TOuching obsequies and Funerall solemnities, wherewith all times and religions, haue in some kinde or other honoured their dead, it is the conclusion of a heathen man, and Christianitie denies it not, Totus hic locus etsi contemnendus in nobis, ta­men non negligendus in nostris; Though wee ought not to make them any part of our care as touching our selues, yet notwithstanding, where either a commixtion of blood by affinity and kindred, or a secret inter-inanimation, an vnion of soules by amitie and loue, or any other collaterall and binding relation, hath [Page 2] entail'd vpon vs the memory of the dead, there, it will be an act of a reuerentiall and a pious affection, to prouide that those rites and those ceremonies may accordingly haue their course. Augustine. But yet St. Austin hath set them their boundes too: we may not carrie them so high as to thinke that they are mortuorum sub­sidia, any whit auaileable vnto those who are gone; but the respect that's due vnto them, and the vse that is to bee made of them must end and determine in this, that they are Viuorum solatia, they doe indeed in some measure as­swage and lessen the sorrow, and so adde some­thing to the comfort of those that suruiue. And this vse doe we make of them, this com­fort doe we milke from them now; as being an act, not of safetie only, but of pietie too, that we are thus met together, you, to contribute your presence and condolencie, and I, (most vnworthy) my poore meditations to the cele­bration of this day. For wee shall thereby not only quitt our selues of a debt, wherein wee all stand bound (though by different obligations) to the memory of that noble Gentlemen, whose day this is; but some gaine also will a­rise, happily some aduantage may accrue vnto vs, if we shall contemplate, exemplarily in him, and doctrinally in this text, Figmentum no­strum, (as the Prophet Dauid calls it) our owne composition and structure, and mould, and mortalitie; Omnis caro vt foenum, All flesh is as grasse.

[Page 3] In the handling of which words, wee shall first passe through those considerations that are most obuious, and neerest hand; as first, the various acceptations of this word Caro, Flesh, in Scripture, and which of them wee are to pitch vpon here; then the extent, the latitude of it in that acceptation, and that is carried here as farre as any terme, any expression can doe it, for it is Omnis Caro, All flesh; Lastly the condition, the nature of flesh in this latitude, in this vniuersalitie, and that is set downe by a similitude, a comparison, and the thing where­to it is likened, wherto it is compared is, Grasse, Omnis Caro vt foenum, All flesh is as grasse. And when these particulars haue passed our discussion, wee will then fall vpon those resul­tances, those emergent and collaterall conside­rations, wherein the text and the time shall best agree.

To begin then; This word Caro, flesh, is di­uersly taken in Scripture. Amongst other things which the Prophet Dauid ascribes vnto God by way of praise, Psal. 136. One is that he doth, Dare escam omni carni, hee giueth food to all flesh; there, flesh is taken for euery crea­ture that hath life. In the 29. of Gen. Laban sayes to Iacob, Os meum es, & caro mea, Surely thou art my bone and my flesh; there flesh is taken for consanguinitie and kindred. Among other articles of the Creed, wee beleeue [...], the resurrection of the flesh: there, flesh [Page 4] is taken for the body of man. In the 7. to the Rom. St. Paul sayes, I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, that is, in my soule, as farre as it in­clines vnto, and is guided by the flesh, I know there dwels no good: there flesh is taken for the soule of man. In the 6. of Gen. God saw that Omnis caro, all flesh had corrupted their wayes; there flesh is taken for those that had forsaken God. In the 2. of Ioel, God sayes, I will powre out my Spirit super omnem carnem, vpon all flesh; there flesh is taken for those that should be called to the knowledge of God. Many other significations it hath; sometimes it is ta­ken for the people of the Iewes; sometimes for the ceremonies of the old law; sometimes for the corruption of nature, sometimes for the in­firmity of nature; and many times in a larger capacity it comprehends all men, and so it is taken here, Omnis caro, All flesh, that is, all men are as Grasse.

Now if you aske me the reason why men in Scripture are called by the name of flesh, (be­sides the reason of grāmer, that the part is here siguratiuely taken for the whole) St. Chrysostome renders it thus:chrys. Because (saith he) they are so wholy giuen ouer to the workes and lusts of the flesh, ac si sola carne circundati, carerent anima: As if they were nothing else but a masse, a lumpe of flesh, that had no soule to quicken it, no reason to guide it at all.

But yet we must take heede that we stretch [Page 5] not this reason of St. Chrysostome too farre. For though it be true in most men, yet it is not true in all: God forbid that all men should be so fleshly. Greg. And therefore St. Gregorie thought fit to correct and to limit it by a distinction, In sacro eloquio aliter dicitur caro iuxta naturam, aliter iuxta culpam vel corruptionem, (saith he) The sinne, the corruption of flesh, is one thing: and the nature, the constitution of flesh, is another thing: these are two different conside­rations, and the Scripture takes them so: And therefore where it is taken in the first sense, there St. Chrysostomes reason is good, but not otherwise, for it holds not heere; since it is only the nature, the constitution of flesh that is aym'd at in this place, & in that sense it growes to an vniuersality, which is the second thing we obserue, Omnis caro, All flesh is as grasse.

All flesh: That flesh which is but coursely fed, with any thing that comes next hand: and that flesh which eates nothing but what is farre fetcht and deerely bought. That flesh which is clothed in ragges, or perchance not so well; and that flesh which weares only what is rak't out of the intrails of beasts, and out of the bowels of the earth, and out of the bottome of the Sea. That flesh which is so macerated with fasting, that the skinne is ready to cleaue to the bones, much like a walking Anatomy: and that flesh which is so pampered and blowne vp by riot and excesse, that the skinne can scarce [Page 6] hold it. That flesh wherein is lodged and cloy­stered vp as much learning, as much wisedome, as makes a man a walking Library: and that flesh which entertaines nothing but ignorance and folly. That flesh which is painted and trimmed vp as Iezabells was; and that flesh which is squallida & fletibus siccata, neglected, and squallid, and dried vp with teares;Hierom. as St. Hierome writes of that vertuous Lady Paula. That flesh which is smoothly playsterd on; and that flesh which is but rough-cast. The face that is so amorous and so angelicall, that it rauisheth a beholder; and the face that is so ill-fauoured, so Ther sites-like, that it may well serue for a skarre-crowe in a garden of Cucum­bers. The body that is so eleganly contriu'd, so methodically layd together, with such an eu­taxy of proportion, such a concinnity, such a harmony of limbes and members, as if nature meant to make it her master-piece; and the body that is so mishapen, so discomposed, as if nature had shuffled it vp in hast, or made it in the darke. The man that is so transported with the conceit of his riches or his honour, that he is ready vpon euery occasion to swagger in St. Bernards termes, Quis ille, vel ille, aut quae domus patris eorum? What is this fellow, or that base fellow, and what is the house of their father that they should affront me? And the man that glories only in his infirmities, and accounts all but drosse and dung in respect of [Page 7] Christ crucified, as St. Paul did: Omnis caro, all faces, all bodyes, all men, all flesh is but as grasse.

Yea but Omnis caro non eadem caro. (sayth St. Paul) all flesh is not the same flesh, there is one manner of flesh of Men, and another of Beasts, and another of Byrdes, and another of Fishes. It is true: but yet marke the distinction that Tertullian giues here:Tertull. All flesh is not the same flesh, in equality of prerogatiue; but, all flesh is the same flesh, in community of nature. It is differentia honoris, not differentia generis, (as he sayes there) a difference of honour, not of kind that St. Paul puts betweene them. Now then, make an Allegory of it; vnderstand by men, those that are the best of men, those that liue as men should doe, that is, religious and exemplar Christians; Vnderstand by beastes, men of a carnall and a bestiall conuersation; by byrdes, contemplatiue men, that soare vp aloft to hidden and heauenly things; by fishes, men that are satisfied only with a baptismall aspersion, non-proficients in Christianity, that stand at the Font still, and are gone no further then their God-fathers first brought them: and then, though in regard of personall and parti­cular qualities it may be true in this figuratiue, this Allegoricall sense too, Omnis caro non eadem, all flesh is not the same flesh; though there be a great difference betweene the hu­mors and affections and inclinations of men, [Page 8] yet notwithstanding, whatsoeuer their begin­ning or their progresse be, they will meete still in the Center of nature, they are all but flesh, & Omnis caro foenum, and all flesh is as grasse.

It is obseruable, that the first thing which euer sprong out of the earth, was grasse; and the last creature that was made of the earth, was man. And surely (besides that infinite dif­ference in nature) when God at first did put such a difference betweene the manner of their creation, Germinet terra, let the earth bring forth grasse, but faciamus hominem, let vs make man our selues, let that be our owne immediate handy-worke; when he put such a distance be­tweene the time of their making, (for grasse was brought forth the third day, and man was made the sixt day; and he was the last creature that was made, as being Gods master-piece here on earth, and the vp-shot and the Epi­logue and the complement of all;) when hee did thus separate these two at the beginning, it was not likely that there should be, neither did he intend any such degeneration, any such de­clination in nature, that they should euer meete togeither in termes of comparison. Yet, see the confusion that sinne hath brought in: Man that was so glorious a creature at the first, is now falne so farre, and growne so meane, so vile, that grasse and he are growne to a resem­blance, to an affinity, & they are both weighed heere, one against another in the ballance, this [Page 9] text, Omnis caro vt foenum, All flesh is as grasse.

As grasse, in diuers respects: 1. grasse is light; and so is man. Sometimes a winde of doctrine, some new-fangled opinion, blowes him out of the faith. Sometimes a winde of preferment, an ambition of honour blowes him out of the society of his friends. Sometimes a winde of persecution blowes him out of the Church. Euery little blast of distemper makes him droope and hang towards the earth; but the impetuous gust of a violent disease blowes him quite out of the world.

Secondly, grasse is short; and so is the life of man too. The Scripture, at longest, makes it but a spanne; and yet this spanne is continually cut off by inch-meales too. Sometimes it is cut off an inch aboue, when a Father or a Mo­ther dyes; and sometimes it is cut off an inch belowe, when a Sonne or a Daughter is taken away: and sometimes it is cut off quite in the middle, when a wife is parted from her hus­baud, or a husband from his wife; death is still nibling at it, euery day, euery houre, till at length it hath eaten it so low, so neere the ground, that there is nothing left.

Thirdly, grasse is brittle, apt to be bruised with the least touch; so is man likewise: So thinne, and so slight, and so weake of constitu­tion, such brittle ware, that it falles to peeces many times, euen by the least mischance. The [Page 10] light of the knowledge of Gods glory in the face of Christ Iesus, is the greatest, the richest treasure that we can enioy heere; and yet when we haue it, Habemus thesaurum hunc in vasis fictilibus, saith St. Paul, we haue this treasure but in earthen vessels, and such vessels, you know, are quickly broken. A pinne, or a fish­bone, or a crumme, or a haire, these are but poore and weake, and despicable things: and yet historie tels vs that men haue lost their liues, euen by these. It is strange, you will thinke, they should doe so; and yet I shall tell you that which is more strange then this too. Chilon the Spartan, when his sonne returned home a conquerour from the Olympian games, dyed, prae gaudio, meerely for ioy. When Cli­demus the Athenian had a crowne of gold set vpon his head, he died prae gloria, only with the conceite of that glory. Plato died in a dreame; and Crassus died in a laughter; and Tertullian reports all this too. So tender a piece is the body of man, so fraile, and so feeble, and so brittle is his constitution.

Fourthly, grasse is subiect to beasts, they may eat it vp and tread it downe: so are men too, for whilst they are as tenacious of wrongs as a Cammell, as lustfull as goates, as deceit­full and craftie as Foxes, whilst they licke vp the dust of the earth by couetousnesse, with the Serpent, & foame with anger like a Boare, and are readie to deuour one another by op­pression, [Page 11] like Wolues; they make themselues a prey to these beasts, that is, to these base and beastiall affections, which trample vpon, and tread down their soules to the nethermost hell.

Fiftly, grasse is subiect to Mowers, they may cut it downe when they please; so are men too, if you consider them in respect of a ciuill and temporall estate; so, the Potentates, the great ones of this world they are mowers, inferiour people are as grasse: if there bee any that stand in their way, and ouershadow their steps ne­uer so little, that thriue and grow vp faster then they would haue them, they haue their sithes readie, oppression and policie and supplantati­on, to cut them downe. If otherwise you con­sider them in respect of a vitall subsistence, a naturall being, which is the consideration that wee are to stop vpon here; so there is one that hath beene a mowing euer since the beginning of the world to this present, that is, Death; and yet there is a repullulation of grasse, a suc­cession of men euery day: and where he is the mower, there great men, and meane men, and all men, Omnis caro, All flesh is as grasse. Hee that comes to mowe downe a field, doth not spare and passe by the flowers that are in it, but cuts downe all, perchance a Cowslip, or a Primerose, or a hony-suckle, as soone as other ordinarie grasse. Though we ascribe so much to the nobles and great ones of this world, as to account them the flowers of the field, the [Page 12] glory of a people; yet when death comes with his sithe, he doth not passe by them, and suffer them to stand and to flourish still, whilst o­thers are cut downe and fade away; but hee takes all before him, flowers and grasse, Prince and people, rich and poore, without any diffe­rence or distinction at all. A mower doth not passe by an herbe, though happily it bee very wholesome and medicinable, but cuts downe that too, as well as the weed that is good for nothing. Though men in the generall are said to be as grasse, yet some men are as wholsome and soueraigne, and medicinable herbes, there is much vertue in them. There is vertue in a good States-man to cure the maladies, and to ease the grieuances of a Common-wealth. There is vertue in an honest Lawyer, to support and to strengthen a weake and a feeble, and a crazie estate. There is vertue in a good physi­tian to recouer and restore to health an indis­pos'd, and a languishing body. There is vertue in a learned Diuine to binde vp a broken heart, and to heale the woundes of a distressed con­science: these are wholsome herbes indeed; happy is that land wherein they grow: yet not­withstanding Death will not spare these nei­ther, but cuts them downe too, as well as the weedes, as well as debosh'd and idle and igno­rant people, that are not only not vsefull, but very hurtfull and combersome to a Common­wealth.

[Page 13] Thus haue you a Catalogue, and an Inuen­tory of mans infirmities: so light is he, and so vnsettled in his course; so short in continu­ance; so brittle of constitution; so subiect to vile and bestiall affections, and so apt to bee mowen downe by the hand of death, that St. Peter did rightly cast it vp, when hee made the summe of all to be but grasse, Omnis caro vt foenum, All flesh is as grasse.

Now, if the weaknesse, the frailtie of hu­mane nature be such, that flesh is but as grasse; if this weakenes, this frailtie be so vniuersall, so vnlimitable, that there is no exemption, no im­munitie from it, quia omnis caro, for all flesh is as grasse; Surely then amor corporis ebrietas a­nimae, as St. Chrysostome calls it,Chrys. the loue of the body is the drunkennesse of the soule; nay, St. Bernard giues it a higher terme,Bern. and saies, that it is Spiritualis phrenesis, A spirituall kinde of Lunacie: they are drunke and madde indeed, Qui sic intendunt tabernaculo suo ac si nunquam esset casurum, (as he speakes) that are so curi­ous, so busie about the tabernacle of the body as if they thought it should neuer fall; so fond and so tender, and so carefull ouer their flesh, as if it should neuer see corruption. But it is a lamentable complaint that St. Austin makes here; Quid meruit anima? whilst the flesh is thus magnified, and so much made of, that all the store-houses of nature are ransackt and ex­hausted to serue those two vnthrifts, the backe [Page 14] and the belly; quid meruit anima? What hath the poore soule deseru'd all this while, that men should be so carelesse of her, as that she is all naked and readie to starue, whilst they pro­uide not for her any one drop of the comfort of the Spirit, any little ragge of righteousnesse to hang vpon her? Quid meruit anima? How hath the soule deseru'd so ill, that shee should be thus neglected, for whom Christ died; and quid meruit caro? How hath the flesh deseru'd so well, that it should be thus cocker'd & pam­per'd vp, since it is but grasse? Omnis Caro vt foenum, All flesh is as grasse.

Yet notwithstanding, as in those particulars which we specified before, flesh was compared to grasse in respect of its weakenes and morta­litie; so there is yet a further analogie and re­lation, and a resemblance betweene these two, that makes not a little for its grace and for its glory. Though grasse be eaten vp or cut downe neuer so lowe, yet there is a root still left in the ground, and that root is capable of a repullula­tion: as soone as the warmth of the Sunne, and the influence of heauen comes at it, it springs vp againe, more greene and more liuely then it was before. So likewise, though happely af­fliction may bring a man to so lowe an ebbe and declination of fortune, as to leuell him with the ground; though death bring him yet lower, and lay him in his graue; yea, though his race, and his name, and his memory perish [Page 15] among the liuing, as if he had neuer beene; yet there is a root still left in the earth, the body that sleepes in the dust, and that body is capa­ble of a resurrection: as soone as the Spring of Iudgement shall begin to aduance, and that glorious Sunne of righteousnesse to appeare and shine in his strength; Surget caro, & qui­dem omnis, & quidem ipsa, & quidem integra, (as Tertullian speaketh) flesh shall rise,Tert. and all flesh shall rise, and that flesh shall rise which was buried before, and it shall rise with a full proportion of feature and perfection of parts without any diminution at all.

Though you heape vpon it all the termes of ignominy and infirmitie that may be deuis'd: Say that it is Immunda à primordio, Vncleane from the very beginning, as being made of the slime of the earth; and vncleane in its propa­gation, as being conceiued in sinne: say that it is friuola, infirma, criminosa, onerosa, molesta, a weake, and a friuolous, and a sinfull, and a burdenous, and a troublesome thing. Say fur­ther, that it is Caduca in originem terram, that it will dissolue againe into that dust of which it was first made; that it will change the name of a man into the name of a carcasse, and say that it falls from that name too, In omnis iam vocabuli mortem, (as Tertulltan doth elegantly deliuer it:) say that it dies so farre to all expression, that no terme, no name can be found for it; yet not­withstanding all this waight of Rethoricke, and [Page 16] of infirmitie cannot keepe it downe, or dimi­nish one haire, one atome of it, but it will rise againe, Quia in deposito est apud Deum; God himselfe hath taken it into his tuition, his cu­stodie, Et quis eripiet? And who shall take it out of his hands? And surely it is a good rea­son that Tertullian giues for it,Tertull. because (saith he) it stands in better congruitie with the na­ture and maiestie of God, to restore to a being that which he once reiected, then vtterly to de­stroy that which himselfe once made, and liked well too. Et sic caro foenum, in this respect also flesh is as grasse, it will spring and rise vp a­gaine, and this makes for its glory.

Yet this is not all its glory neither. 'Tis true, that in the 6. of Gen. God saies, My Spirit shall not alwaies striue with man, quia Caro, because he is but flesh; there indeed flesh is branded with infirmitie. But in the 2. of Ioel, God sayes that he would poure out his Spirit, Super om­nem carnem, Vpon all flesh; there flesh is ad­uanc'd to a great deale of glory. St. Paul sayes, that in carne, in his flesh there dwelt no good; this was St. Pauls infirmitie: But Iob was con­fident, that in carne, in his flesh he should see God, and this was Iobs glory. St. Peter sayes here, Caro foenum, flesh is as grasse; What greater infirmitie? and yet St. Iohn saies, Ver­bum caro, the Word was made flesh; and what greater glory?

St. Austine Aug. hath a passage to this purpose [Page 17] too; Let no man thinke (saith he) that God doth not regard the sinnes of the flesh: For, know ye not (saith the Apostle) that ye are the Temple of God? If therefore you sinne, you defile Gods Temple. Yea but dicit aliquis, haply some wicked man will say, it is my soule that is Gods Temple, not my body; that's no fit place for him to dwell in, & adijcit testimo­nium, perchance hee brings this testimony to confirme it, Omnis caro vt foenum, all flesh is as grasse. Infelix interpretatio, punienda cogi­tatio, (sayth the good Father:) this is a dange­rous exposition, a damnable imagination. For flesh is therefore called grasse, quia moritur, because it fades, it dyes; but Quod ad tempus moritur, vide vt non resurgat cum crimine, take heede, that that which dyes for a time, but for a time, take heede that it rise not againe laden with sinne: For the same Apostle sayes else­where, that our bodyes also are the Temples of God; and therefore vide quid agas de Templo Dei, take heede how thou vsest thy body, thy flesh, for it is Gods Temple. Now then, Caro Dei Templum, that flesh should be so highly aduanced as to be call'd Gods Temple; this is mans excellency and this is his glory: but Caro foenum, that flesh, notwithstanding all this, should be as grasse, this is mans infirmity and this is his frailty. And this infirmity, this frailty Christ himselfe could not take from our nature, though he tooke our nature vpon him. [Page 18] Verbum Caro, the Word was made flesh; & yet Caro foenum, that flesh also was as grasse, hee dyed too.

So that the summe, & the resultance; and the harmony of this text is briefely this; that as in diuers other places of Scripture, so heere also, grasse is set downe as an embleme and an Hi­eroglyphique of mans mortality, which is the Center, wherein all those lines that wee drew before, haue their concurrence and period.

Now, though the very Heathen themselues haue declaim'd so largely & so elegantly vpon this theame, that we may digge siluer enough out of their Mines, learning enough out of their bookes to make vs rich in this knowledge, that we must die: yet notwithstanding if wee desire to find out that fine Gold of sauing knowledge, to make such vses of our mortality, as may conduce to our saluation, wee must seeke for that elsewhere, wee must digge for that in another Mine, that is, the Scripture. Euery Poet & euery Philosopher can tel vs that our life is a moment, but that it is momentum tanti momenti vt ab eo pendeat aeternitas, a mo­ment of so great moment, as that therevpon depends happines or misery, ioy or sorrow that shalbe as endles as eternity it selfe, this is more then they can tell vs; and this wee learne out of the Scripture. When they had trauelled ouer all that Microcosme, that little world, Man, and curiously obserued all that was in it; [Page 19] when they had made an exquisite suruay, an ex­act description of euery Country, euery climate; his generation and his natiuity, and his infancy, and his child-hood, and his adolescency, and his mans estate, and his middle age, and his old age; when they had passed ouer all these; yet when they came once to that same Mare mortuum, that dead Sea, the graue, there they sate them downe, and set vp a pillar, as Hercules did, & they wrote vpon it Nil vltra: Further they could not goe, for they thought there was no further being. But Christianity hath taught vs that there is Plus vltra; wee haue discouered another world be­sides this, and a farre greater then this, whereof this earth is but the Center. Wee know that the graue is Diuersorium non domicilium, it is but an Inne wherein the flesh must soiourne for the while, not the house wherein it must dwel for euer. The Scripture sayes that the dead doe sleepe in the dust: If so, then the graue is a bed: wee know that we shall lie in this bed but one night, but a St. Lucies night; and when that great and glorious day of Iudgement shall once beginne to dawne, we know that then we must lie there no longer.

Now, in this abundance and plenty of know­ledge, what remaines but that we commit it to the good Ioseph of the land, the memory; that if haply there doe fall out a famine of grace in the soule, she may find whereby to sustaine her [Page 20] selfe. Memorare nouissima, (sayth the Sonne of Syrach) Remember thy end, and thou shalt be sure not to doe amisse.

Hee that will guide a Ship well, must put himselfe into the hinmost part of it, the Sterne; so likewise he that will shape the course of his life aright according to the carde & compasse of Faith and Hope, that finally he may arriue at the land of liuing, must conuey himselfe to the hindmost part of his life, by a continuall meditation of Death.

That great tempest mentioned in the Gospel, wherein the disciples were like to be cast away, it rose (as the text sayes there) while Christ was asleepe in Puppi, in the hinmost part of the Sip: so likewise the tempests of Gods iudg­ments and the stormes of the Deuils temptati­ons, wherein many a soule doth suffer Ship­wracke, they rise whilest we sleepe too in Puppi: in the hinmost part of the Ship, the latter end of our life; whilst we are secure and carelesse, & thinke not of Death. Tis true, there is no man so brutish, as to thinke that hee shall neuer die; but yet, alas! how many are there so Godlesse, that they neuer thinke they shal die? So strange­ly doth the Deuill blinde their eyes, that they may not see that ditch, that deepe infernall ditch, into the which he leades them.

But as Christ in the Gospell restored that blind man to sight by applying to his eyes a playster of spittle clay, so must we doe in this [Page 21] case too; we must take spittle, that is, the teares of repentance, and clay, that is, the considera­tion of our owne frailty, and temper these two well together, and apply them to the eyes of our Soule; and then we shall easily discouer any danger that is before vs, and preuent it too. Pliny writes of Bees, that when they swarme and fly vp into the ayre, if you doe but cast a lit­tle dust amongst them, they will quickly come downe. When vaineglorious, and ambitious and aspiring thoughts doe swarme in our hearts, let vs learne to doe so too: That is, to intermingle them with the meditation of that dust into which we must one day be dissolued; and then they will soone fall from that pitch to humility and mortification. I haue heard, that it is a present remedy to asswage a swelling in the body, if you rubbe it with a dead mans hand: when there riseth vp any tumor of pride in thy heart, doe thou so too; rubbe and chase it well with this consideration, that Caro foe­num, Flesh is but as grasse; that the body which thou dost so much tender and value at so high a rate, shall at length become a liuelesse, and a stinking carkas; and surely thy proud heart will quickly downe: So vsefull and so operatiue and so soueraigne is the meditation of our mortality, that as Dauid s [...]ake of Goliabs sword, so may we of it, Non est ei altera simili [...], There is no other like vnto it.

Yet notwithstanding how little doe the [Page 22] world makes of it in these dayes, I shall shew you by a homely comparison, I confesse, and yet sutable enough to the disposition of most men. When a Hogge is kill'd; it is an vsuall thing for the rest of the Hogges to runne toge­ther, and to make a great noise, a grunting for the time; but anon they goe all away, and re­turne euery one to his mire and to his wallow againe. So likewise when a neighbour dyes, it is a common custome for people to flocke a­bout his Corse, & to follow it to the Church, and perchance some lamentation is made, some good thoughts are entertain'd for the time; but when the solemnity is once ouer, they all part, and returne euery one to his owne home, to his old sinne againe, as if there had bin no such matter. But I hope better things of you, who haue at this time, not only a text and a precept to put you in minde of your mortality, but an instance also and an example, the ex­ample of a worthy Gentleman; vnto whose memory we doe now offer vp this last act and sacrifice of our loue: In which loue I hold my selfe to be so farre interessed, that I cannot but ascribe vnto him those termes and titles of worth, which all you doe know better then my selfe, to be but his due. As he was de­scended of an ancient and worthy family, so did he entertaine those dispositions and those affections, whereunto men of such a race doe commonly encline: so humble hee was and so [Page 23] affable, and so inoffensiue in his behauiour; so vpright and so conscientious in his dealings; so liberall and so bountifull in his hospitality; so euen and so equall in his temper: but aboue all, so well deuoted to religion (as will ap­peare by some speciall euidences) that now nomen eius quasi vnguentum effusum, his name is like a sweete oyntment powred out, the box is broken, and the fragrancy of it is dispersed ouer the wholehouse. And those tokens, those euidences of his piety were these. 1. He was quite out of that common fashion which too too many of his quality are in, that is, hee was no swearer; he hated it in himselfe, and he ha­ted it in others too. 2. Hee was so tender and so chary ouer the truth, that he could not abide to heare it toss'd and tumbled vp and downe in a controuersie, least peraduenture heate and impatience might doe it wrong. 3. Hee was much and often grieued at the irregularities and exorbitancies of those pre­sent times; which I take to be, not a probabili­ty, but a demonstration of an honest and a Christian heart.

Touching his sickenes, which is vsually the abstract and Epitome of the whole volume of a mans life, what I saw, I will relate.

As God hath giuen to all things in the world their seuerall instruments to laud and to magnifie his name; the heauens haue their mo­tion, their light, their influence; the seasons their [Page 24] succession, their vicissitude; the elements their conducibility to the vse and seruice of man, and all creatures their sustenance and being; so man hath his instrument for this purpose too, that is, his tongue: and this instrument did hee dis­pose and tune to the sweetest harmony that can be vnder heauen, that is, hee prayed. Some­times he made his chamber a Church, Ego & domus (as he spake) he and his family ioyned together in prayers & supplications vnto God. Sometimes hee made himselfe a Church: for wheresoeuer a man gathers together the pow­ers and faculties of his soule to pray, there is a Church and there is a congregation, Ibi duo vel tres, there are two or three, Et ibi Deiu, and there is God in the midst of them. Some­times he prayed in a continued forme, and sometimes he prayed by Eiaculatious, as the pauses and intermissions of his agony gaue him leaue. When his tongue fayl'd him, then his hands tooke their turne, and by a frequent ele­uation testified his zeale, and did (as it were) say Amen to the prayers of those that were a­bout him. And when his hands lost their strength, then his eyes were lifted vp; & surely vbi amor ibi oculus, his eyes were fixed where his loue was fixed, that is, vpon the Kingdome of heauen. And when all these failed him, I doubt not, but the heart, as it is vltimum mori­ens, the last thing that dyed in nature, so was it in religion likewise; it liued longest, & it prayed [Page 25] longst too. Yet for all this, he was but a man; his breath was in his nostrells, & his foundation in the dust. Et quid de mortali nisi mortale ex­pectandum, What can be look't for at the hands of a mortall man, but that he must dye?

Now, though Dauid prayed earnestly vnto God, that he would not take him away in the midst of his age; yet let no man thinke this good Gentleman the lesse happie, because hee was taken away much about that time, for he was but two yeeres ouer, 37. yeeres old when he died: doe not thinke him the lesse happy in this respect; for Christ himselfe died before he came to the middle of mans age, when he wan­ted two yeeres of it, when he was but 33. yeeres old: Et quis Christo beatior? Who can be more happy, who can be so happy as Christ is? Nei­ther yet let any say that they haue lost him, though he be dead: as, I haue lost a louing hus­band, or I haue lost a louing brother, or I haue lost a louing friend, or I haue lost a good Land­lord, or I haue lost a good Master: for though he were all these, and though this be the vsuall phrase of the world, yet it is a plaine solecisme in the language of Christianitie. For why should we thinke that lost, which God hath? Non est amissus sed praemissus, He is not lost, but only sent before vs into heauen. And now, that which lies vpon vs to doe, is, that wee en­deuour and striue to follow him thither.

Which that we may the better doe, first it [Page 26] will easily be granted that we must follow, Quiae omnis caro vt foenum, For all flesh is as grasse.

Secondly, two places of Scripture there are, wherewith I shall close vp this exercise, and which will be, perchance, not vnworthy your remembrance. The first is that of our Sauiour in the Gospell, Facite vobis amicos, Make you friends of vnrighteous Mammon, that when ye die, they may receiue you into euerlasting habitations: and vpon this text I shall descant by way of historie. I remember I haue heard of a certaine man, that had three friends; it for­tuned, that suite being commenc'd against this man, he was summoned to appeare before the Iudge. In which extremity, he did as all men vse to doe in the like case; that is, hee went to his friends, for aduice and assistance. When hee came to the first, his answer was, that hee would lend him a good cloake to goe before the Iudge in a decent and a handsome fashion, and that's all he would doe for him. When he came to the second, his answer was, that hee would goe along with him to the Court gate, and there he would leaue him. But when hee came to the third, his answer was, that he would accompany him into the Court, and stand be­fore the Iudge, and speake for him too. This man that we speake of is a Christian, and hee hath three friends too, his wealth, his kindred, and his good workes. When death arrests him by some mortall disease to appeare before [Page 27] the Tribunall seate of Almightie God, if hee come to his riches, they will lend him a win­ding-sheet, and that's all they can doe for him. If he come to his kindred, his acquaintance, they will attend him to the doore, the graue; that's all they can doe for him. But when hee comes to his good workes, they answer, That they will neuer leaue him, they will goe vp with him into the Court of heauen, and plead his cause before almightie God. Happy is the man that hath store of such friends, for they will receiue him into euerlasting habita­tions.

The second place of Scripture that I would commend to your memory, is that of the Prea­cher, Vbicurque ceciderit arbor, ibi erit; and vpon this text I shal descant by way of Allego­rie. Wheresoeuer the tree falles, there it lies; if it falles towards the North, then it lies toward the North; and if it fall towards the South, then it lies towards the South: but which way soeuer it falles, there it lies. Now, looke which way we would haue a tree to fall, it is an vsuall thing to loppe off the boughes on the contrary side, that their waight may not carry it that way; and then when it doth fall, it will fall ac­cording to our desire. Beloued, euery man is a tree, his inclinations and affections the bran­ches; though hee spread neuer so farre, and growe vp neuer so high, yet the hand of Death must one day cut him downe: and he hath but [Page 28] two waies to fall; either toward the cold and pinching North of damnation; or toward the warme and comfortable South of saluation: but wheresoeuer he falles there he lies. If thou then wouldst faine haue thy tree fall the right way, be sure that thou begin betimes to cut off all the luxuriant boughes on the contrary side, those carnall and rebellious desires, that grow and weigh towards hell. Cut off that lower branch of couetousnesse, that doth so houer o­uer earth; and cut off those middle branches of lustfull and licentious affections; and cut off that top branch of ambition and pride; cut off all on that side: but cherrish those branches on the other side, good affections, good desires; and then when this time comes that thou must fall, their weight will carry thee the right way towards saluation, towards heauen. Which the Lord of his infinite mercy grant vnto vs all, for the all-sufficient Merits of his only Sonne and our alone Sa­uiour Christ Iesus: To whom, &c.