〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR The Dust returning to the Earth BEING A SERMON Preached at the INTERRMENT Of that Excellently accomplisht Gentleman Tho. Lloyd Esq Late of Wheaten-Hurst in the County of Glocester upon Tuesday the 22th of December 1668. By THO. WOOLNOUGH Rector of the Parish of St. Michael in the City of GLOCESTER 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Greg. Naz. In the SAVOY Printed by T. N. for James Collins and are to be sold by J. Jordan Bookseller in Glocester 1669. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 OR The Dust returning to the Earth BEING A Sermon preached at the Interrment of that excellently accomplish'd Gentleman Tho. Lloyd late of Wheaten-hurst in the County of Glocester Esquire upon Tuesday the 22th of December 1668. ECCLES 12. 7. Then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit shall return to God that gave it MAn is frequently wont to be termed a Micro-cosme or Little World not without cause The great World consists of two general parts Heaven and Earth so doth Man of two parts not unlike Soul and Body The Heaven is superior both in Place and Nature of a substance pure and splendent and altogether Divine the Earth is both in site and dignity many removes off the matter of it sordid and ignoble the very sediment dreggs and settlings of the Chaos Thus is the Soul of Man a Spirit bearing the resemblance of God himself whom we call so Divinity in a less Volume a smaller Character The Body is but a heap of rubbish The Heavens are continually in motion so is the Soul of Man their motions are incredibly swift so are those of the mind The Earth is sixt and unmoveable and so is the Body in and of it self and for its motion is beholding to the Soul which acts it Thus then hath the Little World as well as the Great One its Heaven and its Earth which are no other in the Language of my Text than the Dust which returns to the Earth as it was and the Spirit which returns to God that gave it Various are the mutations and vicissitudes of Man's life yet after all our postures we come back to As we were Thousands of miles doth the Sun pass in the compass of 24 hours yet where he began his journey to day he will not fail to set out to morrow This circulation of humane life is and cannot but be visible even to the ordinary Observers of Nature in her course Our first Stage is Infancy thence we advance forward to Childhood thence to Youth so to Man's Estates to Middle Age at last we arrive at Old Age and when at that which is called Decrepit we are got to Infancy again come back to As we were yet is not this the last Stage neither there is one farther when Death approaching the Dust returns to the Earth as it was and the Spirit to God that gave it If we look into the Antecedent part of the Chapter we shall find Salomon giving young Persons good Counsel to make use of that Flower of their Age and to do betimes that Work by the leaving of which undone they will undo themselves To make Hay as we say while the Sun shines Old Age he warns them is coming and brings its indispositions along with it the clouds return after the rain v. 2. He that puts off the Service of God till then is likely to serve him but lamely at the best Whilst Blood is in our Veins and Marrow in our Bones Religion is to be minded God will have the best of our years or none When an aged Frost hath chain'd the Current of the Blood Devotion is hardly like to thaw it Now is the acceptable time now is the day of salvation To day if ye will hear his voyce Heb. 4. 7. Graphically doth our Preacher here describe Old Age and its infirmities and that at large in sundry verses ye may know Apelles by his Draught It were too tedious for me at this time to paraphrase upon the several elegant though seemingly mystical expressions hereunto accommodated He closeth all at the close of all and that is Death in the words of the Text He brings Man to the Grave and there he leavs him The Dust returning to the Earth c. The Words are then you see a Periphrasis of Death represented to us under the notion of a return twofold with reference to both its Subjects and Terms The Subjects of it are Soul and Body the Terms of it to the Earth to God Then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was and the Spirit shall return to God that gave it That I may go plainly to work and not soar above the apprehensions of any I shall in this Verse take notice of but two things and they are The rise and tendency of Mans Body and Soul His Body's rise from the Earth its tendency to Earth Dust thou art and to Dust thou shalt return Gen. 3. 19. His Soul's rise from God he gave it its tendency to God It shall return to God that gave it These particulars in the words easily resolve themselves into two Propositions One touching the Body of Man the other the Soul That touching the Body is this That it was from the Earth at the first and to Earth at length it must That concerning the Soul this That it had its being originally from God and to God ultimately shall it return Of which Propositions by way of Explication first as far as shall be needful and then by way of Application The Body was from the Earth how Our Bodies we now have according to the ordinary course of generation from our Parents they are not immediately made of Earth true But Adam's Body the Holy Story witnesseth was so made Gen. 2. 7. whence then the first Body came all are said to come his Body was from the Earth immediately ours from his and therefore mediately from the Earth The greatest of Men is but Terrae filius and may say to Corruption Thou art my Father as Job 17. 4. What signifies a long Pedigree In vain do men tire the Heralds to prove the antientness of their Descent whilest the rising one step higher might serve to bring down their Pride many steps lower put in but the Son of Earth too and Salomon will be found to have done them more right than Clarenceaulx One ap there is which even the Welshman hath omitted ap Dust Wouldst thou have thy Pedigree drawn out O Man or Woman who ever thou art Let me commend thee to this King at Arms and he will quickly tell thee whence thou comest even from Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Then shall the Dust return to the Earth as it was The Dust Mark that too He vouchsafes the Body no better a Name than Dust upon good grounds Why should it be rather nam'd what it is than what it both was and shall be The reasons of this Appellation are two to one Dust A bold word
if Salomon had not spoken it a King a great King a wise King What the spruce Gallant the ruffling Courtier these Dust What they that rustle in Silks and glitter in Gold that dazle the Sun with their Jewels and choak the Air with their Perfumes Yes all alike Dust So Naizanzen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Original of all is but the same and that Dust What though in some more refined Differ they may in degree not in kind Worshipful Honourable Royal Dust is Dust still Let Calice sand be finer than ordinary yet is there no reason it should lose its Name 't is Sand. Well that the Body is from the Earth we see yea and not onely so but it must return to it also The Dust shall return to the Earth as it was Ocular Demonstration saves us the labour of both Explication and Proof as to this We every day see the truth of this return made good Were the Body from Earth once yet were it to return to it no more Pride would not be so irrational a sin Tell me not what I was is the voice of Up-starts but the Preacher tells us likewise what we shall be No man so ridiculous as he who having risen from a mean beginning fall's again who first begins to fall is pitty'd but he whose rise and fall are both remembred scorn'd Heu quantum mutatus ab illo Is the Ironical Language of the beholder in such a Case nor is it to be wondred at if as the Poet hath it Moveat cornicula risum Furtivis nudata coloribus Hast thou forgotten that thy Body was Dust once and beginnest thou to swell Remember it must be Dust again too and let that humble thee Witty Lucian whose ingenuity deserves to be no less esteemed than his language hath a Dialogue wherein he brings the Ghosts of beautiful Nereus and deformed Thersites together the latter of which is now bold to challenge the former so little of difference is there between ugly and handsome when both are dust the Body being return'd to the Earth as it was As it was Hoc autem ipsum non sic intelligendum quasi revertantur in certam portionem terrae corpora humana singula ex qua formavit Deus Adam c. saith Lorinus This is not so grosly to be understood as if all the bodies of men did return into that very individual Earth of which God created Adam But because as his body was made of dust and did return to it so shall our bodies return to dust like thereunto I have done with the Explication of the first part of the Verse touching the Body's rise and tendency and the Terms from which and to which of its motion which are indeed but one Earth thence it comes thither it goes I le run over the following part next that I may reserve the Application of both together till the last And the Spirit shall return to God that gave it Spirit Is an aequivocal word signifying other things beside but the use of it in Scripture for the rational Soul of Man is better known than that I need spend time about it When a word hath divers significations the sense must point us unto that which we are to fix on so it doth here determining it to be as I have said meant of the reasonable Soul And It is moreover critically observed by Divines that when this word is put alone for the Soul it alwayes signifies the rational Soul otherwise it hath this additament The Spirit of life as Gen. 7. 15. But of that enough The Spirit shall Return to God that gave it Origen had a conceit as indeed he had many borrow'd from the Platonists That all Souls were created from the beginning as were the Angels and that for their sin they were afterwards thrust down into Bodies and so according to that Opinion their return to God should insinuate their having been with him been in Heaven before but the words following clear the sense To God that gave it Therefore is the Soul said to return to God because it was from him as its Author I shall not enter the dispute here with those that maintain the traduction of the Soul that it is not immediately created by God but deriv'd from our Parents I suppose were there no better Arguments to confute them than that which is drawn from this place that Opinion might well enough keep up its credit 'T is enough that the Soul of the first Man was given by God as well as the first Body of the Earth whence it may be no less proper to say that the Souls of all Men return to God that gave them that is at the beginning than that their Bodies return to the Earth of which they were made viz. then also But how do the Souls of all Men return to God What of wicked men too The wicked shall be turned into Hell Psal 9. 17. And without holiness no man shall see God Heb. 12. 14. To go to God seems to be the Priviledge of the righteous onely Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Mat. 5. 8. Yes the Souls of all go to God though to a different end of the bad to receive their Sentence of Condemnation to be doom'd to punishment of the good to receive their Absolution and to have a reward bestowed upon them Both must meet before Gods Tribunal to be try'd and sentenc'd according to their Works The Souls of the just return to God willingly as to their Father of the wicked unwilling'y as to their Judge The Soul of the Saint long'd for its return its motion naturally tended that way no wonder whither should every thing tend but to its Center Whither should Rivers run but to the Sea God is the Center of Souls nothing rests out of its Center nor can the Soul rest disjoyned from God The Souls of good men return to God during their life time they are the wicked who return onely at death when they cannot help it The World is full of troubles perturbations cares anxieties where should the believing Soul rest but in the bosom of God Fecisti nos Domine ad Te saith the Father excellently inquietum est cor nostrum donec requiescat in Te. Thou madest us O Lord for thy self nor can our Souls be at quiet till they rest in thy self The words then are sufficiently explain'd let us spend the rest of our time in picking out that matter of Instruction and Exhortation which may be beneficial to us The Body is from the Earth that is the first branch of the first Proposition Let us learn hence 1. Humility What a piece of Earth pufft up Who art thou that magnifiest thy self upon the accompt of bodily accomplishments Beauty Strength or the like Alas thou art but Earth That Body of thine which thou so trimmest and pamperest is but a piece of handsome clay a piece of white earthen ware it makes a pretty show 't is confest
all this Must not thou shortly to the Land of Darkness Must not this Body of thine resolve into rottenness and putrefaction 2. See we hence how little the Grandeur and Gawdery of this World is worth that the Body must to the Grave when all is done it must to Earth Pallaces and Crowns cannot keep off Death Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede Pauperum tabernas Regumque turres saith Horace aptly Tell not Death when it approacheth of Noble Blood of great Estate of Honours and the like all these signifie nothing Art thou a Son of Adam yea or no Is thy Body from the Earth If that thou canst not deny he values not thy high looks If from Earth thou camest to Earth thou must return Thy Mother Earth saith he desires thy embraces be not too proud to own her yet if thou beest it matters not I bring power enough with me to force a stronger than thy self This same Honour is a taking thing See Men in their Ruffe in all the Pageantry of Fortune and weak eyes will be dazled by their splendor who would not desire to be in their case and say with Saint Peter at the Transfiguration It is good for us to be here I but follow a great Man to the Grave see him but making this return see his Body descend into the Slymy Valley the Dust returning to the Earth as it was and then who can envy him His Gâ—ory and his Pomp shall not descend after him saith the Psalmist Psal 49. 17. Again 3. If the Body must to the Earth let us be advised hence to endeavour whilst we are here to redeem our selves from the power of the Grave by worthy actions Our Bodies must rot let us not so carry our selves as that our Names should do so too that is the Curse of the Wicked Prov. 10. 7. The name of the wicked shall rot but The memory of the just is blessed saith the same verse There are three things belonging to every Man his Soul his Body his Name the one must die the other cannot die the third may be preserv'd The Soul must live for ever in weal or wo the Body will to the Earth none can help it To procure the dissolution of the one or reprieve the other from death is not in our power but the keeping alive our Name is in our own hand This is one of the Stoicks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is in our power by deserving well or ill of the World to leave a sweet savour or a stink behind us It is the advice which Pliny the younger a man no less ingenious than learned gives his Friend from the consideration of the shortness of life in the 70th Epist of his Third Book Sed tanto magis hoc quicquid est temporis futilis caduci sed non detur factis certe studiis proferamus quatenus nobis denegatur diu vivere relinquamus aliquid quo nos vixisse testemur This most concerns Persons of rank and quality that have many eyes upon them that are taken notice of in the World by reason of the inequality of their height they being like Saul higher by the head and shoulders than the rest of the people for such Persons to live in a Cloyster like Snails in their Houses to steal away like Plebeians through the Crowd unseen to have their way like the way of a ship in the sea without track to leave no token that they were unless this That they begat Children What a Disgrace What a shame Much more to live onely in the Curses of the People to be remembred for naught but Cruelty and Oppression grinding the faces of the poor and the like The generous spirits among the Heathens were alwayes wont to affect immortality which for that their bodies could not reach and to the Doctrine of the Soul they were in great part strangers they endeavoured by their vertues to supply and make out whâ—… was wanting to the frailty of their Bodies 'T is true we are acquainted with the Souls immortality and know that death makes not an end of the whole Man we know that there shall be a resurrection of the Body too but yet next to the care of providing for the Souls happy Eternity should be that of leaving a good Name behind us A good Name which is as pretious Oyntment Eccles 7. 1. This is the way to deliver our selves from Death indeed Never doth he die whose Soul lives in Heaven and whose Name lives in the World the Grave hath onely its Thirds in such Cases which cannot be denied it I have done with the Body to which our first Proposition had respect and I fear I have given it too large a share so great is the advantage of coming first It were pity that the Souls part should be scanted I 'le do it what right I can by the leave of the time and your patience And the Spirit shall return to God that gave it The Spirit is from God That is the first part of the Proposition which we are now to improve And so 1. Learn we hence to think aright of the Dignity of our Souls they are of a heavenly Extraction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We are his Off-spring Acts 17. 28. Is not this Soul too good to debase to the service of sin to the service of Satan What Did the Soul come from God and shall it be given to the Devil God forbid What a Fool was Esau to sell his Birth-right for a Mess of Pottage Worse Fools are all they that sell their Souls for the Pleasures of Sin less substantial than so meer smoak and air We laugh at them who having Estates descending to them from their Ancestors improvidently squander them away No Spend-thrift like the Sinner who trifles away his Soul the Gift of God 2. Learn we the immortality of the Soul if it be from God that is as we have seen immediately created by him then can it never cease to be by the means of any thing besides him He only who gave it a being can take away its being He can annihilate it if he pleaseth otherwise it must needs remain That which is made of matter can be no more durable than that matter of which it is made Hence the Earthen Body must of necessity have its period It is one property of Earth to be friabilis subject to crumble into dust but the Soul having no prae-existent matter but being created of nothing is necessarily evinc'd to be à parte post eternal 3. Did God give us our souls Let us then bequeath them to him to keep He onely can keep them who created and gave them It is St. Peter's counsel to commit our Souls to God in well doing as to a faithful Creator 1 Pet. 4. 19. where he hints at this very thing that we are upon viz. the resigning of our Souls to God upon this consideration That we had them from him To the same purpose speaks St. Paul
I know whom I have trusted and that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day 2 Tim. 1. 12. We shall all be desirous when we come to die to commit our Souls to God saying Lord into thy hands we commit our Spirits Why let us cheerfully bequeath our Souls to God now by the resignation of a holy Life that he may willingly receive them then at the resignation of a happy Death Let us devote our Souls to the service of that God from whom we had them Let us give them back to him that gave them us what more equal His giving of them was grace free mercy our returning of them to the Giver is Duty God calls for them My Son give me thy heart Prov. 23. 26. He requires to be lov'd with all the heart with all the soul and with all the strength Luke 10. 27. How câ—n we in reason or conscience deny it God gave us these Souls not to use as we list he made all things for his own glory Our Souls are his let us therefore according to the Apostles counsel glorifie him in our Souls which are his They are not at our own dispose we are not Masters of them Have we promised them to Sin and Satan We may retract our promise A promise unlawfully made may lawfully be broken yea cannot lawfully be kept We gave what is none of our own such a gift is therefore void in Law Our Souls are Gods Do they think of this who are so free of their Dammeâ—s Poor wretches How madly do they give away their Souls Should God say Amen to such Imprecations what would become of them Are Souls so cheap Did they cost so small and contemptible a price when Christ shed his Blood to redeem them that we should make so little accompt of them Let us remember whence we had our Souls and let that make us mind their welfare and take care what becomes of them Did they come from God from Heaven It were sad they should go to Satan to Hell This is not for them to return but to wander to be lost And what shall it profit a man if he gains the whole World and lose his Soul Matth. 16. 26. 4. Are our Souls from God Let us then mind more their Divine Original think of our Countrey our Home Heaven Our Father God The Father of Spirits Heb. 12. 9. Children from home are often thinking of it and wishing to be there Home is we say home though never so homely no place like that to them Why Heaven is our Home Let us have our Conversation there while our abode is on Earth What do we sojourning in Mesheck and dwelling in the Tents of Kedar How Shall we not desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ which is far better as Phil. 1. 23. Doth no place use to seem like home to Strangers though indeed better Much less let Earth be taken by us for our home when it is so much worse than that What comparison between Earth and Heaven Trouble and Rest Sorrow and Joy Misery and Happiness A Crown of Thorns and a Crown of Glory We must indeed stay Gods time for our going home Children at School must expect to be sent for e'r they stir but yet let us in the mean time be much in the thoughts of Heaven and of Glory Let the bent of our desires be and the byas of our Souls draw that way 'T is strange that men should generally have so much forgotten the descent of their Souls that Heaven should have so little place in their thoughts and discourses Do they think they had their Souls from God who have not God in all their thoughts Men brag of their Corporal Descent and yet mind not that which is their greatest Honour They make their Heaven-born Princely Souls embrace Dung-hils 5. And lastly If God gave us our Spirits our Souls then let us be hence inform'd of the absolute and undoubted right God hath to dispose of our lives May not he take away that gave See Job's argument cap. 1. 21. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away What then Why blessed be the Name of the Lord. He breath'd our Souls in and if he will have us breath them out he dothus no wrong All Souls are mine saith God they are indeed for he gave them When God calls us by death let us submit quietly What will we deny God his own our Souls That is Injustice we ought not so to do and 't is folly to boot we cannot with-hold them from him if we would And as in respect of our selves so our friends and relations Doth God take them away Who can say to him What doest thou Where the word of a King is there is power That they were at all was from him that we enjoy'd them long was his mercy let us part therefore cheerfully and contentedly and with holy Job in the fore-named place as well bless God when he takes away as when he gives I am now come to the last Branch of the latter Proposition touching the Souls return to God that gave it As it was from him so it must and shall return to him The Souls of good men are convey'd by the holy Angels as was the Soul of Lazarus Luke 16. 22. and the Souls of bad men by the evil Angels the Devils they shall require or fetch away thy soul from thee Luke 12. 20. This Night saith God to the rich man shall thy soul be required of thee So we read it but in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They do or shall fetch it away viz. the Devils as before The Devils like Catch-poles shall seise upon the Souls of the wicked and carry them before Gods Tribunal before the Seat of Justice thence to be sent to that Prison out of which there is no redemption The improvement which I shall make of this Consideration shall be onely by way of Exhortation Let me stir you all up to an expectation of and preparation for this return So prepare for it as that you may return to God with comfort To that end 1. Beware of those things which may render unfit or make unwilling to come before God Take heed of Sin take heed of Slothfulness in Duty the one will make afraid the other will make asham'd to appear in Gods presence 1. Take heed of Sin guilt begets fear the guilty person doth not love to think of coming near God but rather endeavours to keep at a distance When Cain hath sinn'd he will go out from the presence of the Lord Gen. 4. 16. Here the guilty person is jolly because he thinks he is far enough from God out of his sight so foolish men are apt to perswade themselves procul a Jove procul a fulmine But when they come to return to him when there can be no creeping into Corners to hide themselves but they must appear how will they then tremble How shall a
man do to appear before that God whom he hath so much offended and apprehends to be his enemy He saith within himself at such a time in the language of Ahab to the Prophet Hast thou found me O mine Enemy But the righteous will then hold up his Head with comfort and confidence The righteous is bold as a Lion Prov. 28. 1. And as Sin Commission of Evil so 2. Beware of Slothfulness Omission of Good Let us not be slothful in business but fervent in Spirit serving the Lord as Rom. 12. 11. The slothful Christian will be ashamed that God should see and call him to an accompt he is able to shew so little that he hath done so little use that he hath made of the time and talents lent him by God Hath he hid his Talent in a Napkin How must he needs blush when the improvement of it is inquired into and when he sees others give God his own with usury as Matth. 25. 20. This is a degenerate Soul which may well be asham'd to appear before God a Soul which seems to be Earth as well as the Body for so St. Chrysostom I remember speaks of him that hid his Talent in the Earth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The diligent person is the person who can with some good measure of Confidence approach the presence of his Maker at this return Seest thou a man diligent in his business saith Salomon he shall stand before Kings c. Prov. 23. 29. Again 2. If we would have our Souls comfortably return to God let us labour here so to trim and adorn them as that they may be in some measure fit for such an approach as being sutable to him God is a holy God and loves holiness let us endeavour to be like him Perfecting holiness in the fear of God Let us purifie our selves even as he is pure Strive to be perfect as our Father which is in Heaven is perfect Matth. 5. 48. Let us put on by Faith the White Robe of Christs spotless Righteousness that the shame of our nakedness may be hid We need not then be asham'd that God should see us if we come thus cloath'd Men are loath to be surpriz'd by Great Persons in their old Habit and Attire but if they have had time to shift and adorn themselves they come forth confidently The case will be the same here Let us not dare to carry our old Natures into Gods presence Let us put off the old man and put on the new which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness Eph. 4 22 23 24. Let us labour to have our Souls beautified with the Graces of the holy Spirit and let not those Graces sleep in the habit neither but be put forth into act Let us stir up the gift of God that is in us according to the Apostle's Counsel to Timothy 1 Ep. 1 cap. 6 ver Let it not be sufficient that we have Oil in our Lamps but let us trim those Lamps also as they did Matth. 25. 7. and be in readiness to meet the Bride-groom Many men are habitually prepared for this return to God but for want of that actual preparation which is requisite they go out of the World uncomfortably their Sun sets in a Cloud there is not that abundant entrance administred unto them into the heavenly Kingdom which otherwise there might have been They return like Weather-beaten tatter'd Ships into the Port with Masts broken and Sayles torn and although they find fulness of joy in Gods presence yet come they not with that fulness of joy into his presence which were to have been wisht Consider what hath been said and the Lord give us understanding in all things I Have done with my Text and it may now justly be expected from me that I should speak something touching this our honoured Brother depared with whom I have had the happiness of being for the space of twice 7 years well acquainted Such a Theam I can assure you as falls not in a Ministers way every day and where it is much more difficult to determine what to leave out than to find out what to say I shall not touch at any thing which concerns his Extraction that is the Heralds work not mine and the Escutcheons may speak enough though I be silent Let them be copious in displayes of this Nature who have little else to say Stemmata quid faciunt Who boasts his Descent extolls his Ancestors and not himself That surely is most praise-worthy which is most our own I had rather blazon the Vertues of any Man than his Arms. And here oh for the Pencil of an Apelles that I might be able to promise a Draught somewhat worthy of the Original The onely commendation of his Picture would be its likeness to him and whom to strive to flatter would be to court an impossibility for Coelum non patitur hyperbolen Forgive me then thou alwayes great and now glorious Soul that I attempt to pourtray thy lineaments with so unskilful a hand whose perfections whilst I least express I shall yet herein most praise that I acknowledge them to be in-expressible Logicians have exempted transcendent beings from the Praedicamental Series nor did Aristotle take the worst course of commending his Master the Divine Plato when he ingeniously confesseth him to exceed commendation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yet is it expedient that something should be said though all cannot and though Phaethon falls he falls not without the testimony of being at least a daring Undertaker HE was then a Gentleman in every dimension and the real owner of all those Accomplishments which the most accompt it enough but to pretend to In whom was to be found whatever from Excellent Parts of Nature improv'd by excellent Education Studies at home and Travails abroad might be expected He brought from beyond Sea the rich Commodities leaving the Apes and Peacocks behind him A Person of a quick Apprehension solid Judgement tenaceous Memory His Learning not onely vast and comprehensive as extending to the most of what was worthy to be known but profound also He div'd to the bottom of whatsoever he set himself to inquire into He was no Smatterer or Superficial Sciolist but a well-grounded and thorow-pac'd Scholar One who had eaten and digested the whole Encyclopaedy of Arts and Sciences and whose mind had not barely received a light Tincture of Knowledge but was even died in grain Whilest others minded Pleasures of a baser alloy he was for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the language of the Philosopher Pleasures intellectual and suted to the Gusto of a sublime raised a high-soaring Soul How assiduous he had been at his Studies witness the decay of his sight whilest yet but young he with a resolution worthy of himself choosing rather to endanger the darkening of his Body than to neglect the enlightning of his Mind The Company which he ordinarily kept was choice and select known to familiarly conversant with and highly esteemed by Men most eminent for Parts and Learning whether of our own Nation or Foreigners And when without such living company as was most acceptable to him he fail'd not to entertain himself and his time with the Discourse of dead but in their Works yet living Authors of which he had gotten together the most excellent of every sort nor was it possible for any Modern Piece worth reading to steal out into the World with which he was not wont quickly to become acquainted There was not a Controversie in Divinity which he had not trac'd not a nice School-Speculation to which he was a Stranger What the Orthodox say and what the Heterodox no man better knew and not many better able to distinguish between things that differ This for Intellectuals For his Morals He was a Person in whom gravity and affability were excellently mixt hugely serious and yet exemplarily civil and obliging No truer Friend no pleasanter Companion One he was in whom the Homilitical Vertues did all shine forth with equal splendor A man in all his Undertakings Prudent in all his Dealings Just Mature in his Deliberations Steady in his Resolutions Punctual in his Performances with whom to say and to do were onely not the same A Complemental Verbalist he was not his great Soul knew not so far to debase it selfe he was all Reality semper idem and if any was ever indeed so 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And which much added to all the rest of his Perfections he was a Person of singular Modesty Learned and Wise in the Opinion of all men besides himself sparing of Discourse and apt rather to conceal than publish his own worth the onely Dissimulation wherewith he ever was acquainted Thus whilst the shallow waters make a noise the deep glide silently by and the Ship heaviest laden with rich Commodities hath least above water that is visible Such was his Life after which who can question that his Death was happy That Infirmities he might have I shall not dare to deny unless I could affirm him to have been an Angel and not a Man and indeed were it not for some few grains of allowance given in what Pieces would be weight Sufficeth it that Vertue where it is predominant God accepts and men ought to commend To conclude in a word He hath now made the two-fold Return in my Text his Dust is return'd to the Earth as it was and his Spirit to God that gave it To which God Father Son and Holy Ghost be rendred Honour Glory and Praise henceforth and for ever Amen FINIS