suddenly upon his coming hither and entring on the Ministry in this City This Discourse such as it is is yours and though there are many things in it that will need your pardon and a second reading makes mee observe more Errata's in my own copy Nam mihi prope semper sermo meus displicet August de Catechiz rudibus cap. 2. than in the Press yet because I know it is next to impossible for mee to please my self and because I know it will bee welcome for his sake whose death was the occasion of it I present it to you with confidence of your acceptance The Almighty God bless your Society Make your Colledge a Nursery of Religion and Learning Sanctifie this providence to us all convince us by it more fully of the vanity of all things Quod cuiquam conting it cuivis potest yea of learning that most curious peece of vanity make us to provide for sickness and death Make us thankful for life health the use of reason and understanding carefully to improve all for the glory of God that wee may dye with the testimony of a good conscience and the love of good men yea of God himself So prayeth Your most real Servant Sam. Jacomb TO The Inhabitants of Christ-Church Parish LONDON IF the care of a most compassionate Dr. Cox and ingenious Physitian If the prayers of good men in this City and in the University had been sufficient preservatives against the assault of death there had been no occasion for the preaching or publishing of this Sermon That I should preach at his Funeral was his request to whom I might lawfully deny nothing that I should publish it is the request of his Friends whom I heartily respect whom I was the more induced to gratifie that I might have an opportunity to tell you what thanks my dead Friend had for all the expressions of your love to him how deeply hee resented them and how much resolved hee was to testifie his thankfulness by a serious and conscientious care of your souls I am confident you cannot easily forget him I beseech you let his memory put you in minde of these two things 1 Of the vanity of all the world Alas you see all the joyes of this world are not big enough to counterpoise the trouble of one disease you cannot with all your estates buy a faithful friend and when you have him you cannot keep him from the stroke of death nay you cannot Nebuchadnezzar a greater man than any of you could not keep out one melancholly fancy was any of you great as the Roman Caesar beloved like Titus wise as Solomon learned as the best Philosopher yet you could not tame the rebellion of one pertinacious humour nor preserve that which is as dear to you as life 2 Look after a better world seriously and to that end bee sure to prize the next conscientious Minister God shall give you To presse you to more care in your choice would bee superfluous since I am not ignorant how solicitous you have been already I hope hee upon whom you have pitched your thoughts will accept that charge and if hee do I can easily bee confident hee will bee a great blessing to you but when you have him or any other faithful preacher of the Gospel then remember what reason you have to profit by every pious Sermon when you know not but that your next Minister may bee taken as suddenly from you as Mr. Bright but this duty with diverse others are at large pressed in the Sermon it self I have nothing to desire of you but this if you forget Mr. Bright remember the welfare of your immortal souls that Christ may see the fruit of the travel of his soul in you and may bee satisfied that the godly Ministers you have had or shall have may rejoyce in the day of Christ that they have not run in vain nor laboured in vain this is his request to you who is Your Servants for Jesus sake Samuel Jacombe ERRATA THe ingenuity of a Scholler will either not take notice of or easily pardon the mistakes of the Presse in accenting Greek words as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 1. and in these words themselves captius p. 21. Marg. for captivus Antonio p. 26. Marg. for Antonino 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 4◠for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 47. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. The mistakes which prejudice the sense are And p. 12. l. 4. for An. Grace p. 26. l. 18. for Grave Joshua 1.2 Moses my Servant is dead SAd News But may it not bee hoped that hee who in his infancy was miraculously preserved in an Ark of Bulrushes and therefore called Moses n = a Exod. 2.10 Hanc nominis rationem assignant tum illi qui verbum volunt esse Aegyptium ex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aquâ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 servatus factum Sic Philo. Jud. Josephus Cl. Alex. Tum illi qui ex Hebrae◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 derivatū volunt quod verbum nunquam usurpati nisi de eductione ex aquis observat Bochartus v. 2 Sam. 22.17 Isa 63.11 because drawn out of the water And hee who once was absent forty dayes and forty nights and the Israelites said n = b Exod. 32.1 As for this Moses the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt we wot not what is become of him Yet hee descended from the Mount with his face shining and brought excellent Laws for the Jewish Nation and established a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 n = c Joseph Cont. Apion a Divine Government amongst them May it not bee hoped that a third providence equally miraculous attends him and that once more his presence may scatter these fears of his death as the rising Sun doth the foggy vapours Never did the poor Hebrews need him more they were yet in the Wilderness had Jordan to pass over the Canaanites to conquer And will the compassionate God take away the Nurse before the childe can go alone Will it bee a crime then to question that intelligence it will if you consider who is the Intelligencer viz. God himself for so it is said vers 1. The Lord spake to Joshua saying Moses my Servant is dead But if the Sun bee set and work bee yet to bee done a candle must bee lighted If Moses Gods Servant bee not here then Joshua who was Moses servant shall arise and lead the people over Jordan no Parenthesis put in by God shall spoyl the sense of what hee was speaking his gracious providences may like some Rivers run on a sudden under ground but by and by they appear again and the swelling torrent pleaseth and refresheth him who sees it Israel must take possession of the promised Land and since it cannot bee done by the hand of Moses it shall by the hand of Joshua Moses my Servant is dead now therefore arise Vers
a few shall do that work Moses is too much admired Moses shall die that God may be more acknowledged and man lesse for it is our sin and folly to ascribe to Saul his thousands and to David his ten thousands but to God nothing at all Reas 2. Moses is dead That God may shew what an extreme hatred and antipathy hee hath to sin every where Psal 106.32 even in a Moses If this meek man be provoked and speak unadvisedly with his lips it shall go ill even with Moses Psal 106.32 33. If the good man be passionate and say I am not able to hear all this people alone it is too heavy for mee Numb 11.14 15. and if thou deal thus with mee kill mee I pray thee out of hand Moses shall know that God can take him at his word and another shall have the burden and the honour too yea though hee be afterward earnest for lite and beg importunately that hee may enter into the promised Land yet God will not be intreated Wee little think how much mischeif wee do our selves who may be any way publickly serviceable to be at any time weary of the imployment God hath charged us with especially if the discontent shew it self to others for then the divine providence is ingaged to make it manifest that hee can well enough be without such muttering servants and that it becomes us not to be too bold or presumptuous by the confidence we have in our former fidelity or present usefulnesse Let Jonah run away if he will but a storm shall follow him For God will have all the world take notice that hee hates sin because it is sin and not because such a person commits it If wee would observe wee might easily perceive how irreconcileable Gods hatred is to sin Adam was the prime peece of divine Art the glory and honour of the visible World if hee sin hee shall die and because the dishonour is great anâ— unavoidable necessity of death shall bee the fad condition of all his posterity Wee read of none excepted from the execution of this fatal sentence but Enoch and Elijah one would think that any considering minde that shall see the tears of them that are in misery hear the groans of them that lye on sick-beds observe the sighs of consuming persons who decay by little and little as a garment that is Moth-eaten or that shall surveigh the tossings of men in feavers who are never at rest God outs them off with pineing sicknesse and as a Lion hee breaks their bones I say one would think a very weak head that will but seriously consider might easily from those premises conclude that sin is a thing odious and abominable and though God bee good yet hee is not fond for the righteous Lord loveth righteousnesse Psal 11.7 If this convince thee not sufficiently come nearer and see how sin like a noisome carkasse infects the air and all that come near it suffer for it let a man bee openly wicked and do high acts of basenesse and his relations his children Exod. 20.5 yea his childrens children shall smart for it for God vâ—sits the iniquity of the Fathers upon the children to the third and fourth Generation Epiphanius tells us that for three thousand three hundred and thirty two years there is not one example in Scripture of a Son that died before his Father till Terahs time whom he conceives to be a notorious Idolater and of him it is said Gen. 11.28 That Haran died before his Father Terah in the Land of his nativity in Ur of the Chaldees hee could not forget Abel and therefore no question hee intended only that they of whom it might properly bee said They died not they who were killed should come within the reach of this observation Hee that is not a very carelesse reader of Scripture cannot but grant that if this Leprosie once break forth no man knows whither it will spread When Korah Dathan Numb 18.30 31. and Abiram sin the earth swallows them up and their little children two even all that appertained to them Yet we must remember that a temporal evil brought upon the childe as a punishment of the Father may be a mercy to the childe of which wee have a happy instance 1 King 14.13 that this childe came to the grave was the great grief of Jeroboam and yet the great blessing of the childe Adams sin made death certain and when sin grew greater than death which before crept like a Snail began to come faster till it had brought the life of man from a thousand years long to seventy and if any one was an open affronter of the Lawes of Heaven the poor family and the innocent infants found the thread of life cut asunder for the Parents crime Do you yet beleeve that God hates sin If you will see further behold the holy God is no respecter of persons and it David murder Uriah the sword shall follow him If Moses be angry and speak unadvisedly God is angry presently and Moses shall die in the Wilderness Reas 3. Moses is dead that hee may bee rewarded for the faithfull service he hath done already sin brought in death but God hath made death to bring in glory the dark room is an entry into the presence chamber It was a great riddle to flesh and blood but was perfectly discovered at Christs resurrection and ascension Out of the cater comes meat Had Moses lived hee would have found that in every day there was something of Autumn as well as Spring even in the face the most beautifull part of the body is the sink of the brain It is better to bee in the mount with God than to be troubled with the Idolatrous Israelites hee cannot forget Numb 12.1 that even Aaron and Miriam spake against him Meeknesse of spirit is one of the best Antidotes against such mischiefs from neer relations but no man knows what trouble hee may finde from those hee loves best and whom hee hath served most If Moses be blamelesse himself they will bee angry because of the Aethiopian Woman Thus one relation produceth trouble from another If his face shine when hee comes down from the mount the Israelites cannot bear it hee must put a veil on let the life bee carelesse and then hee scornes himself or others may quickly scorn him let it bee exemplary that a man shines as a light in the world holding forth the word of life it will be alwaies true that sore eyes cannot bear it It is better to be with Angels who alwaies-behold the face of God in Heaven All things are yours Life and Death 1 Cor. 3. ult in life good men do work after death they enter into joy yea into the joy of their Lord they are glorified together Rom. 8.17 Particeps est herilis gaudij Grot. in Mat. 25.23 Here they serve there they are served Luk. 12.37 Blessed are those servants which waited for
their Lord whom at his comming hee shall finde watching Verily I say unto you that hee shall girde himself and make them sit down to meat and will come forth and serve them Moses cryed out passionately Lord shew mee thy glory God will now answer that prayer Honorem illis novum habebit atque insolitum Grctius in loc but then his desire of life must be denyed for no man can see my face and live upon which words Saint Augustine meditating cryed out Moriar Domine ut te videam Let mee die Lord that I may see thee And indeed Paul told him that he must be dissolved if he would bee with Christ A soul that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 winged with divine love is like a poor bird in a cage sits often sad because imprisoned Chrysost In Acts 26. looks through the wires sings when the Sun comes at it but alass it sets by and by and a cloudy dismal night follows it The souls clear visions of God are too glorious for this state here it is rara hora brâ—vis mora as Bernard phraseth it the man whose piety is steddy and industry great sees here through a glass darkly there face to face and then hee shall know even as hee is known When you therefore wonder why good men die you forget too much the trouble of life and the glory after death Jacobs Motto agrees well with their experience Few and evil have been my daies So great are the exigencies and necessities of the present state that it requires the skill of the wisest man and most self-observing to give a catalogue of those imperfections which all persons feel and groan under the happinesse of infancy is that wee feel only the trouble of what is present and wrack not our selves with fears of what is future when we get up to understanding there are boisterous lusts like cruel Pyrates setting upon us that we cannot quietly sail to the Haven of peace and rest What it is to be wise and live in the enjoyment of God and a mans self-busy-passions scarce suffer the Juvenile age to make enquirry If a man come to old age hee is an Imperious Infant or a childe in authority If a man bee good the Devil sets on him Waspes are busie where the honey is If hee cannot bee hindred from doing good which is the Devils first design hee shall bee Fly-blown with pride which is the second and as dangerous Upon due thoughts it will bee found that for us to serve God here is our great wisdome for us to dye when God pleaseth is Gods great mercy Labour in the Lord shall not bee in vain but the reward of Labour in the Lord is when wee dye in the Lord For then wee rest from our labours Rev. 14.13 and our works follow us Hitherto our Discourse hath tended to give satisfaction to this enquiry why Moses dyed It remains that wee draw some Corollaries and so make application to all your consciences 1 The death of Moses speaks something to all that stand in the same relation to God that hee did viz. that are his servants publick instruments for the doing of his work 2 The death of Moses speaks something to all those who are in a capacity of losing persons so eminently usefull and beneficiall to them as Moses was to the Israelites I begin my Discourse with all those that are in publick imployment and are sincerely faithful to the trusts committed to them whether they be Magistrates or Ministers Two things are proper advice from all that wee have hitherto spoke upon this Text. Corol. 1. Promise not to your selves long life One would have thought if any man in the world might have bee confident of his life sure Moses might till hee had carried the people through the Wilderness and brought them into the Land of Canaan this business was that which God set him about It was the fulfilling of the ancient Promise made to Abraham Gods glory was ingaged to perfect it that his Name might not bee dishonoured by the heathen round about who had seen or heard of all his Miracles Moses knew the people and was much honoured by them and so one would imagine the fittest man in the world for it yet Moses dyeth Know therefore that when you are about the best work the most excellent design most honourable for God most usefull for others yet then death comes with commission the shadows of the evening stretch themselves upon you it is no longer day And when this night comes no man can work When first thou didst entice to thee my heart I thought the service brave See Herberts Poems Philosophers observe that a very great calmness usually goes before a mighty Earthquake Such folly and madness hath spread it self upon the hearts of men that generally they promise to themselves what God never promised them and promise not to themselves what hee hath promised them God never perswaded men to bee Christians by constant health by long life by applause and honour but hee hath told us of a providence about us that shall make all things work for good Wormwood wee may drink but it shall turn to health that wee shall not dye or that wee shall not dye at thirty as well as at threescore God hath not spoke one syllable but hee hath told us of a great glory hereafter and that our labour shall not bee in vain in the Lord. If ever a good man might have hoped for exemption from such sore calamities sure Job might then when they fell upon him Immensi praeconii est bonum eriam inter malos extitisse Gregor Mag. though hee lived not among the Jews but in the land of Uz yet hee was perfect and upright hee feared God and esehewed evill The Sun-shine of outward plenty put not out the fire of his devotion hee did but fear that his sons might sin It may bee that my sons have sinned vers 5. and hee must send for them and sanctifie them and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all Did not ' Job hope for a happy life from hence Yes When I looked for good Job 30.26 then evill came unto mee and when I waited for light then came darkness Was hee not one that acted the part of a good Magistrate Yes Hee was eyes to the blinde and feet to the lame hee was a father to the poor Job 29. and the blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon him But the conclusion which hee made did not follow from the premises Job 29.18 Then I said I shall dye in my nest and I shall multiply my dayes as the sand Long life and peace were things presumed but you will finde it a sad mistake if you peruse the next Chapter vers 15. Tâ—rrâ—urs are turned upon mee vers 23. Job Chap. 30. I know that thou wilt bring mee to death and to the house appointed for all living His
loved my soul and asked mee why I would die must come in as a witnesse against mee and justifie God in my condemnation why should I slight Gods message or slight him who brings it Now hee is for ought I know entring into the joy of his Lord now God so values him as to reward him Surely this arguing is rational and might easily enter into any mans minde who observes but common experience though hee had nothing else to prompt him I hope all of you will reap this advantage from the present occasion to value the persons and the Sermons of all consciencious preachers better idolize them not was our first advice that is one way to lose them Gustavus the renowned King of Sweden prophesied truth when hee said God would take him off because men too much admired him yet scorn them not for Ambassadors are soon called home when it is desperate to prevail so far as to get fair audience but howsoever you deal with us do but practise godliness and we shall rejoyce for I question not but holy men can heartily present Pauls petition Now I pray to God that yee do no evil 2 Cor. 13.7 not that wee should appear approved but that yee should do that which is honest though wee bee as reprobatâ—â— Experience tell us that good thoughts of the Physitian facilitate the cure and the good health of a sickly patient brings credit enough to the Physitian 3 Moses his death Chargeth you not to be confident of long life your selves if Palaces crack and fall sure weak cottages must if Moses die aâ—private Israelite must not live alwaies All flesh is grass Isa 40.6 7 8. Homo cum sis id fac ut semper intelig as The Heliotrope may pride it self at the Suns presence the pretty flowers may open all their heads and welcome the salutes of the grand beauty of this visible world but the Sun will set and a night must be found every four and twenty hours in Summer but at length comes a cold Winter a tedious absence of the warm beams and then the leaves drop and the roots perish we are far nearer sickness and death than wee think wee are Soul take thine ease that the man said This night shall thy soul bee taken away from thee that God said Is not this great Babel that I have built for the honour of my name The great King hath no sooner said it but hee hears a voice that speaks something of a different nature like the noise of a thunder-clap that swallowes up the melody which his secure pride made him The Kingdome is departed A remarkable check you have to mens vain presumption of life in 1 King 16.8 9. Elah is drinking himself drunk and his servant Zimri comes in and kills him Well Zimri will bee King promiseth himself much happinesse in his royalty but it hastens his death Omri besiegeth him and when the City is taken 1 King 16.18 the poor King goes into the Palace burns the house over him with fire and dies The Israelites like not Mannah they must needs feed more delicioussy they shall but while the meat was in their mouthes the wrath of God fell upon them and slew the mightiest of them wee are blinde if wee see not that man groweth up as a flower and is cut down Job 14.2 hee fleeth as a shadow and continueth not Every thing in nature tells us of changes our very Table is but a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a bier whereon every dish of meat stands as a dead corpse I could weep sometimes and drop my tears as the dew of the morning when I see a young man in the pride of his strength Quis pacturientem rosam papillacam corymbum anteqâ—â—m in calarnum fâ—andatur orbis totâ ruben ium foliorum unbitione immature demesium aequis oculis mai cessere videat Hieron ad Pammachiam super obit Paulinae uxoris in the acuteness of his parts in the blossome of his beauty whilst hee is the delight of friends and his society the ambition of spectators hee sits still and thinks no hurt when a rude passion stabs him or hee is innocently merry but his juvenile blood is inflamed hee is sick hee groans hee sighs hee dyes But I resolve to stop the flood-gates and blame my folly for it is folly to forget that it is as natural for the grass to wither and it is as ordinary for it to bee cut down as it is to creep out of the womb of the earth Bee as careful as wee can good fruit will perish because it is worm-eaten and that which eats it is bred within it Just when Pharaoh will have bricks made and build Pyramids leave Monuments of his greatness to posterity then is God about to break him and pluck down the plumes of Aegyptian pride And surely if an Israelite cannot presume that long life shall bee his portion an Aegyptian cannot if a Moses cannot then not an Israelite but this fond self-flattery this great disease of besotted humane nature whilst I perceive so much reason as a medicine proper for its cure and yet so little of it received makes mee sad and bewail the delirium that hath deprived us of all sober understanding And indeed who can think of Jonathans great integrity and read his great mistake without some degree of this passion 1 Sam. 23. hee said to David Thou shalt bee King over Israel and I shall bee next unto thee Alas good man who knew not that hee was to dye in the next battel and shall not the tares bee cut up when the wheat is Shall not the dust bee blown away when pearls are Whether I or you shall bee deaths portion next I know not but that wee shall all bee is certain for Moses is dead neither humility nor meekness power and greatness neither the love of God to him nor the love of Israel gives a dispensation from deaths claim 4 Moses his death Commands you to prepare for death nothing will secure from it therefore provide for it Art thou great or small in prosperity in adversity the way may differ it may bee fairer to thee fouler to another but the journies end is the same the debt is due the day of payment not expressed and therefore it may bee demanded presently What have you to say when death comes Will you speak to Time as Joshua to the Sun Stand still that I may bee avenged of all my adversaries that I may murder and crucifie those sins and lusts which have robbed mee of God and Heaven Alas you cannot Times Chariot runs post hee will not hear or is the grim visage of death and the thoughts of eternity and a day of judgement so little formidable that thou canst look steadily without amazement on them Alas thy heart fails thee at the thought of them What cordial then hast thou Moses my servant goes before Death comes after bee Gods servant and thou art well
Wouldest thou not do this this week it thou thoughtest thou shouldest dye the next but remember this day cannot bee too soon because to morrow may bee too late It was a good saying of a wise Rabbi It is every mans duty to repent one day before hee dyes and hee that knows not but that this day may bee his last had need begin to day and so make every day a continued act of repentance Do this to purpose now for since nothing makes enmity betwixt the holy God and us but sin practise this duty daily by surveying all thy life by continuing resolutions of obedience by holy watchfulness that when the hour of death comes thou mayest have this by thee as a never failing cordial And dost thou not know that thou wilt then need a strong beleef of this great truth That God hath mercy for a repenting sinner That the case of man is not desperate That wee have liberty for second thoughts by the New Covenant That there is a great glory hereafter and a certain resurrection to eternal life why is not this point studied by thee till thy soul bee fully confirmed in this great Article Or art thou ignorant that thou shalt be unwilling to dye if thy treasure be not laid up in heaven 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Plat. in Phaed. you may pull off a glove with ease but not the skin you may easily see a soul go hence that hath none on earth that it desires in comparison of God Whereas a soul immersed in body used to nothing but eating and drinking and the pleasures of the belly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sc that is bewitched by the body faln in love with it and imbraceth it Oh how willing it is to catch at and clasp about every thing that might make it stay in its beloved tabernacle Oh be sure to inure thy minde to things heavenly and spiritual for inordinate consent to the pleasures of our outward man do 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the noble Philosopher speaks strangely unite our souls to our bodies that they cannot go from that which they count their happiness without infinite torment and vexation That day wherein the vanity of the world the emptinesse and dissatisfaction of all corporal delights are not so far studied as to preserve our love for God that day did nothing for our provision for death Reader all this thou art perswaded of practice it yet for thy comfort and quiet at the hour of death remember to familiarize death to thy thoughts in life a Mariner is not afraid in a storm at Sea when a childe or a timorous woman quakes for fear in a fair day on a shallow river Think thy Saviour the beloved Son of God died and lay in the grave remember if thou art Christs all things are thine life and death seriously read and duly consider Heb. 2.14.15 1 Cor. 3. last Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood hee also himself likewise took part of the same that through death hee might destroy him that had the power of death that is the Devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their life time subject to bondage Did wee thus practice and thus anticipate death by thoughts wee should finde our childish fancies apt to converse with that grim visage which at the first they ran away from By this means wee should bee worthy that character of those valiant people Lucan Animaeque capaces Mortis Men not transported with the love of life nor inslaved with the fear of death Men fit to live fit to die men that could triumph and sing that glorious 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oh death w where is thy sting Oh grave where is thy victory Fifthly and lastly I speak here only of good men that make provision for death by a pious life Moses death chargeth you to bee satisfied quiet and contented when you die your selves when your friends when good Magistrates good Ministers die before you for sure wee and they may bee sick and die and yet bee beloved of God so was Moses Yea behold a greater than Moses Jesus Christ hee that heard the voice from Heaven this is my beloved Son hee felt the pains of death and lay three daies in a Sepulchre deaths face looks more lovely ever since and may bee beheld with less astonishment Now wee may chearfully say come let us go and dye also sure though the Bee humme and make a noise though the Serpent hiss yet the sting is gone Blessed bee God for the satisfaction wee have in this great case by the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour when our pains are next to intollerable though wee should sweat as hee did drops like blood yea when wee feel the stroak of death and finde the face besmeared with a cold clammy moisture the eyes are dimme the hands stiffe the friends stand by and weep they speak but can receive no answer there is no liberty for a thought of any thing but pain and sadness grief and sorrow yet may a sober Christian now by this Gospel-knowledge of the death of Christ make this happy conclusion this may bee my case and yet I not bee hated but so far beloved of the holy God as that I may hereafter shine as the Sun in the firmament Mat. 13.43 and may for ever bee as the Angels beholding the face of my Father in Heaven Go then yee useful exemplary persons who speak much to the World when you say nothing who by good works Est aliquid quod a magno viro vel tacente proficias Seneca those unanswerable syllogismes those invincible demonstrations convince spectators who by the beauty of holinesse steal away the hearts of gainsayers and win their affections almost against their wills go lay yâ—â—r heads upon a cold stone or a soft turfe wee are satisfied if wee weep it shall bee for our selves not for you Our Saviour when he died charged his disciples they should not let their hearts bee troubled his death hath prevented the cause of trouble wee are no more Scepticks whether the grave bee the way to glory or not no more scrupulous whether it bee best for you to die Fine Apologiae or live It is not now 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Socrates speaks a thing known only to God whether the Scales turn for the advantage oâ— the dead or living and since the Son of God and the best oâ— Gods servants ever since the creation have walked through this dark vault wee will never expect a better way foâ— our selves that is to be proud nor will we be amazed wheâ— wee come at it for after this Gospel knowledge it is to 〈◊〉 nothing but play the fool or to fear where no fear is And if ever I needed this understanding I do now for if ever I had reason to resent deeply the loss of any man I have reason now to bee affected at the losse
And indeed a right understanding in this point makes the service to bee such as it should bee For hee that looks upon God as a hard Master will either hide the Talent in a Napkin and do nothing or else that which is as good as nothing whilst hee hath better thoughts of sin and the pleasures of this world then hee hath of God and of the rewards which hee will give to them that observe him Gods Creation Preservation and Redemption give him a right to us and make our service necessary but the excellency of his nature the goodness of his worke the future happiness promised make the service cheerful The summe of all is Yee are servants And then your Justice your Ingenuity your Security your Compassion your Glory requires faithfulness I conclude this Consideration with Mr. Perkins Motto Minister Christies hoc age Thou art Christs servant minde thy work We have at length finished the first Consideration which should promote care in Gods service I shall briefly urge the second Consideration 2. Yee are not onely servants but dying servants and therefore do your work as well Dying servants and as fast as you can When Mr. Calvin grew sickly and some friends disswaded him from some imployments hee gave this answer Vultisne Christum me invenire â—tiosum Would you have Christ finde mee idle Shall death a Messenger that was never idle but alwayes did his errand finde us idle when Christ sends it there is a night coming when wee cannot work and it is very like our day is a Winter day not a Summer day Play the lesson God hath set you whilst the Instrument is in tune the weather will alter presently and then the strings will fall or break Per columbam simplicitas per ignem zelus judicatur In cap. 1. Job Gregory hath observed that the Spirit of God descended in two shapes the first was of a Dove the last of Fire the first shewed Innocency and Simplicity the last Zeal and Activity That wee must do no harm is certain let none but hellish slaves carry Plague-sores about them but that wee must do good bee fervent in spirit serving the Lord is as certain What good from an eye that is alwayes covered with its own lid or from fire that is alwayes buried in the ashes or a ship that alwayes lyes at anchor You must bee doing for God will ere long say Give an account of your stewardship you must bee no longer stewards The last words almost which were heard from that famously learned and pious Bishop of Armagh were Lord in special forgive my sins of omission yet hee was singularly industrious in writing reading exhorting instructing Sins of omission will at death go nearer our hearts than wee thought they would in life Bee as zealous for God all your life as you thought you should bee when you first entred on this publick imployment for God and as you resolved to bee when you last lay upon a bed of sickness But sad experience findes the common observation too true That bells strike thick while they are rising but stand still and give no sound at all when they are at full pitch Wee forget what wee were and what wee shall bee and consider not what a great account wee must suddenly make and therefore fall asleep and do not by deep meditation winde up those weights which must keep our souls in spiritual motion Wee finde in nature that stones the nearer the center move faster Wee finde the Devil raging because his time was short Hev 12.12 Shall not wee bee as industrious who have but little time for better work reprove sin to day as a man that may dye at night Nemo restituet annos nemo iterum te tibl reddet Seneca de Brevit vitâ—â— cap. 8. for when thou dyest the opportunity is lost then you know not how to beseech sinners to bee reconciled then it is too late to make Dives his motion Oh that my brethren were warned not to come into this flame The Stoick saith truly Maximum vivendi impedimentum est Idem cap. 9. expectatio qua pendet ex crastino The greatest impediment to a good life is hope of living to morrow They who please themselves with their own thoughts and company sometimes finde they are at their journies end before they thought that they had been near it Men that sleep securely wonder so much time should bee gone as they finde there is when they awake Whilst wee are imployed in things worldly and sensual our time is gone but our work is not done I read lately Chrysostomes third Homily upon the Acts wherein because I found many things which affected and awakened mee much I shall recommend them to your consideration I am perswaded saith hee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That very few of them who are intrusted with the Gospel and the care of souls shall bee saved the far greater part is damned my reason is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sc This work requires a soul more than ordinary hee had need have a thousand eyes in his head and have them all awake The sin of a publick Minister gives more offence than of a private person God could better bear with the discontent of an ordinary Jew than hee could with the passion of Moses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which of us shews so much care of the flock of Christ as Jacob did of his Uncle Labans In the day the drought consumed mee and the frost by night and my sleep departed from mine eyes Gen. 31.40 I value saith hee nothing more than the light yet I could wish to bee blinde if by that means I might open the eyes of your mindes and convert your souls yea this I could wish a thousand times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I wish you may never further make experiment by your iniquity of the truth of this vastaffection When so great a calamity befalls mee as if any of you sin Let mee perish if I bee not like one paralytical or in an extasie that I can truly say with the Prophet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As for the light of mine eyes it is gone from mee Psal 38.10 I hope this fire warms I would adde more force to these considerations of our relation as servants of our sudden discharge from that relation by death but that my charity forbids mee to suspect that others needs so much as myself to awaken constant diligence and to prevent that dull Lethargie which is apt to creep upon us Tanta sane diligentia subjectos sibi populos rexit omnia omnes quasi sua essent curaret De Antonio pio Julius Capitolinus God grant that all Christian Magistrates may minde the affairs of all particular persons under them as if they were their own And that all Ministers of the Gospel may sincerely endeavour to save themselves and them that hear them not preaching themselves but Christ Jesus the Lord and
Moses his Death Opened and applyed IN A SERMON At Christ-Church in London Decemb 23. MDCLVI AT THE FUNERAL OF Mr. Edward Bright M. A. Fellow of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge and Minister of the Gospel there By Samuel Jacombe M. A. Fellow of Queens Colledge in Cambridge and Pastor of Mary Woolnoth Lumbardstreet London With some ELEGIES Nec unquam magnis ingeniis cara in corpore mora est Exire atque â—rumpere gestiunt Aegrè has augustias ferunt Vagi per omne sublime et ex alto assueti humana despicere Inde est quod Plate clamat Sapientis animum totum in mortem prominere hoc velle hoc meditari hac simper cupidine ferri in exteriora tendentem Seneca lib. de Consol ad Martiam c. 23. London Printed for Adoniram Byfield at the Bible in Popes-head Alley neer Lumbardstreet 1657. To the Reverend and Learned WILLIAM DILLINGHAM D. D. Mr. of Emmanuel COLLEDGE in CAMBRIDGE And to the Fellows of that Religious Foundation HONOURED SIRS HE whose memory is a faithful Register of former practice and whose judgement doth not much miscarry in his observation of present experience will as easily acknowledge this truth as I can propose it viz. That men of noble and gallant spirits able to scorn injuries bravely to conquer yea to revenge themselves upon the base attempts of malice by not vouchsafing so much as to take notice of them yea men whose magnanimity is heightened by danger and their courage increaseth with it that these generous mindes have been disconsolate at the absence of a friend have been male-contented at the death of a beloved relation Hee who could not bee astonished by Hectors valour nor his attendants rage yet when the news comes that his friend Patroclus is dead it is then said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Iliad 6.6 Sorrow like a thick cloud sate upon his countenance and obscured those sparkling rayes which used to come from it The victorious David that trembled not to see Goliah but with undaunted resolution though a young stripling sets upon him yet Jonathans death makes him say I am distressed 2 Sam. 1.29 when hee was grown elder and had more experience of Gods presence with him The Holy Jesus that great exemplar of piety who alwayes submitted to his Fathers will and therefore could not bee obnoxious to the corroding thoughts of discontent yet by his practice shewed how much our nature was liable to bee afflicted with the loss of Friends for hee who wept but twice that I remember wept once for impenitent Jerusalem Joh. 11.33 35. dead in sins and trespasses and another time when the beloved Lazarus lay in the grave and the chorus of mourners came lamenting him Nature it seems quickly opens the flood-gates the ingenuity of Christianity allows a serious sense of the presence and absence of a reall friend true goodness promotes compassion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the great skill is to moderate the passion that the stream may keep within the channel and not over-flow the banks I hope all you by your piety and prudence secured your selves from discontent when you heard of the sickness and death of our dear and truly honouréd Friend But I for my part must confess that few Providences in my life have hitherto been made such arguments to it by the tempter to mee as this was and because it is possible that some in your Famous University might feel the same disease with my self I shall make bold to tell you I am sure I speak to my Friends the course I took for my Cure The Dictate of the Imperious Stoick soon came into my minde Non sentire mala non est hominis non ferre non est viri Not to feel an evil speaks no humanity not to bear it speaks no man-hood This I thought was soon said but all his arguments though I deny not their usefulness yet were too short to bring mee to that manly I will rather say that Christian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 peace and tranquillity which I desired Two things I found 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that had the true vertue of Nepenthe in them partly awing mee and commanding down impetuous tumults partly relieving and refreshing mee in my combate with them The first of them was the command of our Saviour to his Disciples Let not your heart be troubled Joh. 14.1 When I considered the occasion of it the command was strange but the stranger it appeared at first sight the more emphatical and remarkable it was The great evidence of Gods love to man was now withdrawing the Prince of life was to suffer death He whose presence animated the poor Disciples as the Generals doth the unskilful Souldiers Hee whose Miracles kept them from contempt Hee for whom they had forsaken Father and Mother goods and lands Hee who asked them most pathetically when others forsook him Will yee also go away Hee is now leaving them John 6. will go away himself and yet hee saith Let not your heart bee troubled I from hence concluded that if I had been in the Disciples case I should have seen more reason for discontent than now I do And if it was not lawful at the farewel of the blessed Jesus it could never bee lawful Whilst I thus stated my duty I found something refreshing mee and it was nothing else that satisfied mee but that which was the occasion of the grief of the Disciples and of all good men before them and since viz. That Christ dyed Thus the wise God can make use of this sad providence to satisfie under another and all the holy men that lived before him and all that had given up themselves to him as his servants since his coming into the world For I considered there was no reason why God should work Miracles for my sake and since so many were dead that I knew were the love and delight of God I concluded death could not bee to a good mans loss and since I saw God had provided for the world notwithstanding the death of so many useful persons thus long I concluded hee could still and if for the world and the Church sure hee could for my peace and comfort Whilst I concocted these meditations and surveyed the examples recorded in Scripture None sooner came into my thoughts than Moses who by his Country man is truly called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the Heathen not at all mistaken when hee said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Philo Judaeus lib. 1. Longinus a man not of the ordinary rank but rarely accomplished of whom God himself gives most full testimony His death in the Wildernss when one would have thought his life might with much confidence have been expected 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Diadorus Sic. lib. ult made mee thinke a discourse on it was pertinent to the present occasion and would tend both to awaken some and satisfie all others that were perplexed at the death of our Friend so
he makes it to set at night God sends forth men into the world to bee useful they are his servants hee calls them home they dye Let God every where bee acknowledged no manâ—dolized 2 Yet Moses his death chargeth you that they bee not sleighted Servants indeed they are but they are Gods servants they dye but it is God that calls them from you to himself that he may reward them Have you any good Magistrates thank God for them live quietly under them in all godliness and honesly Have you good Ministers that labour in the word and doctrine bless God for them they beseech you as in Gods stead that you would bee reconciled to him respect the Ambassador for his sake that sends him those whom you value not upon their own account value as they stand in relation to God I presume no man can easily bee so fond and ignorant as to imagine that hee is bound to think every one that hath the name and the garb of a Minister must bee looked on as Gods servant No it is too evident that many carrie Gods livery on their backs which do the Dâ—vils service with their hands Unto many of whom even men may say what God will when they talk of prophesying in Christs Name Yee are workers of iniquity wee know you not and if Korah Dathan and Abiram will offer strange fire the congregation must leave them But I now speak of those whose study and prayer is to save themselves and them that hear them who prayes to their people whilest they are spectators as well as whilest they are auditors they are would convert souls to righteousness let them bee respected for their works sake yea for their Masters sake let them bee reputed servants of the most high God The Devil found it would bee a good way to pine and starve the vitals of Christianity to make the feet lame Mr. Baxters learned and excellent Discourse to prove that over doing is undoing in his directions for peace of conscience and the hands feeble if hee made the head too bigge if hee put a Pope into St. Peters chair and then the design ever after should be more to maintain their own grandeur and greatness than the life and power of godliness If the Protestant Religion findes out this temptation then scorn vilifie down with Ministers and Ministry vilifie the persons and that will help to make the Doctrin vile I cannot forget how angry God was even with Aaron and Miriam Numb 12. For alas even they could speak against Moses Wherefore saith God were yee not afraid to speak against my servant Moses vers 8. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them Why what had they spoke see vers 2. Hath the Lord spoke only by Moses he married the Aethiopian a strange woman hee is not so much wiser than wee God will not bear any thing which manifests contempt of them that are imployed by him But the best way to shew respect to them that now consecrate themselves to Gods service is to accept of the Doctrine which they preach viz. the holy commands and promises of the Gospel What though some of them have not such parts such sagacious apprehensions such peircing expressions such lively representations of their thoughts remember that Isaiah was a noble man and nearly allyed to the King Amos was a Herds-man yet both were Prophets Jesus Christ dieth Mark 16. and sends out poor Fisher-men and they do more miracles and greater than ever hee did and convert more souls If God please the pulse the courser fare shall make Daniel look better than the rest though Moses must not bee idolized yet Joshun must not be despised I of Paul and I of Apollo and I of Cophas sure yee are carnal are they not all the servants of Christ what is no sense nor reason spoke unless it bee adorned with such a degree of eloquence Is there no light unless there be noon-day glory this is just like a silly Country-man that counts him the King which hath most silver lace and can shew the biggest handfuls of gold the foolish sports of lacivious fancies grave and masculine plety looks on with a noble contempt though I love with all my heart to hear discourses wherein my understanding perceives learning and my affections feel piety yet I am far from thinking that one quarter of them is learned which the world reputes so where the words are starched and they are set together to make a few fine cadencies and they please an itching eare that affects trifles but cure no disease blow away no mist from the understanding leave no foundation for setled peace or sober godliness Hieronimus ad Pannachium Cito turgens spuma dilabitur this froth that looks white is presently wasted A tumor in the face that glisters and shines much is contrary to that healthful complexion which makes beauty I would have learning but it should be to convey truth better to the understandings of all that hear mee learning to make every thing plain not to make any thing obscure and difficult Mr. Meade used to say to preach so as people should not understand was like a Shooe-makers bringing home a handsome Shooe but with a Last in it it looked nearly but it was of no use as it was for no foot could bee put into it When I am in pain and a member gangrenes talk not to mee how the Chirurgeon looks but tell mee how fit hee is and how well skilled for the cure doth the Prince applaud the Ambassador that hath shewed hee could speak elegantly and had words at will but left out the potent reasons wherewith hee should have secured the business or else so buried them in his own phrases that they were not understood If any one ask why I speak all this I shall tell him no other reason but this I wish I had no more I would not have the water of life valued for the Vessel through which it runs nor Gods truth for the mans parts but them for truth and every one esteemed as hee is a member of Gods family and is more or less a faithful servant But if you will sleight them let mee tell you they shall not be troublesome to you very long for Moses shall die God sends them now to demand fruit and to charge you to prepare for eternity and to invite you to accept of great salvation it may be it is the last time that ever this Messenger shall bee sent to you welcome him now or never Think every time you see a godly Minister going into the Pulpit it may be I shall never hear this man more never hear him pray for my soul more never perceive him entring into my very heart and command my affections and raise my spirit by Gospel Arguments and allure mee by divine motives if not now never if not now nothing must speak to mee but his graâ—e until the day of judgement when hee who
prepared for this charge bee the Devils servant and have the Devils curse bee Gods and the gift is eternal life Aaron goes up willingly to Mount Hor and dyes Moses when hee sees it is Gods will is satisfied Nothing like the testimony of a good conscience that a man hath been faithful in Gods service though every one in Gods family bee not a steward a publick officer as Moses was yet every one is a servant hath some work to do oh why do you neglect it Is that a fit time for man to dress himself in a dark night when the dreadful cry astonisheth him that his house is on fire about his ears the poor man stands naked amazed and is either burnt or runs down the stairs with fears not to bee conceived by any body but himself so it is when death fetcheth the sinner and conscience cryes aloud that the fire of hell will scorch him and the great Judge infallibly condemn him Is this a time now for him to put on the ornaments of grace when hee is putting off the body No alas that is too great a work to bee done so soon and hee is too much amazed to go about it The fear of a danger past kills Nabal and makes his heart like a stone within him There are sad instances that make it evident that the time which men allot to make preparation for death is generally useless and ineffectual for that purpose A learned Doctor of our own hath collected three sad examples which give sufficient restimony to our last assertion Great Exampl 3. Part. p. 144. the first of them he met with in S. Gregory who reports of Chrysaurius a Gentleman in the Province of Valeria rich and vitious witty but lascivious covetous proud that being cast upon his death bed he fancied he saw evill spirits coming to arrest him and drag him to hell hee fell into a great agony shreeked out And when his disease grew desperate hee cryed out Give mee respite but till the morrow And with those words he dyed His second example is of a drunken monk whom Bede mentions who upon his death-bed seemed to see hell opened Lib. 5. c. 15. Hist Gent. Angloium and a place assigned him near Caiaphas and those which crucified our Saviour The Religious persons which stood about his bed called on him to repent of his sin to implore the mercies of God but hee answered this is no time to change my life the sentence is passed upon mee it is too late His third example is one Gunizo a factious and ambitious person of whom Damianus reports that the Tempter gave notice to him of his approaching death but when any man preached repentance to him Biblioth F. Pp. Tom. 3. out of a strange incuriousness or the spirit of reprobation hee seemed like a dead and unconcerned man in all other Discourses hee was awake and apt to answer Divers now in Cambridge will quickly perceive that these three instances call to their mindes a fourth of a woman that lived there who on a sick-bed being visited by divers persons of piety and entertained with holy discourses used to say nothing but this Call Time again It is true wee have not every day such remarkable instances no more is every murderer hanged upon the Gibbets yet so many suffer this dreadful punishment as to make acts of baseness formidable and to shew the sore hatred which a good and compassionate Magistrate hath against them so the former examples demonstrate that Gods grace though of absolute necessity to our happiness yet then when wee should need it wee may either forget or else not finde it wee thought wee should at the command of our wishes But what is the design of poor besotted man Let a sickness arrest us a Physitian is sent for an estate a great revenue shall bee parted with for Time get but health and then any man shall have it for a trifle Nay wee are weary of it if it must bee spent in the thoughts of God and eternity then this short very short life is too long for us Men that are full of business in the world talk like Augustus Aliquande se victurum sibi sperabat he hoped he should sometime live to enjoy himself and they long passionately for a great Vacation but when it may bee in their power they act like Turannius who after the ninetieth year of his age having received a discharge from Caesar and got liberty to bee freed from Court attendance Componi se in lecto velur exanimem a circumstante familia plangi jussit Seneca de Brevitvitae cap. ult will needs bee laid in his bed like one that hath breathed his last and all his family must bewail the old mans death The God of heaven will tel us at the day of judgement how little wee knew what to do with our selves and our time when we had fair opportunities to prepare for death and to work out our salvation God will easily convince us that it was our wilful prosecution of our own lusts which ruined us and that wee would not come to him that wee might have life If any one shall ask mee what should bee done to make preparation for death I would beg of him first Nihil minus est hominis oecupati quam vivere idem cap. 6. That hee would bee so much at leasure as to bee a while serious if hee can but prevail so far with himself as not to bee turned out of doors by his own thoughts hee will answer his own question himself and soon resolve that to live is the best preparation to dye Haec quae vides ossa circumvolura nervis obductam cutem vultum que ministias manus caetera quibus involuti sumus vincula animorum tenebraeque sunt Seneca Consol ad Marciam c. 24. For it is one thing to bee in the world another thing to live To bee a man in the due use of all powers and faculties in the just command of all passions to bee a Christian in the exercise of all Divine graces this is to live otherwise men are dead in sins and trespasses and their souls are buried in a lump of flesh I perswade my self in this point men need more to bee awakened than instructed for who knows not that hee ought to repent and who understands not that by repentance God means that which hee himself means when hee charges a son a friend a servant to repent viz. That hee should bee heartily sorrowful for what is past S. Augustinus sibi jussera Psalmos Dividicos de paenitentia scribi ipsosque jacens in lecto contra paretem Posito Jegebat jugiter ubertim flebit Posidonius and do so no more why then is not the Catalogue of sin read over till thy heart bee melted with godly sorrow and a constant antipathy against iniquity make thee watchful That thou sin no more lest a worse thing come Reader tell mee
When Peter hath the draught of fishes hee cryes out Lord I am a sinful man Luke 5.8 It is excellent when Gods affliction makes us not to forget his goodness and when Gods mercy makes us not to forget our sinfulnes Loss than the least of all Saints is the Motto of the greatest Aâ—â—stle I never perceived our good man apt to prefer himself above others hee would heartily bless God for breaking that pride of his spirit which hee would say was too wilful and excessively impetuous before hee had a serious sense of true piety Omni acto triumpho depositus triumphus clarior adeo spreta in tempore gloria interdum redit cumulatior Livi. lib 2. when hee read over to mee as hee did often the history of his life hee was willing to stay there where hee might speak something to shame himself but true beauty will bee seen through such Cypress hee got respect by it Like Fabius in the Historian who got more honour by refusing the triumph than others did by having it Follow thy Saviour O my sould and tread in the foot-steps of all thy friends who are truly humble humility is the souls ornament Quantum bonum est ubi sunt praeparata pectora in quae tuto see otum omne descenâ—dat quoâ—um conscienâ—â—am minus quam tuam timeaâ— quorum sermo solitudinem leniat sententia concilium expediat hilaritas tristitiarn dissipet conspectus ipse delectet 〈◊〉 Seneca de tranâ—quillit cap. 7. the basis of all Religion the vessel of graces the foundation of friendship betwixt God and man the channel of all divine communications the proper imitation of Christ the transcendent excellency of the Gospel the only way to true rest and peace Matth. 11.29 9. The faithfulnesse of his friendship and this whosoever forgets I must not who had happy experience of it how rare a thing is it to finde prepared souls where secret thoughts are safely laid up and a man is more afraid of himself than hee is of him with whom hee doth converse and is more suspicious of self-flattery and falseness to his own interest than he is of either from his friend the present temper of this age makes mee think most men take that advice which if I mistake not the Oratour saith Bias gave it a amare oportet ut aliquando osurus you must love no man otherwise to day than as you may hate him to morrow But Scipie said Vide Ciceronis Laelium never was there a speech more pestileutial to the vitals of this noble thing friendship than this is But the former vertues wee have observed in this good man made him capable of being a faithful sincere friend Aristot inâ— Ethic. the Philosopher saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a friend is another self and therefore a wicked man can never bee a true friend hee is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not himself but one passion or other is alwaies in rebellion and they make him to have so many interests that hee cannot bee faithful to the dictates of reason which is the foundation of friendship but hee that steadily aims at this one thing which wee call piety and true goodness hee converseth with himself and so may others too and not finde him Proteus like changing shape in every place hee comes to but the humility the strictness and exactness of this holy person made him amiable made him love and bee beloved might I lawfully take the Poets expression of his friend Dimidium anims mea I must then say I am half buried since hee is or hee is but half dead since I am alive my passion speaks as St. Austins did Mirabar caeteros mortales vivere quia ille quem quasi non moriturum dil xeram mortuus erat me magis quia ille alter eram vivere illo moâ—tuo mirabar Lib 42. confess cap. 6. when hee had lost his friend Nebridius I wondred any mortal man could live when hee was dead whom I loved as if hee had been immortal but I wondred more how I lived my self when our affection had made us as it were one person With thankfulness to God I this day remember this friends readiness to preach every other Lords day for mee in Cambridge when my own weakness made mee despair of being able to preach constantly and attend my other business Something I have now told you what Mr. Bright was but alas I have but drawn up the flood-gates which I should rather have let down Miserum est fuisse felicem but it is ordinary to see sad persons pleasing themselves with stories of their friends that they have lost and though every word almost is interrupted with a sigh and every sentence hath tears to make it emphatical yet no other discourse delights nor is any thing else grateful but what leads to raise this passion higher so me thinks I could begin again and tell the story of his life larger and when I have finished it wonder how I did to make an end so soon I have said the less because hee charged mee to say but little of him and only referre him to God But this I have said because I desire that the Parish to which hee was related that this City which yet knew not his worth might know whom they have lost and might bee sensible of it It is sad to lose a good Christian but more to lose a good Minister Ad Pammachium It was a notable speech of Metania mentioned by Hierome who when shee saw her Husband dead presently before hee was cold had two children died also shee only said Expeditius sum tibi servitura Domine quiatanto me onere liberasti I hope Lord I shall serve thee better having now nothing to attend but God Sâ—ent immobilis nec gutta fluxit what her relations were I cannot tell but I am sure Ministers should bee helpes in our service of God not hinderances that is it which makes the loss multiply when death summons them out of this world and this is it which is grievous to mee at the present I am afraid you will not serve God so well without him Yet I would not have any who are most sensible of this loss bee discouraged I did not all this while make the wound gape that the patient should faint but that I might make the safer cure Was hee not Gods servant yes that is it which causeth our present sorrow for his absence but is hee the first servant that ever God took away out of the world You have seen in the particulars I mentioned how like hee was to Moses in his life see how like hee was in his death Moses had but begun that blessed work of bringing the people to a quiet injoyment of the promised land and hee dies in the wilderness so this Minister of the Gospel had but begun to sow this seed of life Hee preached not above six or seven Lords daies Hee lay
sick fifteen weeks lived not to see it comming up but a sore feaver arrests him and a pineing ague with other sad distempers cut the thread of life and makes us call for a burying place where wee may bury our dead formerly the delight of our eyes out of our sight let us see whether our sins made not this breach and let us remember to mourn for them Quod gravissimum fecit natura commune fecit ut crudelitatem facti consolaretur aequalitas Seneca consol ad Polyb. Let us sin no more lest a worse thing come lest God send sorer and heavier judgements upon the Parish and City too Yet let Moses his death satisfie you in Mr. Brights let Mr. Brights in your own God hath used to do thus in the world and if the tide stay not for the best Merchant every petty chapman must not chafe because it runs too fast from him If the Sun set to Kings and Princes while they travel it will to beggers God will not comply with all our humours Id Princeps potest quod salva majestate porest nor must his wise understanding submit to our passionate fancies where a Moses is taken away it becomes them from whom hee is taken to bee modest not to murmure against Gods pleasure but to pray hard and use all the means they can to get a Joshua and when they have him to bee thankful I have done only I beseech you that are Parishioners here that you would remember to use all the means you can if it bee possible to get another Bright amongst you Empericks were alwaies confident but there were that heard Paul I know and Jesus I know but who are yee hee said wisely who said thâ— Cart was empty when the Horses ran so fast get a Minister that will bee faithful to your souls that you are assured aimes at your everlasting wel-fare and when you have him hear divine truth from him with attention practise it with conscience refresh him by the fruits of your piety by the exercise of the power of godliness no comfort to the tender nurse like the thriving of the childe FINIS To the Dear Memory of my Friend Mr. Ed. Bright IF a large heart open and unconfin'd Free as the Air it lately breath'd a minde Worthy of God and brave friends that durst be Good in this age and scorn hypocrisie If to speak so i' th Pulpit that from thence Atheists might learn to think Religion sense The vertuous so inspir'd as still to bee Made more in love with vertue and with Thee Rare Preacher where the times are so perplext To see the Sermon oft confute the Text. If good men's wishes Physick's noble cares If Heav'n importun'd with early pray'rs If flourishing years which now so far had run To bee a just Meridian for their Sun If all these might have kept thee that dark Fate That too soon clos'd thine eyes had then come late Late as the slow-pac'd motion of that year Late to the most long-liv'd that wisht thee here Late as thine own requests that ask'd a truce Not for thy self but for thy Master's use Late as the time when best friend's might desire To see thee full of day's and God expire Thou now had'st liv'd and preach'd and our tears bin Not for the Preacher shed but for our sin Awaken'd at his Sermon 's Then O why So soon should what deserv'd whole ages dye Must great mind's like New Stars but look about Bee wondred at a little and go out Yet we 're secure that their eternal light Removes not from its being but our sight To spend it's glory 's in some better place Where no dark exhalation hides it's face But let 's weep leisurely and think for what Retail our sigh's Item to this and that Vertue a tear deliberately view Him in his Pulpit when quick lightning flew About men's ears and their steel'd souls did melt Within'um or agen as when hee dealt A thunder through the Church all in a fright Thunder would make Caligula look white Or when but tear's distract these objects so As numerous refractions use to do That they dam up themselves and hinder more Being thus at once both their own sea and shore And so 't is fit let trifling subjects throw Our griefs into soft Number 's make them flow Uninterrupted in one even stream A motion as unworthy as the Theam For Thee our sorrows tumult shall confess It is more full and high by seeming less Ascend brave spirit in thy robe of light Thy Flame is more illustrious through this Night Of grief beheld by us who can no more But weep and what thou now enjoy'st adore And for you Sir whose pious labour must Hallow the Urn that receives this dust Whilst his fair Name moves in your paper-bark On flood 's of tears like Noah in his Aâ—k Of 't may wee meet and for that Name so dear Whilst living on it's Ashes drop a tear Will. Croone Fell. of Em. Coll. ELEGIES On the much lamented death of Mr. EDVVARD BRIGHT his sincerely honoured Friend DEar Soul too dear for earth are thy bones lay'd With common dust and numbred with the dead Thou dead who hast so often with thy breath Blasted life's fatal Foes Sin Hell and Death Thou who didst erst mens hearts with flagrant words As lightnings through the scabbards melts the swords And by thy skill in Chymistry Divine Turnd'st courser mettals into current coin For Heavens Kingdome such as neither rust Nor earth corrupts What! Art thou turn'd to dust Is the salt melted and the moysture dry'd The Conqueror vanquish't and the Chymist try'd In his own furnace and to ashes turn'd Hath Divine heat the Microcosme burn'd Yet thus wee see sharp swords soon cut the sheath The purest flame aspires and vanisheth The finest China mettal's broken soon The Nightingal's sweet pipe 's soon out of tune Houses of best prepar'd and purest clay Oft totter fall and moulder in a day Nor may wee wonder when let loose to fight The Elements begun to try their right And for dominion strove the little world Being with wars into confusion hurl'd That then thy peaceful soul stirr'd up its might To quit the Kingdome which disclaim'd her right And just incensed rage awak'd thy minde To make a way out where it could not finde As a bold Lion when hee meets his foes Lashes his sides and roars then stoutly goes Through hot'st encounters streight unto his den That there hee may repose in peace agen So like Petars thy soul made gates to flye That op't the passage to felicity And at such gates who would not venture in When though hee lose his life hee 's sure to win But you Physitians who are wont to boast Y' are Natures helps why quel'd you not the host Of Rebels here and caus'd the civil war Of inmate enemies to cease what are Your Potions Clysters and your letting blood Only to save the bad and kill the good Or to the grave
wee 'l say Thou rann'st the faster to have wonne so soon Thou wroughtst the harder to have done by noon Such Lamps as are not niggards of their light Soon spend their Oyle and bid the world good night Wee 'l not compute thy time by daies and years But by thy labours then thine age appears Double let actions bee the Sands that run And then thy glass runs long when much is done But fate what makes thee hard to us alas Thou needs not shake or break the Pulpit Glasse Is this thy cunning there to send the stone Where it may hit a multitude in one Are Pulpits Butts because they stand so high Preachers the marks at which thou lettest flye And is the Lawrel that was counted free Now sooner struck than any other tree Wee see when sentence is pronounc'd by fate Then Beneficium Cleri's out of date On the Death of his very dear Friend Mr. Edward Bright Fellow of Emmanuel Colledge in Cambridge O Death I cannot skill thy arts How thou could'st by thy power win And by thy Method kill that man That 's dead unto the world and sin It seems it is not hard to put to flight That soul that 's fledg'd for it's eternal light Sure wee are mistaken hee but sleeps Or if you rather call him dead I 'me sure you mean no more but this That hee 's unto his kindred fled Then let us dress ourselves against hee come Who shall bee sent to call us also home So may wee meet and joyn in one Wreath'd in an everlasting love Breathing our joyful praise to him Who only wrought us this remove For so wee see rejoycings in a Quire Redoubled where all meet and all conspire This may suffice then here lies one Whose life was upright and whose end Was like his life But yet wee weep Because bereav'd of such a friend That man whose life was just example rare Shall never need a verse nor want a tear Rich. Kidder A. M. Fel. of Emmanuel Coll. Upon the frequent Death of Ministers divers young of Mr. Brights in particular and the manner of it HOw is' t the span of life so little showes Sith th' hand that measures it no shorter grows The grants of life in Character are writ Death findes some fault with Time and now thinks fit To date its strokes after the modern stile Anticipating Natures debt a while All Times proportions wee by sem briefs rate Into th' imperfect mood are shrunk of late The vital shadow doth too nimbly haste And th' famous Temple-clocks go much too fast Sure God's incenst wee treat with such delay Hee takes Ambassadours so soon away Or his revenewes don't to th' summe amount Hee calls so many Stewards to account Or 't is to screen his Seens eyes from fire By Deaths thick shade hee 's kindling in his ire Th' Promethean Games more sacred now revive Where Lights run races and so ardent strive Which shall bee first kist out by that pure Sun To whom their divine flames as tribute run ' Mongst which our Brights extinct the reason why My thoughts are tinctur'd with this mourning dye And put on black teaching my hand to wear This Elegie griefs Phylactery here All lives are lines drawn to the point of Death Of which some upward tend some end beneath Some long some short some crooked some more straight This centred line was shorter cause 't was right A line made up of points emphatick light A sprightly ray reflected out of sight But in some deeper waters broken first Or through a duskie cloud Meanders â—hâ—â—st A silver thread uâ—t wined at the end Coin of diviue impresse but with a bend A Theam which reconciles integrity With a dis-jointed judgement where wee see In lifes last page Reasons errata cast A Chaos to another world prefac't A twist of night and day a polar guide Or fiery Pillar but with a dark side A living Sermon but of one use lame Gods Image seen inverst a vigrous flame Panting with often assaies to assoil It self with dimness charg'd by grosser oile Deaths penumbra his setting Sun 'ore cast While vapours rais'd did reasons twilight haste His tongue then rang his senses funeral Which was the Curfeu that to rest did call Those jarring sounds so harsh to tender ears Were but while hee was tuning for the sphears His souls Reveile struck at the dawn of glee The Prolegom'na of eternity Whose speech sometimes yet flow'd in nobler sort Like spirits rectifi'd in a retort His heavenly Master laid his hand on 's head And turn'd him round to manumit him dead A sacrifice to God his body meant Hee to consume a fire a feaver sent Hee was an interlined Text whereon Heavens bestow'd a gloss the world needs none Hee was not so obscure to hint his fame Whom to commend's to comment on a name With Glow-worms that is writ with beams or teach B' our breath a Star to shine or light to bleach This pen shall only be the Tube to set His lustre this short draught on Paper set Zeal gave his words their accent piety Figur'd his life grace 't with simplicity Whom faithfulness advance't to richer case Being call'd from Christ-Church to a better place Which countermands our tears bids joyful bee Hee 's gone from Christ Church but to Trinity John Reyner M. A. Em. Col. In Obitum Edvardi Bright Col. Emanâ— Socii NIl opus esse Deo quis uti saepius ipse Dignatur studios hominum nil arte manuque Auxiliatrici quicquid discernit agendum Nos tua sed quantum deflenda Vir optime fata Immatura docent quo non iustructior alter Extitit interpres divina mentis alma Pandere summa pot is mysteria religionis Qui tam flexanimi Suadâ nervoque potentis Eloquii traheres mortalia pectora sacra Leg is in obsequium rigidas impellere mentes Doctus artifici dextra formare sequaces Nempe hoc illud erat captiva scientia rebus Caeter a divinis aderat ratiâ—que modestè Ancillabatur fidei prudentia zelo Temperieni dabat coelesti plenus amore Humanas miserente vices tibi Spiritus intus Ardebat flammis non luce carentibus instar Lampadis heu nimium radiis lumine donec Impertis alios oleum vitale liquescit Haec quoties animum subeunt geminata recursat Maestitia veluti laniâ— praesente cadaver Caede recente madens ebullit sanguine vulnus Triste recrudescit dolet immedicable vulnus Nos imprudentes numeris qui stringere paucis Quaerimus luctus pedibus metirier arct is Immensos remurque animos eludere tandem Carmine posse brevi tanti moment a doloris T. L. In Exequiis Edoardi Bright nuper Collegii Emmanuelis Socii QUis dabit ut liquidas oculi vertantur in und as Et fluat in madidis lachryma multa genis Sic tua perpetuâ— deflerem funera rivo Non requies flendi non modus ullus erit Sed mens obstupuit nimio