Solomon a foolish Nabal a holy Isaac a prophane Esau of what sort soever he must be Deaths Prisoner Nay let there be a concurrance of all in one let Samuel be both a good Man and a good Minister c. and have as many Priviledges as are incident to a man yet can he not procure a Protection against this Officer his Mother may beg his Life but none can compound for his Death Speak we this according to men saith not the Scripture as much Wise men die saith David and Fools die Rich men die and poor too and therefore he calls both upon the Sons of Nobles and of the Earth to mind the Lesson indeed the Heathens could compare the Sons of Adam to Counters Chess Stage-plaies in reckoning Counters have their several Place and use for a time but in the end they are all jumbled on a heap in a Game at Chess some are Kings some Bishops c. but after a while they go all into the same Bag on the Stage one is in his rags another in his Robes one is the Master another the Man and very busie they be but in the end the Play ends the bravery ends and each returns to his place such and no other is the state of man We wear death in our faces and bear it in our bones we put it upon our backs and into our mouths and cannot be ignorant of it Yea the dead proclaim this Lesson go to the Earth and they that make their Beds in darkness and sleep in the dust will tell you that it s neither wisdom nor power nor strength nor friends nor place nor grace nor any thing else that can exempt from this Tribute of Nature Our deceased Brother here before us speaks this to all this vast Assembly If greatness of Spirit feature of Body gifts of mind chastness of life soberness in diet diligence in a calling Prayers of the Church would have given any advantage against death darkness and blackness had not at this time covered us That there is no Prescription against Death appears by these Reasons The first of which is taken from the Decree of God it s a Statute enacted in that highest Court the voice of Heaven that man should once die No man as yet hath breathed but he hath had his death or translation no man is yet to come but he must either see death or an alteration so hath Heaven concluded it and who can possibly reverse it The second is taken from the matter whereof all men are made the Scripture compares man to a house whose foundation is laid in the dust whose walls are made of Clay the whole is but a Tabernacle and that of Earth and that of mans building as Paul after Job tells us this is the estate of man of all men some are more painted than some but all earthen Vessels some more clear than some but all Glasses all built of earth all born of Women and therefore all short of continuance as Job infers The third is taken from the proper cause of Death Sin Sin is Poyson to the Spirits Rottenness to the Bones where it comes and where doth it not come And therefore now what 's to be done Vse 1. Surely as men that must travel stand not to dispute but Arm themselves for all Weather So must we die we must that 's already concluded young and old good and bad c. Whatsoever we be now we must be dead anon You will think strange perhaps of my pains in this kind whilst I perswade a Mortality For howsoever we can all say in the general we are Mortal nothing so sure as Death yet when it comes to our own particular we dream of an Immortality in Nature we never set any bounds to Life we do not resolutely conclude I must die shortly I may instantly this day may be the last that I shall see this hour the last that I shall spend this word the last that I shall speak this deed the last that I shall perform this place the last that I shall breath in and so live by the day by the hour But it is our duty daily to consider what it is to die what goes before it what comes with it what follows upon it For first before we come to the very Gate of Death we are to pass through a very strait long heavy Lane Sickness first tameth us which many times is worse than Death it self that renders us unfit for all Religious Services Prayer Repentance c. as being a time not of getting but of spending that cleaves the Head and pains the Heart and wounds the Spirits and leaves us so distressed that Meat is no Meat the Bed no Bed Light no Light to us that makes us catch at Death for help But alas what help in Death if not fore-thought of Oh the Misery of a poor Creature that is so pained that he cannot live so unprepared that he dares not die he goes to Bed but cannot sleep he tastes his Meat but it will not down he shifts his Room but not his pain Death saith the Conscience would end and amend all wert thou prepared for Death but to die before were to lose those Comforts one hath and to fall under those Curses that are unsufferable Ah beloved we may intimate somewhat of his Misery but it falls not within our thoughts to conceive what his fears be who hangs between Life and Death Earth and Hell thus forthwith ready to drop into flames at every stroke of Death and to sink down down down till he be gone for ever And yet this is not all When I am dead saith the Carnal wretch all the World have done with me He saith truth all the World and all the comforts of the World have done with him indeed he shall-never laugh more he shall never have a moments ease more But though the World hath done with him yet God hath not done with him he sends for his Soul having first taken order that the Body be forth coming convents that and dooms that and casts that from him with greatest indignation into such a place such a company such a condition as would make the Heavens sweat and the Earth shrink to hear it Ah beloved therefore without all delays as a man that is now dying as well as he for whom the Bell tolls though not haply so near to Death set upon two things First set your House in order next your Souls For the first you have your persons and things to look unto To begin with Persons so live with your Wives being Husbands with your Servants being Masters with your Children being Fathers as becomes dying Men exercise such wisdom kindness faithfulness mercy every day as thou wouldest do if thou knowest it to be the last day And for things mark me well hearken not to Satan who disswades all seasonable wills because he would administer the Goods by being timely in this Errand thou shalt not shorten thy days but
Earth Let 's never frown upon Friends departure but rather see if possible the Messenger of this good tidings and bless the Lord for our advancement in theirs Indeed beloved we weep too fast when tears deny sight of Mercies In the death of Samuel there is gain to him as well as loss to us both should be remembred I know many present to be sensible of the one I shall be wrongful to conceal the other Truth it is there is fallen a great Man in Israel But how fallen Like Abner upon a violent Hand Or dyed he like a Fool Was he unsensible of his Estate Were his Hands his Mouth his Heart tyed Was his end without Honour No Brethren he died in a ripe Age when the Lord had made the most of his Life he died in Peace he died with hopes of Life in his heart with words of Grace in his lips and his Sun did set in the highest point in greatest brightness time place manner company Men Angels God and all conspired together to do him all Honour in his death Bless the God of all spirits for this all ye that are Interessed in the same Profession and Religion Bless the Lord for this that he so died in such a place in such a time in such a sort as the Devil hath received a foil and Religion grace and honour by it And thus Israel hath done his part in Mourning in Burying Samuel at his House at Ramah And now the more particular Application of all this brings me directly to the sad occasion of this present Meeting even to lament the fall of that Choice and Excellent Person Mr. John Dunton in whose Death the Almighty testifies against us and even fills us with Gall and Wormwood I know you come hither to mourn so fully prepared for it that although I am but a dull Oratour to move Passion I may serve well enough to draw out those Tears wherewith your Hearts and Eyes are so big and full There is no need to call for the Mourning Women that they may come and for Cunning Women that they may take up a wailing to help your Eyes to run down with Tears and your Eye-lids to gush out with Waters The very looking down upon this Bier and the naming of the Man whose Corps is here placed and a very little speech of his Worth and our miserable Loss is enough to make this Assembly like Rachel not only to lift up a voice of Mourning but even to refuse to be Comforted Dearly Beloved I must needs confess I am this day called to speak of a Man so eminent and excellent so wise and gracious so good and useful whose Works so praise him in every Gate that if I should now altogether hold my Tongue the Children and Babes I had almost said the stones would speak upon whose Herse could I scatter the sweetest Flowers the highest Expressions of Rhetorick and Eloquence you would think I fell short of his worth you would say his very Name expresseth more than all my words could do Should I say of him as they of Titus that he was Amor Deliciae generis Humani Should I say of his Death as once the Sicilians upon the Grecians departure Totum ver periit ex anno Siciliano should I say he was not only as one of David's Thirty Worthies but one of the three one of the first three even the first and Chief of them the only Man in these Parts who Preach'd as he liv'd should I say our whole Land groaneth at his Death as the Earth at the fall of a great Mountain I might do it without Envy in this great Assembly Yea should I write a whole Book in his Commendation and Publish it many of you would say as a Philosopher once did who falling on a Book Entituled Encomium Herculis said with Indignation Et quis Lacedaemoniorum eum vituperat He thought it time ill spent to praise him whom none could blame And I believe your selves are resolved to make some such Monument of your high Esteem of him that after-ages as well as the present shall know you valued him above my words I know large Encomiastical praises of the Dead unless their Lives were Eminent in Goodness and free from any notable blot are much condemned by the most Judicious and godly Divines as a thing of very evil consequence because they often prove Confections of Poyson to the Living for many whose Lives speak nothing for them will draw the Example into consequence and be thereby led into hope that they may Press a Hackney Funeral Sermon to carry them to Heaven when they dye On the other hand it may be said that though common Graves deserve no Inscription yet Marble Tombs are not without some Epitaph Heroical and Vertuous Examples should not go with a common Pass but with a Trumpet Since then it must be so jacta est alea I shall impose upon my self this Law not to Build his Monument of common stones nor trouble my self and you to gather such Flowers to cast upon his Grave as grow in common Fields nor descend or stoop to any thing which is not worthy of your highest Imitation First then For his Personal Endowments he was certainly 1. A Person of a very sweet Nature and Temper so affable and Courteous and chearful that he gained upon all that conversed with him and if any tax'd him with any Pride or Moroseness or distantialness in his carriage it must be only such as did not know him he had so winning a way with him he might bid himself welcom into whatsoever House he enter'd Pride and Moroseness are bad qualities for a Man of his Employ and make men afraid of the ways of God for fear they should never enjoy a good day after 2. A Person of a very great Gravity and could carry a Majesty in his Face when there was occasion and make the least Guilt tremble in his presence with his very Countenance I never knew a Man better loved nor more dreaded God had given him such a spirit with power that his very frowns were darts and his reproofs sharper than swords he would not contemn familiarity but hated that familiarity that bred contempt 3. A Person of a very large Charity He had large Bowels and a large Heart a great dexterity in the opening of the bowels of others as well as his own to works of Mercy that I think I may say there is not a Church in England that hath more often and more liberal Contributions for poor Ministers and other poor Christians than this hath according to the proportion of their abilities 4. A Person of a wonderful Patience Notwithstanding the many Weaknesses and Infirmities which for a long time have been continually without ceasing as it were trying their skill to pull down his frail Body to the dust and at last effected it yet I never heard an impatient word drop from him When I came to visit him and asked him How do
Slave When I despised the Liberal Provisions of his Family did I or could I have thought I should come to want Bread to feed upon Husks How sad is the changel how severe is my Fate which I know no more how to bear than how to avoid But this is not the worst yet For He fore-thinks what is like to be the Issue of this it is not only feeding upon Husks but I perish for Hunger I have a prospect of nothing but Death before me in the case I am in I am lost undone undone in most dreadful Circumstances for I perish and it is with Hunger Death makes its sure approaches and that in the most ghastly shape Vivens vidensque pereo I see and feel my self dying But yet in the last place he looks about him to see if there be not some escape I am dying saith he but not quite dead whilst there is Life there is Hope Who will not catch hold of any thing rather than perish And it agrees not with my Condition to stick at any thing that can minister the least probability of safety Am not I a Son though I am here a Slave Have not I a Father and hath not he pity Why then do I stand still and die and not rather make the utmost Experiment And here we may fancy the Prodigal thus Arguing with himself Woe and alas is me this miserable Life cannot last always Death will Arrest me shortly and present me before a just Tribunal the Grave will ere long cover me but not be able to conceal me for I must come to Judgment methinks I hear already the sound of the last Trump Let the Dead arise let them come to Judgment I see the Angels as Apparitions gathering all the World together and presenting them before that dreadful Tribunal How shall I be able with my guilty Conscience to appear upon that huge Theatre before God Angels and Men Methinks I see the Devil standing at my Right hand to aggravate those faults which he prompted me to the commission of I behold the Books opened and all the Debaucheries Extravagancies and Follies of my whole Life laid open Christ the Judge of all the World coming in flaming Fire to take Vengeance upon them that have not known him nor obeyed his Gospel how shall I endure his presence How shall I escape his Eye I cannot delude his Judgment nor evade his Sentence Come then ye Rocks and fall upon me and ye Mountains cover me from the face of the Lamb and from him that sitteth upon the Throne But the Rocks rend in sunder the Sea and the Earth disclose their Dead the Earth dissolves the Heavens vanish as a scroll and I hear the dreadful Sentence Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Methinks I hear Christ Jesus thus upbraiding me You have listened to the Devil and not to me I would have saved you but you would not be ruled by me you have chosen the way of Death now therefore you shall be filled with your own ways I fore-warned you what would be the Issue of your Courses but you would have your full swing of Pleasure for the present whatever came of it hereafter You laughed at Judgment and it is come in earnest you have had your time of Jollity and sensual transports and now your Portion is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth But is there no hope left Must I lie down thus in sorrow and dispair These things I may justly expect but they are not yet incumbent upon me I am yet alive and they say there is hopes in the Land of the Living the Door is not yet shut against me Hell hath not yet closed her mouth upon me I have heard God is a Merciful God and thereupon I presumed hitherto and abused his goodness but sure his Mercies are above the measure of a Man if they be infinite like himself he hath more Goodness than I have Ingratitude Possibly there may be some hope left in the bottom of this Pandora's Box of Calamities If there be none it is in vain to Repent fruitless to Weep endless to Bewail madness to add to my own Infelicities If there be a rigid Fate upon me I will curse God and dye But sure whilst there is a God there must be goodness his Name speaks his Nature will he break a bruised Reed Will he contend with Dust and Ashes It is true he hath no need of me but for the same Reason he cannot delight in my Misery He cannot Repent and change his mind because his Wisdom fore-saw from the beginning all possible contingencies but if I Repent and change my mind the same unchangeableness of his will oblige him as well then to save me as before to destroy me How far he will extend Mercy and what instances he will make of it I cannot define but who knows but he may yet admit of my submission however I cannot be worse than I am and it is possible my condition may be better here I perish certainly if I cast my self upon his goodness I can but perish therefore I will try I will arise and go to my Father c. And thus his deliberation brings him to resolution which is the second Stage of Repentance But here I think it proper in the next place for the benefit of all that shall read this Book but especially for the sake of incogitant Youth here again to give the same Paraphrase formerly given upon the whole Parable of the Prodigal Son that so all may more fully see the deplorable effects of Rashness and Folly Pride and Curiosity Insolence and Disobedience how they work joyntly and severally together and by turns till by degrees they have trained poor inconsiderate Man to his utter Ruine And in the following Paraphrase you may see lively Pourtrayed the beginning the Progress the up-shot the Causes and the Effects of a sinful Course Well then take the Paraphrase upon the whole as follows Viz. A certain Man had two Sons one whereof and he the Eldest continued always in his Family content with his Provision subject to his Government and in diligent Obedience to all his Commands But the other viz. the Younger full of Juvenile heat and confidence considers himself at the Age of Discretion grows impatient of Restraint and desirous of Liberty especially fancying that he could Live better to his own content and every whit as well provide for himself if he were at his own disposal Therefore he desires his Father to set him out his share and to put his Portion into his own Hands and leave him to his own conduct The Father gratifies him in all his desires gives him his Portion and his Liberty which done the Son as if his Fathers Presence or vicinage would put too great a restraint upon him and give check to his Freedom he betakes himself to another Countrey where being in the height of his Jollity amongst his Harlots and lewd
that Golden Hesperides that the red Dragon Guarded for his Minions till slain by Hercules which all passionately enquire after the greedy Miser for Wealth the Ambitious for Honour the Luxurious for Pleasure all being Avaritious of Beautiful Apples no Labour no Danger seems difficult to obtain their desires whereas the poor Soul lyes Hunger-starved for want of the sincere Milk of the Word that it may grow thereby Convert we then our thoughts from these perishing things to a holy Covetousness after a more durable substance than this eyely Fruit which like the Apples of Sodom will fade into dust hunger we after that Tree of Life which beareth twelve manner of Fruits the Doctrine of the Apostles which are for the healing of the Nations through the vertue of the Lord of life our great Hercules pray we him to cut down both root and branch of this Hesperides and slay the Dragon which keepeth Possession and that he will please to replant us with better fruit to wit the graces of his spirit that we may grow up as fruitful Trees by the water-brooks of Repentance bringing forth our fruit in due season 34. Of Prodigality It is no Paradox to say That the Prodigal is very covetous in that all his Lavishments are to gratifie his greedy Passions that could he enjoy perpetual health and strength with the unlimited Addition of large Revenues as fuel to feed his sinful humours his luxurious Appetite would never be satisfied yet is he not so unprofitable a member in a Common-wealth as the covetous miser who defrauds his Genius to indulge his lustful eye being a Thief to the Common-wealth robbing it of Treasure which should relieve his Brother Whereas the Prodigal is his own greatest enemy others partaking of his wild Disbursements though not of his sin his whole life being as a Dream his profuse phansie feeding upon all kind of Delights which may cherish the flesh and pamper Nature till awakened by the storms and pinches of Poverty which haply makes him return by weeping cross to his Fathers house for better shelter and more wholsome Diet. O thou Almighty Giver who dispensest of thy goodness to every one as in thy wisdom thou knowest convenient for them if thou please to intrust me with two or three Talents suffer me not to be so prodigally vitious as to wanton them away upon my sinful Lusts or so wretchedly avaritious as to hoard them up unprofitably in the ground of my sensual heart but that I may improve them as thy faithful steward to the best advantage of thee my Lord and Master that when thou callest me to an account I may chearfully appear before thee not fearing thy Curse but expecting thy Blessing 35. Of Vain-glory. The Vain-glorious man is a bundle of Folly swadled up in ambitious Bravery whose airy thoughts words and gestures doth metamorphize his Soul by a kind of Pithagorean metempsuchosis into a puff of Vanity his wild phansie draws the circuit of his conceit beyond the Moon his words like wind bladders him up into a fond opinion of his frothy humor his gestures so affectionately mimical that they make him more than ridiculous Come not O my Soul into this aiery Element let not vain-glory swell thee like a Bladder in an overprizing conceit of thine own weakness but let Sobriety moderate thy Passions Temperance regulate thy Affections Humility bridle thy desires that thou mayest be a friend to thy self and not a foe to others 36. Of Presumption and Desparation The Serpent having bitten our first Parents with this infectious sin of Presumption afterwards sets upon Cain with that stinging sin of Desparation Both which are the great Master-pieces he useth to batter the Rampire of our Righteousness that so he may the more easily let in death into the heart the Souls Citadel one commonly follows the other as that little ravenous beast follows the Lyon for the reversion of his Prey 〈◊〉 the great design of Satan to hush a man 〈…〉 a carnal security that he may spend 〈…〉 and flower of his years in a presumptive way of sinning in hope of an after Repentance but if he chance to look back in the Evening of his age the Devil rouzes the Conscience as a sleepy Lyon to to fly in his face which returns him into his former way of Presumption or else exposes him to the devouring teeth of Desparation Shield me O my God with thy preventing Grace from such miscarriage that passing through the Red Sea of this World I may steer my course by the gale of thy favour between Silla and Carybdis the rocks of Presumption and the Gulf of Desparation till I safely arive upon the coast of Canaan the promised harbour of eternal Rest 37. Of Vertue and Vice Narrow is the way that leads unto life and few there be that find it but broad is the way that leads unto death and many there are that go in thereat At the entrance of the one stands Vertue in her sable dress like Rachel mourning for the loss of her Children and will not be comforted crying with Wisdom in the open places of concourse How long will ye simple ones love Simplicity ye Scorners delight in scorning and Fools hate knowledge Turn ye at my Reproof behold I will shew you the way of life though it may seem cragged rough and hard yet by it you shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven But at the other way stands gawdy Vice in her rich habiliments like Solomons Harlot curiously bedect with all sensual Invitements with which she commits a rape upon the Eyes of her Beholders her lips drop as the Honey-comb and her words are smoother than Oyl her feet go down to death and her steps take hold on Hell she opens unto them the gate of Vanity which leads into a spacious place where are Gamesters of all sorts sporting themselves with the Rackets of Pleasures and Profits in the Tennis-Court of this World till unwisely unwarily and unhappily they court their own Destruction Prevent me O my God in the day of Grace with thy blessing of wisdom that I may listen to the call of Virtue and not to the Courtship of Vice that I may creep with the fewest on the knees of humility in the narrow way to eternal life and not run with the most on the feet of Folly in the broad way to eternal death 38. Of the World As the Wilderness of sin was a place of tryal and trouble to the murmuring Israelites in their way to Canaan sufferin hunger and thirst with the sting of Serpents for Rebellion and Disobedience so is the World in general to us all full of variety of Vexation of Spirit for Sin and Transgression Some are hungry and thirsty and cold and naked pinched with poverty others surfeiting with prosperity throughfulness of flesh sticking in their teeth their fiery Lusts as so many Serpents gendred by Satan upon their Sin-bearing hearts sting them to death without the mercy of a Saviour Blessed
this also is tolerable But thus is this Question answered A deformity may be covered but a new form may not be set upon the Face neither a new Habit on the Body The outward form and favour that man hath is the work of God himself fitted and proportioned unto man in his Conception by his special Providence Now to take in hand to amend this favour or proportion that God hath given What is it but first highly to dishonour God by presuming to adulterate his work taking upon them to amend that which as they suppose he hath made amiss Yea secretly they tax him for want of Wisdom when they thus go about to correct had make that better which God before had made And can the Eternal God endure his Secondly this is to lie to others for they make themselves to be other than God hath made them They speak in a real Language falshood and deceit A man may read a lie in their very foreheads Their Favour is a lie their Beauty is a lie c. Is it like there is truth in the inward parts when they shew dissimulation in their Faces Thirdly what is this but to be ashamed of themselves and therefore being displeased with their own colour and countenance they come like Players Masked and disguised But art thou ashamed of that Face that God hath made thee Then be thou assured God will be ashamed of that Face thou hast made thy self Thy shameless disguising will bring it so to pass that the Lord when he comes to Judgment will not acknowledge thee to be his Creature As for the defence that some do make for this their sin viz. it is to please their Husbands It is fond and foolish For first thou oughtest not to please man by displeasing God Secondly it is but a delusion of the Devil in making thee believe thy Husband will love thee the better for thy painted Vizar for indeed it is otherwise These Artificial supplies put thy Husband in mind of thy Natural defects and this at length doth breed a greater loathing I would such as use these sinful courses would be more wise and now at length renounce them For assuredly it will turn to bitterness in the end And let these remember who was the first that used this Plaistring or Fainting was it not Jezebel And was not she an arrant Whore Let such as would be so accounted use it but no other And so I conclude this Subject The manner how the Duke de Guise Persecuted the Ministers spoiled and defaced their Meetings by breaking down their Pulpits rending the Seats and battering the Windows thereof in Queen Elizabeths time ANno 1562. The Duke de Guise passing towards Paris and coming near to Vassy understanding that the Bell rang to a Sermon which was to be Preached in a Barn converted into a convenient Meeting-place in which place there were Assembled about Twelve Hundred Men Women and Children he presently went with all his Troops to the Barn Christians Murthered at a Sermon and entring it they cried out Death of God Kill Kill these Hugonots then did some of them shoot at those which were in the Galleries others cut in pieces such as they met with Some had their Heads cleft in twain others had their Arms and Hands cut off so that the Walls and Galleries of the Barn were dyed with the Blood of the Slain The Duke with his Sword drawn stood amongst them charging his Men to Kill without sparing especially the Young Men Some of these Godly Persons getting upon the Roof hid themselves there but at length some of this Bloody Crew spying them shot at them with long Pieces whereby many of them were slain falling down from the Roof like Piegeons Then they fell to Murthering of them all without making any distinction between Presbyterians and Church-men the poor Saints of God made no Resistance only Praying unto God and every one running to save himself as it pleased God to direct him many Men and Woman were slain others being sore Wounded escaped which died shortly after The Poor Mans Box was taken and emptied The Minister in the beginning of the Massacre ceased not to Preach still till one dischary I his Piece against the Pulpit Then falling upon his Knees he intreated the Lord to have Mercy upon him and upon his poor Persecuted Flock and so coming down from the Pulpit attempted to escape but by the way he received divers Wounds whereupon finding himself as he thought Mortally hurt he cried Lord into thy hands I commend my Spirit for thou hast Redeemed me O Lord God of Truth yet before he was slain some took him and carried him before the Duke who said to him Who made thee so bold thus to Seduce the people Slanders Sir said the Minister I am no Seducer but have faithfully preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ to them Then did the Duke Curse and Swear saying Death of God doth the Gospel Teach Sedition And calling the Provost he said Take this Varlet and hang him upon a Gibbet Then was the Minister delivered to two Pages who basely abused him The Popish Women also threw dirt at him and could searce be restrained from tearing him to pieces He was kept close Prisoner none being suffered to bring him Necessaries and he was oft threatned to be sown up in a Sack and drowned yet at last through Gods Mercy he was released at the earnest request of the Prince of Portion The Pulpit was broken down The Pulpit broken down Barbarous Cruelty the slain stript stark Naked and so the Duke departed with his Bloody Troops sounding his Trumpets as if he had obtained a great Victory The Meetings defaced When he came to Paris he with the Constable and Marshal of St. Andrews seized upon the King defaced overthrew and broke down all the Meeting-places where they of the true Religion used to Assemble which so encouraged the Popish party that in every place they so abused those of the true Religion as the most Cruel Barbarians would have been ashamed to do the like Not long after he went to Orleans boasting that within twenty four hours he would win the Town and neither spare Man Woman nor Child in it and that he would so destroy the Town that the very Memory of it together with all Protestants should be extinct for ever But Man purposes and God disposes for the same Night there was a young Gentleman Gods Judgment on Persecutors named John Poltrot who watching his Opportunity shot him with his Pistol laden with three Bullets whereof he shortly after died And Poltrot declared at his Death that he did it to deliver France and especially the City of Orleans from the Violence of the Duke of Guise And thus we see That bloody and deceitful Men shall not live out half their days Psal 55.23 After his Death the Protestants lived a peaceable quiet Life But before this Peace took place those of the Religion
day were we shall observe in their several hours CHAP. II. Of Christ's Indictment and Judas's fearful End ABOUT six in the Morning Jesus was brought unto Pilate's house then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the Judgment-Hall and it was early When the Morning was come all the chief Priests and Elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death and when they had bound him and led him away and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the Governour Then Judas which had betrayed him hanged himself O the readiness of our nature to evil When the Israelites would sacrifice to the Golden-calf rhey rose up early in the Morning If God leave us to our selves we are as ready to practise mischief as the fire is to burn without delay But on this Circumstance I shall not long stay the Transactions of this hour I shall consider in these two Passages Christ's Indictment and Judas's fearful End In Christs Indictment we may observe 1. His Accusation 2. His Examination In his Accusation we may observe 1. Who are his Accusers 2. Where he was accused 3. What was the matter of which they do accuse him 1. His Accusers were the chief Priests and Elders of the people the very same that before ha judged him guilty of Death are now his Accusers before the Temporal Judge 2. The place of the Accusation was at the door of the House they would not go into the Judgment-hall lest they should be defiled but that they might eat the Passover See what a piece of Superstition and gross Hypocrisie is here they are curious of a Ceremony but make no strain to shed innocent Blood they are precise about small matters but for the weightier matters of the Law as Mercy Judgment Fidelity and the Love of God they let them pass they honour the figurative Passover but the true Passover they seize upon with bloody and sacrilegious Hands 3. The matter of which they accuse him 1. That he seduced the people 2. That he forbad to pay Tribute to Cesar 3. That he said he was a King How great but withal how false were these their Accusations 2. For his Examination Pilate was nothing moved with any of the Accusations save only the third and therefore letting all the rest pass he asked him only Art thou the King of the Jews To whom Jesus answered My Kingdom is not of this World c. He saith not my Kingdom is not in this World but my Kingdom is not of this World by which Pilate knew well that Christ was no Enemy unto Cesar Christs Kingdom is spiritual his Government is in the very Hearts and Consciences of men and what is this to Cesar Hence Pilate useth a Policy to save Jesus Christ they tell him that Christ was of Galilee and therefore he takes occasion to send him to Herod who was Governour of Galilee 2. Pilate having dismissed Jesus this hour is concluded with a sad Disaster of wicked Judas Then Judas which betrayed him when he saw that he was condemned repented himself c. Now his Conscience thaws and grows somewhat tender but it is like the tenderness of a Boyl which is nothing else but a new Disease There is a Repentance that comes too late Esau wept bitterly and repented him when the Blessing was gone The five foolish Virgins lift up their Voices aloud when the Gates were shut and in Hell men shall repent to all Eternity and such a Repentance was this of Judas about midnight he had received his money in the house of Annas and now betimes in the Morning he repents his Bargain and throws his Money back again The end of this Tragedy was That Judas died a miserable Death he perished by the most infamous hands in the world i.e. by his own hands he went and hanged himself And as Luke he fell headlong and burst asunder in the midst and all his Bowels gushed out In every passage of his Death we may take notice of Gods Justice and be afraid of sins it was just that he should hang in the Air who for his sin was hated both of Heaven and Earth and that he should fall down headlong who was fallen from such an height of honour and that the Halter should strangle that Throat through which the voice of Treason had sonnded and that his Bowels should be lost who had lost the bowels of all Pity Piety and Compassion and that his Ghost should have its passage out of his midst he burst asunder in the midst and not out of his lips because with a Kiss of his lips he had betrayed his Lord our blessed Jesus Here 's a warning-piece to all the world Who would die such a death for the pleasure of a little sin or who would now suffer for millions of Gold that which Judas suffered and yet suffers in Hell for thirty pieces of Silver Now the Lord keep our Souls from betraying Christ or any of his Children and from despairing in God's mercy through Christ Amen Amen I see one sand is run I must turn the Glass now was the seventh hour and what were the Passages of that hour I shall next relate CHAP. IV. Of Christ stripped whipped clothed in Purple and Crowned with Thorns ABout Nine which the Jews call the third hour of the day was Christ stripped whipped clothed with Purple and crowned with Thorns in this hour his sufferings came thick I must divide them into two parts and speak of them severally by themselves 1. When Pilate saw how the Jews were set upon his death he consented and delivered him first to be stripped Then the Soldiers of the Governour took Jesus into the common Hall and gathered unto him the whole band of Soldiers and they stripped him They pulled off his Clothes and made him stand naked before them all He that adorns the Heaven with Stars and the Earth with Flowers and made coats of skins to clothe our first Parents in is now himself stripped stark naked 2. Pilate gave him to be scourged this some think he did upon no other account but that the Jews being satiated and glutted with these Tortures they might rest satisfied and think themselves sufficiently avenged In this scourging of Christ I shall insist on these two things 1. The shame 2. The pain 1. For the shame It was of such Infamy that the Romans exempted all their Citizens from it Is it lawful for you said Paul to scourge a man that is a Roman And when the Centurion heard that he went and told the chief Captain saying Take heed what thou dost for this man is a Roman The Romans looked upon it as a most infamous punishment fit only for Thieves and Slaves 2. For the pain This kind of Punishment was not only infamous but terrible no sooner the Soldiers had their Commission but they charged and discharged upon him such bloody blows as if he had been the greatest offender and basest slave in all the World Nicephorus calls these Whippers bloody
require Lo now I deliver him to your own will Much more might be said but the hour strikes again Pilate is now risen the Court dissolved and Jesus is delivered into the hands of the Jews for Execution How that went on the next hour will speak only God prepare your hearts to hear devoutly and to consider seriously what Jesus the great Saviour of the World hath suffered for you CHAP. VI. Of Christ's Crucifying with its Appendices ABout Eleven they prepare with all speed for the Execution in the revolution of this hour we may observe these several Passages As 1. Their taking off the Robe and clothing him again with his own Rayment 2. Their leading him away from Gabbatha to Golgotha 3. His bearing the Cross with Simon 's help to bear it after him 4. His comforting the Women who followed weeping after him as he went 5. Their giving him Vinegar to drink mingled with Gall. 6. Their Crucifying or fastening him on the Cross whereon he dyed 1. The Evangelist tells us They took the Robe off from him and put his own Raiment on him Origen observes They took off his Robes but they took not off his Crown of Thorns what served their Interest they pursued still but nothing of mitigation or mercy to the afflicted Son of Man 2. They led him away Some say they cast a Rope or Chain about his Neck by which they led him out of the City to Mount Calvary and that all along the way multitudes attended him and a Cryer went before him proclaiming to all hearers the cause of his Death namely that Jesus Christ was a Seducer Blasphemer Negromancer a Teacher of false Doctrines saying of himself that he was the Messias King of Israel and the Son of God 3. He bore his Cross So John relates before it bears him he must bear it and thus they make good their double cry Crucifie him Crucifie him first Crucifie him with it as a burthen and then Crucifie him with it as a Cross 4. He comforted the Women who followed weeping after him as he went along And there followed him a great company of people and of Women which also bewailed and lamented him but Jesus turning to them said Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but weep for your selves and for your Children In the midst of his Misery he forgets not Mercy in the midst of all their Tortures and loudest out-cries of contumely of Blasphemy of scorn he can hear his following Friends weeping behind him and neglect all his own sufferings to comfort them Weep not for me He hath more compassion on the Women that follow him weeping than of his own mangled self that reels along fainting and bleeding unto death He feels more the Tears that drop from their Eyes than all the Blood that flows from his own Veins We heard before that sometimes he would not vouchsafe a word to Pilate that threatned him nor to Herod that entreated him and yet unaskt how graciously doth he turn about his blessed bleeding Face to these weeping Women affording them looks and words too both of compassion and of consolation Daughters of Jerusalem weep not for me but for your selves 5. No sooner he was come to the place of Execution but they gave him Vinegar to drink mingled with Gall In that they gave him drink it was an Argument of their Humanity this was a custom amongst Jews and Romans that to the Condemned they ever gave Wine to drink Give strong Wine unto him that is ready to perish and Wine unto those that be of heavy heart But in that they gave him Vinegar mingled with Gall it was an Argument of their Cruelty and Envy 6. They Crucified him i. e. they fastened him on the Cross and then lift him up A great Question there is among the Learned whether Christ was fastened on the Cross after it was erected or whiles it was lying on the ground I would not rake too much into these niceties only more probable it is that he was fastened to it whiles it lay flat on the ground and then as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the Wilderness so was the Son of Man lifted up We may express the manner of their acting and his sufferings now as a Learned Brother hath done before us Now came the Barbarous inhumane Hangmen and begin to unloose his hands but how alas 't is not to any Liberty but to worse bonds of Nails Then they stript off his gore-glewed cloaths and with them questionless not a little of his mangled skin and flesh as if it were not enough to crucifie him as a Thief unless they flea him too as a Beast then stretch they him out as another Isaac on his own burthen the Cross that so they might take measure of the holes and though the print of his blood on it gave them his true length yet how strictly do they take it longer than the truth thereby at once both to crucifie and rack him And by this time we may imagine Christ nailed to the Cross and his Cross fixed in the ground which with its fall into the place of its station gave infinite torture by so violent a concussion of the Body of our Lord. That which I mean to observe of this crucifying of Christ I shall reduce to these two heads viz. the shame and pain 1. For the shame It was a cursed death cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree When it was in use it was chiefly inflicted upon slaves that either falsely accused or treacherously conspired their Masters death but on whomsoever it was inflicted this death in all Ages among the Jews hath been branded with a special kind of Ignominy 2. For the pain It was a painful death that appears several ways As 1. His Legs and Hands were violently racked and pulled out to the places fitted for his fastning and then pierced through with Nails 2. By this means he wanted the use both of his Hands and Feet and so he was forced to hang immovable upon the Cross as being unable to turn any way for his ease 3. The longer he lived the more he endured for by the weight of his body his Wounds were opened and enlarged his nerves and veins were rent and torn asunder and his blood gushed out more and more abundantly still 4. He died by inch-meal as I may say and not at once the Cross was a death long in dying it kept him a great while upon the Wrack it was full three hours betwixt Christs affixion and expiration and it would have been longer if he had not freely and willingly given up the Ghost It is reported that Andrew the Apostle was two whole days on the Cross before he died and so long might Christ have been if God had not heightened it to greater degrees of Torment supernaturally CHAP. VII Of the Consequents after Christs crucifying THE Particulars following I shall quickly dispatch As thus 1. About twelve when the Sun is usually brightest it
began now to darken This darkness was so great that it spread over all the Land of Jewry some think over all the World so we translate it in Luke And there was a darkness over all the earth 2. About three which the Jews call the ninth hour the Sun now beginning to receive his light Jesus cried with a loud voice Eli Eli Lamasabachthani my God my God why hast thou forsaken me And then that the Scriptures might be fulfilled he said I thirst And when he had received the Vinegar he said It is finished And at last crying with a loud voice he said Father into thy hands I commend my Spirit and having said thus he gave up the Ghost I cannot stay on these seven words of Christ which he uttered on the Cross his words were ever gracious but never more gracious than at this time we cannot find in all the Books and Writings of men in all the Annals and Records of time either such Sufferings or such Sayings as were these last Words and Wounds Sayings and Sufferings of Jesus Christ And having said thus he gave up the Ghost Or as John relates it He bowed his head and gave up the Ghost And now we may suppose him at the Gates of Paradise calling with his last Words to have them opened that the King of Glory might come in 3. About four in the Afternoon he was pierced with a Spear and there issued out of his side both blood and water And one of the Soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out blood and water How truly may we say of the Soldiers that after all his Sufferings they have added wounds they find him dead and yet they will scarce believe it until with a Spear they have search'd for life at the well-head it self CHAP. VIII Giving an account of the manner and place of Christs Burial ABout five which the Jews call the eleventh and last hour of the day Christ was taken down And Mary caused certain Ministers with whom she joyned to take her dead Son from the Cross whose body when she once got free from the nails she kissed and embraced with entertainments of the nearest vicinity that could be expressed by a person that was holy and sad and a Mother weeping for her dead Son She now bathes his cold Body with her warm Tears and makes clean the surface of the Wounds and delivering a winding Napkin to Joseph of Arimathea gave to him in charge to enwrap the Body and embalm it to compose it to the Grave and do it all the Rites of Funeral He obeys her Counsel and ventures upon the displeasure of the Jewish Rulers and went confidently to Pilate and begged the body of Jesus and Pilate gave it to him Joseph therefore takes the body binds his face with a Napkin washes the body anoints it with Ointment enwraps it in a composition of Myrrhe and Aloes and puts it into a new Tomb which he for himself had hewn out of a Rock it not being lawful among the Jews to inter a condemned person in the common Coemeteries for all these circumstances were in the Jews manner of Burying But when the Sun was set the chief Priests and Pharisees went to Pilate telling him that Jesus whilst he was living fore-told his own Resurrection upon the third day and lest his Disciples should come and steal the body and say he was risen from the dead desired that the Sepulcher might be secured against the danger of any such Imposture Pilate gave them leave to do their pleasure even to the satisfaction of their smallest Scruples They therefore sealed the Grave rolled a great stone at the mouth of it and as an ancient Tradition saies bound it about with Labels of Iron and set a Watch of Soldiers as if they had intended to have made it surer than the Decrees of Fate or the never-failing Laws of Nature A Funeral Sermon FOR THAT FAITHFUL AND LABORIOUS Servant of CHRIST Mr. JOHN DVNTON Who Deceased November the 4th 1676. in the 48th Year of his Age. By N. H. Minister of the GOSPEL O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory 1 Cor. 15.55 LONDON Printed for John Dunton at the Black Raven in the Poultrey over against the Stocks-Market 1684. Introduction DEarly Beloved should a Stranger behold the face of this vast Assembly and see all the honourable Persons here present with the great number of Ministers that are come this day to attend this mournful occasion and such a great confluence of all ranks and qualities in this dejected posture they would say as the Inhabitants of Canaan did when they saw the Mourning for old Jacob in the floor of Arad This is a grievous Mourning to England and would certainly enquire what eminent Person what great Man is this day fallen in our Israel But you who knew the worth of this Excellent Person whose shadow lies there before you do rather wonder that all faces are not covered with blackness and all bodies with Sackcloth and come hither so fully prepared to Mourn that you even long till something be spoken of him that you may ease your hearts a little though it be with weeping I must needs confess I have been so surprized with sorrow my self that I thought it hardly possible for me to undertake this service but that I must have covered over my Affections and his Elogies as the Painters did Agamemnons grief for Iphigenia with a veil of silence But stay a while I beseech you and weep not so abundantly as I see many of you now do till I deliver an Errand from God the ground whereof you shall find in 1 Sam. 25.1 And Samuel died and all the Israelites were gathered together and lamented him and buried him in his house at Ramah DEarly Beloved the work in hand is a Funeral the Party deceased worthy Samuel the Mourners all Israel the place of Burial his own house at Ramah The whole passage penned either by Gad or Nathan as it should seem by the Chronicles at Gods appointment whose Eye follows every Mourner here and therefore it behoves us to follow his voice with our best attentions For my own part I am very sensible of the Difficulties I now sustain for the subject of our Discourse Samuels Funeral is enough to astonish any Israelite for matter it is not easie to say what will be most expediently said and for manner we have things almost incompatible to reconcile plainness and briefness in the same speech The Text gives some advantage by its plainness and fulness yielding matter of large use from two sorts of men of highest quality viz. from Samuel dying and from Israel mourning And first of Samuel he dies And in his death let 's read our own and grow to this conclusion Death is unavoidable Life and Death take turns each of other the man lives not that shall not see Death be he a King with Saul a Prophet with Jeremy a wise
having taken thy leave of the World shalt better attend on Death Things therefore unlawful restore I say again restore Things Lawful dispose of and as in a Journey hasty and uncertain wait the Call Up then my Brethren and lose no time Now the Wind serves hoyse up Sail now is the Market make your Provision now is the Seed-time sow apace as yet you have all Advantages from Grace and Nature Word Sacrament Wit Memory Sense Strength c. Now apprehend the Opportunity Repent and be Pardoned believe and be saved obey and be for ever blessed If any hath perswaded himself otherwise my Soul shall weep in secret for his destruction which I know will be as certainly effected as now it is plainly threatned Be entreated then let God entreat you and once over-rule you You must die you must die but once being once dead you return not to make a new Preparation do that once well which being once well done will make you Men nay more than Men than Angels for ever And this is the Use for your selves A second respects our Friends Vse 2. Must all die is there no Remedy Then must we have patience in our Friends departure a common Lot no man should shrug at even in the Poets judgment who quarrels Summer for some heat or Winter for some cold a Thorn for pricking or a Brier for scratching who is angry that he is framed like other men subject to like hunger like thirst like sleep and why I pray should not our Friends resemble others in their death as well as in their birth We would not have them have more Eyes or Hands than others and why more days What do we make of Life what of Death Surely to the godly Life is but a Prison Death is an Advantage Say our Friends were tyed in Prison would we begrudge them liberty say toss'd on the Seas would you envy them the Haven say doubtful in the Skirmish would you be sorry for their Victory nay say but beaten with a Tempest would you not wish them at home Believe it Brethren this World is but a Sea a Prison this Life a Journey a Warfare if God hath prevented our Wishes shall he be returned frowardness Shall we trouble the Air with needless Crys my Husband my Father my Father as if we were the first Widows and Orphans in the World No let them mourn without hope whose life and death is without hope as for Christians who die living and live dying they lose nothing by death For first if we descend to particulars the body that is stript of all sinful and natural defects the abortions of sin and filled with all heavenly contemplations of mortal it becomes immortal of corruptible incorruptible there is no use of Meat Apparel Sleep Beds c. of dishonourable glorious like in its measure to the body of Christ which is the standard In short whatsoever might make to the annoying blemishing dishonouring disquieting of the body is removed whatsoever might make it amiable active honourable glorious comfortable is added the glory of the Sun will be but darkness to it For the Soul that is first eased of all the rags and relicques of sin delivered of Ignorance Pride Self-love c. delivered next of all the consequences of sin griefs guilts fears accusations yea delivered of all things which may any way import an imperfect state through an upright heart as Faith Repentance hungering after Righteousness c. And then in a second place it is filled with the Image of Jesus Christ First all the powers and faculties thereof are perfected and advanced above the ordinary strain of Nature Next all those Vessels are stuffed with knowledg love and all things else that are there requisite and not only so but the Soul is furnished with all the attendances of Christs Image everlasting joy perpetual peace a constant correspondency and communion with God and in brief whatsoever might offend stain blemish the Soul is removed and whatsoever might enrich it ennoble it and make it blissful is according to each mans measure added And thus of the person The rest we dispatch with all speed For the Estate thus there shall be nothing that shall be wanting that shall trouble distract or discontent there shall be nothing that the Soul shall then desire but there it is For the place thus There shall be nothing less than what shall be desired nothing more that can be desired what it is the Word no where for ought I know tells us The Church on Earth is more rich than Gold more precious than Pearl more bright than the Sun more glorious than the Moon but what is there to be seen Paul could not utter we cannot conceive only this we know that none shall be ever weary of it or willing to alter it Lastly for the Company there be of three sorts First Angels who shall not then terrifie but attend the worst and lowest Servant there shall be an Angel Secondly all the famous and godly men that ever lived there shall we meet with Adam Abraham c. there shall we be acquainted with David Paul Cypr. de morte ad Fratres c. Thirdly the blessed Trinity there shall we see him who hath done and suffered so much for us him whom the Fathers before and since his Incarnation so much longed to see Jesus Christ the blessed all which considered and believed what can we less do than abandon all fruitless and fleshly tears for our Friends departed what way are they gone but the way of all flesh with whom do they live but with Samuel with God Where are they but in better place and case with better Friends than ever before In stead of carking therefore do two other things First whilst Friends be present do the part of a Friend in praying for them in calling upon them and in fitting of them to death that so thou mayst have peace in thy self and hope of them in their departure else when thy Conscience shall say unto thee Wretched man thy Wife thy Child thy Charge is now dead and for ought thou knowest in Hell if not no thanks to thee for thou wast never the man that would call upon them pray with them or mind them of their Departures when I say thy Conscience shall thus great thee thou shalt not tell how to take it Secondly when they are gone to bed and fast asleep awake them not with thy cries but make ready to follow after so the time shall be best redeemed the loss and cross best improved and Satan who loves to fish in such troubled waters most prevented And so far this Use We will touch upon a third as we pass and that is this Must we all die then here is a cooler for the wicked and a comfort for the godly The wicked holds all his comforts only for term of life death ends his wealth his glory his peace his joy his comforts his contentments all his portions is only in
this life saith the Prophet all the sweet he hath fore-goeth death after he hath a Portion indeed but it is a Portion of Fire and Brimstone of Storms and Tempests of Anguish and Tribulation of Shame and Confusion of Horror and Amazement in a fiery Lake from the presence of God in the midst of cursed Spirits Thus death must needs be terrible to him but as comfortable to the Godly for it makes his Crosses as short as the others Comforts The Wicked cannot promise to himself Comforts of an hours length nor may the Godly threaten himself with Crosses of an hours continuance Death in an instant turns the sinners Glory into Shame Pleasure into Pain Comfort into Confusion Death in an instant eases the Godly's body of all pain his Soul of all sin his Conscience of all fears and leaves him in an estate of perfect happiness And happy are they whose Misery is no longer than life but woe be to the wicked whose jollity ends when death enters and whose Torments survive death it self and so we leave Samuel to his rest Well Samuel is well himself but in what case doth he leave his poor Neighbours at Ramah that the Text now speaks and it is my trouble yet better one than all troubled that I must speak it so briefly Israel saith the Text Jacobs issue Gods people all Israel distributively taken that is of all sorts some were gathered in great Troops either by publick command or of their own voluntary accord or both ways First to lament according to the then custom in most solemn manner Samuels end and their own loss and next to honour him at his Burial in Ramah The Points which in a passage or two must be touched from this part are two the first is this Samuel a publick and a profitable man dieth Israel publickly mourneth you see what followeth Great and publick losses must be entertained with great and publick sorrows Sorrow must be suited to the loss as a Garment to the body a Shoe to the foot when the cause of Grief is great the measure of Grief must be answerable This is one Principle when a good man and Neighbour dies there is cause of great forrow this is another the inference will soon follow and result hence and that is our Conclusion Good men of publick use and place should never pass to the Grave unlamented their death should be considered and bewailed And indeed reason calls for it for we must mourn in respect of the cause of such mens deaths not private but publick sins too God never beheads a State a Country but for some Treason Reason 1. If Samuel die it is because God is angry with the people the sheep be not thankful nor fruitful therefore the shepherd is smitten Now should it be thus when useful persons die what then shall we say to these times wherein men have not put off Piety only but Nature also No marvel if the Prophet complain The righteous perish and no man considereth it in his heart The wife perisheth and the Husband doth not consider it the Parents perish and the Children do not consider it the Children perish and the Parents do not consider it few such Brethren as David to Jonathan such Husbands as Abraham such Children as Isaac such Fathers as Jacob. These long and long felt the loss of their dearest Friends but now one month is enough to wear out all thoughts of a Brother nay of a Child nay of a Mother nay of a Wife nay in the nearest tyes one in that space may be buried a second wooed a third married Hitherto in hardest pressures and worst measures David could go to Samuel in Ramah and there meet with good Counsel and Comfort but now both Samuel himself dies and poor David must flie Shall I beloved speak as the thing is In the fall of one Cedar of Ramah we have lost much shade and shelter in the splitting of one Vessel of price wherein we had all our interesses and adventures we are all losers what we have lost we shall better see seven years hence than now but losers we are all losers Wife Children Neighbours Friends Ministers People all losers so that here that is verified which was anciently uttered of another In one we have lost many a chast Husband a tender Father a religious Minister a kind Neighbour in few a Samuel Speak I this after the flesh to please No I speak it for use to profit I report my self to your hearts You tell me that you have a publick loss your mouthes have uttered it your faces speak it my Ears and Eyes have received it from you and if so then see what follows if we have Israels loss we must make Israels Lamentation Let us take up Davids words with Davids Affection I am distressed for thee Brother Jonathan very pleasant hast thou been to me thy love to me was wonderful passing the Love of Women Are we as David to Saul Isaac to Rebekah sons Are we as Jeremiah to Josiah Prophets As David to Abner Kindsmen Are we by any name entituled to this loss Mourn then mourn not as the Infidel desperately nor bitterly as doth the froward but soberly as did David when Abners Death put him to a Fast Let his dearest Yoak-fellow say Ah mine unthankfulness and unfruitfulness let Children say Ah our Disobedience and Stubbornness and Servants Ah our Idleness and Untrustiness and all Ah our Folly and Frowardness who could not see Vertves through Frailties and Corn through chaff till we had lost all These sins of ours have strip'd us of a Samuel and covered us with darkness He is gone the Arm and Shoulder is faln from this our little body the sooner for our sins let us see it or else what abides us In the Body what Medicines cannot do cutting must what that cannot burning must or else nothing saith the Master of Physick It is so in the Soul too Oh that we could see it In our Friends Sicknesses we have been Medicined in private distresses lanced but in the loss of Publick Persons the Lord proceeds to burning If these wounds upon the very Head of us strike us not down what shall next be smitten but our Heart it self Well Israel laments and it hath cause What do they next That next we must hear They bury him and the place and manner be observed For the place they bury him at his House in Ramah the Ancient and the Mannor House his Father dwelt there before him 1 Sam. 1. where also you may be informed touching the Town Whereas there were of Ramahs four or sive this was Ramah Zophim in Mount Ephraim which borrows his Name from the Situation of it it stood high and the name importeth no less In this Ramah Samuel sometime lived and here he is Interred For the Selemnity of the Funeral it is such as argues Israels love and Samuels worth they do him all the Honour that is possible First Israel the first-born of Men