Conduct to which tho she was in his Absence qualified and entitled by Law yet it was a high Testimony of his Confidence in her Prudence to leave and intrust it to her sole Care Which Trust she discharged with such Dexterity such Exactness and such admirable Wisdom that she never gave or left occasion for any Complaint but rendered all more than silent satisfied and not only satisfied but applauding and admiring her prudent and honourable Conduct And tho she loved and even hugg'd her Retirements as her greatest Satisfaction yet when the Exigences of Affairs required it she would deny her self and her particular Inclination to comply with a Duty of a more publick Concern and chearfully sustained the hurry of Business which was inevitable and always acquitted her self with Honour and Applause of the great Trust imposed in her But never did any Man after a long and uneasy Confinement meet his Liberty with more Joy and Satisfaction than she did solace her self when she had escaped the Noise and Crowd of Affairs which must needs have ruffled and disturb'd her Quiet and so far lessen'd or at least suspended the full enjoiment of her Self And now by such a Regular such a Pious and such a Righteous Life we cannot easily suspect She could be unprepar'd even for the most sudden Death and tho the Warning was indeed but short yet we have no reason to fear it was much surprizing to one that always lived in expectation of it She was always as I was inform'd in the midst of her Health and Strength apprehensive enough of the Disease whereof she died yet being seiz'd with it she seem'd not at all discourag'd and profess'd her self entirely willing to acquiesce in the Will of God and all the while of her Illness continued in the same Frame and notwithstanding a Complication of Distempers notwithstanding the troublesome Prescriptions of Physicians and the no less troublesome Applications of others notwithstanding her own Pain and Disorder of which her Constitution and other Circumstances consider'd She could not but be very sensible yet with an admirable Patience and Resignation to the Will of God with a great Contempt of the Vanities of the World and with a holy Indifference even to Life it self she was ready to answer when it pleased God to call being impatient in nothing nor importunate in any thing save an earnest desire that she might know her Danger and when it was at last declared to Her O God how like an Angel rather than a Soul clogg'd with Flesh did She receive it with such an humble unconcernedness such submission and such evenness of Temper as nothing could have given but an innocent and meek Spirit and a Conscience void of Offence towards God and towards Man And resigned up Her great Soul in Death with the same Courage and the same Quietness that She had possest it in Patience all her Life And thus lived and thus died who can speak it without Tears this Great Queen this Glorious Saint tho not full of Years yet full of mature Fruits and Graces when all Men judged Her worthy of a longer but God the only unerring Judg found her full ripen'd for a better Life And after he had prevented Her with the Blessings of Goodness and set a Crown of pure Gold upon her Head after he had given Her the universal Esteem Love and Admiration of all that knew Her the blessing of a good Name and more than unspotted a bright and resplendent Reputation After he had granted Her the Request of her Lips and shut not out her Prayer After he had made Her glad with the Light of his Countenance and given Her a Heaven upon Earth the Blessing of a calm purified and well-assured Conscience In a word after he had taken out the Sting of Death and made it an easy Passage to Everlasting Life he then took Her from her Corruptible and Earthly to an Incorruptible and Heavenly Crown And She is now safely arriv'd at that happy Place where as the Father sweetly warbles there 's Vita Aeterna Beatitudo Perfecta Summa Voluptas Fulness of Joy Eternity of Life and Perfection of Bliss Where her Faith is turned into Sight her Hope into Fruition and Love everlastingly satisfied with the Presence of God the Face of Jesus Christ the Fulness of the Spirit with the Communion and Society of all Saints and the Spirits of Just Men made Perfect where all the Cares and Troubles annext to an Earthly Crown are now done away and where she is and shall be for ever ravished in joining with Angels and Saints and all the Choir of Heaven to carol forth Praises and sing Hallelujahs to him that sits upon the Throne to the Lamb and to God for ever The most glorious Imployment the most happy State that the greatest Monarch the greatest Angel ever arrived to And tho it be every way her Advantage and her Gain yet it 's still our Loss and Her many Excellencies before-mentioned may satisfy us what great Advantages we might have expected from her Life had it pleased the Almighty to have continued it And now let us suspend our Sorrow a while and consider what may be justly expected from our selves on this sad Occasion And here I could lay before you a Pattern worthy of your Imitation such a Pattern as in all respects this Age perhaps has not produced a Pattern that may for ever silence what either the greatest or the meanest Person can offer against the Reasonableness or the Necessity of a Holy Life and may sufficiently convince us that there are no insuperable Difficulties in Religion for tho She was a Queen yet she was a Woman of the feebler Sex a great and a rich Woman Mat. 19.23 and how hardly can such be saved A Woman of like Passions with your selves inwardly clogged with the same corrupt and sinful Nature outwardly beset with the like or greater Temptations and yet she cast off the Weight that hung upon Her broke through the Difficulties that did incompass Her and ran the Race which was set before Her and thrô Faith and Patience has obtained and now inherits the Promises and that sure Reward that Crown of Glory that endless Kingdom which God hath provided and Christ hath purchased and promised to Her and all them that love and fear him and wait for his appearing I could likewise here shew you how idle and frothy are the Projects and Purposes the Designs and Resolutions which worldly Men are too too apt to promise to themselves on the Hopes and to build upon the Assurances of long Life than which there is nothing more vain nothing more uncertain If ever any meer Mortal could by any Privilege whatsoever pretend or hope for Exemption from the Arrests of an early Death this Good this Great this Young this healthy Queen might and yet all the Advantage She has now over common Dust is that to Her may David's Lamentation over Saul be more fitly
way more perswading than is usually found in her Sex And what good use She made of these Talents I need not tell you and it may justly upbraid many other Ladies even of the first Rank who I know not upon what pretences omit improving them the same way I am sure she had more Business to divert her more Plenty and Abundance to entertain her as much Beauty to tempt her and more Favour and Honour to entangle her than any of them all and live in the same Atheistical degenerate Age that they live in An Age wherein a sincere and serious a religious and devout Temper is expos'd to Ridicule and esteem'd the most unmodish unfashionable and useless thing that can be And yet all these Disadvantages all these Temptations to raise her Pride and make her haughty to render her careless secure and indevout serv'd only to raise her Ambition to behave her self more agreeable to her great Quality by a Carriage truly Exemplary and every way Great a Carriage that was in all respects Religious Honourable and Vertuous The great God of Heaven the Creator and Disposer of all things was chiefly regarded in all her Behaviour and the first and main Principle of all her Actions Hence sprung that awful Regard and Reverence of his Divine Majesty which was visible in all her Carriage and I have heard that she used frequently to express a great sense of the Folly the Ignorance and Impudence of those tho esteem'd Wits who pretend to deny the Being of a Deity when they had such clear Convictions of Him his Attributes and Providence in every particular of the Creation even such as were obvious and discoverable to their very Senses And as no Pulpit-Discourses pleased her better than such as were dexterously levell'd against this unreasonable this hellish Error so for prevention of its growth in an Age so fruitful in Evil they were always commanded to the Press It was upon this Belief upon this Knowledg as the best Foundation that she rear'd that noble Structure of Piety and Devotion Uprightness and Sincerity Purity and Charity and all other the Duties of Christianity that shined so brightly through the whole Course of her Life Dr. Wakâ—'s Sermon at Greys-Inn on the same occasion But by a Discourse just come to my Hands I find my self prevented and every way out-done as to what I offered upon these Heads therefore I chose rather to refer the Reader to it and the rather because that Revevend Author speaks all or most from his own Knowledg which may render it more authentick and more satisfactory too and as he himself observes the Reader need not fear his imposing on him for he may defy him to flatter if he would There you may behold this great Queen delineated at large you may see how great how good how every way exemplary she was in her Life and she is no less so in her Death being an Object not lightly to be laid to all our Hearts not only as Subjects not only as Christians but as Men as Mortals too warning all that have seen or shall hear of the sudden blasting of this Flower that all Flesh is Grass and louder than any other Voice cries All the Goodliness thereof is but as the Flower of the Field There you may see how great a Friend she was to the Church how careful of the Welfare of the State and how much she did contribute to the Happiness of both how religious how pious in Publick how exact how punctual in Private how constant in the Chappel how frequent in the Closet and how sincere and devout in both I had once the Honour to be near her when she receiv'd the blessed Sacrament and I shall never forget with what Reverence what Humility what Zeal and Intention she did participate of that Divine Mystery which plainly shewed she was as sincerely as seemingly devout Her Affections seem'd to be raised above their common pitch and her Carriage during the whole Action was so Heavenly and so Divine as if her Soul had actually ascended to that God to whom her Prayers were directed and brought to my Thoughts that Saying of St. Luke's concerning St. Stephen when he saw the Heavens opened and Jesus standing at God's Right-hand His Face says the Text was as the Face of an Angel And now she that by such remarkable Instances of Piety and Devotion manifested the profound Reverence and Veneration she had for God could not be wanting in any regard to the rest of his Commandments She that was so exact in the Duties of the first could not be defective in those of the second Table Her Righteousness was no less illustrious in that respect than her Piety was in the other Her Word was as sacred as any Oath and no Inconvenience would make her flinch from what she had once promised She so much abhorred a dishonourable Recess that she had no great value for those who by little Arts and Shifts would free themselves from their Ingagements and thereby disappoint the Expectations they had raised in others But I need not stay upon this Her Vertues in this kind were so eminent and so conspicuous that considering the Orb she shone in it was impossible they could be concealed and this it was that made her so justly admired and so entirely beloved of all She was of that Sweetness of Temper of that Kindness Affability and considering her great Quality of that Condescension and Courtesy in all her Demeanour as rendered her very dear and her Conversation grateful and desirable to all that had the Honour to be near her She was usually very pleasant and chearful but her Mirth was always managed with Descretion and bounded with Religion her Prudence kept her within the Limits of Reason and her Piety restrained her from being vain in both which she was very Excellent and very Exemplary She was in her Conversation notwithstanding the Respect due to her Quality far from ingrossing all the Discourse to her self And when she did speak she still according to the wise Man's Character of the good Woman opened her Mouth with Wisdom Prov. 31.26 and in her Tongue was the Law of Kindness And she did so far excel all others this way that if a Stranger who had never seen her had come in and found her at work among her Maids of Honour as he often might or in the Company of other Ladies without any Badges of Royalty and Distinction he had been very undiscerning if after a little Observation either of her graceful Meen or winning way of Address he had not presently concluded That 's the Queen In a word she was so great a Proficient in all the Arts of Obliging that she reigned over the Hearts as well as the Persons of all those who were happy in the Honour of her Converse And now she who was thus exact thus perfect in all the Duties both of the first and second Table must needs excel in that which is
applied O how is the Mighty fallen 2 Sam. 1.19 how lovely and pleasant was She in her Life and yet she is fallen as if she had not been anointed with Oil. And indeed nothing in the whole World could have more convincingly assured us of this Truth that all Flesh is Grass than her Fall hath done But I hasten to what yet remains There are two Duties that seem specially and necessarily to be incumbent upon us at this time First What we are to do to sanctify or at least how we are to demean our selves that God may sanctify this great Loss to us Secondly What we are to do to lessen it so as it may not prove fatal to us First How we are to improve this so as to have it sanctified to us This is certain by such Dispensations as these the Death of his Servants God doth forewarn us of future Judgments especially if they be such as are great and eminent whether in Church or State We have now lost the Greatest in both and this is a fearful Sign that some heavy Judgment attends the Remnant of the People This is that whereof our Prophet speaks Behold the Lord the Lord of Hosts Isa 3.1 2 3. doth take away from Jerusalem the mighty Man and the Man of War the Judg and the Prophet and the Prudent and the Antient the Captain of Fifty and the honourable Man and the Counsellor and all this threatned as the Fore-runner of heavy Judgments such as the having Children for their Princes Ver. 4 5. their oppressing one another Ver. 8. and no less than the Ruin of Jerusalem and the Fall of Judah And the same Prophet elsewhere tells us That the Righteous perisheth Isa 57.1 and no Man layeth it to Heart and merciful Men are taken away none considering that they are taken from the Evil to come Thus was that good King Josiah dealt with not long after whose Death followed the Captivity of Babel In the Grave wherein he was interr'd the Liberty Glory and Peace of Jewry lay also buried I would not willingly be the Prophet of our Wo but whatever we may think or however we may flatter our selves God never withdraws such great Lights out of the World but at the approach of some black and dreadful Tempest which if we humble not our selves under his mighty Hand and prepare to meet him in the Way of his Judgments will certainly overtake us And therefore while it is called to Day let us not harden our Hearts but look to the Things that concern our Peace Let us search and try our Ways and turn again unto the Lord. We cannot think he hath made this great Breach only to open a Passage to our Sorrow much less to furnish us with new Matter of Discourse No he designs that we should glorify him in our Hearts and Lives more than formerly we have done and therefore let it be our Wisdom and our Care to hear the Rod and who hath appointed it to turn every Man from the Evil of his Way before the Lord's Wrath be further kindled and to repent and relent for all our Transgressions that so Iniquity may not be our Ruin Secondly Let us see how we may lessen this great Loss at least so far as to prevent its being fatal to us And I conceive the best Course we can take in order to this is to place a double Value upon Him whom God in his Mercy yet spares to us our Gracious King Let this heavy Stroke render his Life more dear to us Let us pray more constantly and more fervently for his Health his Safety his Happiness and his Success We may be induced strongly to this upon these Grounds First We are to do this for her Sake that is gone Secondly For his own Sake Thirdly And especially upon the Account of our selves First For her Sake that 's gone While She lived She loved honoured and admired Him She knew his Worth beyond what we do and besides His many other Accomplishments which His very Enemies admire in Him She knew that in His greatest Undertaking His chiefest Aim was the Interest and Good of Europe and especially that part of it which needed most his Help and to which He was in all Respects most obliged to give it Great Britain and Ireland In a word She best knew Him and therefore justly valued Him And surely if the Saints departed have any knowledg of what passes here below we cannot perform a more grateful Service to her Memory than to value Him to love honour and admire Him too Secondly For his own sake Remember he is a Prince that has yet got nothing by us but Trouble and Care and Travel and Toil and Danger A Prince who when we were in the extreamest Danger upon the Brink of being ruined and undone staked his Life his Fortune his All to save us in which Attempt considering the Season and the powerful Army there was to oppose Him with the other Difficulties he had to struggle with the Discouragements were so many that none but a Courage great like His could have encountred them And indeed the Undertaking was so great and the Means to carry it on in Proportion so little that we need not think it an Hyperbole in Him who concludes there was a Power more than Humane in bringing it to pass and the Issue seems to confirm it Insomuch that France her self that laugh'd at the Attempt was yet amaz'd at the Success and well she might it being the likeliest step that was ever made towards her Ruin But to return Remember He is a Prince who after many Years Effeminacy Luxury Ease and Softness wherein the English Valour so samed heretofore lay withering and fading unactive and rusting hath renewed to us the Memory of those great Kings who headed English Armies abroad and hath done more in his own Person than all the Crowned Heads of this or for ought I know any other Age. What Prince ever so oft exposed to the Dangers of the Sea as well as to the Plots of Assassines and the Arms of the Enemy by Land as He has been A Prince that as always so lately and especially in the Reduction of Ireland hath made good the Character of his Illustrious Family in being the Deliverer of oppressed Nations In a word a Prince who hath every way performed his Part how much soever his Affairs hath been clogged at Home by the unnatural Treachery of some who like the true Seed of Nero can rake with delight in the Bowels of their Mother and betray the native Interests of their Country to its most inveterate Enemies not only holding a Correspondence with them but offering up Vows and Prayers for their Success and discovering a cursed kind of Laughter and Satisfaction at the Losses and Misfortunes of their own Nation an Indignity which no Government in the World deserves less than this and none upon Earth would perhaps bear but this But Mercy is a God-like