The Desire of all Men. A SERMON Preach'd at DAVENTRY IN Northamptonshire March 5. 1694 5. Being the Day of the Interment of our Late Most Gracious QUEEN Before the Bayliff and Burgesses of the said Corporation of Daventry and other Gentlemen of the County and published at their Request By Charles Allestree M. A. Minister at Daventry LONDON Printed for Thomas Bernet at the Half Moon in St. Paul's Church-yard London and Obediah Smith Bookseller in Daventry 1694 5. To the Bayliff and Burgesses of the Corporation of DAVENTRY Gentlemen YOV having testified the inward Honour and Esteem which you bore to the Virtues of our Late QUEEN by ordering the Desk and Pulpit to be hung in Mourning and desiring me to Preach upon the Solemnity of her Funeral I chearfully obey'd your Request in Preaching and now in Publishing the Discourse I knew my own inabilities too well to think that I could be just to my Subject or be able to reach her Character but I know I have justly said so much of her Moral and Intellectual Accomplishments as must make us despair of those Attainments and I have no other design in the Publication of this Sermon but only to propose Her as a Pattern to the Imitation of all those Good Women that shall hereafter desire to excel in Virtue I am Your Most Obliged Friend and Servant C. ALLESTREE March 7th 1694 5. Numbers 23.10 Let me die the Death of the Righteous and let my last End be like his THis is the Comprehensive Desire of all Mankind in the World both Good and Bad for though few Men are careful enough of imitating the Lives of the Righteous yet even the worst of People by a natural impulse are desirous of following them in their Deaths Now this Desire takes place to the heigth and occurrs irresistibly to the Mind when we see a departing Soul upon the Wing just ready to take seizure of Heaven and of all the Glories that are the promis'd Reward of Virtue and Innocence And to urge us effectually to this pious Ejaculation of praying to die the Death of the Righteous we have the brightest Example before us that ever shin'd in our English Sphere both for the eminency of her Goodness as well as Station in the Interment of our Glorious QUEEN and in her happy Translation into another World We commemorate this Day an instance of the most exalted Virtue and the most Heroick Piety that possibly either this Age or any preceding Time was ever able to produce whose Death by the benignity of Heaven attracted the Desires of all Men It was suitable to the Integrity of her Life and correspondent to the course of her Living here It was an Effect and Demonstration of the Holiness of her Conversation and will powerfully recommend the practise of Righteousness to all Mankind that shall advert to it from the Patience and Resignation that was conspicuous in our Departed QUEEN and from the assurance she enjoy'd of an everlasting Rest in Heaven She had been initiated early into the Principles of Religion and remember'd her Creator in the Days of her Youth so that when God in Mercy thought fit to take Her to himself and to exchange her Corruptible Crown for an Immarcessible one in Glory He was pleas'd not to leave himself without a Witness of his Government but in the terrible day of Trial to demonstrate to the World that Goodness and Virtue are Substantial Blessings that they will bring a Man peace at the last that they are able to fortifie the Mind with patience under the severest pressures and by opening a view of Heaven above to yield comfort to the most languishing Soul under any worldly Calamities or Afflictions When therefore an instance of such Goodness and such a Glorious Departure is present to our Thoughts how forcibly must Mankind be excited to wish from the very bottom of their Souls to die the death of the Righteous and that their last end may be like his Now in prosecuting this matter though I shall have no necessity to piece the Text either with the foregoing or following Verses yet I find my self constrain'd to beg this supposition that as the most proper and suitable season the Words may be imagin'd to be utter'd upon the view of a Righteous Person 's going off to Eternity And then the Motives that render his Death desirable may be reduc'd to these three Heads which I shall severally apply at the end of this Discourse to our Late QUEEN and to the sad Occasion of this Days Solemnity I. First To the consideration of the innocency of the Righteous Man's Life in the whole course and tenor of his Actions II. Secondly To his peaceable Carriage and Deportment in his Sickness or upon his Death-Bed III. And lastly To the assurance he has of enjoying Heaven hereafter and securing himself of Happiness to all Eternity Now though all these Qualifications are not always the ingredients of a Righteous Man's Life or do necessarily denominate or constitute him such but God is pleas'd sometimes without any visible or previous course of Piety before to make use of his Prerogative and pardon a Sinner at the last upon Repentance yet as this is a Case which very rarely happens and no Man at that Season can be morally secur'd of the Sincerity of his Intentions so the Person that dies in these Circumstances wants the Comfort of a Good Reflexion Whereas the Just Man that needs no Repentance as the Scripture stiles him Luke 15.7 has the advantage of seeing Heaven before him and his Good Works behind for his Consolation he looks upon Heaven through the best end of the Perspective and upon his Good Works through the Reverse but both yield him a delightful Prospect Now all these Marks of a Righteous Person were eminently united and center'd in the Character of our Late Gracious QUEEN She was from her Infancy from the dawn of Life to the setting thereof a constant uniform Pattern of all Virtue and Obedience the most remarkable Creature for Patience under the afflicting Hand of God in her Sickness and what endued her with this composedness of Spirit had a Plerophory and inward hope and a certain assurance of her Reward in Heaven I. I begin with the first That the Consideration of the innocence of the Righteous Man's Life is a main Motive and Inducement for us to covet to die his Death It is observable in the Rise and Beginnings of Sickness when Diseases make their Approaches and gradually seize upon the Vitals if they do not come in such an astonishing manner as to stupifie the Senses and benumb the Faculties of the Soul there are but two things at that time which generally the thoughts of Men are conversant and employ themselves about that is in reflecting either upon their Good or Bad Actions For all those indifferent Actions of our Lives which neither carry any malignity or essential Goodness in their Nature are so far from being the
and Deportment in his Sickness or upon his Death-Bed As the Temperament of the Body has a great influence upon the Operations of the Soul so it happens that there is a kind of Sympathetick Motion betwixt them and when the Soul is in disorder the Body suffers too All the Passions have had their Martyrs and without any Affection or Pain to the Body there have been frequent Instances of Men that have been sacrific'd to the sudden Transports and Eruptions of Joy as well as overwhelm'd with the oppression of Sorrow For the Spirits being not able to contain that excess of Joy or Grief which sometimes arises from the Contingencies of this World are suffocated and depress'd by the Weight and the Soul seems rather to be extinct than the Body Now if the Operations of the Mind when they are only fix'd upon an Earthly Object and excited from a disappointment here are so intense and violent as to change the Constitution and alter the whole Mass of Blood if they do not only help forward a Disease but are sufficient to begin and complete it with success surely when our Grief is rais'd from the Fear of being disappointed of Heaven the Operations of the Mind will be more precipitate and swift the Agonies of the Soul will be more acute Despair will then prey upon the Vitals and encrease the Malady When we have the Scene of all that is dear to us render'd for ever miserable in the most exquisite Torments when we contemplate the Resurrection of the Dead where the Graves are open and return their Trust where all the Particles of Man are reunited and the scatter'd Limbs knit together into Shape and Form and all this to make the Soul and Body that have been Companions in Sin to be so in Woe and Affliction and to roul upon Flames to all Eternity when I say we have all these things in our apprehensions we cannot think that the Soul being entertain'd with such dismal Objects will be at leisure to perform the common Functions or Offices of Life So that this being the Case of all wicked Men upon the prospect of their leaving the World it must be agreed that there is generally such a horrour of Mind upon them at the fearful expectation of these things as will aggravate their Distemper and defeat all the methods and application of Physick for their Remedy or Recovery For the Sins which they have all their Life-time been Slaves to will then turn Vassals and be Obsequious in their Attendance they will then croud the memory but it will be to no other purpose but only to distract it Now though at all times and more especially at the Hour of Death a just survey of the Actions of a Man's Life and a particular Reflexion upon all the Sins we have been guilty of here is very necessary as it tends to Abhorrence to beget Repentance and procure atonement for them yet so it happens that where there is no Provision made against them before-hand and they are not satisfied for by piece-meal they come in a full Body like Flocks of Creditors upon the miscarriage of a Debtor without any appearance of receiving satisfaction there but only to set the Sinner's shame and inability of discharging all their claims before him But the righteous Man who brings all the Actions of the Day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Hierocles expresses it who brings all the Actions of the Day to the Tribunal of Conscience and makes things even betwixt his God and Him as he cannot have such a multitude of Sins to account for when he comes on his Death-Bed so when he falls into any Sickness he has no distracting Thoughts to afflict him neither is his Distemper aggravated by Impatience nor increased by Choler He submits to Death as it is the condition he accepted Life with as he is the Son of Adam he knows he must die but as he is the Son of the Second Adam he knows he must be made alive again And this consideration is the greatest inducement for us to wish to die the Death of the Righteous III. Namely The Certainty he has of a joyful Resurrection and the full assurance of enjoying Heaven and securing himself of Happiness to all Eternity This is the Joy and Hope the Crown and Ornament of a Christian and the Righteous Man that has this Hope is prepared and fortified against all Events He is inwardly assured that Heaven is his Portion and his Lot and design'd for his Inheritance from the Foundation of the World For as it is said that seldom any Man dies but he has some intimations of his approaching End within some secret Presages and Bodings of his final Dissolution in his Mind so certainly there is no Person upon the Confines of Death but either from his own management of himself in this World he can make a Judgment of his Future State or else from some Inspiration and Revelation within he can take a certain measure of it The Holy Ghost will not be wanting in gentle Breathings and Whispers to the Conscience to support the Just Man under all the pressures of Sickness as he did our Glorious QUEEN and to fortifie his well-grounded Expectation of Heaven That Spirit will diligently wait and attend to strengthen the Righteous Man's Hopes of a Resurrection to Glory there will in him be a Calm and certainly and an assurance of Heaven a Glory will incircle his Temples here and the Rays of Divinity will be shining round his Head But the Righteous Man's Death though every one covets it is not attainable barely by a lazie wish or an empty Desire there must be something of action on our parts to go along with it and our vigorous endeavours must be used as a necessary ingredient to attain it This the Saint of this Day knew and practis'd whose constant care it was to work out Her Salvation with Fear and Trembling who past through all the Mortification and Discipline and severity of Religion and by those Austerities which She inflicted upon her Body made her Soul more susceptible of good Impressions and sensible of the Charms of Goodness and by these Holy Exercises at last She arriv'd to the highest Perfection of Virtue that her Nature was capable of for the Eminency of her Piety was such as was sufficient to entail a Happiness to a Nation and leave a Blessing behind her and not all the Libellous Tongues united in one common Mass of Poyson ever had the Impudence to attack her Virtue or blemish her Innocence They had no Fault to object against her Conduct but only this that She durst be so generous with her Royal Partner to undertake the Protection of a Sinking Nation and to vindicate our common Rights Religion and Liberties which were all Invaded and just ready to be swallow'd up in Tyranny for which Act her Name will be for ever blessed amongst all Generations of Men and After-Ages will celebrate her Praises to the
utmost Period and Extent of Time Let her Example therefore excite us to a Holy Imitation of her Virtues and let us consider with her the Greatness of our Nature the end of our Creation and what we were made for all Vice is below the Dignity of Man it is Virtue or in another word Righteousness which is the same thing only Virtue improv'd and sublimated by Grace that is the proper and commensurate Object of our Thoughts If we stedfastly pursue this and hunger and thirst after Righteousness we shall all be so happy as to die the Death of the Righteous that is to die like Her We shall have her assurance her sedate and composed Temper in our Sickness so that if we are consign'd to another World we shall expect our Change with Joy and never be dismay'd at the Approaches of Death or if any paleness any horror of Countenance does arise the Alteration will proceed from the Decay of Spirits or the want of Vital Heat and not from any consternation or despondency within Thus have I enforc'd the Motives in a speculative manner that render the Death of the Righteous desirable to all Men. I am sensible that these Discourses in Theory make but a faint impression upon the Mind and that a Bright Example would illustrate and set it off better I shall therefore make the Application in descanting upon the Holiness of the Life and Actions and Happiness of the Death of this most Religious Princess whose Obsequies we celebrate now And in this attempt I shall not fear any misconstructions of Flattery The Subject is above it and uncapable of being perverted to that Abuse the most masterly strokes of Art cannot reach the heigth of those Eulogies that justly appertain to so much Goodness and Perfection much less shall I be able to celebrate her Great Worth in a becoming manner who knew Her as we ought to approach Majesty only at an awful Distance and with an humble Reverence This therefore is a great disadvantage I labour under but it is not sufficient to discourage me from casting in my Mite into the Treasury of all those that have already set forth the Eminency of her Virtues and parentated to her Memory for I consider that it will be an extraordinary Service done to Piety and Religion when the Friend to Learning the Patroness of Religion the Advocate of Virtue and the Pattern of Humility shall be recommended to our Imitation for whole Volumes of Sermons would not be so useful to promote the Ends of Religion and advance the Reputation of Virtue in the World as an Example of it drawn to the Life especially if it be so Great so Illustrious so Honourable and so Majestick a One as this Incomparable Princess was She had the Happiness of being educated early under the Care and Precepts of the best Instructors in Religion and her large and capacious Soul improv'd those advantages to that degree and proficiency both in Knowledge and Piety that She outstript her Age and in the Prophet's Phrase Isai 65.20 The Child was an Hundred Years Old She had then so little of the Vanity or the Pride or the Indiscretions that are usually incident to that time of Life and her High Birth that She became an Example of Modesty and Humility to her Sex in her Youth and gave a sure and certain Omen of that Heigth and Progress in Goodness which afterwards She arrived to and by this means of setting out early in a right Course She acquired Habits of Virtue betimes and enobled her Mind with the brightest Images and Idea's of Truth for having devoted her Innocent Soul to the Service of God and to the Power of Religion and continually begging the assistance of the Holy Spirit She was by his Grace preserv'd safely in the right way and never deviated from the Paths of Righteousness And as an instance that She labour'd after the Power of Godliness and not the form of it She led even in the midst of those Temptations that surround Greatness and attend a Court a most Pure and Innocent a most Holy and even an Angelical Life Her Great Endeavour was to know God and to be assimulated and made like him in the inward Qualities and Depositions of her Soul And this World and the Glories of it could not gain the Ascendant over her Thoughts or make her over-look things that are Eternal The Crown She bore was vile and despicable in her Eyes in respect of that Incorruptible One which She expected and was sure of in Glory She knew that an humble Spirit a sincere Devotion and an habitual Goodness were greater Accomplishments and more comely Ornaments to her Sex than any outward Acquisition whatever and consequently her Devout Soul aspired after the attainment of these Excellencies which She was bless'd with and possess'd to that degree that in her Primitive Christianity was reviv'd afresh and She liv'd as those first and best of Christians did and as we ought to do This was evident as by many other Instances to particularly by the frequency of her private Devotions and constant Attendance in the House of God at Publick Prayers which she never omitted but like holy Anna served God with Fastings and Prayers Night and Day And to this devout Temper of Mind she always added a Munificence of Nature and a Largeness of Heart to distribute Alms to the Poor and her Liberality in this kind was so great that possibly the Annual Incomb of the Richest Subject cannot come up to the heigth of her Charity and Distributions But though she delighted inwardly in these Religious Duties of Prayers and Alms yet it is not to be omitted that she reckon'd the principal part of all her Joys to consist in receiving the Holy Sacrament and accordingly she Communicated once every Month besides Collar-Days and other great Solemnities and her Pious Soul found most ravishing refreshments in the Spiritual Feast of the most precious Body and Blood of her Saviour Neither did she superficially or slightly examine her self for her Preparation but she exercised such a strict Devotion and such a Religious Austerity as if she was to pass from the Table of her Lord to his Tribunal neither did she contract any moroseness or fourness of Temper by thus exercising her self with Religious Acts and retiring into her own Bosom She knew that Chearfulness and Religion are consistent and that a good Christian has always the joyfullest Heart and accordingly she was always chearful but under the Government of Reason and none of all her Attendants ever saw her discomposed or out of Humour Many Occasions she met with from the Angry Men of this Generation and from the Libellous Pens of Mercenary Scriblers that put to trial her Patience and Contentment but in her they were not able to produce any sensible alteration she still preserv'd the Constancy and Greatness of her Mind under all Provocations neither was she insensible of Affronts but she was content and could forgive
Subject of our Contemplation at that time that there is not the least room left for a Cursory Reflexion upon them And the reason why the Mind of Man in all the Operations it can exert is solely limited and apply'd to this Object is because it is wholly employ'd with recollecting and preparing things for the Trial of the Great Day for the coming of the LORD And these indifferent Actions of Life neither serving one way nor the other neither to justifie nor condemn us in the other World it is unconceivable and almost impossible that any thing which does not tend to one of these Ends either to acquit or condemn us at God's Tribunal should find any entertainment in our Thoughts I know sometimes the necessary management of our Domestick Affairs does interpose and hinder this intention of Mind and a Man's Thoughts are frequently call'd back from their application to the things of another World to a due regard to the settlement of the Affairs of this But it ought to be remember'd that Matters of this nature God commanded Hezekiah to do 2 Kings 20.1 To set his House in order And it is a Duty which he requires of all Mankind so that if this care is any interruption to us and hinders us from calling our Moral and Virtuous Actions to remembrance it is only a little exchange of our Office for the better it only diverts us from meditating upon that which was Good to fasten and engage us to that Work which we actually know to be our Duty and commanded to be done Now though it is a great Comfort even in the midst of Health before there are any Disturbances in Nature to feed upon the Repast of a Good Conscience and to enjoy that serenity of Mind which naturally flows from the Remembrance of a well-spent Life yet it is a more unspeakable pleasure to enjoy this Conscience and Reflexion of things at the last Hour and Article of Death because that time being the Conclusion of our Lives the Horizon betwixt Us and Eternity we are remov'd from the danger of relapsing and from the Fears of forfeiting the Reward of our Innocence by any actual Sin or open Transgression of the Laws of God Whereas he that in the midst of his Days looks back and is able to comfort himself with the Virtuousness of his Former Life has it is true the satisfaction of a Good Reflexion but not so lasting an impression of Joy upon his Spirits because ‖ 1 Câ—p. 〈…〉 him then stand having he fall ◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phal Epist 〈◊〉 he may justly be afraid lest through the deceitfulness of his Heart and the insinuation of Sin he should hereafter upon surprise give way to Temptations and by one gross Sin cancel the memory of all his former Virtue But this is the security of a Dying Man that has spent his Life in a constant course of Piety before that his Reflection shall be as lasting as Eternity and himself out of danger of committing any thing that may embitter his Remembrance It was Tully's Observation that amongst other things which recommended the practise of Virtue to us this was none of the least That it was acconstant Comforter to us in all the Distresses and Exâ—gencies of Humane Life that nothing could solace a Man's Mind or buoy it up in Affliction but the Reflexion of a Virtuous Life and the good Actions we have done here All other things may give some diversion or pleasure in the time of doing them but when they are past they cannot be remember'd with any Complacency but what is worse they commonly leave a sting behind them Nay he carries the supposition higher and though says he we are long in the contrivance of a Delight have the pleasure of seeing it at a distance and anticipating it before-hand in our Imagination nay when the Delight is at hand and we are long in the enjoyment of it yet since there must be an end this one Consideration is enough to embitter it to us Quid enim est illud ipsum Diu quod cum venerit omnis voluptas praeterita pro nihilo est And surely if Cicero from the Light of Nature and mere natural Reason was able to decide the Case and determine so Divine a Truth we may give our Assent to it whom the Light of the Gospel and the Day-spring from on High hath visited All the little insignificant Pleasures with which we busie and entertain our senses here will be forgotten upon the Death-Bed and nothing but the Remembrance of our Charity and Well-doing will be able to comfort or support us in that Condition and Extremity Our Historians relate this sad and disconsolate saying of Cardinal Woolsey when he was fallen in Disgrace with his Prince whom he had sincerely serv'd in most of the Great Offices of State Had I serv'd my God with half that Zeal and Affection as I have paid my King He would not have left me in such Distress And we may observe that in pursuance of taking of our reliance upon Earthly Creatures the Scripture puts the Case and supposes the utmost that Men's Pride or Ambition can possibly arrive at and declares that the whole World is not a valuable Consideration nor a full Compensation for the loss of a Soul And yet Men frequently hazard this immortal Part for the gain of a small parcel of it to extend their Lands or their Estates a little further Now let us compare this passage of Holy Writ and this Instance together This Great States-Man whom I mention'd was griev'd in Mind for paying more Observance and truer Service to his Temporal Prince than to God for robbing God of his Honour and transplanting it but a degree lower even to his Vicegerent here Though he enjoy'd all that the World calls Great and was advanc'd as high almost as a Subject could be promoted yet his Favour with his Earthly King could not recompence the dread of his Heavenly Monarch nor his Temporal Felicities make amends for his Fears of being depriv'd of Eternal Happiness And yet there is a vast disproportion and difference betwixt his Case and Ours for so egregious is our Folly that it is not for the highest Preferments and Dignities of State that we sacrifice our Eternal Concerns to but for small broken and interrupted Pleasures And we may justly be afraid lest it should be the Complaint of many of us in the last Hour that had we pursued the Works of Righteousness with half that eagerness and intention of Mind that we follow'd after Vanity they would not have been so unkind as to have fled the Memory but would have staid to comfort us at the last Gasp and Article of Death They would have made us bore our Sickness with Pleasure and Resignation have given us patience under our Afflictions and even sanctified the Disease it self which is the second Consideration that makes the Death of the Righteous desirable II. Namely His peaceable Carriage
them In a word so much of a Piece was she to her self in the Practice of all Christian Virtue and in all the great Lines of her Duty that she gave a Grace and Luster to every Relation wherein she stood A Friend she was to the excess of Bounty and Liberality and her Retributions bore proportion to the Dignity of her Station rather than to the Exigencies of the Persons upon whom they were conferr'd like Alexander she consider'd what was fit for a Princess to give in kindness more than what was decent for a Subject to expect and receive And what may seem a Paradox to some Peoples Ears She was a most Dutiful Daughter to the highest Degree and Example of Obedience and never gave a just cause of Offence to her Father For if People will be descanting upon the exploded Topick of filling the Vacant Throne and make this an exception let them consider in answer to their Objections the necessity of the thing and the call of God for it and withal the Obligations She had of paying Obedience to her Husband in the first place sooner than to her Father But to go on and consider her in the Relation She stood to her Royal Consort a Wife She was precisely observant to oblige and hit the humour of her Royal Husband from the smallest to the greatest things and never was a pair more sutably matcht that more carefully sought their mutual satisfaction or made more equal Returns of Love and Affection Provident and Careful She was in the management of all his Great Concernments and this appear'd in her Wise Administration of the Government when the necessity of our Affairs and the Peace of Europe requir'd the Annual Absence of the King to Head the Confederacy and to put Life and Soul and Vigour into the Hearts of our Allies In short She was such a Wife in whom the Heart of her Husband did safely trust But Death has now dissolv'd the Union of this Royal Pair for so it pleas'd God to order it that whilst this Excellent Lady was preparing her self for the Holy Communion upon Christmas-Day She was seiz'd with that Disease which She was sensible would prove Mortal to her She then dismist all worldly Laws and Thoughts and every thing that might be the least hindrance to her in her Preparation for another World She then arraign'd and judg'd all the Actions of her Life with the strictest Scrutiny and could find nothing to affect her Mind with Grief but only this that She was fearful She had set her Heart too much upon the King So scrupulous was She lest a just natural Affection should become immoderate and prove criminal and her Love to God suffer any diminution by her Fondness to the King Happy Saint that upon her Death-Bed had no other matter to condemn her self for who would not purchase such a Peace at the highest Price whatever Her Hopes of Heaven were so ravishing and delightful that the Temptations of the World could not allure nor Death frighten her For being Righteous She had Hope in Death Prov. 14.32 Thus Liv'd and thus Dy'd this Incomparable Princess as ever Adorn'd the Throne of England in a Calm of Conscience in stedfast Faith in Peace with God in Communion with his Church and in perfect Charity with all the World And though we justly mourn and lament a National Loss in her Death yet let it not be without this Consolation that She certainly died the Death of the Righteous and her last End was like His. FINIS