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A51401
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A sermon preached at the funeral of the Right Honourable Roger Earl of Orrery, who dyed the 16th of October, at Castle-Martyr, and was buried at Youghall in Ireland the 18th of the same month, in the year 1679 by Thomas Morris, M.A. ...
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Morris, Thomas, M.A.
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1681
(1681)
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Wing M2812; ESTC R16333
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20,753
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48
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of Charity which this noble Christian did who can think but that now he enjoys the happy benefit of those promises that are made to a liberal soul Prov. 11.25 Ch. 19.17 For if he that gives but a cup of cold water to a Disciple Matth. 10.42 in the name of a Disciple shall not lose his reward much less shall he lose it that hath given so much that way 3. Come we next to his Works of Loyalty and Faithfulness in publick Affairs In which we shall find him so faithful and upright that as no offers could tempt him to do any thing against the publick interest so no threats or fears of danger and disgrace could biass or divert him from his just loyal and honest counsels and designs but in all things he approved himself a faithful and loyal Subject and a true Patriot of his Country He was the first of all his Majesties Subjects of the three Kingdoms who made a Party to invite his present Majesty from that horrid Exile to which the iniquity of the times had driven him which to his immortal honour his Majesty was graciously pleased to owne and declare at the Council-Board in England soon after his happy arrival there And after the Kings happy restauration this noble Man was so careful and watchful for his Majesty's and these Kingdoms interest that what by his wholesom advice and what by the intelligence he to his no small cost kept nothing to the prejudice of his Majesties Government could stir where he had to do but he had notice soon enough of it timely to prevent all mischief of which the timely suppressing of Jephson's insurrection in this Kingdom is an Argument And though he was indeed much in esteem in the Usurpers time yet as it was a very strange Providence that brought him into that esteem too large to be here recited so after he was thus strangely drawn into it quite against his designs he kept his heart loyal and often made use of that interest he there acquired for his Majesties good and the preservation of many eminent loyal Persons of which some are yet living Testimonies And many were the good turns he then did even to the Irish themselves though he fought against them a whole Barony of whom had been Men Women and Children destroyed in cold blood by Ireton had not he interposed and procured a reversion of that cruel and bloody Order And as for the English and Protestants of this Kingdom since those unhappy times 't was by his means and industry that they are now so firmly setled in their estates by Law that nâ—thing but a Rebellion can shake them for I have heard it said That he drew up that Act of Settlement with his own hands by which every mans Estate is now secured to him in Ireland And when he was tempted with vast offers to absent himself from or not concern himself in the Council of England when the business of the settlement of this Kingdom was there in agitation he so far preferred the publick good before his particular private advantage that with a generous disdain he rejected those though most beneficial Offers Thus then as he was a most faithful and loyal Subject to his Prince so was he a good Patriot of his Country making his Princes interest and Countries good two inseparable Companions the Compass by which he steer'd all his publick actions He never would or could be brought to betray the one or act against the good of the other And now that he is taken from us while his Majesty may lament the loss of so good a Subject and the Country of so good a Patriot doubtless these good works also of his have followed him into the other world and there afford him abundance of bliss for 't is said A faithful man shall abound with blessings Prov. 28. â—0 All that we can do is to pray God to send his Majesty another such Subject and us another such Patriot 4. Lastly to mention no more His works of Justice and Peace are fit to be considered And here we shall find him most just and honest in all his dealings and a great Peace-maker Every one found him the justest and fairest Dealer in the world and as he was just to a Farthing in his private transactions so was he most upright in his publick station For in all those publick Affairs in which he had at any time power from his Majesty and the Laws of the Kingdom to hear and determine matters he was fam'd to be so unbiass'd a Judiciary that all Parties would be satisfied in having him their Arbitrator as knowing he would do them right though it were in a Case his own Father or Brother were concerned With what admirable patience condescension meekness in partiality and judgment hath he heard determined and made up Controversies and so composed Differences betwixt jarring Neighbours What cunning stratagems would he use to oblige them to peace and quietness and how readily would he employ his Parts Interest and Authority that way This he was so eminent for that he was indeed upon this account the very Cement of the Country Gentry where he lived And that he was so I am afraid his death will too sadly prove by their falling asunder again upon the loss of this their common ligament unless every one will now henceforward begin to be so wise as unanimously to agree together in love and so carry on the publick good of King and Country against the wiles of their designing Enemies who rejoyce at nothing so much as at the pernicious Feuds of Protestants But before you can do this Sirs I must crave the boldness to tell you That you must lay aside your pride that make-bate of a Society and that by which only cometh contention Prov. 13.10 saith Solomon your prejudices and private animosities and grudges all bye and sinister ends your cursing and swearing and excessive drinking which are sins that provoke God to crumble a People to dust If you do not take heed to lay aside these seeds of contention you will be engaged in such endless broils and divisions as will be yours and your Countries ruine but if you will be pleased to hearken unto and follow this wholesom advice you will then be so united and be so capable and ready to serve your King and Country upon all occasions as that instead of the loss of one you will hereby become as many Patriots of your Country as you are Gentlemen of this mind You have had a noble Example and Copy before you who is now doubtless rejoycing amongst the rest of the spirits of just men made perfect Heb. 12.23 with the sense of those good works he hath done among you in this kind Psal 106.3 For blessed are they that keep judgment and do righteousness Matth. 5.9 and blessed are the Peace-makers And now that he is gone do you all write after him and do the same good works he hath done amongst you and then you will not only recover this loss but will also receive the reward of your good works as he now enjoys his As for this noble Person now to our grief deceased 't is but a vain and indeed an invidious thing to wish or expect him back with you again the only way you can have him still among you is By keeping in your minds such a constant memory of his good works and actions as to do them your selves But I must draw to an end And having thus far digressed to display this Noblemans good works to the Country for their imitation who questionless know and I hope will imitate more of him than I have opportunity here to speak of I must in the conclusion revert and speak a little to the comfort and benefit of his near and dear Relations And first As for his most pious and vertuous Lady She is already such a pattern of all goodness that it will be my Duty to strive rather to imitate that than seek to mend it whose Christian experience and knowledg in all religious matters is already so great that all I have said or can say to console her under this affliction will serve not so much to inform her as to mind her only of what She already knows and practises And then as for his noble Children they are already grown up such hopeful Branches and knowing Persons that they have little need of my pruning or advice only thus much let me say for the comfort and benefit of them all That as from what hath been said they have all reason to acquiesce in the good will and pleasure of God and be comforted in their though great loss because though they have lost a friend every way dear and good to them yet he is not perished but is now blessed in being freed from those pains and evils he a long time laboured under and in being accompanied with the reward and joyful sense of the good works he here did So from what hath been said they that inherit his Honour and Estate may see they have all the encouragement imaginable to take care to inherit his above-mentioned Piety Goodness and Vertues also and then they will doubtless not only purchase to themselves that renown here which accompanied him in this world but also participate with him of that bliss and glory hereafter to which he is now advanced in the other world which God of his infinite mercy grant they may all do through Jesus Christ our Lord to whom and the Father with the Holy Ghost be ascribed all Honour and Glory now and ever Amen FINIS
A SERMON Preached at the FUNERAL OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE ROGER EARL of ORRERY WHO Dyed the 16th of October at Castle-Martyr and was Buried at Youghall in Ireland the 18th of the same Month in the Year 1679. By THOMAS MORRIS M. A. His Lordships Domestick Chaplain LONDON Printed by J. M. for John Wickins at the White-Hart over against St Dunstans Church 1681. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE MARGARET Countess Dowager OF ORRERY May it please your Ladiship THE high esteem I have for the extraordinary worth of my Deceased Patron hath I confess such an influence on me that I cannot but think my self obliged to do him all the honour and service I can now he is Dead as well as when he was Living And I should think my self unjust as well as ungrateful should I not lay hold on all opportunities to do it However I must also say that I am so conscious of my own Defects that I should have been willing these following Meditations on the sad occasion of his Death should have lain only in Private hands had not your Ladiship exprest a a willingness to have them more publick Not that I have any design to avoid or suppress the Publication of your Noble Lords worth whose Memory I shall always honour but that I fear my weak endeavours will rather Eclipse than render it Illustrious But your Ladiships Commands having superseded all excuse I dare not be backward in paying this my last duty to him in doing which though my Expressions have been short of his Due yet I have hopes my zeal will Apologize for that defect which however illy expressed I am sure is hearty and real I have not the vanity to think that by what I have said either in the Sermon or Character I have added any thing to your Ladiships Comfort or knowledge since as to the first I am sure your Ladiship is no such stranger to Christianity as to be destitute of those good grounds it affords for that purpose And as to the second it would be a great piece of impudence in me to think your Ladyship should not know and retain a livelier Idea of this your Noble Lord than what in my rude draught I have represented All therefore that I have done will serve more to inform others than your Ladiship who as they come hereby to be acquainted with the admirable Excellencies of one more of the worlds most Famous Worthies so in the perusing and considering what is here said of him they may be further provoked to follow his steps Since therefore this unpolisht piece must by your Ladiships order come abroad I cannot but take the confidence to crave your Ladiships pardon for as well as Patronage of it which by reason of its meanness I confess is as unworthy of the latter as it stands in need of the former Hoping that though I have not drawn things so well to the life as they have deserved yet my endeavours that way may be accepted because in them I have chiefly aim'd to give a testimony to the world of the great Honour and Esteem I have for the memory of the Deceased and also to shew how much I am Right Honourable Your Ladiships most obedient most faithful and most humble Servant in Christ Jesus Thomas Morris A SERMON Preached at the Funeral of the Right Honourable ROGER EARL of ORRERY REVELATIONS xiv 13. And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me write blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord from henceforth yea saith the spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them SUCH and so many are the troubles and afflictions which by divine appointment Christians are likely to meet with in this vale of tears that had they hopes of no other happiness than what in this world they partake of they would be of all men the most miserable Insomuch that even Death it self which Nature shrinks at and abhors would be desired by them though not as a door that opens to an happy state yet as a period to all their calamities and sorrows as well as their beings But there is no such bad news for sound and sincere Christians they are happy even in their very Afflictions which they are assured from Gods spirit will work for them an exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. 4.17 They are so far from being without the hopes of enjoying a more blissful state than here they are in that they only of all men in the world have the most sure and certain hope that way For Jesus Christ the Eternal Son of God hath by his precious death and sufferings procured for those that are his sincere followers all things that may conduce to their felicity He being the Saviour of all men 1 Tim. 4.10 2 Tim. 1.10 especially of them that believe 'T is He that hath brought Life and Immortality to light through the Gospel Which they Rom. 2.7 who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Coloss 2.14 shall undoubtedly enjoy 'T is in a word he that hath blotted out the hand-writing of Ordinances that condenm'd us And having taken away our Sins and nail'd them to his Cross hath thereby disarmed Death of his sharpest sting so that now of a King of Terrors he is become the sweet harbinger of bliss and peace to all that live and dye in Christ 'T is therefore an utter mistake to think that sound and sincere Christians though grievously afflicted here are in an hopeless condition on the contrary 't is Infidels and Hpyocrites are so they who will not have Christ reign in their hearts but rather a beastly lust they who do not and will not strive to conform their lives to Gods holy precepts these indeed as long as they continue in their hypocrisie unbelief and disobedience are of all men the most miserable for they can have no solid hopes of any other happiness but that low mean and pitiful one that in this world only is to be enjoyed and Death is so far from being a friend to them that the very thought thereof terrifies them and marrs all their pleasant enjoyments and when it does draw near to execute its fatal Office upon them it comes arm'd with its most dreadful sting and opens upon them a floodgate of Vengeance and Misery This is their portion But now on the contrary the truly godly have infinite reason to look upon Death as their reconciled friend through Jesus Christ it being through him now made but an happy manumission of their pious souls from the labours and drudgeries they underwent in the flesh and a sending of those Immortal Beings into those regions of rest and bliss where the enjoyment of Gods presence together with the sense of all those good things which through grace they have been enabled to do in the body will be an eternal solace and refreshment to them And the evidence we have for the certainty of this future bliss is so