is the gift of God Ephes 2.8 And this Faith is called a Faith of the operation of God Colos 2.12 't is wrought in us not by us Not only the light of truth which the Christian sees is Divine but the eye of Faith by which he sees this light is Divine also how certain must that knowledge be which in the light of Gods Spirit beholds the light of Gods Truth now from this Word of God the Christian is assured of this reward many ways First He is assured of it by Jesus Christ who himself came from Heaven and makes report thereof In my Fathers house are many Mansions if it were not so I would have told you John 14.2 As if he had said you may belief me for I speak it that cannot lye and who loves you too well to put a cheat upon you That there are such Countries as France and Holland you do not doubt though you never saw them because some that have assure you it is true and shall the Saint be blamed for relying on Christs own faithful Word who cometh from Heaven is above all and what he hath seen and heard that he testifyeth John 3.32 Secondly The Christian knows it by the purchase Christ hath made of Heaven for Believers Mans sin had shut Heaven door against him and opened Death and Hells door upon him now before God would or indeed could set open again this door of life to poor sinners it was necessary that his Glory should first be secured which to do this admirable expedient the Divine Wisdom contrived that Christ should dye for sinners by which both Death the punishment of mans sin might be abolished and life and immortality which man had lost might be restored and brought to light again 2 Tim. 1.10 Hence it is said It became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many Sons unto Glory to make the Captain of their Salvation perfect through sufferings Heb. 2.10 Mark that it became him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there was a condecency for God thus to do God never doth any thing that doth not become him in all his works he acts like himself every work declaring his Glory but not all alike Now God in the Redemption of the world intending to make the greatest manifestation of his Glory that ever he did It became him to pitch on such a means as was sutable to such an end and this of bringing his People to Glory by the abasement of his own Son to an ignominious and cursed death was the expedient he resolved upon as every way condecent to this design and indeed never did all the Divine Attributes appear in all their Glory so as they do here According therefore to this Eternal Council of Gods Will and Love in the fullness of time the Son of God was cloathed with our Flesh laid down his life took it up again and further to shew he had got a full triumph over death and had opened Heaven gates for Believers He opened the Graves of many of the dead Saints and raised them to life as a pledge that he would do the same in due time for the rest So that now to doubt whether there be an Eternal life for the Saints after death is to make the whole Gospel a fiction Thirdly They know it by the actual possession which Christ hath already taken of Heaven for them A Child thinks himself sure of an Estate when his Father not only purchaseth it but also taketh it up for him Thus did Christ ascend to Heaven not only to sit down on his own Throne but to take and keep possession of Heaven for the behoof and benefit of Believers Hence they are said to sit together in Heavenly places in Christ Jesus that is in him as their head which is a certain pledge to them they shall one day sit with him there in their own persons Because I live saith Christ ye shall live also Indeed he lives there to make Intercession for them and will never leave praying till he hath prayed them up unto himself I may say to Believers as once Naomi to Ruth sit still for the man will not cease till he hath finished the thing Christ will not cease his Mediatory work till he hath finished his peoples happiness and got his betrothed Spouse home to him in his Fathers house 4 ly He knows the certainty of this happy estate by the many express Promises made to Believers of it I cannot number them they are so many neither need I name them there being no Child of God so little I hope acquainted with his Saviours Will and Testament as not to be able to turn on a sudden to many places where this Inheritance is setled on them The greatest Heir that lives is the Saint He is heir to both Worlds having Promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come But the grand promise of all is that which gives him title to his Heavenly Inheritance In one place they are called Heirs of Promise in another Heirs of Salvation because this is the Crowning Promise Heaven it is called their Hope till this comes he hath not his Portion all he hath here is the least of what is promised But when Heaven comes then all is paid the Bond then is delivered in Faith and Hopes work is done The Christian who on Earth believes and expects Promises shall in Heaven inherit Promises there Faith shall be turned into Vision and Hope swallowed up in Fruition Now though nothing can make Heaven more sure to the Believer than Gods Promise no not the Oath of God it self because it is as impossible for God to lye without an Oath as with it for being he can swear by no greater he sweareth only by himself and so the strength even of his Oath lyeth in his Veracity which is engaged in his Promise as well as Oath yet he is graciously pleased ex abundanti consulting therein with our frailty to superadd all those things to his Promise by which men in contracts amongst themselves do conceive a further confirmation and security to to be given for performance of their Promises one to another as witnesses Seal Oath and Earnest that having these Securities which are wont to satisfie us in Humane Promises the sin of distrusting Gods performance of his might appear the more unreasonable in us and injurious to him as indeed it is beyond all expression when those Securities will not assure our hearts concerning the performance of Gods Promises than which we cannot exact more from those men that are most unresponsable or deceitful Secondly The Saints reward is described by its Transcendency your labour is not in vain in the Lord. In the explication of which Phrase I shewed that there is more implyed than is exprest That the Christians labour shall be highly unspeakably rewarded the place where the reward is laid up proves the transcendency of it and that is
IMPRIMATUR Robert Grove THE CHRISTIANS Labour and Reward OR A SERMON Part of which was Preached at the Funeral of the Right Honourable the Lady Mary Vere Relict of Sir Horace Vere Baron of Tilbury on the 10 th of January 1671. At Castle Heviningham in Essex The memory of the Just is Blessed Prov. 10.7 By humility and the fear of the Lord are Riches Honour and Life Prov. 22. ver 14. By William Gurnall M. A. of Emman Coll. now Pastor of Lavenham Suffolk Nobilis genere sed multo nobilior Sanctitate Hieron Epitaph Paulae Matris Ep. 27. LONDON printed by J. M. for Ralph Smith at the Bible under the Piazzo of the Royal Exchange in Cornhill 1672. TO THE Right Honourable Lady ELIZABETH Countess Dowager of Clare MADAM IT was a very merciful Providence which brought your Honour to your dear Mothers assistance in her dying sickness by which as you had the pleasure of recreating her Spirit with your presence and of giving an high Demonstration of your Piety to her in her low and weak state of body a vertue of great price with God and remarkably rewarded by him even in this life So also the happiness of being an eye witness to her Christian Deportment in her sharpest Pains and Agonies how her Faith and Patience triumphed over them all which no doubt did much sweeten the sorrow that her outward distress inflicted upon your tender Heart And indeed it is no wonder so holy a Life should have so Happy an end Mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is Peace This Pretious Saint had made her Bed before she was to lye down on it Long had she been gathering these Spices Graces I mean for her dying Nest in the sweet Odours of which she at last so Holily and Peaceably breathed forth her Gracious Soul into the Arms of her beloved Saviour And now Madam seeing God hath determined your Will by declaring his it will highly become your Honour to bear her Decease as Saint Hierom did the death of the Noble Paula whom he so much honoured for her Piety Not by Mourning you have lost but by Praising God you had so Pretious a Saint to be your Mother and that you had her so long even to live to see and give her Blessing to your Childrens Children before her departure yea that you have her still Is there no way to have our Friends unless we have them in our sight She is not lost that still lives Her death was the end of her Mortality but there is no end of her Life In her Spirit she lives in Heaven with God to whom she lived on Earth In her good Name she lives with all that knew her or heard of her admirable Piety This like an after beam of the Sun-sett followed her to her bed of the Grave and still shines to her Honour The memory of the just is blessed though the name of the wicked rots even while it is remembred as the name of Pilate doth in the Creed to his reproach and curse And as to her Vertues she lives in your self and in as many other of her Noble Descendants as imitate her Piety It joyed this Blessed Saint while alive that she should leave her surviving Children and so many of her Grand-Children walking in the Truth And if an Heathen took such high content that the Honour which he arrived to befel him while his Parents were yet living whereby they had a pleasure in seeing his happiness How much more may it comfort the Pious Relations of this Saint that this their Pretious Parent had the joy of seeing them ennobled with Divine Grace and so in their way to Heaven before her self went thither I am sure it hath been an Heart-breaking-sorrow to some Children that they converted not to God before their Godly Parents bodies were converted into Dust and thereby cause them to go sighing with sorrow to their Graves who might they but first have seen them reclaimed would have gone down to them singing for joy It is a blessed sight to behold Children especially of Noble Persons imitating their Godly Parents Graces God is no respecter of Persons yet saith Saint Bernard I know not how it comes to pass that Vertue in a Noble Person doth more please Is it not haply because it is more conspicuous and so more attractive This Consideration made me more readily obey your Honours commands in publishing these mean Papers hoping that this great Example of Piety in so Noble a Lady together with the Honour that attended her to the Grave for it may cause some of high Birth a little more to consider their great mistake in thinking to overtake Honour in the dirty paths of Prophaneness and Irreligion and so be moved at last to change their way and turn into this clean road of Piety wherein this good Lady walking lived with so much esteem and dyed so wonderfully lamented The character that I have here given of her is True but not full nay far short of her worth Her Graces were of so high a strain that I may truly say what Saint Jerome did concerning his commending Marcella a Noble Roman Lady I was afraid to speak all I knew of her Wisdom Sanctity Charity and other Excellencies lest I should seem to exceed the belief of some those I mean who knew her not for as any were more and longer acquainted with her so their estimate of her advanced higher And must not that Piece be admirably well drawn which is most commended by those if able to judge that stand nearest and look longest on it And none I think will deny that famous light of his Age Bishop Usher to have been as able to judge in this case as any other and what an high esteem he had of this Lady and her Noble Lord and Husband also appears from a Letter written by him to her Forty years ago in which there is this passage The thing that I have most admired in your Noble Lord is that such lowliness of mind and such an high pitch of a brave Spirit should be yoaked together and lodged in one Breast And on the other side when I reflect upon you methinks I understand that saying of the Apostle better than I did That as the man is the Image and Glory of God so the woman is the Glory of the Man And to your comfort let me add this That if I have any insight in things of this Nature or have any judgment to discern of Spirits I have clearly beheld engraven in your Soul the Image and Superscription of my God Thus wrote this Excellent Person whose admirable judgment may keep any sober Person from thinking him in this high character guilty of rashness and light credulity and his known integrity is enough to free him from all suspicion of abusing his Pen to any servile flattery And they who knew the lowly Spirit of this good Lady and how
ready she was to be dejected from an over deep sence of her unworthiness will find reason to believe that this Man of God gave this Testimony of her to her as a Cordial to revive her Humble Spirit and therefore brings it in with And this to your comfort I add But I am too troublesom I fear to your Honour my hearty Prayers are that as you have begun so you may go on in living your Mothers Holy Life and that then yon may in a good Old Age dye her happy death with much Peace and Honour And that so long as you shall have a Posterity live on Earth your good Mother may never be Dead but may from Generation to Generation have those descending from her that will keep her Name and Pretious Example alive by a due Veneration of the one and Pious imitation of the other Madam I am your Honours most Humble Servant W. GVRNALL Evenham March 13. 1671. ERRATA PAge 51. Line 25. read Bewrayed pag. 87 l. 2O r. on p. 97. l. 22. r. sloughs p. 110 l. 11. r. Sin 1 Cor. 15.58 For as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. WHAT Luther said of Justification by Faith that may we concerning the Resurrection of the dead Articulus est Ecclesiae stantis aut cadentis it is an Article with which the Church standeth or falleth Yet so foul an errour had taken the head of some Members in the Church of Corinth as to deny this grand Truth which S t Paul calls in another place one of the principles of the Doctrine of Christ how say some among you there is no Resurrection of the dead v. 12. And is it not strange that such who professed to believe the Resurrection of Christ should deny their own but much more that any in the Church of Corinth especially in those early days should have such a darkness found upon their minds who stood so near the rising Sun and that while S t Paul himself was yet alive who had planted this Church by this we see though Truth is errours elder yet errour is not much Truths younger Though the Gospel-Church was purest in the Primitive times yet it soon began to corrupt in its Members Not unapt therefore was his saying who compared in this respect the gathering of Churches to the gathering of Apples which when first gathered may appear all fair and sound but then within a while some amongst them begin to speak and others to discover their rottinness No doubt this Church of Corinth and so others gathered by the rest of the Apostles appeared in their Members very sound in the faith and fair in their lives at their first embraceing of the Gospel yet some we see did thus soon discover corruption in both Now to recover the tainted and especially to preserve the sound from this dangerous infection the Apostle sets himself to defend this Article of our Faith well knowing that this was a blow made at the root of Christianity which must needs fall to the ground if this cannot be maintained and he doth it with such invincible arguments that if any Heretick shall now deny it the reason cannot be deficiency in the proof here given but rather a criminous conscience in himself which makes him on his own defence deny a Resurrection for fear of the Judgment which attends it Now the Apostle having done this and withal shewn the glorious array in which the Saints shall arise out of their beds of dust he then v. 55. sings his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or triumphant song over Death and out-braves this King of Terrours to his face that is wont to keep the hearts of poor Mortals in the miserable bondage of a slavish fear O Death where is thy sting O Grave where is thy victory As if he had said Death do now thy worst we fear thee not thou mayest indeed get us into thy hands but thou canst not long keep us in thy power fall we shall into the Grave but we fall to rise again and when we arise out of our Graves then shalt thou Death fall into thy Grave never to arise again Then v. 57. he sings with an holy ravishment of joy the praises of God and Christ our Redeemer by whose atchievement this glorious victory over death is won The sting of Death is Sin and the strength of Sin is the Law but thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ This indeed is our David who cut off the head of this Goliah with his own sword killed Death by falling dead upon it he unstung this Serpent by receiving its sting into his own blesed body He overcame this great Conquerour by submitting himself for a time to be conquered by it when Christ lost his life then his whole Army of Saints won the day Death now to them is no death that which was their punishment as Sinners is now their priviledge as Saints That which stood amongst the threatnings of the Law and was the most formidable of them all hath now changed its place and is got amongst the promises of the Gospel All things are yours or Life or Death 1 Cor. 3.21 So pretious an oyl doth our Apostle extract from this slain Scorpion so sweet an honey comb doth he find in this dead Lyons breast and gives it into the hand of the Saints to go eating of it to their unspeakable joy and comfort but is this victory over Death only matter of joy and comfort unto Believers Oh no Blessed art thou O Land when thy Princes eat for strength and not for drunkenness and blessed art thou O Emanuels Land when thy Saints feed on the priviledges and promises of the Gospel not to make them drunk with Pride nor to lay them asleepin Sloth but to rèfresh them to run the Race set before them and the Joy of the Lord becomes their strength the Apostle therefore goes on to improve and close up his discourse on this subject with an Exhortation to Duty Therefore my beloved brethren be ye stedfast always abounding in the work of the Lord that is be stedfast in the faith of the Gospel and especially in the belief of this particular Article of our Christian faith the Resurrection of the dead and then live up unto this belief walk and work as for God while you live as believing you shall when dead rise again Now my Text hath the nature of a powerful Argument to inforce this Exhortation upon them for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. In which words these two things are observable First the Nature and Quality of the service or work of God it is a Labour the Apostle changeth the the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Work which he had used in the Exhortation immediately preceding into this of Labour and that not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies any ordinary labour but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
how hard to keep from extremes making too light of them or thinking them too heavy we are prone either to despise them or to faint under them Secondly The men of the world these are oft a snare to draw the Christian into sin sometimes a whip in the Lords hand to scourge him for his sins but always a sore vexation to the Christian by their sins Lastly The Prince of the world brings up the rear he like a roaring Lion comes fell out of his Den and runs full month at him such a bold and brazen faced Enemy that he is not afraid or ashamed to tempt the chastest Soul to the foulest crimes he that durst tempt Christ himself to devil-worship and self-murder what will he not dare to attempt upon the best Christians and he is as sly as bold an Art he hath of insinuating and winding in his head before the Christian can discover his design he hath more baits than one to his hook and knows how to fit every ones pallat if he cannot make the Christian wallow in the mire of fleshly lusts then he tempts to Spiritual sins if he will not be so prophane as to live without Religion he 'll try to make him an Hypocrite in Religion if that succeed not he 'll try to blow him up into a proud conceipt of his Sincerity if that will not do he 'll labour to abuse his Humility into dejection and make him think worse of himself than he is Lastly He is as importunate and restless an enemy as he is bold and sly like Marcellus the Roman Captain of whom Hannibal said he was the oddest man he ever met with for whether he did beat or was beaten he would not be quiet if Satan gets a victory he pursues it without mercy never losing an advantage given him if he be worsted he rallies and comes on again with more rage Thus he dogs the Christian to the last breath and never leaves till the Christian be got into Heaven it self where he cannot come at him Now if any can go through all this work and withstand all this opposition without labour or with but a little he hath learnt an Art and got a sleight which the rest of his brethren never knew and we may bid him as the Emperour did Acctius set up his ladder and go to Heaven away by himself alone Quest But why hath God charged his peoples work with so much labour travel and trouble Answ First Therefore they have so much labour here because they shall have none at all hereafter they shall in Heaven rest from their labours therefore it is fit they should have some on Earth otherwise some Graces could never be exercised and so their excellency would not be known and consequently might seem to be Created in vain there resulting from them neither benefit to the Saint nor Glory to God To name but one how should the excellent Grace of Patience which shall have no occasion for its exercise in Heaven be ever seen if no part were given it to bring it upon the stage in this world and what can discover Patience but labour and trouble we had never heard of Job probably but for his Patience and I am sure we could never have heard of his Patience if we had not also heard of his Tryals indeed there is a great decorum in this dispensation that the Christian should have his Patience tryed in this world where God himself hath his own Patience so much exercised that they should endure some affliction from God where God bears with so much sin from them Secondly God doth this that his people may give good proof of their high esteem of the promised reward it was an unspeakable contempt which Adam cast upon his happiness to sell it for a trifle how could he more deprize it God therefore resolved that before he restored him or any of his to their lost happiness they shall first restore what he so vilified to its due place in their estimation and because no more convincing Argument can be given of the high price we value Heaven at than by the great labour we are willing to take and trouble we are ready to endure for the obtaining of it therefore he hath charged the Christians work with so many labours and difficulties that by our digesting these to obtain that we may give indeed a real proof that we prize Heaven at a rate Superlative to all that is here below Thus Caleb shewed his high account of Canaan when he was not cooled in his desire of it nor quailed in his courage with the high Walls and high Gyants upon them which rendered the attempt difficult and hazardous but crys Let us go up at once and possess it for we are able to overcome it Whereas the other faint-hearted Israelites are said to despise the good land and why but because they valued their ease and safety at an higher rate than it Thirdly That he may make his Peoples rest in Heaven sweeter when they come to it There are three joys mentioned in Scripture as the greatest this world hath the joy of Harvest the joy of Victory and the joy of a Woman that hath brought forth a Man-child now all these joys are ushered in with great labour and travel past troubles swell present joys for besides the pleasure which is sucked from the present good enjoyed there is a further accession of joy made from the remembrance of past labours and perils happily now conquered the more hazardous the Battel was in the Fight the more pleasure the Conqueror hath in his Victory It would ease the damned of some of their sorrow could they forget the possibility they once had of being happy and it would deprive the Saint of much of his accessory joy in Heaven did he not remember the danger he once had of falling into that misery which there he needs not fear I shall apply this Point only to two sorts of Persons First To those that have slighty thoughts of Religion who think it an easie thing to be a Christian here and no hard matter to be saved hereafter Secondly To those that are so far from believing it thus easie that through the suffusion of Melancholy and Satans Art who thickens this darkness apprehend it so hard a labour as renders it next to impossible whereby they are dispirited from making any vigorous endeavours in Religion fearing they shall never overcome the difficulties which attend it and as good they think it is to set still as rising to fall deeper at last into condemnation Thus the Ship cannot sail if it hath no wind or too strong and violent a one My desire is to undeceive those and thereby to do a kindness to them both Those that think it so easie to be a Christian no hard matter to obtain Salvation I would endeavour to shew these what a delusion they are under and danger they run by fancying the Bridge to Heaven wider than it
not even as others which have no hope nor mourn so as to refuse to be comforted to take our own loss so to heart as not to rejoyce in their gain Is this thy kindness to thy Friends wouldst thou have them labour and never rest work and never receive their reward They could not have had these here but they have them where they are gone Oh be not unkind to them by being over-kind to your selves If ye loved me ye would rejoice saith our Saviour to his Disciples because I said I go to the Father Joh. 16.28 As if he had said to them you are indeed my Disciples too selvish You think what you shall lose if I depart hence but you do not consider what I should lose by my staying here You see the poor condition I live in here on Earth and know the Royalty and Glory I am going to be possessed of in Heaven and are you unwilling I should be advanced to my Throne there and that after I shall have finished the work of your Redemption here Truly you are unkind and shew but little love in this to me your dear Lord and Saviour Nor do we express much love to our deceased Friends of whose happy change we have no reason to doubt if their incomparable advantage doth not make us more rejoyce for them than our loss make us mourn for our selves If we be as they were sincere and faithful Christians our loss is but short ere long we shall recover it by being taken up to them they are not lost but gone a little before whither the rest of their Brethren ere long shall be called And while we are left here behind we have a God to live upon who cannot dye who will not leave us and whose presence is sufficient to compensate I trow the absence not of one but all our Friends Would Elkanah be thought better to his barren Wife than ten Sons May not God then look his Children when bereaved of any Creature Comforts should count the having him better yea infinitely better than them all Let therefore every Saint in this and all other bereavements solace himself with this of David Psalm 18.46 The Lord liveth and blessed be my rock and let the God of my Salvation be exalted It is expected I know that I should now speak something of that Noble and without offence I hope I may say Elect Lady the Solemnization of whose Funeral occasioned this our sorrowful meeting which should I not do without doubt I should send you all away very much dissatisfyed But far be it from me that I should by my silence put her light now she is dead under a Bushel which shined before all your eyes so radiently while she was alive even as a great Candle on an high Candlestick It was said of John Baptist all men counted John that he was a Prophet indeed And I am perswaded that all who knew her esteemed the Lady Vere a Christian indeed Truly if we may not think so of her we shall be at a great loss to find such Characters by which we may judge any at all to be so I shall begin to speak of her where she her self began to be her Birth I mean and Parentage from which she had her Extraction And this was High and Ancient on both sides For by her Mothers side she sprang from the chief of the Throg-mortons Family and by the Fathers side was extracted of the Ancient Family of the Tracies at Todington in Gloucester-shire She was the youngest of Fifteen Children born on the Eighteenth day of May Anno 1581. being the 23. of Queen Elizabeth Her Mother dyed three days after she was Born and her Father when she was but eight years old Thus soon was she an Orphan but indeed they only are Orphans who have no Father in Heaven When her Father and her Mother thus forsook her the Lord took her up The many Experiences she had all along her life of Gods most tender care over her occasioned her to chuse this for her Motto which is found written by her in the front of most of her Books in her Closet God will Provide She took much delight in speaking of one of her Ancestors as one of the greatest Honours to her Family William Tracy of Toddington Esquire mentioned by Mr. Fox in his Martyrology who in the Reign of King Henry the Eighth for the sound Profession of his Faith made by him in his last Will and Testament was after his Decease condemned to have his body taken out of the ground and burnt which Sentence accordingly was executed She was twice Married to Mr. William Hobby her first Husband at Nineteen Years of Age by whom she had two Sons which were Religiously Educated by her the happy fruit of this her care she reaped at their Pious Deaths for they both went young to Heaven the Younger dyed in the Fourteenth Year of his Age the Elder in his Three and Twentieth much admired for his Parts and loved for his Piety Her second Husband was Sir Horace Vere afterward Baron of Tilbury so Noble and Excellent a Person that I must not name him without some Honourable Reflection one whose Coat Armour made more Renowned than his Coat of Arms and his Personal Atchievements in the field ennobled more than the High Blood he borrowed from his Ancestors But his Piety gave him the highest Character of all by the other he got a great Name like unto the great Men that are in the Earth but by this he obtained a good Name And even Tacitus the Roman Historian prefers a praise from Goodness before that which is obtained by Greatness And therefore speaking of a Noble Roman saith he was inter claros potiùs quà m inter bonos censendus This Noble Lord was one who could wrestle with God as well as fight with Men and may be thought to have got his Victories upon his knees in his Closet before he drew his Sword in the Field And when he had overcome his Enemies he could overcome himself also being one of the humblest Souls in whom so much true worth lodged that I have heard of His good Lady would say she honoured him for his Valour but most for the Grace of God which shined in him Thus she did coruscare radiis Mariti shined by the Rays of her Husbands Excellencies but not only with these for she had radient Beams of her own by which she cast like Honour upon him as she received from him So happily was this Noble Couple suited us in the high Extraction of both their Births so also in the rest of their accomplishments that they mutually illustrated each the others Honour But passing by all her secular Prerogatives we shall now present her to you in some of her spiritual Excellencies These indeed give the intrinsick value to a person He that would take the true height of of a man must not measure him with the vantage-ground he stands on I may
took wing To sing her Carol among those that are Without temptation fault offence or jar But when arriv'd no Mortal can declare What joys in Heaven what welcomes are For this devoted Saint whilst here on Earth We mix Sin with our Songs Tears with our Mirth She 's gone but never perish shall her Name Her works abide to Eternize her Fame Anagr. Verè mira Mirrour of Blessings for what tongue can tell For Grace and Greatness where 's her parallel Edward Thomas In obitum Nobilissimae lectissimaeque Heroinae Mariae Illustrissimi fortissimÃque Ducis Horatii Vere Baronis de Tilbury Viduae Carmen Epitaphium NObilitas tibi Vera fuit Prudentia Vera Vera tibi Pietas tibi Vera Fides Vera Dei cultrix fueras Vera Mariti Quaeque nitent aderant omnia Vera tibi Acciderit tandem quòd Mors tibi Vera dolendum Excepto hoc dete singula Vera juvant Simon Ford. S. T. D. On the Death of the Right Honourable and truly Religious the Lady Vere Marie Vere Ever I arme A Tribute who can here pretend To pay but he who hath to spend Whole Indies of refined Ore Ready to bring out of his store Which after all will prove to be Too mean yea bankrupt beggary See Name Relation Sate of Grace Do march in correspondent pace Daring all Enemies to withstand Her Generous Soul or Countermand Its resolution ne're to yield But still to fight and win the Field Ever I arm and so do wait My Captains Word on Foes deceit Or when he musters up his strength Hoping to vanquish me at length Yet then I faint not but being arm'd Through Grace I stood and was not harm'd Here here 's a She maintain'd the Fight Remained Conqueress in despight Of all his Forces till at last Praises and Thanks were her repast Thus Faith and Hope and Patience Triumphant rode i' th' Chariot Hence But how sounds this ever I arm Suiting a Lady once i' th' Arm Of such General whose story Embalms our Nations dying Glory Embroiders Records with his Name Out-bids the narrow mouth of Fame Gurnall display thy Magazine Here thy whole Armour may be seen Bright and well us'd well buckled on A Cuiraseer who having won Many a Battel now receives The Crown which her great Captain gives Maria Vere Jam re vera Jam re vera feror super astra beata triumpho Expectansque diu spesque Fidesque satur Anthony Withers On the much Lamented Death of the Worthy of all Memory the Right Honourable the Lady Vere THrough Floods of Tears my Muse did wade To seek these Mourners and this shade That she poor heart might sit and tell A grief defrauding Parable If in the dark she chuse to walk Or with Ambages mar her talk Or too slow paces seems to go Admit Close Mourner so to do If Speech or Memory do fail Or if perchance she wear her Veil A day a size or two too long Wink at small faults in Mourners Song Unto a Noble Favourite From Holy Land by his own Sp'rite The King of Glory and Renown Sent a choice Jewel of his Crown A Casket first he did prepare Wherein to put this Jewel rare Then this large token of his Love He dropt into it from above It was a cur'ous Artifice Of all brave works the Master-piece Most worthy of that skilful hand Which form'd all things on Sea and Land It s Substance was more pure than Gold More worth than thousands though twice told For kind the best of fittest size Which much in little did comprize It in form a Heart resembl'd A single Heart that ne're dissembl'd A broken Heart that often trembl'd A bleeding Heart most deeply humbl'd Upon the Table of this Heart Not in proportion but in part The graver by Divine impress Set th' Image of his Holiness In it Twelve Pretious Stones were set None such in Princes Coronet In lovely order and in place By three and three with goodly Grace I' th' first row Faith Hope Charity Next Temperance Vertue Purity Then Meekness Kindness Verity I' th' last Love Zeal and Constancy I' th' midst there stood a massy thing Fit for a Royal Spouses Ring Humility men did it call This was the Gracing Grace of all Repentant Tears to Pearls converted In the borders stood well sorted Where they in greatness and in show In goodness too did daily grow In early times it took a fall And thereby lost its Graces all It fell into a lothsom Lake Which did it foul and filthy make Yet a great Prince did not disdain To take it up and ope ' a vein In his own side and with pure blood Wash off the soyl and make it good This fall its Glory did impair This Friend its Breaches did repair ' Cause mending would not serve he knew He melted moulded made it new Then like a Glorious Sun it shin'd With Rays most bright enough to blind Presumptuous eyes which turn'd that way To see what 't was out shin'd the day This Jem the owner of his Grace Most freely lent us for the space Of somewhat more than Ninety Years So long this Pendant deck't our Ears But now alas for non-payment Of Tribute Praise an easie Rent It 's fetch'd away in great displeasure Oh what 's the loss of such a treasure Put off thy Vizard Mask my Muse And don't our Patience still abuse Nor expectation higher raise But name the person thou dost praise Content for sure I am too blame So long to smother that great Name Which in all Countries where it came Was crown'd with Honour and with Fame The Noble Soul described here Was one to God and man most dear Who in Devotion had no peer The Great Good Lady Mary Vere EPITAPH THE Casket of this Jewel rare With deep laments we here Interre In hallow'd ground which yet grows proud Of purer Earth to be the shroud And thou fair shrine in whose close womb This Holy Relick we intomb Preserv't with care and on it try What may be done by Chimistry That when the Trump saith dead arise Thou mayst send forth thy wealthy prize Ev'ry Particle well calcin'd And every dust double refin'd Richard Howlett FINIS Non Maeremus quòd talem amisimus sed gratias agimus quòd habuimus imò habemus Deo enim vivunt omnia quicquid revertitur ad Dominum in familiae numero computatur Epist 27. Epitaph Paulae Matris Minimè quidem Deus est acceptor personarum Nescio tamenquo pacto virtus in Nobili plus placet An fortè quia plus claret Epist CXIII ad Sophiam virginem Quid in illâ virtutum quid ingenii quid sanctitatis quid puritatis invenerim vereor dicere ne fidem credulitatis excedam Hieron Ep. 16. ad Princip Virg. This Letter was writ An. Dom. 1628. Heb. 6.2 Acts. Rom. 6.8 Numb 13.30 Numb 14.31 Mic. 3. 1 John 5.3 Hebr. 11.1 Eph. 2. Heb. 6.17 Heb. 1.14 1 Sam. 16.11 Rev. 21.7 Psal 17.15 Psal 55.19 Psal 19.11 Psal 34.8 Rom. 6.21 Gal. 6. Isa 3.10 Psal 57.37 Prov. 25.5 Jam. 5.3 Mar. 11.32 2 Sam. 2.19 Nehem. 7.2