pain before and darkness aâ⦠behind III. Some courteous Ghost tell this great Secrecy What 't is you are and we must be You warn us of approaching Death and why May we not know from you what 't is to
dye But you having shot the Gulph delight to see Succeeding Souls plunge in with like uncertainty IV. When Life 's close knot by writ from Destiny Disease shall cut or age unty When after some delays so me dying strife The Soul stands shivering on the ridge of Life With what a dreadful Curiosity Does she launch out into the Sea of vast Eternity V. So when the spacious Globe was delug'd o're And lower holds could save no more On th' utmost Bough th' astonish'd Sinners stood And view'd th' Advances of th' encroaching Flood O're topp'd at length by th' Elements encrease With horror they resigââ¦'d to the untry'd Abyss It is very desirable to know in what condition our Souls will be when they leave the Body and what is the Natââ¦re of that abode into which we must go but which we never saw into and through what Regions we must then take our flight and after what manner this will be done 'T is certain my Soul will then preserve the faculties that are natural to it viz. to understand to will to remember as 't is represented to us under the Parable of Dives and Lazarus But alas we little know how the People of the disembodied Societies act and will and understand and communicate their thoughts to one another and therefore I long to know it What conception can I have of a separated Soul says a late Writer but that 't is all Thought I firmly think when a mans body is taken from him hy Death he is turned into all Thought and Spirit How great will be his Thought when it is without any hinderance from these material Organs that now obstruct its Operations In that Eternity as one expresses it the whole power of the Soul runs together one and the same way In Eternity the Soul is united in its Motions which way one faculty goes all go and the Thoughts are all concentred as in one whole Thought of Joy or Torment These things have occasioned great variety of Thoughts in me and my Soul when it looks towards the other World and thinks it self near it can no more cease to be inquisitive about it than it can cease to be a Soul Tears FOR A Dead Husband WHen Mary came where Jesus was and saw him she fell down at his feet saying unto him Lord if thou hadst been here my Brother had not died Jo. 11. 32. She wept indeed yet it was but for ãâã Brother and the Jews also wept vers 33. yet it was but for a common Friend But what was all that to the death of a Husband O my Husband my Husband That very name of Husband methinks would flatter me with comfort as if I might imagin that he could hear me But oh he is dead he is dead He cannot hear me he cannot behold me he cannot answer me His Ears are locked up his Eyes are closed his mouth is sealed his Soul is gone O what shall I do for my head my guide my heart my Husband Were my Saviour upon Earth again I could send one to him as Mary did who should say Lord behold he whom thou lovest is dead Dead say I ãâã O dead dead he is gone he is departed and can never be recalled But why Why can he not be called back again Did not my Jesus cause Lazarus to arise when he had been four days dead ver 39. Yes he did But what then I neither love my Saviour so well as Mary did nor I fear doth he love me so well as he did Mary or if both were so yet since Miracles are ceased I cannot so much as hope that he will call back the Spirit of my Lord my Husband Oh could he be wooed by the Tears of a sinful Woman never did any mourn so much as I would But nothing will perswade I seek but the disturbance of him whom I mourn for if I desire to call him from his eternal rest When Sarah died in Kirjath-Arba Abraham stood up from before his deceased Wife and spake unto the Sons of Heth saying I am a stranger and a Sojourner with you Give me a Possession and a burying place with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight Gen. 23. 3 4. Though he so tenderly affected her whilst she was living yet he would not look too long on her when she was dead It is a duty as full of humanity to interr with decency the Bodies of the dead as it is of Religion to love the Persons when they are alive Yet vain is man in this affection if he fixeth his love only on the beauty of the body This flesh which is so tender this skin which I strive to preserve both smooth and white must one day be a banquet for the loathed Worms No greater priviledge belongeth to me than did to my Husband for the time will come when I shall follow him to the Earth Had I loved only his outward form my love should now either be quite forgotten or else I should fondly desire to deny it interment But it was his body enlivened with a rich and excellent Soul which drew mine affection and commanded my desires Had that Soul and body continued their Society I had been freed from my laments but they have bid farewell till the general Resurrection and hence am I enforced to utter my complaints I weep for my loss because we are divorced But oh what conflicts then can I imagin that he had when he was not only to part from his indeared Wife but likewise his Soul was to leave this chillowed Earth Oh for him for him for my loss of him do I pay the tribute of these watering Eyes Yet these tears must not flow in too great abundance lest by them I should seem to envy his happiness Even when his body shall be layed to sleep in the grave if I mourn too much it will be justly suspected that too much I loved the worst of my Husband His Soul which was his best is now in perfection and may not be lamented his Body which is the worst and grosser part of him is now to be committed to the Earth whence it came Thither it must go to that place I must commend it otherwise my former love may be turned into loathing and that which I esteemed when it was alive I shall be forced to abhor if I keep it from the Grave O it grieveth me each minute that I think of my dearest it troubleth and perplexeth me with disturbed thoughts when I consider how frequently I loved him yet cannot enliven him But these are only the fond conceptions of an erring phantasie and tell me that I loved him more than I should or else now I would not grieve so much as I do If my love to God be so great as I pretend I shall thankfully acknowledg his Love to the departed O let it never be said that my Love was Idolatry in affecting him too much who is but dust and ashes But why sit
Disciples who had indignation at the Act and therefore said To what purpose is this waste Yea he reproved them and said unto them Why trouble ye the Woman For she hath wrought a good work upon me For in that she hath poured this Ointment on my Body she did it for my Burial Mat. 26. 8 10 12. She hath done what she could she is come aforehand to anoint my Body to the burying Mar. 14. 8. Here I find was Ointment to embalm him and here were also Tears at his Funeral And yet so far was Christ from blaming her for her Tears that he not only decreed the publishing of this Act through the World where the Gospel should be preached and that for a Memorial of her Mat. 26. 13. but he likewise upbraided Simon with the tears of the sinner and said unto him I entred into thine house and thou gavest me no water for my feet but she hath washed my feet with Tears and wiped them with the hairs of her head c. Wherefore her sins which are many are forgiven for she loved much Luke 7. 44 47. Weep then I may upon this sad occasion yea and weep may my Friends too Tears are as proper at a Funeral as Smiles at a Wedding We have two Marriages the first whereof is to living Dust the last to the cold and silent Earth At the former we rejoyce for it was an institution of God before Man had sinned Gen. 2. 24. At the latter we weep for it is the effect of sin We cloath our selves in delightful Colours when we celebrate the former But our Blacks at the latter are our Wedding Garments The Rosemary is served about at each The Gloves and the Favours attend at each The Wine and the other accustomed Entertainments are given at each We go to the Church for the consummation of each Only here is the difference that at the one we rejoice but at the other we mourn Every Guest that is willing to comply with the present occasion must as well be sad at this as be merry at the other Weep we may and weep we must especially my self who have lost my self But yet let me take heed that I offend not in my Tears lest that which is my Duty be turned into a Crime I must especially take heed that I err not in the cause of these Laments for if I grieve at the happiness of him that is departed I discover an Envy rather than Affection If I grieve for the loss which my self sustaineth I must take heed that I wrong not my confidence in God I may not offend in the number of my Tears for if I weep too much I may forfeit my hope or at least I may occasion those that behold me to think that I doubt of the salvation of the Dead Weep I may and weep I must but for fear lest I offend in these my Tears in my earnest Prayers I will beg that they may be sanctified To my God will I go for his Direction and Assistance And in this storm of my Tears I will shelter my self under his Protection The Dying Knell Or Tears for the Death of a beloved Brother and may likewise serve at the Decease of any other faithful Friend A Friend saith King Solomon loveth at all times and a Brother is born for adversity Prov. 17. 17. Friendship which is begotten by the outward form or any other sinister and by-respect liveth no longer than that ground of affection but nature is stronger than our election can be and Religion obligeth far more than both O how great then is my loss of my dearest Brother in whom both excellency of Feature nearness of blood and a gracious conversation conspired together to render him matchless To me he was a Friend but now to the Grave and what loss can be greater than the loss of a Friend To me he was a Brother but now to the Worms And what loss can be more deplorable than the loss of a Brother But to me he was yet more he was a Friend in his Love and courtesies a Brother by his blood yea and an instructer a teacher of Religion and goodness And yet nor love nor blood nor Religion could preserve him mine O what Sorrows do accompany all things transitory His love could not die but his body could And so I am deprived of the Society of my Brother because my Brother was subject to Corruption But is this the adversity for which he was born according to King Solomon Did the Wise Man intend that a Brother is born to bring Adversity Or rather to comfort us in the time of Adversity Had he been a cause of my least disturbance while he was living he would have eased my grief by grieving himself He would have comforted me in the time of trouble had he lived to see my grievous mourning But now alas I am left to lament alone and so much the more for the want of his comfort I now must grieve for him who was my joy and my laments and my griefs increase the higher because for his sake they arise who cannot allay them Had we lived in hatred his death peradventure might have been my Comfort Had we loved but slightly a tear or two I might have thought enough to pay at his Funeral But our Love was firm it was strong yea strong as death and who then can blame me if my sorrows in some measure keep pace with my love O what tie can be so great as that of affection What love so great as of a Brother and Sister And yet so vain is Man so frail are Mortals that either our affection or our persons must have a divorce Had my deceased Brother forgotten the tie and bond of nature and in his life had he turned his love into hatred yet his fault ought not to have lessened my Love to which both Nature and Religion did strongly oblige me Had he loved me but coldly and faintly as divers do yet I ought to have warmed his affection with the fervency of mine But oh he dearly loved he cordially affected me and yet his love and his affection could not prolong his life Had my Brother and I been Idolaters together I might have believed that that sin had slain my Brother But as our Love was constant so our Religion was undefiled yea the strength of our Love was founded on the purity of our Religion and yet he hath payed his debt to Nature The Lord did threaten to set the Egyptians against the Egyptians and that they should fight every one against his Brother Is. 19. 2. Those Egyptians were heathens and Enemies to the Church but my Brother and I were united both in the Profession and the Love of Christianity and yet through our sins I fear that even we destroy each other My sins are partly punished in his death and his death hath given me so deep a wound that peradventure I shall not long survive him Our love was so
rest it grieved them that they should see him no more how would it have grieved them think you if they had always hardned themselves against his ministry before Think with your selves seriously here is such a Minister such a Christian friend that husband and wife that parent and child a time of parting will come let us make it easie now by making good use of one another while we live that when friends are took away we may have cause to thank God that we have had communion and comfort of their fellowship and society the benefit of their graces the fruit of their lives and not sorrow for the want of them by death Death separates a Man from his Friends For alas Death doth not only part a mans body and soul a mans self and his wealth but it parteth a man from his friends from all his worldly acquaintance from all those that he took delight in upon earth Death makes a separation between husband and wife see it in Abraham and Sarah though Abraham loved Sarah dearly yet Death parted them Let me have a place to bury my Dead out of my sight Gen. 23. It parteth Father and Child how unwilling soever they be see it in David and Absolom Oh Absolom my son would God I had died for thee and Rachel mourned for her Children and would not be comforted because they were not It parteth the Minister and the people see it in the case of the people of Israels lamenting the death of Samuel in the case of the Ephesians at the parting of S. Paul sorrowing especially when they heard they should see his face no more It parteth those friends who were so united together in love as if they had but one soul in two bodies see it in the separation that was made by death between David and Jonathan that were so knit together in their love that he bewaileth him Woe is me for my brother Jonathan 2 Sam. 1. 9. This is necessary consideration for us that live that we may learn to know how to carry our selves towards our worldly friends and how to moderate our selves in our enjoyment of these worldly comforts Look upon every worldly thing as a mortal as a dying comsort Look upon Children and friends as dying comforts Look upon your estates as that that hath wings and will be gone Look upon your bodies that now you make so much of as a thing that must be parted from the soul by death and that ere long See what advice the Apostle giveth 1 Cor. 7. 19. the time is short saith he therefore let those that marry be as if they married not and they that rejoyce as though they rejoyced not and they that buy as though they possessed not and they that use this world as not abusing it for the fashion of this world passeth away When thou accompaniest another to the grave dost thou conclude thus with thy self the very next time that any death is spoken of it may be mine or as Saint Peter speaks to Saphira after the death of Ananias The feet of those that have buried thy husband are at the door and shall carry thee out also Again this Doctrine serves to reprove that sinful laying to heart of the death of others that is too frequent and common in the world That is first when men with too much fondness and with too great excess and distemper of affection look upon their dead friends as if God could never repair the loss nor make amends for that he hath done in taking of them away Rachel mourneth and will not be comforted David mourneth and will scarce be comforted Oh Absolom my son my son would God I had died for thee What is all this but to look on friends rather as Gods than men as if all sufficiency were included in them only Men look on their friends as Micah did upon his Idol when they had bereaved him of it they took away all his comfort and quiet You have taken away my Gods saith he and what have I more Judg. 8. 24. This now is an ill taking to heart the death of friends to mourn as men without lââ¦pe Secondly there is taking to heart and considering of the death of men but it is an unrighteous considering and unrighteous judging of the death of others If men see one die it may be a violent death then they conclude certainly there is some appearent token of Gods judgment on such a one If they see another die with some extremity of torment and vehement pains certainly there is some apparent evidence of Gods wrath upon this man If they see another in some great and violent tentation strugling against many tentations they conclude presently certainly such are in a worser case than others I may say to all these as Christ said once to those that told him of the eighteen men upon whom the Tower in Siloe fell think you that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Hierusalem Luke 13. 4. Or rather as Solomon saith All things come alike unto all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked Eccles. 9. 2. Learn to judge righteous judgment to judge wisely of the death of others take heed of condemning the generation of the just But rather in the last place Make this use of the death of every one Doth such a man die by an ordinary sickness having his understanding and memory continued to the end Doth such a man die in inward peace and comfort with clear and evident apprehensions of Gods love so that he can with Simeon say Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace Luke 2. 29. What use shouldest thou that livest make of this now Certainly let the sweetness of their death make thee in love with the goodness of their lives That is the only way to a happy death to a comfortable end indeed the leading of a fruitful and profitable life The main business that a man hath to do is to make sure of himself in this life It was the question that Saint Austin made to those that told him of a violent death that seized upon one But how did he live saith he He made no matter how he went out but how he carried himself in the world And truly this is the great Question that every man should put to his soul. I must out of the world how have I lived when I was in the world had GOD any glory by me had men any good by me have I furthered my account against the day reckoning that I may give it up with joy But now he is Dead wherefore should I Fast Sermon IV. 2 SAM xii 23. But now he is dead wherefore should I fast can I bring him back again I shall go to him but he shall not return to me HEre you have a large Description of that incomparable Love which our princely Prophet David that good King of Israel did bear towards his Son who was no sooner visited with
the Judgment-Seat of Christ that every one may receive the things done in the Body according to that he hath doae whether it be good or bad ISAIAH xxxviii Set thy House in Order for thou shalt Die and not Live MANS Body before that dismal Conquest we all deplore as well as the Poor Soul was conditionally Immortal and so to this very day had ever continued if it had not been for the damnable Sin of Disobedience committed by Adam and Eve our First Parents But this was no sooner Gained than Lost and the time of Mans Life ever since hath been as a Point the Substance of it ever flowing the Sense obscure and the Whole Composition of the Body tending to Corruption If that you should live three hundred years or as many thousand of years yet with all remember this that at the last you shall be compelled by Death Gods all-resting Bailiff to lay down these rotten ruinous and clay-decaying Tabernacles of yours for Dust you are and unto Dust you shall return and peradventure you shall not have a good warning before hand as the good King Hezekiah had here but be thrust out of House and Harbour in less than an hours warning For Death which will put a period to every Mans days 2 Tim. 4. 7. is like a Sergeant sent from above upon Action of Debt at the Suit of Nature mounted upon his Pale Horse will come on unawares rap at your Doors Alight Arrest you all and carry you bound Hand and Foot into a Land as dark as Darkness it self from whence you shall be summoned at the last dreadful Audit to the Bar of Justice in the high Court of Heaven when your Bill shall be brought in how that you have ever Rebelled and most notoriously transgressed against the Lord of Hosts both in Thought Word and Deed and have ever spun away our time as tho' that Death which is the end of all flesh would never follow wherefore to the intent that Hezekiah that good King might be made more certain of his fatal Destiny occasioned by our first Parents and have the less account to make at the great and terrible day of Doom when Christ Jesus the Worlds Saviour shall descend from Heaven which is the center of all good wishes with his Heavenly Host of blessed Angels riding in Pomp and great Majesty upon the Wings of the Wind with the loud sounding Trumpet of God and the all tearing Voice of the Arch-Angel to judge both the quick and Dead God sent unto him the good Prophet Isaiah to incounter with him and to put him in mind of his mortal Song The whole verse runs thus In those days was King Hezekiah sick unto Death and Isaiah the Prophet the Son of Amoz came unto him and said unto him thus saith the Lord. Set thy House in order for thou shalt die and not live These words as they distribute themselves do consist of ãâã Principal and Essential Parts First of an Admonition or earnest Exhortation Set thy House in Order And then secondly of a sound and undeniable Reason which is threefold Affirmative and Negative First Affirmative for thou shalt Die and the Negative and not Live Set thy House c. Now of these in their due order severally and first of the Admonition or earnest Exhortation Set thy House in Order in which you have these three things regardable First the Reason warning which was Almighty ââ¦od by the mouth of the Prophet Isaiah as is made manifest in express termes in the former part of the Verse And Isaiah the Prophet the Son of Amoz came unto him and said unto him thus saith the Lord. Secondly the Person warned or exhorted which was none other but even good King Hezekiah and by him all other And then thirdly and lastly the matter of the Exhortation and that was to Set thy House in Order Now of these which shall have the first place in my Discourse shall be of the Person exhorting and that was God Adam who had attained unto the state of Perfection in his Life and Conversation relying wholly upon Natures first intentions never so much as once dream'd of Death which is a Separation of Soul and Body or any Alteration until Almighty God unto whom all hearts are open no secrets hid seeing his corrupt and base nature came unto him and told him plainly and roundly to his face how that he was but Dust and Ashes and thither should return again Gen. 3. 19. Thus Almighty God by the mouth of Moses the Faithful was ever warning the Israelites being ever a most stiff-necked and rebellious Generation of their Mortality Deut. 32. 21. saving They have moved me to Jealousie with that which is not God they have provoked me to Anger with their Vanities And I will move them to Jealousie with those which are not a People I will provoke them to Anger with a foolish Nation for a fire is kindled in my anger and shall burn unto the lowest Hell and shall consume the Earth with her encrease and set on fire the Foundation of the Mountains I will heap mischief upon them I will spend my Arrows upon them they shall be burnt with hunger and devour'd with burning heat and with bitter Destruction I will also send the Teeth of Beasts upon them with the poyson of Serpents of the Dust and to raise this Blister the higher the Sword without and Terrour within shall destroy both the Young Man and the Virgin the suckling also with the Mââ¦n of Gray Hairs vers 25. Thus Almighty God did threaten them if that they would not set their House in Order and repent that he would bring them to the Dust again wherefore Moses being a true Mirror of pity out of his most tender Love and boundless Affection towards them all in general lest that Almighty God should send forth his sharp piercing Arrows and give them mortal Wounds in his heavy Wrath and cruel Anger cries out most bitterly by way of Exclamation saying O that they were wise then would they understand this and consider their latter end Thus the Father of Spirits and Lives having out of a Chaos or nothing created all and fashioned Man after his own Image seeing his corrupt and base Nature too inclinable unto all sorts of Wickedness by a sudden Metamorphosis transforms him into what he was again just like the Cat in the Fable which when she would not change her manners having all her members made after the form of a Woman according to hearts desire was turned into a Cat again Thus fâ⦠concerning the first particular Circumstance the Son warning even Almighty God by the mouth of Isaiah the Prophet wherefore now to breviate my Discourse in fewer Words lest that I should be too prolix in the prosecution I shall proceed unto the second thing subservient to this Explication and that is the person warned or here to set his House in Order which was none other but even Hezekiah that good King
promise to thy self length of days yet thou must know also that a man even at the highest pitch of health when he hath that same Fencer-like kind of strength is nearest danger in the Judgment of the best Physicians remember with all that observation of Seneca Young Men saith he have Death behind them Old Men have Death before them and all men have Death not far from them we may in a manner complain already that the great God of Battle threatens an utter ruin to all the World the Earth hath trembled the Lights of Heaven have been often darkned Rebellions have been raised Treasons have not long since been practised Plagues of late have been dispersed Winds have blustered Waters have raged and what wants there now but those two Arrows of God even Sword and Fire from Heaven for us to be consumed Is it now think you a time to buy to sell to eat to drink and to live securely in sin as they did in the days of Noah and think of nothing else is it now a time to say unto Almighty God as the Nigard doth unto his Neighbour come again to me to morrow as that drousie Sluggard doth Prov. 6. 10. Yet a little sleep a little slumber a little foulding of the hands to sleep The foolish Virgins supposed that the Bridegroom would not have come like an Owl or a Batt in the night there is time enough said they what needs all this haste but poor Fools they were excluded Oh! I cannot forbear my very Heart even bleeds within me to think of it yea all the faculties of my Soul and Body are strucken with horrour and amazement while I declare unto you how that many Thousands now are doubtless in Hell who purposed in time to have set their Houses in order but being prevented by Death are for ever condemned O here I could heartily wish with Jeremy that I had in the Wilderness a Cottage Yea I could wish with Job that I were a Brother to the Dragons and a Companion to the Ostriches whilst I think of that wish I am now uttering nay I could willingly desire with the Princely Prophet David that my Heart were full of Water and that mine Eyes were a Fountain of tears that I might weep Day and Night for the too too common Sins of this our Age in every kind Now you are in your preparations for Eternity and therefore had need to be very watchful over your selves to see that you set your Houses in order for you shall die and not live And this brings me now unto the very last thing observable in my Text and that is of the reason Negative and shalt not live set thy House c Chrysostom prying into the base Nature of Man and finding him ever out of order teacheth him a seven-fold consideration of himself First What he is by nature what he is in himself Dust and Ashes Gen. 18. 2. Secondly What is within him much sin Thirdly What is before him a burning Lake which is spoken of Isai. 30. 33. Fourthly What is above him an offended Justice Deut. 32. 16. Fifthly What is against him Satan and Sin two notorious and deadly Enemies Sixthly What is before him transitory trifle and worldly vanities And then seventhly and lastly He desires man seriously to consider what is behind him infallible Death for semel aut bis morimur omnes Some once some twice we must all die and not live You cannot like Enoch Heb. 11. 5. be translated but must suffer Death as well as other Men being common to all Whatsoever thou dost affect whatsoever thou dost project so do and so project all at once who for any thing thou knowest may at this very present depart out of this Life Hypocrates although he could not cure till Death came upon him Heraclitus who writ many natural Tracts concerning the last and general consolation of the World could not find out a Remedy or a Medicine for his Distemper but died out of hand Thus you may see how that God spares none but sends one thing or other to bring us to our long home And thus far concerning the Death of the Body shall suffice which was the Death good King Hezekiah was forewarned of Wherefore now I shall but only speak a word or two of the Soul and likewise of the Death of the Soul and Body and so conclude First as there is a Natural Death viz. the Death of the Body so likewise there is a Spiritual Death viz. of the Soul when it is deprived of those Graces which formerly God did bestow upon it for as the Soul is the light and life of the Body even so Almighty God is the light and life of the Soul When he takes his holy Spirit from us then we walk in the shadow of Death this Death is an ill Fruit of Sin therefore let us set our Houses in order But secondly As there is a natural Death and a spiritual Death so likewise there is an eternal Death called in the Ornament of Grace the second Death This Death as well as the Death of the poor Soul is lamented by God Esay 59. 2. As I live saith the Lord I desire not the Death of a Sinner but rather that he may turn from his Wickedness and live I might now likewise add a fourth Death and that is a civil Death an undoing of our Credit and honest Reputation which many Men die but this I shall leave to your consideration and so conclude O my dearly beloved Friends consider what you are all by nature What is within you What is above you What is below you What is against you What is before you What is behind you and that is infallible Death For here is not one here amongst you be he never so strong never so healthly but that within the Revolution of a few years shall be brought in spight of his teeth unto the Grave Wherefore let your Houses be dââ¦ly perfumed by a Morning and Evening Sacrifice of Prayer Praise unto Almighty God both which were appointed under the Law Exod. 29. 38. 39. And this shadowed what was to be performed under the Gospel God renews his Mercies to you every Morning and protects you from manifold dangers every Night whereunto you are subject and you be so ungrateful as to banish all his benefits out of your Memories who is every Moment so mindful of you As therefore beloved you tender the Salvation of your poor Souls look home and mourn for your Original sin steep your Eyes in Tears write Letters of ââ¦scomfort upon the Ground as you go let the streams of your fighs and the sweet Incense of your Prayers rise up like Mountains before the Lord of Hosts and bedewing your Cheeks with tears make your humble Confession unto God Almighty not of sin alone but of all your sins of what nature degree or height soever they be and by your unfeigned Confession so accuse your selves that you may not hereafter be accused of
a Vapour that is Corpus imperfecte mixtum that is such a Body that is imperfectly mixed and that for two Reasons First because it hath not perfectum Miscibilium numerum that is all the Elements in it then also because it hath not perfectum Mixtionis modum the true manner of a mixt Body and therefore it vanisheth away into Air either per attenuationem by rarefaction and attenuation as the Philosopher speaketh aut per condensationem when it returneth to the Earth from whence it came And well might this our Apostle compare the Life of Man to such an Imperfect Body as a Vapour is For first if we consider our Birth we are brought forth in the danger of our selves and them that bear us Our Feet are not our own neither are they able to carry the bulk and trunk of our Body our Tongues are not our own our Hands are not our own but we lye bound and wrapped for many Months together we Live and yet we seem not to breathe in our Youth we are liable to many Diseases If it be true that the Physicians say our Eyes are subject to an hundred Perils how much more is the whole Body Some cry My Head My Head as the Shunamites Child some are troubled with lame Legs as Mephibosheth some with Gouty Feet as Asa some are pained in the Belly as Jeremy This is that miserable Frailty which the Prophet Isaiah signifieth in these words Almighty God said unto his Prophet Cry and the Prophet answered What shall I cry God said unto him All Flesh is Grass and all the glory thereof like the Flower of the Field the Grass withereth the Flower fadeth away but the Word of the Lord continueth for ever Upon these words St. Ambrose saith thus Truely it is even so for the glory of Man flourisheth in the Flesh like unto Grass which although it seem to be great it is in very deed but little it buddeth like a Flower and fadeth like Grass so that it hath no more but a certain flourishing in appearance and no firmness and stability in the Fruit. For what firmness can there be in the matter of Flesh Or what good things of any long continuance are to be found in so weak a Subject To day thou maist see a young Man in the flourishing time of his Age with great Strength Lusty and jetting up and down in the Streets in great Bravery with a jolly lofty Countenance and if it so fall out that this very next Night he be taken with some Disease thou shalt see him the next day with a Face so far altered and changed that whereas before he seemed very amiable and beautiful he shall now seem ill-favoured miserable and loathsom to behold nay Mans Fading away is such and so sudden oftentimes that there can be no reason given of his Death for many have gone to Bed well in the Even that in the Morning have bee found dead in their Beds and many suddenly have dropped down in the Highways and Streets as they have walked about their Affairs And this is no wonder if we consider the Substance of Mans Body which being a Building compact of green Clay is easily overthrown with a small puff of Wind. This being then the frailty of our Constitution the consideration thereof should be used to put away and abandon our natural Pride and make us humble our selves under the Hand of God An Example hereof we have in Abraham who said Gen. 18. 27. Behold I have begun to speak to my Lord who am but Dust and Ashes Mark here how the consideration of his frail condition made him to abase and cast down himself in the sight of God In like manner if we could but consider how Frail we are it would straightway pull down our Peacocks Feathers and make us with Job to abhor our selves in Dust and Ashes Secondly The next Point I am to treat of is the shortness of our continuance intimated iâ⦠these words Which appeareth for a little time c. Man that is Born of a Woman saith Job is of shoââ¦t continuance and full of Miseries he shââ¦teth forth as a Flower and is cut down he vanisheth also as a Shadow and continueth not Job 14. ãâã 2. In which words in that Job compared Man to a Shadow and a Flower he notably setteth forth the short continuance of Mans Life a Shadow we see if the Sun be never so little overclouded it vanisheth away and a Flower we know is a comely and beautiful thing yet for all that there is nothing found more fading and vanishing even so Man duââ¦ing the time of his Childhood and flourishing Youth seemeth to be of a wonderful Comeliness but his Beauty is of small Price because it is more brittle than Glass seeing that Man carrieth always the Cause of Death in his Veins and Bowels We see at this day what a great matter it is for one to live Threescore and Ten or Fourscore years and this is commonly the ordinary Race of Mans Life insomuch as when they live so long they account themselves not to be evil dealt withal as the Prophet signifieth when he saith The days of Man are at the uttermost but Threescore and Ten Years and if the Strongest do reach to Fourscore what followeth is but labour and grief Now if we should deduct those years which Infancy and Childhood spendeth if also we should take away that time which passeth away when we sleep it would be a small number of Years that would remain which remnant if we should compare with the Life to come it would seem but as a drop of Water compared with the whole Sea so short is his Fading Life in regard of that which lasteth always Neither is our Life so short only but as it is short so is it uncertain how long it shall continue for though there is nothing more certain than Death yet is there nothing more uncertain than the hour of Death and therefore a certain Philosopher compared the Lives of Men to Bubbles that are made in Water pits when it raineth of the which some do vanish away suddenly even at their very rising others do endure a little longer and out of hand are decayed others do continue somewhat more and others less So that although they do all endure but some little time yet in that little there is great variety This being then the shortness and uncertainty of our Lives it should teach us so much the rather to embrace our Saviours Counsel in the Thirteenth of St. Mark 's Gospel Watch because ye know not the day nor the hour The which is as much as if he had more plainly said Because ye know not that Hour watch every hour and because ye know not that day watch every day and because ye know not the Month and the Year watch therefore every Month and Year And to make this matter more plain by a Similitude If thou shouldest be invited to a Feast and being set at
Glory when the Door is shut But now dearly beloved being come to Preach my last Sermon amongst you I request you all both good and bad to attend with double diligence to what shall be spoken unto you from that sweet portion of Scripture which you find recorded PHILIPIANS I. XXIII For I am in a straight between two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better IN these Words are these two Parts First a Declaration of St. Pauls desire For I am in a streight between two having a desire to depart Secondly an Inclination of the ground of it which was this because he might be with Christ the word signifies solvere Anchoram to loosen the Anchor or to cut the Cable that the Ship may sail after While St. Pauls Spirit was tied up by the Flesh he desired it should be loosened by Death that it might Sail after into Glory Spiritual Desires they are always quickest and strongest whensoever they are nearest the perfect enjoyment of their desired Object Christ. As the motion of every natural Body is quickest and strongest the nearer it comes to the Center so the nearer fulness of Glory the more fervent the Soul is in its desires after Christ. Sirs my Text is usually the dying Expression of a living Saint for when a believer draws near to his End he sings most sweetly like the Swan and earnestly cries out Make haste my beloved he having a desire to depart to be with Christ evermore upon a dying Bed a Christians Pulse beats strongest Heaven-ward We groan as being in a great straight knowing to depart is far better much more better as if he should have said Oh! there is no comparison between the enjoyment of God in the State of Grace and the enjoyment of God in a State of Glory And here methinks I hear the dying Christian joyfully breathing out his earnest and longing desires for a Dissolution in the very words of a late Grave and Serious Poet who in an Heavenly Rapture and sweet Extasie of Spirit spake in the following manner viz. VVhy lingrest thou bright Lamp of Heaven why Do thy Steeds tread so slowly on must I Be forc'd to live when I desire to die Lash thou those Lazie Jades drive with full speed And end my slow-paced days that I may feed VVith Joy on Him for whom my heart doth bleed Post blessed Jesus come Lord flee away And turn this Night into the brightest Day By thine approach come Lord and do not stay Take thou Doves-Wings or give Doves Wings to me That I may leave this World and come to thee And even in thy glorious presence be I like not this vile VVorld it is meer dross Thou only art pure Gold then sure 't is loss To be without a Throne t' enjoy a Cross. VVhat though I must pass through the Gates of Death It is to come to thee that gav'st me Breath And thou art better Lord than Dung-hill-Earth VVhen shall I come Lord tell me tell me when VVhat must I tarry Threescore years and Ten My Thirsty Soul cannot hold out 'till then Come dearest Saviour come unlock this Cage Of sinful Flesh lovingly stop the Rage Of my Desires end thou my Pilgrimage Give me a Place on High to Sit and Sing Anthems of Praise to thee mine only King Whose ratling Sounds may make the Heavens Ring But here I know the timerous Soul will object against this truth and say Oh how can the Christian so earnestly-desire to be with Christ in the fulness of Glory were it indeed but a short step into Glory or were the way strewed with Roses and Flowers and with all thè Spices of the Merchant it might be so but there is a Lion in the way as Solomon speaks in another case there is Death the King of Fears that stands frowning upon the Soul at the last cast when the Soul is upon its very Entrance into Christ his prepared Mansions of eternal Glory and therefore it were more desirable to dwell safely upon the Earth in a sensible Heaven made up of the greatest worldly profits and the most delightful creature Comfort rather than to venture over the terrible mountain of Death the very Epitomy of all Discouragements into the doubtful possession of those invissible Depths of spiritual Glory which the Scripture tells us is only attainable after this Life I answer that by nature of this Objection you may presently know the name of the Objector It comes from off a carnal heart and fully speaks the temper an Epicurean Will that is against leaving its carnal interest in the Earth for uncertain interest in Heaven But Death though it be an intervening Cloud which seems to darken or cast a mist upon the Lustre and Comfort of a believers spiritual injoyment in God yet it doth but seem to do so and indeed it doth not at all extinguish the earnest desires of a serious lively Christian after Christ in the fulness of Glory and that especially when the believing Soul looks upon Death under these Considerations First that to die is no worse a thing than to tread in the very steps of Jesus Christ we might indeed have been afraid to die if Jesus Christ had not first stept into the cold grave before us but if we will shew our selves true Soldiers unto Christ our Captain we must not fear to venture where he hath broken the way before us Now Christ hath died that he might by his Death procure the Death of Death and that he might free Believers from the fear of Death the sting being taken out of it Secondly Death is only ordained to refine and not to ruine Nature Death ends our sins and miseries and not our life as it may be made out unto you by this following Illustration those Trees which seem dead in the Winter yet they revive in the Spring because the Body and the Arms of the Tree they are joyned to the Root where the Sap lies all the Winter and by means of this conjunction the Root it conveys life unto all the parts of the Tree And the Bodies of Believers they have the Winter to when as they are turned into the Dust but their Life it is hid with Christ at last they are revived and raised up into Glory Now here you may observe the great difference of Tempters according to the various Complexions of Mens Spirits the Atheist he dares not die for fear of being put out of his being and the profane Person he dares not die for fear of exchanging his present bad being for a worse but the Believer he earnestly desires to die that besides this present temporal being he might enjoy a future eternal well-being Indeed to a wicked Man the best had been not to have been and this next best were to live long it was ill with him that ever he was born and wors that he must die A Carnal Mans continual cry is this Dum Spiro Spero I love to live for
my present hope is my only help for indeed such an one hath only help in this Life ââ¦but a Christians common Expression is this Dum Exspiro Spero Expiration is my Expectation for such an one hath hope in the Life to come when a wicked Man dies he thinks he shall live worse but a Christian when he dies he knows he shall live better he cries with the holy Apostle for one to live is Christ and to die is gain Job 19. 25. I know that my Redeemer liveth and he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth and though after my Skin Worms destroy this Body yet in my flesh shall I see God Thirdly Death was never intended to be as a privation of good but as a priviledge for good to the Believer and it is attended with these several Priviledges First Corporal and Temporal Death it serves to set out the Beauty and Excellency of eternal Life It is Gods usual method to set out one contrary by another Contraria juxta se posita magis eluââ¦escunt In War God commends Peace to us In Adversity Prosperity in Sickness Health and in Death he commends eternal Life to us As the Limner lays the Foundation of a curious Picture in a Dark Ground-work so God doth oftentimes lay the foundation of our sweetest Mercies in the greatest miseries and this he doth that his Mercies may appear more lovely in our eyes and thus he sets off the joys of Heaven by the troubles we meet with on the Earth It is said of Zeno that he was wont to eat bitter things that he might the better taste sweet and he would say sweet things were nothing worth if they were not so commended to us And so bitter Death it is but an Engine devised by infinite Wisdom and for to set out the Unspeakable sweetness of Everlasting Joys God could as easily have received all his redeemed ones into the immediate imbraces of Divine Love and Glory without letting them know what it was to be tempted to be afflicted or to die but only for the better sweetning and endearing fulness of Glory to them Secondly Deaths mortal Wound it is but preparatory to an immortal weight of Glory Death it is the midnight of all troubles and sorrows which is in Travel with a morning of everlasting Joy and Comfort Death it is the Saturday or last day of our Weekly labours which ushers in a Sabbath of eternal rest Rev. 14. 13. And I heard a Voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord for they rest from their Labours and their VVorks follow after them Here the Believer hath labour without rest but in Heaven he shall have rest without Labour Death tends indeed to a Believers perfect everlasting reign and rest The Believers Afflictions upon Earth they are fore-runners of Deliverances they are as throws to the Birth of future Comforts The Whale which swallowed up Jonah God appointed as the means of bringing himself to the Shore And so the trouble which we often times think may swallow us up it brings us to our harbour Death it lands us safely upon Glory One excellency sets out the state of a dying Christian in these Words Per Augusta ad Augusta per Spinas ad rosas per Procellas ad Portum per Mortem ad Vitam migramus Lastly Death it is as a Bridge that all Saints must walk over to the everlasting Hill of endless Peace to the perfection of Grace to the participation oâ⦠Glory to the full possession of Christ. 1. Death it leads us to the perfection of Grace the believer would live that he might be more perfect but when he dies he is perfect indeed a dying life that is a dying to sin it frees us from a living Death well doing fits us for dying Holiness frames us for Happiness 2. Death it leads us to a participation of Glory the consummation of Grace is the inceation of Glory Grace that puts the Soul into a capacity of enjoying glimps of God as in a Glass darkly but glory brings the Soul ad visionem beatificam into an immediate converse with God face to face 1 Cor. 13. 12. For now we see through a Glass darkly but then face to face now I know in part but then I shall know even as I am known 3. Death it leads us into a full possession of Christ Luke 23 43. This day shalt thou be with met in Paradise so saith Paul Then shall we be ever with the Lord comfort comfort ye one another with these words to be always with Christ will be very comfortable indeed Death that deprives us of commerce with men yet it delivers us up into an immediate communion with God and Christ and the blessed Angels Saints in Heaven shall be as the Angels nay saith John now are we the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is Death speaks the sad disjunction of the Soul from the Body and the sure and sweet Conjunction of the Soul with Christ and therefore saith Paul and every Christian when he is in a right temper I have a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is best of all And thus I have endeavoured to lay open before you those Soul supporting and Soul encouraging Arguments the consideration of which makes the believing Soul so willingly and so boldly to look Death in the Face to invade Death in its own Quarters which is indeed but as a Passage or Bridg whereby the Soul is carried over unto the Mountains of Mirrh and unto the Hill of Frankincense where it shall lie down with Christ on his Green Bed of Love which is perfumed all over with the fulness of increated Glory And thus having shewed you many Arguments the Consideration of which doth much facilitate a Believers passage through Death into Glory I shall in the next place for a further Illustration of this truth present unto you the admirable carriage and department of some famous Christians since Christ his time as in Relation to their contempt of Death and earnest desiring to be with Christ in Glory and in this Relation I shall begin with Ignatius who lived while Christ was upon the Earth and so proceed to several other remarkable Instances in successive Generations Ignatius when he was sent by Trajan the Emperour to Rome there to be devoured of Lyons for his free reproving of Idolatry instead of fearing Death he thus couragiously expressed himself I wish says he that I could see those wild Beasts that must tear me in piââ¦ces I would speak them fair to dispatch me quickly and if that would not do I would incite them to it Hierom of Prague the renowned Bohemian Martyr he uttered these words with much chearfulness at his very giving up the Ghost Hanc animam in flammis affero Christe tibi freely do
blessed and glorious Redeemer where there will be no more sinning nor sighing nor more weeping for dead and dying Friends Let us long long to be there where time will be no more but all will be swallowed up in an endless Eternity of joy and delight Lord let us often ponder upon the blessed state above for certainly one deep and serious consideration of the never fading Glory of the other world is enough to wing our hearts with earnest desires as we have heard it did thy Holy Saints and Martyrs to depart and leave this vain world to be with Christ. And good Lord let us when we leave a weeping House and the many instances of our dearest Friends going so often to the Grave before us shew that we must quickly follow be received into that Celestial Mantion above which will prove an eternal House of Joy The Eye that hath seen him shall see him no more SERMON XI Upon ACTS 20. 38. Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake That they should see his Face no more IN the latter part of this Chapter you have the Declaration of two things First You have declared the Carriage of the Apostle Paul that was he Preach'd while he was at the Church of Ephesus Secondly You have declared the Character of the Church of Ephesus when they were parting with this Blessed Preacher in the words that I have read and the verse before or the two last verses and it was full of Love and manifested in three things 1. They fell upon his Neck and kissed him that 's the close of the 37. verse 2. They accompanied him unto the Ship when he was to launch into the Ocean They went with him as far as they could as some of them it may be will to the very edge of Eternity 3. They shew'd to him their Love by their ââ¦ping and Sorrowing at parting They cannot part with dry Eyes They sorrowed most of all especially for this that they should see his Face no more It was not so much that Paul was to go from them but that they should see his Face no more From this practice of this Church I would lay down this Doctrine That it is the property and practice of the Saints and People of God to be sorrowful and affected at the final parting with their Pastors and Teachers This was that that most of all cut their Hearts That they should see his Face no more That Patriarch Jacob that wrestled and prevailed when he came to die as you read in Gen 49. and the last verse That he pull'd up his Feet into the Bed and he 's goone Now see what a Mourning there was for him in Gen. 50. 1. Joseph fell upon his Fathers Face and kissed him and verse 3. And the Egyptians mourned for him threescore and ten days here was a mourning for Jacob and verse 10. They came to the Threshing floor of Atad which is beyond Jordan and there they Mourned with a great and very sore Lamentation And made a Mourning for his Father seven daies The young Prophet in the 1 Kings 13. who without doubt in the main was Faithful to God though seduced out of his way and out of his Life by an old Prophet whereby a Lion was appointed by God to destroy him but see now how the old Prophet was affected with it as soon as he hears it causeth the Ass to be Sadled and goes and brings the Carcase home to the City to Mourn and to Bury him and laid him in his own Grave in the 30. versâ⦠and brings all to Mourn over him and charges his Sons that when he was dead that they Bury him in the same Sepulchre where the Man of God was and lay his Bones besides his Bones I shall now instance in the New Testament it was so with them of Ephesus when they parted with Paul They should see his Face no more He had been such a Preacher that they could not part with him without Tears or with dry Eyes Devout Men also carried Stephen to his Burial and made great Lamentation over him When Christ was carrying to be put to Death there followed him a great multitude of People and Women which also bewailed and lamented him There was great lamentation Oh they could not part with Jesus Christ without lamenting That they should see his Face no more But it will be here obiected in the next verse that Jesus Christ in Luke 23. 28. turn'd to those Women that wailed and wept and said Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but for your selves That therefore there ought not to be weeping or lamenting for the departure of any Eminent Saint seeing he forbids it for himself it argues indeed we should not weep for them but for the want of them which is ours Why should those that are Hearers be deeply affected at the final departure of Holy Ministers I answer This arises from the love that is between them There is a mutual Love between a Faithful Preacher and a Sincere Hearer Where there is Love there is Mourning in the absence of it It 's said that Israel loved Joseph more than all his Children and therefore when News came to Jacob that Joseph was not Oh! saith Jacob ver 35. I will go down into the Grave unto my Son mourning So David lamented for Absolon Ob Absolon my Son my Son Absolon and David lamented exceedingly for Jonathan in that 1 Kings I am distressed for thee my Brother Jonathan if you love your Preachers so as it s said of them that could pull out their Eyes for them while living you will even weep out your Eyes for them now dead I could tell you of a thing that I have lookt upon as a Piece of Prophesie it was Printed and Writ Ten Years before the Fire of London and it was this London look to it what Heaven 's a doing Thy Flames are coming when thy Lots are going When I consider who is gone and who are going I dread What became of Prague when Jerom was dead What became of Germany when Luther was dead And what will become of England when such as these are dead Let me call upon this Congregation this Evening that we would be in the Ephesians Practice they Mourned when Paul was going and they should see his Face no more Your Preacher is gone And you shall see his Face no more I would I could raise you to their height of Mourning He begat you in Christ Jesus though none of his own but Christs and you may get one to succeed him but not to exceed him but I desire that Man to tell me where The Good Mans Epitaph SERMON XII REV. 14. 13. And I heard a Voice from Heaven saying unto me Write Blessed are the Dead which die in the Lord from henceforth so saith the Spirit that they may rest from their Labours and their Works do follow them THE Scripture will afford us many Texts for Funerals Methinks there is none
more fit nor more ordinarily Preached on than two And they are both of them Voices from Heaven One was to Isaiah the Prophet He was commanded to cry The Voice said Cry And he said What shall I cry All Flesh is Grass and all the goodliness thereof is as the Flower of the Field You will say That is a fit Text indeed so is this here A Voice from Heaven too But St. John is not commanded to cry it as Isaiah was he is commanded to write it That that is written is for the more assurance It seemeth good to me saith St. Luke in his Preface to his Gospel Most excellent Theophilus To write to thee of those things in order that thou mightest know the certainty Philosophers who saw no further than the Clouds of Humane Reason could say A wise Mans Life should be a continual Meditation of Death Joseph of Arimathea had his Sepulchre in his Garden and Jesus Christ at the Publicans Feast falls into a serious discourse of his Passion and Ascension to teach us that in times and places of greatest Pleasure we should put our selves upon Theams of Mortality Heathens indeed had their Burying-places without their Cities but Christians in and about their Churches as signifie that in our Devotions we should think upon our dissolutions which was one reason why Alphonsus King of Arragon used to confess that dead Men were his best Friends they gave him sound and seasonable Counsel to remember Mortality here and provide for Eternity hereafter To this end St. John in his Book of the Revelation is sometimes advising us to make Preparation for Death And sometimes encouraging us against the approaches of Death by describing the glorious Reward of the Saints departed as in this Text Blessed are the dead c. From whence we may observe that they that die in a state of Grace live in a state of Glory This Observation I take to be the Scope and Quintessence of the Text and therefore shall make it the proper Subject of my present Discourse First by way of Explication to shew what it is to die in the Lord. That implies two things especially 1. To die in the Lord is to die for the Confession of the Faith 2. To die in the Profession of the Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. 3. And lastly To die in the Lord is to die in the peace of a good Conscience A Conscientious Man dies Blessedly howsoever or whensoever or wheresoever he dies therefore when St. Paul had received the Summons of Death he fled to the Castle of his good Conscience there he sat like Noah in his Cabbin in an Ark pitch'd within and without I am ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand and here is my Comfort I shall go to my Grave with a Conscience as clean as my Winding-sheet it follows I have fought a good Fight finished my Course kept the Faith henceforth is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness This Truth is confirmed by a double Reason They Rest from their Labours and their Works follow them Their Blessedness consists in two things 1. In a cessation from all Sin and Misery They Rest c. 2. In a possession of all Glory and Felicity Their Works follow them First They Rest c. The Kingdom of Heaven is often in Scripture termed a Rest a place of Rest. The World indeed is a troubled Sea but Heaven is the Haven of Rest the World is an Egypt a place of Burden and Bondage but Heaven is a Canaan that resembled by the Bosom of Abraham a place of sweet Refreshment and Soul-satisfying Rest. The Saints departed Rest from the Labours of their Corruptions Afflictions Temptations And lastly They Rest from the Labour of their particular Calling and Vocation which is toilsome and troublesome ever since God past this Doom upon Man for his offence in Paradise In the Sweat of thy Brows shalt thou eat Bread Indeed Man in the state of Innocency was not excused from Labour Paradise which was Adams Store-house was his Work-house too God put him into the Garden not to sleep in those sweet Bowers not to spend his time idly in those pleasant Walks but to dress and keep it ut operaretur that he might work and labour in it only here is the difference Labour then was a Recreation to the Mind and now it is an Affliction to the Body The second Reason is laid down in the last words of the Text Their Works follow them therefore they are Blessed Their Happiness is not only privative consisting in a freedom from Sin and Misery but positive also in a possession of all Peace and Glory in a consummation of Grace in a perfect Fruition of God and a Blessed Communion with the Lord Jesus Christ. Their Works follow them not their Works in kind but their Works in Issue and Effect the Fruits and Reward of their Works the Blessings of God which lye in the Promises to Works of Piety and Charity These follow them to Heaven Indeed Faith leads the way that must be our Harbinger to take up our Lodging in the New Jerusalem that like the Star in the East leads us to Bethlehem where Christ is but then good Works follow after they are our Attendants to the Court and Kingdom of Glory The Use If the Saints departed rest from their Labours here is then comfort in the general against all Crosses and Calamities in the World and in particular against the fear of our own Death or the Death of Friends Blessed are the Dead they rest c. Death like Lot's Angels plucks us out of the Sodom of Sin and Misery and placeth us in Zââ¦ar a City of Rest and Tranquility Like Peter's Angel it shakes off the Chain of Mortality and opens the Iron-gate the Gate of Pearl into the New Jerusalem like Lazarus his Angel it conducts the Soul from Earth to Abraham's Bosom from this Vail of Tears to the Kingdom of Glory Moreover as Death helps us to our Rest so it is our Rest Why should we fear it The Scripture terms it but a taking away of the Soul to Peace a sweet Sleep of the Body Our friend Lazarus sleepeth and the Patriarchs are fallen asleep St. Stephen fell asleep Our Burying-places are but Dormitories Sleeping-places The Righteous is taken away from the Evil to come and he shall enter into Peace they shall rest in their Beds Such a Blessed Rest have the Righteous in Death as our Saviour wept because his Friend Lazarus was to be deprived of it it is both the Observation of an Ancient Father and the Resolution of an Ancient Council concerning Christs weeping over Lazarus John 11. 35. Doluit Lazarum non dormientem sed resurgentem Christ did not weep because Lazarus was dead and taken out of the World but because he was to return from the Grave into a Troublesome World after he was gone to his Rest. It may be for the same Reason the Thracians
City so to gain Reputation from Man but she persevered in the constant substantials of Religion so to gain Grace and Favour from God To whom with the Father and Holy Ghost be Glory and Honour now and for ever Good Night NOW art thou drawing near thy home Heaven is within sight and its Melody almost within hearing thy Lord hath the Curtain in his hand ready to draw it to shew thee all that glory that hitherto he hath been but telling thee of and give thee a Possession of all that which hitherto thou hast enjoyed only in Hopes and Title What dost thou fear and shrug and tremble at Oh my Soul thou peevish froward Creature Shall his Angels stand waiting to convey thy departed Soul home with Songs of Triumph And shall nothing of all this abate thy Fears silence thy Complaints and bring thee to a Chearful Submission Fear not then my Soul but boldly throw thy self into his Arms who will certainly keep that safe which thou committest to him But what if I was willing to bid adieu to my Fathers House and leave this World and all its Enjoyments behind me as being sufficiently tired with the Frustrations of a pursued Happiness therein Yet methinks the change I shall pass at Death will be so very great and amazing I fear I shall not bear it To go hence from them I know to a Place and Company I never knew or saw in all my Life to leave my Friends Relations Neighbours with whom I have a long time lived and with whom I have familiarly conversed to go into a Country where I may not meet with one face I know how strangely shall we look on one another What little content do I take in any company on Earth where I meet with shiness Will it not be so in Heaven Answ. Art thou truly Godly said the pious Wadsworth in his Answer to the Fear of Death and dost thou say thou knowest none in Heaven that is strange Who is he whom you call Father every time you pray what are you born of God united to God by faith and love and hold communion with him and yet not know him Well sayst thou but if I know him it is but very little I never saw him in all my Life And what if thou hast not seen him with thy bodily eyes yet hast thou not believed in him whom thou hast not seen and rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of glory Though thou hast not known him after the Flesh yet thou hast after the Spirit But comfort thy self though thou hast known him but little and that through a vail darkly yet he knoweth thee most perfectly He knows thee by name and separated thee to himself from the Womb and effectually called and justified thee he knows thee by thy name and knows thy dwelling and visiteth thee every morning and is with thee living and will not leave thee dying and when he hath taken thee to himself in the Heavens thou shalt know him as he knows thee that is intimately perfectly But sayst thou if I know in some measure God and his Son the Lord of that City I know no more There are ten thousands of Angels there and I know not one of them and as many Spirits of just men some little acquaintance I had with some of the latter on earth but since arrived thither they are so transfigured so wonderfully changed I shall not know one of them when I see them What if thou knowest not one Angel in all the Heavens is it not enough that many of them may know thee But how do I know that How thou hast been their special Charge ever since thou wast born to Jesus Christ. Are they not all ministring Spirits to them that are Heirs of Glory How kindly did an Angel comfort Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when they early came to visit the holy Sepulchre of our Lord How well did he know their Persons and their Business when he said Mat. 28. 5. Fear not I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified he is not here for he is risen as he said Come see the place where the Lord lay and go quickly and tell his Disciples that he is risen from the Dead and behold he goeth before you into Galilee there shall ye see him so as I have told you What Discourse could be more kind friendly and familiar than this But that thou shouldst think thy self an utter stranger to all the Spirits of the Just is more strange when there may be some of thy near Relations there and many of those that thou hast had for many years such sweet Eellowship in the Ordinances of the Gospel If I shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom surely I shall know them to be such Besides their Natures in Heaven are all perfectly gracious and holy and I shall be like them and we shall all know each other to be so and what shiness can there possible be among such who are satisfied in each others sincere love and affection Thou mayst be acquainted with a thousand Saints an Angels in an hours time as if thou hadst known them a thousand years And if this be so be not poor Soul amazed at this great change of Company at Death For it is but as dying Doctor Preston said I shall change my Place but not my Company Return therefore to thy Rest Oh my Soul for God will assuredly deal bountifully with thee So that Death will bring a Good-Night to thee here and a good Morrow hereafter The End of The House of Weeping Death-Bed THOUGHTS The PROEMIUM BUT Oh my Soul What ails thee to be thus suddenly backward and fearful no Friend hath more freely discours'd of Death in speculation no Tongue hath more extolled it in absence And now that it is come to thy Bed-side and hath drawn thy Curtains and takes thee by the hand and offers thee service thou shrinkest inward and by the paleness of thy Face and wildness of thine Eye bewrayest an amazement at the presence of such a Guest That Face which was so familiar to thy Thoughts is now unwelcome to thine Eye I am ashamed of this weak irresolution Whitherto have tended all thy serious Meditations What hath Christianity done to thee if thy fears be still Heathenish Is this thy Imitation of so many worthy Saints of God whom thou hast seen entertain the violentest Death with Smiles and Songs Is this the fruit of thy long and frequent Instruction Didâ⦠thou think Death would have been content with words Didst thou hope it would suffer thee to talk while all others suffer Where is thy Fath Shall Hereticks and Pagans give Death a better welcome than thee Hath God with this Serjeant of his sent his Angels to fetch thee and art thou loath to go Rouse up thy self for shame O my Soul and if ever thou hast truly believed shake off this Unchristian diffidence and address thy self joyfully for thy
travelling through the Ages of Childhood Youth and Old Age in one day In the Morning it is hatch'd at Noon it flourishes in the Evening it grows old and dies But this is more to be wonder'd at in that winged Creature that it makes no less provision for one little day than if it were to live the Age of a Crow or a Raven To this little Animal the Life of Man is most fitly to be compar'd It inhabits by the River of gliding Time But more fleet than either Bird or Arrow And often only one day determines all its Pomp oft-times an Hour and as often a Moment Wherefore then do we think of Years and Ages frequently no longer had then Flowers or the shadows of Flowers or then any thing if any thing can be more short and fading than those Flowers It is a wonder greatly to be admir'd that this swift Brevity of Life should be divulg'd by all the Prophets be confirm'd by the Writers of all Ages and yet that miserable Men should be deaf to all their Exclamations Ezechias cries out by Isaiah the Prophet From the Morning till the Evening thou shalt conclude my days The Royal Psalmist cries out My days have past away like a shadow Josiah the King cries out Man springs up like a Flower and is trod down and vanishes like a shadow Behold Man is like a Bubble all thy Life is the flight of a shadow Canst thou then dream of any Mansion or Abiding place here Wherefore dost thou covetously scrape together wherefore dost thou scrape and rake as if to live the Age of Nestor Death is at thy Back Thou shalt go hence before thou fear'st thy departure unless thou art afraid betimes Make haste Eternity is at hand Sect. 6. The same is deliver'd with greater Confirmations THE Life of no Man is otherwise than short but the shortest of all is their Life who forget what is past neglect the present and are in no fear of the future Most excellent is the saying of Job they that saw him shall say where is he Like a fleeting Dream he shall not be found yet Dreams are vain and nothing swifter than flight he shall pass away like a Nocturnal Vision My days saith he were swifter than the Racer they fled away and saw no good this said the most Wealthy of Men. They took their flight like Birds carrying Apples like an Eagle flying to his prey Because we are of yesterday and understand nothing because our days are like a shadow upon the Earth Truly our days are but a shadow upon the Earth and there is no delay We Banquet and Revel and there is no delay We indulge to sleep and snore till Noonday and there is no delay Prodigal of our time we go to Plays and invent voluptuous ways of Idleness and yet there is no delay Our years pass glide and fly away No Man has so much the ââ¦avour of Heaven as to promise himself to Morrow Thus while we dream we pass to Eternity either the Celestial or the Infernal It was an excellent saying of Suidas Olâ⦠Mortals but of one little day that only know the present not foreseeing future things consider that Eternity to which ye are going Sect. 7. The Hope of Long Life and VVishes are vain WHat shall I do said the Rich Man in his Heart because I have not room for ãâã Fruits of my Land I will do this I will pull down my Barns and Build bigger Miserable Soul alas Thrice miserable Wilt thou inlarge thy Barâ⦠To Morrow the Grave shall be thy Habiration Oh that it prove not Hell This Night thy Soul shall be taken from thee and who shall inherit what thou hast scrap'd together Thy Vertue if thou hadst any thy Vices shall go with thee Neither shalt thou take with thee any otherCompââ¦nions hence Most like the Fate of this Rich Man was that of Senecio in Seneca who considering this fleeting Life of ours which we enjoy at Mercy Every day saith he every hour shews us what nothingâ⦠we are and by some new Argument still admonishes us of our frailty while they compel us covetous of Eternity to look after death Senecio Cornelius a Roman Knight a Man of extream ââ¦rugality no less careful of his Patrimony than of his Body when he had sate all day till night by his friend sick a Bed beyond all hopes of recovery when he had Suppââ¦d well and cheary was taken with a violent Distemper the Quinsey scarcely retained his Breath within his contracted Jaws till Morning so that he deceas'd within a few hours ãâã he had performed all the Duties of a sound and healthy Man He that turn'd and wound his Money both by Sea and Land He that left no sort of Gain untry'd in the very Flood of his Prosperity in the very Torrent of his overflowing heaps expir'd Thus it happens that when men most spend their time in toyl they spend their last Breath Like the Winds that when they blow most vehemently loose their force most quickly then allay'd when they have rag'd most furiously The most admirable Job almost by way of complaint interrogates the Deity And dost thou so soon cast me down Learnedly Tertullian and truly thus saith he The Sailing Ships free from the Capherean Rocks not tost by Tempests nor tumbl'd by the vast Waves but steering with a flattering gale making swift way on a sudden with one shââ¦g loose all their hopes of safety No other are the Shipwracks of Life and the Calm Events of Death How stupid a thing then is to dispose of Age We are not then Lords of to Morrow How great is the madness of those that commence long hopes I will buy I will build I will sell I will appoint I will bear honours and then I will repose my old Age in seisure But all things believe me are uncertain to the Fortunate No Man can promise himself any thing of what is to come What we enjoy slââ¦ps through our hands that very Hour a chance may happen and disappoint all We propose to our selves long Voyages and tedious stays e're we return to our Countrey Affairs of War and Council slow Actions prolix Business a long Series of Toyl Labour and Employment We begin Suites hoping the long Life of Nestor and the Fortune of Metellus When in the mean time Death is at our Elbow and from the Precipice of Life throws us headlong into the Sea of Eternity Sect. 8. Man is Dust. REmember Man that thou art Dust and to Dust shalt return This sad Verse our Mother the Church repeats when she covers the Heads of her Children with Dirt and admonishes ââ¦s of our Mortality at the same time when we least think of it Herein the Church imitates the Eagle Who when she would encounter the Hart shakes the dust which she has gather'd upon her Wings into the Hart's Eyes and fixing her Taloââ¦s between his Horns she claps his Head with her Wings till he fall headlong
by what means to rid themselves out of the World Whether to whet their Knives temper their Poyson make use of Ropes or Precipices as if it requir'd so much Ceremony and Labour to dissolve and untye the weak knot that holds the Body and Soul together None of these did Coma the Brother of Diogenes need His Soul shut close up in his own Breast found out the way For a little study serves to retain that good the frail possession whereof is shaken with the least puff of Violence Death is every where and lyes lurking in all places and at all times Where-ever thou goest thou shalt find him prepar'd he is never unprepar'd but meets thee at every turn But when only Death is enough for one Man to desire wherefore before the last Death do so many Deaths assassinate miserable Man so that the Question may not be ask'd in vain If all my Life makes but one little drop Why then so many Death 's my Course to stop Hear St. Bernard Let the continual Meditation of Death be thy chief Philosophy And therefore variety of Death disturbs thee Whatever happens to others saith St. Bernard may happen to thee because thou art a Man A Man of Earth Clay out of Clay Of Earth thou art by the Earth thou livest and out of the Earth shalt thou return when that day comes that often comes and perhaps may come this day Certain it is because thou shalt die though it be uncertain when or how or where Because Death expects thee every where if thou beest wise expect that every where 'T is the saying of Annaeus Uncertain it is saith he in what place Death may expect thee therefore do thou expect Death in every place Sect. 16. Death is at home to every Man VVE trifle and at distance think the ill While in our Bowels Death lyes lurking still For in the Moment of our Birth-day Morn That moment Life and Death conjoin'd were Born And of that Thread with which our Lives we measure Our Thievish hours still make a rapid seizure Insensibly we die so Lamps expire When wanting Oyl to feed the greedy Fire Though living still yet Death is then so nigh That oft-times as we speak we speaking die There is a Fish in the Northern Ocean near Muscovy which is called Mort. This Monster of the Sea has very great Teeth so that as Cardanus relates the Handles of Swords are made of the Teeth Every one of our Bodies is a Pond O Mortals wherein we nourish this Fish called Mort and therefore not to be sought at such a distance from us Every Mans Death is at home Sect. 17. Death Inexorable THough Rocks be deaf and blind be Tygers rage Though furious War'gainst Man the Billows wage Morsels will Tygers tame and the soft Gale Of Western Winds upon the Waves prevail But fiercer than the Waves or Tygers Rage Deaths unt am'd Fury no Prayers can asswage The Parcae to whose Distaffs Spindles Shears the Ancients committed all the power of Life and Death are inexorable not to be mov'd by all the Supplication in the World For when The Parce in their Order come Beyond command there 's no delay No putting off th' Appointed Day There 's no beseeching those cruel Spinstresses So precisely do they observe their day prefixed According to this Conception Painters and other Artificers describe the Triumpher over all Human kind For they Picture him without Ears as not hearing the Prayers of any blind also as not moved with the Tears of any He is Painted without a Tongue or Lips that Men should not think to receive the least word of Comfort from him He is Painted without Flesh to shew that he wants all sense of Humanity Only his Nerve Arteries and Muscles his Bow and Arrows his Darts and Stings remain behind to strike poor miserable Mortals And surely then if ever he shewed his rage and insulted over the World when he assailed Christ himself the Son of God the Author of Life at what time the very Rocks wept the Earth trembled the Stars bewailed the Sun grew pale and Angels mourned acting a dismal Tragedy upon the Life of Life it self Whoever thou art if thou art a Man Death will be inexorable to thee Therefore be mindful of Death the Hour flies from thence my admonition Therefore is every day to be reckoned as thy last and as the first of Eternity Sect. 18. Most certain Death is most uncertain WHat more certain in Human things than Death St. Bernard exclaims What more uncertain than the Hour of Death It sits at the Doors of old Men and lyes in ambush for the young Therefore boast not of to Morrow not knowing what to Morrow will bring forth This the Venunian Lyrick was not ignorant of Who knows whether the Gods to this days sum Will add to Morrow though but just to come Most perspicuously saith St. James the Apostle Go too now ye that say to day or to morrow we will go into such a City and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow For what is your Life It is even a Vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away Whereas we ought to say If the Lord will we shall live and do this or that We shall all go all all for we all die and sink into the Earth like Water that never returns Neither canst thou be ignorant that thou art so begotten as to remember that there is a Law set at the same time by the Nature of all things both for receiving and restoring thy breach And as no man dies that has not lived so no man lives that shall not die Though when he shall die is uncertain And therefore Christ stirring us up by a most faithful Exhortation Take ye heed watch and pray for ye know not when the time is And then repeating the same again VVatch ye therefore saith he for ye know not when the Master of the House cometh at evening or at midnighe or at the Cockcrowing or in the Morning lest coming suddenly he find you And what I say unto you I say unto you all VVatch. Sect. 19. Death to many sudden to all unlook't for VVHO will not stand upon his guard against the Efforts of Death that threatens us every Hour who has appointed no time when he intends to meets us He creeps flies leaps upon us with a tacit motion a stealing pace making no signs before hand without any cause without any caution in sickness in health in danger in security so that there is nothing sacred or safe from his clutches Sound and merry was Tarquin when he was choaked with a Fish-bone Healthy also was Fabius when a little Hair that he swallowed with his Milk cut the Thread of his Life A Weezel bit Aristides and in a moment of time he expired The Father of Caesar the Dictator rose well out of his Bed and while he was
putting on his Shoes he breathed his last The Rhodian Ambassador had pleaded his Cause in the Senate even to admiration but expired going over the Threshold of the Court-house A Grape-stone killed Anacreon the Poet and if we may believe Lucian Sophocles also Lucia the Daughter of Marcus Aurelius died with a little prick of a Needle Cn. Brebius Pamphilus being in his Pretorship when he asked the time of the day of a certain youth perceived that to be the last Hour of his Life The Breath of many is in haste and unexpected Joy expels it As we find it happened to Chilo the Lacedemonian and Diageras of Rhodes who embracing their Sons that had been Victors at the Olympick Games at the same time and in the same place presently expir'd Lastly Death has infinite accesses through which he breaks into our Houses Sometimes through the Windows sometimes through the Vaults sometimes through the Copings of the Wall sometimes through the Tyles and if he cannot meet with any Traytors either in the City or in the House I mean the humours of the Body Diseases Catarrhs Pleurisies and the like which he makes use of as Ministers in his Councils He tears up the Gates with Gunpowder Fire Water Pestilence Venom nââ¦y wild Monsters and Men themselves as bad he leaves no Engines untryed to snatch and force away our Lives Mephiboseth the Son of Saul was slain by Domestick Thieves as he was sleeping at Noon upon his Bed Fulco King of Jerusalem as he was Hunting a Hare fell from his Horse and was trampled to death by his Hoofs gave up the Ghost Josias of all the Kings of Judah David excepted for Piety Sanctimony and Liberality the chief was unexpectedly wounded with an Arrow and died in his Camp The Holy Ludovicus in the 57th year of his Age upon the African Shore in the midst of his Army the Pestilence there raging died of the Distemper Egillus King of the Goths a most excellent Prince was killed by a Mad Bull which the madder people not enduring the severity of his Laws had let forth Malcolm the first King of Scotland after mââ¦ny exââ¦mples of ãâã while he was taking cogniâ⦠of the Actions of his Subjects by Night ââ¦as ãâã a sudden ãâã Have not many gone well to Bed that have ãâã found dead in the Morning Of necessity the ãâã ought to stand upon its guard Uzza a peââ¦son of no small Note in Davââ¦as Lifeguard whâ⦠he attempted to stay the shogging Ark as it was carry'd in Triumph to Jerusalem was presently struck from Heaven so that he died by the Ark. The hand of God arm'd a Lion out of a Wood against the Prophet that had eaten contrary to his command The sudden voice of Peter compelled Ananias and Saphira to expiate their Crime by as sudden a death whose Souls the greatest part of Divines believe to be freed from Eternal Punishment thereby But enough of Ancient Examples In the year 1559. Henry the Second King of France was slain in the midst of his Pastimes and Triumphs and in publick Joy of the people For while he Celebrated the Nuptials of his Daughter at Paris in a Tilting the Splinter of a broken Lance flew with that violence and pierced his Eye that he died immediately In the year 1491. Alphonsus the Son of John the Second King of Portugal being about Sixteen years of Age a Prince of great Hopes and Wit took to Wife Isabella the Daughter of Ferdinand King of Spain whose Dowry was the Ample Inheritance of her Fathers Kingdoms The Nuptials were Celebrated with the preparations of six hundred Triumphs Every Plays Running Racing Tilting Banquets So much Plenty so much Luxury that the Horse-boys and Slaves glistered in Tissue But Oh immense Grief hardly the seventh Month had passed when the young Prince sporting a Horseback upon the Banks of Tagus was thrown from his Horse to the ground so that his Scull was broken and he wounded to death He was carried to a Fishers House scarce big enough to contain him and two of his Followers There he lay down upon a Bed of Straw and expired The King flies thither with the Queen his Mother There they behold the miserable Spectacle their Pomp turn'd into Lamentation the growing Youth of their Son his Vertues Wealth like Flowers on a sudden disrobed by the Northwinds blast and all to be Buried in a miserable Grave O the sudden Whirlwinds of Human Affairs O most precipitate Falls of the most constant things What sha'l I remember any more Basilius the Emperor was gored to death by a Hart while he was entangled in a troublesom Bough The ancient Monument in the Camp of Ambrosius near Aenipontus witnesses That a Noble Youth though under Age set Spurs to his Horse to make him leap a Ditch twenty foot broad The Hââ¦rse took it but the Rider and the Horse fell by a sudden and almost the same kind of death That the Spoils of the Horse and the Garments of the Youth speak to this day But this sudden Fate is common as well to the good as to the bad neither does it argue an unhappy condition of the Soul unless any person in the Act of burning Impiety feel himself struck with the Dart of Divine Vengeance Such was the Exit of Dathan and Abiram whom the gaping Earth miserably swallowed up obstinate in their Rebellion against Mââ¦ses Such was the End of those Souldiers whom for their irreverence to Elijah Heaven consumed with Balls of Fire Such was the End of the Hebrew whom the Revengers Sword pass'd thorough finding him in the Embraces of the Midianitess turning his Genial into his Funeral Bed So many Pores of the Body so many little doors for Death Death does not shew himself always near yet is he always at hand What is more stupid than to wonder that that should fall out at any time which may happen every day Our Limits are determined where the inexorable necessity of Fate has fix'd them But none of us knows how near they are prefixed So therefore let us form our Minds as if we were at the utmost extremity Let us make no delay Notes upon the first Paragraph DEath has infinite accesses So it is indeed and to what I have said I add It is reported that a certain person dreamt that he was torn by the Jaws of a Lion He rises careless of his Dream goes to Church with his Friends in the way he sees a Lion of Stone gaping that upheld a Pillar then declaring his Dream to his Companions not without Laughter Behold said he this is the Lion that tore me in the Night So saying he thrust his hand into the Lions Jaws crying to the Statue Thou hast thy Enemy now shut thy Jaws and if thou canst bite my hand He had no sooner said the word but he received a deadly wound in that place where he thought he could have no harm For at the bottom of the Lions Mouth lay a Scorpion which no
sooner felt his hand but he put forth his sting and stung the young Man to Death Are Stones thus endued with anger Where then is not Death if Lions of Stone can kill In the same manner died the young Hylas who was kill'd by a Viper that lay hid in the Mouth of a Bears resemblance in Stone What shall I mention the Child kill'd by an Isicle dropping upon his Head from the Penthouse Of whom Martial laments in the following Verses Where next the Vipsan Pillars stands the Gate From whence the falling Rain wets Cloak and Hat A Child was passing by when strange to tell Upon his Throat a frozen drop there fell Where while the Boy his cruel Fate bemoan'd The tender point straight melted in the wound Would Chance have us adore her lawless will Or tell where Death is not if drops can kill Thus has Death infinite Accesses then nearest when it is least thought of Sect. 20. An Antidote against sudden Death HEre Reader though out of order I will give thee three Prayers as Examples made against sudden Death It is at thy choice every day to make use of one or all cordially and sincerely They are designed so many it being but reason that we should fall three times at the Feet of Christ when we beg so great a Boon For this we must know that in this respect there can be no Man too cautious or too provident The first Prayer MOst Merciful Lord Jesu by thy Tears by thy Agony and Bloody Sweat by thy Death I beseech thee deliver me from sudden and from unexpected Death The second Prayer O Most Gracious Lord Jesu by thy most sharp and ignominious Stripes and Coronation by most hitter Cross and Passion by all thy Tender Goodness most humbly I beseech thee that thou wouldst be pleased not to permit me to depart out of this Life by a sudden death without receiving my viaticum for Heaven The third Prayer O My most Loving Jesu O my Lord and God by all thy Labours and thy Pains by thy precious Blood by those Sacred Wounds of thine by those thy last Exclamation upon the Cross O my sweetest Jesu my God my God why hast thou forsaken me by that loud cry of thine Father into thy hands I recommend my Spirit most earnestly I beseech thee that thou wilt not take me hence in haste Thy Hands O my Redeemer made me and formed me throughout O do not suddenly cast me headlong Grant me I beseech thee time of Repentance grant me an Exit happy and in thy favour that I may love thee with my whole Mind that I may praise and bless thee to all Eternity Nevertheless O merciful Jesu all things are in thy power nor is there any one who can resist thy will My Life depends upon thy nod that must end when it is thy pleasure Neither do I desire my most gracious God but that my will should be conformable to thine In whatever place at whatever time by whatever Disease thou art pleased to call me home thy will be done All these things I commit to thy Goodness and to thy Divine Providence I except no place or time no sort of Death though never so ignominious This only one thing I beg of thee O Christ my God that I may not die an unexpected and sudden Death Nevertheless not mine but thy will be done If it so pleases thee that I must die a sudden Death I do not repine Let thy will be done in all things O God For I hope and trust through thy great Mercy for the sake of which I make this only Prayer that I shall die in thy favour and grace wherein if I'depart not sudden death can separate me from thee For the Just Man though prevented by Death shall be happy There is no Death can be unexpected to him whose Life has been always provident Wherefore if I have not space and time which is only known to thee O God wherein to commend my self to thee behold I do that now and as submissively and as ardently as I am able I send up my Prayer to Heaven to thee Have mercy on me O God according to thy tender loving kindness thy will be done O Lord in Heaven and in Earth into thy hands I commend my Spirit Thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth Let all Created Beings bless and praise thee O God In thee O Lord have I put my trust let me not be confounded for ever Sect. 21. The Days of Mans Life are few and evil HOW old art thou Threescore And how many art thou Seventy And how many art thou Fourscore Ah! my good friends where are your years Where are thy Sixty Where hast thou left thy Seventy Where wilt thou find thy Fourscore Wherefore dost thou number thy lost years Elegantly answered Laelius that Wise Man to a certain person saying I am Sixty years of Age. Thou callest these Sixty answered he which thou hast not Neither what is past nor what is to come is thine We depend upon a point of flying Time and it is the part of a great Man to have been moderate The Egyptian Pharaoh asking the Patriarch Jacob how many are the years of thy Age the old man answered The days of the years of my Pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years few and evil Hear ye O Tantalus's that thirst after extent of fading Life and know that ye are but Pilgrims not Inhabitants nor are ye Pilgrims for a long Journey neither Your Life is both short and evil Short because perhaps to be ended before this very Hour that we divide with Death No man but must know it to be evil that enjoys it It affords us Brambles sooner than Roses to be trod upon And yet still will ye loyter and delay in these Bushy and Thorny places So forgetful of your Countrey Famous is the Sentence of St. Gregory This Life is the way to Heaven But most of the Travellers are so taken with the pleasantness of the way that they had rather walk slowly than come quick to their Journeys end Oh most miserable Franticks We are taken with Flowers and pick up little glittering Stones but neglect immense and unbounded Treasures We scrape together the filth of the Earth and the froth of Caverns forgettful what great and real Treasures we lose while we labour after such as are false Miserable and vain Creatures What has a Pilgrim to do with Flowers and Pibbles if he return not to his Countrey What matter is it if he leave those behind if he come to his Countrey To labour in this way to be wearied to swear to endure all inconveniences is to be looked upon as the chiefest point of Gain For thy Countrey will please thee so much the more by how much the more ungrateful thy Exile was Sect. 22. How a Young Man may Die an Old Man AS we may meet with old Men not old Men but Children so we may meet with young Men not
gone All are tyed to the same Condition Who happens to be Born of necessity must die We are distinguished by Intervals but our Exit is the same But hear how the Cruelty of this most Covetous Man was revenged The Turkish Emperor being informed of Assan's Wickedness sent Ibram Basha to him with Letters wherein he severely commanded him that so soon as he had received the Letters from Ibram he should immediateiy send his own Head to Constantinople Such Fatal Letters as those the Turkish Emperor is wont to write with his own hand and to bind about with black Silk and generally they contain these words Send me thy Head Whoever thou art King or Caesar when the Emperor of Heaven sends thee his black Letters there 's no resisting no excuse no deprecation will serve 'T is in vain to fly or delay the Sentence is decreed Therefore do this and trample upon necessity What thou shouldst be compelled to do against thy will that do of thy own accord Send thy Head not to a Tyrant but to a Father not to a Man but to God Make no delay but be willing to die For why should not the Will prevent Necessity 'T is the part of Necessity to submit but of Vertue to be willing Sect. 27. Every Day is to be observed PLatonius in Stobelas 'T is not enough saith he to spend the present day well unless thou spendest it so as if it were to be thy last The last day lyes hid that all days may be observed alike But thou wilt say these Contemplations upon Death are sââ¦d things and do but hasten Death Thou art deceived the Wise Man calmly meditates upon it no otherwise than he beholds the Winds and the Sails of a Ship as the Instruments that bring him into the Haven This is our Folly and Error altogether We are willing to be tossed by the Waves and Billows yet fear the place whither Nature and reason carries us From Nature we know We are all carried to the same place The Glass of all Men runs But if we look at reason who that enjoys it can deny the Argument What is here but tumbling and tossing Cares Miseries Griefs of Body and Mind What dost thou fear Behold the Port. But indeed as they who are Imprisoned would escape and often might unless the Keeper kept the Door lockt so here that Jailor hinders us call Love of Life He is to be repelled and that he may be so we are to think full often upon that which is but once to be suffered And because the last Day is uncertain and unknown let every day be suspected Hereby thy Mind will be the more Couragious thy Life the more Correct more Gladfom and free from Care for what can terrifie or disturb him Whom of all fears that fear most Terrible The fear of instant Death can never quell The Dart foreseen does less harm Death frequently meditated upon strikes with less force Sect. 28. The Coffin the last Comfort of our Pride ABraham that great Person when he by the command of God had been forced as a Pilgrim to war der from place to place minded nothing more than the Purchase of a Burying-place That he would have to be so surely his own that he might possess it by all the Right and Law imaginable For this reason he paid down the Money demanded of the Seller Currant Money among the Merchants Nor was it enough for him that the Purchase should be publickly made he required that all the Inhabitants of the Countrey should be witnesses of the Bargain Whereby that person of high Credit intimated that nothing is more a Mans Property than his Sepulchre which he may truely above any thing else call his own according to the Example of Abraham the best of Men always reckoning it among their chiefest Cares to take care of their Sepulchers The Emperor Maximilian the First three years before he died caused his Coffin made of Oak to be put up in a great Chest and carried along with him where-ever he went and provided by his VVill that his Body should be put into it without Embalming wrapt in Linnen without any Embalming or Disembowelling his Nose Mouth and Ears only being filled with Quick-lime VVhat meant that great Personage Only to have his Monument always in his sight to give him this continual Document Think upon Death that it should also farther say where dost thou amplifie and extol thy self wherefore dost thou possess so much and cover more Thee whom so many Provinces and Kingdoms will not contain a little Chest must hold But why did he put the Lime into those hollow parts Behold the Spices that Embalmed him Maximilian that thou wert great thy actions declare but this more especially before thy Death What need I call to mind the Bier of Ablavius who being Captain of the Pretorian Bands a Prince among the Courtiers of Constantine the Great an insatiable Devourer of Gold which he thought upon more than his Tomb. This Person Constantine taking by the Hand How long said he Friend shall we heap up Treasure and speaking those words with the Spear that he held in his Hand he drew out the form of a Coffin in the Dust and then proceeding though thou hadst all the Riches in the World yet after thou art dead a place or Chest no bigger than this which I have here marked out must contain thee if so large a piece of Ground do come to thy Lot Constantine was a Prophet For Ablavius being cut into Bits had not a piece left big enough to be Buried The Emperor Charles the Fifth of Famous Memory most piously imitating that Maximilian whom I have mentioned long before his Death withdrew himself of his own accord from publick Affairs and having resigned his Cares to his Young and Vigorous Son shut himself up in the Monastery of St. Justus in Spain only with twelve of his Domesticks applying himself to Religious Duties He forbid himself to be called by any other Name than Charles and disclaiming with Business the Names of Caesar and Augustus contemned whatever savoured of Honourable Title This also is farther reported that long before the resignation of his Empire he caused a Sepulcher to be made him with all its Funeral Furniture which was privately carried about with him where-ever he went This he had five years by him in all places even when he Marched against the French to Millaine causing it every Night to be placed in his Chamber Some that waited on him imagine the Chest had been full of Treasure others full of Ancient Histories some thought one thing some another But Caesar well knowing what it contained and wherefore he carried it about smiling said that he carried it with him for the use of a thing which was most dear to him in the World Thus Charles continually thought upon Death and every day could say I have lived rising every day to Heavenly Gain Many others have happily imitated Charles the Emperor who
our Meals our Recreation our Play our Discourse our Sleep our Idleness takes up How much do litigious Suits and Diseases snatch from us How many Thieves do steal away our Lives while we perceive not what we lose The following Verses though not so terse and neat very lively express our Madness A man lives fourscore years not often more Of which in meat and drink some half a score In play as many twenty years in sleep Till seventeen in our childish years we heap And nothing do for years diseases claim Therefore the time that we experd to frame Our selves to vertue and learning is in brief But the fourth part of all that tedious life What a little is left us of that which is our own many there are whom their Misfortunes will not give leave to take breath many whom their prosperity For we lay not hold upon time to stop the fleetest thing in Nature but let it slip as a superfluous thing and easie to be recovered What keeper of time so sparing that may not find something worthy to exchange with his time We trifile with the most precious of all things and there is no reckoning made of that which cannot be sufficiently valued Like them that sleep in Ships who are driven along by the Winds though they perceive not the motion and when they wake wonder to see themselves ready to be landed Thus the course of our life hastens away while we sleep and neglect the inestimable price of Time When we should wake for a better life we admire to see our selves at our Journeys end Death is to many as the Harbour to the Sailer he sails well that does not Shipwrack in the Port. Sect. 37. Delay is the greatest blemish of Life WE delay and put off every thing unless it be Vice which for the most part takes up our whole time In other things we are always more full of Promises and say to oue selves to Morrow this shall be done the next Week I will not fail to repent next Year I intend to lead a new life Thus Days Months and Years slide away while we procrastinate while we promise and never stand to our Promises Excellently Seneca Thou shalt hear saith he most people saying At Fifty I intend to retire at Sixty I intend to give over Business And whom dost thou take for Surety of thy longer life Who will warrant things to pass as thou disposest them Art thou not ashamed to reserve the Remains and Dregs of Life to God and to appoint that time for Devotion which thou canst no otherwise employ How late is it then to begin to live when thou art iust at the end of it VVhat a foolish Oblivion of Mortality is that to deser wholsom Admonition till the fiftieth or sixtieth Year and to seek to begin thy Life at an Age to which few attnin Sigismund the Second King of Poland because of his perpetual delay and heaviness in weighty Affairs was called the King of to-morrow Such are we certainly Men of to-morrow we delay all things most willing also if we could to put off Death it self but the business of dying admits of no delay suffers no put offs Therefore to use the old Proverb If thou wouldst be long old be old betimes which thou mayst be by suffering no delay VVe by losing the best of things lose all Truly said Chrysologus Then a man desires to do well when death has deprived him of the Opportunity of acting VVe stalk to death most commonly with the same steps as they that walk in their sleep first we begin to delay and procrastinate wholesome things then to act a little more closely then to neglect and omit altogether what things are to be done and so we sweetly sleep and perish O Mortals Over-late is to Morrow's life live to day pay your Salary to day mourn for your Sins to day for who has assured ye of to morrow VVhat may be done to day why defer ye to another day perhaps never to come To defer good Actions was ever noxious and over-late The greatest loss of life delay is still For who delays seems not to have a will Let us make haste therefore and consider how much we should add to Swiftness if the Enemy were at our back if we should perceive the Horseman just at the heels of the Fugitive This is the case Necessity drives let us make haste and escape let us shelter our selves in Security and often consider how amiable a thing it is to finish our lives before death The greatest comfort in death is to have delayd nothing Sect. 38. The Hunting of Death WIlliam the II. D. of Bââ¦varia Father of the Poor the Defender of all Religious men whom after his decease had the Tongues of all men been silent the Tears and Lamentations of so many Mourners at his Funeral had sufficiently ââ¦old This most Praise-worthy Prince I say when he returned home from the Council of Basil where he preceded in Caesar's place dream'd That he saw a Hart of an extraordinary bigness that upon the one side of his Horns he carried Bells on the other lighted Tapers This flying Animal was pursued by a Huntsman and his Pack all other ways being stopt the affrighted Beast fledâ⦠into the Church-yard belonging to St. Marie's Church there the poor Hart falling into a Grave that was open'd for a person that was to be buried was there taken and killed Upon this the Prince awoke and examined with himself what the meaning of the Dream should be The next day also he declared to his Nobles what he had dream'd Several Interpretations were made upon it which when Duke William had heard I said he am that Hart who am shortly to end this mortal life I will be buried in the Temple of the Blessed Virgin The Event verified both the Dream and the Presages For in a short time Sickness and Death layd the Body of Prince William in the Grave while his Soul took her Flight to those Azure Mansions above A good Death is the beginning of a most blessed Eternity Sect. 39. VVherefore upon the daily sight of Funerals we do not consider Death THE Devil a most skilful Painter paints so well according to the Rules of Opticks that which is before us and nearest to us we may think most remote Thus as if we were to live a Thousand years we promise to our selves a long Security from Death Hence we behold Funerals and laugh as if it were never to be our Turn VVe daily die and yet we think our selves eternal Sir Thomas Moore that no Age might delude any Person with the hopes of a longer Life gives this Admonition As he that is carried out of Prison to the Gallows though the way be longer yet fears not the Gallows the less because he comes to it a little the later and though his Limbs are firm his Eyes quick his Lungs sound and that he relish his Meat and Drink yet this is still his
any time why not now Death calls upon all Men alike Thither we must all come sooner or later of that we are certain we doubt not of that thing but of the time VVhat then Does not he seem to be the most fearful and imprudent Creature of all who with so much earnestness desires the delay of Death Would not he be the Laughing-stock of others who being Condemned among many should beg to be the last Executed Yet this is the Folly we are guilty of We think it a great happiness to die last The Capital Punishment is destined to all and by a most just determination Now what matters it whether we go out first or last out of this Life as Men go out of a Theater We must depart it then at any time why not now To day perhaps Death spares us That 's nothing to Morrow he will be with thee The Sword will seize thee a Stone waits for thee a Fever lyes in Ambush Thou art never nor in no place safe There 's a necessity of going If then to Morrow why not to Day If at any time why not now Sect. 44. Why Death is Terrible DEath is the same to all Men but the Wages by which it happens are various One expires while he is feeding another slumbering falls into an Eternal Sleep another in the act of Impiety extinguishes Here one drops by the Sword another Drowns in Water another Fires consumes Some by the sting of Serpents die while others are Buried in the sudden fall of Ruins Others by the Contraction of their Nerves are tortured to Death Others are cut off in their Youth others in their Cradles Sometimes an Infant comes into the World to take its farewel of Life The Exit of some is milder of others harsher But how mild and gentle Death may seem to be however it brings something of Horrour with it and that for this reason because it seems to deprive us of many Happinesses and to take us from that plenty to which we are accustomed This love of our selves and desire of self-preservation is the Chain that clogs us There is also a natural fear of darkness to which Death is thought to be our Conductor which has engaged the Wits of many to augment the Terrours of Death But that which most augments the fear of Death is this that present things we know whither we are to go we know not and therefore are afraid Therefore is the Mind to be enured by much Exercise that it may not be afraid of that Eternity into which we are to enter Eternity is that we are to think upon day and night as they that would bring themselves to endure hunger must enure themselves to fasting by little and little So the Soul that is to be translated from this inconstant World to a stable Kingdom must accustom it self to endure Eternity Let it every day salute the Gate of Eternity every Moment believe that it waits there Whatever it acts let it act for Eternities sake and only observe this one form of action I read I write I paint I meditate I watch I speak and all for the sake of Eternity Whoever aspires to Eternal Triumphs let him learn to Combat Eternity Sect. 45. Death is sudden but beautiful CHaeremon as Palladius Bishop of Helenopolis witnesses while he sits while he works while he acts as a healthy person dies So sitting so working he was found but dead Vertue can beautifie any sort of Death Philemon a Comedian contested with Menander perhaps not his Equal yet his Emulator This Person recited upon the Stage a play that he had newly made But when he was moving the more sprightly Affections in his third Act a sudden shower scattered the Auditory Thereupon he promised the rest the next day The next day a vast multitude met together in so much that the Theater was thronged but no Philemon came Some blam'd the slowness of the Poet others excused him But at last tyred with expectation and sending to seek him the Messengers found him dead in his Bed His Book was in his Hand and his Eyes fix'd upon his Book So that the Messengers stood a while astonished at so sudden an Accident and the Miracle of so lovely a Death Returning to the people they related that they expected Philemon had finished his last act at Home leaving the World to give him their last farewel and plaudite to his Friends a sad occasion of Mourning and Lamentation For that now a Noble Poet having put off the Mask of Life his Bones and not his Verses where to be read If we look at this present Life the most wish'd for death is to die not fearing death But much more desireable is it to die in action and to be busie at our work that death it self may not prove idle It was the wish of Cyprian the Martyr to be slain for the sake of God while he was discoursing of God It is a high Encomium for any Man that not only the Devil but neither Death himself should find him idle Sect. 46. VVe must watch and pray BEcause ye know not at what Hour the Son of Man will come The Romans watched in their Arms yet sometimes without their Shields that they might have nothing to lean upon to invite them to sleep It is thy duty to watch O Man and to watch armed Ardent Prayers to God are the true Arms of Christians The Shield that encourages sleep is the vain hope of a longer Life The frequent Cries of the Roman Souldiers in their Watches were Wake wake Mars wake Thus they encouraged one another to constancy in watching The Heaven it self day and night waking and incessantly toyling admonishes thee to watch Dost thou grow deaf or art thou falling asleep Hear the voice of Christ watch and pray According to the relation of St. Mark Christ made a Sermon in the Conclusion whereof he thrice repeats these words first Take ye heed watch and pray Secondly Watch ye therefore for ye know not when the Master of the House cometh at even or at midnight whether at the Cock-crowing or at the dawning lest if he come suddenly he find ye asleep Lastly And that I say unto you I say unto ye all watch With the same Admonitions and by the Mouth of St. Matthew he cries to us Watch ye therefore for ye know not what hour the Lord doth come And again Watch ye therefore because ye know neither the day nor the hour The same he repeats upon Mount Olivet Watch and pray lest ye enter into Temptation Upon the same Text he preaches in St. Luke Watch ye therefore at all times praying The same watch ye how often doth St. Paul reiterate These claps Thunder upon us to shake off all sleepiness and drowsiness from us We are deaf yea dead indeed if these loud Exhortations will not wake us Whoever thou art that sleepest in Vice awake Thou knowest the Fate of the Egyptians The slaying Angel enter'd Egypt
'T is too late to layter here we strive in vain against the Stream Nature is a Mother not a Step-dame Dost thou accuse Nature O Tââ¦eophrastus as if less favourable to Man than Beasts certainly ââ¦e intended more to him than to them For which is best to suffer quickly what thou art no more to fear or to fear long what thou art slowly to endure Nature gives a long torment to Man when she grants him a short Life For always all Men must expect Their Day perfix'd What art thou then afraid of Is thy Life tak'n from thee Not only so but also the fear of Death and most Evils of Life This is the general choice of most Men rather to suffer quickly what we ought than to continue long in fear and pain There is little difference saith the second Pliny between suffering and expecting Misfortunes Only that there is a Measure of Fear and not of Grief For thou mayst bewail and grieve for what thou knowest has happened thou fearest what may happen Therefore come Death I am thy Debtor I will pay what I owe when ever God requires me Therefore freely willingly Will I the number of my days compleat And straight surrender up my soul to sate Hoping to ascend from the dark Grave to everlasting Light Death is not an Evil but Punishment after Death is an Evil. Sect. 8. They fear Death who foresee it not MOST certain it is that nothing terrifies so much as an unexpected necessity of dying Behold how they who are subject to the power of another being commanded a long Journey pack up their things in haste sollicitous and sad how they murmur because they had no longer warning As they are upon their departure they often look back pretending this and t'other Obstacle Now there is no longer Journey than to Die no way more crabbed more dark more hard to find none more suspitious and infested with Robbers Besides there is no return again Therefore we must tââ¦e more heedfully take care that we leave nothing behind There is a necessity of going thither fellow Souldiers said the Roman Captain from whence there is no necessity of returning There is only one remedy to answer being called and to obey being commanded Alas How improvident are they who never take care to provide for thy Journey They take care to fare well the rest they commit to Fortune Smyndirides that debauched young Man was wont to brag that in Twenty Years he had not seen the Sun rising or setting being continually either a Bed or at his Riot I fear one of you may find many like him among the Christians who make Gluttony Playing and Drinking their greatest Business To these will happen that which Cicero in his Epistles foretold to Brutus Believe me saith he you will be ruined unless you provide well Thus it will happen to all unwary People that want fore-sight Foresight is necessary in all things especially in those things that are never to be done but once where one mistake draws a thousand along with it This is the Condition of Death one Error causes a thousand Mistakes To err once there is to perish eternally O blind Mortals it will happen to you as it happens to them that shut their Eyes against their Enemies Swords in a Battle as if they were not to feel the danger which they see not Ye shall be smitten ye shall die ye shall be sensible and feel the stroke but whether blind or seeing that is at your choice You refuse to think upon Death which you must shortly think upon and feel The sufferance would soon follow when the Consideration precedes Sect. 9. They fear Death who are negligent of Life NEither is there any Question to be made of this They chiefly fear to die who know not how to live who believe no other Happiness but that of the Body Who only know how to eat well drink well and sleep well and place all their Heaven in pleasure persons certainly most obedient but to their Bellies not to the Divine Will Of whom St. Gregory truly said They know not what the Celestial Souls desire who set their Hearts upon Earthly Delights A prudent Christian that takes no more care of the Body than of a mean and abject Slave looks upon Death no otherwise than a Morning departure out of a dark unpleasant and incommodious Inn. Whoever thou art thou canst not fear thy Exit as of this Life if thou hopest to enter into the other Thy fear arises from hence For though there are many causes vulgarly given of this fear yet they all vanish upon the hopes of a more blessed Life He who seriously aspires to Heaven fears not these Baubles To such a Man Labour Sadness Grief Contempt Ignominy Loss Servitude Poverty Old Age are nothing else but the School of Experience the Time of Patience and the Honour of Victory Sect. 10. Three Things hardly supportable in Sickness IN almost all Sickness three things are hardly supportable Fear of Death Pain of the Body Discontinuance from Pleasure But as hot Diseases are Cur'd by cold cold by hot Medicines so are they Cur'd by their own Antidotes Therefore the fear of Death is to be Cur'd by Love but by Divine Love a little Dose of Divine Love will dispel the fumes of vain fear He that loves Christ will the less love Life and shall perceive the love of Christ to him By words alone this is not prov'd Love Marcus love if thou wouldst be belov'd Pain of the Body is to be asswag'd by tranquility of Conscience A guiltless Mind is a wonderful Consolation to the Sick And indeed a pure Conscience is a potent remedy against all Torments That also asswages pain as St. Gregory intimates in these words More easily will the Sick Person endure pain if he bear but this in his mind The most Just God will have me suffer this But Discontinuance from Pleasure will nothing at all afflict him who thinks upon Eternal Joys Those which leave are vain short and filthy and before they are forsaken frequently leave their admirers those which we promise our selves Immense Stable and Eternal He easily contemns Fading Delights who sincerely hopes for Eternal Sect. 11. Sickness the Sport of Vertue THou art well smitten if they Conscience be smitten Sickness is the School of Vertue it is also called a kind of Slaughter-house of Vice whoever is sick is a Scholar in this School On the other side Sickness is the Slaughter-house of Vertue to some and the School of Vice while they are well they are mad While they are well they have a hundred Businesses the Business of God is their last care How many are Chaste while they are Sick when they recover they return to their former filthy Lusts. Such people would do better Sick to whom health is so dangerous These therefore God tyes them to the Bed of Sickness that they may be at leisure to themselves and may mind their Salvation Forsake Vanity and
Death Hast thou not learnt in so many years calmly quietly and undisturbedly to die What art thou afraid oâ⦠Commit thy self entirely to the wil of God and thy business is almost done If thou wilt believe those who have had a large prospect into Truth All life is a punishment Here I seasonably cite to thee the words of the wise Roman Being thrown saith he into this deep and unquiet Sea flowing with uncertain Tydes now advancing us with sudden encrease of Riches now again leaving us upon the barren Sands of greater Losses we can never stand fixt in any place We float up and down are washt one against another and sometimes we make an absolute Shipwrack but are always in fear Neither is there any Port but that of Death to them that sail in this stormy and tempestuous Ocean But every Mans Credulity deceives him and a willing forgetfulness of Death for the sake of those things which he loves Daily we behold the Funerals of persons known and unknown yet we mind other business and account that unexpected which was foretold us all our life-time before 'T is not the injustice of Nature but the depravedness of humane Reason that takes it ill to forsake that place to which it was admitted but of Courtesie He is unjust who will not leave the disposal of the Gift to him that gave it And an extream piece of Covetousness it is not to look upon what a man has received as gain but what he restores as a loss Ingrateful is he that calls the end of Pleasure an Injury A Fool who thinks there is no good but what is present immediately all pleasure leaves us and is snatcht away almost before it comes Over-narrow and circumscrib'd are his Joys who thinks he possesses only what he has and sees Therefore let us rejoyce for what is given and restore it when 't is requir'd Death seises upon one at one time he will pass by none Therefore let the Soul lie upon the watch and never be afraid of that which will necessarily happen which is uncertain and always to be expected I know not whether it be a greater piece of Folly to be ignorant of that Law of Morality or more impudent to deny it All Men all Creatures look toward their latter end who ever is born is destin'd to die and prepared for an Eternity Sect. 21. Certain Theses which the Sick are to contend against with all their might The first Concerning God T Is an Impiety against God the chief Parent of the World to complain in the least as if he should send a Sickness either too troublesome or too unseasonable Rather let us say with Job As the Lord pleases let it be done the Name of the Lord be praised And with the blessed Quire let us sing He hath justly done all things For whether God wound or heal he shews the Care and Affection of a most compassionate Father towards us The second Concerning the sick Party himself A more violent Disease requires not longer or more constant Prayers but a longer and more constant Patience by which whatever is accounted difficult is more easily performed The seasonings that make Sickness pleasant are frequent Groans to Heaven the remembrance of Afflictions suffered by all the Saints Repeated Ejaculations sometimes to the Holy Trinity sometimes to Christ for constant Patience and a happy passage out of this Life The Third Concerning other Men. We are to submit as well to the Physicians of the Body as the Soul To those that come to visit us in Sickness we are to shew a good Example of Patience and a composed Mind And though the Disease be grievous though many things afflict us though some things displease us other things are not done to our minds never to fret and murmur All our Troubles are to be season'd with the hope of Reward Our Deeds and Sayings to be rendred commendable by Submission and Patience Sect. 22. The Thirst of a Sick-man how to be cur'd MOst sick People are afflicted with Thirst especially they that are in Feavers We will shew them Fountains whence they may take their fill A Thief notorious for the murther of several was taken in the lower Austria and fastned to the Wheel where his Thighs were first broken to prolong the Torment of an extraordinary Criminal for a terrour to others But this Malefactor shew'd himself a man and began to be a most Religious Christian in the midst of his Torments for at every word he breath'd out nothing but Patience and Repentance He called upon God continually implor'd Pardon for his Crimes and like a Preacher began to dehort the Standers by from wicked Courses such as he had taken By this it grew towards Evening when the Multitude flockt some as Comforters of so great a Sufferer though indeed only as Spectators of a generous Patience For he prostrate to his Punishment that he might find a better Life asswag'd his present Pain with the Hope of future Happiness and gave God thanks who in his Wrath had remembered Mercy and had chastiz'd him to spare him But in that slow Torment which it was thought would have lasted three days he only pray'd a quick Death to end the Fury of his Pains or the opportunity of a Shower to asswage his burning Heat and Drought It was observ'd that he had the Assistance of both for towards Sun-set there fell a plentiful Shower and in short while after his Torments and his Life ended both together Behold O Christian thou hast also thy Wheel though a more gentle one thou art ty'd to thy Bed as to that Wheel And perhaps not only Pain but Drought may afflict thee Therefore that a seasonable Shower may fall upon thee cause thy Bed to be made in Golgotha at the foot of that Cross to which the Saviour of the World was nail'd from whose Body fell Showers of Blood There drink there refresh thy self there satisfie thy self being we'lassured that thou shalt be the more perfectly cured the more largely thou drinkest Sect. 23. The Sick-man's Handkerchief CRosildis the Queen of the Franks as Gregory Turonicus reports being cruelly used by Amalanc her Husband sent a white linnen Cloth dipt in her Blood to her Brother Childebert as much as if she should have wrote to her Brother and have sayd Seest thou these Marks Childebert and canst thou brook them Canst thou behold the Sufferings of a Sister and wink at them Wilt thou not revenge and defend me Behold O Sick-man Christ sends thee a Handkerchief nay two the one from Mount Olivet liliberally dyed in his Blood in the other thou feest his Face besmear'd with Sweat Spittle Blood and Tears while he dragg'd his own Cross to Golgotha These linnen Cloaths Christ sends to thee be-purll'd with his Blood wherein he has wrote these words This Sweat O mortals your Sins forced from me Can you see these and not abandon your former wicked life Certainly no person more truly bewails
remedy this Disease I had rather want all sorts of Venison than that my Subjects should be endamaged thereby Where are now those complaining sick people so indulgent to themselves who when every thing falls not out according to their desire fret and fume like Madmen Let us imitate the Purple if we refuse to imitate the Beggars Raggs Let us imitate Princes and Captains upon the Bed of sickness 'T is the sign of a sluggish Souldier when neither the Example of his Comrade nor his Captain will move him Sect. 36. An Example of Patience in a most Potent King NO good Man ought to be afraid of the Torments of the Body no not of Death it self Why should he either fear one or t'other who is conscious to himself that a Man ought not to fear any thing but death Philip the Second King of Spain a great Example to Posterity contested with so violent a Disease that all the worst of Diseases seemed to have conspired against him in one No part of his Body was free from pain Thou wouldst have said this Prince and greatest of Kings might have been called The Ballance of Calamity and the Tabernacle of Sickness The chief Diseases that afflicted him were 1. The Gout 2. Ulcers in his Hands and Feet 3. An Aposthume in the Knee and right Muscle 4. A continual Fever 5. The Dropsie and perpetual Drowth 6. A Tertian Ague 7. A Dysentery 8. Want of Sleep 9. He could not be any way turned in his Bed One of these Diseases had been torment enough But he with the same generous Mind as when he was well and with a Christian patience sustained the violence of all these Diseases so much the more sound and lively in Mind by how much he was the weaker in Body A most Illustrious Example of Christian Patience This Philip had learnt from Job that great Prince in the Land of Uz whom the loss of so many Flocks so much Wealth so many Children could not move from his Patience Naked his nakedness delighted him and miserable his miseries Naked he came into the World and naked he should go forth was his Song praising God for his Calamities as for his Benefits The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away let the Name of the Lord be blessed Corruption he embraced as his Sister and the heaps of Worms as his Brother Whence this Brazen Wall this threefold Fortitude encompassing a Breast so surrounded with misery Because he knew himself guilty of no evil no sins affrighted him The Devil had taken his Kingdom of Riches from him but he could not deprive him of his Empire over a patient and upright Mind Dost thou expect one more potent than Job Attend then for it requires Attention Sect. 37. A Specimen Pattern Mirror of Patience a most absolute Example even Christ the Lord. O All you that pass by the way bebold and see if there be any sorrows like mine Thus Christ calls to thee from the Cross. Thou passest by this Road of Calvary when thou art in Distress But thou dost only pass by because thy pains whatever they are were nothing to this Sea of Grief they were but Resemblances of Sorrow His Pain when Crucified was real Pain in whom there was no Part free from Pain His Bones his Nerves his Veins whatever scaped the Scourge and Thornes tormented by the extending Engines Nor is there any that dares afford the least Word to asswage these unspeakable Torments His weeping Friends and how many of them Avail nothing his Fugitive Disciples leave him his insulting Enemies torment him and whom they pierced with Nailes before now they Stab with Ignominious Reproaches and Revilings The Father himself forsakes the Son in Torments No Comfort to his Soul in all this extremity of Anguish Yet in the midst of all these Miseries he never complained never repined never made any evil Imprecation nay he implored the Pardon of all He gave as many Documents of Patience as he received VVounds and Injuries Behold now and see if thy Grief be like the Grief of thy Lord and Saviour Thou dost not love Christ if thou resusest to suffer Sect. 39. Patience is the compleat Armour of a Sick Person DEmosthenes being asked What he thought most Essential to Eloquence Answered Action Being demanded what next He replied Action Being asked a Third time he still answered Action Should it be asked what is most necessary for a sick Person He answers best that answers Patience If again VVhat is most profitable for a Christian as before Patience Should it be a third time asked VVhat is most becoming in Sickness the same reply serves again Patience Single Patience claims all these three Advantages To one and the same Patience first second and third Lawrel are to be yielded as of right This we may believe out of Divine VVrit Possesâ⦠ãâã selves by your Patierce No otherwise St. Pâ⦠For ye have need of Patience that after you have done the VVill of God ye might reâ⦠the Promise VVhat wouldst thou have O ãâã Man seeing that through much Tribulation we must enter into the Kingdom of Heaven VVhere thou art prickt there grows the Rose that crowns thee Truth it self proclaims whosoever doth not bear the Cross and come after me cannot be my Disciple Therefore take the Counsel of S. Austin and suffer what thou art not willing to suffer that thou mayst obtain what thou wouldst willingly have Solomon also presses this home My Son refuse not the chastning of the Lord neither faiââ¦s thou when thou art corrected of him For whom the Lord loveth him he chasteneth and yet delighteth in him even as a Father in his own Son Believe the same thing said to thy Tutelar Angel as was said to Tobias Because thou wast accept and beloved of God it was necessary that Temptation should try thee But this every one is certain of that VVorships thee O God That if his Life be in trying it shall be crowned and if it be in Trouble that God shall deliver him and if his Life be in chastening that he shall have leave to come to thy Majesty For thou hast no Pleasure in our Damnation after a storm thou mayest have the weather fair and still and after weeping and heaviness thou givest great joy Thy Name O God of Israel be praised for ever Therefore blessed are ye that weep for ye shall laugh The Potters Vessels are tried by the Furnace and Just Men by the Temptation of Affliction Therefore composed to all Patience let the Sick Man say I will bear the Wrath of the Lord for I have offended him till he sit in Judgment upon my Cause and seâ⦠that I have right Then will he bring me forth to the Light and I shall see his Righteousness If that Heavenly VVrath be too terrible that Purââ¦es How severe is that which Damns This no Patience can move the other but a moderate suffering will bend VVherefore O my Sick Friend compose thy self
Divine Love nor will I any more let thee go Now to the World and all worldly things I bid adieu Now rejoicing I come to thee O God Nothing O sweet Jesu nothing shall separate me from thee For I am united with thee O Christ In thee will I live in thee will I die and in thee if it be thy pleasure will I remain to all Eternity No more do I live now but Christ liveth in me My Soul is weary of this Life I desire to be dissolved and be with Christ and to die a Gainer Now will I fear no evil walking in the shadow of Life because thou O Lord art with me As the Hart panteth after the Rivers of Water so panteth my Soul after thee O God My Soul hath thirsted after God the Fountain of Life when shall I come and appear before the Face of my God Bless me O Loving Jesu and dismiss me in peace because I am now truely thine and to all Eternity will I not forsake thee What have I now more to do with the World O my sweet Jesu Into thy Hands Lord Jesu I commend my Spirit Receive me O Celetial Love that I may be happy in thy Embraces to all Eternity and may for ever rest in thee A Conclusion of the Second Chapter To the Reader THese things I have therefore said for the comfort of the Healthy and the Sick that they may not be altogether without Comfort partly to stir them up to vigilancy partly to strengthen them that they may overcome prepared against all Assaults of Death An ill death is not only the worst but the most indeliable and inexpiable of all Errours in the Word Now I come to give some Precepts to the Dying not ââ¦o see them read but to be read in health to profit them in that dreadful Hour CHAP. III. The Remembrance of Death is represented to Dying People Sect. 1. The Art of Dying well is briefly Taught NOT to know how to die is the most miserable piece of Ignorance in the World Therefore that we may learn that which we ought to learn all our Lives there are five things that conduce to good Death First A free and undaunted Mind This is that which is of chiefest moment and upon which the rest depend It is a great satisfaction for our offences so willingly to abandon'd what is most dear to us Therefore saith David an Offering of a Free-heart-will I give unto thee There is nothing so acceptable to God nor so profitable to Man as a free and ready Mind and a generous Trust in God Secondly A Will made and Debts discharged 'T is an Errour never to think of a Will till Death is at the Door Dispose of thy Goods while thou art well in thy Sences Moreover as to the giving away of such things as are at our disposal Sect. 2. Nine causes why we are to Die with a contented Mind BEfore all things consider the death of thy Saviour and thou wilt fear thy own with a most contented Mind Compare I beseech thee thy Bed to his Cross thy Pillows to his Thorny Diadem thy Food with his Gall thy Drink with his Vinegar thy Pains with his Torments Thou didst die in the midst of thy Friends and Comforters he in the midst of his Enemies and Revilers Thou among thy Helpers and Assistants he expir'd deserted by all For thy health so many Medicines are still prepar'd His extream thirst wanted the refreshment of cold Water Yet he the Lord and chief of all Thou a Servant most vile and mean Him all these Miseries befel both Innocent and Undeserving thee for thy Deserts and Impiety And therefore thou hast no reason to complain 2. The chiefest Grace of the Supream King is a Good Death To die well is to avoid the danger of Living ill But he dies well who dies willingly Who does not readily rise from a hard Bed They only desire to lye long who cherish'd by the heat are loth to leave a warm Nest. If it be ill with thee in this Life wherefore shouldst thou not willingly pass to a better If well 't is time for thee to make an end lest Prosperity cast thee as it does many into a late but fatal Ruin 'T is a hard thing for the Fortunate to die How many Men are Condemned to perpetual Torments who had they dy'd Children or young had gone to Heaven 3. The Saints and all our dearest Friends invite us to them But saist thou we must leave our Friends and Companions Unadvisedly spoken thou art going to them Where are thy Parents Dost not thou hope in Heaven And that thou shalt also go thither But these are things uncertain and only hoped for Very right there is no Man hopes for what he sees or is certain of And therefore God affords thee an occasion for that Vertue He commanded thee to hope for Heaven he would never promise it thee certainly And yet thou art carried thither still with a certain hope though to a thing to thee uncertain A Creditor has no reason to mistrust a Faithful Debtor God is become thy Debtor Consider thou to whom thou art a Creditor Doth not St. Paul cry out with joy I know whom I have believed 4. Consider O Man of little Soul the extraordinary alacrity of Mind and the ardent desire to die of many Martyrs who contemn'd all the preparations of Death and suffered the severest Torments with a smiling Countenance Certainly neither Death nor Labour is terrible but the fear of Death or Labour Therefore let us applaud the saying of him who said Death is no evil but to die shamefully Children are frighted with Hobgoblins for want of knowledge What is Death A Hobgoblin Turn the Argument and thou shalt find it so Yet neither Children nor Infants nor Madmen fear Death and therefore 't is a most shameful thing that reason should not afford us that security which reason produces Death is a Tribute and a Duty to be paid by all why then art thou troubled Why dost thou not pay the Debt thou owest for Death allows no priviledges No Man was ever exempted or shall be The World saith St. Basil is Mortal and the Region of them that die 5. What is a long fear of Death but a long Torment Dost thou live long Thou art long in Torment Well said Tertullian That is not to be fear'd that frees us from all fear But thou wilt say 'T is a terrible thing in Sickness to foresee Death creeping on by degrees Worm of a Man what wouldst thou have Did not thy Saviour Christ foresee his Death and that a most sharp one for thirty years and more Art thou better than he But because thou dost not so much fear Death as the previous Inconveniences of Death hear Epictetus And shalt not thou saith he depart with a firm and constant mind but trembling and cowardly because of thy fine Cloaths or thy gaudy Silver Plate Unhappy Man Was it thus that hitherto
thou hast lost all thy time What if I prove Sick Thou shalt be honestly Sick Who shall Cure thee God I shall lye hard But as a Man I shall not have a convenient House 'T is an inconvenience to be Sick What shall be the issue of the Disease Nothing but Death Therefore dost not thou believe that the Fountain of all Evil is the chief mark of a degenerate and dastardly Mind is not so much death it self as the fear of Death Therefore exercise thy self against it make use of whatever thou hearest or readest as weapons to Encounter it So shalt thou know there is no other way for Man to gain his own Liberty 6. From how many Evils art thou freed by Death To die is to shut up the Shop of all Miseries Excellently well said Pliny That is the condition of Life that Death becomes the Heaven for the best of Men and the chief benefit of Nature And therefore let every one provide himself of this as one of the principal Cures for his Mind that of all the Benefits which Nature affords Men there is none better than a seasonable Death Caesar in Salust affirms Death to be a Cessation from Misery to the afflicted and no Torment Therefore the Wise Man always considers what manner of Life he led and not how long For Nature provided us a place to Lodge and Sojourn in but not to inhabit lends us the use of Life like that of Money are not payable at a certain day Why then dost thou complain if she call it in when she pleases since she lent it upon that condition 7. The Prison Doors are set open by Death and dost thou fear to go forth Rather rejoice Hitherto thou wert a Captive now thou shalt be free How foolish a thing it is to depend upon Hope or Happiness and be afraid to go at large to that which always remains and to change for a moment of dying a perpetual Immortality The Prison is open haste thee to a better place 8. Death is the way yea it is the Gate that leads us into our Countrey to Eternal Life to Immortal Joy For Death is not so much the end of Life as the beginning of Life Learnedly said St. Bernard The Just Man dies but securely whose death as it is the Exit out of this present Life is the Entry into a better But thou wilt say To live long how pleasant a thing it is but how uncertain is it whether Divine Grace will not forsake thee before thy Sin And who is there that has not often reason to be afraid for his perseverance which no holiness of Life can merit 'T is a Gift and given gratis Therefore he that desires this Gift let him reconcile himself to the Giver 9. But the Reason of Reasons is the Will of God whose Eternal pleasure it was that thou shouldst yield to Nature at this time in this place and through this Disease What wouldst thou more It was Gods will it so seem pleasing to God This is that will that can will no evil Therefore the Son of Syrack gives this advice Humble thy self afore thou beest sick and while thou maist sin shew thy Conversation But all these Reasons I do shortly sum up thus 1. The Death of Christ. 2. The Grace of God 3. The Invitation of the Saints 4. Examples of those that were before us 5. The Things to be feared 6. The end of all Evils 7. Enlargement out of Prison 8. Entrance into Paradice 9. The will of God Sect. 3. Therefore Death is not to be fear'd THerefore do willingly O Christian which otherwise thou wouldst be forc'd to do unwillingly VVhat is done by a willing Mind becomes light and ceases to be necessity where the will takes place The wise Man is so instructed as to consent to what he cannot withstand Therefore I am secure and fear nothing Nature a most kind Parent never made any thing terrible 'T is only the Error of Men that makes Death formidable VVe are afraid of Death not because it is evil but because it is not known to Men. If thou art revolving any thing sublime in thy Mind if thou art rearing any high or lofty structure despise those low and poor mistakes of the Vulgar and admire those Precepts whose imitation leads thee the true way to Glory VVe have innumerable Examples of those that die happily and cheerfully Rather imitate him among the Ancients that made this Dialogue between himself and the Minister of Death Thou shalt die Since the Fall 't is the Nature not so much the punishment of Man Thou shalt die Upon this condition I came into the VVorld Thou shalt die 'T is the Law of Nations to repay what has been borrow'd Thou shalt die Life is a Pilgrimage when thou hast travell'd as far as thou hast design'd thou must return home again Thou shalt die I thought thou wouldst have told me some News I came for this purpose As soon as I was Born Nature set me my Bounds VVhy should I be offended Thou shalt die 'T is a vain thing to fear what I cannot avoid He that stays the longest cannot fly it Thou shalt die I am not the first nor the last many went before and many shall follow Thou shalt die VVhat wise Man ever took it amiss to be set at Liberty VVhatever begins must end Thou shalt die It is not grievous because but once to be suffered They are Eternal Pains that torment Now is Death less to be fear'd than formerly For then the Gate of Heaven being not so open all Men bewail'd for this Noctes atque Dies c. Both day and night stands ope th' Infernal Gate Of swarthy Dis But now we can Sing Both day and night to Zealous Faith and Hope The splendid Gate of highest Heav'n stands ope So that it matters not how terrible and threatning Death appears 'T is the most inconsiderable what he desires of us He never thought of Death that liv'd well nor loses any thing who gains all things Sect. 4. How the Holy Men do desire yet fear Death LET us behold Paul saith Gregory how he loves what he seeks to avoid How he avoids what he loves He desires to die and yet fears to be spoil'd of his Flesh. Why so because though the Eternal Victory over-joy him yet the present pain disturbs him And though the Love of the Recompence overcome him yet he cannot be unsensible of the twitches and pangs of Torment For as a Couragious Souldier just before the Battel palpitates trembles looks pale yet is still instigated by his Anger So a Holy Man seeing the approach of his Suffering is shaken by the weakness of his Nature fears the approach of Death and yet rejoices to die And because there is no passage but through Death therefore trusting he doubts and doubting trust rejoicing he fears and fearing rejoices Because he knows he shall not attain the Garden of Repose unless he get over the Hill that lyes
changed The Nose becomes sharp the Eyes sunk and hollow the Skin of the Forehead hard and wrinkled the Colour of the Face grows pale with several other Mortal Symptoms that make such a strange and dismal alteration in the Countenance that it seems to be quite another thing So that when God changes the Countenance of Man he sends him forth Go now saith he go Man into thy House of Eternity Upon so small a point of Death depend so many Ages not to be numbered by Ages Sect. 11. Of Dying in a standing Posture IT was a saying of Vespasian That an Emperor ought to die standing I also say that it becomes a Christian to die no otherwise than standing In the year 1605 at Vienna the Night before Christmas day a Souldier standing Sentinel in a small wooden House was frozen to death in the Morning he was found standing but not watching for he had finished the VVatch of the Night and of his Life both together In the same manner died another who was frozen to death and had done Living before he had done Riding for the Horse knowing the way carried his Master to Constance into his publick Quarters very faithfully Q. Curtius testifies that some of Alexanders Souldiers were frozen to death against the Trunks of Trees and were found not only as if they had been living but as if they had been talking together being all in the same posture as death seized them VVe read that Leodeganius the Martyr having his Head cut off raised himself upright and stood immoveable for above an Hour Peter also the Martyr being upon his Knees yet kneeled upright after his Head was off In the times of Dioclesian and Maximilian Ursus and Victor the Martyrs after their Heads were cut off walked with them a good way in their Hands And so did not only die standing but stood after they were dead Thus it becomes a Christian to die standing and a dying Christian must stand and fight he stands and fights well who being supported by God fears not to die Sect. 12. Some dead before death ' T VVas a wise saying of Alexandridas That we should die before we are compelled to die St. Paul makes this Asseveration I die daily Gregory the Great describing his own condition Me faith he bitterness of Mind and continual trouble and pains of the Gout so violenly afflict that my Body is as it were like a dried Carkass in the Sepulcher so that I am not able to rise out of my Bed Cosmo de Medici lying at the point of death and being ask'd by his Wife why he shut his Eyes so especially when he was awake made answer I desire so to accustom them that they may not take it ill to be always closed 'T is the best way of dying then to shut the Eyes when any Allurement of pleasure assails them O shut thy Eyes and so die that thou maist not always die whoever thou art that lovest Integrity Most wisely Seneca Councels Lucilicus Endeavour this before the day of thy death that thy Vices may die before thee Sect. 13. Of those that have been Buried by themselves PAcuvius Tiherius Caesar's Procurator in Syria so largely endulged himself every day to Drinking and Gluttony in that manner that he was carried from his Dining-room into his Bed-chamber in the midst of the Applauses and Symptoms of his Domestick Servants that all the way sang to him after the manner of a Funeral Dirge Vixit vixit He hath lived he hath lived what was this but every day to cause himself to be carried forth and buried Of whom most excellently Seneca What saith he this Man did out of an evil Conscience let us perform with a good Conscience and going to sleep let us chearfully sing vixi I have lived if God add to morrow to our Lives let us gladly accept of it he is the most happy and the most secure enjoyer of himself who without any sollicitude expects to Morrow Labienus who furiously Satyriz'd upon all Men and was therefore called Rabienus so far hated that all his Books were burnt this Labienus could not brook nor would survive the Funerals of his Will but caused himself to be carried into the Monument of his Predecessors and there to be shut up Nor did he only put an end to his Life but Buried himself alive But more to be admir'd was he who being buried alive was unburied when dead Storax a Neopolitan a Man some few years since of great Wealth delicate and proud who being Keeper of the publick Stores of Provision when he had been tardy in his Office drew the fury of the samished Multitude upon him he seeking for refuge hid himself in the Sepulcher of St. Austin where being fonnd at length and stoned to Death he was prosecuted with that rage that the people tore his Flesh bit from bit and threw his broken Bones about the Streets which produced this Epitaph ' upon him Storax who living in a Tomb lay hid Yet wanted strange to tell a Tomb when dead Albertus Magnus the wonder of his Age having resigned his Miter of Ratispine returned to Cologne to the Learned Poverty of his Order There he lost the remembrance almost of every thing as had been foretold him Yet was he not so forgetful but that he remembered every day to approach the place of his Burial where he constantly said his Prayers for himself as if he had been Buried S. Severus Governour of Ravenna entered into his Monument alive and placing himself between his Daughter and his Wife which had been dead some years before expir'd upon the place Macarius the Roman stood three years Buried up to the Neck in Earth Philotomus a Presbyter of Galatia lived six years among the Sepulchers of the dead that he might overcome the fear of Death Philemon of Laodicea as Suidas testifies the Disciple of Timocrates the Philosopher and Master of Aristides in the Six and Fiftieth year of his Age threw himself in a Sepulcher having almost starved himself to death to ease the pains of the Gout And when his Friends and Relations bemoan'd him and endeavoured to perswade him to come out of the Sepulcher Give me said he another Body and I will rise But the next is an Example of more Piety Two Anchorites lived in the Pterugian Rock near the River one of which grown old and dying was Buried in the Mountain by his Companion Some few days after the Disciple of the Old Man deceased going to a Countreyman that was at Plough in the bottom Do me but one kindness Brother said he take thy Spade and Mattock and follow me Being come where the old Man lay Buried the Anchorite shewed the Countreyman the Grave And having so done Dig said he here I desire thee while I pray in the mean time When the Grave was digged and that the Anchorite had finished his Prayers embracing the old Man Pray for me said he Brother and throwing himself alive upon his Master
thus Buried by himself he gave up the Ghost These things may be admired but not imitated unless the Holy St. Paul intimates You are dead saith he and your Life is hidden with Christ in God Most Excellent is that Admonition of the Philosophers Live as it were lying hid For he lives well that absconds himself well Such a one is honestly buried by himself and to his great Advantage Who too much known to all men dyes unknown to himself He dies most quietly who ever buries himself alive in that manner Sect. 14. Considerations upon the Sepulchre The next third Season within Plithia's Walls Will bring me to my longed for Funerals THus Socrates foretold his own Death and truly here the City Plithia signifies no other than the Coffin and the Sepulcher whither whatever Treaties makes a hasty speed The Old Poet sang of Alexander the Great But having enter'd once that mighty Town Whose Sun bak'd Walls were of such high Renown Contented in a Coffin then he lay Thus Death alone makes the most true display What little things Mens Bodies are There is no House or Habitation so certainly ouâ⦠own as the Grave This the blessed Jacoponus a Person as Religious as Facetious most aptly taught A Citizen of Tudertum had bought a pair of Cock Chickens and spying Jacoponus in the Market desired him to do him the Favour to carry them home for him desiring him withal that he would not fail To whom Jacoponus be certain said he that I will not fail to carry them home and so went directly to the Church of St. Fortunatus where that Citizens Monument was and hid the Chickens as well as he could The Citizen returning home in the first place enquired for his Chickens All the Servants denied they saw any such thing thereupon the Citizen returning back and finding Jacoponus I thought said he thou wouldst deceive me as thou usest to do But where are the Chickens said he To whom Jacoponus I carried them home as you ordered me Thereupon the Citizen denying any such thing to be done come along with me said Jacoponus and believe thy own Eyes and so saying carried the Citizen to his Monument and listing up the Stone Friend said he Is not this thy House Which the Citizen acknowledged to be true and there received his Chickens again Therefore most truly saith Job I know because thou wilt deliver me to Death where the House is appointed for all living Creatures Sect. 15. Nine Wills VEry truly said Pliny the younger the common Opinion is false that the Wills of Men are the mirrour of Manners 1. Zilka bequeathed his Skin to make a Drum and his Flesh to the Fowls of the Air and Wild Beasts and commanded his Souldiers to spare neither Churches nor Monuments He died of the Sickness in the year 1424. 2. There was a Woman that left her Cat by Will five Hundred Crowns for her Cats Food as long as she lived O the ridiculous Fosteries of Humane Thoughts Augustus said of Herod I had rather be his Hog than his Son A Man might as well have said I had rather have been this Womans Cat than her Servant 3. A Famous Usurer being at the point of Death sending for the Publick Notary and Respesses caused his Will to be written in these VVords Let my Body be returned to the Earth from whence it was taken but my Soul be given to the Devils His Friends astonished at his words advised rebuked him but he again and again persisted saying Let my Soul be given to the Devils for I have unjustly scraped together the most of my Estate To them belongs the Soul of my Wife and the Souls of my Children who that they might have wherewithal to spend upon Cloaths Feasting and Luxury put me upon the wicked Trade of Usury To them also belongs the Soul of my Confessor who encouraged my wickedness by his silence And so saying he breathed his last 4. St. Jerome rebukes the Covetousness of Heirs with this Fable A little Pig bewailed the Death of its Dam. with a most bitter gruntling but hearing the Will read and that there were a heap of Acorns and some Bushels of Pease left him he held his Peace and being asked wherefore he ceased his Lamentation so suddainly Oh saith he the Acorns and the Pease have stopped my Mouth This is the Humour of most Heirs now adays They gape after the Legacies make Inventories of the Goods and tell the Money let what will become of the Soul of the Testator let him rest as he has deserved But let us view another sort of Wills 5. The Holy Martyr Hierom the fourth day before he was carried to Execution left his Estate to his Mother and Sister but to Rusticius who was chief in Authority in the Commonwealth of Aneyra his Hand already cut off 6. The Holy Hilarion at Fourscore years of Age made Hesychius his Heir in these Words All my Wealth that is to say the Gospel and one Hair Vest my Coat and little Cloak I leave to my most loving Friend Hesychius And this was all the Inventory of his Goods 7. Antonius the Great made his Will in these Words As for the Place of my Burial let no man know but your own Love My Felt and old Cloak give it to Athanasius the Bishop which he gave me when it was new Let Serapion the Bishop take the other which is somewhat better Do you take my Hair Garment And so farewel My Bowels for Antony is going He had no sooner ended these Words but extending his Legs he gave admittance to Death 8. The Patriarch of Alexandria John of Almes wrote his Will thus I give thee thanks O God that at my Death of all my Revenues it hath pleased thee to let me have remaining but one third part of a pound When Alexandria first made me their Patriarch I found Fourscore Hundred pieces of Gold to this the Friends of Christ added an unspeakable quantity of Money all which that I might give to God that which was Gods I expended upon the Poor wherefore what remains I also give to them 9. To this may be added the Will of a certain Christian changing only the Name the Year and the Day I Achathius Victor have been running to Eternity from the year 1581. upon the 15th of August and have Eternity in my mind Now I commend my Spirit to God and because I cannot deny the Earth what belongs to it I bequeath my Body to the Earth and to the Worms Of my Goods there is nothing now mine but good will which I carry with me to the Tribunal of God the rest I thus dispose 1. I forgive all my Enemies from the bottom of my Heart 2. I am sincerely sorry for all my Sins 3. I believe in Christ Jesus my most loving Redeemer And in this Faith I desire the Sacrament of the Church 4. I hope for Eternal Life through the goodness of God 5. I love my God with all my Heart
above all things and resign my self up fully to his holy will Most absolute prepared to be well to be sick to live or die when it shall please the Lord. The will of God be done Unless every Christian so order his Life and his last Actions he is to be thought to have lived ill and to have died worse The last Hour consumates Death but is not the cause of it which was preceded by a good Death For nothing makes Death ill but what follows Death Good Seed brings a good Harvest The Highway to a good Death is a good Life I may not unfitly compare Life and Death to a Syllogisine The end of a Syllogisme is the Conclusion the Conclusion of Life Death But the Conclusion is either true or false according to the Nature of the Antecedents so is Death good or bad as the Life before was good or bad Thus St. Paul severely prononnces saying Whose end shall be according to their VVorks 2 Cor. 11. 15. Memorable is the Death of that Holy Martyr Felix who being led to Execution rejoicing to himself with a loud Voice I have said he preserved my Virginity I have kept the Gospels I have preached the Truth and now I bow my Head a Victim to God There is a Relation of one who died suddenly in his Study and was found with his Finger pointing to that Verse in the Book of VVisdom ch 4. v. 7. which says Though the Righteous be overta ken with Death yet he shall find rest pretions in the sight of the Lord is the Death of his Saints whether slow or suddain The Copious St. Bernard being near his end Because saith he I cannot leave you great Examples of Religion yet I commend Three things to your Observation which I remember observed by my self 1. I less believed my own than the Judgment of another 2. Being injured I never sought Revenge 3. I never would offend any Person Gerard the Brother of St. Bernard upon his Death-Bed broke out into that Davidean Rapture Praise the Lord in Heaven Praise him in the Highest Where is thy Victory O Death Where is thy Sââ¦ing O Grave Gerard through the midst of thy very Jaws passes not only securely but joyfully and triumphantly to his Country He cannot die ill who has lived well Sect. 16. As we Live so shall we Die The weary Huntsman in his rest all Night Dreams of new Sports and of his past Delight IN the same manner those things that pleased us in our Health we are delighted with at our Deaths Antiochus miserably afflicted the Jews and Maximinâ⦠the Emperour had designed the utter Exterpation of the Christians At length they both fell into a most lamentable Disease and when they saw no other way the one besought the Jews the other the Christians to pray to their God for their Recovery Like Esops Crew which being taken desperately sick cautioned his Mother as she sate by him not to weep for him but rather pray ââ¦o the Gods for his Recovery To whom she replied O my Son which of the Gods dost thou think will be propitious to thee that has robbed the Altars of every one of them Therefore as we live so we die so are we reprieved and condemed so destined to Heaven or to Hell Sect. 17. A good Death to be desired I Pray God my Soul may die the Death of the Righteous and that my last end may be like his cried the Prophet Balaam How much more rightly had he wished Let my Soul live the Life of the Just that it may also die the Death of the Just. 'T is a Ridiculous thing to desire a good Death and flie a good Life 'T is a Labour to live well but a Happiness to die well he that refuses to pass the Red Sea must not think to ââ¦at Manna He that loves the Egyptian Servitude shall never reach the Land of Canaan Piously and Elegantly St. Bernard Oh that I may fall saith he frequently by this Death that I may escape the Snares of Death that I may not feel the deadly Allurements of a Luxurious Life that I may not besot my self in sensual Just in Covetousnes Impatience Care and Trouble for worldly Affairs This is that Death which every one ought to wish for who designs a Life that shall never know Death Before Death to die to Sin and Vicâ⦠is the best Death of all Sect. 18. Sleep the Brother of Death PAusanias relates that he saw a Statue of Night in the shape of a Woman holding in her right Hand a little white Boy sleeping in her left a little black Boy like one that were a sleep The one was called Somââ¦us Sleep and the other Lethum Death but both the Sons of Night Hence it is that Virgil calls Sleep the Kinsman of Death Gorgias Leontinus being very old was taken ill In his Sickness he was visited by a Friend who finding him fall'n asleep when he waked asked how he did To whom Gorgias made answer Now Sleep is about to deliver me to his Brother Whoever thou art O Christan before thou layst thy self to Sleep examine thy Conscience and wipe away the stains and spots that defile it There are many who have begun to sleep and die both together and ended their Lives before they had slept out of their Sleep The Brother of Death is to be feared and not only cautiously but chastly to be fallen into He that sleeps not chastly shall hardly wake chastly Sect. 19. The fore-runners of Death THE fore-runners of Eternity is Death the fore-runners of Death are Pains and deadly Symptoms One deadly Symptome if we believe Pliny in the height of Madness is Laughter in other Diseases an unequal Pulse But the Eyes and the Ears shew most undoubted Prognosticks of Death Experience teacheth us that when sick People talk of going Journeys and endeavoured to escape out of their Beds when they pull and pick the Blankets they are near Death Augustus the Emperor a little before he expired suddainly terrified complained that he was carried away by Forty young Men. Which saith Suetonius was rather a Presage than a sign of any Delirium for so many Pretorian Souldiers when he was dead carried him to his Funeral Pile When Alexander went by Water to Babylon a sudden Wind rising blew off the Regal Ornament of his Head and the Diadem fixt to it This was lookt upon as a Presage of Alexander's Death which happened soon after In the Year of Christ 1185. the last and most fatal end of Andronicus Commenus being at hand the Statue of St. Paul which the Emperour had caused to be set up in the great Church of Constantinople abundantly wept Nor were these Tears in vain which the Emperour washt off with his own Blood Barbara Princess of Bavaria having shut her self up in a Nunnery among other things allowed her for her peculiar Recreation she had a Marjoram-Tree of an extraordinary bigness a small Aviary and a Gold Chain which she wore
about her Neck but fourteen days before she died the Marjoram-Tree dried up the Birds the next Night were all found dead and after that the Chain broke in two in the middle Then Barbara calling for the Abbess told her that all those Warnings were for her and in a few days after died in the Seventeenth Year of her Age After her death above twenty other Virgins died out of the same Nunnery Several other Presages there are that foretold the death of Princes and great Men As the unwonted Howlings of Dogs the unseasonable noise of Bells the Roaring of Lions c. Therefore said Pliny The Signs of Death are innumerable and that there are none or very few Signs of Safety or Security What do all these things Admonish us but only this Remember O man that thou art a man think upon Eternity to which thou art hastening Go to prepare thy self thou art called to that Tribunal of God as thou didst live shalt thou be judged Sect. 20. What Answer is to be given to the Messenger of Death SAint Ambrose having received the News of his Death when his Friends bewailed him and begg'd of God to grant him a longer space of Life I have not lived as to be ashamed to lieve among you neither do I fear to die because we have a gracious God Saint Austin nothing troubled at the News of his Death He never shall be great saith he who thinks it strange that Stones and Wood fall and that Mortals die Saint Chrysostom a little before his Death in Exile wrote to Innocentius We have been these three Years in Banishment exposed to Pestilence Famine continual Incursions unspeakable Solitude and continual Death But when he was ready to give up the ghost He cryed out aloud Glory be to thee O God for all things Let a dying Christian imitate these most holy Persons and repeat these Sayings often to himself Thanks be to God Glory be to thee O God for all things I have watcht long enough among thorns labour'd long enough in Storms Now because I see the end of my Watching and my Labour Thanks be to God Glory be to God for all things For Life is tedious Death a certain gain Sect. 21. Death is better than a sorrowful Life IT is better once to Die than to be always Dying We daily Die we have lost our Childhood our Youth is gone All our Time even to Yesterday is slid away These things Gregory Nazianzene comprehending in a few words There is no good among men with which there is not something of evil mixt Riches are a Snare Poverty a Fetter Honour a meer Dream Empire dangerous Subjection troublesom Youth is the Summer of Life Grey-hairs the Sun-set of Life Matrimony a Bond Children the growing Crop of Care Fulness breeds Petulance Want begets Impatience Whatever we behold in this World is like the World in a perpetual motion Whatever seemed stable is now doubtful contending with the perpetual volubility of Day-night Labours Diseases Sorrows Pleasures and Calamities Death is most certain Elegantly St. Austin Death saith he is only certain all things else uncertain A Child once Conceived perhaps is born perhaps not but perishes in Abortion If he be born perhaps he grows up perhaps not perhaps he grows old perhaps not Peradventure he shall be Rich peradventure Poor perhaps he shall attain to Honour peradventure live Contemned perhaps he shall have Children it may be not perhaps he shall die in his Bed it may be slain in the Field But who can say perhaps he shall die perhaps not The first Book of Maccabees thus describes the Death of Alexander Then he fell sick and when he perceived that he should die Alexander had wished for several Worlds in hopes of Victory and thought with himself that he had performed Atchievements that deserved Eternal Annals Nevertheless after so many and such great Victories overcome at length he fell not only into his Bed but into his Tomb contented with a small Coffin Peter Alfonsus reports That several Philosophers flockt together and variously descanted upon the King's Death One there was that said Behold now four Yards of Ground is enough for him whom the spacious Earth could not comprehend before Another added Yesterday could Alexander save whom he pleas'd from Death to Day he cannot free himself Another viewing the Golden Coffin of the Deceased Yesterday said he Alexander heaped up a Treasure of Gold now Gold makes a Treasure of Alexander This was their Learned Contention yet all ended in this Then he fell sick and died Thus forgetful of our selves what Mountains do we raise to our selves in Thought We revolve in our Minds Immortal I wish they were Heavenly Things whilst Death surprizes us in the midst of our vast Undertakings and that which we call Old Age is but the Circuit of a few Years Wherefore do we trust to Death Behold through what slight Occasions we lose our Lives Our Food our Moisture our Watchings our Sleep are unwholesome to us without their due measure A small hurt of a Toe a light pain of the Ear a Worm in the Tooth make way for Death The little Body of Man is weak frail subject to Diseases this Air these Winds those Waters offend him Therefore let us believe the Son of Syras Death is better than a bitter Life and Eternal Rest better than continual Sickness So that it is much better to be an Inhabitant on Earth than a Pilgrim in Heaven Sect. 22. The Happiness of Death BLessed are the dead that die in the Lord even so saith the Spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works follow them To die in the Lord is the same thing as to die a Servant of the Lord as the Scripture speaks concerning Moses Moses my Servant is dead As if God had said saith Cajetan Though he were once a Sinner and was not then my Servant nevertheless he died my Servant He so died that whatever he was or whatever he did was mine for a Servant wholly belongs to the Master And let such a Servant of the Lord sing that Song of Simeon at his death Lord now let thy Servant depart in peace according to thy word Altogether in peace and that Eternal in the beginning whereof all the Warfare of good men is at an end never more to be rekindl'd For such Servants of God die in the Lord who dying rest in the Bosom of God and so resting sweetly sleep in death Thus Stephen among so many Showers of Stones in such in the midst of the Tumult and Dinn of the Enraged Multitude slept in the Lord. Thus Moses the Servant of the Lord died by the command of God Thrice happy and blessed are such that never more shall be miserable The death of the Just saith St. Bernard is good because of its Rest better because of its Novelty best of all by reason of its Security Blessed and again thrice blessed are such for their Works follow them They
follow them as Children follow their Parents as Servants follow their Masters as Scholars follow their Teacher and Souldiers their Captain They follow them to the Tribunal of God to the Court of Heaven as Peers follow their Prince whither these Noble Servants are only admitted Sect. 23. The Farewel of a dying Person to the living which are to go the same way THere are many things of which it behoves me to Repent of Vertue often neglected and Time ill spent How much did it become me to have been more patient more submissive more studious of daily Death How small a Spark of Divine Love did glow in me Pity me O God pity me according to thy great Mercy Spare a Sinner O Infinite God through the Passion and Blood of thy dear Son But I have also offended you both in Word and Deed Pardon me you find me both Confessing and Sorry and deny me not this Provision for my Journey the pardon of all my Transgressions Let not your Vertue decrease by my Example which was always bad You have before your Eyes the Lives of the Saints to which yours must conform Enable their Patience Submission and Obedience to the utmost of your power I also return you thanks for your Pains for your Assistance for your Advice and for your Love God the inexhaustible Fountain of Goodness and the Immense Ocean of Love recompence your Affection God is certainly most Liberal to those that Commit themselves to his most holy Providence Obedience is a most Noble Vertue Patience is absolutely necessary Submission is a most excellent Vertue and Contempt of our selves Poverty is a Vertue belov'd of Christ Charity is the Queen of Vertue Yet above all the Vertues Faith in God seems to me to have something singular and most excellent and a Plenary Resignation of a Man's self to Divine Providence which the holy Scripture so commends and which is continually in the Mouth of the Kingly Prophet and which Christ endeavours to inculcate into us by so many Arguments drawn from Flowers c. little Birds The Vertues of this Faith and the Tranquility that attends it he only knows and finds who in every thing as well small as great most perfectly trusts in God and confines himself to rely upon his Providence and Will Neither do I believe there is any man who had this Hope and Trust in God but that strange and hidden Mysteries befell him Therefore let us trust in God and commit our selves wholly to his Will and Protection I whom ye here see am cited to the Tribunal of God to give an Account of Sixty Years All my Deeds Words and Thoughts are open to this Judge Nothing is concealed from him All my Lifes Actions shall receive their definitive Sentence How I tremble for it is a terrible thing to stand in Judgment before God But in this Extremity there is that which comforts me Therefore though I am a wicked Servant my Lord is Gracious and Infinitely Good who will acknowledge his Servant though he have been bad And now God be with you all that Survive Farewel all you that are to follow me in your order Sect. 24. The last Admonitions of Dying People AS the Sun towards his Setting shines often forth more pleasantly So Man the nearer he is to Death the wiser he is Hence those Admonitions of dying People which Wisdom has so much applauded ââ¦yrus being about to die My Son said he when I am dead close up my Body neither in Silver nor in any other Mettal but return its own Earth to the Earth again His last Words were Be grateful to your Friends and you will never want the Power to punish your Enemies Farewel my dear Son and tell these my Words to your Mother also Wisely saith Thcophrastus upon his Death Bed Many fine and pleasant things doth Liâ⦠impose upon us under the pretence of Glory then the Love of which there is nothing more vain Hither may be referred the saying of Severus the Emperor I was all things but nothing avails Constantius Father of Constantine the Great upon his Death-Bed as he was resigning his Empire to his Son with a wonderful Chearfulness Now said he do I almost esteem Death above Immortality I leave a Son Emperor Here is the Man that after 270 years has wiped away the Tears of the Christians and avenged the Cruelty of Tyrants Christ was truly in Arms with Constantius Lewis King of France gave these his last Admonitions to his Son Beware my Son that thou never commit any deadly Sin rather suffer all manner of Torments First chose such about thee as will not be afraid to tell thee what thou art to do and what to beware To thy Parents give all Obedience Love and Reverence Ferdinand the Great King of Castile falling sick of his last Sickness caused himself to be carried to the great Church in all his Royal Robes where putting off all his Royal Ornaments and as it were restoring God his own he put on a Haâ⦠Cloth and casting himself upon the Ground with Tears in his Eyes Lord said he the Kingdom which thou gavest me I return to thee again seat me I beseech thee in Eternal Light Charles King of Sicily spoke these Words Oh the Vain Thoughts of Men Miserable Creatures we are delighted with Honour heap up Treasure and neglect Heaven O the happy Fate of the poor who content with little Sleep in Tranquility What does now my Kingdom what do all my Guards avail me I might have been Miserable without all this Pomp. Where is now the power and strength of my Empire The same necessity involves me as hampers the meanest Begger Of so many Thousands of Clyents Servants and Flatterers there is not one that will or can accompany to the Tribunal of God Go Mortals go and swell your Breasts with great Thoughts to Day or to Morrow ye must die Farewel Earth would I could say welcom Heaven Nor must we forget the most Holy and Opulent of Kings the Son of the Hebrew Nation David who being near Death I saith he am going the way of all the Earth and then turning to his Son But thou my Son Solomon said he Keep thou the watch of the Lord thy God that thou walk in his Ways and keep his Statutes and Precepts If thou seek the Lord thou shalt find him but if thou forsakest him he shall cast thee off to Eternity A terrible Exhortation and enough to have pierced a Heart of Adamant Thus Death devours all cuts off Kings lays Nations wast and swallows the People up deaf to Prayers Riches Tears not to be overcome by any humane force Only the wise Man dies contented the Fool murmurs at his departure Sect. 25. Christ is invited ABide with me O Lord for it draweth toward Night and the day is far passed The day of my Life hastens towards Night and there is no Joshua to stay the Sun or prolong the Day But as the Sun is daily
grows a Worm which afterwards comes to be a Bird of the same Nature Aâ⦠plain Symbolum of the Resurrection Mirmeius the Roman Orator a great Antagonist of the Christians see saith he how for our comfort all nature points out our Resurrection The Sun sets and rises the Stars fall and return Flowers decay and reflourish the withered Trees recover their Vendure Seeds return their several species Thus the Body deceased like Trees in Winter cover their Vigour with a feigned dryness We are also to expect the Spring of the Body I know that my Redeemer Lives and that I shall rise again at the last day Sect. 29. The hope of Heaven WHat wouldst thou What desirest thou Wouldst thou live And wouldst thou not die So live then that thou mayst once live happy For to live and not to live happily is a kind of death or the way to death In Heaven thou shalt live never to die Therefore thou shalt live happily for thou neither shalt nor canst suffer pain because there is none there There thou shalt enjoy thy Wishes nor canst thou ãâã be put out of possession Eat O ye Cant. 5. 1. Friends drink and be merry O ye beloved This Banquet has no end St. Austin cries out O sempiternal Life and tempiternally blessed where joy without sorrow rest without labour dignity without fear health without sickness life without death happiness without calamity where all good things perfect in charity The Gates of Jerusalem shall be built of Saphyrs and Smarayds and of precious Stones the whole Circuit of her Walls The Streets of the City shall be pure Gold transparent as Glass and through her Villages shall Allelujahs be sung Therefore blessed are they that dwell in thy house they will be alwaies praising thee I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living Sect. 30. Sighs to Heaven Exod. 35. SHew me thy Glory Shew me all thy vers 18. Good Isa. 61. 3. When wilt thou give unto them that mourn beauty in stead of ashes joyful Ointment for sighing pleasant rayment for a heavy mind Job 6. 8 9. 10. O that I might have my desire and that God would grant me the thing that I long for O that God would begin to smite me That he would let his hand go and take me clean away Then should I have some comfort yea I would defie him in my pain that he would not spare for I will not deny the words of the Holy One. Job 7. 2. For as a bond-servant desireth the shadow and as the hireling would fain have the reward of his work Psalm 15. 1. Lord who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle who shall rest in thy holy place Psalm 27. 45. One thing have I desired of the ââ¦ord which I will perform even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the fair beauty of the Lord and to visit his Temple Psalm 42. 1 2. Like as the Hart desireth the Water-brooks so longeth my Soul after thee O God My Soul is a thirst for God yea even for the living God When shall I come to appear before the presence of God Now when I think thereupon I pour out my heart by my self I went by with the multitude and brought them forth to the house of God Psalm 55. 6. O that I had wings like a Dove for then would I fly away and be at rest Psalm 60. 9. Who will lead me into the strong City Ps. 65. 4. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and receivest unto thee he shall dwell in thy Court. Ps. 73. 1. Truly God is loving unto Israel even to such as are of a clean heart Vers. 24. Whom have I in Heaven but thee and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison of thee Vers. 25. My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever Psalm 84. 1. O how amiable are thy dwellings thou Lord of Hosts Vers. 2. My Soul hath a desire and longing to erter into the Courts of the Lord V. 10. For one day in thy Courts is better than a thousand years Psalm 116. 9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living Psalm 120. 5. My Soul hath long dwelt among them that be Enemies to peace Psalm 122. 1. I was glad when they said unto me we will go into the house of the Lord. Psalm 138. 1. By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept when we remembred thee O Sion Ver. 4. How shall we sing the Lord's Song in a strange Land If I forget thee O Jerusalem let my right hand finger forget her cunning Ps. 142. 9. Bring my Soul out of prison that I may give thanks unto thy Name Which thing if thou wilt grant me then shall the righteous resort unto my company I desire to be dissolved and be with Christ. Sect. 31. An Abstract of the Comforts against Death FIrst Death kills our familiar Enemy the Body There is no mischief more pestilential than a Bosom-Enemy The Flesh lusteth contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit contrary to the Flesh Gal. 5. 17. These are contrary one to another 2ly Death breaks the Door of the Prison wherein we are lockt up But as old Prisoners many times long acquaintance with the place detains us not unwilling in the midst of our Fetters and Sufffferings But the best of Kings desired to be delivered out of Custody 3ly Death eases us of a vast Burthen for why a corruptible Body is heavy to the Soul and the Earthy Mansion keepeth down that Understanding that museth upon many things No man can swim with this Burthen 4ly Death puts an end to our Pilgrimage What is Mortal Life saith St. Gregory but a way Consider my Friends what it is to be aweary upon the way Our present Life is full of pain a perpetual strugling and yet we cannot forsake it without Tears 5ly Death brings us out of all Danger The most Fortunate Man that lives is subject to many Dangers and Danger is hardly avoided without danger He has only escaped all Dangers who is out of this Life 6ly The necessity of Death Nobly said the wise Roman There is no greater comfort in Death than Death it self He would not live that would not die Death carries with it an impartial and unvanquishable Necessity For the first part of Impartiality is Equality 7ly The Death of Christ. To the Contemplation of this St. Paul exhorts us Let us saith he run with patience unto the Battel that is set before us Looking unto Jesus the Captain and Finisher of our Faith who for the Joy that was set before him endured the Cross. To the Members of this Head this is the greatest Consolation For that the Members should not fear Death the Head endured the utmost violence of Death The Author of Life by dying set open the Gates of Heaven Why do we fear to die
whom I am chief 1 Tim. 1. 15 But he that shall endure to the end the same shall be saved Mat. 24. 13. Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a Crown of Life Rev. 2. 10. These Fountains refresh and cool the hot Baths of death he shall happily swim therein who plunges himself over Head and Ears in these Rivolets Sect. 39. The Sighs and Prayers to God proper for a Dying Person ENlighten my Eyes O most merciful Jesu that I sleep not in death Left my Enemies say I have prevailed against him Psal. 13. 3 c. Lord Jesu Christ Son of the Living God Lay thy Passion Cross and Death between thy Judgment and my Soul O Lord Jesu Christ remember not our old Sins but have mercy upon us and that soon for we are come to great misery Psal. 79. 8. Sweet Lord Jesu Christ for thy glories sake and for the Effectual Vertues sake of thy Sufferings cause me to be written down among the number of thy Elect. Enter not into judgment with thy Servant O Lord for there is no Man righteous in thy sight I worship thee O Christ I bless thee because thou hast redeemed the World by thy Sufferings Saviour of the World save me who by thy Cross and Blood hast redeemed me O most merciful Jesu I beseech thee that with thy precious Blood which thou didst shed for Sinners that thou wouldst wash away all my iniquities O Blood of Christ purifie me let the Body of Christ save me let the Water from Christs side wash me let the Passion of Christ comfort me O kind Jesu hear me hide me between thy Wounds Permit me not O merciful Jesu to be separated from thee in this my Hour of death call me command me to come to thee that I together with thy Saints may praise thee to all Eternity Cast me not from thy Countenance nor take thy Holy Spirit from me Sect. 40. At the Moment of Death NOW Lord according to thy good pleasure deal mercifully by me and command my Spirit to be received in peace Sound into the Ears of my Mind those sweet words this day thou shalt be with me in Paradise Now let thy Servant depart in peace because mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation O Jesu Jesu Jesu permit me to enter into the number of thy Elect. O Jesu Son of David have mercy upon me O Lord Jesu make haste to help me O Lord Jesu receive my Soul Sect. 41. The true Confidence of a Dying Person in God HEre I confidently aver with St. Bernard Let another pretend to Merit let him boast of enduring the heat and burthen of the day my desire is to adhere to God and to put my hope in the Lord. And though I am conscious to my self that such was the naughtiness of my pass'd Life that I deserve to be forsaken of God yet will I not cease to relye upon his Immense Goodness and to hope that as hitherto his most Holy Grace has afforded me strength to endure all things so the same will still uphold me and enable me to finish my course Therefore this one thing I beg of thee O God that thou wilt never suffer me to distrust of thy Goodness though I know my self to be weak and miserable Yea though I should perceive my self in that Terror and Consternation ready to fail like St. Peter upon one blast of Wind let me remember him let me call upon Christ Lord make me whole Then O then shalt thou stretch forââ¦h thy Hand and save me from sinking But if thou sufferest me to go farther yet with Peter to run headlong into denial then such is my hope that thou wââ¦t look upon me with an Eye of Mercy and Compastion as thou lookest upon Peter and grant me a now Confirmation of Eternity This I am certain of that unless the fault be mine the Lord will not forsake me I acknowledge that saying of St. Austin God may save some without good works because he is Good but he condemns none but for their evil works because he is Just. And therefore I commit my self to him with a full hope and confidence in him If he suffer me to perish for my Sins yet his Justice shall be magnified in me Yet I hope and most certainly hope that his most merciful Goodness will most faithfully preserve my Soul so that his Mercy rather than his Justice shall be praised in me Nothing can happen to me against the will of God Whatever he pleases to whom ever it seem ill is still the best to me VVhatever pleases thee that will I that will I O God Sect. 42. The Last Words of Dying Persons AUgustus the Emperor dy'd with these words in his Mouth Live mindful of our Nuptial Knot and so farewel How much more holily would these Christians do that direct their last words to the Beginning and Creator of all things Dyonisius the Areopagite being condemned to lose his Head with a Christian Generosity contemning the Reproaches of the Spectators Let the last words of my Lord upon the Cross said he be mine in this World Father into thy Hands I commend my Spirit Basil the Great lying at the last period of Life after he had piously instructed his own Friends breathed out his Soul with these last words Lord into thy Hands I commend my Spirit St. Bernard upon his Death-bed Oh Christian said he despair not of this Infirmity Christ has taught thee what thou oughtest to say in all the dangers of death whom to fly to whom to invoke in whom to hope Therefore do thou so behave thy self that at the hour of death thou maist be able to say In thee Lord have I trusted let me not be confounded to Eternity Therefore let the last words of a dying Person be directed to God All his Prayers Wishes Desires and last Hopes must ever tend to him Let the dying Person say from the bottom of his Heart To thee Lord I turn my face to thee I direct my Eyes Sect. 46. Let the dying Person imitate the Penitent Thief in Golgotha LOrd remenber me when thou comest into thy Kingdom Happy Thief who in the School of Christ had learnt more in three Hours than the Unhappy Iscariot in three years Lord God! How great is the Abyss of thy Judgments Thy Friends and Kindred are silent thy Disciples forsake thee the Angels appear not Where are those thousands fed by this Crucified Lord Who of all that multitude speaks one word for so great a Benefactor Yet the Thief against his Companion pleads the Cause of Christ and justifies his Innocency take off all Scandals from him and convicts the Multitude of Murther Nor was the Son of God asham'd of such an Advocate but rather applauded him Nor was the happy Rhetorician wanting in his Cause But we truly said he are righteously punished for we receive according to our deeds but this Man hath done nothing amiss Oh how truely may I say the same of
my self I justly now dye I receive according to my Deeds but my God and my Lord did nothing that he should dye and dye in so much Torment And therefore may I truely use this Prayer Lord remember me because thou art come into thy Kingdom And because thou art now in thy Kingdom look upon me weeping in this Exile and admit me going hence into thy Kingdom This I beg of thee for the sake of thy Scourgings thy Thorns thy Cross and through thy Torments and thy Death Therefore what remains but for me to throw my Soul into his Bosom who alone considers its Pains and Sufferings He knows what conduces to the Salvation of Souls I wait for thy Salvation O Lord. Sect. 47. A Heliotropian Receit against all Sickness and Death THE Heliotrope is a Flower which as we find by daily Experience turns it self with the Sun from East to West and doing the same even in cloudy VVeather and in the Night for want of the Sun contracts and shuts up the Beauty of its Colours Let the will of Man always wait upon Divine Pleasure continually turning and winding it self to the beck of Sacred Power though the VVeather be cloudy Nor can any day in all the life of Man be more cloudy than the day of our death Then let the dying Person with fix'd and stedfast Eyes like the Heliotrope turn himself to his only Sun This let our Saviours words teach us Even so O Father for so was it thy good pleasure After this manner my dear dying Friend speak altogether In all things to be done to be avoided to be endured and born according to thy Lords Example always say Even so O Father even so always submitting thine to the most holy VVill. Even so O Father even so both now and for evermore Philip the second King of Spain groaning under the pains of a desperate Disease was wont continually to repeat these words of our Saviour Father not mine but thy will be done And one time among the rest as the Passion of Christ was read to him while the Chirurgeons were Lanching open an Aposthume he caused the Reader to stop at these words So highly did that great King value this Heliotropian Receit as well in Health as in Sickness This Heliotrope cures Sickness Death and all sorts of Diseases He is far from Destruction who in his will is so near to God THE Fatal Moment VVHen we dye our Everlasting state is to be determin'd After Death the Judgment The moment of our departure hence will pass us over to the Righteous Tribunal of God It will make us either to shine with the Angels above or to set with the Devils It will either fix us in a joyful Paradise or in an intolerable state of Woe So that we may say with Nieremberg How many things are to pass in that Moment In the same is our Life to finish our Works to be examined and we are then to know how it will go with us for ever and ever In that Moment I shall cease to Live in that Moment I shall behold my Judge in that moment I must answer for all my publick and my secret Actions for all that I have ever thought or spoke or done for all the Talents the Time the Mercies the Health the Strength the Opportunities and the Seasons and Days of Grace that I have ever had for all the Evil that I might have avoided for all the good I might have done and did not and all this before that Judge who has beheld my ways from my Birth to the Grave before that Judge who cannot be deceiv'd and who will not be impos'd upon Little can he that has not been brought near to Death and Judgment know what Thoughts the Diseased have when they are so Little very little does a Soul in Flesh know what it is to appear before the Great God This is so great and so strange a thing that they only know it who have receiv'd their final Sentence but they are not suffer'd to return to tell us how it is or what passes then and God sees it fit it should be concealed from us who are yet on this side the Grave But who does not tremble to think of this mighty Change and of this Moment that is the last of Time and the beginning of Eternity that includes Heaven and Hell and all the Effects of the Mercy and Justice of God Who does not tremble when he considers that Infinite and Holy Majesty before whom the Angels cover their Faces that considers his Omniscience and his Greatness and the mighty Consequences of that Sentence how sudden it is and how irresistible and that it is an irrevocable Decree and by a Word of this mighty Judge we live or dye for ever It is no wonder if the thoughts of it make us shrink and quiver It is a greater wonder that when some or other whom we know are almost every week going to such a place and state as this we who are not yet Cited to the Bar are no more concerned and use no more endeavours to be ready for it Oh my Friends when you come to the Borders of the Grave when you are within an Hour or two's distance from your Final Judgment and your unalterable state what a mighty Change will it cause in your thoughts and your apprehensions You will then know and feel it Then when the Perspective is turn'd and the other World begins to appear very great and this very little This that I have represented to you is a part of that which we call dying It is a great Mercy and greatly to be acknowledg'd that God allows us so much Time wherein to prepare our selves for this final and irrevocable Doom It is an instance of his Patience that is truly Divine that notwithstanding our many repeated Sins he has not cut us off It is his great Mercy that gives us leave to appear in his Courts before we appear at his Tribunal and that he affords us such large notice and warning that so we may be ready for our Last Tryal whereon so very much depends THE TREATMENT OF OUR Departed Friends AFTER THEIR DEATH In Order to Their Burial WHen we have received the last Breath of our Friend and closed his Eyes and composed his Body for the Grave then solemn and appointed Mournings are good Expressions of our dearness to the departed Soul and of his worth and our value of him The Church in her Funerals of the dead used to sing Psalms and to give thanks for the Redemption and Delivery of the Soul from the evils and dangers of Mortality But it is good that the Body be kept veiled and secret and not exposed to curious Eyes neither should the dishonours wrought upon the Face by the changes of death be stared upon by impertinent persons When Cyrus was dying he called his Sons and Friends to take their leave of him to touch his Hand to see him the last time and gave
Patriarchs and Prophets ââ¦ll along had foreseen After our Blessed Saviour that Glorious Son of Righteousness had run his Course he undertook ãâã satisfie his Father's Justice by making a Proââ¦tiatory Sacrifice for the Sins of lost and undone Man and suffered himself to be Tempted Beââ¦ayed Scourged Spit upon Reviled Crowned ââ¦ith Thorns and lastly submitting even unto the Death of the Cross all which had been exactly foretold by the Prophets Though it happened not after the common manner but was attended with such dismal Darkness and terrible Earthquakes Insomuch that a Heathen Philosopher at that Instant declared That either the God of Nature suffered or the World was at an end But he could not long rest under the power of the Grave but as a Victorious Captain breaking the Bonds of Death he led Captivity Captive in spite of the Malice of his Enemies who set a Guard upon him for as we have it Matth. 28. 1 2 3 4 5 6. In the end of the Sabbath as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the Sepulchre and behold there was a great Earthquake for the Angel of the Lord descended from Heaven and came and rolled away the Stone from the door and sat upon it his Countenance was like Lightning and his Raiment white as Snow and for fear of him the Keepers did tremble and became as dead men and the Angel answered and said unto the women fear ye not for I know that ye seek Jesus that was crucified he is not here but is risen as he said come see the place where the Lord lay The Death of St. PETER WHen he was at Rome he Prophesied the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish Nation by Vespasian But about that time the Persecution growing hot against the Christians especially upon Nero's return from Achaia in great Pomp he at that time resolving to glut himself with Innocent Blood caused several thousands of the Christians to bâ⦠ãâã up in Prisons and amongst the ââ¦est St. Peter ãâã whose Preservation the Prayers of the Chrisâ⦠were still put up to Heaven many of the ãâã of them who could gain Access perswading him earnestly to make his escape alledging that the preservation of his Life would be very useful to the Church The which after many denials he attempted by getting over the Wall which being effected and coming to the City Gate is there said to meet our Lord who was entring the City when knowing him he asked him Lord whither art thou going from whom he received this Answer I am come to Rome to be Crucified a second time By which Answer St. Peter apprehending himself to be reproved for endeavouring to fly that Death which was allotted him and that our Saviour meant he was to be Crucified in his Servant he returned again to Prison and delivered himself to the Keekper and so cotinued till the Day of his Execution with great chearfulness Having Saluted his Brethren and especially St. Paul who was at that time his Fellow-Prisoner he was led to the top of the Vatican Mountain near the River Tiber about three Furlongs without the City and there Crucified with his Head downwards it being his own desire so to die alledging that he was unworthy to suffer after the same manner that his Lord and Master had suffered and so having run the race that was set before him he undoubtedly obtained the reward laied up for him in the Highest Heavens The Death of St. PAUL HOW long St. Paul continued in Prison after he had received Sentence to die is uncertain but the Day of his Execution soon came but what his preparatory Treatment was whether he was Scourged as Malefactors were wont in order to their Death is not known As a Roman Citizen by the Valerian and Porcian Law he was exempted from any such Ignominious and Infamous Punishment though by the Law of the Twelve Tables Notorious Malefactors Condemned by the Centuriate Assemblies were first to be Scourged and then put to Death And as Baronius informs us That in the Church of St. Mary beyond the Bridge in Rome two Pillars are yet to be seen to which St. Peter and St. Paul were Bound and Scourged before their Executions As our Apostle was led to Execution he is said to have Converted three of the Souldiers who Guarded him which the Emperour hearing commanded that they should be put to death St. Paul being come to the place appointed for his Execution which was near the Aquae Salviae three Miles from Rome after he had exhorted such as came to see his Tragedy to Repentance and recommended his Spirit into the hands of his blessed Lord and Master he kneeling down had his Head stricken off with a Sword St. Chrysostom declares That his chearful submitting to Death and his constant Courage till the last was a means not only to Convert his Executioner but several others who afterwards suffered Marryrdom for the Faith of Christ. He was Executed as far as can be gathered in the Sixty eighth Year of his Age. And thus the great Apostle after he had Preached the Gospel to the Gentiles and either in Person or by his Epistles visited most of the known World and as Theodoret tells us in the Isles of the Sea whereby he undoubtedly means Britain he received first the Crown of Martyrdom He was Buried in via Ostiensis about two Miles from Rome Over whose Grave about 318 Years after Constantine the Great at the request of Pope Sylvester built a stately Church and endowed it with many rich Gifts and Priviledges The Death of St. ANDREW VVHen he was Condemned the Pro-Consul ordered him to be Scourged and as he was going to be Crucified the People cried out He was a just and good man yet he was fastned upon the Cross with Ropes that he might be the longer dying the Cross being two Beams set in the fashion of the Letter X. From this Cross after he was fastned to it he Preached to the People for the space of two Days and by his admirable Patience Courage and Perseverance Converted many to the Faith During his hanging there great sute was made to the Pro-Consul for his Life but our Apostle desired them not to Intercede for him For that he was greatly desirous to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Praying earnestly to Heaven that he might at that time finish his Race and be crowned with Martyrdom And so it happened for he there gave up the Ghost After which his Body being taken down was Embalmed at the Command of Maximilia whom he had Converted and afterwards laied in a stately Tomb prepared for that purpose where it continued till the time of Constantine the Great and was at his command brought to Constantinople and buried there in the great Church which he had founded to the Honour of the Apostles The Scots for many Ages past have had such Veneration for him that they Stiled him the
Patron of their Country bearing his Cross in their Standard The Death of St. JAMES A Short time after his Imprisonment Sentence of Death was passed upon him and as he was led to the Place of Execution according to Clemens Alexandrinus the Souldier or Officer who Guarded him to the place of his Martyrdom or as Suidas will have it his Accuser being Convinced by the Courage and Bravery of the Apostle in his chearfully going to his Death came and fell down before him asking Pardon for what he had done upon which the blessed man raised him from the Ground embraced and kissed him saying Peace my Son peace be to thee and a pardon of thy faults Whereupon before all the Assembly he openly confessed his Conversion declaring the Christian Faith to be the only means of Salvation declaring that he was ready to die for the same which accordingly he did they being both Beheaded at the same time As for the Body of our Apostle it being Interred near Jerusalem was from thence brought into Spain and there said to do many Miracles but what Credit is to be given to that I leave to the Reader 's Judgment The Death of St. JOHN HE died said the Arabian as Kirsten has it in the Lives of the Four Evangelists in the expectation of his blessedness from which he infers that he died peaceably and not a violent Death although Theophylact and others do conceive that he died a Martyr Many there are likewise who have cherished a fond Opinion that he never died but rather that sleeps in his Grave alluding to the words of our Saviour upon Peter's enquiry If I will that he tarry till I come what is that to thee John 21. 23. Others say that having commanded his Grave to be dug he went into it and ordered such as went with him to fasten down a great Stone upon the same and come the next Morning and look into it which they did and found nothing there but the Grave-cloaths from which as Nicephorus relates they concluded he was Ascended he having intimated some such thing before his lying down The Death of St. PHILIP THis Apostle was seized and carried to Prison and being Sentenced he was cruelly Scourged and hanged by the Neck against a Pillar though some would have it that he was Crucified but however during the Execution such a terrible Earthquake happened that the Earth began to open so that the affrighted people cried to Heaven for Mercy upon which it instââ¦ly staied The Apostle being dead his Body was taken down by St. Barnabas his Companion in the Ministery of the Gospel at that time and ãâã St. Philip's Sister who bore him Company in all his Travels After they had taken him down they decently Interred him and when they had confirmed the people in the Faith of Christ they departed thââ¦rce The Death of St. BARTHOLOMEW HIS Sentence was to be Crucified and when the Day of Execution came he went chearfully to embrace his Death Comforting and Exhorting his Proselytes to keep stedfast in the Faith and Doctrine that they had received which was able to make them wise unto Salvation and so continued to instruct them to the last moment of his Life Several there are that affirm he was Crucified with his Head downwards and that he was fleied alive which cruel usage as Plutarch relateth was common in that Country After his Death his Body was removed to Darus a City in the Borders of Persia from thence to Beuevent in Italy and from thence to Rome The Death of St. MATTHEW the Evangelist WE find in an ancient Author that he suffered Martyrdom at Naddabar a City of Aethiopia but what kind of Death he died is not mentioned and as Dorotheus reports he was Buried at Hierapolis During his Lifetime he was a great Assertor of the true Religion a Contemner of Worldly Treasure which is evident by his leaving so gainful a Calling to follow our Saviour As for his Humility he exceeded many of his Fellows which may well be observed in his Writings where he gives them the Pre-eminency His Age at the time of his Death is not certainly known though some are of Opinion he died in the Seventy Year c. The Death of St. THOMAS THE Brachamans or Heathen Priests were so enraged against St. Thomas that they sought always to destroy the Apostle as hoping by that means to extirpate his Doctrine which by being embraced on all hands had near spoiled their Trade So that one Day when he was praying alone in a solitary place they came upon him with Stones Darts and Spears and having grievously wounded him one of them run him through the Body with a Spear His Body being taken up by his Well-willers was Buried with great Solemnity in the Church that he had built which was afterwards greatly enlarged The Death of St. JAMES HE was took up by force and thrown down from the Battlements notwithstanding which Fall He reared himself upon his Knees and prayed for them the which whilst he was doing such Villains as they had appointed for that purpose fell upon him with Clubs and Stones till one among the rest notwithstanding the entreaty of many to save his Life with a Fuller's Club bear out his Brains and by that means gave his Soul a passage to the Eternal habitations of Bliss and Joy that fade not away He died in the Ninty fourth year of his Age and Twenty four after Christ's Ascension to the grief of all good men Gregory Bishop of Tows informs us that he was buried upon Mount Olivet in a Tomb which he had caused to be erected during his Life In which he had buried old Simeon and Zacharias though Hegesippus will have it that he was buried near the Temple in the place where he was Martyr'd and that there being a Monument erected for him it continued there for many years after The Death of SIMEON the Zelot THE Devil that great Enemy of our Salvation stirred up the Multitude to persecute him whose barbarous rage in a short time after Crowned him with Martyrdom as not only Dorotheus and Nicephorus affirm but also expressed in the Menologies where we are informed that St. Simeon went at last into Britain and having enlightned the Minds of many with the Doctrine of the Gospel he at length was Crucified by the Infidels and buried there but as to any particular place of his Burial no mention is made Some there are who tell us that after he had Preached the Gospel in Aegypt he went to Mesopotamia where meeting with St. Jude they journeyed together into Persia where having planted the Gospel they were both Crowned with Martyrdome The Death of St. JUDE NIcephorus tells us that after all he came to Edessa where Abgarus was Governour and where the other Tnaddaeus who was one of the Seventy had been before him and there perfected what was begun and having by his Preaching and Miracles established the Gospel he died a peaceable and
quiet Death But Dorotheus affirms that he was slain at Berytus and buried there in a stately Tomb although by the General Consent of the Latin Church he went Preaching the Gospel in Persia where after he had brought many over to the Faith and established the Christian Religion there for many years he at last was for his reproving and strongly opposing Idolatrous and Diabolick Devices of the Magi by their procurement crueily put to Death The Death of St. MATTHIAS the Apostle HE was treated with all manner of Rudeness and Inhumanity from whom for all his Pains and Labour about saving their Immortal Souls and directing them in the way to everlasting Life he was at last Marty'd by them Anno Christo 59 or as others will have it 64. The mà nner of his Death is uncertain though Dorotheus reports he was Martyr'd at Sebestople near the Temple of the Sun past doubt for reproving their Idolatrous Worship in Adoring the Creature instead of the Creator and was buried there Another account we have that he was seized by the Jews as a Blasphemer and after being stoned was beheaded When as the Greek Offices seconded by several Breviaries relate that he was hanged upon a Cross And farther 't is said that his Body was for a long time kept at Jerusalem and conveyed thence to Rome by Aelen Mother to Constantine the Great where some Bones said to be his are snewed with great Veneration to this day The Death of St. MARK WHilst St. Mark was intent at Divine Worship the barbarous Multitude broke in upon him and fastning Cords about his Feet dragged him through the Streets in a most inhumane manner so that his Flesh was torn off by the Cragginess of the way not being satisfied with this they cast him into a Prison near the Sea where he was comforted in his Agony by a Divine Apparition The next Morning they drew him forth till by the extream effusion of Blood his Spirits failed and he gave up the Ghost after which as Metaprastus adds they kindled a large Fire and burnt his Body the remains of which being preserved by such as he had Converted to the Christian Faith were deposited in the place where he was wont to Preach and such part of him as remained was afterward carried to Venice and there kept in a Church built to the Honour of that Evangelist being one of the stateliest Piles now extant in Europe The Death of St. LUKE SOme there are that say he died a Natural Death but Nasianzen and Polinus Bishop of Nola with some others affirm that he received the Crown of Martyrdom Nicephorus gives us this following account viz That Saint Luke coming into Greece successfully Preached the Gospel Baptizing many Converts into the Christian Faith and working many Miracles till at last a party of Infidels encouraged by their Priests whose Idolatrous Worship the Evangelist sharply reproved fell at unawares upon him and forcibly dragged him to the place of Execution where not having a Cross in readiness they hanged him upon an Olive-Tree in the 80th Year of his Age. But certain it is that he was put to Death some affirm that his Body was at the Command of Constacine the Great or his Son Constantius brought to Gonstantinople and there solemnly Interred in the great Church Founded there to the Honour of the Apostles THE DEATHS OF THE Primitive Fathers The Death of IGNATIUS IGnatius was born Twelve Years before the Crucifixion of our Saviour having with his Eyes beheld him in the Flesh he being as many think one of those little Ones that our Saviour commanded his Disciples to suffer to come unto him Nay some affirm that it was he whom our Blessed Lord set in the midst of his Disciples when they contended about Superiority However he was indued with a more than ordinary Portion of the Divine Spirit and succeeded St. Peter in the Pastorship of the Church of Antioch where he laboured diligently in the Ministry of the Gospel Converting and Confirming many to the Christian Faith being a great opposer of the Heresies or Erroneous Opinions that had sprung up in the Church When the day of his Martyrdom came he chearfully said I am Gods Corn when the wild Beasts have ground me to powder with their Teeth I shall be his white Bread He suffered Martyrdom the 11th year of Trajan being as many of the Ancients affirm Torn to pieces by wild Beasts in the Theatre to make the Tyrant sport And thus ended the Life of this good Man who upon many occasions was wont to say My Love is Crucified meaning either Christ the Object of his Love or that his darling Sins and Affections to the World were Crucified and in another place he declares that he beheld the Lord after his Resurrection before he Ascended He used to say That there is nothing better than the peace of a good Conscience Of Patience Other Graces are but parts of a Christians Armour as the Shield of Faith the Sword of the Spirit c. But Patience is the Panoply or whole Armour of the Man of God The Death of POLYCARP HIS Enemies thirsted after his Blood and thereupon desired the Proconsul that he might be thrown to the Beasts but he alledging the time for the Game of Beasts was past they prayed that he might be exposed to the Flames to which last he consented and thereupon the multitude led him away crying This is the Doctor of Asia the Father of the Christians the Overthrower of our Gods who hath taught many that our Gods are not to be Adored Every one of them fetching Wood from their Shops and Houses When the Pile was reared the Holy Man put off his Apparel being assisted therein by the Faithful Christians that came to take their last Farewel of him striving to touch his Body as accounting it no small Honour VVhen he was naked the Infidels offered to nail him to the Stake but he desired them to forbear saying Suffer me even as I am for he that has given me strength to come to this Fire will give me patience likewise to persevere therein without your fastening me with Nails He died Anno Christi 170. In the midst of the Fire he said this Prayer O God the Father of thy beloved Son Jesus Christ through whom we have received the Knowledge of thee O God the Creator of all things upon thee I call thee I confess to be the true God Thee I glorifie O Lord receive me and make me a Companion of the Resurrection of thy Saints through the Merits of our great High-Priest thy beloved Son Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and God the Holy Ghost be all Honour and Glory for ever Amen The Death of DIONYSIUS AREOPAGITA HE was Condemned to be Beheaded the which to put him to greater Torment was done with a blunted Sword on the top of the Mount without the City where kneeling he said with an Audible Voice O Lord God almighty thou only begotten
Son and Holy Spirit O Sacred Trinity which art without beginning and in whom there is no division receive the Soul of thy Servant in peace who is put to death for thy Cause and Gospel After which he submitted his Head to the stroaks of the Executioner Suffering Anno Christi 96 and of his Age 110. The Death of JUSTIN Martyr AFter his having painfully preached the Gospel in many Countreys he came to Rome where he had many Contests with the Philosophers and Sages and was at last by the procurement of one Crescens Condemned and accordingly Beheaded Anno Christi 139. and as Epiphanius has it under the Reign of Adrian some time before he Prognosticated his death So fell this Faithful Labourer in Christ's Vineyard He used to say Thaet which the Soul is in the Body that are Christians in the World For as the Soul is in and not of the Body so Christians are in but no part of the World And also It is best of all not to sin and next to that to amend upon the Punishment Furthermore Tââ¦t it is the greatest slavery in the VVorld to be subject to ones Passions The Death of IRENAEUS THis Holy Man being taken with several of his chief Friends they were led to the top of a Hill on which were placed Crosses on one Hand and Idols on the other and they put to their Choice either to embrace the Idols and Live or be Crucified Upon which they joyfully chose the latter suffering Martyrdom Anno Christi 182. and of Irenaeus his Age 60 or as some will have it 90. He compared the Hereticks and Schismaticks to Aesop's Dog that lost the Substance of Religion whilst they gaped too earnestly after the Shadow Concerning the Vanity of Earthly things he said VVhat profit is there in that Honour which is so short-lived as that perchance it was not Yesterday neither will be to Morrow And such Men as labour so much for it are but like Froth which though it be uppermost yet it is unprofitablest The death of TERTULLIAN HE died Anno Christi 202. and of his Age 63. He used to say of Repentance If thou beest backward in thoughts of Repentance be forwards in thoughts of Hell the burning flames whereof only the tears of a penitent Eye can extinguish Of Satans Power If the Devils without Christs leave had no power over the Gadarens Swine much less have they power over Gods own Sheep Of Faith We should not try Mens Faith by their Persons but their Persons by their Faith Of forgiving Offences It 's in vain to come to the God of peace without peace or to pray for the remission of our Sins without forgiving others We must not come to make an Atonement with God at his Altar before we have made an Atonement with our Brother in our Hearts The Last Sayings of CLEMENS ALEXANDRINUS AFter the death of Pontenus Clemens succeeded him in that Office from whence he received the Name of Alexandrinus He was Famous for all manner of Learning and was ordained Presbyter in Alexandria where he propagated the Christian Faith His Sayings were these Such as adorn themselves with Gold and think themselves bettered thereby are worse than Gold and not Lords of it as all that have it ought to be Out of the depth and bowels of the Earth hath God discovered and shewed Gold unto Men and they have made it the occasion of all Mischief and Wickedness Gold to many Men is much dearer than their Faith and Honesty And the love of it makes Man so Covetous as if they were to live here for ever The Death of ORIGEN HE died in the Reigns of Galluâ⦠and Volusianus Anno Christi 220. ââ¦nd of his Age 69. Concerning Gods Providence he used to say That Gods Providence hath ordained all things for some end and purpose He made not Malice and though he can restrain it yet he will not for if Malice were not Vertue would not have a Contrary and so could not shine so clear For the Malice of Joseph's Brethren was the Means whereby God brought about many admirable works of his Providence The death of St. CYPRIAN CYprian said to his Exocutioner Do whatever ãâã shall be in thy power and thereupon he putting ãâã his Cloaths delivering them to his Deacons ââ¦idding them give his Executioner five Twentyââ¦ces of Gold for the kindness he was to do him ââ¦express he freely forgave him Then pulling a ââ¦il over his Eyes he kneeled down and had his ââ¦d sââ¦itten off with a Sword suffering Martyrââ¦m for the Testimony of his Lord and Master ââ¦o 259. and in the 70 year of his Age as some ââ¦e it He used to say of Charity Let not that sleep ââ¦n thy Treasury that may be profitable to the Poor ââ¦of the Heart and Tongue Two things never wax old in Man The Heart ever imagining new Cogitations the Tongue ever uttering the vain Conceptions of the Heart Of Resignation That which a Man must necessarily part with it 's Wisdom for a Man to distribute it so that God may Everlastingly reward him Of Pride Women that Pride themselves in putting on Silk and Purple cannot lightly put on the Lord Jesus Christ. ââ¦gain They which Colour their Locks with Yellow and Red begin betimes to Prognosticate of what Colour their Hair shall be in Hell Again They which love to paint themselves in this World otherwise than God Created them may justly fear that at the Resurrection their Creator will know them Of Alms-deeds He that gives an Alms to the Poor offers a sweet-smelling Sacrifice unto God Of Injuries All Injury of Evils present is to be neglected for the hope of good things to come Twelve Attributes he said was in the Life of Man viz. A Wise Man without good works an Old Man without Religion a Young Man without Obedience a Rich Man without Alms a Woman without shamefac'dness a Guide without Vertue a Contentious Christian a Poor Man that is Proud a King that is Unjust a Bishop that is Negligent People without Discipline Subjects without Law The Last Sayings of ARNOBIUS HE was a Famous Professor of Rhetorick in Sicca a City in Africa after his Conversion he applied himself to some Bishops with great earnestness to be Baptized and admitted into the Church When he was Master to Lactantius he used this Expression That Persecution brings Death in one hand and Life in the other for while it Kills the Body it Crowns the Soul He lived under Dioclesian between 300 and 330. The Death of EUSEBIUS HE lived to a good old Age. for the most part in Peace and Tranquility Dying Anno Christi 340. He used to say That Moses wrote the Old Law in dead Tables of Stone But Christ writ the perfect Documents of the New Testament in Living Souls The Death of LACTANTIUS HE was a Man of great Parts both Morally and Divinely Wise he was always Liberal for ââ¦hatsoever he received he again distributed it to ââ¦ch as were in want
Chastity That Woman is truly Chaste that hath liberty and opportunity to Sin and will not Of Vertue All Vertues are so linked together that he that hath one hath all and he that wants one wants all In all his Actions he ever fansied this sound in his Ears Arise ye Dead and come to Judgment The Death of CHRYSOSTOM THE exact year of his death I find no where set down but that he flourished in the Bishoprick of Constantinople Anno Christi 400 is most certain He used to say of Lust As a great shower of Rain extinguisheth the force of Fire so Meditation of Gods Word puts out the Fire of Lust in the Soul Of the danger of Riches As a Boat over-laden sinks so much Wealth drowns Men in perdition Of Love A Bulwark of Adamant is not more Impregnable thââ¦n the Love of Brethren Of Temptations The Devils first Assault is violent resist that and his second will be weaker and that being resisted he proves a Coward The Death of AUGUSTIN HE died Anno Christi 430 of his Age 76 and of his Ministry 40. He was a Man of a Charitable Disposition very sparing in Diet and a hearty Lover of all good Men. His Table was more for Disputation than for Revelling and had Engraven upon it He that doth love an absent Friend to jeer May hence depart no room is for him here He Collected together several Precepts of a Christian Life which whoever perused it might see their Duty this he called A Looking-glass His usual Wish was That Christ when he came might find him either Praying or Preaching when the Donatists upbraided him of Levity in his Minority Look said he how much they blame my former faults by so much the more I commend and praise my Physicians He used to say of Marriage Humble Marriage is better than Proud Virginity Of Death There is nothing that more abateth Sin than the frequent Meditation of Death he cannot die ill that lived well and seldom doth he die well who lived ill Of Christian Thoughts A Christian at home in his House must think himself a Stranger and that his Countrey is above Of Riches If Men want Wealth it is not to be unjustly gotten if they have it they ought by good Works to lay it up in Heaven He so admired the Seven Penitential Psalms that he had them hung up in great Letters within his Bed Curtains that so he might depart in the Contemplation of them The Death of CYKIL of Alexandria HE was Famous for Wit Eloquence and Piety Concerning Charity he used to say 'T is the best way for a Rich Man to make the Bellies of the Poor his Barn and thereby to lay up Treasure in Heaven Of Modesty Where the Scripture wants a Tongue of Expression we need not lend an Ear of Attention we may safely knock at the Council-door of Gods Secrets but if we go further we may be more bold than welcome He lived under Theodosius Junior and died Anno 448. The Death of PETER CHRYSOLOGUS HE was a Man of an Excellent Wit and by his Example and Ministry wrought upon many Souls He used to say of Charity Let not thy Care be to have thy hands full whilst the Poors are empty for the only way to have full Barns is to have Charitable Hands And Vertues separated are annihilated Equity without Goodness is Severity and Justice without Piety Cruelty He lived under Martian the Emperor having been Rishop above 60 Years He died Anno 500. The Death of PROSPER PRosper having under Martian continued 20 years in that Episcopal See he fell sick many of his Friends coming to visit him and perceiving them to weep bitterly he comforted them with these words The Life which I have enjoyed said he was but given me upon condition to render it up again not grudgingly but gladly for me to have stayed longer here might seem better for you but for me it is better to be dissolved So falling into servent Prayer he with great Alacrity resigned up his Spirit into the hands of his Creator dying Anno Christi 466. His usual Sayings was of Conscience That it was his utmost endeavour to keep a Conscience void of offence towards God and Man Of Vice Thou shalt neither hate the Man for his Vice nor love the Vice for the Mans sake Of Pride Consider what thou art by Sin and shalt be in the Grave and thy Plumes will fall for every proud Man forgets himself Of Gods Secrets Those things which God would have searched into are not to be neglected but those which God would have hidden are not to be searched into by the latter we become unlawfully Curious and by the neglect of the former damnably Ingrateful The Death of FULGENTIUS WHen Fulgentius fell Sick during which sickness he behaved himself with wonderful Patience and Humility and when his Physicians told him a Bath would do well for the recovery of his Health he answered What tell you me of a Bath can any Bath preserve the life of him who has run his natural course that he shall not die and why perswade you me now I am at the point of death to abate of that rigor which I all my life have used When having taken leave of those that came to visit him and distributed what Money he had to pious uses he yielded up the Ghost dying Anno Christi 529 and of his Age 65 having sat Bishop 25 years He used to say If want of Charity be tormented in Hell what will become of the Covetous In his greatest Suffering he would say We must suffer more than this for Christ. The Death of GREGORY the Great HE never could read these words Son remember that thou in thy Life-time receivedst thy good things c. without Horror and Amazement lest he by enjoying such Dignities and Honours should lose his Portion in Heaven He dyed Anno 605. The Death of ISIDORE HE so wasted his Body with Labours and enriched his Soul with Divine Contemplations that he seemed to live an Angelical Life upon Earth He used to say of a Guilty Conscience All things may be shunned but a Man 's own Heart a Man cannot run from himself a Guilty Conscience will not forsake him wheresoever he goes Of the danger of Pride He that begins to grow better let him beware lest he grow proud lest Vain-glory give him a greater overthrow than his former Vices He dyed 675. The Death of Venerable BEDE IN his Sickness he was wont to encourage himself with the words of the postle Heb. 12. 6. Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every Son whom he receiveth And when he beheld some of his Scholars weeping over him he comforted them with these words The time is come if my Creator pleaseth that being freed from the Flesh I shall go to him who made me when I was not out of nothing I have lived long and the time of my dissolution is approaching and my Soul desireth to see
my Saviour Christ in his Glory And so gave up the Ghost Anno Christi 735 and of his Age 64. Some affirm that whilst he was Preaching to his Congregation a loud Voice was heard but from whence it came none could tell Well done Venerable Bede Upon his Tomb was found this Epitaph Here lyes Entombed in these Stones Of Venerable BEDE the Bones The Death of JOHN DAMASCENE DAmascene having finished his Course he yielded to Death in certain hope of a Glorious Crown of Life and Immortality dying about the Year 750. He wrote many Books but especially his Three Books of Parallels of the Holy Scriptures and his Four Books of the Orthodox Faith The Death of THEOPHILACT HIS Chief Work was to reform the Churches into which many Errors had crept especially in Bulgaria so that continuing a Faithful Pastor for about three years he then yielded up the Ghost and exchanged for a better Life He was a Man of great Patience Mild and Meek in all his Actions exceeding most of his time in Learning He used to say That comes forward in the World goes back in Grace his Estate is miserable that goes Laughing to Destruction as a Fool to the Stocks of Correction The Death of ANSELM HE used to say That if he should see the shame of Sin on the one hand and the pains of Hell on the other and must of necessity chuse one he would rather be thrust into Hell without Sin than go into Heaven with Sin A while after his return to England he dyed in the Ninth Year of King Henry the I. Anno 1109. Aged 76. The Last Sayings of NICEPHORUS HE was one of great Learning and Judgment He wrote an Ecclesiastical History in Greek and Dedicated it to Andronicus He used to say Christ asked Peter three times if he loved him not for his own Information but that by his threefold Profession he might help and heal his threefold denial of him He lived under Andronicus Senior 1110. The Death of BERNARD HE lived with great applause till the 63 year of his Age when retiring to his Monastery he fell sick and calling all his Disciples about him when he perceived them weep he comforted them saying My Fatherly love moves me to pity you my Children so as to desire to remain here but on the other side my desire to be with Christ draws me to long to depart hence therefore be of good comfort for I submit to the will of our Heavenly Father to whose protection I leave you And thereupon he resigned his Spirit into the Hands of his Redeemer dying Anno Christi 1153 and in the Sixty third year of his Age. Upon entring the Church at the Door he usually said Stay here all my Worldly Thoughts and all Vanity that I may entertain Heavenly Meditations The Death of PETER LOMBARD HIS usual Sayings were these There is in us evil concupiscence and vain desires which are the Devils Weapons bent against our Souls whereby when God forsakes us he overthrows us with deadly Wounds Let none glory in the Gifts of Preachers in that they edifie more by them For they are not Authors of Grace but Ministers The Instruction of words is not so powerful as the Exhortation of works for if they that teach well neglect to do well they shall hardly profit their Audience He dyed on the 13th of August 1164. and lyes Buried at Paris and has this Inscription upon his Tomb Here lyeth Peter Lombard B. D. of Paris who composed the Book of Sentences and the Glosses of the Psalms and Epistles The Death of Alexander Hales HE was Born at Hales in Gloucestershire carefully Educated of an Excellent Wit and very Industrious His Sayings were of Patience A Soul patient when wrongs are offered is like a Man with a Sword in one hand and a Salve in the other who could wound but will heal Of Faith What the Eye is to the Body Faith is to the Soul it 's good for Direction if it be kept well And as Flies hurt the Eye so little Sins and ill Thoughts torment the Soul Of Humility An humble Man is like a good Tree the more full of Fruits the Branches are the lower they bend themselves He dyed Anno 1245. The Life of Bonaventure TO keep himself imployed he wrote the Bible over with his own Hand and so well used it that he could readily Cite all the material Texts by heart After this he was made Doctor of Divinity in which he continued for a considerable time doing all the deeds of Charity that lay in his power to perform likewise perswaded others to do the like So that at last spent with tedious Studies Nature decayed in him and he falling sick gave up the Ghost dying Anno Christi 1274 Aged 53 and was Buried in a Stately Sepulchre in the Cathedral The Death of Thomas Aquinas VVHen any one offered him promotion he was wont to say I had rather have Chrysostom 's Commentary upon the Gospel of St. Matthew In all his Sermons he framed his Speech to the Peoples Capacities and hated Vice in any though he loved their Persons never so well He dyed as he was going to the Council Summoned at Lyons Anno Christi 1274. His usual Sayings were these of Spending our Time Make much of time especially in that weighty matter of Salvation O how much would he that now lyes frying in Hell rejoice if he might have but the least moment of time wherein he might get God's favour Of Death The young Man hath Death at his Back the old Man before his Eyes and that 's the most dangerous Enemy that pursues thee than that which marches up towards thy Face Of Repentance Remember that though God promises forgiveness to repentant Sinners yet he doth not promise that they shall have to morrow to repent in The Death of John Wicklif HE was an English Man by Birth descended of godly Parents who sent him to Morton College in Oxford where he profited in Learning and in a short time was Divinity Reader in the University which he so well performed that he obtained a general Applause from all his Auditors he was a Man of great Piety often bewailing the vicious Lives of the Clergy After all the Persecution and Malice of his Enemies he dyed in peace Anno Christi 1384. But after his Death many of his Famous Writings were burned by the Popish Clergy The Death of John Huss IN Degrading him they were so cruel as to cut the Skin from off the Crown of his Head with Shears and to disannul the Emperors Letters of safe Conduct they made a Decree That no Faith should be kept with Hereticks After which they prepared for his Execution and put a Cap upon his Head painted with Devils the which he joyfully put on saying That since his Lord and Master wore for his sake a Crown of Thorns he would not disdain for his sake to wear that Cap when he had put it upon his Head a
Execution the fire being kindled he lift up his Hands crying Lord I believe so yielded up his Spirit unto God Anno 1531. The Death of William Tyndal THE English Merchants at Antwerp hearing of his Imprisonment became suitors for his Deliverance but Philips with his Money prevailed beyond their Entreaties Being at last brought to his Answer although his Enemies could lay nothing to his Charge yet the Attorney proceeded to condemn him and delivered him to the Magistrates to execute him When brought to the Stake he cried with an audible voice Lord open the Eyes of the King of England then being strangled fire was set to the Wood and he consumed to Ashes Anno Christi 1536. Within a short time after the Judgment of God overtook Phillips who betrayed him insomuch that he was eaten up with Lice The Death of Bertholdus Halerus HE was born in Helvetia 1502. and from his Child-hood much addicted to Learning Several Disputations he held with the Helvetians especially with Eccius the Pope's Champion In his time Popery was extinguished in many places and shortly after he died with an immature Death Anno 1536. aged 44. The Death of Urbanus Regis ON Sunday in the Evening he complained of a pain his Head yet was chearful and went to Bed early in the morning rising out of his Bed he fell upon the Floor and seeing his Wife and Friends mourning he comforted them and commended himself to his Maker and within three hours he died May 23. Anno 1541. He often desired God he might die an easie and sudden Death wherein God answered his Desires He wrote several Treatises which his Son Ernest digested together and Printed at Norenburg The Death of Caralostadius HE underwent great Afflictions by Printing some of his Books concerning the Lord's Supper the Senate of Zurick forbidding their People to read them but Zuinglius exhorted them first to read and then to pass judgment on them saying Caralostadius knew the Truth but had not well expressed it He went to Basil where he taught ten years and there died of the Plague Anno 1541. The Death of Capito HE went to several places as Strââ¦burg where he met with Bucer whose Fame spread so far that the Queen of Navarre sent for 'em so that France oweth the beginning of her Reformation to Capitâ⦠and Bacer He was prudent eloquent and studious of Peace the better part of his time he employed in Preaching and giving wholsome Advice to the Churches ãâã length returning home in a general Infection he dyed of the Plague Anno 1541. aged 63. The Death of Leo Judae HE Translated part of the Old Testament out of the Hebrew but the work being so Laborious and being Aged he dyed before he had finished it Anno. 1542. aged 60. Four days before his Death sending for the Pastors of Zurick he made a Confession of his Faith concerning God the Scriptures the Person and Offices of Christ concluding To this my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ my hope and my salvation I wholly offer up my Soul and Body I cast my self wholly upon his mercy and grace c. And so recommended to God the Senate and People of Zeriââ¦k The Death of George Spaladius HE was born at Noricum and brought up in Learning especially in the knowledge of Humane Aââ¦rs wherein he profited so much that the Elector of Saxony made him one of his Privy Council He continued in his Office till the time of his Death which fell-out Anne 1545. aged 63. He wrote many Treatises but especially a Chronicle from the beginning of the World to his time The Death of Myconius IN several Countries he preached the Gospel sincerely and purely though to the hazard of his Life at last he fell into a Consumption and wrote to Luther That he was sick not to Death but to Life He dyed Anno 1546. aged 55. The Death of John Diazius FInding he could not pervert his Brother Diazius from the Truth he acted the Hypocrite and told him he was in love with his Doctrine then he would have persuaded him to go into Italy Spain Rome and Naples and there privately spread his Doctrine but John Diazius refusing his Brother then took leave of him in order to his Journey but privately he and the Cut-Throat stayed at a Village and purchased a Hatchet of a Carpenter then going disguised the Villain pretended to bring Letters from his Brother which whilst John was reading the Executioner struck the Hatchet into his Temples upon which he died immediately The Murtherers were afterwards apprehended but by the practice of Papists who highly applauded the Fact and to hinder the current of Justice they pretended the Emperor would have the hearing of the Cause himself Six years after Alphonsus hanged himself about the Neck of his own Mule a fair reward for so foul a Fratricide The Death of Gasper Cruciger HE was a Man of great Learning very Religious and delighted much in Luther's Books and Doctrine He often contemplated the Foot-steps of God in Nature saying with St. ââ¦ul That God was so near unto us that he might almost ãâã felt with our Hands Considering the Vicissitude or Earthly Things he often repeated this Verse Besides God's love nothing is sure And that forever doth endure In his sickness he caused his young Daughters to repeat their Prayers before him and then himself prayed fervently for the Church and those his Orphans concluding I call upon thee with a weak yet with a true Faith I believe thy Promises which thou hast sealed to me with thy Blood and Resurrection c. He spent the few days which remained in prayer and Repentance and so quietly ended his days November the 16th Anno 1548. aged 45. The Death of Matthias Zellius HE was not only famous for Learning but for other Christian Vertues especially Modesty Temperance and Charity having a special care of the Poor for being invited to Supper by one of his Colleagues and seeing much Plate was offended and went his way without eating but afterwards so far prevailed with him that he sold his Plate and was more open-handed to the poor he dyed 1548. aged 71. The Death of Vitus Theodorus HE often disputed with his Papistical Adversaries and overthrew all their Arguments at length he was called to be a Pastor at Norimberg his own Country where he preached the Gospel with great Zeal and Eloquence to the great Advantage of his Auditors he dyed Anno. 1549. The Death of Paul Fagius FAgius died of a burning Feaver or as some say was poysoned by the Papists so that Anno 1550. he was intombed at Cambridge from whence in the Reign of Q. Mary the Papists having condemned him for a Heretick took his Bones and burnt them The Death of Martin Bucer IN his Sickness Learned Men came to visit him especially Doctor Bradford who one day taking leave of him to go preach told him he would remember him in his Prayers whereupon Bucer with tears in his
conveyed into Smithfield where he no sooner came But he fell on his Knees and with a loud Voice cried I will pay my Vows in thee O Smithfield then rising up he kissed and embraced the Stake saying Shall I disdââ¦n to suffer at this Stake when my Lord and Saviour refused not to suffer a most vile Death for me Having poured out his Soul to God he ââ¦ered himself to be bound with the Chain and when the Fire was kindled he commended his Spirit into the Hands of the Father of all Spirits and patiently gave up the ghost suffering Martyrdom Anno Christi 1555. and of his Age about Forty Nine The Death of Thomas Cranmer Arch-Bishop of Canterbury THE Popish Doctors frequently visited him in Prison and used all the Arguments they could to persuade him to a Recantation but he absolutely resolved for a considerable time but at last through humane Frailty and desire of Life he did subscribe to a Recantation The good Bishop being soon greatly afflicted and troubled in his Conscience for what he had done burst out into a flood of Tears and after his Speech came to him he lifted up his Hands towards Heaven saying O Lord forgive me this great Sin against thy Holy Name which through the weakness of the Flesh I have unadvisedly committed And then addressing himself to the People he desired them for Jesus Christ sake to pray for him that God would pardon his Sins and especially that of his Recantation But said he This right hand that signed so wicked an Instrument shall first perish in the Flames Then they pulled him down and hurried him away to the Fire which was made in the same place where Ridley and Latimer had suffered stopping his Mouth left he should any more speak to the People who were not a little grieved to see the Primate of England cast down from all his Honours and in the end so barbarously mis-used When he came to the Stake he fell on his Knees and Prayed but was interrupted by the Papists who followed him with his Recantation saying Have you not signed it Have you not signed it Then he was tied to the Stake his Cloaths being first put off and the Fire being kindled to him some time before it came at his Body he stretched forth his right Hand and held it in the Flames till it fell off without any more than once drawing it back And after having recommended his Spirit into the hands of our merciful Redeemer the Lord Jesus he died like a Lamb ending his Life with the same Meekness as he had lived suffering Martyrdom for the sake of the everlasting Gospel Anno Christi 1556 and of his Age 72. The Death of Conrade Pellican HE was born in Suevia and educated at Zurick He was a candid sincere and upright Man free from Falshood and Ostentation He departed this Life upon Easter-day Anno 1556. aged 78. The Death of John Bugenhagius HE was born at Julin near Stetin in Pomerania being well educated in Grammar Musick and other liberal Sciences He used great diligence and industry in converting many to the Truth drawing near to his end he often repeated this Portion of Scripture This is life eternal to know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent He died Anno Christi 1558. aged 73. The Death of Philip Melancthone HE was sent for by the Elector of Saxony to Lipsich to examine those that were maintained by the Elector to study Divinity In which he used great Diligence and after he returned to VVitterberg and fell sick of a Fever of which he died Sickness daily increased yet he so far strove against the power of his Disease that he would often rise to his Study The last Words he spake were to his Son-in-Law Doctor Pucer who when he asked him what he would have he replied Nothing but Heaven therefore trouble me no more with speaking to me After this he lying silent whilst the Ministers prayed by him he gave up the Ghost Anno Christi 1560. and in the sixty third year of his Age having been a constant Preacher of the Gospel for the space of 42 years The Death of John Lascus HE was a man of an excellent Wit and Judgment and took great pains to have composed that difference in the Churches about Christ's presence in the Sacrament though it did not succeed The King of Poland had such an esteem for him that he used his Adââ¦ice in Affairs of great importance He died Anno 1560. The Death of Augustine Marlorat MArlorat was taken and carried before the Constable of France who after several Examinations condemned him of High-Treason which was to be drawn upon a Sledge and to be hanged upon a Gibbet before our Ladies Church in Roan his Head to be stricken from his Body and set upon a Pole on the Bridge of the said City which Sentence was accordingly executed Anno 1562. aged 56. The Death of Peter Martyr BEing worn out with Travel and daily Study he after a while fell sick when calling together the principal Pastors of the Chââ¦rch he made to them an excellent Confession of his Faith concluding This is my Faith and they that teach otherwise to the withdrawing Men from God God will destroy them And so taking his Leave of all his Friends after having made his Will he gave up the Ghost Anno Christi 1562. and of his Age Sixty-two The Death of Amsdorsius HE was born in Misnia of noble Parents and educated at Wiââ¦temberg He was recommended by Luther to instruct several Churches at Mââ¦gdeburg Goslaria and Naumberg where he carried on the great Work of Reformation He having attained to 80 years of Age died Anno. 1563. The Death of Wolfangus Musculus MUsculus being destitute at Strasburg some Fortifications were mending where he hired himself a Labourer to work by the Day comforting himself with this Dystich A God there is whose Providence doth take Care for his Saints whom he will not forsake Much Popish Malice he met with but God delivered him from their Revenge At length being seized with a violent Fever he died Anno 1563. and of his Age 66. The Death of Hyperius HE was born at Ipres in Flanders of noble Parents and was well educated His Care was great in reforming the Church and abolishing the Popish Fooleries out of the Service of God and and to establish a holy Scriptural and Ecclesiastical Discipline And in these Employments having worn out himself a Catarrh and Cough seized him complaining also of pains of the head breast and sides which often were so great as made him sweat as if he had been seized wish a Fever He died Anno 1564. aged 53. The Death of John Calvin CAlvin being settled in pastoral Charge of Geneva he continued to Confute Hereticks Papists and stirrers up of Sedition to heal Breaches and Division being Couragious even in the worst of times and as an Undaunted Champion of Christ not to follow his Standard till
Death who Conquers all Conquered him for having made his Will he received the Sacrament and earnestly prayed for the Churches He on the Seventh of May Anno Christi 1562. yielded up his Spirit into the hands of his Maker dying in the 55 Year of his Age. His Funeral Solemnities were performed at the Charge of the Senate almost all the City being present He being Buried as himself desired in the Church-Yard where a stately Tomb was erected to his Memory The Death of William Farellus WHere ever he came Romish Malice attended him being so powerful in Prayer and Preaching that he gained thereby no small Congregations When he heard of Calvin's Sickness he could not satisfie himself though he was seventy years old but he must go to Geneva to visit him He surviv'd Calvin one year and odd months and died aged 76 years Anno 1553. The Death of Vergerius THE Devil stirred up many Adversaries against him especially the Friers who accused him to the Inquisitors but to avoid their Rage he went to Padua where he was a Spectator of rhe miserable Estate of Francis Spira which so wrought upon him that he resolved to go into Exile and accordingly he went into Rhetia where he preached the Gospel of Christ sincerely till he was called from thence to Tubing where he ended his days Anno 1565. his Brother being dead before him not without the suspition of Poyson The Death of Strigelius AFter his going through many Troubles he fell sick and said He hoped his Life was at an end whereby he should be delivered from the Frauds and Miseries of this evil World and enjoy the blessed Presence of God and his Saints to all Eternity He died Anno 1569 aged 44. The Death of John Brentius FAlling sick of a Fever he was endued with Patience saying That he longed for a better even an eternal Life He died Anno 1570. aged 71. was buried with much honour and had this Epitaph With Voice Stile Piety Faith and Candor grac'd In outward Shape John Brentius was thus fac'd The Death of Peter Viretus HE went to several places and carried on the Work of Reformation with Vigour and Success but Popish Malice lurked in Corners insomuch that they attempted to poyson him and laid wait for his Life He was very learned eloquent and of a sweet Disposition He died Anno 1571. aged 60. The Death of John Jewel IN his Sickness going to Preach he was desired by a Gentleman to return home the Gentleman alledging that one Sermon was better lost than by Impairng his Health to lose so good a Pastor But his reply was That it best became a Bishop to die preaching in a Pulpit That his great Master the Lord Jesus's Words might be fulfilled who says Happy art thou my Servant if when I come I find thee so doing And thus continued this good Man till his Sickness encreasing and Nature visibly decaying in him he was obliged to take his Bed and so far was he from fearing Death that he rather desired as longing to enter his Masters Joy often repearing the Words of old Simeon Lord now lettest thou thy Servant depart in Peace for mine Eyes have seen thy Salvation One standing by prayed for his Recovery which he hearing said I have not so lived that I am ashamed to live longer neither do I fear to die because we have a merciful Lord a Crown of Righteousnes is laid up for me Christ is my Righteousness Father let thy Will be done thy VVill I say and not mine which is depraved and imperfect this day let me quickly see the Lord Jesus And so in a certain and assured hope of everlasting Happiness he resigned his Spirit into the Hands of his Redeemer dying Anno Christi 1571. and of his Age Fifty The Death of Zegedine HE was driven by Popish Cruelty from several Places but where ever he went he took so much delight in breeding up Youth in Religion and Learning that he called it his Recreation Many hardships he endured in his Travel for being taken Prisoner by the Turks he was made an Object of their Fury for refusing to abjure the Christian Religion yet God delivered him out of all his Trouble and he died in Peace Anno 1572. aged 67. The Death of John Knox. FAlling Sick he gave order for his Coffin and being asked whether his pains were great he answered That he did not esteem that a pain which would be to him the end of all Troubles and the beginning of Eternal Joys Often after some deep Meditation he used to say Oh serve the Lord in fear and Death shall not be troublesome to you Blessed is the Death of those that have part in the Death of Jesus One praying by his Bed-side asked him if he heard the Prayer Yea said he and would to God that all present had heard it with such an Ear and Heart as I have done adding Lord Jesus receive my Spirit He ended this Life 1572. Aged 62. The Death of Peter Ramus HIS Fame grew so great that he was chose Dean of the University and Studied the Mathematicks wherein he grew exquisite The Civil Wars now breaking out he left Paris and fled to Fountain-bleau but not being safe there he went to the Camp of the Prince of Conde and from thence into Germany When the Civil Wars was ended he returned to Paris and remained the King's Professor in Logick till that horrible Massacre happened on St. Bartholomew's day wherein Thousands were slain by the bloody Papists He was then Lock'd in his own House till those furious Villains brake open his Doors and in his Study ran him thorow and being half dead threw him out of the Window so that his Bowels issued out on the Stones then they cut off his Head and dragged his Body about the Streets in the Channels at last they threw it into the River Sein Anno 1572. Aged 57. The Death of Henry Bullinger MR. Bullinger fell Sick and his Disease encreasing many Godly Ministers came to Visit him but some Months after he recovered and preached as formerly but soon Relapsed when finding his Vital Spirits wasted and Nature much decayed in him he concluded his Death was at hand and thereupon said as followeth If the Lord will make any farther use of me and my Ministry in his Church I will willingly obey him but if he pleases as I much desire to take me out of this miserable Life I shall exceedingly rejoice that he will be so pleased to take me out of this miserable and corrupt Age to go to my Saviour Christ. Socrates said he was glad when his Death approached because he thought he should go to Hesiod Homer and other Learned Menââ¦de ceased and whom he expected to meet in the other World then how much more do I joy who am sure that I shall see my Saviour Christ the Saints Patriarchs Prophets Apostles and all Holy Men which have lived from the beginning of the World These I say I
Whitaker FAlling Sick of a Fever a Friend asking him how he did he replyed O ãâã ãâã I have not taken so sweet a sleep since my disease seized upon me But being in a cold Sweat his Friend told him That Symptoms of Death appeared on him to whom he answered Life or Death is welcome to me which God pleaseth for Death shall be an advantage to me for I desire not to live but only so far as I may do God and his Church Service He dyed Anno 1595. Aged 47. The Death of Robert Rollock HE said I bless God I have all my Senses entire but my Heart is in Heaven and Lord Jesus Why should'st thou not have it It hath been my Care all my life long to dedicate in to thee I pray thee take it that it may live with thee for ever Falling into a Slumber and awaking he desired to be dissolved saying Come Lord Jesus ãâã an end to this miserable life haste Lord and ââ¦arry not Then some bewailing their loss of him to them he said I have gone through all the degrees of this Life and now am come to my end why should I go back again O Lord help me that I may go through this last degree with thy assistance lead me to that Glory which I have seen as through a Glass O that I were with thee Some saying the next day was the Sabbath he said Thy Sabbath O Lord shall begin any Eternal Sabbath Then he breathed out Haste Lord and do not tarry I am weary both of nights and daies Come Lord Jesus that I may come to thee Break these Eye-strings and give me others I desire to be dissolved and to be with thee Haste Lord Jesus and defer no ââ¦nger Go forth my weak Life and let a better succeed One standing by said Sir Let nothing trouble you for now your Lord makes haste to which he said O Welcome Message would to God my Funeral might be to morrow Thus he continued servent in Prayer till he resigned up his Spirit unto God Anno 1598. Aged 43. The Death of Nicholas Hemingius BEfore his Death he grew Blind and much diseased desiring then to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Some time before his Death he Expounded the 103 Psalm to the admiration of all his Auditors He dyed Anno 1600. Aged 87. The Death of Daniel Tossanus DAniel Tossanus falling sick he Comforted himself with these Texts of Scripture I have fought the good fight of Faith c. Be thou faithful unto the Death and I will give unto thee a Crown of Life We have a City rot made with hands Eternal in the Heavens many other places he recited He dyed Anno 160â⦠Aged 61. The Death of William Perkins HE was Born at Marston in Warwickshire and was Educated at Christ's College in Cambridge He wrote many rare Treatises which for their Excellency were Translated into most Languages All he wrote was with his Left Hand with which he stabbed the Romish Cause as one well exprest Though Nature thee of thy Right Hand bereft Right well thou Writest with thy Hand that 's Left In his last Fit a Friend standing by prayed for a mitigation of his Pains to whom he said Pray not for an ease of my Torments but for an encrease of my Patience He dyed Anno 1602. Aged 44. He was Buried at the Charge of Christ's-College with great Solemnity Dr. Mountague preached his Funeral Sermon upon this Text Moses my Servant is dead His Works are Printed in Three Volumes in Folio The Death of Francis Junius BUT being at Lions he escaped an Imminent Death which made him acknowledge God's Providence in his Miraculous Deliverance and to confirm his Belief he earnestly desired to read over the New Testament of which he gives this Account when I opened the New Testament I first met with St. John's first Chapter In the beginning was the Word c. I read part of it and was presently convinced that the Divinity and Authority of the Author did excel all Humane Writings My Body trembled my Mind was astonished and I was so affected all that day that I knew not what I was Thou wast mindful of me O my God according to the multitude of thy Mercies and called'st home thy lost Sheep into thy Fold And from that day he wholly bent himself to Pions Practices He dyed Anno 1602. Aged 57. The Death of Thomas Holland BEing Ancient he employed his Time in Prayer and Meditation and often used to sigh forth Come O come Lord Jesus thou Morning Star Come Lord Jesus I desire to be dissolved and to be with thee He dyed Anno 1612. Aged 73. The Death of James Granaeus IN the midst of his Pains he used to say As Death's sweet so to rise is sweet much more Christ as in Life so he in Death is Store On Earth are Troubles sweet Rest in the Grave I' th' last Day we the lasting'st Joys shall have He dyed Anno 1617. Aged 77. The Death of Robert Abbat ABbat drawing near his End he desired to make a Confession of his Faith but being faint and weak he referred his Friends to his Writings saying That Faith which I have published and defended in my Writings is the Truth of God and therein I die and so departed Anno 1618. Aged 58. The Death of John Whitgift THE Queen had a great Esteem for him and was pleased to be so familiar as to call him Her Black Husband at her Death he was present and administred to her what Comfort she desired when King James came to the Crown he much reverenced the Archbishop and when he fell sick King James visited him and laboured to chear him up but he had laid the Death of Queen Elizabeth so much to heart that in a few days he departed in the Lord Atno 1603. Aged 73. The Death of Theodore Beza HE often used the Apostles saying We are his Workmanship created in Christ Jesus to good Works And that of St. Augustine I have lived long I have sinned long blessed be the Name of the Lord. Also Lord perfect that which thou hast begun that I suffer not Shipwrack in the Haven And that of Bernard Lord we follow thee by thee to thee we follow thee because thou art the Truth by thee because thou art the Way to thee because thou art the Life He dyed upon a Sabbath day when rising in the Morning he prayed with his Family and finding himself weak he desired to go to Bed again but sitting down on the Bed-side he departed without the least Sigh or Groan Anno 1605. Aged 86. The Death of William Cowper FAlling Sick he used to say My Soul is alwaies ready in my Hand ready to be offered to my God Where or what kind of death God hath prepared for me I know not but sure I am there can no evil death befall him that lives in Christ nor sudden death to a Christian Pilgrim who with Job waits every Hour for his
Change Yea saith he many a Day have I sought it with Tears not out of Impatience Distrust or Perturbation but because I am weary of Sin and fearful to fall into it In his Sickness he used these private Meditations Now my Soul be glad for at all Parts of this Prison the Lord hath set to his Pioneers to loose the Head Feet Milt and Liver are failing yea the middle strength of the whole Body the Stomach is weakned long ago Arise make ready shake off thy Fetters mount up from the Body and go thy way I saw not my Children when they were in the Woââ¦b yet there the Lord fed them without my knowledge I shall not see them when I go out of the Body yet shall they not want a Father Death is somewhat Driery and the Streams of that Jordan between us and our Canaan run furiously but they stand still when the Ark comes Let your Anchor be cast within the Veil and fastned on the Rock Jesus let the End of the Threefold Cord be backled to the Heart so shall you go through He died Anno 1619. The Death of Andrew Willet GOing from London his Horse threw him and by the Fall broke his Leg which was presently set by a Bone-setter and being confined to his Bed he would meditate upon Hezekiah's Sickness and Recovery Isaiah 38. especially on the 9 10 13 and 15 Verses Hearing a Bell Toll he peradventure had apprehensions of Death which occasioned him to discourse with his Wise concerning Death and our blessed Hopes after Death and the mutual Knowledge the Saints have of one another in Glory Then he repeated the first Verse of the 146 Psalm and said it was a most sweet Psalm but stirring to ease himself he fell into a Trance his Wife crying out he looked up and used these last words Let me alone I shall do well Lord Jesus and so departed Anno 162â⦠Aged 59. The Death of David Pareus AT Anvilla he wrote his Body of Divinity which having Finished he said Lord now let thy Servant depart in peace because he hath Finished that which he desired He earnestly besought God that he might lay his Bones at Heidleberg which not long after he returned thither safely where he was received with much joy but his former Disease of a Catarrh returning upon him being sensible of approaching Death he frequently opened his Mind to Henââ¦y Alting and others and so quietly departed Anno 1622. Aged 73. His Works are in 3 Volumes The Death of Robert Bolton MR. Bolton falling sick of a Quartane Ague and finding himself weaker and weaker he Contemplated upon the four last things Death Judgment Heaven and Hell and being asked if he could be content to live if God would permit him He said I grant that Life is a great Blessing of God neither will I neglect any means that may preserve it and do heartily desire to submit to God's Will but of the two I infinitely more desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. When the Pangs of Death were upon him he breathed out I am now drawing on apace to my dissolution hold out Faith and Patience your Work wiâ⦠quickly be at an end He died Anno 1631. Aged Threescore The Death of William Whately IN his Sickness he comforted himself with that Promise Psalm 41. 1 2. Blessed is he that considereth the poor the Lord will deliver him in the tâ⦠of trouble the Lord will strengthen him upon the Bod of languishing c. A little before his death a Friend praying with him That God wold be pleased if his Time were not expired either to restore him or put an end to his Pains He lifting up his Eyes towards Heaven one of his Hands in the close of that Prayer gave up the ghost shutting his Eyes as if he was fallen into a soft-Slumbeâ⦠Anno 1639. Aged 56. The Death of Anthony Wallaeus HE was much troubled with the Stone in the Kidneys and Hypocondraical Wind which still encreasing upon him he called his Family and exhorted them to fear God then taking his leave of them he fell asleep out of which he never awaked only strived a little when his Pains came upon him so on the Sabbath-day at a Eleven of the Clock he resigned up his Spirit to his Maker Anno 1639. Aged 66. The Death of Henry Alting HE sell sick at Groning of a Catarth and Feaver accompanied with great Pains in his Back and Loins which caused often Paintings The day before his death he sang the 130th Psalm with great Fervency In the Evening he blessed his Children and exhorted them to fear God and to persevere in the Truth of the Gospel Being sensible of the time of his Departure by his Prophetick Spirit he accordingly died about Three of the Clock August 25. Anno 1644. Aged 57. The Death of Frederick Spanhemius HIS last Sermon he preached at Easter upon Phil. 3. 24. Who shall change our vile Body that it may be like his glorious Body c. He prayed earnestly to God to continue his Blessings to his Family and never suffer them to be seduced to Popery he prayed likewise that in the Pains of Death he might with all his Soul breath after God and migh before-hand have some taste of the Glory of Hea ven Having ended his Prayers his Voice and Strength failed him and so about Sun-setting he quietly departed and slept in the Lord 1649. Aged 49. The Death of Sir John Oldcastle HE was sent for before the Council when the Bishop proffered to absolve him he replied He had never trespassed against him and therefore had no need of his Absolution When they told him unless he would recant they would condemn him as a Heretick He bid them do as they thought best for said he I am at a Point that which I have written I will stand to it to the death Then kneeling down he lifted up his Hands towards Heaven and said I shrive me here unto thee O Eternal and Ever-living God in my frail Youth I offended thee O Lord by Pride Coverousness Wrath Uncleanness and many Men have I hurt in my ãâã and committed many other horrible Sins for which good Lord I ask thee forgiveness And so with Tears in his Eyes he stood up and turning to the People he said Lo good People for breaking God's Laws and his holy Commandments they never yet accused me but for their own Laws and Traditions they handle me most cruelly and therefore they and their Laws by God's promise should be utterly destroyed Then they proceeded farther to examine him but he returned such Answers to their Questions as made many wonder at his Wisdom yet they proceeded to read the Bill of Condemnation against him as a Heretick After which he lifting up his Eyes towards Heaven said Lord God Eternal I beseech thee of thy Infinite Mercy to forgive my Persecutors After that he was sent to the Tower The Sentence against him was That like a Traytor
he should be drawn through the Streets of London to the Gallows in St. Giles in the Fields and there hanged and afterwards burnt upon the Gallows as he hung The Death of Thomas Cromwell Earl of Essex HIS Enemies durst not bring him to a Tryal but procured an Act of Attainder whereby he was Condemned before he was Heard yet the King after his death repented this Haste and wished he had his Cromwell alive again Being mounted the Scaffold he made an humble Confession and begged the Prayers of all those which were present then in a pious Prayer he recommended himself into the Hands of the Almighty and at one Blow his Head was severed from his Body Anno 1541. The Death of the Lady Jane Grey THE Morning before her Exit from this World her Husband the Lord Guilford Dudley was conveyed to a Scaffold on Tower-Hill where he penitently ended his Life his Head and Body being laid in a Cart all bloody was brought to the Chappel and exposed to the Sight of this sorrowful Lady a Spectacle more dismal than the kneenest Axe of her Death And now her own part is to be acted upon a Scaffold erected upon the Green within the Tower where being mounted with a chearful Countenance she looked upon the People and with great Constancy directed her self after this manner That she was come thither to die for an Offence which was committed by a Device not of her own seeking then wringing her Hands and protesting her Innocency she desired them to take notice that she died a good Christian and requested their Prayers Then kneeling down she repeated in English the 51 Psalm after which her Gentlewoman helped her off with her Gown and the Hangman on his Knees asked her forgiveness which she forgave him freely and prayed him to dispatch her quickly Looking upon the Block and kneeling she said Will you take it off before I lay it down No Madam replied the Executioner then she tied a Handkerchief before her Eyes and feeling for the Block said What shall I do Where is it Where is it Being guided she laid her Head upon the Block and giving the Sign she said Lord into thy Hands I commend my Spirit Then receiving the Fatal Blow she ended this Life Anno 1554. Aged 16. Her Death was much lamented but did not go unpunished for the Judge which passed her Sentence shortly after fell distracted crying out continually Take away the Lady Jane from me The Lady Jane Grey had a curious Vein in Poetry In her Troubles she composed these Lines Think nothing strange which Man cannot decline My Lot's to Day to Morrow it may be thine If God protect me Malice cannot end me If not all I can do will not defend me After dark Night I hope for Light This Epitaph was also made on her My Race was Royal sad was my short Raign Now in a better Kingdom I remain The Death of Sir Philip Sidney SIR Philip lay for the space of 25 Days enduring his Pains with admirable Patience and at length resign'd up his Spirit into the hands of his Redeemer October 16. Anno 1586. Upon him was made this Epitaph Apollo made him wise Mars made him stout Death made him leave the World Before his Youth was out The Death of Galeacius Carracciolus SIckness the Harbinger of Death seizing upon him which proceeded from abundance of Rheum this was produced by his long and wearisome Journeys which he had formerly taken by Land and Sea for his Conscience sake His Physicians despairing of his Cure he wholly sequestred himself from all Worldly Cogitations and taking his Farewell of his Wife and Friends saving He would lead them the way to Heaven Then he desired God to receive him and acknowledge him for his own and so quieââ¦ly departed 1592. Aged 74. The Death of Katherine Bretterg ONce she took the Bible in her hand and joyfully kissing it said O Lord 't is good for me to be afflicted that I may learn thy Statutes The law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and sââ¦ver Then she desired her Husband to be ware of Popery and to let her little Girl be brought up in the Fear of God saying So shall I meet her in Heaven whom I must now leave behind me on Earth Once she was very dull in Prayer and when she came to Lead us not into Temptation she said I may not pray I may not pray for Satan interrupts me yet her Friends left her not till she had gained the Conquest She repeated often We have not received the Spirit of Bondage to fear again but the Spirit of Adââ¦tion whereby we cry Abba Father The Verse of Psalm 13. ult she often repeated chearfully Many Pious Meditations she used but the last was this My Flesh and my Heart faileth but God is the Strength of my Heart and my Portion for ever He that preserveth Jacob and defendeth his Israel he is my God and will guide me unto Death Then she departed this life without any motion of Body May ult Anno 1601. Aged 22. The Death of John Lord Harrington Baron of Exton FRom the First-Day of his last Sickness he apprehended the approach of Death and so readily prepared himself for it he made Confession of his Sins and oft confessed his Faith and undoubted hope of Salvation in Christ and when Death approached he breathed out O my God when shall I be with thee And in the midst of these longing Desires he departed Anno 1613. Aged 22. The Death of Phillip de Mornay Lord of Plessis Marley BEing displaced from his Government of Samur he betook himself to a Private Life and made his Will for the peace and good of his Family being seiz'd upon by a continual Fever and no hopes of Recovery he would often say I fly I fly to Heaven and the Angels are carrying me into the bosome of my Saviour then would he repeat the words of Job I know that my Redeemer liveth I shall see him with mine eyes and I feel I fell what I now speak He dyed in the 74th Year of his Age. The Death of John Bruen of Bruen-Stapleford in the County of Chester Esquire FAlling Sick the morning before his Death divers Friends took their leaves of him and hearing some make motion of Blacks he said I will have no Blacks I love no Proud nor Pompous Funeral neither is there any cause of Mourning but of rejââ¦icing rather in my particular Immediately before his Death lifting up his hands he said The Lord is my portion my help and my trust his blessed Son Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Redeemer Amen Even so saith the Spirit unto my Spirit therefore come Lord Jesus and kiss me with the kisses of thy mouth and embrace me with the Arms of thy Love into thy hands do I commend my Spirit O come now and take me to thy own self O come Lord Jesus come quickly O come O come O come So his
buried under ground yet every Morning revives so I and all that live shall go to the Earth but we shall return from the Earth clearer than the Sun it self Therefore O Christ O my most Gracious Saviour abide with me behold it draweth towards Night My Eyes my Ears all my Senses fail me but do thou I beseech thee not fail me O most loving Jesu and all the rest I most willingly abandon Begon all other things I dismiss and give ye leave My Creator is with me it is enough It is well with me But that thou may'st tarry with me till Night even till Death still I cry abide with me O Lord for it draweth towards Night Sect. 26. The dying Man is encouraged WHen thou hast not the convenience of reading much behold a few Verses not a little useful to ease thy Troubles and confirm thy mind Consider that St. Cyprian whispers these Words into thy Ears When we die we pass to Immortality Nor can we attain to eternal Life unless we depart from hence Neither is this an Exit but a Passage and a flight to Eternity after the short Conclusion of a Temperate Race How preposterous how perverse a thing it is when we desire that the Will of God should be done when he calls us forth of this World that we should not streight be obedient to his Will We strive we struggle and like head-strong Servants we are haled into the presence of God with Sadness and Sorrow forc'd rather by Necessity than won by the tie of our Obedience and is it reasonable we should be honoured by him with Celestial rewards to whom we go unwillingly Wherefore do we desire and pray that the Heavenly Kingdom may come when our Earthly Captivity so much delighteth us Wherefore do we so earnestly wish for the fulfilling of Christs Kingdom when we had rather serve the Devil here then raign with Christ there Then shall the Servants of God injoy Peace and a calm and quiet Rest when freed from the troubles of this World when having vanquished Death we come to immortality When to see Christ it shall be our joy when we can have no joy but by seeing Christ. What blindness of mind what madness is it to be in love with the Oppressions Pains and Tears of this World and not rather to make haste to that joy which can never be tak'n from us Death is therefore the Hav'n of all Mortals O happy Shore O secure Port wherein none but the obstinate can Shipwrack Sect. 27. Faith in the Resurrection THis Flesh of ours now lives though shortly to return to its Clay to its mouldring Dust to be the Food of Fish Locusts Ants. and poysonous Vermin And yet after all this the same Flesh shall rise and the Butcheries of Executioners and the Coats of Martyrs shall be crown'd Neither do thou dream of any Flesh than the former unless thou canst imagine God unjust to give the reward to any other than that which has won the Prize or that he should receive another to his Heavenly Rest than that which won the Prize The same Soul in all things which in this Flesh fought the good fight stood stedfast learnt God put on Christ sowed the hope of Salvation the same shall reap The same Flesh that with the Soul ran through the whole Order of Life endured bled with the same Soul its Companion shall reap the reward Lazarus was the same after he had been four days in the Sepulchre as before The same the Son after the Mothers Tears were tried up as before The same was Christ after his being entombed as before Neither does any aid of Sepulture deprive God of his Omnipotency or put a stop to his Goodness The same was the Tongue of the Rich Man that was fed with-Banquets and that which was scorched in the Infernal Flames and begg'd to be relieved by the Finger of the more happy Begger the same Flesh shall be rewarded or punished according to its Merits Is not God able to enliv'n the Clay with the same breathing of his Spirit as formerly He that formed the Muscles the Bones the Nerves the Veins the Marrow out of the same Clay Can he not form the same out of the same again Is there a necessity that what perishes once should always Perish By what Law Behold that I may not stumble thee with any higher Philosophy behold thy Universal returning Order of all things that is a testimony and argument of returning Man Summers and Winters revolve Springs and Autums have their turns The light of Sun and Stars return with the morning Splendor or the natural Darkness had obscured Thou wouldst think the Vine dead and the Branches only fit for the Fire yet we see them revive again and thicker clad than before and what the cold Kills the heat of Summer restores more Beautiful as if decay it self paid use Not that these things in all things prove the Reparation of Human Life but lead us to it Wouldst thou have more signal Arguments We have a pledge in Christ in whom we Usurp Heaven and the Kingdom of God Wouldst thou have it in Man The mortified and putrified Flesh of Lazarus wise Flesh. Moses and Elias made known to the Apostles demonstrated that the same Habit and Condition of Body is still preserv'd in Glory And the departed Souls delivered out of the Prisons of this Flesh and returned to their own pure Light and Substance yet desire nothing more than to be clad with this refin'd Clay and in the former Matrimonial Society to continue a Life with the same Flesh never to be dissolved that they which endured together may injoy the same equality of Glory like Christ their Captain who ascended Flesh and Bone into Heaven a Pledge and Argument of our future Purity Therefore let us not be sad When the old House falls a fairer will rise in the stead He not only believed without a Cause but lived for no Cause that thought himself born to Perish Sect. 23. The hope of Resurrection our greatest Comfort JOB almost buried in the Grave of innumerable Calamities yet with a vast alaerity of Mind I know saith he that my Redeemer Lives and that I shall rise out of the Earth at the latter day and shall be covered again with my Skin and shall see God in my Flesh when I my self shall see and mine Eyes shall behold and none other for me This my hope is laid up in my Bosome Christ also as it were returning an Answer to Job I am the Resurrection and Life saith he whoever believeth in me though he be dead shall live There will most certainly come a day that will restore us to Light and therefore ought to depart contentedly 'T is reported that there is a Bird in the East Indies called Semenda which being sensible of her approaching Death fetches Wood into her Nest sings sweetly and by the clapping of her Wings sets it a Fire where being consumed out of the Ashes