of other things to the hand of Providence Iudgement did master opinion and by earely accustoming his taste to the truth of spirituall pleasure hee contemned the false and abhorred the filthy pleasures of the worlde lust or pride could not fasten vpon him a desire to spend nor avarice a thirst to spare feare or favour could not cause him to preferre shaddowes or neglect draw him from rewarding the meanest deservers Ambition drew him not to hasty adventures nor daunger ever put him to distrust the sunne beames of his morning were most radian yet his thoughts calme and a heavenly peace in all his passions his blessed minde was never racked with desire or feare nor ever troubled with the sad burthens and consuming CANKERS of this life never afflicted with the surbate of cares or surfet of riots froathy praise he avoided as infectious goodnesse was his aime which being the cause led him on in the course of all those most honourable actions he entended in all which he was free from the taint much more from the staine or sting of ill Sophocles his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sophoc Xenoph. or Xenophon in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nay with al reverence to holy records Salomō or Iosias so soone did not so much the later and the better of these began but in the 16th yeare of his age in the 8 yeare of his raigne 2. Chron. 1.3 but blessed PRINCE HENRY as if he had beene consecrated from the wombe in the morning watch of his life was a morning starre in his lustre and considered that the Feare of God which the preacher made to bee the ende of all things in the end of his Ecclesiastes the same is the beginning of wisdome in the beginning of his Proverbs Eccles 12.13 Prov. 1.7 Neither differring nor dissembling had place in him or power over him no excuses no refulals staid him he Remembred his Creator in the daies of his youth he thought it good for him to beare the Lordes yoake in his youth Lam 3.27 he studied wherewith a young man might cleanse his waies louely Isaac loving Ioseph Princely Iosiah true harted David beloved Daniel holy Samuel faithful Timothy were his patternes Psal 119.9 to consecrat his first best endeavours to God Not only his Martiall Scholastical exercises did honour him with that title which Livy gaue to M. Cato Si arma sumpsisset in armis natū crederes T. Livius Dec. 4. lib. 1. si se ad studia convertisset inter liter as educatum but his dayly holy conversing with God in the path of goodnesse his spirituall progresse in grace and favour testified that from his youth vp his conversation was in heaven this was the grace of his childe hood and garland of his youth this blessed his life cōforted him at death and shall commende him to all posterity 4 Learne hence yee young Gallants that put farre from you the day of the Lord yee that neither in the morning nor meridian of your liues Prepare your selues to meete the Lord or care that when he commeth he may finde you watching and working To die well is a long art of a short life and a speedy beginning is the shortest method to this longest art Salomon telleth of a time Eccl. 3.2 2. Cor. 6.2 Eccless 3.2 Tempus mortis But as if that were too generall Paul confineth that time to a day 2. Cor. 6.2 dies salutis and Christ limiteth the time of that day to an howre Mat 25.13 Mat. 25.13 Hora acceptationis In the Revelation Babylon is lamented that in one howre her iudgement is come Rev. 18.10 that in one howre so great riches came to naught vers 17. and that in one howre shee was made de solate vers 19. But times daies howres are scantled yet shorter 1. Cor. 15.52 by the Apostle Iudgement shall be in a moment in the twinckling of an eie in the last trumpe that as God gaue his law with the sound of a trumpet Exod. 19.16 So hee shall call for account of it with the sound of the Trumphet Ex 19.16 1. Cor. 15. Hieron 1. Cor. 15.52 How shrill should this trumpe be still in our eares as S. Hierome witnessed of his owne ever sounding and ecchoing this that the surest way to a good life is to beginne betimes considering that though Gods mercies oftentimes affords vs many yeares to repent yet his Iustice affordeth not an howre to sinne Greg. Peccanti Crastinum non promisit saith Gregory hee promiseth not to morrow to the offendour who is alwaies ready to receiue the penitent How should this consideration draw vs on Trahit enim non cogit Deus Austin lead vs along by the waters of comfort and admonish vs all if hitherto we haue neglected to fasten vpon the first opportunity of seasoning our souls with that blessed spirit of Janctification while they be fit for impression and that by a gracious meditation we consider the race we are to run and the many encombrances which alwaies crosse vs That delay augmenteth difficulties and more do perish by this Temptation then by al the toiles guiles of Sathan the longer we persist in sin the more God plucketh his grace and assistance from vs our good inclinations are the weaker the vnder standing more darkned the will more perverted the appetite more disordered the passions are more strengthned that at length the stupid and benummed soule may loose the spirituall light of grace naturall light of reason and retaine only the sensuall twylight of affections common with bruit beasts so the the youth being il spent Sathan wil plead possession in age therefore the dawning springing morning time of life must bee consecrated to God it was not only the piety of Iob to rise vp earely in the morning of everie day to facrifice and sanctifie his sonne Iob. 1.5 Iob. 1.5 But his owne practise in his owne young yeares in the morning of his life in the daies of his youth the secret of God was vpō his Tabernacle Iob. 29.29.4 For this is the time as S. Ambrose describeth it Iob. 29.4 Ambros wherein the elemēt of fier predominateth in the sonnes of men calore corporis feruente estu sanguinis vapor antis ignescente viribus invallida consilijs infirma vitio calens illecebrosa deliciis est Adolescentia This is the spring of life and how easily may a spring-tide drowne all the summer hopes of youth the time of strength and beauty both easily inflamed by heate of vanity the time of growth activity both soone nipped with the frost of mortality Aug. now visus acutior auditus promptior incessus rectior vultus iucundior now the sunne of the vnderstanding doth most appeare and the starres of the senses most gloriously shine then the 4. humors resembling the 4. Elements the liver as the sea the veines as the rivers are in their most
acknowledgements of deliverance from the paw of the beare the Iaw of the Lion the Iauelin of Saul Goliahs speare Achitophels trappe Absolons treason Doegs slāder Shemei his curse from the mouth of the sword the murren of his people the horrours of his sinnes the rebellion of his owne sonnes S. Austin in his meditations on the Psalmes asketh the question vpon Davids speech Quaerite faciem eius semper Si semper quaeritur quando invenitur Aug. in Psalm inventus est tamen quaerendus est Seeke his face evermore why if he must bee sought evermore when shall he be found is he found and yet is he to be sought and answereth himselfe thus Deum invenit fides adhuc eum quaerit spes charit as autem invenit eum per fidem eum habere quaerit per spem faith hath found God and hope seeketh him but charitie both hath found him by faith and seeketh to haue him by hope According to the measure of which methode our now Immortall then mortall Prince did seeke the Lord being stedfast in faith ioyfull through hope rooted in charitie hee hath passed the waues of this troublesome world and is come to the Land of everlasting life and there hath found the Lord. 6 Learne hence then from the Cedar yee fir trees and shrubs of the forrest yee that ever lived vnder his shadow or now are in the sunshine and countenance of greatnesse learne to seeke the Lord this is the whole duty of man the summe of all Gods will revealed in his word Yee may see in the naturall agents whether they be to beare rule as the Sunne and Moone which are placed in the firmament or be ruled as the Elements and parts of this lower world they all worke as if they knewe what they wrought and in their severall courses seeke to performe his will as if they were acquainted with his wil. How much more doth it cōcerne men whom in a maner hee hath made partakers of the divine nature to seeke his glory seeing that by his glory they seeke their own good The Orbes Arches of heaven with their starres and planets and the whole fabricke of nature were ordained to finish their course by motions and operation and so man as hee was created to a more nay to the most happy and blessed ende should attaine therevnto not by sloath and idlenesse which as the worme in the guord be the devourers of goodnesse but by endeavour which is the spirit and by ambition the spurre should stirre on in the waies of grace being in the glorious liberties of the sonnes of God How commonly knowne be those notions that our life is but a iourney a race a votage a combat we are but travellers souldiers workemen in the vineyard c. All which are with many more notes of seeking and labouring which should edge a good minde to wish as Heathen Seneca did Seneca that hee might ever bee in action Malo enim saith he vt me fortuna in castris suis quà m in delitijs habeat hee had rather bee fortunes warriour then her wanton rather dwell in her Camp then in her Court Erasmus professeth that hee had no time to be sicke or opportunitie to take Physicke and the former Seneca that he had scarse leasure to sleepe Nullus mihi per otium dies exit partem noctium studijs vendico Sen. Ep. 8. non vaco somno c. neither day nor night eating or sleeping could withdrawe him from studies the devise of Aristotle who by letting a ball fall into a bason kept himselfe waking Which starre-light of good in them should stirre vs vp who are in the sun-shine of grace lead vs on to the search and discovery of Immortalitie These meditations should lead vs on further to the Queene of the South 1. King 10. seeking by a long iourny to come to heare Solomon shee and the Ninivits Gen. 2. and other Heathens may iustly arise in iudgement against this generation and condemne vs Christians For not to flatter our selues in a matter of so great importance wee cannot plead ignorance neither can we excuse negligence in the care of our searching and maner of our seeking The devouring sword terrible shot wounds outcries alarmes groanes of the dying danger of the surviving cannot keep the valiant war riour from seeking the lawrell of victories The vntamed Sea and tottering ship the stormes or calmes or rocks or sands or shipwracke of others cannot detain the Marriner from seeking for his hoped for commodities And yet the one in the height of his honour maketh his way through blood and the other as if borne vnder Aquarius wasts his life in the waters whereas many whose whole life never partakes of any painful interruption whose bellie God hath filled with treasure and satisfied with all maner of content haue not begunne to seeke nor cared to finde the God of their Fathers thinking it then time enough when the cloud of sicknesse portendeth the Tempest of death which like a dāpe puts out al the light of pleasure How deere therefore ought that counsell to bee Seeke the Lord while he may be found i to seeke him while we may seeke him for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Time is fixed on a wheele Athe. that incessantly whirleth and draweth with it vs all our actions And our lease of life is as the ancient Hebrewes haue by calculation of the yeares observed so short that if wee would with all our forces and studies endeavour to atchieue some matter of worth wee should bee in daunger of wanting day light For if the daies of our age be threescore yeares and ten or if men bee so strong that they come to fourescore which was the longest date of yeares that Moses afforded Psal 90.10 deduct first the time of eating and sleeping which is the greater moetie of mans life then deduct the daies of childhood which is an ignorant folly and innocent simplicitie then deduct the daies of youth which is no better then and indiscreet heat rash and heady and as Solomon calleth it an inconstant vanitie deduct yet the daies of age which is lifes wast and mans winter a hoare frost cold and vnhealthy and when wee thinke this Survey and substraction is ended and we haue seene all the travel that God hath giuen vnto the Sonnes of men to bee exercised therein yet deduct the daies of Sorrowe the souls feaver an eating viper a fainting miserie a little colde to pinch vs a little heat to parch vs the aking of a tooth or finger able to distract our studies or sports or labors in sicknesse weake in discontent withered and all these houres of childhood youth age sleepe sicknesse sorrowe substracted where is that life of man threescore yeares ten Which if it were ful it were but the number of the yeares of Babylòs captivity Nay where is the yeare the day the houre that man
bee thy anger for it was fierce and thy wrath it was cruell Didst thou mistake Iehoshaphat for Ahab 1 King 22.32 this holy Prince for some Idolatrous Pagan or was thy aime onely at this beautie of the world Why hadst thou not gorged thy hollow hellish appetite with some blasphemous Rabshaked or cursed Sanballat with some aspiring Haman or Church-robbing Nebuchadnezzar Ioseph lib. 1. Antiq. cap. 5. Hosp de Grig fist pag 48. Novemb 12 November was the dismall time death fitted for this Tragedy a time noted by the Orator dysastrous It would rather fill a Library then a volume to descend to particulars It was the Month of the Flood as Iosephus among the ancient Hospinian among the moderne doe affirme and if ever a second Cataclysme fell vpon the earth the Teares shed in the sorrow of this losse may deserue a Chronicle many expectations were sunke and some Gallants went to heave thy water sorrow killed them What hopes were shipwrackt in this storme and what a generall deluge over streamed all honest hearts will never be forgotten while that blacke day the 6th of November shall appeare in our Kalender Quintus intendit Sextus intulit The 5. day was by the Sonnes of Beliall a day dedicated to our destructiō a day by Hesiod and Virgil and all the heathens as Hospinian collecteth most ominous but the Lord was more carefull in the prevention then wee thankfull for preservation herein therefore what was but threatned on the fift day was showred downe the 6th day at which time the storme fell vpon vs. It was a strange prodigie that on the fift day at night about the houre of 8. a Rainebow appeared seeming as it were by the sight and Iudgement of some to cōpasse the house of S. Iames. I referre the Learned to those that haue written of prodigies for my own part I haue learned that lesson In pluribus Domini operibus non esse curiosum Eccl. 3.22 not to be over curious and inquisitiue in many workes of the Almightie Lactantius much inveigheth against those De fals sap lib. 2. c. 20. whose chiefe delight was Inconcessa crutari to search for vnlawfull things and I knowe that Iacob striving with an Angell got the shrinking of a sinew yet that the covenāt of the flood sould so dysastrously appeare in the month of the flood in the night beyōd the rules of Nature and course of custome did certainely portend somewhat Indeed after the flood God hung vp his bowe in the Clowd in token of reconciliation vnto men and the bend and arch of the bowe is turned from vs Lib. de operibus creat cap. 3. as Zanchius observeth But he hung vp his bow saith Ambrose Arcus habet vulneris indicium non vulneris effectum the bowe maketh a shewe of hurting but it doth not hurt it is the arrow that woundeth But now God seemeth for our sinnes to haue taken downe his bow againe it was an arrow he shot with the fervency of his furie the Court was wounded the Commōwealth the Church the whole Protestant world receaved a wound in the death of Gods deareling the Renowned Prince now in heaven 13 Let all the world stand in awe of their pow erfull commander that shooteth his arrowes of desolation among the Children of men All the trees of the Forest must know that the Lord hath brought down the high tree hath exalted the lowe tree hath dried vp the greene tree and hath made the dry tree to flourish as he threatneth Ezek. 17.24 and that all the sonnes of men are vnder one common conditiō Our liues are short in all things except miseries and troubles our continuance is only certaine in vncertaintie God hath reserved our times vnknowne because wee should bee alwaies ready Quò propior quisque est servitque fideliùsaegro In partem laethi citiùs venit By how much the neerer men come about dying persons by so much the sooner should they consider their owne deaths Wherefore Noble and worthy Gentlemen who were sad spectators of the blessed passage of his Princely soul sequester all humane wisdome and policy all Court vanitie or glory looke vpon the Glasse of mortalitie the more yee are intangled either in the delights or affaires of this life the more grievous death will bee to you It will be vnseasonable when the paines and perplexities of the soules departing from two friends of so long familiarity the body and the world shal draw your powers from true repentance Seeke therefore the Lord while he may bee found blowe the dying fire of your devotion Looke backe and esteeme the whole race which yee haue runne as a short steppe looke foreward and behold the infinit space of eternitie wherein by grace yee may continue here yee haue no abiding city your service is no inheritance Lift therefore your mindes to heaven and discover the most bright and beautifull glory your life is your candle wast it not in idle play it was allowed you only to light you to ed. Finally whosoever of you beholdeth the present Princely family and saw it in her first glory doubt not but God will make good his word to this house which he promised in Haggci The glory of this later house shall be greater then the former Hag. 2.9 saith the Lord of hosts Lord make this promise good Blesse our most hopefull Charlemaine with all thy choise graces Let the enimie haue none advantage of him nor the wieked approach to hurt him but for ever let thy mercies compasse him giue vnto him the doubled spirit of his now blessed and immortall brother indue him with the hand of Gedeon the heart of David and the head of Solomon Grant him in health and wealth long to liue that at the length hee may attaine everlasting ioy and felicitie through Iesus Christ our Lord. Amen FINIS
PRINCE HENRY HIS SECOND ANNIVERSARY ECCLESIASTICVS 50.6 VVho was as a morning star in the midst of a clowd BY DANIEL PRICE Doctor in Divinity one of his Highnesse Chaplaines AT OXFORD Printed by Ioseph Barnes and are to be sold by Iohn Barnes over against St Pulchers Church 1614. TO THE MOST ILLVSTRIOVS PRINCE PRINCE CHARLES Duke of CORNEWALL the happynesse of the present hope of posterity MOST Gratious PRINCE my vowed Annuall service to the memory of your blessed Brother craveth your shelter for vnder the shadow of your Princely Cedar I hūbly desire to spende my daies Not only the praise of the dead but also the profit of the living be my inducements to this worke both which I hope wil be acceptable arguments to your Highnesse I am encouraged the rather herevnto because I see your Princely spirit dare looke death in the face and can be content to hear that as your renowmed brother's fortunes so his fate also shall one day be yours Many and happy be your Highnesse daies that you may so long continue in the world as the world shall continue that goodnesse may guide and Religion may guard you both which will assure more safety to your precious soule then the Prevention of the world and presumption of the Court can afford you for these will sanctifie the Circumspection of the wise in helping you and terrifie the Circumvention of the wicked from hurting you So shall your Highnes remember your Creator in the daies of your youth and walke in the pathes of Abraham before God till you come to the passage of Henoch to walk with God In the mean time the great Palmoni the numbrer of times make your daies as happy as the daies of Henoch whose yeares were as many as the yearly daies of the sunne that in your felicity you may ride on prosperously because of truth of meekenesse and righteousnes and having ended your course in Grace you may begin never to end in glory Which is the dayly praier of your Highnesse most observant servant DANIEL PRICE Ex. Coll. Novemb. 6. the fatall day of Prince HENRIES decease PRINCE HENRIES SECOND ANNIVERSARIE 1 MIsprission may assaile and Envy seeke to silence the memorials of those gratious instruments of Gods glory who being delivered out of the burden of the flesh be in ioy felicitie but religious Pietie towards God and obsequious dutie towards man doe both warne and warrant our gratefull and faithfull remembrances of those Worthies of whom the world was not worthy Heb. 11.28 Rev. 14.13 who now rest in the Lord and are free from their Labours which may seeme to be the motiue of Salomons speech Eccl. 4. ◠Eccl. 4.2 I praised the dead which are already dead more then the living which are yet aliue and of the Reverend Practise of ancient times which did adorne the names of the good the wise the iust the valiant and not only honoured their Persons in their liues but bemoaned the worlds losse by their deaths and by their praises held out the light of their vertuous Lampe to lead others into those wayes which these worthies had walked in with comfort in which they had finished their race with Conquest Rude and polite Divine and Prophane history doth countenance the continuance of such Customes and therefore though Snakes may bite dogs may barke and nothing within the Circumference of heaven can be without the compasse of censure duty only being my Apologie with a patient content and contempt of gainesayers I proceed in my professed service to the Annuall remembrance of my blessed Master Prince HENRY S. Austins rule being my reason Nec laudantem movet adulatio Austin nec laudatum tentat elatio when neither he that praiseth is moved with flattery nor he that is praised can be tempted with vaine-glory when neither affection enticeth nor opinion entangleth it may be both lawfull and vsefull that the righteous may be had in everlastinst remembrance 2 It being now therefore the entrance of the third yeare * The fatall 6. of Novemb. since it pleased the Lord to deliuer the Princely first borne out of the misery of this sinfull world and that the Winter Sables of November doe now represent our former sorrowes it will be not vnseasonable to remember the holy passage of that heavēly soule which was freed from Adams body to bee translated to Abrahams bosome and his spirit to returne to God that gaue it So in our observance running with Peter and Iohn to the Sepulchre now our eies haue lost him our feet cannot followe him our spirituall ambition may lead our contemplation where he is and season our soules with ioy to knowe what he is For what other is he if we dare looke vpon the sacred blaze of aeternitie then a Celestiall spirit and glorious Saint a Piller in the Temple of God one of those fed with that Manna cloathed with the white robe called by the new name carying the triumphant Palme in his hand following the Lambe whether soever hee goeth An immortall glorious Creature Partaker with the best most blest of Saints more beauteous then the starres equall to Angels A Divine separated soule refined and enflamed by beholding Gods vnvtterable maiestie in inioying whereof the Angels are insatiable and incessant in the Loue and Lawd thereof A fixed star whose lustre is as full of beautie as glory A substance more pure thē the heavens more orient then the rising of the Sunne How excellent is HEE in thy Tabernacles O Lord of hosts where being delighted with all maner of satietie satiety breeds no maner of dislike where now HEE hath the endowments of an heavenly inhabitant and knows the difference betweene the conditions of a momentary eternall life and though the Immortalitie of his body haue not yet enioyed the rights of that world eternall blisse of the soule shal one day entertaine the body with eternall beautie 3 It was Davids precept to Solomon his sonne 1. Chr. 28.9 Solomon my sonne knowe thou the God of thy father and serue him with a perfit heart and willing minde and it was Iosiahs practise that in the eight yeare of his raigne when he was yet a child 2 Chr. 24.3 he began to seeke after the God of David his father where as Alexander was incited by Achilles example and Caesar by Alexander So David moveth Solomon and Iosias is enflamed by Davids religious profession These Renowned worthies began early Psal 19.5 and gloriously came forth as a bridegroome out of the Chamber and reioyced as Giants to runne their course Prince HENRY was the true representation of these In him God had set a Tabernacle for the sunne Wisdome Religion Vallor did shine in his blooming his first fruits shewed that the Lord had showred vpon him the gratious dewe of his inheritance Esay Mat. 6.33 he did first seeke the kingdome of God and the righteousnes there of referred the administration
as by violent stormes the fairest and most hopefull fruites of Court kingdome haue beene often not onely blemished but demolished That wee fitly might take vp for such Palaces that Lamentatiō of David for Mount Gilboa o yee Mountaines of Gilboa ◠Sam. 1.19.21.23 how are the mighty fallen how hath the beauty of Israel beene slaine vpon thy high places they that were swifter then Eagles strōger then Lyons are fallen in the midst of thee Pillers and Cedars in Salomons house haue sunke downe even to the ground yet this excellent Mirrour of Princes stood as a center vnmoved retained his station His liberty more opportunities more power more incitations more thē other great ones yet he more free because more faith full then others yea so free that infernall malice nor the curious inquiry of Popish Pioners could ever fasten any taint of blemish either before or since his death vpon his Saintlike life I abhorre flattery and dare call evill evill were it in Bethell the kings Chappell let 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Courtier flatterer be the reciprocall tearmes of those that tune their tongues to inchantments I had rather be a Citizen of Verona then Placentia and with S. Austin mallem pati supplicium Aug. ep 68. quà m foedâ adulatione consequi beneficium I had rather endure punishment for truth then get favour by flattery Diogenes the Cynicke contemned it and ioined togither linguam adulatoris manum interfectoris Diog in Laert and blessed Prince who now is in heaven in his life laughed flattery to scorne and held that as the Tyrant among the wilde so the flatterer among tame beasts is most pernitious It may be Aulica Rhetorica to giue more then is due to great ones in their life but that candle being extinguished how busie are tongues and pens to breake open the sepulchers of the deceased a thing more common thē commendable in this age But to giue the amplest testimony of truth as wel as of affection Testimonia virtutis veritatis Bern. is an office in S. Bernards iudgement that we are bound vnto Piety as well as duty requireth it quitteth herein flattery that a sea man whē he is come to the haven and a warriour when he is brought to his triumph and the blessed that die in the Lord and rest from their labors Rev. 14. they that haue been the great lights of our firmament their works following them propter opera exempla accipiant benigna hominum verba iudicia may be honoured in the monuments of their memorials by iust praises not issuing from Hypocrisy or flattery to neglect which service were prophane ingratitude or to deride it impious presumption For to any honest minde how vnworthy will it seeme to deny or maligne vertue its due which so abundantly did appeare in this triumphant Saint the living glory of the Protestant and rising envy of the malignant world as if the Graces had beene midwiues at his birth the Muses his nurses the vertues his attendants and goodnesse as a good Angell his guide to direct him in al his waies And as if acquainted with Saturne the Planet of Contēplation and with Iupiter the Planet of Action * Quaerere Quaerere was the word best liked him the worke that best fitted him As if he had duly considered our Saviours councell Primù quaerite first seeke Cum dicit quaerite en diligentiam Mat. 6 33. cum primùm quaerite en sapientiam diligence in seeking Chrys wisdome in seeking first It was the fruit of both in Iosias to beginne to seeke God the first time of his raigne when he was a childe in Mary Magdalen to come to the sepulcher the first day of the weeke before the dawning of the day in those that were first admitted into the vineyard that they were in the market the first howre the Master came to hire the firstlings of the cattell first borne of the children first fruits of the earth first hopes of the promise first tythes of the yeere first times of the day were ever deere acceptable to God To instance in the last only the first opening of the daie seeing there is no word vnnecessary in the book of God every iot therein affording observation if not Admiratiō why so precisely is this time of the day the morning mentioned in scripture the Angels hastning Lot out of Sodom in the morning Gen. 19.15 Abraham his preparation by rising earely to go to sacrifice Isaac in the morning Gen. 19.15 Gen. 22.3 Iacob to set vp a piller at Bethel rose vp earely in the morning Gen. 22.3 Gen. 28.18 Moses commanded to stand before Pharao earely in the morning Exod. 9.15 Ioshua in his care in the conviction of Achan rose vp earely in the morning Iosh 7.16 Elkanah and Hannah their earely worship 1. Sam. 1.9 1. Chr. 33.30 Iob. 1.2 Chr. 31.3 Ier. 17.13 the Levits early standing before the Lord Iob early sanctifying of his sons Hezekias early sacrificing David early praying Ieremy early preaching and Christ early rising with infinite other examples of the morning service that the Saints haue perfourmed I say wherefore is this especiall circumstance so exactly placed in the front of so many of the sacred histories if it did not note vnto vs Aquin. how acceptable the first fruit of time is vnto the Lord and therfore first to seeke in the beginning of our day whether as Thomas distinguisheth it bee in the morning of the naturall day or of our humane life or of our state in grace or passage to glory the Prime of our Calender to be consecrated to God and the sun no sooner to display its light vpon the earth then we to lift our soules vnto the heaven As was the dayly and early course of this devout Prince who in his private morning prayer early seeking the God of his Fathers communed with his own heart in his chamber and was still Psal 4.4 It was a gratious promise made in the time of the Law If thou seeke the Lord thy God thou shalt find him Deut. 4.29 ever since it hath beene the precept or rather the sum of all precepts to seeke the Lord as appeareth by the Phrase of Scripture either faciem quaerendo by seeking his face Psal 24.6 or bonitatem quaerendo by seeking his goodnesse Esra 8.22 Or mandata quaerendo by seeking his Commandements Psal 119.100 Or misericordiam quaerendo Dan. 2.18 c. and the blessing promised is that the hearts of them shall reioyce that seeke the Lord 1. Chr. 16.10 Yea the hearts of them shall liue that seeke the Lord Psal 69.32 Which made the Royall Psalmist so experimented that he proclaimeth they that knowe thy name will put their trust in thee for thou O Lord never failest them that seeke thee Psal 9.10 Which may serue as a briefe application to all his