their awakening even everlasting lyfe This is that happie Estate which the Godlie both in their soules and bodies shall enjoy at the last day Happie I say because of Lyfe but more happie because Aeternall The happinesse of this Estate the wit of man can not conceaue no tongue can expresse it for no eye of man hath sene it no eare heard it nor haue entered into the heart of man the thinges which GOD hath prepared for them that loue Him 1. Cor. 2.9 And Gregorie speaking heereof sayeth Cùm homo mortalis de aeterna gloria disserit coecus de luce disputat that is When as a mortall man reasoneth of aeternall Glorie it is as a blinde man discerning coloures Yet because such is the eagernesse of man's desire to knowe somewhat of that Estate and such vnspeakable Contentment it bringeth to the heartes of the Godlie which haue the least glimpse of it therefore the Spirit of GOD in Scripture hath not left vs in this comfortlesse but is content to expresse it in some sort that at least afarre off wee may see that which one day wee shall enjoye Hee telleth vs That that lyfe is a lyfe of all brightnesse joye felicitie and glorie That therein wee shall get a Kingdome an Inheritance vncorruptible vndefyled that fadeth not away 1. Pet. j. 4 A Crowne of Righteousnesse 2. Tim. iv 8 A Crowne of Lyfe a Crowne of Glorie 1. Pet. v. 4 An exceeding aeternall weyght of Glorie 2. Cor. iv 17 That there shall bee Glorie Honour and Peace to everie man that worketh good Rom. 11.10 The bodies shall haue their glorie For wee looke sayeth the Apostle for the LORD IESVS CHRIST who shall change our vyle bodie that it may bee fashioned lyke vnto His glorious bodie according to the working whereby He is able to subdue all thinges to Himselfe Phil. iij. 21 That bodie which was sowen in corruption shall be raysed in incorruption that which is sowen in dishonour shall be raysed in glorie and that which is sowne in weaknesse shall bee raysed in power and what is sowen a naturall bodie shal be raised a spirituall bodie 1. Cor. xv 42.43.44 Wherevpon it is that the Schoole-men gather foure speciall Enduementes wherewith the bodie as with a most gorgeous Robe shall bee glorified It shall be impassible glorious agile and spirituall suffering no corruption shyning in brightnesse as the starres in the firmament with all readinesse and pleasure doing what the soule shall command free from all animall employmentes as eating drinking begetting of children neyther marrying nor giving in marriage but aequall with the Angels of GOD Luke xx 36 The soules agayne shall bee in perfect Happinesse in regarde of their cleare vision of GOD. Heere wee see Him but darklie as it were in a glasse but there wee shall see Him face to face Now we know but in part but there wee shall know even as wee are knowne 1. Cor. xiij 12 And next in regarde of their fruition of GOD For the Lambe which is in the middest of the Throne shall feede them and leade them to the fountaynes of living waters and GOD shall wype away all teares from their eyes Revel vij 17 And thirdlie in regarde of their perfect loue of GOD. Yea in a word man in that estate enjoying GOD shall participate of that same Happinesse wherewith GOD Himselfe is happie For as the Happinesse of GOD consisteth in the Vision or Contemplation of His owne Essence So our Happinesse shal stand in the viewing of the Essence of GOD or which is all one in beholding of the glorious and amiable Countenance of that LORD in whose presence there is fulnesse of joye and at whose right Hand there are pleasures for evermore Wherefore I may saye with BERNARD Et quis non illic habitare vehementer desideret propter pacem propter amoenitatem propter aeternitatem propter DEI visionem that is And who will not earnestlie desire to dwell there for the peace the pleasure the aeternitie and the sight of GOD there Having thus shortlie run through this CONSOLATORIE Text the doctrine whereof as it is at al tymes so nowe moste necessarie when your heartes are fraughted with griefe for the death of our late Venerable Prelate of whome albeit much hath beene worthilie spoken yet it is impossible for vs not beeing of aequall worth with himselfe to speake according to his worth Vt enim de pictore sculptore fictore nisi artifex judicare ita nisi sapiens non potest perspicere sapientem Plin. Sec. Lib. 1. Epist. 10. Onlie a wyse man sayth hee can fullie obserue a wyse man and hee must bee of aequall worth who can remarke in the Worthie what is worthie to bee observed Therefore I resolved to cover his prayses with silence and now onlie comfort you agaynst his death But fearing if too suddenlie I did stop the current of your griefe it should rather over-flow nor cease I can not but giue you this vent and with you acknowledge that great is the losse which both Church and Policie doeth sustayne beeing deprived of him For justlie may that testimonie of prayse bee given him which the wyse man giveth to David Eccl. 47.2 As is the fat taken away from the Peace-offring so was David chosen out of the children of Israell For albeit all the Peace-offering amongst the Israelites was by a speciall lawe consecrated vnto the LORD yet onelie the fat would the LORD haue given vnto Himselfe as the speciall chiefe and best part So albeit all the people of Israell were holie vnto the LORD yet DAVID in comparison with them was as the fat of the Sacrifice aboue others chosen of GOD and delectable vnto Him So may I say of our worthie Prelate As the fat taken away from the Peace-offering so hee a man full of fat that is of choyce and excellent giftes was speciallie chosen out by GOD to bee consecrated to His glorie in the good of His Church and Common-wealth heere For hee testified in all the actes of his lyfe that the grace of GOD had appeared vnto him and taught him to denye all vngodlinesse and worldlie lustes and to liue godlie righteouslie and soberlie in this present worlde still seeking for that blessed Hope and glorious Apperance of our LORD and SAVIOVR IESVS CHRIST And in particular in the actes of his Priestlie or Ministeriall Calling hee did testifie that hee was a chosen Vessell vnto CHRIST to carrie His Name For hee was a worke-man who needed not to bee ashamed rightlie hee could divide the Word of Trueth fled youthfull lustes and did followe Righteousnesse Fayth Charitie and Peace with them that call on the LORD with a pure heart c. In the actes of his Prelacie hee kythed that the LORD had separated him for this worke as a man fit to rule For hee was one that did rule his owne spirit and so in Salomon's esteeme better than one that taketh a Citie Prov. xvj 32 In which
limitation or difference added therevnto and if we compare this differēce with its contrarie for everie difference hath its contrarie wee shall haue these three wayes of men mentioned in Scripture to wit The way of all the way of few and the way of manie As for the generall part of this description set downe in the word dead I can not let it goe without some observation neyther can I obserue anie thing so fitly there-anēt as that same which I haue already touched to wit that it is a generall yea so general that it includes all who haue bene before vs in the world those beeing excepted whom GOD extraordinarilie hath exempted from death and ere it be long shall actuallie include vs all who are now in it as also those who when wee are removed shall come in our rooms No Nation no Province nor Citie yea no ranke nor degree of men hath exemption frō this cōmon mortalitie or necessitie of dying therefore Hormisdas the Persian who fled frō his natiue countrey to Rome in the dayes of Constantius the Emperor and who was in Rome when Constantius after he had overcome Magnentius and his adherents entered the citie in a most magnificke and triumphant manner being asked by the Emperour vvhat hee thought of that glorious citie and the rare monumentes hee had seene therein wittilie replyed checking the Emperour's pryde that nothing which he had observed in Rome pleased him so well as this that the inhabitants thereof were mortall and died as other men This generall and inevitable necessitie of death is knowne to al even to the Ethnicks by an experimentall tradition almost as olde as the worlde But the knowledge which we who are Christians haue of it as it is more excellent being more perfect grounded vpon supernaturall or divine Revelation so it obliedgeth vs to make better vse of the cōsideration of death than others can make How deficient wee are in this the profane lyues of manie amongst vs doe sufficientlie declare Wee die daylie wee are daylie changed sayth Ierome and yet we liue as if we were immortall Xerxes when hee viewed his hudge Armie from an eminent place wept because within an hundreth years none of all that number should be found alyue But O sayth Ierome if we might ascend to such an high mountayne or spy-tower from whence we might see the whole earth vnder our feet then I should let you see the ruines of the whole world the conflicts of nations the great diversitie of the estates or conditions of men and that within a short tyme not onlie such a multitude as Xerxes his armie but all the men who now are vpon this stage shall bee removed from it by death This sight might make anie man weepe if he would seriouslie consider that which my Text insinuateth that the greatest part of these who are now vpon this stage and ere it be long shall be in their graues are to passe from the miseries and troubles of this lyfe to payns endlesse and easelesse in Hell For this Text attributeth Happinesse onlie to those few who die in the Lord and consequentlie declareth that all others after death are eternallie miserable But of this I shall speake heere-after I come now to the particular part of this description set downe in these words Who die in the Lord. Anent the which one thing is of it selfe cleare and manifest to wit that it is proper and peculiar to the Elect and no wayes can bee extended to the wicked who depart this lyfe But two thinges doe heere occur which do need explicatiō One is whether or not this particular part bee so ample as that it comprehendeth all the godlie or elect The other is how and in what sense these whom it comprehendeth are sayd to die in the Lord As for the first some popish wryters because this text if it be extended to all the Sayncts who are departed or shall depart this lyfe is as contrarie to their doctrine of Purgatorie as Blessednesse is to Miserie Rest to Vexation Reward of good works to Punishment of sinnes therfore they craftily labour to restrict the words to the Martyrs affirming that by dying in the Lord here is vnderstood dying for the Lord and consequentlie that blessednesse immediatelie after death is not ascrybed here to all the elect but onelie to those who seale their profession with their blood are crowned with martyrdome This glosse may seeme the more probable because it is followed by some Reformed Divines by Beza in speciall by Piscator in their Notes vpō this place Others of our Adversaries doe extend the particular part of this description somewhat farther and yet not so farre as they should for they thinke that it comprehendeth not onlie Martyrs but also all these Christians whom they call men perfectlie just or men free of all sinnes even veniall and of all guilt of punishment due vnto them for their mortall sinnes Both these sorts of men say they are said to die in the Lord by way of excellencie because they are perfectly vnited with Christ wheras others may be sayde to die partlie in the Lord in respect of true charitie or the loue of God which they carrie with them partlie not in the Lord in respect of their sinnes which also they carrie with them So sayeth Bellarmine in his first booke De Purgatorio and diverse Moderne Iesuits following him These restrictions of the particular part of this description we doe reject and that not without reason as ye shall shortly perceaue and on the contrary that all Gods deare children may haue their due consolation from this Heavenlie Sentence we affirme that the Spirit of God here speaketh of all these who die in the estate of grace and proclaimeth them al to be blessed whatsoever their worldlie estate or condition hath bene in this lyfe whatsoever bee the cause of their death and whatsoever bee their estate condition or carriage in death First I say all they who die in the estate of grace are happie whatsoever their worldlie estate hath bene in this lyfe that the poore ones of this world who are rich in fayth may comfort themselues with these words as well as the great and mightie ones Worldlie happinesse is not granted vnto them and their estate is so miserable in the eys of the world that the rich apprehend a great difference and put a large distance betwixt them and the Poore They wil not suffer them to sit at table with them nay not to walk with them or stand beside them and whereas they should pittie their wants oft tymes they laugh and jest at them according to that of the Poët Nil habet infelix paupertas durius in se Quà m quod ridiculos homines facit But within a short tyme death putteth an end to that difference and equalleth them in glory happinesse with kings Emperors Ye that are rich cōsider this and
their perplexed soules are to satisfie and suffer in those infernall flames no lesse torment nor the soules of the damned except onlie in shorter indureance For this were not to die in peace but perplexitie and in the fitt of such a pani◠feare as over-tooke Balthasser and by which their godlesse and groundlesse assertion whereby lyke the scorpion tailes of those locusts in the Revelation they stryke with the terrour of torment poore simple soules Gods mercie is marred CHRISTS merit maimed his trueth belyed his death debased his sufferings stained and his people abused by these who haue made gaine their godlinesse but not godlinesse to bee gaine turning Gods Temple againe into a Den of thieues and therein making merchandise not of doues but of mens soules as is fore-tolde of them being better seene as one sayeth in the golden number of actuall receat nor for their warrand in this poynt in the dominicall letter of sacred and holie Writ Out of these thinges also which haue bene formerlie spoken to wit that the death of Gods servants is a peaceable departure out of the prison of this bodie and miseries of this world wee may consider these three things in the same to wit the 1 necessitie of their death 2. The facilitie and 3. The felicitie thereof Necessitie which maketh resolution facilitie which giveth consolation and felicitie which causeth appetition Necessitie showeth it to bee in evitable facilitie easily tollerable and felicitie greatlie desiderable The necessitie is herein that it is our Posse-over that wee must depart out of the Egypt of this world before wee can enter into that heavenlie Canaan A dissolution it is called and therefore a separation must be of the soule from the bodie before that coelestiall vnion can bee effectuated with our Saviour Christ. A devesting of Mortalitie must be before we put on Immortalitie and a throwing downe of our earthlie tabernacle before wee get that better house to dwell in not made with hands eternall in the Heavens 2. The facilitie of the death of Gods servants is in this that their death is a peaceable departure death having lost its perplexing feare its paynfull sting and horrid shape and the soule being more ravished with that approaching sight of God than the bodie is payned with the sense of death the passion of mortalitie being so beaten backe with the impression of aeternitie that the soule is so farre from slackenesse to goe foorth as Lot was out of Sodom as on the contrarie it hasteth to bee in that place where it may truelie say with the disciples Bonum est nobis esse hic even as Abraham hasted to meete the Angels or Peter and Iohn hasted to the graue to see that CHRIST was risen And as willinglie they lay downe the bodie when death commeth for them as Peter did his shackels wherof he was vnloosed when the Angell came to bring him out of prison Hence it is called in Scripture onelie a falling asleep a giving vp the Ghost a gathering to our fathers a laying downe of this earthlie tabernacle and an vnclothing of vs lyke Ioseph of his prison garments or the prodigall of his beggerlie raggs to bee gloriouslie arrayed and highlie advanced to a heavenlie preferment where all losses are recompenced all wants supplied all crosses removed all teares wiped away all promises performed and all happinesse procured where Satan is trod vnder death overcome corruption abolished sanctification perfected and glorie at last obtayned 3. The felicitie also of the death of the Godlie in the bright sight of the Lords salvatiō is vnutterable when that eternall Sabbath commeth and joyefull jubile approacheth when the Lambes Bryde shall enter into that marriage Chamber to sight most specious in rowme most spacious and in beautie most glorious wherin to come is hghiest dignitie to dwel is greatest felicitie and to liue in is most joyfull eternitie the pleasures whereof are so plentifull that for greatnesse they can not bee measured so manie that they can not bee numbered so precious that they can not bee esteemated and so dureable that they can not bee limited which wee shall enjoye without wearinesse admire without ignorance affect without measure and feed on without loathsomnesse never to bee terminated impossible to be determinated where securitie is with safetie peace with all plentie light with all libertie rest with all rejoycing and tranquillitie with all felicitie where youth flowrisheth that never fadeth health continueth which never altereth beautie lasteth which never blasteth loue aboundeth which never abateth and lyfe endureth which never endeth The fift poynt is from whom this peaceable departure is sought to wit from the Lord who onelie can make it such by that inward assurance of reconcilement with himselfe wherein as wee see the practise of the Godlie ever for all good or comfort eyther in lyfe or death to haue their constant recourse to God onelie and to no creature Saynct or Angell whatsoever So wee see that the godlie are so farre from putting the memorie of death away as others doe from before their eyes as a tormenter of them before the tyme that they holde it ever in their sight and with olde Simeon here and the Apostle earnestlie desire the approach thereof saying with the Psalmist Bring my soule out of prison O Lord that I may prayse thy Name And so they can not onelie pray with Moses Lord teach vs to number our dayes that wee may apply our heatrs vnto wisdome but also can wish the acceleration thereof in GODS good tyme even as the workman longeth for the shadow or the hyreling for the ende of his worke And this they doe not out of a fitt of impatience as wee see in Ionas nor out of such discontent as wee perceaue even in Godlie Eliah but out of a longing with David to see Gods face with joye and of that happie conjunction with CHRIST whereof the Apostle speaketh Hence it is that they make not themselues for death when sicknesse commeth because they must die out of natures necessitie but because they would die out of graces desire manie things giving vp their last worke at death which make the godlie with the Apostle to crye out in life Who shall delyver mee from this bodie of death For then Satan giveth his last assault sinne leaveth her temptation the world its allurement corruption its repyning the conscience its accusing the bodie its painfull toyle and men their hurtfull injuring and then the soule in the strongest affection thereof set vpon Heaven and heavenlie thinges having gone before now in its purified substance is not so much thrust by deaths hand out of the bodie as Lot was out of Sodom by the Angell as it goeth foorth joyefullie lyke Noah out of the Arke and is pulled into that coelestiall Mansion by the hand of God as the Doue was taken into the Arke againe when shee could find no rest to the sole of her foote The last thing
Light our State may now bemoane Our Common-wealth her Atlas wants Relligion a sonne His blood amongst the best as borne so was Hee bred But what were those if grace divine had not Dame Nature clad If Learning joyn'd with Wit if Grace with Gravitie If prudent carriage bee in pryce if matchlesse Modestie Then in a word I vow if Vertue lodg'd below Hee was the worthiest wight for one my selfe did ever know Full fourtie yeares and fyue his course of lyfe I kende O let mee liue his holie lyfe and make his happie ende 3. SONG STâ—rne Death now doe thy best or worst and spare not For thee and all thy dreadfull Darts I care not I stand not for thy fead or friendship eyther Short since thou slew my Sonne and now my Father And tho my selfe thou kill thou 'lt not devoure mee I hope to follow them who went before mee Tho for a space thou soule and bodie sever In spyte of thee this Sainct shall liue for ever Whiles hee was heere Nature and Grace contended Whose hee should bee they both their forces bended His vertues liue and shall doe what thou may To his great glore shall after Ages say Loe here intomb'd this marble stone lyeth vnder Wits high Perfection and our Ages wonder Mr THOMAS MICHELL Person of Turreff Sacrat To the Immortall Memorie of that Reverend Father in GOD PATRICKE FORBES By the Mercie of GOD Bishop of Aberdene Lord of his Majesties Secret Counsell Chanceller and Restorer of the Universitie Laird of Corse and Baron of Oneill LYke as in May the countrey Sheep-herdling Pulling the paynted Beauties of the Spring Doubts with her selfe whether to make her chose The Pansey Lillie Violet or Rose The yealow red the purple greene the blew Or thousand-thousands of some other hew Even so my Muse when as her selfe shee rayses And bends her selfe to poynt our Prelates Prayses This Field such rare things offers to her view That mute shee stands and bids her Taske Adieu His various Vertues muster in such store Aboundance straynes her more than Want before For neyther Zeuxes nor Apolles can Paynt the perfections of so rare a Man His Majestie his Port his Court his Grace Did liuelie portray foorth his Worth his Race As his Grand-fathers in our Civill Warres Wer formost formost eke in setling Iarres So hee in both did beautifie his Clan Formost in Peace in Warre a valiant Man As for his trueth in whyt let it bee paynted Which never time with spot or stayne once taynted His loue to Learning his delight in Arts Quickned the vigour of his naturall parts Both humane things and heavenly things he knew All thinges were subject to his Soule her viewe Lyke as an other Prelate sayd of late Hee knew not what it could bee to forget Even so from him was hid nothing at all Betwixt the moving and th'vnmoving Ball. This knowledge of the things created mov'd him To loue their Maker so who so had lov'd him That ravisht with His loue hee preacht His Name To his owne Servants much lyke Abraham Not lyke these Barons whose commoditie Makes vp their owne their servants pietie Who sheare their Flocks who slay them but to feed them Who scorne who care not how their Pastors leade them To come heare his wisdom meÌ„ did stryue Lyke Bees contesting for their honey hyue His House a Colledge was of Pietie A Compend of an Universitie Where sweete Ambrosia filde and never cloyed And blest all those that this sweete foode enjoyed Where who were given to vertuous contemplation Did finde a world of happie contentation Whence sprung that sparke which now succeeds his Syre The brighest laÌ„pe within the Scots Empyre Such Vertue Worth such Wit such Pietie Made Court and Church his Suters both to bee For Court and Church admiring both his fame The Court his counsell crav'd the Church the same Thus hee who rul'd his owne House so of late Did rule his Lords in the Cathedrall Seat And who of late gaue counsell in small things Became the Counsels Counsell Light of Kings The absence of this shyning Light hath made All faythfull Workers in Christs Vineyard sad And makes them all with watrie Eyes to pray That such a Light dispell their Clowds away The absence of this Light as one reported A faythfull man who then in Court resorted Did moue our Soveraygne so that oft hee sayd I know no Worthie worthie to succeede Through absence of this shyning Light wee see Th'eclipses of this Universitie Her Sunne 's gone downe and darkned is her Day Come Phosphor come come driue her clowds away Thus shortly with my countrey Sheep-herdling I pulled haue some Beauties of the Spring But while I looke vpon the Ground alone Pulling this houre mee thinks I pulled none The Field's replenisht as it was before And fragrant Odours wax aye more and more Mr IOHN LVNDINE Professor of Humanitie In the Universitie of ABERDENE In Honour of the Right Reverend FATHER IN GOD PATRICK FORBES Bishop of Aberdene Baron of Corse and Oneill one of his Majesties most Honourable privie Counsell c. IF all the Gifts that Nature could afford If all Perfection Arte could adde to Nature If in high Place to serue and not debord If good workes done what could a creature Could haue procur'd deaths respite or delayes Braue CORSE had past Methusala his dayes M. I. L. P. A. SACRAT To the Immortall and Blessed Memorie of that Honourable and Reverend Father PATRICKE Late Bishop of Aberdene Chancellar and Restorer of the Vniversitie there One of his Majesties most Honourable Privie Counsell c. Who departed this present lyfe vpon the 28 of March 1635. EPITAPH I. YOu sacrad Swans that in Shiloah swim And dip in Dew Divine your candid Quills Which Great IEHOVAH EL and ELOHIM In Silver Showrs and Lectean Streames distills From Sacred Sion and from Hermon Hills Lend me some lurid Lines and wofull Verse To honour this most Honour-worthies Herse Whose Concaue keepes inclosed and confynd The mortall Moold of a most matchlesse Man The Manor late of his immortall Mynd With all great gifts and Graces garnisht then Now in a Sege Coelestiall inshrynd Whose wondrous Worthinesse so playne appear'd That Wisdome wondred the World admir'd What Part perexcellent did anie Sperit Of his Condition Qualitie and Case Possesse expresse here practize and inherite But that this Great DIVINE with wondrous Grace And Pow'r-perswading proov'd in everie Place Most evidentlie exquisite and wyse Unparallell'd here PRELATE PATRICK lyes II. OUr holie HELIE is inhumed heere A pious Prelate prudent sans a Piere So soundlie sage so solid and sublime That Pennes vnpolisht never shall exprime So wyselie wyse wrought with the Word Divine That Faculties profound can not define Perfectlie polisht in the precious parts Of all the humane and the heavenlie Arts That perfect did if that Perfection can Heere bee immured in a mortall Man Who proov'd a Patterne to the Pastors all Conformlie that before