unawares trading in sin or living in any kind of lewdness This waiting vigilancy is our sheild to keep off the fiery darts of Satan his evil suggestions and a Canopy to keep our Virtues pure from being sullied or spotted by any Vice It does that indeed which the Heathens thought their Goddess Pellonia did it drives and Chases all evil from us He that watches for Death conceives that it is ever at hand and not afar off and therefore he makes a daily provision for it He is of the same temper of the same frame of spirit as the Watchman was of Isaiah 21.8 my Lord says he there to the Prophet I stand continually upon my watch-tower in the day time and I am set in my ward whole nights In this Watchman's posture we should ever be There is specula meditationis a watch-tower of meditation which transports the soul from earth to Heaven and thus the good Christian is ever watching by meditating on the benefits that redound or come by Death to us it being only a releasing us from a nasty Prison no more is the body to the soul and an advancing us to a stately Palace of pure Delights a freeing us from our toilsome fetters of sin and sickness with other woful miseries and a possessing us of the Glorious liberties of the Sons of God Rom. 8.21 This Meditation sweetens Death and makes it's approach less terrible Familiarity takes away fear and the Meditation of Death makes it familiar to us The daily constant Meditation of Death is likewise a great help or means to Cool the heat of Lusts to kill Pride and suppress Covetousness when we shall consider and believe that the day or hour of Death is approaching when a winding Sheet and a Napkin about our heads will be all the goods we shall carry hence with us a Grave all the land a Coffin the only house which we shall possess when worms shall be our sole companions a noisome stench instead of perfumes and instead of Robes and rich attire raggs of Rottenness He that seriously thinks on these things and digests in his soul or conscience the bitter Pills of these sad truths that man will not be proud lustful nor covetous Secondly there is specula Praeparationis a watch-tower of preparation and on this the good-man or devout Christian is ever standing his care is to do that hourly and daily which Carthusianus advises all to do and that is so to provide for the coming of Death ut nihil in mente resideat quod conscientiam mordeat cum quo mori timeat that no sin reside or remain in our brest which may wound and trouble the Conscience and with which we being guilty cannot die in peace and safety When sin is separated from thy Soul by a true and timely Repentance thou shalt not need to fear a dissolution or separation of thy soul from thy body by death Make thy peace with God in time if he be thy friend death wil be the same to thee not thy foe not thy enemy No unclean Person shall inherit the Kingdom of God Ephes 5.5 When therefore thy soul is cleansed thy conscience purged and purified that the guilt of no crying or raigning sin lies upon it then art thou fitted for Death then mayst thou with a cheerful confidence give a Christian-like invitation to it and say Come Death and wellcome Lord Jesus An holy temperate sober life an happy Death and comfort at the great day of Judgment these are close linked together they never part asunder Non potest malè moriqui vixit bene His death cannot be ill who lived well Aug. that feared God and perform'd his will by keeping his holy Commandments Therefore let your conversation be in Heaven whilst you live here upon earth and be diligent as S. Peter exhorts 2 Epist 3.14 that you may be found of Christ in peace without spot and blameless 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 at the hour of your death Then may you be assur'd that at the last day he will be your friend you shall find him in effect what his Name Jesus imports a loving Saviour and not a severe Judge even so come Lord Jesus and when thou comest make good thy saving Name unto us Thus we pray to this end we Preach and this is every ones desire to be saved from Hells everlasting torments But let me tell you that though he be a common universal potential Saviour in respect of the Jews and Gentiles and in respect of all sorts and conditions of men yet to them only he will be effectually a Jesus who acknowledg him to be their Lord which Title is therefore prefix'd or set before that Name in the Text we look for the Lord Jesus to teach us that if we stoop to his Scepter and submit to his word if we obey his Commands and live according to his precepts wearing the Livery of His Holiness in our lives making that first Sermon of His Matt. 5. the rule of all our Actions and transcribing that fair Copy the rule of all perfection by our holy practice we may then look for him as Jesus and expect from him Salvation I look for the Lord my soul doth wait for him and in his word is my trust So said the Prophet David Psal 130.5 which words may be applied to Christ's coming in Judgment He look'd for the Lord whom he served to be his Saviour and his trust was in his word that word of Promise that he will not condemn a penitent humble sinner And whilst we look for the Lord let that promise be the comfort and stay of our souls 1 Cor. 11.31 If we judg our selves we shall not be judged by a judgment of condemnation That which the Apostle exhorts us to is that Judicium paenitentiale as Tertullian calls it the Penitential Judgment or the Judgment of Repentance when a man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as S. Chrys exhorts us to do sets up in his Soul a Tribunal or Seat of Justice and makes his Conscience both Judg and Witness and examining himself daily wherein he hath offended God after this examination passes a sentence against himself as deserving for his sins eternal damnation then appeales from himself to God's mercy and Christ's merits humbly begging for Christ's sake a pardon of all his transgressions and seals or ratifies his pardon to his Conscience by his amendment The man that doth these things shall never fall from his hope of happiness Christ will not condemn him who thus condemns himself and his sins by putting them to death or by living no longer in them Judicium paenitentiale evacuat Paenale saith Tertullian The Penitential Judgment whereby we condemn our selves doth evacuate the penal we shall not be punished for our sins He that is thus dead whilst he lives shall live in his Death and may say upon his sickbed as that devout man Myconius said to Luther his friend that came to visit him thy sickness is not unto Death but unto life for Death shall only give a release to his soul from the Prison of his body to a full and perfect State of liberty and when Christ shall appear at the latter day he will raise his body out of the Dust and place it at his right hand to triumph and reign with him in endless joy and unspeakable happiness This honour shall be conferr'd on all God's faithful Saints and dutiful Servants whose conversation is now in Heaven from whence we look for the Lord Jesus And that our conversation may be such even Heavenly as it becometh those who wait for the coming of their Lord. Let us pray O God most holy who delightest in those Souls which resemble thee in purity let thy blessed Spirit take full possession of our Souls and Spirits and by the power of it drive out of them the foul Spirit of envy and malice of pride and uncleanness that being cleans'd from these Impurities they may be fill'd with thy Divine Graces and our lives shine with the heavenly rays of Charity and Chastity of Humility and Meekness of Sobriety and Temperance which are the badge the Cognisance of thy Elect and the Lives of thy Saints And Lord wean our hearts from the love of this World's vanities which can neither content our Souls nor continue with us and fix them upon thy self who art the Joy of the Holy Angels and our only Stay Hope and comfort in all our distresses that when we leave this sinful World and all forsake us when death shall arrest our Bodies our Souls may not be forsaken of thee but admitted into those Joys which shall never end because they stream from Thee who art Everlasting Those Graces and this Glory we most humbly beg through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
of Sir Thomas Leigh of Stoneley in Warwick-shire Knight and Baronet so Her Mother was Katharina a most Virtuous Lady Daughter to Sir John Spencer of Worme Leighton Knight and great Grandfather to the Right Honourable now Earl of Sunderland c. The foresaid Sir Thomas had by His Lady Katharina Issue John Leigh Knight who was the Father of the Lord Leigh Baron of Stoneley now living in the County of Warwick Philip. 3.20 Our Conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ THERE is in Love so strange a piece of of Magick as to transform a man into the object of it and to translate the Soul into a place far remote from the body of the affectionate Lover S. Paul whose Soul was fired with a burning flame of Seraphick love was of this Divine and Holy Temper after his vision when he was rap'd up into the third Heaven where he heard and saw 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 words and things which were inexpressible and doubtless beheld the glorious face of our Lord Christ Jesus the beauty of Heaven and the mirrour of Angels ever after he was yet with submission to God's will whether for life or death weary of the world which he look'd upon as a Shop of vanities a Sink of uncleanness and a Dungeon of miseries and by an holy transmigration of Spirit converst daily hourly with his God in Heaven and knowing that the only way or means to arrive at that place of Bliss that Mansion of pure delights and sublimate Joys is to follow Christ to imitate H m whose life is the most perfect Idea of all virtues the most exact rule of Holy Living he therefore in his Epistle to the Ephes 5.1 Exhorts them and with them us in these words Be ye followers of God as dear Children again 1 Cor. 11.1 Be ye followers of me as I also am of Christ S. Paul who press'd this duty to the Ephesians and Corinthians did know full well the nature of man whom an Apish and Fond imitation turns into the nature of beasts so it may be said of some men as it is Psal 49. the last verse They being in honour i. e. endu'd with reason wherewith they are honour'd by God above other Creatures for want of a right use of it to a discreet ordering of their lives may be compared to the beasts that perish When men do follow the bad examples of others and walk in crooked and by-paths which tend to destruction they may be compared to the silly sheep who will follow their leaders even into deep waters and down steep Praecipicies Non quà eundum sed quà itur Senec. Not minding where they should but where the others go There have been and are those who did and do count a defect or deformity a piece of graceful honour if by it they may be like their Superior Thus a wry neck in Nero's court was the Mode and esteem'd a piece of Gallantry as the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to lisp in Julians and to limp in anothers because these defects were beheld in those Emperors But we Christians ought to be wise and prudent in our Imitations and by setting before our eyes the choicest patterns of goodness we should endeavour to heighten and advance our Souls to an evenness in Grace and virtue with the best Presidents amongst God's Saints To this end i. e. to raise their Souls to an high degree of Perfection S. Paul vers 17. of this Chap. exhorts the Philippians to propose him for a pattern to walk by Brethren be ye followers of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example To which exhortation he subjoyns a reason in the words of my Text. For our conversation is in Heaven c. The first word Conversation is in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the which admitting of divers Interpretations has caused a Variety of Constructions amongst Expositors They who with Tertullian and S. Hierome translate the same by Municipium which is the State or Condition of those who dwelling out of a City in some remote place or Country have yet the Priviledges of the same they being enfranchised belonging to them upon this account or for this reason they take this to be the meaning of the Words That although we be strangers and sojourners here on Earth however we are Municipes Freemen or Free-denyzens of Heaven and have the priviledge to be call'd and own'd by God as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Fellow-citizens of the Saints Ephes 2.17 With whom we shall at the great day of the world's Assizes Raign for ever in Heaven and partake of their Happiness But the word being of a larger acception or signication for that by it is understood many times in the Greek Fathers as Chrysostome Basil and others vitae ratio institutum a trade or manner of living which is agreeable Likewise to the Syriack Translation we may with Beza read the words thus Nos ut coelorum cives nosmet gerimus we behave our selves as Citizens of Heaven And this Paraphrastical gloss suits with that of Grotius who says that this clause Our conversation c. must borrow light for it's sense or meaning from the preceding words v. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who mind earthly things to which is oppos'd that which follows in my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But our Conversation is in Heaven c. The words thus explain'd In them and those that follow are wrapt up these two General parts First Here is the Apostles protestation of his holiness in these words Our conversation is in Heaven c. Secondly His and all good Christians joyful hope or expectation From whence we expect the Lord Jesus Christ First For the Protestor S. Paul and his Protestation I remember that S. Chrysostome making mention of him says that he had 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a large Soul a Soul as large as Heaven for that it was not shut up nor Imprison'd as the worldly mans is in his body nor chain'd in fetters of Earthly cares but dilated as ours should be in his love of Souls and spread in its ardent desires of Heaven or future happiness after which he panted as appears by his Cupio dissolvi Philip. 1.23 I desire to be dissolv'd and to be with Christ Thus his conversation or rather heart was in Heaven And this his Protestation in the Text of his Heavenly-mindedness did not proceed from Pride or a vain-glorious Ostentantion but only from an holy and earnest desire to draw our Souls upward by his Example to God that made them whilst we follow him in our practice by a Godly Imitation of his Virtues In the second Epistle to Tim. 3.10 The Apostle thus bespeaks him Thou hast fully known my doctrine manner of life purpose faith long-suffering charity patience to which we may add his Sobriety and Temperance of which we have a record 1 Cor. 9.27 As also his
A Mirrour of Christianity AND A Miracle of Charity Or A true and Exact NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE and DEATH Of the most Virtuous Lady ALICE Dutchess DUDDELEY Published after the Sermon in the Church of St. Giles in the Fields by R. B. D. D. Rector of the said Church on Sunday the 14th of March MDCLXIX PSAL. 112.6 The righteous shall be had in an everlasting remembrance PSAL. 41.1 Blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy Si vis esse mercator optimus foenerator egregius da quod non potes retinere ut accipias quod non poteris amittere da modicum ut recipias centuplum da temporalem possessionem ut consequaris aeternam Haereditatem London Printed by E. C. for R. Royston Bookseller to the King 's Most Excellent Majesty at the Angel in St. Bartholomews Hospital and for J. Collins at the Kings Head in Westminster Hall 1669. To the Virtuous and most Religious Lady KATHERINE LEVISON The Relict of Sir RICHARD Knight and Baronet And the only Surviving Daughter of the Illustrious DUTCHESS Whose just Encomium is published in the ensuing Treatise Madam I Do here present to your Ladyship a lively and true Portraiture of your deceased Lady Mother or rather your own genuine Picture Though it wants those lively Colours which might be required to set forth it 's luster However it being drawn after her Death and so not to the Life I doubt not but your Ladyship will admit it into your favourable acceptance and draw it over again as you have begun by your great charity to the poor piety towards God in your Christian Life and Conversation Your Ladyships Patronage of this work I cannot in prudence beg for there is no fence against contradicting envy and malice which is far from those Noble Persons and others in this place where the Illustrious Dutchess breath d and expired Yet I presume to say that some who shall peruse the ensuing Treatise will imagine if not say when they have viewed her matchless deeds recorded in the same that what they have Read is incredible which censure they will disown after they have considered that She was a Miracle of Grace and a glorious Prodigy of Munificence Let such persons misguided in their Judgments and misled in their deceiving Phansies know that to commend the dead for their unquestionable merits is a work of that spotless Innocence that the Authour cannot be attach'd of Flattery in doing it as the Person commended is out of danger of being injur'd by it in that she cannot be elevated in her mind nor tempted to Pride so said the Learned Maximus Taurinensis in one of his Homilies I shall close these few impolite Dedicatory lines with my Prayers to the Almighty Lord the God of Grace that he would be pleased to encrease his Graces which are great and many in you and continue his Mercies to you that having with a large Revenue a larger heart and an open hand you may tread in the same path of charitable beneficence in which your Deceased Renowned Mother walked and with Her be hereafter glorified in Heaven wearing the Crown of Charity and Perseverance This is the hearty Vote of him who is Madam Your humble Servant Ready to Obey your Commands R. Boreman Imprimatur Sam. Parker Reverendissimo in Christo Patri ac Domino Domino Gilberto Archiep. Cantuar. a Sacr. Dom. Ex Aedibus Lambethanis Aprilis 26º 1669. An Exact NARRATIVE OF THE LIFE and DEATH Of the Renowned Dutchess DUDLEY Who departed this Life in her House neer the Church of St. Giles in the Fields Januarii 22. Anno 1669. in the XC year of her Age. WE never read of any that were blamed for drawing of too much water out of the Well of Life I mean for devoting themselves with an earnest assiduity to the reading and study of Gods Word Neither can we possibly give too much honour to the Lord of Glory and King of Saints though we should put our inventions upon the rack and scrue up our expressions to the highest There be many ways and divers means whereby God may be glorified by us but none more effectual and powerful to the advancement of his glory than by acknowledging with due praises the many eminent Virtues which as so many Rivulets stream into the Souls of the Saints from the everlasting Spring of Divine Grace They glorified God in me so said S. Paul of himself Gal. 1.24 Who though he stiled himself out of the depth of humility the chiefest of sinners and the least of Saints yet in Gods esteem he was as great as the greatest of the Latter and Less then the least of the former Now to the glory of God which is the aim of my weak endeavours to the praise of his eternal goodness which should be the object of yours I shall by his Blessing and Divine Assistance discharge a duty which is pattern'd to us by the practice of the Heathens Jews and Christians in all ages it is to present to the view of your Meditations one of the Fairest Flowers in the Garden of Gods Church one for her Saintship of the highest Stars in this lower firmament whilst I embalm the memory of the most Virtuous deceased Dutches D. with a just Encomium and praises due to her rare and transcendent perfections In the doing whereof I shall perform a double commendable work First A Duty of Civility and Christianity to the dead Secondly A Duty of Piety to the Living whilst I stir up their Devotions to an Holy Emulation and Zealous Imitation of the Graces and Virtues which Shined in the Life and Death of the Renowned Dutchess 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 To speak in the Language of the Learned Nazianzen whose Tongue that Tongue which sored so high in the praise of S. Athanasius and S. Basil would suit well with this great work better then mine who when I have said all that I can being not able to speak enough may incur that censure of endeavouring or going about to fit a Dwarfs Shoe to a Giants Foot But to hold your expectation no longer in suspense I shall lay the Foundation of this Structure in Her Graces Birth and Education and then lay upon it the weight of an Holy Life and happy Death this done refer all to your godly imitation and so commend you to God's blessing First For her Ladiships Birth we have here a Righteous Branch sprung of a Righteous Stock She was the second Daughter of Sir Thomas Leighe of Stoneley in the County of Warwick Knight and Baronet the Relict of Sir Robrt Dudley Knight Son to Robert late Earl of Leicester and for his extraordinary merits created a Duke by Ferdinand the Second Late Emperor of Germany For divers great considerations She was by Letters Patents bearing date at Oxford the twentieth day of May In the twentieth year of King Charles the first of Blessed Memory By the said King advanced to the title of a Dutchess being by the foresaid Robert
is now awake in Heaven wearing the Crown of Perseverance and singing with the triumphant Chorus of Angels and Saints glorified a joyful Song to the Lamb Christ Jesus sitting upon a golden glorious Throne who will at the great day raise up her body from it's long sleep by virtue of that Spirit which rais'd him from the dead Rom. 8.11 and dwelt by a full measure of Grace in the Soul of our deceased Saint who being dead yet speaketh as the Apostle attests of righteous Abel Heb. 11.4 and methinks bespeaks as now on Earth her survivers from Heaven in the words of St. Paul Let your conversation be as mine was in Heaven where I raign now in the Embraces and Glories of my Saviour and Be ye followers of me as I was of the Lord Jesus in Faith and Love in Humility Meekness Piety and Patience and suppose too that she bespeaks you all in the words of Gideon to his Souldiers and of Abimeleck to his Judg. 7.17 chap. 9.48 Look on me and do likewise what ye have seen me do and shall hear I have done even so do ye according to your abilities and several capacities ☞ Clothe the backs of the poor and feed the hungry bellies adorn God's Houses and contribute to the Rebuilding of decaied and by war and fire wasted Churches endow poor Vicaradges with Annual Accessions or Augmentations of large Salaries relieve poor Widows in Hospitals by yearly Pensions give good and competent Summes for the redemption of Christian Captives now chain'd up to slavery in the hands or under the power of Infidels and for placing out of poor Children or Orphans yearly to be Apprentices Honour your Ministers who are set over you in the Lord especially those who labour in the Word 1 Tim. 5.17 i. e. take great pains to dispense the lively Oracles of it and administer frequently the holy Sacraments for the edifying and saving of your Souls give what is due unto them and take nothing by fraud or violence from them and if they want an house to dwell in provide one for them All that has been said the Illustrious Dutchess did and gave to God the Glory of it who afforded Her by his blessing that good and plentiful seed which she liberally sowed and scatter'd in the fields of the poor and hath sprung in a rich and large crop of blessings which she now enjoys with God in the Coelestial Paradise Pauperum fundus est foecundissimus The poor man's field affords the largest Crop And though all cannot keep an even pace or go along with her in her Bounty and Magnificence yet follow her though at a distance by conforming your lives and actions to her Charity and goodness Thus if you do as her good deeds in a manner exhort you and declare the Sincerity or Truth of your Faith by your goods works Imitating Christ the King of Saints and this deceased Dutchess a Queen among her Sex for her rare exemplary Virtues and Graces you shall be for ever blessed as She is and Crown'd with Everlasting Glory and Happiness Trin-uni Deo Laus honor Gloria c. A Memorable and Exact CATALOGUE OF ALL THE RENOWNED DUTCHESS Her Good or Most Charitable Deeds AS to abound in Good Works is an Argument of a Lively Faith in Christ and a true mark of Christianty so to disperse the same upon a self-seeking Interest out of a design to gain praise and get glory by it is an infallible note or sign of Hypocrisie This Pharisaical vice never lodged in the Soul of our deceased Dutchess so Renown'd for her stupendous Charity the fire whereof burnt hot in her Religious brest but was cover'd over with the Ashes of Humilty She whilst living loved not to hear her just praises sounded in her Ear for well-doing but contented her self with God's approbation whilst she did all for His Glory that the poor releived by her bounty might have an occasion to say Blessed be the Lord for his merciful goodness that hath open'd the heart and hand of his servant to help and succour us in our want She was such a stranger to Pride which never enter's into a gracious Soul and so far from Ostentaion in her life that I am perswaded had any come to her before her death and mention'd the design of publishing the ensuing Catalogue after it she would not have consented to that motion but rather forbad it However now that her Grace is out of the reach of Flattery and cannot be suspected for the guilt of Vain-glory I shall blow the Trumpet of her praise by presenting to the World a list of her good deeds that those who peruse it may thereby be induced to follow her steps to conform their lives to the exemplary pattern of her bountiful goodness to abstain from superfluities in Apparel and Diet which murther Charity that what they spare or gain by abandoning all excess in needless expenses they may contribute the same to the relief and comfort of Christ's poor Members his necessitous pious Servants This was the practice of our Illustrious Dutchess and for this God has Crown'd her as he will all those that imitate her with everlasting glory and happiness A just Account of her good deeds in her life and little before her death taken out of our Churche's Register and specified in her last VVill and Testament 1. HER Charity began at the House of God which was first in her thoughts as it is usually the last or not at all in other's When the former Church here of S. Giles which was decay'd by Age lay as it were in Rubbish there being a Void space at the upper end of the Chancel which was stored with Lumber as the Boards of Coffins and Dead-mens Bones She being offended at that unhandsome prospect erected a decent Skreen to divide the said Chancel from the forenamed place and to hide it from the beholders eyes which could not but be troubled at it 2. When the foresaid Church was fallen It began to be built in the year 1623 and was finished with the wall about it Aâ—… 1631. with the fall whereof that Skreen was demolished God moved the hearts of the Parishioners to erect a new Church in the Room or place of the former which was in a few years effected and finished many hundreds of good Christians in other Parishes contributing to so good and glorious a work she most liberally as she had a magnificent large soul gave to the advance and finishing of it together with the Wall that encompasseth it many 100 l. of which her magnificent bounty the then grateful Parishioners erected a Monument which is placed over the great gate or the Northside of the Church The words engraven in a large square Stone are these QVOD FOELIX BONVMQVE SIT POSTERIS HOC TEMPLVM LOCO VETERIS EX ANNOSA VETVSTATE COLLAPSI MOLE ET SPLENDORE AVCTVM MVLTO PAROECORVM CHARITAS INSTAVRAVIT IN QVIBVS PIENTISSIMAE HEROINAE D. ALICIAE DUDDELEY
MVNIFICENTIA GRATVM MARMORIS HVJVS MERETUR ELOQUIUM HVIC ETIAM ACCESSIT ALIORVM QVORVNDAM PIETAS QUIBUS PROVISAE IN COELO SUNT GRATES 3. The Church being finished which is a large goodly Fabrick that the Inside of it might correspond with that which is without She gave hangings of Watched Taffity to cover the upper end of the Chancel and those border'd with a Silk and Silver Fring Item For the back of the Altar a Rich Green Velvet Cloth with these three Letters in Gold IHS embroider'd on it Two Service Books in Folio Embossed with Gold A Green Velvet Cloth with a Rich deep Gold Fring to cover the Altar on Sundays A Cambrick Altar-cloth with a deep Bonelace round about Another fine Damask Altar-cloth Two Cushings for the Altar Richly Imbroider'd with Gold A Large Turkey Carpet to be spread on the Week days over it A beautiful Skreen of Carved Work which was placed where the former in the Old Church stood Moreover she gave a neat pair of Organs with a Case Richly Guilded Item Very Costly handsome Rails to guard the Altar or Lord's Table from profane abuses Item The Communion Plate of all sorts in Silver and Gilt for that Sacred Use which is as large and Rich as any in the City and Suburbs Besides all this She was at the Charge of Paving the Upper End of the Church with Marble Stones And gave the great Bell in the Steeple which as oft as it Rings sounds her praise and was at the Charge of casting and hanging the other five Bells Onely this Bell and the foresaid Plate excepted all the forenamed Ornaments of the Church being counted Superstitious and Popish were demolished and sold under a pretense of relieving the poor out of the Mony Received for them by the Deforming Reformers as they were call'd in the late bloody Rebellious times But the Church since has been by our care Rebeautified though not in the same high degree and manner as before specified 4. She gave long since to the Church of Stoneley in Warwick-shire where Her Sacred Body lies now Entomb'd as also to the Churches of MANCESTER LEKE-WOTTON ASHOW KENELWORTH and MONKSKIRBY twenty pounds and upwards per annum a piece for a perpetual Augmentation to the poor Vicaridges of those Respective Churches for ever 5. Moreover she bestowed on the same Churches and Likewise upon the Churches of Bidford in the foresaid County of Warwick Acton in Middlesex S. Albans in Hartfordshire Patshil in Northampton divers pieces of fair and costly Plate to be used at the Celebration of the Holy Communion in each of them 6. And besides all this She purchased a fair House and Garden neer the Church of S. Giles's aforesaid and gave it for a perpetual Mansion to the Incumbents after three lives whereof two are expired 7. She also allowed a yearly stipend to the Sexton of that Church to Tole the great Bell when the Prisoners condemn'd to die were passing by and to Ring out after they were Executed 8. She likewise gave great Summes of Money for the repairing of the Cathedral Church at Lichfield and for the Re-edfying of S. Sepulchres here in London All these with many more of a lesser Magnitude were the products or fruits of her great Charity whilst she lived and thereby made as wisemen and women do her own eyes her Overseers and her own hands her Executours At her Death She made these following Bequests viz. 1. For the Redemption of Christian Captives from the hands of Infidels one hundred pounds per annum for ever 2. To the Hospital situate neer the Church here in S. Giles's four hundred pounds for twenty pounds a year for ever 3. For the placing out for ever of poor Parish Children of S. Giles's Apprentices two hundred pounds to purchase a piece of Land at ten pounds per ann And two to be put out every year 4. To the poor of the foresaid STONELEY KENILWORTH LEKE-WOTTON ASHOW BIDFORD and PATSHIL aforesaid and also of LICHBOROW and BLAKESLEY in the County of Northampton one hundred pounds per ann to be disposed and distributed among them in such sort or manner as Her Will doth direct Her Executrix 5. And upon the day of Her Funeral fifty pounds to be distributed among the poor of the said Parish of S. Giles and other adjoyning Parishes 6. She bequeathed to fourscore and ten Widows according to the Number of the Years She lived to each one a Gown and Fair White Kerchief to attend the Hearse wherein Her Body was carried and one shilling a piece for their Dinner after that Solemnity was perform'd which was on the sixteenth day of this present Month of March 1668. 7. She appointed by Her Will five pounds to be given to every Place or Town where Her Corps should Rest in it's Passage from London unto Stoneley as aforesaid in Warwickshire where She hath a Noble Monument long since prepared by Her self 8. She Order'd that six pence should be given to every poor body that should meet Her Corps on the Road. 9. She gave to BLACKSLEY LITCHBOROUGH and PATSHIL aforesaid ten pounds a piece to be distributed among the poor the same day Her Corps was Interred 10. To the Parish of Stoneley fifty pounds which was distributed the same day Thus our Illustrious Dutchess did in Her Life and at Her Death and doubtless for all Her Good Deeds She has Her reward in Heaven by God's Mercy and Christ's Merits Whom that short and Ingenuous Epitaph would befit which is Inscrib'd on the Learned Is Causabone's Monument in Westminster Abbey admit of it thus with the Alteration of a Name and Word Qui nôsse vult Ducissam Duddeleiam Non saxa sed facta legat Superfutura marmori ET Profutura Posteris In English thus READER Wouldst thou the famous Dutchess Dudley know Read not Her Monument that 's far below Her Merits but her Acts which with her Name Carried on the Nimble wings of Fame Will profit those that shall hereafter come And last when Marbles have their fatall Dome To the former CATALOGUE of Her Innumerous Acts of Charity Let this Epicedium be added as a closing Epilogue When Greatness with a Long-spund-age And Goodness joyn'd fill up the Page Of Her due Praises we may say That unkin'd Death has snatch'd away A Phoenix of her Sex in whose Brest The Graces dwelt and made their Nest O! from Her Ashes may there Rise A Generation to Immortalise What e're of Virtue bears the name Whilst what She did they do the same Floruit Floret ac Florebit THE END I shall desire the Candid Reader when ever he meets with the Name Dudley to ready Duddeley We find by a late Subscription under Her hand that as She wrote so Her Name is to be Read and Spelled There is one thing more of no small concern which hath been omitted but must for a close of all be subjoyn'd to what hath been briefly said concerning Her Pedigree As Her Grace was the second Daughter
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his striving to keep a good Conscience void of offence Act. 24.16 And when we have beheld the Apostles Soul deck't with the forenamed Graces and enrich'd with that inestimable Jewel of Heaven the Souls Paradise I mean a Conscience that is quietè honestè bona quietly and honestly good to the constitution whereof there must concur these three Ingredients Puritas Cordis veritas oris honestas actionis Purity of heart Truth in the mouth and honesty in our life or conversation From hence we may infer that Heaven had in a manner enter'd into him and that he was in Heaven whilst he breath'd upon earth not only in regard of his union with Christ by Faith as a learn'd Commentator notes upon the Text but also in respect of his conformity to Christ whom he loved and resembled in his life he being as Christ was Vir doloris laboris a man of sorrows and of great sufferings likewise of a wonderful patience as is evident by the eleventh of his second Epistle to the Corinthians When his feet were in the stocks Act. 16. His mind was in Heaven Crus in Cippo animus in Coelo Aug. When he was in that great storm at Sea Act. 27. When neither Sun nor Moon appear'd for many days in the midst of that danger his Soul was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys in a quiet Haven even in the bosom of God in that great darkness he had a light within the light of Joy and comfort because God was with and in him As there is all joy in Heaven so there is Heaven in the Souls inward Joy which springs from Patience in Tribulation and from the Peace of a good Conscience therefore Holy Patient Meek Humble S. Paul who was ever contented his Conscience not disquieted He might truly assert of himself and none but such as he was of the same mould of Spirit can say of themselves as he said Our conversation is in Heaven Having given you a brief Character of the Protestour S. Paul I shall now turn his Protestation into an exhortation or Precept as he intended for we must suppose that when he had said Be ye followers of me and mark such as walk so mark so as to imitate them for our Conversation is in Heaven he said thus in effect And let your conversation be in Heaven First By your Souls conversion unto God S. Hierome has a saying which is a vehement asseveration and Protestation concerning himself Testor Deum quando lachrymis madent oculi videor tunc Angelorum interesse Choris I protest and call God to witness when mine eyes are drown'd with tears springing from sorrow for my sins I seem to my self to be conversant with or in the Company of the Holy Angels Such is the nature and energy of true repentance which of all things in the world makes the greatest change it works a change in God it turns his frowns into smiles his angry displeasure into a gracious favour It transforms a carnal earthly-minded man into a Spiritual and Divine Nature from Sin to Grace from vicious customes to holy habits from drunkenness to sober practices It raises a sinner from death to life from his Prison to a Throne from Hell and the guilt of eternal Torments to Heaven and entitles him to endless happiness In a word It carries a man to God by confessing and forsaking his sins and brings God to man in pardon and forgiveness This brings peace to the Soul and in whom this Peace resides in him God resides and dwells by his Spirit which is the Spirit of Peace Now can Heaven in the Joys and comforts of it be wanting where God is When therefore S. Paul exhorts us to have our Conversation in Heaven he says in a manner thus Make your peace with God by an hearty sorrow for your sins and declare the truth or sincerity of your sorrow by an holy and heavenly life which is the Nurse of Peace and Mother of solid comfort He is as it were in Heaven who is a true and humble Convert so was that Mary Magdelen when she lay weeping at Christ's feet she loved Christ very much because much was forgiven her Stans in terris in Coelo es si Deum diligis Aug. If thou lovest God thou art in Heaven whilst thou art on earth A sinner that is assur'd of his pardon will love his Saviour and this love will transport or carry his Soul to Heaven to converse there often by Meditation and Prayer with his Redeemer Secondly Let your Conversation be in Heaven by a frequent Contemplation of it As for our Contemplation or Meditation of Heaven I must tell you in general that for want of it or because it is so neglected virtue decays in men and vice abounds the Graces of God's Spirit our Faith and Hope as also our Charity grow weak but our Passions as Grief and Fear with others get strength and encrease in us If our thoughts be in Heaven where true Honour Wealth and Pleasure are to be found our indeavours will be after it and all our Studies for it and then Si neglectis terrestâ—… 〈◊〉 Coelum toti aspiramus as Pelacherus glosses oâ—… 〈◊〉 Text when neglecting or despising earthly things 〈◊〉 wholy pant and gaspe after Heavenly no sad event 〈◊〉 casualty here on earth will trouble us We read in Gen. 24.62 That when Isaac went out to Meditate in the field at eventide he met Rebekah his beloved so that man shall meet with joy and content as S. Paul did in all his sufferings that oft takes a walk by contemplation in Heaven the Coelestial Paradise the Garden of pure delights Meditating on it's everlasting comforts and concluding which is an Act of Faith and Hope that they are provided for him that he shall inherit them because he is fitted and prepared for them being freed by the sanctifying grace of God's holy Spirit from the bondage of corruption from the filthiness power and command of sin which raigns not in him This work of Sanctification in him is the only evidence a man has for his assurance that he is design'd to be 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Fellow-Citizen with the Saints in Heaven And when his Meditation of it is joyn'd with this assurance as Discomforts will flie out of his Soul in the midst of troubles so neither will a temptation to any foul sin easily seize on it For he will thus argue with himself when he is tempted I am marching or walking upward to Heaven my City and proper Country which is above but this sin is the Broadway which leads downward to Hell I am bending or moving forward toward the possession of everlasting Joys but this may turn my course backward and hurry my Soul to endless torments therefore I will not commit it Thus not only a comfortable but also an holy life is the fruit of Divine Contemplation which is the Souls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it 's prospective glass
for or expected It is the Saviour which is Christ the Lord. First for the expectantes We i. e. nos fideles We Christ's faithful ones we as the Mother of Sisera Judg. 5.18 Look'd out at a window and cried when she expected his return with victory over the Israelites Why is his Chariot so long in coming So we look through the Casement of Hope for Christ's second coming to Judgment Now Hope is the expectation of some great good which we believe we shall receive because he is faithful that promised it For this cause Clem. Alexandrinus calls Hope 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the blood or Life of Faith for that it keeps our Faith warm without the which it would languish and faint Faith without Hope may be in Hell as well as on Earth The Devils believe Jam. 2.19 That Christ will come to be our Judge but they are afraid and tremble as the wicked do when they think of it because their torments shall be encreased then as the joy of the good Angels and Saints augmented with a clearer or fuller Vision of Almighty God They only look for Christ with Hope expecting his second coming they only who believe in him as their Redeemer We look says the Apostle excluding all unbelievers we look for the Saviour So it is Expectatio fidem testificans such an expectation as testifies our faith in Christ and by this as an infallible Rule we may assure our Souls of the soundness and Truth of our Faith in Christ that our sins by him and through him are pardoned and our Persons justified if with Hope joyn'd with inward Joy and Comfort we wait for his second Advent For in the second place This expectation is Expectatio animam exhilarans it is such a looking or expectation which in the midst of all their sorrows refreshes and revives the Spirits of the Saints for they reason thus with themselves Here in this life our bodies are oft upon the rack of sickness pinch'd with pains and tortur'd with Aches but then at the Resurrection or last day of Judgment they shall rise as so many bright shining Suns out of the dark celles of their graves and in a moment be invested with those glorious qualities that adorn the body of our Lord Christ as is attested by the Apostle in the next verse to the Text. Again They believe that they shall find Christ then at his Appearance not their Judge to condemn but their Advocate to plead for them Why then say they should we be dismaid for fear of that Judgment wherein he is to be the Judge who at first suffer'd for us in his body on the Cross as a Surety or Redeemer that he might satisfie his Father's Justice for our sins and having paid our debts by his death hath ever since pray'd for us as an Intercessour and will at last be our gracious Rewarder Thus the Saints look for Christ with an expectation which rejoyces the heart They delight in the coming of their Saviour Thirdly This their Expectation or looking for Christ is Expectatio vitam purificans such an Expectation as is attended with purity of life and holiness in a strict conversation They ever have as S. Hierome professes that he had the voice of the Archangel Arise ye dead and the noise of the last trumpet sounding as it were in their ears When those that are Christ's that lived and died his faithful servants shall rise first out of their graves and meet their Lord in the air to receive an everlasting Crown the reward of their service Then the sinners and ungodly shall be raised their bodies being as black as the Infernal darkness and having received their sentence from the mouth of their Judge their bodies and souls shall be sent back to their dark Prisons in Hell where they shall be ever burning and never consumed in flames of fire and brimstone The consideration of these everlasting burnings as it makes the Saints to set an high price or value upon the Lord Jesus so it engages them to a strict performance of all holy Duties as continual prayer sobriety and watchfulness being assur'd that none at that great day shall escape the sentence of Condemnation with the wicked who are surpris'd by Death and snatch'd away in their sins of which they have not repented For most true is that saying of S. Aug. Epist 80. to Hesychius In quo quemque invenerit suus novissimus dies in hoc eum comprehendet mundi novissimus qualis in die illo quisque moritur talis in die altero judicabitur In what condition a man is found at the hour of Death in the same shall he be looked upon at the great day of Judgment If he be surprised by Death in the state of Impenitency he shall then be condemn'd as an Impenitent without mercy If death finds thee without sin it being severed from thy soul by an hearty Repentance thy Soul shall not be separated from God but shall with thy glorified body partake of everlasting blessedness To conclude He that shall come i. e. Christ who is designed by God to be our Judge will come and will not tarry Heb. 10.37 i. e. not fail to come on that very day which is appointed for him to summon all men to Judgment Of that day and hour knoweth no man Matth. 24-36 It is hid from the eyes of our understanding and knowledge but let not the thought of it be banished from our hearts let us expect our Lord's coming every day he comes first by Death before he comes to judgment Therefore let our expectation of him be in the last place Expectatio attentè vigilans an Expectation or looking for him attended with an attentive watchfulnes All our watching all our praying with other holy duties should drive at this end that when Death comes it may find us well doing or in an holy frame of living and we it our friend which is an enemy to the Impenitent and ungodly sinners Suppose thou seest Death marching towards thee with a cup of deadly poison in one hand and a Crown in the other and that if it take thee in the midst of thy sins that Poison will be thy potion but if it find thee watching and praying that Crown shall be thy lot or portion Oh! then put on Job's resolution Chap. 14.14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 expectabo wait is but a Syllable but of a large and spreading signification and comprises the main if not the whole duty of man He that waits does watch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with an awful care and circumspection with an holy Fear and Jealousie over himself ever suspecting his own weakness so that he is ever upon duty always busied either in the immediate Acts of Piety or in the ordinary works of his Calling that the Devil or his own imbred corruptions may not supplant or hurt him nor Death surprise his Person