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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
lord_n	aaron_n	act_n	heart_n	38	3	4.3600	3	false

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A12160	Corona charitatis, = The crovvne of charitie a sermon preacht in Mercers Chappell, May 10. 1625. at the solemne funerals of his euer-renowmed friend, of precious memory, the mirroir of charitie, Mr. Richard Fishburne, merchant, and now consecrated as an anniuersary to his fame; by Nat: Shute, rector of the parish of Saint Mildred in the Poultry, London.	Shute, Nathaniel, d. 1638.	1626 (1626)	STC 22466; ESTC S117282	35,817	55

whether good or euill Now there are three things of a good man written by God first his feare of God A book of remembrance was written before him for them that feare the Lord. Mal. 3.16 Concerning whom lend mee but your eyes a little further and see what God saith in the next verse And they shall bee mine Verse 17. saith the Lord of Hosts in that day when I make vp my Iewels These bee Gods prime seruants his Iewels the signets of his right hand whom hee did not write in a booke with the rest of his Saints but made a booke as it were a part for them and such a booke wherein they should bee diligently remembred as the word imports Secondly hee writes our teares Put thou my teares into thy bottle Sepher Siccaron are they not in thy booke God hath both a bottle and a booke for our teares A bottle to put our teares themselues in Ps 56.8 and a booke to write downe the Number and the bitternesse of these teares Thirdly hee writes downe our good deeds as in this place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 70. nay the word in the Greeke signifies as much as if they were not onely written but painted yea and that in oyle for perpetuitie O the infinite mercie of God what tongue so rich that is able to embellish it Hee doth not onely write our names in the booke of life Luke 10.20 nay write and engraue our remembrance in manibus suis Esay 49.16 in the palmes of his hands with great Characters euen the nayles of his Crosse his bloud being his inke his paper his owne flesh yea our very members are written by him Psal 139.16 but writes our workes and that so tenderly and fauourably Iob 13.26 that though our deserts might sway his hand to write bitter things against vs yet he writes for vs. Mens Chronicles the truer they are the freer they are in taxing errors 2. Reg. 21.17 as an ingenuous Painter takes out the moles as well as the fairer lineaments The rest of the acts of Manasseh and his sinne that hee sinned are they not written in the Booke of the Chronicles of the Kings of Iudah but the vaines of Gods mercy are so large and full that as he suffers his mercy to triumph ouer his iustice in rewarding Iac. 2.13 so he suffers the same mercy to triumph ouer his truth in writing and writes not our sinnes but only our good deeds Gods Booke is not like a Merchants Booke of Creditor and Debitor wherein a man writes both what is owing him and what hee owes himselfe for God in his mercy wips out that wee owe him and writes that only which he owes vs by promise much like the cloudes that receiue ill vapours from vs yet returne them to vs againe in sweet raines that mans braine is yet darke that doth not duly consider this for a great mercy Againe if God write vp our good deeds this is as a full winde in our sailes to put vs on euen to load Gods Chronicle with them writing vpon our selues by a reall profession of his seruice as Aaron did Exod. 28.36 Esay 49.4 Holinesse to the Lord. For Surely our Iudgement is with the Lord and our worke with our God What mans heart so dry that is not moued when he heares that our prayers and our almes goes vp for a memoriall before God Acts 10.4 not to be remembred as it were with one sole act of his memory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but as the word carries it to bee a standing monument and remembrance of vs for euer in his presence Shall our good workes bee like Esai's trees Esay 10.19 so few that a child may write them when we haue such a God for whom we worke will not only thinke vpon our workes but write them vp in such royall paper as his owne Booke Let no feare inuade vs as if that paper could sinke and so wee should lose our workes for if men lose not small deeds sometime 2. Sam. 1.18 and Sauls teaching but of the vse of a bow deserued a roome in a Chronicle certainly better deeds shall neuer be blasted but God will write them and seale them vp for all eternitie Secondly as this word wipe not out implyes that our good deeds are written by God so againe it tels vs that though they be written yet they they may be wipt out againe else had it beene in vaine for Nehemiah and a dead request to haue commended such a petition to the eares of God that his workes might not bee wiped out actually had hee not first presumed a possibility of wiping them out For not to touch the skirts of the fierie hill I meane the question of falling or not falling away from iustifying faith or imputed righteousnesse A man may fall away from some part of sanctification by a sinne of prophanenesse for he that so sinnes cannot be holy and vnholy in the same respect As it is granted by all Enormibus peccatis pij reatum mortis incurrūt Synod Dordracena c. 5. artic 5. that good men may fall into grieuous and ennormous sinnes so this instance following shewes that a contrarie act of prophanenesse must needs wipe out some part of sanctification Dauid chast before falls into adultery wee must needs say hee lost that part of his holinesse except we say his adulterie was holy which no man of the leanest vnderstanding will affirme Now how farre not one mortall sinne perchance originally proceeding from infirmitie or precipitancie may quite eate out sanctification and so faith as some say considering probably that an habit of faith is not easily lost but may seeme to stand with some true acts of inward Sanctification some being lost as in another case the foundation may stand when the roofe or a piller of the house is falne but many seuerall acts of foule and wilfull sinning without repentance Iude verse 20. not onely efficienter by acts directly contrary to the habit of faith but demeritoriè by acts cōtrary to the habits of other vertues when a man doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sends away or casts farre from him a good conscience as the word imports how farre I say these sinnes may make or not make na●fragium fidei the shipwracke of faith 1. Tim. 1.19 I will leane vpon the bosome of the Church till it be determined only I desire leaue to adde my poore iudgement which is that if this question and some others were not so rigidly stated the diuision had not grown like Ahabs cloud from the bignesse of a mans hand to a storme But no more of this because my text is properly of wiping out deeds of sanctification Secondly because I can no more contract the whole discourse of this argument within an houre than all the beames of the Sunne within a ring Thirdly because in gathering herbes I am loath to touch the wild Vine or

and it was done Psal 33.9 1. Iohn 5.15 when he heares he grants If we know that he heare vs whatsoeuer we aske we know that wee haue the petitions that wee desired of him when he knowes he helps Take no thought Matth. 6.31.32 saying what shall we eat or what shall we drinke for your heauenly Father knoweth that yee haue need of all things now what comfort could once draw neere vnto the soule of man out of this that God knew our wants if Gods knowledge were not a helpe withall yea when hee remembers he doth Luke 1.72 To performe the mercy promised to our forefathers to remember his holy couenant Gods performance and his remembrance goe together as the light and the Sunne which notes the propension that is in God to mercy to whom in giuing helpe to man it is enough to remember him whose memory and mercy are but as it were one act and againe to vs it is an example that our memories may guide our hands to mercy and that we should in a manner as suddenly relieue our brethrens wants as we doe remember them The second Conclusion Is on Nehemiah's part expressed in this particle me by which he desires a reward from God for his good deeds A request I confesse full of that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or liberty wherein as the word imports Remember mee Heb. 11.26 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Phauorin v. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Budaeus v. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. Tim. 4.8 a man may say any thing to God in a holy manner yet for all this lawfull enough It is lawfull to thinke on a reward yea to thinke vpon it as a recompence He had respect vnto the recompence of the reward The word signifies to looke vp in admiration curiously which wee call in Latine Suspicere Secondly It is not onely lawfull to thinke on it but to ioy in it Henceforth there is laid vp for mee a crowne of righteousnesse Thirdly It is lawfull to aske it yea to aske it daily Matth. 6.10 Thy Kingdome come for whatsoeuer some braine-perisht Anabaptisticall spirits think to the contrarie the Lords prayer is to bee said euery day it is Quotidiana oratio Enchirid. c. 71. as Saint Augustine calls it a daily prayer thus Ezekiah when he stood in extrema tegula Sen. epist 12. as Seneca's phrase is vpon the last tile ready to leape downe into his graue Es 38.3 had his Remember mee Remember now O Lord I beseech thee how I haue walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart and haue done that which is good in thy sight If any mans fancie worke him another way to thinke that Ezekiah desired not a reward confidently because hee seemed by his teares to feare death I recommend this answer to him hee wept not for feare of death absolutely but because hee had no child to succeed him in the throne of his Kingdome Hieron in Es 38. For Manasses his sonne vpon whose shoulders the staffe of gouernment lay next was borne out of the new lease of fifteene yeeres which God added euen three yeares after not hauing climbed aboue the age of twelue yeares 2. Reg. 21.1 when he began to reigne Ieremie had his Remember mee and that with such a pitch of confidence that for my part I thinke few or none dare pray his words after him O Lord thou knowest Ier. 15.15.18 remember mee know that for thy sake I haue suffered rebuke wilt thou be altogether vnto me as a liar If hee durst thus far draw out his zeale in asking a temporall blessing which is not to bee asked but as it were lamely and with condition what a rise and aduantage will faith take for a spirituall reward Shee will beg of God as freely as euer Bathshebah did of Salomon 1 Reg. 2.20 I desire a petition of thee I pray thee say mee not nay Euen Christ himselfe as a man desired a reward of Glorie Ioh. 17.4 5. I haue glorified thee on the earth and now O Father glorifie thou mee with thine owne selfe whose example I haue reserued like the best wine to the last that no man that hath his braines in his owne keeping or hath his head about him can now doubt that it is lawfull to aske a reward with Nehemiah Prouided alwaies that in some measure or other hee bee a Nehemiah that asks it for this strong meate is not for euery nouice neither can a small streame carrie so great a wheele there are that dare not say remember me for a Kingdome Luke 23.42 but Remember mee when thou commest into thy Kingdome Iud. 9.49 As amongst Abimelechs souldiers some cut downe greater branches some lesse according to the proportion of their strength so among Christs souldiers some carrie a greater some a lesser confidence Act. 27.44 Saint Pauls mariners some saued on boards some on broken pieces of the Ship so among Christians some arriue heauen with one measure of trust some with another All the members of the body are knit vnto the head but some nearer some farther off so in Christs body all draw grace from him yet in difference of grace there is difference of hope Secondly That the iust themselues that haue this transcendent confidence in asking a reward doe not assume this out of arrogance of merit for this strong Harnesse of merit is onely fit for the Sonne of God hee that said here Remember me said no more but Remember me he said not reward me according to my deseruing nay after hee saith Neh. 13.12 Remember mee O my God and spare mee according to the greatnesse of thy mercy See how modestie and confidence at one time kisse each other The Saints that are ascended high in obedience are like men gone vp high vpon a ladder the higher they are gone vp the faster they hold and they are not without some passages of feare to slip againe Grace and merit fight like fire and water the one puts out the other T is a truth I confesse beyond the line of all exception that as the Rainebowe in the cloud so peace in the conscience vpon a good ground is a faire signe of reconciliation but yet withall with Nehemiahs remember mee Ps 25.7 Dauids remember me accords well According to thy mercie remember thou mee for thy goodnesse sake O Lord. And thus much for the depth of Nehemiahs confidence in asking a reward Wipe not out my deeds The second terme which conueighs his request for a reward is in these words and wipe not out my deeds this being in a negatiue forme as the other in an affirmatiue This word wipe not hath a direct eye or reference to that which the Sacred finger of the Scripture points at elsewhere that a mans good deeds are written by God Apoc. 20.12 The dead were iudged out of those things which were written in the bookes according to their workes

White Way to the true Church Digress 37. Docet hoc tantùm ad quam perfectionem contendendum sit sed non obligat Staplet de Iustif l. 6. c. 1. Soto de iustit l. 2. q. 5. a. 4. co 2 that the law bound vs to beare the punishment of euery inconformitie to her in thought word and deed Cursed is euery one that continueth not in all things which are written in the booke of the law to doe them but now sinnes of ignorance infirmitie and inconsideration are not through Gods mercie in Christ imputed to Gods children and so doe not extinguish the workes of our true righteousnesse neither make the workes loose the name of good workes nor put the doers into a state of damnation as a reuerend Diuine of late hath it For though it is true that wee are bound still to a generall perfection of obedience whatsoeuer our Aduersaries blab to the contrarie who still gather where it is not strawne Mat. 22.37 Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soule and withall thy mind and that hee that is bound must needs incurre a guilt by breaking his bond yet doth not that guilt in smaller things now through the death of Christ and Gods mercie apprehended by faith put him into a state of damnation because one man at the selfesame time cannot bee in a state of saluation in regard of his faith and workes that please God and in a state of damnation in regard of his necessarie imperfections Water mingled with Wine doth not tollere substantiam vini but diluere doth not take away the substance of wine but weaken it so our smaller sinnes take not away the nature of good deeds but doe weaken them and make them lesse perfect Malum per accidens non destruit bonum per se Black sprinkled vpon white doth not take away the whole colour of white but onely darkens it so our good workes are not rooted vp by our infirmities but onely defaced and obscured The law is like Sampson Iud. 16 20. with his haire cut off it goes out to shake it selfe as before but it hath in this case no strength to rise against vs. Secondly Gradus non mutat speciem Neither doth the want of the degrees of absolute perfection take away the kinde or substance of good workes no more than the want of a finger the being of a man or the want of a fringe the substance of a garment The imperfection of the worker is to bee distinguisht from the substance of the worke A man that is in cutting downe a tree with an ill axe cuts it downe in the end though not so neatly and a good man is still destroying the body of sinne by obedience though it bee with some hacking and imperfection but I will put out this lampe and conclude Good workes are not sinnes formally and properly taken much lesse mortall but of themselues and in their nature good onely by accident mingled with euill as appeares euen by this one thing Heb. 13.16 that they please God To doe good and to communicate forget not for with such sacrifices God is well pleased Now it is a thing against the graine if not blasphemous to say that a worke which is properly a sinne should though by the indulgence of God be pleasing vnto God But to turne mine hand from our aduersaries to our selues If our good deeds be good indeed I cannot but deepely censure them that vnder pretence of aduancing faith doe deuance good workes and because good workes are mingled with euill therefore to make them cheape and contemne them as if a man should perswade a beaten trauailer to seeke an vnknowne way and to leaue the high way because there is a little dust in it What is this but to doe with Religion as Iosephs brethren did with him Gene. 37.23.28 strip her of her parti-coloured coat her robe of righteousnesse and sell her away to the Midianites Let vs banish this spirituall idlenesse Though wee receiue grace freely and without labour at the first yet wee cannot preserue it without labour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Concil Nicaen 1. part 2. cap. 31. A. Gell. l. 5. c. 6. say the blessed Fathers of the first Nicaene Councell Thy labours proceeding from a sincere faith and to a sincere end are not onely good in themselues in the truth of their nature but notwithstanding their smaller cracks and imperfections God will entertaine them as perfectly done yea crowne them in the end euen as the Romans when they gaue the Obsidoniall Crowne to one that had deliuered a Citie from the siege of the Enemie made him a Crowne of that grasse and those flowers where the Citie was besieged so will God giue vs a reward of those workes which wee haue done well for the glorie of his name and the good of our brethren Though perchance our gold want some few graines Which I haue done for the house of God But all this while my Sunne hath shone through a cloud in generall let vs now fasten our thoughts vpon the good deeds of Nehemiah in particular These are of two sorts or haue a double obiect First those good deeds which he did for the house of God Secondly those which he did for the offices thereof First for the house of God The Temple of Hierusalem was called the house of God First in a wider or larger sense ab efficiente 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as wee say because God commanded it to be built Thy sonne whom I will set vpon thy throne 1. Reg. 5.5 in thy roome hee shall build an house vnto my Name Secondly more pressely and in a closer sense in regard of the end or vse of this house and that was double First in respect of God who dwelt in this house and had possession of it that is testified his presence more cleerely there then else-where both in the Arke of the Couenant and the Cloud The Lord hath chosen Sion 1. Reg. 8.6.11 Psal 132.13 hee hath desired it for his habitation Secondly in regard of his Seruice Sacrifices and Prayers and other holy exercises being performed there by Gods people therefore it was called the place where his Name should be 1. Reg. 8.29 I might here bury a great part of my time about the distinction and dignitie of the house of God aboue other places not cōsecrated or made ouer to Gods seruice but I must draw in my sailes So I trauell on from the terme of the house of God to place mine eyes vpon the liberalitie of Nehemiah to this house Vpon this house besides his flaming zeale in repayring it and the wall about it he gaue with a full hand to the enriching of it a thousand drammes of gold Nehem. 7.70 fiftie Basons fiue hundred and thirtie Priests garments a rich example for euery able man to put vp vnto his consideration it being a holy good

worke to doe good to Gods house Blessed be the Lord God of our Fathers Ezra 7 27. which hath put such a thing as this in the Kings heart to beautifie the house of the Lord which is in Hierusalem They that built only the walls of Hierusalem yet are curiously registred in the Scripture by the places which they repaired by their names Neh. 3.5 8 9 17 22 32. yea by their conditions for some were Noblemen some Gouernours some Leuits some Priests some Apothecaries some Gold-smiths some Merchants Sulpit. Seuerus hist sac l. 2. Darius had three Hebrew young men the Squires of his body one among the rest by his wisdome drew both the Kings affection and admiration vpon himselfe whervpon Darius bade him one day Aske of him what hee would and he should haue it He answered that he desired nothing but that Hierusalem might bee rebuilt againe Egnat exempl l. 1. c. 1. Baron ann 324. num 62. exactis Siluestri And Fame reports of Constantine that in the erecting of a Church at Rome he himselfe carried out twelue baskets of earth vpon his owne shoulders as appeareth by the foundation of the Church What strangers then are they to this Charitie of Nehemiah who either demolish holy places or through sloth and couetousnesse suffer them to fall Sure this is no Christian Psal 79.1 but a right heathenish tricke O God the Heathen are come into thine inheritance thy holy Temple haue they defiled they haue laid Hierusalem on heapes nay the Heathen would neuer doe that to the Temples of the false Gods Plut. in Timoleonte that wee Christians doe to the houses of the true God for they hated and fled from all sacrilegious persons Were the Church leprous wee could doe no more then plucke out the stones as they did in the old Law Leu. 14.40 in a Leprous house nay they would not euen in such a house plucke out all the stones as they doe in Churches Conueniat me Ianus iratus qua velit fronte Tertull. Apollog c. 28. but only such as were Leprous Well let Ianus in his anger looke vpon me with either of his faces to borrow Tertullians words yet I will euer proclaime that Next to the iniurie done against the temple of mans body there can be no greater iniury then that which is done against the bodie of the Temple And I wish that all sacrilegious persons might feele the whip vpon their conscience which sometime Celsus felt who after the robbing of many Churches hearing one day that place of Esay read Woe vnto them that ioyne house to house Es 5.8 Gregor Turon lib. 4. cap. 24. that lay field to field till there be no place that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth cried out immediately Vae mihi filits meis woe be to mee and my children Secondly Neither can they find in their hearts to bee on Nehemiahs side who in their hearts regard no Temple nor any publicke place consigned to Gods seruice 1 Reg. 14.23 but build them as it were groues on euery high hill and vnder euery greene tree Or if they bee in the Temple behaue themselues there as reuerently as in a Stable 1 Reg. 7.25 worse than euer Hirams brazen Oxen whose hinder parts were not to be seene in the Temple for modestie but these mens Religion is rudenesse as if Religion were best clad in a fooles coate 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys in 1 Cor. 14. hom 36. Exurge veritas quasi de patientia crumpe Ipsa Scripturas tuas interpretare quas non nouit consuetudo Tertull. develand virginibus cap. 3. Psal 102.14 And the offices thereof Neh. 7.1 13.10 Iustly may wee complaine with Saint Chrysostome In the Primitiue Church houses were Churches but now Churches are as houses nay worse then houses But manum de tabula I will put vp my pensill and conclude this point with that of Tertullian Rise vp O Truth and breake from thy patience and interpret thy selfe thy Scriptures which custome knowes not Neuer can that mans hand bee liberall to the Temple that doth not first in his heart fauour the dust of the Temple But now as the fairest house without a light is worth little nay hath no roome in our estimation so the fairest Church without a Minister Therefore Nehemiah was not onely liberall to besprinkle the house of God but the Offices thereof with his mercie Hee appointed the Porters the Singers and the Leuites yea a maintenance for them without which the Priest-hood can no more stand then a plant without iuyce And here wee haue found another fresh spring of his bountie It is one of his good deeds and our president to let part of our mercie fall vpon the Ministers of God were not this work a welcome and an acceptable worke to God hee would neuer haue set so strong a guard vpon the contrarie Take heede to thy selfe Deut. 12.19 Mat. 10.41 that thou forsake not the Leuite as long as thou liuest vpon the earth Christ saith Hee that receiues a Prophet in the name of a Prophet that is as the Father expounds it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Jsidor Pelus l. 4. ep 135 2. Chr. 31.4 not for indirect ends but with a naked heart looking to religion and goodnesse shall receiue a Prophets reward Thus Hezekiah commanded to giue the portion of the Priests the schedule or reason is annexed That they might be encouraged in the Law of the Lord. It is a laudable Charitie and such as deserues the siluer pen to still the crying bowels of the poore yet if wee will lend credence to Aquinas Quae sunt ad finem quanto ei propinquiora tanto meliora Aqu. 22. qu. 81. a. 6. That of those workes which are ordained to one end as the glorie of God those are best which draw neerest to the end then must it needes follow and weigh downe this consequence that the workes whereby Gods worship is maintained because they do more directly and immediately tend to Gods glorie doe deserue a larger table of commendation then ordinarie charitie to the poore They that annoint the skirts of Aarons Garments and they that annoint Aarons head doe both repose their charitie in Gods hand only those repose it in Gods left hand these in his right pardon my zeale I pray you if I seeme to scortch one side more then an other Num. 17.8 that Aarons rod may if not flourish aboue the rest of the rods of Israell yet flourish together with the rest I speake not to take away the least threed from the poore but as it happens sometime that euen the fairest coats of Armes may haue some barre or defect so may charitie to the poore if it bee with a contempt of the maintenance of Gods seruice loose if not the Principall yet some part of the Interest of her commendation Neither doe I here serue our owne cause to

funeralls our Churches mourne our houses mourne wee our selues mourne yea the very aire by a kind of repercussion of blacknesse seemes it selfe to be black and mournes The death of man in generall is able to make our Sorrowes runne what pittie is it that hee that euen now was Monarch of the aire to breathe where hee listed should by and by haue his lungs stopt with dust and bee lockt vp well-nigh for euer in the breathlesse earth That he that had Gods candle shining vpon his head euen now Iob. 29.3 should presently lay his head vpon the sable pillow of the bed of darknesse That hee that kept the best companie with men Buxtors Sina Iud. c. 11. should by and by haue no other companie but with wormes If the Iewes in the feast of reconciliation thinke the swealing of a candle ominous what may wee thinke of the dying of a man Certainly if wee blow vp this powder into our heads it will awake vs from our Lethargie specially such who take vp this consideration withall that the same death that slue their brother may next tread vpon their heeles But aboue all things my iudgement runnes this way that the death of good men should make our vaines cold when an ordinarie man breaks rank and dyes there falls a vapour but when a good man dyes there falls a Starre when the Israelites shooke off Egypt and departed they robde the Egyptians and when a good man shakes off the world he robs the world Such was the death of this thrice-worthy and euer-renowmed Gentleman Master Richard Fisburne whom death too soone for vs though too late for himselfe hath with an Habeas corpus remoued into another world So sowre is the remembrance of it that my Prayers are rising still that his death with other good men may not be a lightning before a great thunder and that the losing of such corner stones may not perish the whole building But before I spinne out the particulars of his vertues I must first shape some Apologie for my selfe and my dead friend of neuer-dying memory On my part some mens thoughts may bubble vp within them and imagine that I speake for my fee. Others out of a gloomy suspition may conceiue that there might some desire start from him to haue his Sepulchre whited after his death and this commendation painted vpon it but I will put in myne answere First for that imputation that may bee rolled vpon me I doe professe with an vntainted heart that though I haue as good a cause as a poore man can haue to dote vpon the remembrance of my friend yet shall not any sinister end set my tongue on worke further then the truth commands me For him hauing now no relike of him but only his Remembrance which is no more to a friend himself then a shadow to the bodie I will euer defend it and keepe his name bright from the rust of contradiction yea I should slay mine owne conscience if I should not wipe out the least imputation that is cast vpon him Hee did diuers times both in the beginning of his sicknesse and towards the end grate vpon the abuse of this custome of ouer-spicing the dead in large commendation and intreated me yea with some flashes of importunitie that I would performe this last office of Preaching for him but speake nothing of him And indeed had it not beene that by my silence I should haue maymed the common expectation his honour and your example I had turned these wordes into sighes and haue imposed this dutie vpon mine eyes and not vpon my tongue But who can part with so good a man so sweet a friend in so rude a manner as to say nothing If I must needes therefore erre one way as in these occasions commonly the wind stands in our faces and our actions returne vpon vs againe I will rather be immodest in denying the modesty of my friend then vnthankfull in denying mine owne duty And so I breake away from the Apologie to the matter This brother of ours deceased was by birth a Gentleman of the Towne of Huntington cut out of no meane quarrie borne of a good house what the strength of his education was and how hee was translated out of Nature into Grace shined cleerly in the vertues lent him by God when more yeeres fell vpon him Commonly the heate of good institution which is put into a child yong glowes in him little or much while hee hath a day to runne through in this life And as many times the Husband-man that hath the eye of experience will giue a faire ghesse of the whole day by the morning so many times to a man of a fresh sight youth is an Optick-glasse to discouer afarre off the sequell of many yeeres After that hee was well inlayed by his education God hauing endowed him with excellent parts of Nature hee was transplanted into the seruice of a Noble Countesse in this Kingdome where as the fairest flowres haue oftentimes the faintest smels he did not long like the candied happinesse of the Court. From thence therefore hee tooke his way into the Ciite and became seruant to a Gentleman of full esteeme and credit Sir Baptist Hickes now Knight and Baronet from whose owne mouth I heard it with what diligence and faithfulnesse euen for many yeeres together hee disindented and discharged himselfe of that seruice For his vnderstanding so much as might lye within the compasse of an ordinary braine Fame it selfe could scarce lie of him which knowledge of his he often watred with assiduous reading professing in his sicknesse the large comforts he had culled to himselfe out of those houres laid by for his priuate studies And this was ascertain'd afterwards by a Booke in folio which bare the collections which he had fisht out of diuers Bookes of Diuinitie Historie and the like Pet. Martyr M. Perkins c. Besides by the voice of reason it is commonly true that hee that is prouident in his youth is rich in his age so he that is studious of good things in his former yeeres is all comfort in his death Hee wsa an affable man Hee that looked but vpon his face might haue seene goodnesse and courtesie looke out of his eyes If a poore man whose hopes perchance lay a bleeding had had any request to haue aduanced vnto him he carried such a dew in his lippes and answers that he would haue breathed as it were another life in his face His gestures so without all specks of offence iniurie as that he deserued the name which Nicholas the third had for his modestie to bee called Compositus Volateran Anthropolog l. 22. A man well composed This was that which made him Lord of so many hearts Scarce was there a man within the compasse of our memory that euer wonne himselfe more loue in his health more Prayers in his sicknesse more lamentation after his death Hee was a iust man in his words yea