shortnesse of our lives then the most eloquent straines of the best rhetorician These bells assure mee that my life is but a found a noise an aier these perfumes tell mee that it is but a vapour 1. Pet. 1 24. these herbs doe teach mee that flesh is as grasse and these teares these early teares which so suddenly arise when my heart doeth call teach mee mortalitie in their hastie falling And who can choose but weepe for the shortnesse of our lives Who can forbeare a teare at the funerall of a friend It was a curse inflicted upon the wicked Iewes that they neither should be buried nor yet lamented They shall dye of grievous deaths sayth the Prophet Ier. 16.4 they shall not be lamented neither shall they be buried but they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth and their carkeises shall be meate for the fowles of heaven vers 5. for the beasts of the earth For thus saith the Lord Enter not into the house of mourning neither goe to lament nor bemoane them for I have taken away my peace from this people saith the Lord even loving kindnesse c 25.33 and Ierusaâ—mercies So the slaine of Iudah and IerusaleÌ„ saith the Prophet shall not be lamented neither gathered nor buried they shall be dung upon the ground So it was threatned concerning Iehojakim the sonne of Iosiah King of Iudah saying c 22.18 They shall not lament for him saying Ah my brother or ah sister they shall not lament for him saying ah Lord or ah his glory It was a judgment upon the Israelites Amos 8.2 when the Lord sayd by the mouth of his Prophet The end is come upon my people of Israel vers 3. and the songs of the temples shall be howlings in that day saith the Lord there shall be many dead bodies in every place they shall cast them forth with silence Surely if ever nature had libertie to pleade for the convenience yea for the necessitie of a teare it may at this time command Grace must and most willingly shall have the chiefe predominance but let nature have likewise it 's qualified drops so they grow not immoderate Though my losse be the greatest to whom hee was a husband yet others may weepe too to whom hee was a friend Gen 50.7 When Ioseph went to burie his father then all the servantâ— of Pharaoh went with him and the Elderâ— of his house and all the Elders of the land oâ— Egypt vers 8. And all the house of Ioseph and his brethren vers 10 and his father's house And they came to the threshing floore of Atad and there they mourned with a greate and very sore lamentation and hee made a mourning for his father seaven dayes Io 11.31 VVhen Lazarus was buried and the Iewes saw Mary rise up hastily and goe out they litle imagined that shee went to meete the Lord of life but they followed her saying Shee goeth unto the grave to weepe there When her brother Lazarus was dead shee wept and her sister wept and her friends the Iewes wept and when Christ did see them all thus weeping hee was so farre from blaming them vers 35 2. Chr 35.24 that hee wept himselfe When Iosiah was slaine his servants tooke him out of the charet wherein hee was wounded and put him in the second charet which hee had they brought him to Ierusalem And hee dyed and was buried in one of the sepulchres of his fathers and all Iudah and Ierusalem mourned for Iosiah VVhen Samuel was dead 1. Sam. 28.3 all Israel lamented him and buried him in Ramah in his owne citty 1. King 13.29 VVhen the ould Prophet tooke up the carkeise of the man of God who had beene slaine by a Lyon hee layed it upon the Asse and brought it back and came to the â—tty to mourne and to burie him vers 30 And hee layd his carkeise in his owne grave and they mourned over him saying Alas my brother The children of Israel wept for Moses in the â—laines of Moab thirtie dayes Deut 34.8 1 Sam 15.35 Though Saâ—uel tooke his leave departed from Saul â—nd come noe more to see him untill the day of â—is death neverthelesse Samuell mourned for Saul Iud 11 39. vers 40 Though Iephthah's daughter had beene lead and buried long before yet it was a â—ustome in Israel that the daughters of Israel went yeerely to lament the daughter of Iephthah â—he Gileadite fower dayes in a yeere When Stephen was stoned Act 8.2 devout men caried him to his buriall and made greate lamentation over him 2. Chr 32.33 VVhen Hezekiah slept with his fathers hee was buried in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sonnes of David and all Iudah and the inhabitants of Ierusalem did him honour at his death Lu 7.38 VVhen Mary Magdalene stood weeping at the feete of my Saviour and did wash his feete with teares and wiped them with the haires of her head and brought an Alabaster boxe of oyntment vers 37 and anointed him with the ointment vers 38 hee was so farre from dis-liking it in her that hee checked his disciples who had indignation at the act and therfore sayd Mat 26 8. To what purpose is this wast Yea hee reproved them and sayd unto them Why trouble yee the Woman vers 10 For shee hath wrought a good worke upon mee vers 12 For in that shee hath powred this oyntment on my body shee did it for my buriall Shee hath done what shee could Mar 14 8. shee is comâ— afore hand to anoint my body to the burying Here I find was oyntment to embalme him and here were allso teares at his funerall and yet so farre was Christ from blaming her for her teares that hee not onely decreed the publishing of this act through the world where the gospel should be preached Mat. 26 13. that for a memoriall of her but hee likewise upbraided Simon with the teares of the sinner Lu 7.44 and sayd unto him I entered into thine house and thou gavest mee noe water for my feete but shee hath washed my feete with teares and wiped them with the haires of her head vers 47 c. Wherfore her sinnes which are many are forgiven for shee loved much Weepe then I may upon this sad occasion yea and weepe may my friends too Teares are as proper at a funerall as smiles at a wedding Wee have two mariages the first whereof is to living dust the last to the cold and silent earth At the former wee rejoyce for it was an institution of God before man had sinned Gen 2.24 at the latter wee weepe for it is the effect of sinne Wee cloath our selves in delightfull colours when wee celebrate the former but our blacks at the latter are our wedding garments The Rosemarie is served about at each the gloves and the favours attend at each
of forgetfullnesse I should never have knowne the benefit of fullnesse if I had not learned it by an empty bellie I will therfore begge of him a blessing to this crosse that the more I want of out-ward blessings the more eagerly I may sieke for inward content I will resolve Hab. 3.17 with the Prophet that Allthough the figg-tree shall not blossome neither fruit be in the vines though the labour of the Olive shall faile and the fields shall yeeld mee noe meate though the flocks shall be cutt off from the foald vers 18 there shall be noe heard in the stalls Yet I will rejoyce in the Lord I will joy in the God of my salvation Rom. 8 35. Neither tribulation nor distresse nor persecution cutt nor famine nor nakednesse nor sword shall ever seperate mee from the love of Christ I know that hee which can send provisions without content can likewise feede mee when I least expect it Hag. 1.6 Yee have sowed much saith the Prophet and bring in litle yee eate but yee have not enough yee drinke but yee are not filled with drinke yee cloath you but there is none warme and hee that earneth wages earneth wages to putt in a bagge with holes The curse is as greate to eate without satisfaction as to want what wee desire I know that God oftentimes hath sent a famine that so his people might the more depend upon him So hath his goodnesse many times appeared Gen 42 5. when men had least expectation of supplies True it is that when the famine was sore in the land of Canaan the Sonnes of Israel bought corne in Egypt Men have ever vallewed their bellies above their estates In the Egyptian famine Ioseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh the King c 47.20 for the Egyptians sould every man his field because the famine prevailed over them so the land became Pharaoh's When Esau was faint comeing out of the field and Iacob refused him a messe of pottage under the price of his birth-right c 25.32 vers 33 hee said Behold I am at the point to die and what profit shall this birth right doe to mee So hee sould his birth-right unto Iacob The Prophet lamenting the people of Ierusalem Lam 1.11 say's All her people sigh they seeke bread they have given their pleasant things for meate to relieve the soule All these have beene furnished by ordinarie meanes but I allso reade that God hath provided when men could least expect 1. King 17.10 vers 12 or helpe When the widdow of Zarephath had nothing left but a poore handfull of meale in a barrell and a litle oyle in a cruse and went out to gather two sticks that shee might goe in and dresse it for her and her sonne that they might eate it and dye even then shee receaved comfort from the Prophet Elijah vers 16 for her harrell of meale wasted not neither did the cruse of oyle faile as the Lord had spoken by the mouth of the Prophet When the selfesame Prophet by the command of God dwelt by the brooke Cherith that is before Iordan even before the increase of the meale vers 5. and the oyle was miraculously effected in a wonderfull manner hee was fed by the Ravens vers 6. for they brought him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening and hee dranke of the brooke Againe when the same Elijah fled to Beersheba upon the threats of Iezebel c 19.4 hee went a daye 's journie into the wildernesse and came and sate under a Iuniper tree and hee requested for himselfe that hee might dye and said It is enough now ô Lord take away my life for I am not better then my fathers vers 5. Yet as hee lay and slept under the Iuniper tree behold there an Angel touched him and said unto him Arise vers 6. and eate And when hee looked and behold there was a cake baked on the coales and a cruse of water at his head hee did eate and drinke and layd him downe againe vers 7. And the Angel of the Lord came againe the second time and touched him and said Arise and eate vers 8. And bee arose againe the second time and did eate and went in the strength of the meate fourtie dayes Gen 21 14. When Abraham rose up early in the morning and tooke bread and a botle of water and gave it unto Hagar putting it on her shoulder and the child Ismaël and sent her away and shee departed and wandered in the wildernesse of Beersheba after a while the water was spent in the botle vers 15 and shee poore soule vers 16 cast the child under one of the shrubbs And shee went and sate her downe over against him a good way off as it were a bow shoote for shee said Let mee not see the death of the child And shee sate over against him vers 17 and lift up her voyce and wept Yet even then God heard the voyce of the lad and the Angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said unto her What ayleth thee Hagar Feare not for God hath heard the voyce of the lad where hee is Arise vers 18. lift up the lad and hold him in thine hand vers 19 for I will make of him a greate nation And God opened her eyes and shee saw a well of water and shee went and filled the botle with water and gave the lad drinke Thus my God if hee please can doe for mee too for I cry and I weepe with distressed Hagar not for drinke Ps 145 19. but bread Who knoweth but the Lord may heare my cry and may helpe mee The birds that nest in the Cedars of Lebanon the goates on the hills and the conies in the rocks the beastes of the forrests and the roaring Lyons the creeping things in the greate and wide sea and the Leviathan which is made to play in the waters Ps 104 27. These all wayte upon him Iob. 38.41 Ps 145.15 that hee may give them their meate in due season Hee provideth for the Raven his foode when his young ones cry unto God they wander for lack of meate The eyes of all wayte upon him and hee giveth them their meate in due season vers 16 Hee openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living thing Why then should I vexe and torment my selfe in this time of want as if either the Lord were ignorant of my calamitie or else were unable or unwilling to helpe mee I resolve with my selfe that though the conflict bee greate betweene my selfe and my appetite though my stomack cry and my belly complaine though leanenesse possesseth my cheekes and palenesse setteth up it's rest in my countenance though feeblnesse stealeth upon my joynts and faintnesse on my spirits yet will I not leave my confidence in my God I shall not the sooner
charitable to deceased strangers had not the price of him who dyed for all beene the unhallowed summe to purchase the field When they met with that coyne which was not for their use with that they purchased an Akeldama for foreiners But is it not all one in what part of the ground I burie my husband so I lay his body in a place that is set apart for that purpose Surely noe allthough it is equall to him yet is it not to mee Allthough at the resurrection wee shall meete againe at what distance soëver our graves shall be made yet there is some reason wee should be buried so neere as wee may that as our bodies were injoyned a mutuall society in the time of life so they might allso sleepe together in the silent dust It is but just that one grave should receave the bodies of us for whom one bed was designed upon earth that as in our lives wee were made one flesh so after our deaths wee should make one lumpe When Barzillay was offered a favour from King David and wooed to spend his time at the Court hee besought the King saying Let thy servant I pray thee turne back againe that I may dye in mine owne citty 2. Sam. 19.37 and be buried by the grave of my father and of my mother Friends have ever desired to lye by friends that those especially who were knitt together in blood affection might be joyned together in their earth and ashes In the cave of Machpelah which Abraham bought of Ephron for fowre hundred shekells of silver Gen 23.16 was buried both himselfe c 49.31 c. 50.13 Act. 5.10 and Sarah his wife There lay Isaak and Rebekah his wife and there lay Leah and Iacob her husband Though Saphira dyed by the judgment of God for the lye shee had tould yet when shee fell dead at Peter's feete and yeelded up the ghost the young men came in and caried her forth and buried her by her husband It is therfore convenient that I choose a place for the buriall of my husband where if so it may be I my selfe may be layed Convenient it is but not absolutely necessarie for the soules shall not enjoy the lesse felicitie for the remoter distance and seperation of the bodies neither shall the bodies either be sensible of the disjunction or shall it retard their meeting at the generall day Allthough the bones of Iacob were caried into the land of Canaan Gen 50.13 vers 5. and buried in the caye of the field of Machpelah which Abraham bought according as hee had made his sonne Ioseph sweare to him before his death yet hee had formerly buried his beloved Rachel in the way to Ephrah c 35.19 which is Bethlehem and there Iacob set a pillar upon her grave which was called the pillar of Rachel's grave vers 20. When the children of Israel journied from Beeroth of the children of Iaakan to Mosera Deut 10.6 Num 20.1 there Aaron dyed and there hee was buried where as Miriam his wife dyed in Kadesh and was buried there yea and Moses his brother the servant of the Lord dyed in the land of Moab Deut 34.5 vers 6. and it is fayd that God himselfe buried him in a valley in the land of Moab over against Beth-Peor but noe man knoweth of his sepulcher peradventure lest the Israelites should have committed idolatrie and worsâ—ipped him for a God Thus doe I sit and muse about the buriall of him whom so deerely I loved Yet mee think's I could most readily preserve him from the dust if either it were in my power or might bring mee content But goe hee must and I must follow him This narrow roome of his coffin must be put in trust with his mouldering earth and hee who in his life time was entertained with varietie of spacious chambers must now securely sleepe in the chamber of a grave O how it grieveth mee to see this effect of sin Had not Adam fallen my husband had not dyed But oh hee 's dead and since nor teares nor sigh's nor groanes nor cryes have power to recall him it is therfore my duety and it shall be my care to expresse my love to him in the rites of his funerall Friends shall carie him neighbours shall attend on him and my teares shall embalme him The Preacher shall be instructed in the vertue which adorned him that so hee may commend them to others for their due imitation The hearers shall greedily attend to the praises of the dead and not onely acknowledg their trueth but contentedly wish like him to live and like him to dye Now ô now another storme approacheth in mine eyes for the companie beginneth to approach my dores and my neighbours and my friends are hastening to my house But when they come let them not thinke to comfort mee lest they adde to my griefe while they vainely strive to conquer my passion I cannot allow an intermission or forbearance of teares lest I should appeare un-naturall If I doe not weepe I did not love O mee think's I could willingly weepe my selfe into a statue that I might become his monument It is the height of injustice to forbid my teares since the delight of mine eyes is now to be caried to the place of oblivion Mee think 's every thing seemeth to call for a teare which is the object of a sense Those bells which so mournfully accord in their tunes invite my neighbours to come to the funerall yet not to appeare with emptie eyes unlesse they come to learne how to weepe These herbes these strewings which lately were fresh and at ease in their beds are willing to lye even under the feete of those that will mourne and because they have noe eyes themselves to weepe us a teare they lye to receave what shall droppe from the mourners These spriggs of Rosemarie doe call to my remembrance with what joy and delight they pleased mee at my nuptialls but lest I should forget the greater happinesse of the mariage with the Lamb even this herbe which served at our wedding doe's attend at the funerall O mee think's these sprigs have sad Rhetorick sitting on their leaves for those dropps of water which hang upon them were once the blood of the fragrant flowers and now are the teares of the drooping plants Sâ— ready were these spriggs to come when I desired them that they slipped from their stemmes to attend these obsequies These exotick perfumes which delight the sense are willing to be burned rather then the living shall be offended with the dead These sable garments strike terrour into the eye and command the spectatour to lend us a sigh And what other lecture is read here or taught but God's decree of man's mortalitie The chiefe speaker and Oratour is hee who hath now forgotten to speake for the locking up of his senses the silence of his tongue and the coldnesse of his pale frozen body have more force to prove the
fierce wrath and repent of this evill against thy people Is 1.26 Turne thine hand upon us and purely purge a way our drosse and take away all our tinne vers 26 Restore our Iudges as at the first and our counsellers as at the beginning and call our land the land of righteousnesse vers 27 the faithfull land Let our Zion be redeemed with judgment and our converts with righteousnesse Ps 86.17 Shew some good token upon us for good that they which hate us may see it be ashamed because thou Lord helpest and comfortest us Heare ô my God in the bowells of thy compassions close and bind up our wounds for his sake who was wounded for our transgressions pardon us for his sake who is our onely reconciliation and let the cryes which our finns have sent up to heaven for vengeance be ceased and quieted by the blessed pleading of our onely Mediatour betweene thee and us even the beloved Sonne of thy bosome Iesus Christ our onely Lord and Saviour Amen The Second Prayer consisting of 1 A dolefull complaint of our grievous calamities 2 An humble desire of the remission of our sinns 3 A fervent supplication for righteousnesse and peace GReate and glorious Lord God who art the Lord of hosts 1. Sam. 17.45 Exod 15.3 and God of the armies of Israel ô thou who hast styled thy selfe a man of warre whose name is the Lord Looke downe I beseech thee upon the distressed anguish consuming sorrowes of this thy people in our land of blood Thou seest Lord thou seest the afflictions of Ioseph the calamities of thy people how our blood is shed like water on every side of our Kingdome how our bones lye scattered before the pit like as when one breaketh and heweth wood upon the earth How long Lord how long just and holy shall the prayers and the teares and the cries and the supplications of thy saints and servants ascend up unto heaven and yet thou seeme unto us as a deafe man which heareth not and as a man which is dumb Ps 38.13 that openeth not his mouth Is there noe balme in Gilead Is there noe physitian there Why then is nâ—… the health of the daughter of thy people recovered Ier O the hope of Israel the saviour thereof in the time of trouble why should thou be as a stranger in our land and as way-faring man that turneth a side to tarrâ— but a night Psal Thou hast moved our land and divided it ô heale the sores thereof for it shaketh O let the sorrowfull sighing of the prisoners come before thee according to the multitude of thy mercies preserve thou those that are appointed to death Arise ô Lord from thy resting place thou and the arke of thy strength Arise and have mercy upon our Sion for it is time that thou have mercy upon her yea the time is come for why Thâ— servants thinke upon her stones and it greiveth us to see how shee lyeth downe in the dust O now at last be thou favourable and gracious to our Sion and build thou the walls of our Ierusalem Send peace within our walls and plenteousnesse within our pallaces For our brethrens and companions sake I wish this prosperitie yea because of the many houses of the faithfull who put their trust in thee our Lord our God I pray for this good Exod. 3 7. Thou o Lord hast surely seene the afflictions of this thy people and hast heard our cries by reason of the sword for thou knowest our sorrowes vers 8. O come thou downe to deliver us as once thou didst thy people of Israel from the hand of the Egyptians Thou seest how the sword is drawne in an unnatuâ—…ll manner brother against brother neighâ—our against neighbour house against house â—ather against Sonne and Sonne against Father all having weapons of warre which â—re like to destroy the nation all clothing â—hemselves in garments rolled in blood Isa 9.5 Thou seest how many amongst us thirst for blood how whole rivers thereof runne in our fields and in our streetes yet it is not in the power or pollicie of man to stoppe the current It is now o Lord with us as it was once with idolatrous Israel when Moses commanded them saying Exod. 32.27 Put every man his sword by his side and goe in and out and slay every man his brother and every man his companion and every man his neighbour Psal Thy holy temples are defiled and without thy preventing mercy our Ierusalem may be made an heape of stones Heresie and Schisme oppose the cleere light of thy glorious gospel Ps 137.7 and like the children of Edom in the day of Ierusalem they say even of truth it selfe downe with it downe with it even to the ground Many of our citties and townes doe now sitt solitarie Lam. 1 1. c 2.11 that were full of people and are become as widdowes The children and sucklings swoone in our streetes the widows make their lamentations over the gasping bodies of their wounded husbands the young ones cry for bread but some of them find neither fathers to give it theÌ„ nor mothers to compassionate them Is 33.8 The high wayes lye wast 〈◊〉 way-faring man ceaseth the line of confusâ—… is stretched out upon the land c. 34.11 the stones of eâ—…ptinesse vers 13 Thornes come up in our pallaces netâ— and brambles in our streetes and houses aâ— become habitations of dragons c. 8.21 and courts fâ— owles Some wicked ones among us that aâ— hungry Lam. 2.9 fret themselves and curse our Kinâ— and our god and looke upward The law iâ— noe more vers 10 the Prophets allso find noe visâ—… from thee the Lord. The elders sit upon the ground and keepe silence they have cast up dâ—…t upon their heads they have girded themselves with sack-cloth the virgins hâ—… downe their heads to the ground It is not noâ— as it was in the dayes of ould Luc. 7.25 when men clothâ— in soft raiment and they which were gorgeousâ— apparelled and lived delicately were in King courts Is 1.7 Our countrie is desolate our citties aâ— burnt with fire and our land is desolate as orâ— throwne by strangers Lam 5.1 Remember ô Lord who is come upon thy people consider and behold on reproach vers 2. Some of our inheritances are turned to strangers and our houses to aliants Many among us are orphans and fatherlesse vers 3. and many that were wives are become widowes Many doe get their bread with the perill of their lives vers 9. Ps 142.7 vers 6. Ps 94.19 because of the sword that maketh our land a wildernesse O Lord doe thou consider our complaint for wee are brought very low Thou ô Lord art our hope and our portion in the multitude of sorrowes which wee have in our â—…rts let thy comforts ô my God refresh our â—…les Heare ô Lord and