WEE reade before in this chap­ter, that King Saul being dead, there was great warre betweene Ishbosheth and Da­uid for the Crowne: Ishbosheth claymed it as sonne to King Saul: Dauid did challenge it as anoynted by Samuel, and appointed by God. Abner Generall for Saul his house, being rebuked by Ishbosheth [Page] for going in to his fathers concubine, tooke it very in­dignely, and threatned to forsake Ishosheth and to vnite himselfe to Dauid, for which purpose he sendeth messen­gers to Dauid to make a couenant with him: Dauid be­ing a wise King aswell as a godly man, thought it no [...] neglect such [...] opportunity, and therefore he doth embrace Abners loue, he entertayneth him royal­ly, and dismisseth him peaceably. After this, Ioab Da­uids Generall comming to the Court, and whether out of malice, because Abner had slaine his brother Asael, or out of ambition, fearing that Abner might haue his command, or out of affection to Dauid, being his nephew, hee is very angry, and telleth Dauid that Abner came but as a spy to watch Dauids going in and going out, and therefore it was not wisedome in Dauid to suffer Abner to depart from him and when he had done spea­king to the King, he hastneth after Abner, who comming to Ioab, mistrusting no euill, was, vnder pretence of friendship, most treacherously killed by Ioab. This mur­der so odious in the sight of God and man, doth astonish Dauid: for now Beniamin and all Sauls Alies are like­ly to hate Dauid perpetually, yea his owne seruants and kindred haue great cause to suspect Dauids tyranny: wherefore Dauid, to cleare himselfe from so foule a blot,

First, he detesteth the fact.

Secondly, he wisheth a curse vpon Ioab and his poste­rity for the same.

Thirdly, he causeth his Nobles to lament, and him­selfe followeth Abners corps to the graue; he weepeth, and hee bewaileth his death: and hee sayth, Know yee not, that a Prince, and a great man is fallen this day in Israel?

In which words three things are obseruable.

First, that there is a difference and a degree betweene man and man, in this title giuen to Abner, a Prince, and a great man.

[Page]Secondly, that Princes and great men are subiect to mortality: A Prince, and a great man is fallen this day in Israel.

Thirdly, notice is more especially to be taken of such mens deaths, Know yee, &c?

For the first: this difference of man and man, is not in respect of our Creator, nor in respect of our first earth­ly father, nor in respect of our matter, for wee are all made of the same earth: but it is in regard of the vse and seruice of men in a ciuill state, for parity breedeth confusion both in Church and Common-wealth, and God is the God of order. See this in vnreasonable crea­tures: The Bees haue in the Hiue a master-Bee, whom they obserue and follow: the Cranes march forth in or­derly array: yea, among the diuels there is a superiority and an order, for Belsebub is the Prince of them, Acts 17.11. There are Nobles: these were Noblemen, and there is a degree in Nobility: These were more noble men then those of Thessalonica: For better vnder­standing this poynt, obserue foure sorts of Nobi­litie.

The first is naturall, which is by birth, descending from ancient progenitors, and God promiseth Abraham, that Kings shall come out of his loynes. I, but the old Stoickes obiect, Nature is alike to all, she is a stepdame to none: are not all borne alike into the world? are not all subiect alike to casualties in the world? and doe not all dye and go alike out of the world? where is then any inequality? Likewise the new Switzers say, God did not make two Adams, one of siluer to beget Gentlemen, another of earth to beget common people: Coates, and Crests, notos magis facit quàm nobiles: they make men rather knowne then noble. No more for shame: let not that sin rule among vs which Esay speakes of, That the vile presume against the honourable: They are, me thinketh, as Esdras the 1. booke the 3. chapter saith, the words of men in wine, who [Page] neuer remember their King, nor their Gouernours: doubt­lesse, it is a great blessing of God, to be borne of ho­nourable parents: for Christ himselfe, though he liued so poore, as the Foxes had holes, and the birds of the ayre had nests, but he had not where to lay his head: yet he would not be borne base, he would bee borne a Gentle man, he was of the blood Royall, and true heyre to the Crowne of Iudah: for hee descended from the linage of Dauid according to the flesh. In metals of the same kinde (which Plato resembleth to the soule of man) some are farre purer then are others: In plants there is a great difference of seeds and branches:

If a man haue a Horse, hee esteemeth him better, ac­cording to the sire and damme he commeth from. Euen so among men, it doth often much auayle from what stocke they descend: and the Scriptures call men nobly borne, The famous of the congregation, The worthies of the land, The glory of the Kingdome, The strength of Israel: and it was one high degree of sorrow in Iudah her captiuity, that her nobles were slayne. But Generatio op­tima, corruptio pessima, best things corrupted, proue the worst: Angels, if they fall, doe become deuils: and Gen­tlemen, if they degenerate, become the vtter ruine of the Church and Common-wealth, they are as so many Luci­fers fallen from heauen: Hence we doe learne, not with the Iewes to boast we haue Abraham to our Father, not to stand so much vpon the blood wee haue, as vpon the good we doe. It little benefiteth a foule riuer to flow from a cleare spring. It is small comfort for a blind man, to say his father could see well: it is no reputation for a deboshed liuer, to say that he is nobly descended. If we be the children of Abraham, let vs doe the workes of A­braham: [Page] and the better we are borne, the better wee must liue. Noblemen must be like trees planted by the riuers of water, which bring forth their fruit in due season, that their leafe may not fall, nor their name perish from the face of the earth.

The second kinde of Gentry is Ciuill nobility, which is by riches; shining in the goods of fortune. Hence Symonides esteemed those to bee noble, which in a long course of time, were descended from wealthy progeni­tors: and though it often fall out true, diuites in arca, pauperes in conscientia: Men rich in the cofers, are poore in the conscience: yet are riches reckoned a part of nobility.

First, because they make it popular.

Secondly, because riches are the instruments by which vertue and Gentry are or may bee maintayned.

Lastly, because being gotten, they serue as meanes for vertue and gentry to manfiest themselues in action: yet bee not proud of wealth, and thinke not because thou art rich, that therefore thou must bee honoured: this is to make men idolaters, to worship a golden Calfe, or a siluer Asse. Riches, sayth Bonauenture, are but as a dogge following two men which walke together, so long as the men are together, you cannot discerne to whom the dogge belongeth, but let them part, and then the dogge will follow his true master: so, while man and the world liue together, wee doe imagine riches belongeth to the man, but if the man leaue the world, then riches serues him but a dogged tricke, and as the man did come naked into the world, so his executors will bee sure hee shall goe naked out of the world, hee shall onely haue his winding-sheete. A man throweth a stone into the water, which beget­teth circle vpon circle, and euery one bigger then other, yet suddenly they all vanish away: so is it with riches, they are quickely gone. As a bird hoppeth [Page] heere, and there, and no man knoweth where she will light: so is it in getting riches, which haue wings like an Eagle, to flye away, Luke 12. Thou foole, this night shall thy soule be taken from thee, and then whose shall all thy goods bee? Striue not thou so much to bee rich in wealth, as to be rich in fayth. He in Plutarch which had a golden shoo, sayd: I, but no man knoweth how it wringeth me: so, to haue a golden purse, and a galled conscience, will make all ioy and honour to bee but a dreame at the last.

The world is as the sea, men as fishers, things as fishes, none can tell what he catcheth, till his net come out of the water: neyther can we tell vntill we are dead, what will become of our soules: then lay up thy treasure in heauen, and not in earthly possessions. Purse-nobility, though it glitter in the eyes of worldlings, yet it is sea­ted in the hands of fortune, quae vitrea est, sayth Seneca, a very brittle she friend: See in Haman, to day the Kings onely Fauourite, yet to morrow hanged. See in Gellinor that puissant Prince of the Vandals, yet driuen so low, as hee begged a loafe of bread to slake his hunger, a spunge to dry vp his teares, and an harpe to solace him in his misery. Bellizarius that valiant Generall, his eyes put out, would cry, Date obelum Bellizario: Giue one poore farthing to relieue Bellizarius. Henry the fourth, a rich and a victorious Emperour, he had fought fifty two pitched battels in the fields, yet hee was driuen to that exigent, as hee begged a Prebend in the Church of Spira to mainetayne himselfe, and could not obtaine it, no, not of that Bishop whom himselfe had preferd: but hee an­swered, Per corpus Francisci non habebis: By St. Francis thou shalt not haue it. Therefore labour to bee rich in grace: For, not many rich, not many noble, but God hath cho­sen the poore in this world to bee rich in fayth, and heires of the Kingdome of heauen.

The third kinde of Nobility is morall, which a man [Page] doth purchase by vertue, and good liuing. Socrates asked what nobility was? sayd, Est animi corporisque tem­perantia: It is a good composure, and temperature of the minde and body. Aristotle esteemed him a Gentle­man, which accounted it a glory to giue, and a staine to his honour to take. And Plato sayd he was gentle, which is adorned with his owne, not with others vertues: so thou to be truely generous, is to be in life and behaui­our well gouerned, disdayning to become subiect to vice, or to be infected with bad manners, to be iust and fayth­full in promise, patient in suffering wrong, apt to pardon iniuries without reuenge, milde in countenance, courte­ous in speech, sober in carriage. Nobles may not be like the noblest trees, for they are the most barren, or without good fruite, as the Oake, the Beech, the Laurell, the Myrtle. They must not be like beasts, whereof the no­blest are the cruellest: neyther are they true vertues of nobility, such as in these dayes are vsed, as to dice well, to drinke well, to waste lauishly, and to wanton it ven­trously: this is the way to bring ruine to your selues, for Now as the axe layde to the roote of the tree, euery tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewne downe & cast into the fire: and these courses will bring ruine to your posterity: for the seed of the wicked shall not bee re­nowned for euer. This morall nobility acquired by ver­tue, is like Abishai one of Dauids Worthies, he was the worthiest of three: so this excelleth the other two: but if we compare it with diuine Nobility, it is but as Ioseph to Pharao, the second in the Kingdome.

The fourth nobility is diuine, to be a true Christian, to be a new creature. St. Paul a Iew, was a Citizen of Rome, a Pharise, a great Rabbi, brought vp at the foote of Gamaliel, of the Tribe of Beniamin, and circumci­sed the eyghth day: being a Christian, he was rap't vp in­to the third heauen, yet he did esteeme all as doung, in comparison of being a new creature in Christ Iesus: for [Page] then to bee the true seruants of God, exceedeth all other honour in the world: Therefore after Moses was dead, God sayd to Ioshua, Moses my seruant is dead. If God had so much regarded worldly titles, hee might haue termed him another Noah: for as when all the World was drowned in the Flood, onely Noah & his family were preserued aliue in the Arke. Euen so, when Pharaoh com­manded all the male children of Israel to bee drowned in the riuer, there was onely Moses preserued aliue in a basket. God might haue called him another Enoch, for as Enoch walked with God, and was translated from men: euen so Moses went into the mountayne Nebo, to the toppe of Pisgah, and was neuer seene more of men. God might haue called him the familiar Prophet, one which spake to God face to face, but all this layd aside, God onely sayth: Moses my seruant is dead: to shew vs, that to be a true Christian, and to serue God, is most ho­nourable, yea to bee Gods seruant, is a Title most dura­ble: for if any aske mee what was great Alexander? I answere, that while hee liued, hee was a valiant Monarch, one which did conquer the Easterne parts of the world: but if you aske me what Alexander is now? I say, hee is a damnedThis is sayd according to the Tenent, Without the Church is no saluation. As for Gods secret Coun­cell, wee may not dare for to meddle with it. soule in hell. But if you aske me, what was Abraham? I answere, Abraham, while hee liued, was the father of the faythfull, and now he is dead, he still is and euer will bee Gods faythfull seruant in heauen. In diuine nobility, wilt thou know thy pedegree, and thy kindred? Then know, God is thy Father, Christ Iesus is thy brother, the Holy Ghost is thy preseruer, the blessed Angels thy attendants, thy foode is more precious then Manna, for it is the bread of life which came from hea­uen, of which he that eateth, shall neuer hunger, not thirst any more.

Alexander the great, had a monster brought forth, whose vpper parts had a manshead, and brest, but these were dead: but the lower parts were full of monsters [Page] of all kinds, and these were liuing: this, sayd the South­sayers, did foretell the death of Alexander: So is it in noble houses. The head with a mans face and brest, is re­ligion: If this bee dead, then nothing but all monstrous sins will appeare, which will bring ruine and destruction to all honourable families: Wherefore let me labour to stir you vp to be diuinely noble, and to become true Chri­stians: and because our meeting is to doe honour to a worthy Souldier, and to a braue Commander, giue mee leaue to vse for this purpose some few examples drawne from military discipline.

First, Souldiers in the field may not vse their wea­pons as they will, but as they are commanded. The Musketeere must not discharge when he listeth, but when the Officer bringeth him vp and sayth, Present fire: so likewise the Cannoneere. In our spirituall warfare, Christ is our Generall, wee are his souldiers to fight vnder his banner, our weapons are our soules with their faculties, and our bodies with their members, and these must bee vsed as God commandeth, not as wee desire. Our vn­derstanding must know God aright, our will must chuse what is good, our affections must loue God aboue all: and for our bodies, wee must not abuse them to per­forme the lusts of the flesh: or make them brewers hor­ses to beare much quantity of wine and beere: but Wee must giue vp our members weapons of righteousnesse to true holinesse: our tongues must prayse God, or pray to God: our eyes must not looke on strange women to lust after them: our eares must heare Gods Word: our taste must eate Christs flesh, and drinke his blood, in the blessed Eucharist: our hands must relieue the poore: our feete must carry vs into Gods Temple, and to visit the sicke and such as are in misery: In one word, wee must offer vp our soules and our bodies a liuing sacri­fice, holy, acceptable to God, which is our reasonable ser­uing of God.

[Page]Secondly, Souldiers execute what the Commander willeth, without arguing and asking why they should doe so: as let the Generall send to such a Collonell to enter such a breach, to make good such a place, he pre­sently obeyeth, for they know that the Generall his of­fice is for direction: the Officers and Souldiers duty is, to put his direction into execution. Euen so, looke what our Generall Christ hath commanded in his Word, that must we execute, without discussing by our naturall rea­son, as did Abraham in offring vp Isaack, and as the Iewes sayd vnto Moses, Whatsoeuer the Lord comman­deth, that will we doe. Euen so, let vs rather dye, then not performe all God willeth and commandeth vs to doe.

Thirdly, Souldiers which beleager a Towne, vse two kinde of stratagems.

First, they make themselues masters of the riuers, they cut off all springs of water which succour the Towne, they enquarter themselues and blocke vp the Towne, so that no reliefe of Ammunition, of Victuall, or of men, shall any way relieue the Towne. Euen so must we doe: sinne is our great enemy: then take heed that we take away from the strength of sinne, and flee sinne and all occasion of sinne: Adde not to our originall corruption, euill thoughts, e­uill words or euill deeds. If any man had two swords, and being to fight with his enemy, should lend him one: this were the next way to haue his throat cut with his owne sword. Hence euery one coueteth to disarme his enemy: so must not wee adde sinne to sinne, this were for to bring finall destruction to our owne soules.

Secondly, they doe not onely endeauour to withhold all necessaries from the Towne, but they vse all the means to offend the besieged: for they raise their batteries to make breaches, they make their approches, build their gallies, spring their mines, they haue ladders to seale the [Page] wals, and all this, to force the Towne. Euen so, wee must not onely auoyd sinne, and weaken our corruption, but wee must take into our hands the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, whereby wee may be able to kill all the temptations of the world, the flesh and the deuill.

Fourthly, Souldiers in the field no more feare the re­port of the Cannon, then the report of the Musket: as I haue heard it related of that true noble Peere, and vali­ant Commander, Sir Horace Ʋere, Baron of Tilbery, that when in the Palatinate a Councell of war was called, and there being debated whether they should fight or not: some Dutch Lords sayd, that the enemy had many pieces of Ordnance planted in such a place, and therefore it was dangerous to fight. That noble Gentleman replyed, My Lords, if you feare the mouth of the Cannon, you must neuer come into the field. Euen so, oft times men fall in­to diuers and great temptations: as for to despayre of Gods mercies, for to make themselues away: yea the de­uill oft times tempteth men by voyce, by appearing in some shapes and the like. Yet a Christian courage must not bee daunted at any crosses or temptations, but he must endure constant to the end: for God is faythfull and iust, and will not suffer vs to be tempted aboue what we are able to endure. Bee we assured, all the temptati­ons of that roaring Lyon the deuill, are but like the Frenchmens assaults in warre. Prima Gallorum p [...]aelia sunt plusquam virorum, secunda minus quam faminarum. At first he doth come on like an Emperour, hee chargeth home brauely: but resist him then: and at the second en­counter he is more effeminate then a woman. Euen so, resist Satan at the first, and hee will flee from you: for the deuill is but like a coward. If a coward deale with a man whom hee knoweth hee can ouermatch, or bee in place where hee is sure hee may not fight, then none will giue prouder words, nor make more bragges [Page] then a coward: but if he haue to doe with a man, with whom what he speaketh with his tongue, hee must make good with his sword, and if he bee in place where they may conueniently buckle, then none is more base or sub­misse then a coward: Euen so, resist Satan, and hee will auoyd thee, but giue the least way to his temptations, and then he will fetch seuen other deuils, and they all at once will enter into that man, and make his end farre worse then his beginning. All this that we may better performe, let vs take to vs the shield of fayth, and pray to God, that all our thoughts, words, and deeds, may be be­gun, continued, and ended, to his glory. And so I passe to the second thing. Princes and great men are subiect to mortality.

Death seazeth on the King in his Palace, as well as on the begger in his cottage. It is determined for all men to dye once. Death, Gods Baylife, returneth not his writ with a Non est inuentus in baliuanostra: but death brin­geth corpus cum causa to the King of heauens bench. A King may loue his friends, and aduance his followers to honour, but to adiourne death, or to fill the empty veines with liuely blood, or the dry bones with mar­row, or redeeme life from the power of the graue: in these things, nor Dauid, nor any other is a King, 2. Reg. 5. 7. Am I God, sayth the King of Israel, to kill, and to giue life, or can I heale Naamans le­prosie?

The Vses of this Doctrine are these.

First, let euery man perswade himselfe that he shall dye. This may seeme a paradox: for it any so sottish as to imagine he shall neuer dye? Beloued, bee not deceiued, I am perswaded, few men doe dreame of their owne death: for there is none so old, but thinketh he may liue one yeere longer, and then another, though in generall [Page] wee say all shall dye: yet in numbering our particular liues, we thinke our selues shall neuer dye. Two ships meete on the sea, they in eyther ship thinke themselues stand still, and the other to bee swift of sayle, whereas both sayle, though the one faster then the other. Euen so, men are as ships: see we an old man with a staffe in his hand stooping downeward? Alasse, poore old man, say we, hee cannot liue long. Heare wee a passing-bell? Oh one is going out of the world. Visit wee a sicke friend? We thinke he can hardly liue till morning. Thus we ima­gine, all other men are dying, but we stand still: whereas alasse, they may goe a little before, and wee are sure to follow after.

Secondly, let this teach vs to prepare our selues to dye, that if death be sudden to vs in regard of expecta­tion, yet death may neuer be sudden to vs in regard of preparation: death is like the Basiliske: It is reported, if a Basiliske first see a man before the man see him, that then he killeth the man: but if a man first see a Basiliske, then the Basiliske dieth. Thus is it with death: If death first lay hold on a man before he is prepared to dye, then death killeth that man, body and soule for euer: but if a man first looke on death, and euery day prepare to dye, then death is but an entrance into euerlasting happi­nesse.

It is a worthy thing which hath beene related to me, of that braue souldier, of a noble Family, Sir Iohn Bur­rough, who receiuing a mortall wound in the Iland of Rees, and being aduised not to feare death, but to pre­pare for another world, he answered: I thanke God, I feare not death, and these thirty yeeres together, I neuer arose at the morning, that euer I made account to liue till night: so let euery true Christian euery day when he a­waketh, commend himselfe to Gods protection, whether he liue or dye, and at the euening none knoweth, if That nights bed shall be his graue, or That nights sleepe shall [Page] be his death: therefore before his eyes doe sleepe, or his eyelids slumber, or the temples of his head take rest, make his peace with God for all sinnes: that whether he liue or dye, hee may liue and dye to the Lord, and Iesus Christ may be to him aduantage. And so I passe to the last thing. Notice is to be taken of a great mans death. Know ye not, &c. The death of a great man, and of a meane man is like the report of a Cannon and of a Musket: a Cannon is heard many miles, but a Musket for a little space. So, if a great man dye, all men speake of it: as, such an Earle, such a Bishop, such a Commander is dead. But if a poore man, or a common souldier dye, few of his neyghbours and friends accompany him to the graue, and there is an end of him. But i [...] a great man dye, which is able to doe his Country seruice, notice shall bee taken of it to lament his death: so is Abner heere bewayled both of King and people. In Esay the 3. chapter, God threatneth it as a plague, He will take away the strong man, and the man of warre. Therefore as Lament. 1.15.16. The Lord hath tro­den vnder foote all the valiant men in the middest of mee: for this thing I weepe, mine eye, euen mine eye casteth out water, because the Comforter which should refresh my soule, is farre from me. God taketh away good men, and great men in mercy and in iudgement. In mercy, when God taketh away a bad Prince, and giueth a better, as hee tooke Saul, and gaue Dauid. Hee tooke away from this land Queene Mary and gaue vs Queene Elizabeth. Or when God taketh away a good Prince, and giueth a­nother good one in his place. Thus he tooke away Mo­ses, and gaue Ioshua: thus from vs hee tooke away King Iames, and gaue vs King Charles, whom God long pre­serue among vs: God taketh away great men in iudge­ment, eyther when he taketh good Gouernors, and ray­seth vp none in their stead. Thus when all the Rulers were dead which knew Moses & Ioshua, God gaue the Iewes no Rulers: for in those dayes there was no King in Israel, [Page] but euery one did what seemed best in his owne eyes. Or else God taketh away good Rulers, and rayseth vp bad, as he tooke away Samuel, and gaue Saul. Let vs consi­der, if within these few yeeres God hath not taken away many of our braue Gentiles, and worthy Souldiers: but where haue we a succeeding generation? What are our Ships without Saylors? What are our Gunnes without men? What are our men without discipline? And how can we haue discipline, without braue Commanders, and experienced Souldiers? Philip, King of Macedon, ac­counted the Athenians happy, because they were able euery yeere, to send out ten worthy Commanders, where­as he onely had Parmenio. Hence did this Nation florish heretofore, and was a terrour to all Nations. Yea Charles the eighth of France attired his souldiers like Englishmen to make them more fearefull to his Rebels: but now alas, of late God hath not gone forth with our armies, but for our sinnes he hath made vs an hissing and a by word to o­ther people. Oh, now Abner hath leaue to dye, and men of action by the sword neuer lesse regarded, neuer better spared. Well, blessed be God for our peace, and pray we all for the peace of our Ierusalem: Let them prosper which loue it: yet let not vs be secure. The sons of Zeruiah may be too mighty for vs, though our enemies abroad do sleep, and the Papists at home are not plotting treasons: yet the deuill all this time may rocke the cradle, and God may one day suffer the child to awake: & therefore let not so many Abners, nor this worthy Abner before vs dye, with­out sence of a publike losse, and an vniuersall condolment of the whole State. For so saith my text, Know yee not that a Prince, &c? A Prince, that is, a prime man, a principall Commander, a valiant Souldier, and a worthy Warrier. And hauing finished my text, giue me leaue to speake of this present occasion. Ptolomeus asketh a question, What course men noble in birth, & quality of mind, yet oppres­sed with pouerty, should take to liue by, and to be fruitfull members in the Commonwealth? He answerd, They may in [Page] no wise practise any base or mechanicall trade, but they must addict themselues, eyther to the seruice of their Prince, or bee Priests of Gods Altar, or else giue them­selues to chiualry, and a military life. This latter kinde of calling, our Countryman this noble Commander vnder­tooke. What, to be a souldier?

There is neyther fayth nor piety in men of warre which liue by their sword: But Gods Word will gainesay this. Abraham the father of the faythfull, was a souldier, when with 300. armed men he arose and rescued Lot, and the Kings which were taken prisoners. Iacob his grandchild was a warrier: for, Gen. 48.22. hee gaue to Ioseph a por­tion aboue his brethren, which, sayd he, I got out of the hands of the Amorites by my sword and by my bow. Dauid a godly man was a souldier, for God did teach his hands to warre, and his fingers to fight, and he entred the lists and fought a priuate duell with great Goliah, that monster of the Philistines, and he did cut off his head with his owne sword. In the new Testament, the Cen­turion was so beleeuing, as Christ sayd, Verily I haue not found so great fayth, no not in Israel. And Cornelius, Cap­taine of the Italian band, Acts 10. was a deuout man, who feared God, with all his household, which did giue much almes to the people, and prayed God continu­ally. Thus we see, souldiers may be, and often are, very re­ligious. And they are necessary members for the Com­mon-wealth. Hence Gabriel Simon did picture Iulius Caesar standing vpon a Globe of the world, holding in his left hand a booke, & in his right hand a sword drawne, with this Motto: Ex vtra (que) Caesar: to shew that the Em­pire was gotten, and held by armes and good letters. And the great Turke, going into his Oratory to performe his deuotions, the Talesman with a loud voyce willeth him to remember, that as the Empire was gotten by iustice, and military discipline, so it must be mayntayned by the [Page] same weapons: for as in the body naturall, if the head ad­uise neuer so well, the eye see neuer so clearely, and the toung speake neuer so pleasingly, yet if the armes be dead or disioynted, the body can neyther offend other, or de­fend it selfe. Euen so, in the body politicke: If the head, that is, the King, by his Councell aduise neuer so well: if the eyes, that is, the reuerend Bishops and Cleargy, see ne­uer so well, and expell all mists of error, superstition and idolatry, if the tongue, that is, the learned Iudges and Lawyers administer iustice neuer so vprightly: yet if the Strong men, the men of warre, which are the armes of the Kingdome, be dead, or disarmed, we can neyther offend any other, nor defend our selues from the inuasion of an enemy: All which doe shew the necessity of the Honora­ble profession of a Souldier. To come now to my subiect: This valiant Souldier first went for his Countries seruice, Portugall voyage. Then he serued in the wars of Brittany. Thirdly, He went Cales voyage. Next the Iland voyage. Fiftly, He went into Ireland, where he was Collonell to a troope of Horse, which being cassier'd, he was made Lieu­tenant to a Foote-company. After all these trauels, & dan­gers, he went to Ostend, the most famous siege that euer was, or I thinke, euer will be. The enemy valiantly assaul­ted, the besieged valiantly repulsed them. The then Ge­nerall, the honour of our Nation in this latter age, Noble Sir Francis Vere, employed him being but a priuate Gen­tleman, in a sally: in which he got the first badge of his ho­nour, being shot into the thigh with a musket bullet. And the Generall obseruing his valour, and his stout and dis­creete answere, tooke such liking of him, as shortly after his returne he made him a Lieutenant, and in a little space after, he made him a Chiefetaine, we say a Captaine, which hee alwaies to his dying day would acknowledge with a most thankefull mind, to be the ground of all his honour and fortune. And such was his fidelity euer after, to that noble Generall, as he would not endure any man to speak [Page] basely of him, or in the least measure to detract from his worth. Hauing gotten this honour, he so carried himselfe, for valour, for diligence, for insight in his Office, as that the late Prince of Orange of famous memory, and the now illustrious and victorious Prince, and all the army no­ted his worth and merit. And still he aduanced himselfe to higher place, being made a Seriant Maior of a Regiment, and after that a Lieutenant Collonell.

sayth Queene Dido of braue Aeneas: so this worthy Cap­taine neuer harboured the least thought of base cowar­dise in his brest. How many dangers? How many bat­tailes? How many skirmishes? How many sieges hath he past thorow? yea, with losse of blood, but alwaies with gaine of honour. I may say of him, as is sayd of Ʋlysses, Omnia pericula intrepide pertransit, he ranne thorow all dangers with an vndanted resolution: and as Seneca of another, fuit vir vere fortis, gloriam maluit quam vitam, he was a man truely valorous, hee had rather maintayne his honour then to preserue his life. And which is more, he did not abuse Gods blessings, as many doe, to ryot and waste, but knowing hee is worse then an Infidell, which prouideth not for his family: yet abhorring a base and sordid course, he liued in a fit equipage for his place and dignity, and yet left a large possession behinde him for his posterity. So I may truely say of him, Ille suis maioribus virtute praeterit, hee surpassed all his Ance­stors in vertue and valour, and withall non fuit finis, sed principium familiae: Hee was not the end, but the begin­ning and foundation of his family. Hee hath so raysed his house, as that his Heire may liue nobly, and con­sort himselfe with the prime Gentlemen of his Coun­trey.

Iulius Caesar, when he saw great Alexanders Monu­ment, and that it was written on his Trophee, That at 32. [Page] yeeres of age, he had conquered the Easterne parts of the world: did presently weepe, to thinke, that himselfe being thirty foure yeeres of age, had done no memorable Act, to purchase honour to his Country, or to himselfe. And so me thinkes, this patterne of true Nobility before vs, should stirre vp the braue spirits of our Gentlemen: specially, the yonger brothers of families, not to spend their dayes in idle­nesse, in a Tauerne, or the like: but they should endeuour by some vertuous profession to augment their fortunes, and to adde lustre to their Families.

But to goe forward, Abner in my text did fall: so did this our Abner: but as Dauid sayd, Dyed Abner as a foole? thy hands were not bound, nor thy feete tyed with fetters of brasse. So, did this braue Commander dye like a foole? as a base man that is whipped in the stocks? or as a malefactor which is led bound to execution? No surely, but as we say, O portet imperatorem mori stantem: An Emperour should dye standing. The comfortablest bed for a Preacher to dye in, is the Pulpit. So, a Souldier should dye honorably in the field. And thus did this noble Leader dye in the bed of honour, in the field, in the execution of his Of­fice, and the face of his enemies. And as Dauid, the Nobles, and the people, buried Abner nobly, and mourned for him: so the Prince, and the whole Army bewailed this Souldiers death: and they did burie his bowels there, in an honoura­ble manner. His body is brought to bee interred in his owne Citty, and Country. And as when King Iosiah was buried, all Iuda and Ierusalem mourned, and came to his buriall: Euen so, ‘Sic enim paruis componere magna solebam.’ all the Country round about, of the prime ranke, for Knights, Cleargy, and Gentlemen, with the graue Citizens and others came to performe their last duety of ciuill humanity, and Christian charity, to his deceased corps, desiring to giue him that honour, which while he liued, he worthily purchased to himselfe by his valour. I, but all this may be said of an Infidell, [Page] as of Alexander, Caesar, Scipio, Hanibal. Marke then for his soule, and for him, a true Christian Noble. His custome, when he came into England was obserued, still on the Sabbath, and on the Lecture daies, to frequent Gods Temple, for to heare Gods Word: and where hee liued, I am credibly en­formed by diuers, that twice euery day in his priuate cham­ber, hee did vse to pray heartily, and feruently to God on his knees, both for the forgiuenesse of his owne sins, and for a blessing vpon his family: and he did dayly vse to reade in the Bible, and in other good bookes. But some weeke be­fore his death, he was farre more deuout, and giuen to holy exercises then ordinary.

As the Swan, so this Christian noble Lieutenant Collonell, ready to leaue the world, did sing more sweetly, then euer he did before. And he carried into the army, not only sword and speare, weapons for a Souldier: but for his Christian warfare, he had his Bible, his Prayer booke, and other Au­thors of holy deuotion. What should I say more? He which in his life-time gaue such a testimony of a liuely, and of an vnsayned repentance: and he which dyed in the quarrell of Gods true Religion, and for his Countries firme Alies: I doubt not but in the Canon of charity, I may apply to him the saying of S. Paul, He hath fought a good fight, he hath fi­nished a good course. Therefore hee is now crowned with glory in the Kingdome of Heauen: where wee leaue his soule singing with the heauenly Quire, Amen, Halelluiah, glory, honor, and maiesty be giuen to God, & to the Lambe that sitteth vpon the Throne for euermore. And we commit his body to the graue to sleepe and rest in peace, till the ge­nerall resurrection at the last day: where they which haue done euill, shall arise to euerlasting damnation, and they which haue done well, shall arise to euerlasting saluation.

Now, God of his mercy make vs partakers of this latter Resurrection, for Christ Iesus sake. Amen.