Selected quad for the lemma: spirit_n
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A43723
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A sermon preached at the funeral of the Right Honourable Julian Vicountess Camden at Camden Jan. 12, 1680/1
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Hicks, Henry, d. 1692.
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1681
(1681)
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Wing H1918B; ESTC R40987
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14,992
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36
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coming as to pass the time of their sojourning here in fear To all those who shall so wait for the appearance of our Saviour as the Scripture in other places phrases it as to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and live soberly righteously and godly in this present evil and wicked world I had proceeded to have inforc'd this great duty upon you by more Arguments had not I been sensible that Examples speak louder and more forcible then Precepts and insinuate themselves even into the heart and soul And here I most humbly desire this honourable Auditory to assist my Meditations and enrich their own by the great and holy Example of that honorable Person whose Obsequies have this day called us together of that person one of the greatest examples of Faith and Godliness Grace and Goodness Piety and Purity and all other great and illustrious Ornaments flowing from a holy and noble Spirit as ever our Nation hath produced in this latter Age. Of that Person whose heavenly Conversation and Religious Constancy bespeak your Imitation as well as Praises which she did not represent to us in faint Semblances and Speculation but in a lively Operation and Activity through all the course of a long and blessed age And now perhaps you expect her Character but truly the Object is so Illustrious that it dazels but yet so Eminent and Copious that it would make any man commence Oratour Be pleased then to look upon her in her first Rise and you will find her the eldest Daughter of that Right Honorable Baptist Hicks Vicount Bampden by Elizabeth May his Lady and religious Consort Persons not to be named without Honor and Veneration whose bounties in devoting to God and the Poor each of them their 10000 for Pious and Charitable uses stand upon Record as Monuments of everlasting Praise Their Honors were not acquired by a slavish prostitution of Conscience and Honesty but by Wisdom and Vertue Integrity and Prudence the best foundation of a lasting Greatness The very attributes of their Honor might be digested into an Alphabet to register the Eternal Fame of this Ladies most worthy Progenitors And how well and exactly she declared her self descended from such by building upon that foundation is so universally known as need not be insisted upon She did not diminish but add to the glory of her Progenitors she did not live as a monument to tell the world that They had been but what They were And though they religiously devoted such vast summs to Pious and charitable designs that they will always be recorded as lasting and perpetual monuments of their Praise as before was mentioned yet did this Honorable Lady Blazon their piety with a more excellent Heraldry whilst her graces and vertues which were so conspicuously Eminent were built upon that excellent Education and Examples with which they had seasoned her tenderest age which she did so constantly improve that they shined more and more to a perfect glory Look upon her Personal Endowments and you 'll find a quick Apprehension a sound Judgment a solid Wisdom and a sprightful undaunted Courage lodged in a graceful Body qualified with an excellent Mein and a winning Aspect with a condescending courteous affable and truly Christian Deportment which demonstrated that She valued her self not upon the Grandures and Titles that attend her Fortune but that she had laid her Foundation lower stronger in making it more solid and lasting by building upon Vertue and Piety She was indeed a Constellation of Eminencies every one like a Star of the first Magnitude shining gloriously in its single Lustre and all in Combination like the Sun in its Zenith enough to dazle the eyes of our inferiour Capacities and forbid me to say any more because I can never say enough Look upon her as a Wife Mother Widow Neighbour Subject Christian and you 'll find her most Eminent in all capacities 1. She was a most vertuous loving faithful and obliging Wife though of a vast and noble fortune which swells too many into Pride and Forgetfulness and makes them rather Tyrannical than Endearing But in this Lady nothing was wanting of Humility and Pleasantness of Wisdom and Subjection of Wealth and Beauty of Chastity or Affection to the making her a Principal and a Precedent to the best of wives in the world 2. She was a most indulgent tender and careful Mother which extended beyond the days of her Marriage even to her death embracing all her Off-spring with the caresses of Nature and Religion instructing and governing both Children and Grand-children in the fear of God and loyalty to their Prince with such Gravity and Authority tempered with winning Meekness and more then ordinary Prudence as might reduce all Vicious Inclinations and incourage every thing that is good So considerately kind as not to neglect the welfare of their Souls in providing for their bodies but principally taking care of that as knowing that to live splendid in the world without living unto God was to die whilst we live and live and die miserably The numerous and noble Stemns which sprung from this noble Line being genuine Heirs of vertues and goodness blest in descending from her Loyn but more in ascending to her Graces 3. Consider her as a Neighbour and you will find her Charitable Courteous Prudent and Engageing Her Doors without any tall Porters Her Tables richly spread twice a day so furnisht that they were to others what her Conscience was to her self a Continual feast Neighbours and Strangers might with greatest freedom partake of her liberal Provisions and find a Cheerful as well as Plentiful reception These her entertainments were not Cleopatra's Revels nor Sempronia's Luxury whose feastings were always as great in Sin as Abundance and savoured more of Wickedness then Pomp. But whilst others feast their equals their peers expecting returns and circular Retreatments as if they did not make but trade Banquets She fed such Pensioners as brought with them their wants God that provided her Plenty provided her Guests and what She gave to Hunger She gave to Heaven Therefore if the Poor do not extol her if they do not cry out the Stones will so do her works praise her in the Gates Seldom indeed if ever did a wise a large Heart and a plentiful Fortune so lovingly embrance and kiss each other If you 'll take a view of Her in her Family you cannot but say that She deserves Solomon's Character of a wise Woman for she was one that look'd well to the ways of her own house In the prudent managery whereof she seem'd to covet all in her liberal dole she seemed to desire nothing 4. Look upon her as a Widow out of this cloud also will a great light shine to her eternal praise and honour The Fathers counted it no Paradox to parallel the state of pious and religious Widowhood with that of the most cloistered and sacred Virginity St. Ambrose speaks to this purpose non minus est tentata conjugii