goodly haruest of glory had fallen to him had hee fallen sooner himselfe What a lasting disgrace be-rusted his lustre by his liues lasting so long The world seeth it and sighes to see it Well hast thou done also vnto mee his Father for it is not vnknowne to thee what an anxiety and restlesse disquietnesse of thought possessed mee concerning his passage out of those bogs that the world had layd all about him And of his descent from so tottering a stand in the wheele of the destenies reuolution A feare a chill feare like a feuer still hung at mine heart-strings in doubt of his deliuerance from these dangers which now I see effected now is hee after all my cares after his education in the true fayth his discharge of the duety of a Christian souldier and his little progresse in the pathes of more maturity and discretion taken out of this worldes winter and placed in the caelestiall Summer climate and in the soule quickning Sunshine of the Trinity Well hast thou done to mee LORD in this also as long as the world had my Son my Son had my heart consequently the world kept it fixed on an vnfit and fickle foundation But now in calling him away thou hast euen almost there wants but one other pull torne me vp from my rooting in earth to be transplanted in thy celestiall paradise the world holds mee now but by two or three slender fiuers let but the mariners giue one other sweigh and mine anchor will come vp for altogetherâ— and I wil cast off al and say onely this It is good for mee to adhere vnto my GOD. Come Lord Iesus come quickly I was a sleeâ—e in sin Father but thou gauest me a sound pinche and set mee quickly on my feeâ—e to cast ouer my cause by thy decrees to prooâ—e my selfe guilty before thy bench to yeeld to the iustice of thine euer iust sentence and yet to avow thy mercies in euery pardoning the penitent And therefore I will euen make no more a doe but say with thy seruant Iob condemne mee not but shew me the cause why thou contendest with mee I haue sinned my mercifull Lord I confesse and I sinne dayly in sin was I bred in sinne was I borne sinne seazed my youth and hath lackeied my life vnto this age O my gracious Lord come thou and free mee from my secret sinnes lay thy finger Lord vpon my soule and tell mee that here and here is such a canker bred So shall I see the vlcerous carcasse of my spirit and seale my selfe to the sentence that condemnes mee comming truely about those dangerous sandes and doubling the cape of good hope vnder thy conduct my sacred Pilot and bearing in with full sailes to the hauen of thy gratious mercy I may turne all my plaints into praiers and all my sorrowes into speciall songs Because of this that though my bosome doe burne with anguish and though thou LORD doe not spare mee yet haue I this eomfort that I haue not suppressed my speech of the most holy nor beene a denier of the doctrine hee taught me Glory bee to the glorious GOD that in all mine vnrest I haue this grace of his to rest vpon In thy presence therefore my deere Lord I stand all naked O behold mee with a tender heart My eyes dissolue into moysture sorrowe had congealed them all into Ice with one extreame and now it thawes them all into teares with an other My soule melteth for heauinesse O rayse mee vppe according to thy worde Art not thou LORD he alone that possesseth my reignes and couered mee in my Mothers wombe Thou art hee Into thy handes was I cast from my mothers wombe O mine eternall all-sufficient LORD Thou knowest my setting downe and my rising vp thou vnderstandesâ— my thought a farre off And marke now whether our Gods counsell fayle vs in any part of our extreames Doth hee bid vs Cast thy burthen vpon Iehouah and he will sustaine thee hee wil be a rest for thy shoulders and a stay for thy feete Why then let my mine enemies tongues runne counter as long as they list let them say GOD hath forsaken him pursue him take him there is none to deliuer him from danger not any to reuenge his quarrell You erre you erre you maleuolent Sathanistes GOD hath not forsaken mee for I haue not forsaken him No my gracious GOD I will neuer bee ashamed at tribulation as long as I trnst in thee neuer shall the enemeie confounde mee hauing thee for the foundation of my hopes and whole affections For I haue no neede to start at any perill I know so fully that thou LORD wilt looke vpon mine afflictions and pardon mee all my sinnes Thou makest the wounde and thou bindest it vp It is the Lord God of hoastes that cureth those that are broken in heart and annointeth all their sores with his precious Balsam Hee onely searcheth the depth of all the soules putrid vlcers and salueth them with saluation Let shame then bee their continuall attendant that reioyce at this hurt of mine Confusion bee their companion that insult vpon the soule that is drenched in the depth of misery For I see I haue a gracious God on my side maugre all their inueterate malice And hee hath deliuered mee from sixe troubles and in the seauenth the euill shall not touch mee I may therefore fall but I shall neuer bee caste out nor troden downe I haue hold vpon the highest the LORD hath mee fast by the hand This LORD hath beene my good Lord and maister euer hee hath taught mee from my child-hood vnto this present hetherto haue I beene an instance of thine inestimable good-nesse and shall I thinke thou wilt fayle mee now in my old age and adde vnto the fayling of nature nay I will neuer doe it When my powers are all vanished then wilt thou stand my good LORD in all inconueniences Let my soule bee filled with euills and let my life approache the graue vnder neuer so great a loade of calamities yet shall my soule bee vigorous in her dutie still and speake of all thy marueilous workes Nay let death seaze mee neuer so soone yet my LORD and GOD will I neuer cease to say with thy seruant Though thou slaye mee my trust shall rest vpon thee for euer LORD giue vs grace O LORD giue thy seruant and hand-maide grace to say continually Let our life be in thy sonne Iesus Christ in him let vs haue the end of al our labours For wee are sure that our Redeemer liueth and that hee shall stand the last vpon earth That is thy Christ O Lord euen our onely Sauiour and supporter And though that wormes turne all our one bodies into themselues yet shall wee resume the selfe same flesh and behold the blessed in his Maiesty with these selfe same eyes And there and then shall wee see our Sonne againe deere wife yes assuredly in these very bodies wee our selues and no other for vs shall see him in that selfe same house of flesh that hee held on earth and in no other O thou incomprehensible sacred vnbounded indiuiduall and vnconfounded Trinitie grant that our meeting bee to all our ioyes Amen IN these teares beloued wife and in this manner of sorrow it is no sinne to take our orders and proceed graduates Wee may weepe lawfully thus as long as the streames that raine from our eyes do not make the riuer of our griefes ouer flowe their bankes so then keeping this channell let them droppe from our cheekes eternallie Let vs make vs pearles of them which no bloud no vineger may euer dissolue Wee must say adieu the worldes comfort needes must wee then lay faster hold vpon that in Heauen Adieu then Philip our sonne for a while and welcome Iesus our Sauiour for euer FINIS Iob. 14. 3. 15. 33 Ionah 4. 8. Psal. 39. 10 Iob. 1. 22. Ps. 30. 7. Ps. â— 21. 5. Iob. â— 25. Iob. 7. 10 â—erem 6 27 2 Sam. 18 2 Sam. 18 Iob. 12. 10. Iob. 14. 16. Iob. 24. 12 Psa. 39. 1. Iob. 9. 3. 12. Psal. 73 Psal. 145. 17 Wis. 4. 10. Psal. 116. 15. Iob. 18. 19. Iob. 21. 8. Wis. 4. 10. 11. Psa. 73. 28. Apoc. 24 20. Iob. 10. 1 Iob. 6. 10 Ps. 119. 28 Ps. 139. 13. Ps. 22. 11 Ps. 134 2 Ps. 55. 22 Ps. 79. 11 Iob. 5. 18 Psa 147. 3 Psa. 35. 26 Iob. 5. 19. Psal. 37. 24 Psal. 88. 4. Psal. 9. 1.
the verdure into canker and the beames of the Sun beat vpon his head his courage at an instant conuerted into faintnesse It is better for me saith he to die then to liue Thus this great Prophet grew in passion against thee for shewing thy power vpon his poore shelter vpon that little shade he sat in what then shall poore I say to one so potent I that am sodden in sorrow and yet my boyling brought to no end exposed to the sonnes fierie rigor neuer to bee remooued neuer to bee refreshed Oh my LORD I feele a rebellious battell within me keepe downe my tongue let it loose to no language but those sounds of the Psalmist I am dumbe and do not open my mouth because thou hast done it But thou Lord laye thine hand vpon my mouth that my redoubling dolour burst not out into outragious murmure and I beeing a foole my selfe charge GOD with foolishnesse My sonne when as yet his child-hood swayed his estate in nature bent his full endeuour to the attaining perfection in the principall tongues and all honest and honourable disciplines hee neuer wanted instigation but rather inhibition his forwardnesse was so toward and his towardnesse so forward and still as his growth enabled him so hee enured himselfe to all illustrious exercises sharing his time betweene the splendor and light of learning and the thunder and lightning of warre that Mars did seeme to grudge that Minerua had so great a part in his perfections His youth saw him a traueler in most countries Christian extracting what euer made for vertue where euer he found it and expelling vicious affect farre from him where euer he met it The industry and ornament of each peculiar was in his obseruation as in a store-house carefully reposed for practise the defects and exorbitance of each obserued also but without the slightest acquaintance and with the carefullest auoydance of their least touch or tainte But now growing to one degree rearer the ful man beholding France her pacification with a minde not minding peace resoluing to set forth his vertue vpon the quest of Honor away he departeth to Holland the worlds Theater or the sepulcher whether to giue his valour action vnder Prince Maurice the Fortrazer of this our age and there duely performeth all the dueties of a future captaine and a present-hearted souldior For hauing had command in diuers seruices vnder the vnconquered King of France by his especiall appointment hee was firmely resolued to write in wounds vpon his enemies bodies that he was worthy of that enstalment from so worthy an aduocate Many held his resolution too hot and heady but that he would haue left had he liued the temperaâ—e affects that attend vpon the years of maturity would haue allaied his youthful feruor had he surniued to haue seene maturty Meane while all these illustrious instruments of industrious verture stored he togither for the glory of his God the seruice of his King the benefit of his country the defence of honesty in euery son of hirs they were also prepared by piety so seasoned by equity and so preserued by charity it was admirable to see Zeale haue so faire an harbour in such a youthfull and fiery spirit and Piety to stand supported with diuine studies higher by the head and shoulders theÌ„ al the other though high honorable vertues Here againe began I to set vp my rest and trust vpon him as on a stay to my feete and a staffe to mine age O my Lord said I Thou of thy louing kindnesse hast made my mountaine to stand strong thou Lord art the shadow on my right hand But ah behold the thing I feared is fallen vponmee the thing I was afraid of is befallen mee Here is a sad breach of natures order for the father to prepare the funerall of the Sonne for the father to bee the sons suruiuer All the thoughts of my heart are now turned into confusion All my affaires in my house in my heart all quite confouÌ„ded vtterly out of frame Goe then and guird thy selfe with sackcloth wretched man wallovv thy selfe in ashes make lamentation and bitter mourning Why let mee goe meete with death also what delight is there in delay I I that haue out-liued so many sorrowes so many perills nay now the losse of mine owne bowells and nerues and yet liue to record the cutting of mine owne heart-stringes nay my heart it selfe Thou hadest a King LORD and Israell had a light who when hee heard of the death of his Sonne albeit hee was a rebell and would haue beene a parricide yet burst out in a full presence and cried O Absalon my sonne vvould God I had died for thee O Absalon my son Thus turned hee the safety of his people into teares and mourning and shamed the faces of all his seruants beeing so loath to leaue the dust hee layd in that Ioab was faine to threaten him with the sedition and departure of the people from him What then shal I do ah what shall I not doe hauing lost an only sonne a companion a kinsman a brother theÌ„ whom choose which of these you can neuer man had a better what life is worth loue nay what death is not worth life to mee in this helplesse extremity Oh but my soule my soule returne a little vnto thy rest mans waies nor his life thou knowest are in his hand In the Lords hand is the breath of euery liuing thing and the soule of all mankinde And GOD cutteth of the daies of man for in his hand is in the number of his monethes which none either preuenteth or surpasseth and yet doth not GOD decree any thing with follie Therefore say rather to thy selfe and bee not sorie for saying so I am dumbe and doe not open my mouth because thou hast done it But thou LORD keepe a bridle within my mouth be sure Lord that thou see that my lips be not let loose to impute vniustice vnto thee oh no but let theÌ„ euer oppose iniquity attribute righteousnesse vnto my maker Ah! but my gracious Lord I am full of dolorous matter my spirit swells within me and compells mee Behold my belly is as the wine that hath no vent wanting vent resembles the embotteled aire that breakes through all that bindeth it in Therefore I wil speake I thinke it bee best that I may take some breath against this abundant excesse of sorrowe Thou knowest LORD of all mine and all others life what I aymed at in my Sonne my scope in him was not excluded from thy supereminent vnderstanding Had I any thought any intent but to imploy his lustre wholy to the illustration of thy glory the Churches good increase and his Kings countries grace no no I consecrated his yeeres in their fullest maturity his vnderstanding in the greatest perfection wholy and soly to those sacred employments At that all my vowes leuelled vnto that all
himselfe and is he not now seized of that reall inheritance where thou wouldest share with him with all thine heart hath hee not left thee his countrie and the church possessed with as plentifull and as pleasant fruit as such a greene stock as his could possibly bring to perfection yes and GOD himselfe hath layde it vp in his Granary that I thinke makes thee most melancholie because thou thinkest that God hath lost the more absolute vse that thy sonnes farther yeares might haue affoorded him Goe to keepe thy selfe content and let Gods losses lye vpon his owne hand it is in his power out of this heape of stones to rayse himselfe seruants the country souldiers and the Church supporters cannot he fill the heauens with legions of Saints the earth with hoasts of Protectors and his Church with millions of assistants but hee must bee faine to take a corruptible mans direction and stand drawing out the life of this man or that longer then his eternity liketh ah farre bee it from true sence to bee so beesotted Why so then I am satisfied giue mee leaue I will now take the bitte out of my mouth my selfe and plead the cause of the all-sufficient Creator euen against mine owne soule Why doost thou not see then deere wife how all the worlde like a Bowle is ouer-swayed by the ouer strong byas of iniquitie bends despite all opposition to black corruption oh how seculent how pestilent a vapour of sinne drawes euery man in with the first breath hee takes attracting vices as innumerable as Attomes euen in his first moment of respiration and the longer hee liueth to draw his breath the surer foote-hold hee giueth viciousnesse in his foule bosome and settleth the contagion in his soule which the deuill is sure of though he be sencelesse of Sathan hath a beadroll of those impious and daily increasing inhabitants though the poore Land-lord taketh no note of their entrie to possession nor receiues any rent of them but ruine happy hee too few so happy that can bring his action against them before GODS bench or in that celestiall starre-chamber and remooue them from possession by a bill of repentance but few such suites go forward the world comes with one bribe and the flesh with another either too easily GOD knowes can perswade the poore plaintiffe to let his action fall for this flesh let the soule let the spirit come neuer so fresh neuer so zealous neuer so hot in that zeale frō the hand of God it will finde one angle or other in wherein it may sow the seed of sin plant a too fruitefull infection And when the soule is once dipped in worldly delights what should deliuer it from being drowned therein What hold hath any one that is once ouer the shooes in iniquity vpon any thing that may saue him from slipping in ouer the shoulders what priuiledge had the court of heauen granted our sonne more then another had he a lease of his soules life letten him none And wee see and might learne by sight of it that vertue when it is exalted and eleuate if it begin once to drawe damnation in it becometh graduate in the most extreame degree of viciousnesse Yes yes when goodnesse once misseth the true tract and lights into the broade way of blacke destruction it will hardlye heare of any reclaime but maketh the more speede to mischiefe and runnes headlong to euident ruine So then was it not better for our sonne to haue taken paye for a little space in the Campe of Vertue then to haue beene enranked as an olde attendant in the Court of vice and had hee not better haue beene exposed to an houres sharpe toyle then to a yeares subtle temptation Thinke but of him as hee was indeed A youth of an egregious alacritye a penetrating spirit and an vnbounded ayme His vigorous vertue would enter vpon any enterprise and generally the effect would answere his endeauour his valour found no obstacle so obstinate but it would through it and bring glorie through it againe breaking the squadrons of the most sollid oppositions and mounting his honor vpon the rubbish of their ruined forces Now beeing such an one and such hee was indeed his heart lay open to all the assaults of affect of glory desire of renowne you know might soone haue put him out of the pace that vertue had taught him ambition is a great fowler and of exceeding cunning in her baytes why might not hee haue start out and haue slipt into one of her sprindges might not that holy hunger after honor haue turned his wrong side outward and haue led him cleere out of the sight of sobriety in affection yes and this hunger is most commonly an vtter enemie to the temperate diet of vertue and cannot endure to eate any thing that moderation prouideth Besides lofty spirits if they bee really eleuate can neuer brooke the horrible decay of honorable worth in these declining times and this Sunne-set of the world but will sometimes flie out and aduance their spirit in his ful freedome against these ages neglect of the deseruing worthie and then comes porte and power together with their appendants or hangbies and treades out the light of their most glorious lustre Ah this is too true and thus might our sonne haue beene lost had hee liued any longer But indeede true sorrowe will alwaies build vpon false grounds to augment it selfe if it bee not taken vppe in time and if it once gette heade it will haue a reason to shewe for any vnreasonable passion that it shall entertaine In truth it is true For hee that greeueth vnfainedlie greeueth also that any one should hold his griefes cause not sufficient to procure a greater affect of sorrow then hee endureth But tell mee now I pray thee louing wife wouldst thou not haue lost thy sonne no wouldst thou not haue had him transported from this ruined state that earth standeth in vnto that excellence of eeternity that heauen affordeth yes Why now then seeing that thou seest hee hath preuented thine expectation and is gotten vp thether long before thou thoughtst hee should why hast not thou reason to say with the wise man He pleased God and was beloued of him so that where as hee liued amongst sinners hee translated him This was Henock wife a man that was full of the feare of God And hee was taken away least wickednesse should alter his vnderstanding and least deceite should haue beguiled his minde And thus and no otherwise but thus hath our glorious GOD taken away our Sonne like a good Father who seeing his Sonne placed in the broadest beeach of peruersenesse takes him out of danger in time least hee should bee drawne into too euident danger and bee strucke downe by one shot or other from the assaylant enemy The deluge of wickednesse hath almost couered the highest mountaine of Godlinesse and good manners and therefore blessed be God that hath set our son in a