THat the Prophet Esay may goe for a Prophetical Euan­gelist, or an Euangelical Pro­phet; some of vs haue heard to bee the speach of S. Hie­rome; that he was a Prophet euen in this, that the righte­ous perisheth. O that we could! we cannot de­ny, but for an Euangelist, whatsoeuer he was to the righteous man, sure I am, he was none to vs. Euangelium is glad tidings, good newes. This that I haue now deliuered, sad and heauy, I may [Page 2] safely say, though in another sense, that which old Eli said, 'Tis no good newes; 'Tis no good message that we heare.

But sorrow had almost made me forget what I had to say; I haue laid my Sceane in Iury, and thither I must againe, and begin my Sermon where Esay ended his. And I doe not miscall it, when I say a Sermon, for 'tis a piece of a Ser­mon that the Prophet made, not at the Funerall of Iosiah, or Ezechiah only, (Alas for Iosiah, Alas, his glory had beene enough for these) but euen of all the land of Iudea besides; God had euen now giuen his signall to the battell, was now gi­uing his Beloued into the hand of his enemies, had now set vp his standard on high, aduanced his streaming Ensignes to call for the Bee of Assyria, and to hisse for the Hornet of Babylon; his meaning was to let in a flood of Nations vp­on them. Assyrians, Babylonians, Grecians, Egyptians, Romanes, &c. people of a sterne countenance, and a fierce behauiour, speaking a language that his people vnderstood not, and to denounce this warre, and proclaime this iudgement is our Prophets errand, ver. 9. of the former chapter. All yee beasts of the Field, come to deuoure, yea all yee beasts in the For­rest. 1. All yee beasts and sauage Nations. An allegory taken from the wild Boare of the For­rest, and other beasts that roote vp the Vines, and destroy the Vine-yards.

O, but spare thy people, mercy cries, blesse thine inheritance, the seate of thy feete, and place where thine honor dwelleth; let not such [Page 3] prophane feete presse vpon her sacred paue­ments, whom thou hast chosen out of all places of the world for thine owne residence; here will I dwell; let not Hierusalem be laid waste; O be fauourable vnto Sion, rather build vp, then break downe the walls of thy Hierusalem! But then Iudgement stops Mercies mouth, and her turne is to plead for God next. Verum est, 'Tis true she saies, God made Hierusalem the beauty of holi­nesse, and Sion the ioy of the whole earth: But, O quantum haec Niobe, &c? How is she degenera­ted from what she was, to what she is? she is not she now, non samnium in samnio! you cannot find Sion in Sion, Bethel is Bethauen, become and the House of God, a den of theeues.

The sinnes of the Priests (yea, and of the Prin­ces and Rulers too, if Caluin mistake not, Iudices praefectos Reges) first cry for iudgement, and then the Peoples follow, to fill vp the measure of the Priests. Ʋse The sinnes of the Priests are blindnesse, ignorance, drunkennesse, idlenesse, his watch­men are blind, they are all ignorant, they are dumbe dogs, they cannot barke. Dormientes, saith the vulgar; Tempori seruientes, 10. saith Iu. from the Heb. Time-seruers well expounded, ver. 11. by looking to their own way, they all looke to their own way, euery one for his gaine, from his Quar­ter, Peccatum est satis, a man would thinke here were sinnes enow, yet to these sinnes they adde others as it were drunkennesse to thirst, excesse and luxury. Come say they, ver. 12. we will fetch wine, & we will fill our selues with strong drink, & erit sicut hodie, sic & cras, to morrow shall be as [Page 4] this day, and much more abundantly. See the in­cogitancy of these men, crastinum peccatum hodie delinquūt, as Nyssen of the rich man in the Gospel, they sin to day for to morrow, & yet they them­selues hodier [...]i, nay, hesterni, yesterdaies men, and not to daies, for we are no more by Dauids recko­ning, we are but of yesterday, & know nothing, for our daies passe away on earth, as doth a sha­dow, 1. Chro. 21. These be the sins of the Princes and Priests.

The peoples sinnes succeede the Priests and Princes, (vt Sacerdos, sic populus) and theirs is want of consideration, they are all carelesse, retch­lesse, regardlesse of the death of good men, of the taking away of mercifull men, they lay not this to heart, that's their sin, & 'tis the generall sin of them al Non est qui recogitat, nō est qui intelli­git, so one Translation runnes: Nemo homo reponit in animo, nemine aduertente; so another: Prince, and Priest and people sinne, and iust men, mercifull men, are taken away for their sinnes.

The righteous, &c.

We consider in the word 3. generalls.

Three things:

• 1. The generality of mortality, deaths impartiality, the righteous them­selues, euen the righteous, they pe­rish, they die.
• 2. Mans security, and in considera­tion for all that, though the righ­teous perish, no man, none, not a man, very few if any cōsider, that the best spoke in their wheele is bro­ken, the best stake in their hedge [Page 5] plucked vp, the fairest flowre in their garden withered, none consi­der this, none layes this to heart.
• 3. Behold the seuerity and bounty of God, as the Apostle speaks; his iudgement and his mercy going hand in hand seuerity and iudge­ment to them that are left, bounty and mercy to them that are taken away: They are taken away from the euill to come.

And because the Prophet complaines of this generality of neglect and disregard, 'twere good we had an eye backe to euery one of these three, as we goe along. First, a glaunce, a regard to this generality of mortality, consider that; lay that to heart; Secondly, a glaunce on the generality of this disrespect, and neglect, consider that, &c. Thirdly, one eye on Gods seuerity towards the suruiuors, they are kept and preserued for the e­uill day, they are left in the middest of a sea of dangers; and t'other eye on Gods goodnesse & bounty towards them that are dead, they are ta­ken away from the euill to come: one is left, for t'other is taken from the euill to come.

I must craue pardon, if, by reason of mine own indisposition of body and mind at this time, with the Lillies of the field, I neither labour much, nor spin, for what I shall say: the plainest and coursest stuffe is fittest for mourners, you know, quorum nos primi, among whom most of vs, I am sure, may be chiefe, especially if we seri­ously consider, if we lay to heart what our losse [Page 6] is, such a man, such a master; such a no such man, such a no such master.

1 But I betake me to my Theame, and the first Generall is the generality, &c. of mortality.

Iustus perit; There be those who by Iustus vn­derstand Christus, who suffered such a shamefull death, as he seemed to perish, and yet such was the oscitancy and vnaduisednesse of men, that few or none considered, that for our sinnes was he wounded, that for our transgressions was hee broken, not his owne, that the chastisement of our peace was laid on him, & that by his stripes we were healed, &c. Iustus perit; 1. Esaias perit, the Iewes would haue the Prophet himselfe to bee vnderstood here, who is said to haue beene cut in pieces with a wooddē saw, by idolatrous Ma­nasses! witnesses; and those other Prophets whom he slew to be meant by those men of mercy; and so the Prophet was futurae calamitatis Propheta, a true Prophet indeed: But it will not be need, I conceiue, to empale that sense which the Spirit of God hath laid open, and made common; Christianus will doe as well as Christus, or Esaias; to conster this text, euery Child of God is this Iust man. But then it will be demanded, Is any child of God iust? is any that is borne of vncleane seed righteous? did he charge his Angels with folly, and may a sonne of man be iust? Iust is one sometimes who thinks himselfe iust, and is not; Certaine trusted that they were iust, Luk. 18.9. [Page 7] Sometimes one that endeuours to liue iustly in his generall calling as a Christian, so were Za­chary and Elizabeth both iust, Luk. 1.6. [...] though not [...], sine querela, though non sine culpâ; sine crimine, non sine peccato; sometimes one that deales iustly in his particular vocation,Luk. 23.50. so was, Ioseph said to be a good man, and a iust; Sometimes one that is iust and righteous by the imputation of Christs iustice, iustus ex fide, Rom. 1.17. Sometimes one that giueth to euery man that which is his owne, Honor to whom honor, &c. And lastly, sometimes one that performeth iust workes in his owne person, though vnper­fectly, so was Noah said to be iust and righteous in his Generation, Thee onely haue I seene righ­teous before me, saies God, Gen. 7.1. All these ac­ceptions saue one, may serue to span and com­prehend the meaning of the word Iustus; In short, iust either first comparatiuè, so was Noah; againe iust in comparison of his sonnes and their wiues, or iust absolute in respect of sincerity of heart, though nor in regard of a perfect and com­pleate sanctity: But be our Iust man what he will, or who he will, neither his iustice nor integrity, nor his sincerity can saue him aliue, perit; Iustus perit? that's pitty, me thinks; 'tis no good Syntax­is, for if iustus, quomodo perit? and if perit? quomodo iustus?

For, shall the iust mans labour bee in vaine in the Lord? shall his flittings bee numbred, and the haires of his head reckoned, and his teares bottled vp that none of them be lost, and shall hee perish? hath God made all men for [Page 8] nought?First. perit then 1. can be no more then prate­rit, & that the Apostle pronounced of the whole frame of nature, [...], the figure or fashi­on of this world passeth away, then of man too; the Sunne and Moone, these also shift the Sceane euery day ouer our heads, alter the figure of their round and dance daily, and are onely con­stant but in inconstancy. But be it as it will with those celestiall bodies that are aboue; ours be­low, are so subiect to S. Iames his parallage and [...], [...]. our parallaxes, & our tropicks, our turnings & changings, our waxings and wanings, as that we are not the same men now, what we were a while agoe, nor what we shall be a while after! scarce what we are; euery moment fleeceth vs of somewhat; Singula de nobis anni praedantur euntes; if wee die daily, we must needs vary and change daily▪ not a minute of time that we spend, but spends a pickle, some dust of sand in the houre­glasse of our life; nay, for a minute that we spend of time, Time spends a moneth of ours. Seneca tells vs, that it was a Philosophers question, If a man went downe twice in a quarter of an houre or lesse into a Riuer, whether it were the same Riuer or no, into which he went downe? I may make a question, If it be the same man as well, if the same that goes out, as he was comming in; sitting and standing. If I be the same man in the pulpit that I was in my chamber but euen now; for, Ego ipse dum loquor mutari ista, mutatus sum; saith Seneca, praeterit, then will hold good sense, he passeth, he changeth, euen the Iust man pas­seth.

[Page 9] 2 2. Perit: referring it to the body; for as for that, the best language that the Heathen gaue it, was no better then a bellowes full of wind, a bag full of dung, a bottle full of smoke; temporis spolium, fati ludibrium, the laughing stocke of the gods, the May-game of the destinies, Fortunae lusus, For­tunes Tennis-ball, bandied from hazard to ha­zard; the best that S. Bernard giues man, is but little better, sperma faetidum, domus stercorum, esca vermium; my body decaies daily. Sicut dies mori­tur in noctem, & infantia in pueritiam, & pueritia in iuuentutem; these scratch and scramble for the little coale of my life; 'Twill be no harme then to thinke that Iustus perit in this sense; for the bo­dy must to the earth, whence it was takē, though the soule returne to God that gaue it.Eccles. 12. 3 Or third­ly, perit, that is videtur perire, like a shooting Star, Quae si non cecidit, potuit cecidisse videri! in the ac­count & estimation of the wicked worldly man, the Iust man seemes to perish, and come to no­thing. The Wiseman hath pricked the song of these prophane ones, We fooles accounted his life, i. the Righteous mans life, ver. 1. madnesse, and his end to be without honor;Sap. 5. But they sing out of tune; for marke how they correct them­selues by and by? How is he numbred among the Children of God, and his lot is among the Saints? So that this perishing is but a perishing in shew, not in truth, or a preterition, or passing by, rather then a perishing; or at leastwise, 'tis but perituri, the perishing of a body that must pe­rish; otherwise there's nothing that doth perish, either of the iust, or vniust: for though death be [Page 10] via vniuersae carnis, yet 'tis not meta, but after death commeth iudgement.

For, I pray tell me, doe those that sleepe pe­rish? no; the Iust mans death is but a sleepe; our friend Lazarus sleepeth, said our Sauiour, Ioh. 11.11. Doe those that passe from one place to an­other perish? from worse to better? no; the Iust mans death is but transitus; our Sauiour called his death so, Ioh. 13.1. Doe those that are trans­ported, as in a Chariot, perish? death is Vehicu­lum in pace, Luk. 2. a passe in peace; an entring in­to peace, a resting softly, and sweetly, as vpon a bed; requiescunt in cubilibus, in the very next verse. Doe those that are loosed out of prison perish? death is but solutio ex bigis, Phil. 1.23. Bring my soule out of prison, saith Dauid; Ani­mam educ è carcere. i. animam è corpore, saith Hugo, and the glosse; in one word, doe those that goe to a wedding perish? I trow no; death is but iter ad nuptias, when God shall wipe away [...], euery teare frō all eyes, & death shalbe no more, nor mourning, nor cry, nor labour, for abiêre pri­ma, the first things are passed, i. sinnes, and their effects of sorrow and misery, Reu. 21.4.

Instus perit. But how doth hee perish? which way doth he die? Hee leaues that at large, hee speakes indefinitely of the manner how, because the meanes and waies be infinite; moriendi mille figurae; some haue a long lease of their life gran­ted them, euen to foure score and nineteene yeeres; others haue a diem clausit extremum seru'd vpon them as soone as euer they are borne into the world; some doe dimidiare dies suos, some [Page 11] scarce come halfe waies, some mens sunne sets at noone, some in the morning, others at night, some thinke themselues to their end, (multi ad fatum venere suum, dum fata timent) die with very thought of heart: So did Queene Mary for the losse of Calice. Embowell me (saies she) when I am dead, and you shall find Calice written in my heart. Some speake themselues to their end, haue died with talking; so did Valentinian with strayning his voice against the Sarmatian Ambas­sadors. Some read themselues to their end, so did Holcot, who died of the plague as he was rea­ding that very verse, Remember thy end, and thou shalt neuer doe amisse, Eccle. 7. The changes and chances of this mortall life be infinite, yet perit is the end of all; iustus & iniustus, all's one here, as the foole dieth, so dieth the wise man, as the base, so the honorable, Pauperum tabernas, regum­ (que) turres. Death stalkes as soone, and knockes as hard at the Princes Chamber doore, as at the Ploughmans Posterne gate, there's no auoiding this perit.

All haue died, all must die; and can any man thinke he shall get that by fauour, which onely God himselfe hath by nature, to be immortall?

There haue beene those who haue sought by Art to carue the hardest stone, to dissolue the most flinty and brazen Adamant, to tame and subdue the wildest beasts, but neuer any yet found that attempted a meanes to auoide death, [...], vndissoluable, vntameable, vna­uoidable death. In the auerting of other dangers, either strength, or power, or counsel, or cunning, [Page 12] or flight, of praiers, or bribes, or somewhat may preuaile, but death can neither be driuen away by force, nor redeemed by money, nor auoided by flight, nor auerted by counsell, nor preuented by praiers, or teares; a deafe Iudge, an inexora­ble Tyrant. A King of France, that was both rich, powerfull, and victorious, found this most true; for being to die, All this (saith he) will not obtaine the prorogation of death one houre.

No; if any, or all this would haue done it, our deare Master that's now lost to vs, had bene amongst vs still, and our dead Lord had beene a­liue, I had spared my paines from this sad Am­bassage to day, and you had spar'd your eyes, and hearts in this last seruice to his immortall Obsequies! Could either the strength of the Souldier, or the counsell of the Lawyer, or the deuotion of the Diuine, or the skill of the Physi­cian, or the griefe of Seruants, or the duty of Schollers, or the praiers of the poore, or the teares of the Widdow and Fatherlesse, or the loue euen of his Enemies, if hee had any, or the good wishes of all; if any, I say, or all these could haue kept him aliue, Serus in Celum, no man had gone later to Heauen then he, hee had died as old as euer liued any! Iustus perit, had beene out of date to day; Illud immortalitate dignum inge­nium, (as Tully of Crassus) illa humanitas, illa virtus non morte subitâ extincta esset, that sweet and An­gelical conuersation of his, that Noble and cour­teous disposition, that truely Honorable and vertuous inclination had not beene extinct so suddenly; fuit hoc luctuosum suis, acerbum patriae, [Page 13] graue bonis omnibus! it seemes to be pend of pur­pose for him; this hath brought distraction and perplexity to his Seruants, bitternesse to his Country; And I thinke there's no honest man liuing, who either had knowne him, or heard of him, but is sorry at the heart for the death of the Earle of Pembroke.

A man of that state and vse, as things now stand, that what Scaliger saies of Strisset the calcu­lator, he was worthy, quem neque senium senem fa­ceret, neque naturae lex vitâ priuaret; neither to bee broken with age, nor strucken with death. And for our parts that were his Seruants, I thinke, I may say that which Valerius doth of Cornelia, vp­on the losse of her louing Husband, Cornelians nescio an foeliciorem dixerim, quod talem virum habu­erit, an miseriorem, quod amiserit; I know not whe­ther we were more happy in hauing such a Ma­ster, or more vnhappy that we haue lost him; Iu­stus perit!

I am loth to giue him more, then hee would haue giuen himselfe; though I call him iust, yet I dare not say he was perfect; though righteous, yet not without sinne: I should lie, and I say not, non est humilitas, but non est veritas, there were no truth in me; he knew that the way to heauen by innocency was long sithence blocked vp, and therefore he tooke another course, and our hope is, he is arriu'd there by the way of penitencie; hee that was so often, so daily, so duely, euery morning and euening vpon his knees to God, for the pardon of the sinnes of his youth, I doubt not, and for preuenting the sinnes of his age, did [Page 14] acknowledge he was a grieuous sinner; and this confession made him Iust. Hee acknowledged God his Alpha, and therefore I doubt not but his Omega too; He made God his God early, by his priuate deuotion, and there is no question but God made him his too, by his secret inspiration, in the vpshot and euening of his dayes; Iust by the imputation of Christs Iustice, so Iust; Iust in the discharge of his particular Calling, as a Magistrate, so Iust; Iust in the sincerity of his intentions, and simplicity of his heart, so Iust; Iust in indeauouring himselfe in the duty of his generall Calling, as a Christian, in praying, and hearing with all diligence, and attention; wher­soeuer the Gospell shall be preached, there this shall be spoken in memoriall of him, that the Chaplaines eye for direction, and the Chappels eare for attention, ones out, and t'others off, by Iustus perit.

I told you that Iustus was one, that giueth to euery man that which is his owne, suum cuique, he did so: First, duty to his God, obedience to his Soueraigne, loue to his Equals, patience to Petitioners, regard to his Inferiours, affability to all; A Iust Christian, a Iust Seruant, a faith­full and Iust Councellor, a Iust Peere, a Iust Steward, a Iust Master, a Iust Man! Whose Oxe, or whose Asse did hee euer take away, as Samuel said? whose Vine-yard did he euer gape after, to wring from the Owner, by extortion or oppression? Neyther the cries of oppressed Or­phanes, nor the sorrowfull sighing of Prisoners, nor the blood of Innocents, nor the wages of [Page 15] Hirelings, nor the poore Mans pledge, nor the shop-mans penny, did euer cry to heauen against him. Yet perit, this Iust good man is dead and gone.

And as 'tis now, so 'twas euer heretofore true, what the Poet said long sithence:

'Tis the ambition of destiny to let the best goe first, and to leaue the Reffuse for the world; the Patriarches they went before the Prophets, they succeeded the Patriarches, the Apostles the Pro­phets; the noble armies of Martyrs the Apo­stles, & all the godly Professors departed hence in Gods faith and feare, haue come after them; Thus hath the Te Deum beene sung in all ages, but the best for the most part, euer first taken. Nec bonatam sequitur, quàm bona prima fuit, sel­dome comes the better, whether we regard the ages or persons.

Well, doe Iust men die? Then wee shall haue weeping, and wailing, and great mourning, such as Rachels was, I hope; wee shall haue sor­rowing of all sides; the house of Leui and their wiues apart, &c. then when Iosiah is gathered to his Fathers, euery one wil take vp a bitter lamen­tation, as was that of Hadadrimon, in the Valley of Megiddo, for Iosiah; then you shall read no­thing but Characters of woe in euery mans face; for who is there, but would willingly haue died, to haue spared the Iust mans life, such as Iosiah? Is it possible that Iosephs feete should be ground in the stocks, and no man sorry, Super [Page 16] contrituram Iosephi, for the threshing and flailing of Ioseph? A man would thinke so, yet wee doe not find it so, for Iustus perit, & non est qui recogitat: a generality of neglect and disregard, like a le­prous scab, hath spred it selfe ouer all sorts of men: for all that; though the Righteous perish, none laies it to his heart, none laies his hand vp­on his heart, none smites his thigh with Ephraim, and askes either quid feci? or, quid patres fecerunt? or, Iustus quid fecit? that he should perish? None considers that a day is comming, wherein hee shal either be acquitted in the merits of a Redee­mer, by an Enquest of Saints and Angels, or be condemned in the sins of his Fathers; As God doth in a manner powder and brine vp the re­membrance of wicked men, as he did Lots wife, suffers their quarters (as it were) to be set vp in Stories, vt poena impij, sit eruditio Iusti, & that Monu­menta might bee Monimenta, their Monuments, good mens admonishments; So againe doth he sent and embalme the memory of the Iust man, for other mens imitation, that as a relish, from Lots wiues pillar, so an Odor of a sweet smell from Mary Magdalens Oyntment might remaine to all posterity.

And yet see the sequell, men are so stuft in the head, with the coldnesse of charity, or so distem­perd in their taste with the fevrish humor of in­consideration and sensuality, that they can nei­ther taste the salt of the one, or with the Spouse in the Canticles, In vnguentorum odore currere, bee drawne or affected with the odors of th'other, none laies this to heart! God accepts neuer [Page 17] so little, if done from the heart; quod potuit fecit, said our Sauiour in Mary Magdalens case, Mar. 14.8. and 'twas well taken, and quod habuit dedit, in the poore Widdowes, Mar. 12.44. and 'twas well accepted, God placeth not acceptation in [...], nor in [...], but in [...] ▪ he accepts Nehemiah's desire to feare him, Neh. 1.11. Ezechi­ahs setting his heart to seeke him, 2. Reg. 20.3. the the seruants but preparing to doe his Masters will, Luk. 11.42, 47. Dauids but Secundum cor me­um, his honest true heart, 1. Sam. 13.14. This is all, when we haue no more, and yet no man can af­foord God his heart; none laies it out in pios v­sus, not so much for Gods sake, as for his owne. 'Twas well fabled that our Progenitors were flints and stones, for euer sithence documenta da­mus, we shew our breeding, wee proclaime our beginning; 'Twas a Rocke, out of which wee were hewne, and a Quatry of Adamant, out of which we were digg d; Iob expostulates with God, Is my flesh of stone? and are my bones brasse, saith he? Yes, holy Iob, our flesh is stone, and our bones, and hearts, of Adamant and brasse non est qui recogitat. Doe you remember what S. Paul saies, 1. Cor. 5. such and such things haue beene reported to bee among you, & vos non doluistis, he grieues that they did not grieue. Doe you remember what the Prophet saies? Ver. 5. Thou hast smitten them, sed non doluerunt, but they made light of it, they grieued not. Doe you remember what Salomon saies of the drun­kard? They haue strucken me, Sed non agrotaui; 'Tis our case for all the world; God hath smitten [Page 18] many a good man, about vs, aboue vs, below vs, on both sides of vs, and we haue not beene sensi­ble, either of our own blowes, or of theirs. 'Twas Verbum vigilans, haue you no regard? Is it no­thing to you? Lam. 1.12. A strange matter! Let God smite the Rocke, and that melts presently into compassion; Let him but blow with his Fanne vpon the Seas, and the waters will roare; If he doe but touch the mountaines, they smoke. Balaams Asse hath eloquence enough to reproue the madnes of a Prophet; onely man is incom­passionate and indolent, hee alone of all other creatures, as if he had the Priest to his Father, and were a-kinne to the Leuite by the Mothers side, passes by the wounded man, the Iust dead man; and cannot afford him so much as the oyle of his eyes, in stead of a flower to cast after him into his graue. Let vs all pray with the Spouse, Blow O South wind, and thaw our fro­zen and congealed hearts▪ With Iosua beseech the Sunne of righteousnesse to stand still ouer Gibeon and Atalon, the rocky and darke valleyes of our hearts, that we may lay this to heart; that the righteous perisheth, and as it followes, mer­cifull men are taken away; and so I proceede.

Viri misericordiae, saith the vulgar▪ Homines be­nigni; Iunius, or as the Heb. benignitatis; recipiun­tur, saith one, colliguntur saith another; as corne is into the barne, or as flowers are to weaue a Garland; colliguntur non rapiuntur, as the fooles soule was against his will, Exeunt istinc voluntatis obsequio, non necessitatis vinculo; mercifull men are but taken, cruell men are compelled and hal'd by [Page 19] violence to a fearefull end. Turne ouer the Hi­story of the Romane Emperours, and you shall hardly finde one of them that was a cruell man, a blood-shedder, but his blood was shed. Neque enim lex iustior vlla est. Iulius Caesar stab'd by the hands of Brutus and Cassius. Antonius by his owne; Claudius by Caius Caligula; Caius by the Praetorian Souldiers; Nero that butcher'd the Apostles, at last became his owne executioner; Galba succeeds Nero, Otho slayes him, and ere long after, himselfe. Vitellius comes next to Otho, who was made away too, and not vouchsafed the honor of buriall. Domitian is Successor to Vitellius, and after he had banished S. Iohn into Pathmos, is cruelly put to death in his own Palace;

Iudgement without mercy shall he haue that shewed no mercy, and mercy triumpheth ouer iudgement, &c. The mercifull men are but ta­ken in, gathered vp; the mercilesse are rent and torne by violence, to the iudgement to come: But we are speaking of men of Mercy.

The Mercy of a man is seene in three things especially: 1. donando, in giuing: 2. condonando, forgiuing: 3. consolando, comforting. The first, that makes virum benignum, the second, bonum: but the third, virum misericordiarum, a man made vp of mercies, so that a mercifull man is one that doth miseriae condolere, and misero succurrere, grieues for the misery of the miserable, & seekes to relieue the miserable in their misery; miseri­cors quasi miserum cor habeus, saies the old Etymo­logist.

There be some which haue no memorial, saith the Wise man, Eccl. 44.10. who are perished as though they had neuer beene; and are become as though they had neuer beene borne, and their children after thē the bell that knolls to their bu­riall, knocks out the memory of their whole life; a fearefull iudgement vpon cruell men; yet this we find by daily experience but what followes in that place? ver. 10. Sed sunt viri misericordiae: but there are men of mercy, whose righteousnes hath not beene forgotten, with their Posterity shall remaine a good inheritance, &c. Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liueth for euermore; though Iustus perit bee true, yet Iustitia manet is as true; though they bee taken a­way, yet their mercy shall neuer be buried in ob­liuion; These be the men of mercy. Of Moses the same Author saies, cap. 45.1. that his memo­rial was blessed, that he was beloued of God and men, that hee found fauour in the sight of all flesh, and all was because hee was a mercifull man; the Canonicall Scripture makes him the meekest man vpon earth, Num. 12. and the Apo­cryphall, the mercifullest; So that if either be true, he must needs obtaine mercy. Blessed are the mercifull, for they shall obtaine mercy.

And to apply this againe to our dead Master, as Elisha applied his liuing body to the dead childs, it wil not be very hard. S. Gregory saies of a Preacher, Ille praedicat viuâ voce, qui praedicat vitâ & voce: so he is truly merciful, that to the pitty of the heart addes the bounty of the hand. Hee that is dead, our gracious & mercifull Master, (cuius me­moria [Page 21] in benedictionibus) did so, he did alterius mise­riam quasi suam reputare, he accounted others mi­series, as his owne, and that was it that made him pittifull; and he did, de malo alterius quasi de suo dolere, he grieued for other mens sorrowes, as for his owne, and that made him mercifull; He did not shut vp the doore of compassion and commiseration from the necessitous, as S Iohn's phrase is, there was his pitty: but he euen pow­red out of his soule to the needy, Esay 58. as 'tis our Prophets phrase: There was his mercy.

What Iob Iob of himselfe, that I of him, De vtero matris egressa mecum, ab infantiâ meâ mecum creuit miseratio, mercy was brought vp with him from his youth, as with a Father, & he guided her from his Mothers wombe, & what Bernard of mercy & peace, they be collectaneae, bedfellowes, they sleepe together, & collactaneae in another place, Foster-brothers, they suck one milke, one brest together, that I of him & mercy; she was his bedfellow frō his cradle, his foster-sister from his mothers brest.

Naz. at the funerall of Athanasius doubted not to affirme, that Athanasium laudare, was idem ac virtutem ipsam laudare, to commend Athanasi­us was al one, as to frame a Panegyricke of vertue her selfe. Pardon me, if my vnfained affection and seruice to my dead Master, carry me so farre to say, that to commend this mercifull man were all one, as to commend mercy it selfe: A true disciple of a blessed Master, The broken Reed did not he bruise, the smoking flaxe would not he quench. Salomon saies, that the very mer­cies of the wicked are cruell, because their kind­nesses [Page 22] and benefits are rather bestowed to the hurt then the good of other; All the cruelties that he had, were mercies: With good Theodosi­us, neminem dimisit tristem, neuer Suitor went sad from his presence: though hee beg'd of his Sauiour euery day, yet he neuer beg'd of his gra­cious Soueraigne but once, and that not for himselfe neither, but that the Widdow and the fatherlesse might not beg; he had our Sauiours rule by heart, he knew 'twas regalius dare, qúàm ac­cipere, more like a Prince to giue, then to re­ceiue: so that I may say, True Nobility before him went, but for a morall vertue, hee onely made it a diuine: And as Augustine, Epist. 123. of a good soule deceased, Illa quidem anima in societa­tem fidelium & castarum recepta, laudes nec curat, nec quaerit, humanas imitationem tantum querit. That good Soule now taken vp into the company of the faithfull Saints departed, neither regards, nor requires our commendations; all his desire is, that we would imitate his example in this; that I of him, Goe and doe thou likewise. And shall we doubt to say now, as Paul doth, that hee hath found mercy already? that is the fruit of mercy; and shall find it in more abundance at that Day? Shall we doubt to affirme that which our Sauiour doth of the mercifull; ergà eum erunt miserationes, as the Syriack renders it in the plu­rall? No; he hath receiued mercies for himselfe there, and our hope is, he shall receiue mercies for his, here; those that come after him shall be blessed, mercy for measure, mercy for mercy, mercy obtaind for mercy bestowed, dispersit & [Page 23] dedit, dedit temporalia, accepit aeterna. He hath dis­persed abroad, and giuen to the poore: hee re­stor'd to God his temporals, and God hath be­stow'd on him mercie for all eternity.

Iustice could not keepe the Righteous man a­liue, Iustus perit: but may not mercy, by which we neerer resemble God then by iustice, preserue the mercifull? No, neither; euen those are taken away too; colliguntur, like flowres or fruits that are gathered, ripe; Till thirty we are welcome to the world, in the kindest manner; from that, till fifty, much good doe it vs; but from fifty forward, is a time of taking leaue, and so God be with vs; his time was so, in the yeere of his Iubile, in his fiftieth yeere, he returnes from this Land of his captiuity, to the Land of the Li­uing, the Land of perfect liberty, colligitur, he is taken away, taken vp; As a Master from his Ser­uants, as a Shepheard from his Sheepe, as a Pil­lar from a Church, as a Buttresse from a leaning wall, as a Guardian from his Pupils, as a Bride­grome from his Bride, so is he taken; nay more, as a Father from his Brother, as a Brother from his friends, as a kinsman from strangers, as a Friend from all; so is he taken away.

The goodly Tree (like that in Daniel) that af­foorded vs shaddow, and meat, and drinke, and fewell, was our all, omnia Gratianus, as he in Auso­nius, rostra, [...]uilia, castra, agri, domus, nummus, fundus, nobis omnia Gratianus, onely with a voice from heauen is now falne, cut downe, and taken away: now he is truely [...], a Tree turn'd topsy-turuy, vpside downe. [...]; [Page 24] this can God doe; this can hee doe, that thun­ders in the clouds aboue. He that flourished as the Cedar of Lebanon, not many daies agoe, lies now as low as any shrub of the Desart! with one stroke of thunder is our Lawrell blasted; the Tree, vnder whose goodly bowes wee sported and recreated our selues, and vnder whose sha­dow we sate downe and sung, is felled to make Timber for the Triumphant Church in heauen, while our house on earth is running to decay, onely the dew lodges vpon some of his bran­ches.

He seemes to liue (as it were) multiplied in an Honorable Brother, and many a sweet Ne­phew; and O may the dew of Heauen still lodge vpon those branches; let them spread forth as the Vallies, as Gardens by the Riuers side, as the Trees of Lign-aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as Cedar trees besides the waters, Num. 24 6. Collectus est, he is taken; but then let me aske, who tooke him away from vs? Quis collegu? Some en­uious man sure hath done this, as we slept. No, not so; no man, if my charity misguide me not, I suppose there liu'd not a man, bur would haue kept him aliue if he could. Who then? was it Gods doing? Factum à Domino? 'tis true; Quic­quid patimur, quicquid facimus, venit ab alto.

A Sparrow falls not without his prouidence, much lesse doe Princes and Great men fall with­out his leaue. But I must search yet neerer into this, Quis colligit? Was it neither man nor God? Who then? Shall I tell you? Your sins (our sins, [Page 25] that I except not my selfe from the number) haue made a separation betweene him and vs, and our iniquities haue hid him from vs, so that we shall see the face of our deare Master no more.

Behold, saies God, for your iniquities haue you sold your selues; and for your transgressi­ons is your mother put away, in the 50. of this Prophesie, Our Master, say I, is taken away. We may well complaine of these, as Mary did, vpon she knew not whom; Sustulerunt Dominum, they haue taken away our Lord from vs, and we know too well to our griefe, the place where they haue laid him; Quis talia fando?

Can any man then forbid teares, that we that were his Seruants, should not weepe, as he said of the water? Surely no, non arguo doloris affectum, sed doledi excessū; as Blesensis to a King of England, sorrowing for the death of his sonne, Conuersus est planctus eius in gaudiū, conuertatur & vester: Epist. 107. his sorrow is turned into ioy, let yours be so too. As Christ to the women of Hierusalem, Nolite flere, Weepe not for me, not for thee, for whom then? weepe not so, so weepe rather for your selues, and the sinnes of your owne soules; for though ill for vs, yet 'tis good for him: Weepe not for him therefore thus, but rest assured, that if you serue him as you ought, what you haue lost in him, you shall find in God. If thou seeke him, he will be found of thee, saies Dauid to Salomon; he will be with you, while you be with him; As Elkanah to Hannah, Why weepest thou, &c? Am not I better then ten sonnes? Let the Wife sup­pose she heares God comforting her, Am not I [Page 26] better then ten Husbands? and the Brother, Am not I better then ten Brothers? and the Nephew, Am not I better then ten Vnkles? & the Seruant, & the Poore, Am not I better then ten Masters? then ten Benefactors? For to say truth, misera­ble Comforters are all these; Husband, or Bro­ther, or Kinsman, or Master, or Patrone, if God himselfe make not one. And because no man laies to heart, no man considers the generality of mortality, or the generality of the disregard had to the perishing of the Iust, to the taking a­way of mercifull men, let vs cast an eye that way, consider that they doe not consider, Be wise be­times, lest we be wise, when it will be too late! Boterus de m [...]ribus gentium, saies, that the Italian is wise before-hand; the Frenchman after the thing is done, the Almaine in the doing: Let vs herein be the Italians Schollers, learne before hand to preuent that by our daily preparation, which otherwise will preuent vs. S. Chrysostome, to put thee throughly in mind of thy vanity, thy mortality, tells thee, that God hath made the earth, patriam, to teach thee, that thou art Coun­try man to Vanity; and nutricem, to lesson thee, that thou art Foster-child to Vanity; and Ma­trem, Sonne of Vanity; and Mensam, a Guest to Vanity; and Domum, a Tennant to Vanity; and lastly, Sepulchrum too, the Prisoner to Vanity; like an Anchoret thou feedest on thy graue, li­uest in thy graue, suck'st on thy graue, dwellest in thy graue, and at last shalt be clothed with thy graue; And though thy thoughts be as ambiti­ous as Cesars, which the great Ball of the World [Page 27] could not containe, yet a lesser on the Obeliske shall containe thy ashes, as it did his, and then all thy Vanity, like thy Daies, shall be compas­sed in a span; Vniuersa Vanitas, omnis homo, euery man is euery way, all kind of Vanity! Haue an eye to this: and that we shall all rise againe to Iudgement after these our daies of vanity, but in a different manner, as the Egyptians and Israe­lites, vtri (que) mare sunt ingressi, non similiter egress [...]; they both went down into the sea alike, but they came not vp alike! Violae crescunt sicut & Sp [...]nae; ta­men Violae in odorem, Spinae in ignem: The Thornes grow, as doe the Violets, but these are bound vp to make a Nose-gay, those bundled vp in faggots, to make fewel for the fire. Haue one eye that way. Palmares posuisti dies: Thou hast made my daies as it were a span long.

Againe, seeing 'tis so, that most men haue the least regard of the Iust mans perishing, & Mer­cifull mens taking away, let's haue another eye that way; let's grieue for them, that they grieue not for themselues, or others; our Sauiour did so: O si cognouisses, & tu! O that thou hadst, &c! He cannot goe thorow with his sentence for weeping, and throbbing, Singultu medios impedien­te sonos. O, this is a disease too Epidemicall in the world, that the death of others, so sudden sometimes, so certaine alwaies, yet cannot win vs to prepare for, to beware of our owne! Hap­py whiles the passing Bell goes, or the Buriall is reading, or the Corps lies before our faces, we can be so deuout as to lift vp an eye or spend a sigh, or bestow a teare, or let rail a grone, or [Page 28] perchance at the same charges, a knocke vpon the brest, with a Lord be mercifull to vs, what a fraile creature is man? to day a man, to mor­row no man, I say for a very little while we are content to lend an eare to God, to consecrate it a Sanctuary to Deuotion, and in our brothers death, to thinke vpon our owne mortality: But no sooner is the Booke turn'd in, or the hum­ming of the Bell out of our eares, or the Coffin couered with earth; but wee presently forget what we did, where we haue beene, what we haue seene, or heard.

And instantly we begin to make our eares & mouthes Gutters and Sincks for filthy and vnsa­uoury speeches, to runne vp and downe in our eyes and hearts, graues of vncleane lusts, cages for euery filthy & vnwholesome bird; we cannot leaue our old wont: like S. Iaemes glasse-gazer, while we are poring into the pit, we see as in a glasse our owne frailty, and can bee content to acknowledge it, but no sooner haue wee turn'd our backes, but wee forget immediately what our fashion and shape was, and we haue vtterly throwne out of our mindes, that voice which speaketh vnto vs as vnto children, shall I say? nay, rather as vnto wormes and beasts, Terra es, & in terram reuerteris, Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt returne. I cannot fitter compare such Men, then to Swine, who while one of their fel­lowes is going to the blocke, they yell and cry, but no sooner hath the knife cut his throat, but presently theirs are stopt, away to their wash­troughs, and wallowing in the mire againe. O [Page 29] consider this, all you that forget God, consider that you doe not consider, that there is an euill day comming, wherin such as you shall be taken, as Birds in a net, as Deare in a toile, when the Iust and Mercifull men shall be preserued from the euill to come.

3 A facie malitiae collectus est iustus, Heauen is fas­ciculus viuentium, the bundle of life, or of the li­uing; that's the vulgar; ante faciem ipsius mali re­cipitur iustus, that's the originall; that is; for illu­stration sake, ante aduentum mali, before the euill day come, and the yeeres draw nigh, so Gen. 36.6. Esau is said to haue gone into the Country of Seir, before the face of Iacob. i. before Iacob was come. This euill here meant, is that denounced at the first verse, the calling in of Forraigne Na­tions to eate vp, and to deuoure Gods people. All yee beasts, come to deuoure, &c.

And here I told you there were two things considerable, Gods Iudgement, and his Mercy; his Seuerity, and his Goodnesse; his Iudge­ment on those that are left, his Mercy towards them that are taken away; ill for those, good for these; th'one happy, th'other miserable.

Now the euill to come, is two-fold, contin­gent, or necessary, an euill that may be, or an e­uill that must be, [...], or [...]. Of the first sort is warre, famine, pestilence, earth-quakes, inundations; these be [...], things that may come; of the second sort is old age, and dotage, and sicknesse, and at the last, death; and after death, Iudgemēt; these be [...], things that must come; these shall be, will we, nill we; this is the [Page 30] sad night, of which our Sauiour speakes, the night cōmeth, when no man can worke, the night of age, the night of death, the night of Iudge­ment; when these nights be come, no man can worke. No man will deny but that in a darke, cold, stormy tempestuous night, he has the best of it that is a-bed, & asleepe, and hee the worst, that is vp and awake: Our life here is such a night, and our death in Christ, such a bed, requies [...]unt in cu­bilibus; and come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, Esa. 26. The rest in the graue is there compared to the rest that a man takes in his bed­chamber: And haue not they the worst of it, then, who are left behind?

Should that anguish and perplexity of heart, befall thee, that befell Ezechiah, when he turn'd to the wall and wept, as if hee would haue told his tale to that which could not heare him. If Io­nas pangs should come vpon thee, or Elias trauels ouertake thee; Take away my life, why should I liue? I am no better then my Fathers; Would'st thou not with the Wise man praise the dead, which are already dead, more then the liuing, which are yet aliue? Eccl. 4.2? Nay, would'st thou not with the foole,Vers. 6. esteeme an handfull of quiet­nesse in thy graue? (melior est plena vola quietis, ple­nis pugnis molestiae) better then both the hands full of trauaile and vexation of spirit here on earth? This is no more then that which may bee, this is an euill that may come, ere thou be aware of it. Should the case so stand with thee, as Moses de­scribes it, Deut. 28. when in the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were euening, & in the [Page 31] euening thou shalt say, would God it were mor­ning, &c. for the feare of thy heart, wherewith thou shalt feare, and for the sight of thine eyes, that thou shalt see, when thy life shall hang be­fore thee, like Tantalus apples, but thou shalt not enioy it, but rather like Diues in hell shalt see o­ther men happy, and thy selfe miserable. This is no more then that which may be, this is malum venturum, an euill to come.

To come a little neerer home; Should things fall out so? (which yet God forbid) that though the City cried out of her gates to the Country, as the man did to Paul, Come out of Macedonia, & help vs in the City, Act. 16.9. and the Country should call from her suburbs and graunges, to the City, For the loue of God, lend vs your hand in the City, and helpe vs in the Country; Should there fall out to bee such a vicissitude of com­plaints betweene them, and yet the City neither able to supply the Country with her sweetnesse, nor the Country the City with her fatnesse, for feare of Mors in ollâ, bitternesse in the end? Who would not say that this were Malum venturum with a witnesse? And yet euen such an euill to come, is now feard of the wisest; The thing that hath beene, it is that which shall be, saith Salo­mon, and that which is done, is that which shall be done,Eccl. 1.9. and there is no new thing vnder the Sunne, not in specie, but hath beene done in one kind or other before we were borne; and may be againe, when we are dead, cuiuis potest accidere, quod cuiquam potest, that may happen to any one, which hath yet happened but to one.

2 And as this shewes Gods Iudgement to those that are left aliue, so his goodnes to those that are taken away. Thus dealt God with Enoch, he was translated, yea speedily was he taken away, lest that wickednesse should alter his vnderstand­ing,Wisd. 4.10, 11. or deceit, beguile his soule. A facie malitiae, thus with Abraham, Gen. 15.15. Thou shalt go to thy Fathers in peace, thou shalt be buried in a good old age. This was Gods goodnesse vnto Abraham. Thus with Noah, whom God tooke in the time of wrath, in exchange for the world, Eccl. 44.17. they drownd, he sau'd. The same to Ezechiah by Isaias the Prophet Behold, the daies come, when of thy sonnes which issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away, and they shall be Eunuches,2. King. 20.18. in the Palace of the King of Baby­lon: but as for thy part, thou shalt sleepe with thy Fathers. Was not this Word of the Lord, good for Ezechiah? The like was promised to Iosi­ah, I will gather thee vnto thy Fathers, and thou shalt bee gathered into thy graue in peace, and thine eyes shall not see all the euill that I will bring vpon this place.2. King. 22.20. A great fauour to Iosiah, that this euill should not come to passe in his time.

This goodnesse of God will appeare the more clearely, if we consider the company which the godly part from, and the society they goe to; they part from a valley of teares, from the midst of a froward and crooked Generation. It made Dauid sigh deepely, Hei mihi quia incolatus meus, &c. Woe is me that I am constrained, &c. They goe to an innumerable company of Angels, to [Page 33] the generall assembly, and Church of the first borne, which are written in Heauen,Heb. 12.23. and to God the Iudge of all, and to the Spirits of Iust men made perfect, and to Iesus the Mediator, &c. O praeclarum illum diem, cùm ad illud animarum consor­tium oetum (que) proficiscar, may the Christian farre better say then the Heathen man did! O blessed and happy day, when I shall goe hence, to bee admitted into the Colledge and Society of all Saints departed this life!2. Pet. 3. Here while we liue below, the good man shall haue somewhat to vexe his soule, as Iust Lot had by hearing and see­ing, in so much as he shal wish sometimes, Vtinam aut ego surdus, aut ille mutus, I would either I had no eares to heare, or that man no tongue to speake! But Foelix Nepotianus, saith S. Hierome, qui haec non videt, haec non audit Nepotian, is happy, who neither heares, nor sees these things!Lib. de erat. Tully shall make the sense full; Non videbit bello flagrantem Italiam, non ardentem inuidiâ Senatum, He shall not see Italy ree­king with the blood of Patriots, nor the Senate sweltring in enuy one against another, &c. And this is now our deare Masters condition; his eyes shall not see,Cant. 3. nor his eares heare that which shall wound his soule any more; his eyes shal no more wound his heart. Should the abomination of desolation, the Idoll of the Masse bee set vp a­gaine in the holy place; and Dagon shoulder the Arke out of doores hereafter, as the Arke hath done Dagon heretofore; Happy he, his eyes shall not see this, Foelix Nepotianus, our Nepotian is hap­py, that shall neither heare, nor see any of all this.

Should such intestine iarres begin againe, as once did betweene those two fatall Houses for the Mastery of the double Rose, should we see in our owne Land, and of our owne Country-men, Ensigne borne against Ensigne, and Crosse a­gainst Crosse, Signa pares aquilas, & pila mina [...]tia pilis, soelix Nepotianus hoc non videret, &c. happy he his eyes should behold none of al this Should Rabshakeh, Zenacheribs Generall, approach our Ports at Sea, raile, and blaspheme the Hoasts of the liuing God, with Dog▪ and Hereticke; tell vs to our teeth, that hee would come vp with the multitude of his Charriots, to the sides of our Lebanon, 2. King. 19 23. and would enter into the Lodgings of our Borders, and into the Forrest of our Carmel; happy hee his eares shall be filled with none of these blasphemies; But in stead of seeing the one, he now sees the Beatificall face of God, and in stead of the other, he heares the noise of Cheru­bins, and the songs of Seraphins, Collectus est à facie itae, he is taken away from the euill to come; The Orator saies, that presently vpon the death of [...]rassus such misery befell the State of Rome, Vt mihi non erepta à dijs immortalibus vita, sed donata mors esse videatur; life was not so much taken from him, for a punishment, as death bestowd on him for a reward; Pray God his proue not so; pray God his death be not Primitiae dormientium, in some sense, but a say of that mortality, which is feard to follow, I feare it is.

[...]oh. 14.Howsoeuer it be good for him, 'tis ill for vs, he is gone, [...], as our Sauiour said, to his owne house and long home, and hath left vs a­lone, [Page 35] some of vs without house or home, and yet we are not alone neither in our griefes, while the Church and Common-wealth, if I might not speake too broad, the whole Christian world shares with vs in his losse. For what Hortensius of Brutus, we haue double cause to grieue Brutus, quod & ipse Republicâ careas, & illa Te; that I of him, the Common-wealth hath a share in this losse, For as much as though he want not the Common-wealth now (hee's better prouided for) yet, the Common-wealth will want him! I haue ended that Theame at last, though himselfe be a Theame without end; an immortall Argu­ment. Pardon my length, griefe keepes no houres; I come in a few words to admonish you that be aliue, Exercitia enim magis sunt ista quàm fu­nera! These Commemorations be rather exerci­ses for the vse of the liuing, then for the honor of the dead, that you labour to flye from the venge­ance, the euill to come, and I would I could say it were malum venturum, an euill to come, and no more: but 'tis present, there is euill that is pre­sent, Malum culpa, the euill of sinne, and where this is present, you may be sure, Malum poe ae, the euill of punishment will not stay long behind, Flagitium & flagellum vt acus & filum, where sinne goes before, sinne and a scourge are as the nee­dle and the thred, &c. vengeance will limpe af­ter, and creepe where it cannot goe.

The Haruest of the whole earth is now ready, and Gods Sickle is in his hand to reape downe all;Tit. 1.11. pray then and labour to be deliuered à prae­senti malo seculo, from this present euill world. [Page 36] Let vs enter into our own hearts, and there eue­ry one of vs study to find the plague of his owne heart,1. Kings 8. by a serious reuiew of our waies past, and be wise, As Dauid askes, How many are the daies of thy Seruant? so 'twere good for vs, if with Dauid we would oftner aske,Psalm. 93. How many are my dayes? how long haue I liued? and how haue I bestowed these daies? For our Rents and In­comes, we haue Rentall Bookes; for our Money, Bags and Chests; for our Garments, Ward­robes and Presses; and we know how to spend, and vse those sparingly, and with moderation; onely we are wasters of our daies, as if wee had Methusalems yeeres in a Treasure. Pliny makes man to complaine of the gods, that the Eagle and Stagge were longer lyu'd then he, and that mans age was nothing; Hee does not well to re­pine so; For, Non parum habemus temporis, sed mul­tum perdimus, Senec. Epist. 'Tis not a little time that we liue, but 'tis much time that we lose. What with nihil agendo, and aliud agendo, and male agendo, with do­ing nothing, or worse then nothing, wee bring our yeeres to a few minutes. Infantes sumus, dum senes videmur, Martial. we are but Infants, when we looke like old men. Carelesse men as we are; we spend our allowance of lights; in Ryot and Wan­tonnesse, and so at last are faine to goe to bed darkling! we dreame of rest here, and contem­plate vpon I know not what Elizian Fields, and Ayery Paradises vpon earth, whereas God knowes, we haue here nought else but desideri­um quietis, a desire to rest; onely in Heauen, qui­etem de sideriorum, [...] rest to all our desires! I say, we [Page 37] build to our selues Castles in the Aire, like Ari­stophanes Cuckoe in the Clouds! when as often­times Stulte, hac nocte, Thou foole,Luk. 12. this night casts a dampe vpon all our fleeting, and speculatiue designes; In Heauen rest? Let me speake that a­gaine; I said not true, No, not in Heauen rest, yet: Till the resurrection of all Flesh, at the last Day!

For as all the Creation grones on earth (in the Apostles Metaphore) longing to bee deliuered from the bondage, &c.Rom. 8. so doe the blessed Soules deceased, sigh and grone after their manner, to be re-vnited to their owne bodies, and then they shall rest in that Day. When the Bride-grome is absent, then men fast, saies our Sauiour; but when present, they rest & reioyce. Our bodies be the Bride-groomes, our Soules the Brides; Till these meet againe, they fast, after reioyce, & rest. Wonderful strange, (you'le say) that a Soule clo­thed with Glory and Immortality, should desire the company of a Carcasse lapt in Lead: Non be­nè conueniunt, what communion between corrup­tion, & incorruption? yet so 'tis; for, Quid est mag­nus ille animarum clamor? Iu. Dedic Eccles. (saith Bernard) What meanes the bleating of those innocent Lambes? the cries of Soules in the Reuelation? He answers, Clamor is but Amor, & magnū desiderium, This cry is but a loue, & longing desire, to be reioyned a­gaine to their owne bodies.Apoc. 14. A labore requiescunt qui in Domino moriuntur, sed non requiescunt interim à clamore, those blessed Soules do rest from their labour, not from their clamour▪ the Soules of the slaughtered bodies, doe yet cry from vnder [Page 38] the Throne of God, and the same Father giues the reason; Quia etsi nihil habent, quod molestet, nondum tamen habent quod delectet, donec requiem re­surrectio, donec Sabbatum, Pascha sequatur, for though they feele nothing to afflict them; yet they haue not all that delights them, till such time as the Resurrection follow their rest, and an eternall Sabbath in Heauen, this bitter Passeouer on earth; then shall they flow in all perfection of Blisse, then perfectly taken from euill to come.

And is that all? No; that's but the one halfe of their blessednesse; for besides this ereption and deliuerance from euill, they shall be inuested in the present fruition of all good whatsoeuer; here be heard the cries of captiues, and sicke, and poore, &c. There the captiue shall haue his free­dome, the sicke his health, the poore, riches; the blind, sight, the lame shall be restored to his legs; the Orphane to his Parents, the Widdow to her Husband, the sad man to a neuer-interrupted so­lace, the old man shall haue his youth renewed, the child his age filled, the weake his strength re­paired, euery valley shall be exalted, euery croo­ked thing shall bee made straight; when that which is perfect is come,1. Cor. 13. then that which is vn­perfect shall be done away; the dead in Christ eternall Life freely bestowed, The gift of God is eternall Life, through Iesus Christ our Lord. In comparison of this good to come;Rom. 6.15. all world­ly treasure is but meere beggery, all the pompe and glory of this earth, but dung and darkenesse; all pleasures whatsoeuer but nauscous and loth­some; in a word, All flesh is grasse, and the glo­ry [Page 39] of it as the flowre of that grasse, not gramen, but foenum, withered grasse; withered before it be plucked vp: onely the Word of the Lord, the Kingdome of Heauen promised in that Word, endureth for euer; there we may hope to meete all againe, but here on earth neuer. The Shep­heard is smitten, and wee the Sheepe of his pa­sture shall be scattered abroad.

TO God the Father, which brought againe from the dead our Lord Iesus Christ,Heb. 13.20. that great Shep­heard of the Sheepe, through the blood of the euerla­sting Couenant, make you perfect in euery good worke, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Iesus Christ: to whom be glory for euer and euer. Amen.