daies of our life be as the fits of a feaver as the changes of daie night darknesse and light the moon hath not more alterations thē man so that as that of Ieremy must be acknowledged Ierem. Lam. were it not for the mercies of the Lord wee should be vtterly consumed Hierom. so also that of S. Ierome his observatiō vpō Arcturus in the heavens semper versatur nūquam mergitur may be applyed vnto the sons of men 2. Cor. 6. these are often turned never overwhelmed but especially vnto the sonnes of God they are as Paule speaketh as dying and behold they liue as chastened and not killed as sorrowfull yet alway reioicing as poore and yet make many rich as having nothing and yet possessing all things for God doth so sweeten his visitations sendeth such a gracious dew vpon his inheritance as that in affliction and after affliction hee sendeth vnspeakeable consolation In die tribulationis exaudiam te in the day of Tribulation I will heare thee is his promise and more then so it is not only that then he will heare and afterwardes will helpe but both in the daie and after the day he will heare he will helpe he wil cōfort In the affliction because the affliction remaineth for a moment after the affliction 2. Cor. 4.17 1. Cor. 11.32 Prov. 3.12 because when after we are chastened of the Lord we are sure not to be condemned with the world Comforted in the affliction for we know he correcteth only whom he loveth Comforted after the affliction Ps 64.16 2. Cor. 1.5 for he hath assured vs that according to the multitude of Troubles that are in our harts his comforts shall refresh our soules and againe by S. Paule as the suffrings of Christ abound in vs so our cōsolation aboundeth by Christ So that here it is manifested which was in the observatiō proposed no comfort but after affliction no consolation but after Tribulation and therefore Moyses praier is Comfort vs according as thou hast afflect vs. Vse How blessed then ought our afflictions to be esteemed seeing that in them we shall be comforted after them we shall be rewarded and by them we shal be admitted into glory for through many afflictions wee must enter into heaven Are there comforts therefore laid vp in store for the Godly are there pleasures at Gods right hand for ever more O thē come heare soe and tast how good the Lord is O come vnto him all ye that labour and are heavy laden vnder the burthen of your sorrow It is impossible to escape Esaus sword or Ismaels tongue Gen 27.41 Gen. 21.9 2. Sam. 16. or Shemeis stones or Doegs sclander or Hamans envy or Ioabs treachery When there were but fowre in al the world there was a Caine and afterwardes when there were but eight that number but doubled there was a Cham Philistins shal be left in the land to try and to exercise the Israelites or suppose thou escape all these yet either losse of health or losse of friends or want or some meanes or other shal bee appointed to polish thee if thou belong to heaven The Martyrs and Saintes of God who now carry Triumphant Palmes they haue bin thus afflicted and hereby their glorious lustre like vnto the sunne gaue greatest light in the lowest places and in their patient content contempt of afflictiō they gaue grace to the greatest miseries Tyranny could deuise God distilling into their soules the apparant supply of his grace in the middest of their pressures to encourage and enable them in their perseverance Esay 3. O yee then that with those minsing dames in Ierusalem are loath that the soles of your feete should tread vpon the face of the earth yee may bee hurried betweene heaven and earth but never wil bee carryed as Elias vnlesse in a fiery chariot Ye that set more by Agar then Sara more esteeme your bodies then your soules feare and tremble if no afflicton hath ever visited you Luk. 16.25 you know whose words they be son remember thou in thy life time receivedst all thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things now hee is cōforted and thou art tormented it is a time if ever to lay the axe to the root of the tree especially of those trees that beare nothing but leaues and liuelesse braunches you knowe what a stroke is given to the fairest Cedar of the gorrest our figge tree is blasted evē before it was its time to beate fruit the greene tree the glory of the trees is striken were it not I should breake the peace of my meditations of comfort I shoulde drawe Paules sword and make vse of Ieremies hammer to lay home some stroakes to your consciences in this point But I proceede If the Saints of God and their afflictions wil not invite you I say not to endure but to welcome sorrow yet let the braue resolutions of heathens as gallant as the most nay more glorious thē the best of you amase you they bare their troubles with vndaunted comfortable honourable minds so that neither force of fire in Scaeuola violence of pouertie in Fabritius perplexities of banishment in Rutilius Torments in Regulus Poison in Socrates Ingratitude in Scipio Persecutiō in Caesar Guevar in Ep. or death in Cato could ever ecclipse their valor or honour How few such noble martiall spirits breath among vs How many of those that doe liue bee trulie humbled among vs Alas none ever shall bee truely comforted but those truely humbled Thinke yee any to bee truely comforted whom nothing did ever amate Think they that are in opinion obstinate in good purposes inconstant resolute in evill action in humilitie false in charitie fained in desires violent in mischeefes virulent in hate implacable to be truely comforted They that are so rash in censuring peremptorie in hearing hard harted in obeying hypocryticall in professing the word of God thinke they to bee truely comforted They whose sinnes are so many whose prayers so few their oathes so frequent their almes so few that serue themselues by the Ephah and scarcely serue God by the Gomer thinke they to be truely comforted I assure my selfe that all yee of this expiring family haue better learned Christ Iesus my knowledge of many hope of others charity to all makes me beleeue it And therefore I hope yee shall be truely Comforted euen according as yee haue beene afflicted in as full measure as yee haue beene humbled Yet I know in this last close you can be scarcely perswaded of this according my owne soule silently tels mee it is beyond expectation that wee should so recover our losses as that according to our sorrowes we should receaue Comforts Cambden Brit. 164 1 Ed. 1. sonne to Hen. 3. 2 Edw. blacke Prince sonne to Edw. 3. 3. Rich. of Burdeaux sonne to Ed. black Prince 4 Hen. sonne of Hen 4. 5 Ed. son H. 6. 6 Ed. sonne K. Hen 4. 7 Ed. sonne
for it as after David numbers the people 2. Sam. 24.14 the people die for it Secondly when the childe is sicke David sorroweth the childe being dead he riseth and eateth Hee wil bee no longer in paine then the childe is in perill Benoni is the sonne of sorrow at his birth this shal be no longer the subiect of sorrow then his death He is dead no hope no helpe no recovery it is impossible Revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras David cannot infuse life into him the childe is dead he is gone all the world cannot revine him David must follow the child must not returne Thus the wordes were occasioned thus opened thus they fall in sunder impart themselues vnto vs. Divisio Textus 1 Davids patient consideration in forbearing further sorrow Being dead why should I now fast 2. His wife resolution implying the impossibilitie of reviving him Can I bring him againe Thirdly his considerate acknowledgement of the inevitable stroake of death I shall goe to him he shall not returne to me I confesse there be many disproportions betweene this storie and our state our misery is without all paralell scripture doth nor yeeld a fitting example no king of Israel or Iuda had such a losse I had almost said nor such a sonne I am therefore constrained to choose not as I would but as I may though not so plentifully fitting the subiect yet sorrowfully fitting with our sable thoughts In these therefore I craue patient attentiō the rather because the 1. part offring it selfe to vs is Davids patient consideration in forbearing more mourning Some haue obserued that it was a custome in David to fast and pray 1. Part. Lor. in Ps Ps 35.13 and mourne for the sicknesse of his friend his owne words giue warrant Psal 35.13 when they were sicke 1 cloathed my selfe with sackcloath and humbled my soule with fasting And these both were vsed either in sorrow or repentance in sorrowe so the Orator testifieth sackeloath and fasting be moeroris insignia Tully the ensignes of sorrow in repentance so S. Hierome witnesseth they were Penitentiae arma the weapons of Repentance In this place by fasting David means all the Circumstances of mourning Aret. Flac. Illyr To mourne and weepe is common and commendable in sicknesse or death of friends profit there may be in it but you will thinke there is small pleasure yet saith the Poet Est quaedam flere voluptas There is pleasure in this paine of weeping to disburden the soule to open the sluces to discharge conchas in canales Bern. the Cesterns into conduit pipes to ecclipse the light of our etes with teares because those eies shall never behold those deere deceased friendes till we our selues passe into the Chambers of death This is naturall and common yet I may say Christian But to fast in these occasions is not so common as commendable and profitable for indeed in true sorrow there should be a neglect of all the offices of the body a sequestration of all contentment a forgetting and forsaking of ordinary food a shutting vp and imprisoning of the body from all pleasures of life thereby to pull downe the height and strength and pride of the soule that the soule heare not thinke not mind not mirth that the body see not touch not tast not meate such should be our sorrowes when we see Corporall punishments for spirituall iudgements Such was Davids diet it was a real hearty sorrow not coūtenanced with a heavie looke or with a solemne sigh blowne from the lips and lungs but it was a weeping watching fasting sorrow I hate excursions but seeing I meet in the words of my Text with so great a straunger as fasting giue me leaue to salute it It was the first precept that ever was given it is as ancient as Paradise Ieiuny canitiem sivelis Epise Lond. in Ion. perscrutare ieiunium prime homini coaevū The forbidding of that tree was the first rule of abstinēce The antiquity necessity perpetuity of it enforce it Nature law Gospel enioine it Divinity commands it Physicke commends it law prescribes it it is the life of the Saints and the food of the soule in the court of heaven there is no other dyet and in the Church on earth the children of the bridechamber must be acquainted with it as David was whose fasting daies I could easily cōiecture if I should looke but into the Galender of the Psalmes but my Text telleth me at this time hee did eate and drinke and therefore here he seemeth to bee as in the Psalme hee speaketh Psal 42.4 as amonge those that keepe holy-daie His fasting endeth the seaventh day and hee questioneth why should I now fast which words do bring forth this observation Obs 1 That as there is a time to sorrow so also a time to leaue of the act of sorrowing His example proveth this Nemo in lachrymis nemo in Cāticis no mā was more frequent in songs or sorrowes then David Lud. his meate were his Teares he mingled his drinke with Teares washt his bed and watered his couch with his teares you would scarce beleeue that he ever enioied good day that ever the sunne shined on him he is so full of anguish and care and feate sometimes biding some times flying Psalm 32 10. still almost lamenting Yet how frequent be his ioyfull acclamations in the Psalmes Reioice in the Lord Ps 103.1 Be glad ô yee righteous Be ioyfull all yee that are true of hart Praise the Lord O my soule all that is within me praise his holy name Praise the Lord O my soule and forget not all his benefits how sweetly doth he exalt his exultation of ioyful praise Ps 145. I will praise the Lord my God I will praise his name for ever and ever every day will I praise the Lord and praise his name for ever and ever and againe Praise the Lord O my soule while I liue wil I praise the Lord I will sing praises to my God while I haue any breathing Looke vpon this good King at other times you would scarsly thinke that ever he could haue had ioy to cast his cies vp to heauen Psal you may find him on a couch nay more on the cold earth crying out I am at the point to die from my youth vp thy Terrors haue I suffered with a troubled soule Yet after al this you shal find him reioicing triumphing singing harping dancing making melody vnto God and calling for his consort Trumpets Timbrels Psalteries Harpes Organs Cymbals Ps 150.3.4.5.6 Pipe and string low and lowd instrument nay heaven and earth must beare a part nay every thing that hath breath must praise the Lord. Heere bee the passages through fire and water here he is brought from the wildernesse into a wealthy place Here be his fits good bad daies crosses and comforts ioies and sorrowes Dolor volupt as invicē cedunt Brevior voluptas
Seneca his griefe and pleasure came successiuely but his cōforts were not extended to the same measure that his sorrowes yet as the cause gaue occasion so hee ever altered his note Yet is it a wonder to obserue how vpon the same passion Gods best servants haue been diversly affected the same persons the same passions and yet so strāgely altered and their passages in and vpon the very same causes so diametrally opposed as if they were not the same men In some miseries howe sweetly haue they carried themselues In others how boisteroufly Shiloa never ran so quietly as they haue in some in others Torrents never so raged Iob. 1. Pineda in Iob. Look vpon Iob in his 1 chapter he is Patience mirror never did or could man behaue himselfe better in such a bitter storme His Oxen taken away by the Sabeans Camels by the Chaldeans fire devoures his sheep his servants slain his children killed yeet being so neere touched he opens not his mouth against heaven Ps 3. but as if with the Psalmist hee had laied downe to sleepe and taken his rest he makes no other exclamation or lamentation but this Dominus dedit the Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away blessed bee the name of the Lord. You may wonder to see the same man Iob. 13. so contrarily affected afterwardes Challenging God to his face I will dispute with the Almightie I will fill my selfe with arguments what is it that God can answer me Cursing his birth let the day perish wherein I was borne Iob. 3. let that day be darknesse let not God regard it let darkenesse and the shadowe of death staine it let the Cloudes remaine vpon it let it be a fearefull bitter day let it not be ioined with the daies of the yeare desolate for euer be that night let the stars of the twilight be dim let it looke for light but see none let it never see the dawning of the day What tragical bloody heavy cursed clamours be these Nay look vpō our own Prophet how did grace attend him in all the ambushments betweene Saul and him Saul was his enimy hee hath now his opportunity the place the privacy the obscuritie of the Caue might incite him to kil his enimie but he bowes downe and cries 1. Sam. 14. O my Lord the King I wil not lay hand on my Master he is the Lords annointed the Lord keep me from doing this vnto my Master how sweetly how graciously how wisely doth hee carry himselfe in the time that Shemei curst him 2. Sam. 16. and cast stones ' at him hee endures him and rebukes them that reproue him The Lord hath bidden him curse suffer him the Lord hath bidden him who shall forbid him But looke vpon him in the storie of Nabal you would thinke him another Saule 1. Sam. 25. Nabal only denies him a request he sweares and frets and girds to his sword takes 6 hundred men with him vowes to kil Nabal nor only so but whatsoever is Nabals yea and before the dawning of the day he wil not leaue a man no not a creature of Nabals aliue Nabal only denied him Shemet cursed him Nabal was but a foole 1. Sam. 25.25 2. Sam. 16.7 Shemei a Dog as the Text tearmeth him yet he is much more violent against Nabal then against Shemet Look vpon him in this particular Iob was not more patient then he is here while the poore innocent infant is sicke panting and fainting and striuing for life he weepeth the child died he riseth and apparelleth washeth worshippeth eateth goeth into Barsheba answereth al the world that should aske him his resolution is calmely religiously this being dead why should I fast Nothing could savour more of Religion wisdome patience a holy spirit what a sweet behaviour heavenly temper is here Patterne him with Patriarch or Prophet or Apostle or Angel None could go further then he did But look vpō him in his obsequies for his Absolō he was oppressed surcharged distracted hee continueth his note as if with the Philomele hee would never giue over Ovid. Met. O Absolon Absolon my sonne my sonne Absolon my sonne No content but Absolon his daintie prettie Absolon 2. Sam. 18. his dearling fondling Absolon Absolon the Idol of his affection as if Absolon had been the beautie of his name and the glory of his Nation as if Absolon had been the best of his seed and the cheefest of his sonnes Absolon so faire and ruddy as that none in all Israel was so commended for beautie from the sole of his foote to the crowne of his head no blemish in Absolon O entreate the young man Absolon well and if Absolon die David will not liue he wil dislolue into teares O my sonne Absolon 2. Sam. 18.31 my sonne my sonne Absolon would God I had died for thee o Absolon my sonne my sonne Obserue the circumstances 1. the King was moued exceedingly moued great alteration in his affection there was an earthquake in his soule his passions were as flames his eies as floods 2. He avoids the roome Ioseph weepes puts all out of the roome but remaines there himselfe Gen. 45.3 David puts all out and goeth himselfe out putteth even himselfe out of himselfe 3. He cannot containe breaks forth on the staires his sorrow must haue a vent it is a precipitat torrent with Oceans in his eies a tongue fired at the altar of his heart 4. He calleth the traitor Absolon his sonne Happy had it beene that Absolons birth had beene his buriall the sunne in the firmament never beheld such a disobedient sonne on earth yet his burden is my sonne my sonne David remembers not how Absolon had slaine his brother enveigled the subiects betrayed the Crowne aspired to the kingdome en tred Ierusalem with violence abused his Concubines vpon the top of the house in the sight of heaven none of these be remembred David will not liue if Absolon bee dead He considereth not that Absolons beauty was but effections fancie and natures frailtie a blister might blast it dor a fever blemish it but age would surely parch and perish and wither it Ludolph hee considreth not that Absolon was neither vnigenitus no nor primogenitus neither the first begotten nor the only begotten son of his father that he so bewaileth him Aust Abraham pater credentium the father of the beleeving could not haue deplored his sonne Isaac had he beene offred Nor Aaam pater viventium the father of all things living could haue more wept over his slaine Abel then David over Absolon What great alteration is in the carriage of this passion in the death of one sonne frō this calme contentation this holy patient resolution in the death of this other Being dead why should I nowe fast Vse Hence then we may learne that seeing the best of Gods children haue bin so various in their passions and so subiect to
SPIRITVALL ODOVRS TO THE MEMORY OF PRINCE HENRY IN FOVRE OF THE LAST SERmons preached in St JAMES after his Highnesse death the last being the Sermon before the body the day before the Funerall BY DANIEL PRICE then Chaplaine in Attendance ECCLVS 49.1 The remembrance of Iosias is like the composition of the perfume made by the Apothecary AT OXFORD Printed by Ioseph Barnes and are to be sold by Iohn Barnes dwelling neere Holborne Conduit 1613. TO THE HIGH AND MIGHTY VERTVOVS AND GRATIOVS PRINCE PRINCE CHARLES THE BEAVTY OF THE COVRT AND THE BLESSING OF THIS COVNTREY DANIEL PRICE VVITH HIS MOST DEVOTED OBSERVANCE OFFERETH THESE HIS LAST SERVICES TO BLESSED PRINCE HENRY PSAL. 90.15 Comfort vs now according as thou hast afflicted vs. HONOVRABLE mournefull worthy Auditory I stande heere as that amazed servaunt of Elias crying lamenting for my MASTER feeling the paine fearing the perill of his losse Ps 19.5 ô what a thunderbolt of astonishment is it to vs all that the sunne comming forth as a bridegroome out of his chamber and reioicng as a Gyant to runne his course should set even before the Meridian and mid-day it is a thought that beates the breath out of my body and makes my soule ready to fly from mee yet seeing it is your owne desire and expectation that wee should frequently gather to these sad and solemne exercises in this holy place of this house of mourning though my worthy Colleagues sicknesse and mine owne weakenesse might be Apologies I forbeare rather the excuse then the exercise seeing Apologies be as obvious as odious not only Heralds to blaunch but vshers to blame such delinquencie You haue heard how our Saviour his servants his disciples dayly waiters were scattered Mat. 26.13 in the same chapter I finde smal argument of comfort for these distressed dispersed soules but at the same time as may be collected out of S. Iohn our Saviour comforteth his servants thus Ioh. 16.22 Yee are now in sorrow but I will see you againe and your harts shall reioice which meditation now hath moved me Gen. 8. to bring you an Oliue braunch in these waues and waters of sorrow not thereby to wish an end to your mourning but to season it that it may be better and stronger Gen. 8 8. Mat. 3.16 and hereafter more for your pleasure more for your profit when the Arke was on the waters the Doue was sent out when Christ was in the waters the Doue was sent downe Greg. in Moral Columba est spiritus consolationis saith Gregory the Doue representeth the spirit of comfort and when the flood is come to full tide the Doue shall be sent that the waters may cease when sorrow is at full age sweet wood must be cast into the bitter waters Psal 85.8 peace shall come saith the Prophet Comfort shall haue a time worldly contentments may end in bitternesse Ioseph Antiq. Iordan may runne a long race sweetly and pleasantly and afterwardes fall into the dead sea and never recover it selfe againe but the ioy and comfort of Gods servants notwithstanding all ecclipses shall finally never be obscured Chrysost times twins day and night shal be changed the foure colours of the vaile of mans Tēple the Elements shal be consumed the soule and body of the world Heaven and earth shal be destroyed but the comforts of Gods children shal never be extinguished you may beleeue him without an oath but I haue sworne by my holynes saith the Lord Psal 89.25 1. Kings 19.12 I wil never forsake Dauid As he dealt by Elias to send first the whirlewind then the Earthquake then the fire but then the small still voice so hath he dealt with all his Prophets after all the threatnings and thundrings he sends messages of Consolation by Esay thus Comfort yee Comfort yee Esay 40.1 Ier. 31.13 my people will God say By Ieremy thus I will comfort them giue them ioies for sorrowes By Ezechiel thus Ezek 14 22. yee shall be comforted concerning all the evill I haue brought vpon you By Zachary thus The Lord will yet comfort Syon Zech. 1.17 as Christ spake so may COMFORT say of me all the Prophets bare witnes but among al Prophecies none so cōfortable none so watred with the dew of heaven as the booke of Psalmes this is the Spowses garden Cant. 4.12.13 here be the lilies and roses here be Apples and Pomegranats and sweet fruits here be the mirre aloes Cassia and sweet spices here be the fountains of the gardē wels of living water the springs of Lebanon sweet waters every Psalm is as the foūt of Bethel Basil in 1. Ps as Basil by experience speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 every Psalme is a message of Peace embassage of mercy Hence had the servāts of God in all ages the balme of Gilead to apply to their soares sorrows Euseb lib. 12. prep cap. 13. I need not tell you how many Prophets and Apostles in the old and new Testament haue vsed authorities hence Euseb or how Plato is by Eusebius reported to receaue instruction from this booke or howe Babilas the Bishop or Mauritius the Emperour seasoned the misery of their Martyrdome with a Cāticle of a Psalm or how many holy Martyrs all the ancient Fathers all the Saints of God haue made blessed vse of this book that begins with blessednesse In Maz. Cōcord and containes nothing but blessednesse being repeated in the Concreat 27. times in this one book which like the tree that beareth fruit every month twelue times a yeare Reu. 21. so the Church hath appointed every month that this booke bring forth fruit in due season Ps 1. and among all vses of Comfort our blessed Saviour hence commended his soule sent vp in a Psalme vnto his father Father into thy handes I commend my spirit This Psalme I haue taken vp for your vse in this sad and sable time it is the first of all the Psalmes in order though not in number it was made 300. years before David or this booke were extant for when Moyses the man of God Deut. 32. had passed the Meridian of his life Mart. in Is being now in the after-noone of his age seeing foreseeing the night of death approaching Gods heavy indignation encreasing Israell stil disobeying he entreth into the consideration of mans transitory station shewing how many waves are ready to devour this little I le of man how he is turned to destruction scattered and consumed cut downe Psal 90. dryed vp and withered our misdeeds saith Moses are before thee our sins are in the fight of thy countenance our yeares are a tale that is told our strength is but labour and losse so farre you see mans sunne is in the Ecclipse here is nothing but lachrymae suspiria teares sighes sobs sorrows deploration lamentation fit meditations for our soules But behold what
followeth Amb. O turne thee vnto vs againe O be gratious O teach vs O satisfie vs O comfort vs O shew vs the light of thy countenance O prosper thou the workes of our hands vnto vs O prosper thou our handy workes Here be preces vota praiers and Consolations amulets of comfort the Sunshine in brightest lustre and splendor Our of those fiue stones that David tooke out of the brooke he vsed but one 1 Sam. 17.40 so out of all these I haue singled this singular petition for consolation Comfort vs now according as thou hast afflicted vs. And my harty desire is as that of S. Austin in the like kinde Deus faciet hunc textum tam commodum Aust quam accommodatum God grant it may be as fruitfull and profitable as it is fit and commendable for these sorrowfull seasons The text it selfe is a praier and a praier you know is a present helpe in trouble it is the language of heaven it is a messenger as speedy as happy faithfull for speed fruitfull for successe and partaketh much of omnipotencie no hinderance of the way no difficulty of the passage can hinder Praier dispatches in a minute all the way betwixt heaven and earth and as a fiery chariot mounteth into the presence of the Almighty to seeke his assistance Si in terrore mentis si in agone mortis if in any anxiety of mind if in any agony of mortality Chrys thou fly to this Tower here bee the armes and Armory of the strong men it is the incense of the Church it is the spikenard of the Tabernacle it was Moses rod Can. 5 5. Exod. 30.34 Exod 17 5. Iam 5.17 it was Elias key it was to Iacob his sword and bow it was to Dauid his sling and speare so is Praier in generall and this one text in particular to make no more excursions is as the Angell that came down into the poole of Shiloa it is a healing praier a praier never is more necessary then now especially this kind of praier Comfort thou vs now according as thou hast afflicted vs. Comfort thou thou hast plagued as in the former verse Thou turnest man to destruction turne thou therefore vnto vs againe it is the same God vulnus opemque tulit he casteth downe and raiseth killeth and quickneth scattereth gathereth plagueth and comforteth Comfort thou God is Lord of the soile as well of the waters of Mara as the waters of Shiloa Comfort thou vs now The eies of vs all looke vp and trust in thee thou givest vs meate in due season O giue vs comfort in due season in this needfull time of trouble Divisio now that sorrow cloathes vs and mourning clowdes vs. I might devide this fountaine into many streames God plaging Moses praying the time when he praied the cause why he praied the manner how he praied but I remēber that positiō to devide a litle into many parts is to make every part lesse then it should and the whole lesse then it selfe 2 ae Partes My meditations shall only bee fixed vpon these 2. The Comforts desired and persons afflicted and of these in that order Comfort is the soule of a Christians soule the sweetest Companion that ever accompanied mā in this vale of mortality never did the dew of Hermon so sweetly fall vpon the hil of Sion as comfort when it is distilled into the distressed soule of a Christian In our travaile through the wildernesse of SIN hatefull for the name harmefull for the nature of the place comfort is the fiery piller to lead vs through this wildernes of our wils it is the brooke in the way to refresh vs the Manna of the desert to feed vs the Angell of the Lord to cōduct vs Psal 121. I may truely say as David in the Psalme It is our defence vpon our right hand so that the sunne shal not burne vs by day nor the moone by night it is even this that shall keepe our soule The names of mercy loue and grace and Peace be pretious and glorious Zeged sweeter then hony and the hony combe Ps 19. more to bee desired then golde yea then fine gold and where these bee there is truelie The family of Loue But I may saie that Comfort is as much as all these Greg. in Mor. in Iob. for as Gregory writing vpon that Manna habuit omne delectamentum saith that no variety of delicacy in the touch rellish of the tast was wanting in that Angels food and as the Opall resembleth in it selfe the firie lustre of the Carbuncle the fieldy greenesse of the Emerauld the heavēly cleerenesse of the Diamond the aierie azure of the Saphire so Comfort containeth in her regiment the effects of peace the comforted soule is reconciled to God it conteineth the adiuncts of grace the soule is endowed with heauenly gifts it containeth the protection of mercy the soule is compassed with defence on every side In a word it containeth in it the affections of loue the comforted soule loueth others as friends God as a father loueth his enimies for Gods sake loueth affliction for hits owne sake remission of sinnes communion of Saints protection of Angels faith hope charitie repentance fasting praying obaying all blessed spirits all Tutelar powers dwel in such a comforted sanctified soule the soule is then like the Kings daughter all glorious within her clothing is then of wrought gold Shee shall be brought vnto the King in raiment of needle work Ps 45.13 the virgins that be her fellowes shall keepe her company so that soule that is blessed with these fiue Comfort and Peace and Grace and mercy and loue is attended as Abigail when she went to meet David shee was followed by her fiue virgins 1. King 25.42 In the Canticles I finde that there is hortus conclusus and fons signatus a garden inclosed a fountaine sealed in the Gospell I finde that there is Thesaurus absconditus Chrys Aug. Greg. a hidden treasure I want not testimonies of some ancients applying there both the fountaine sealed and the Treasure concealed vnto comfort for as the Lord only knoweth who are his so they only that are his knowe what his comfort is To all others comfort is hortus conclusus a Paradise closed vp kept with the brandishing swords of two heavenly souldiers These seeke and find not because they seeke amisse Mat. 7. they knock and it is not opened because they knocke being not prepared Aust Non nisi post pluviam sequitur serenitas sunshines be never so pleasant and seasonable as after showres Such as are not acquainted with sorrow neuer knew the mysterie of godly holy comfort which is the Christians heauen vpon earth ioy in life hope in death prosperitie in aduersitie staffe in affliction anker in desperation brestplate of preservation golden Chaine of glorification in the heavens Which we hope to possesse in ioy as the Saints doe
Prince Prince HENRY had beene his Patterne All this I confesse I confesse when I thinke on this my soule almost refuseth comfort because wee shall never enioy him againe Yet in our best ordered recollected thoughts who that duly honoured him can repine that he is freed from the world and now being enfranchised enioyes greater good in greater libertie when like a true Hebrewe he hath gon his Passouer from death to life where there is more grace and more capacity where a soule cannot be surbated with feares nor surfeited with ryots where earthly bodies shal be more celestiall then man in his Innocencie or Angels in their glory for they could fall He is there with those Patriarchs that haue expected Christ in earth longer then they haue enioyed him in heauen He is with those holy Pen-men of the holy spirit they be now his partners who were here his teachers He is with all the Elect Angels with the Congregation of the first borne In a word HE is with him by whose pretious blood his blessed soule is bathed and sealed by his death to the day of redemption Hee is in ioy though we in sorrow Shall wee bee in sorrow because he is in ioye No my Beloued be yee not deceaued so sure as yee haue sorrow so sure shall yee be comforted if yee can faithfully and feruently pray with Moses Comfort thou vs O Lord after thou hast plagued vs. And so I passe from the comforts desired to the persons afflicted my second aime Part. 2 Now after thou hast plagued vs. The life of a Christian hath no other Passage then Ionathan his armorhearer had a sharp rocke on the one side 1. Sam. 14.4 a sharp rock on the other side Bozez on the one side Seneh on the other an anfractuous dangerous passage that flintie stones vnder him briers and thornes on the side of him mountainous craggs and promontories ouer him sic petitur coelum so heaven is caught by paines by patience by violence affliction is the most inseparable associate Cor contritum humiliatum non despicies Ps 11.19 saith David a broken and contrite heart O God thou wilt not despise The ancients haue obserued that Dauid offred no offring no sacrifice for that sinne which hee acknowledgeth in that 51. Psalme he had shed blood and knew that the blood shed of sacrifice would not serue to expiate Thou desirest no sacrifice Ps 51.18 thou delightest not in burnt offrings saith the Prophet Did not God delight in sacrifice not require burnt offrings when he had so precisely commanded them distinguished the diuers formes of them segregated especiall times for them beene so well pleased with them And yet Noluisti sacrificium Did not God delight in burnt offrings when the sonne of David at one time in one place offered a sacrifice of peace offring of twentie thousand oxen and an hundred and twentie thousand sheepe 1. King 8.62 the greatest sacrifice that ever was read of either in diuine or prophane in rude or polite story Yet you heare Noluisti sacrificium is Davids words Cass Noluisti holocaustum voluisti cor humiliatum saith one a burnt sacrifice will not serue but a brokē sacrifice thou requirest it is the speech of Christ to the Spouse the smell of thy ointments is better thē spices Cant. 4 10. Meliora vnguenta quà m aromata ointments better then spices which wordes Nyssenus expounds of this place Nyss Hom. 9. in Cant. broken hearts rather then burnt sacrifices are accepted of God Broken hearts whether they be broken moerore interno Greg. as Gregory expounds the place by inward greefe or broken humiliatione as Innocentius interpreteth Innocent by humiliation or broken by frequent tribulation as Cassiodore glosseth or broken by vehement greefe and anguish of spirit in repentance Cassiod as Thomas and the Schooles doe iudge the meaning of all is this that the heart that is softned and mollified the heart that hath beene the anvile for sorrowes afflictions is most fit to be consecrated to God Ioel mentions a rent heart Ioel 2.13 David a broken a contrite heart S. Chrysostome of both them speaketh fractum cor haud quaquā se in altū extulerit Hom. 4. l ◠2. ad Cor. hom in epist ad Hebr. contritum haud quaquam exurrexerit scissum non inflatur ad superbiam nō concitatur ad vindictam A broken heart is not exalted on high a contrite heart hath made no insurrection a rent hart is not inflamed by pride not incited to revēge The sacrifice of God is a broken and Contrite heart God in the old Testament would accept no sacrifice if it were maimed yet wil now admit no sacrifice vnlesse it be broken and bruised he that then commanded sacrifices of the Law to be offered by fire will now receiue no sacrifice of the gospell but offred by water The earth yeelds not corne till it be plowed the grape yeeldeth no wine vntill it be pressed gold is not pure till it be fined the stones of the Temple not brought into the Temple till they were polished Rev. 7.9 the Saints in the Revelation are not cloathed with white robes and haue palmes in their hāds before they haue passed through many tribulatiōs the Prophet Moses here expecteth not cōfort before affliction as in Ecclesiastes a time of weeping Eccl. 3.4 a time of reioicing no weeping no reioicing so here first affliction then consolation Comfort thou vs according as thou hast afflicted vs. It were impertinent I shoulde roaue so farre backe to Deuteronomy to shew how they were afflicted seeing the Psalme hath no other Tenor then the memory of mortalitie and Moses himselfe being the Prince of the people being himselfe presently to passe the way of all the world whether it were that his people might be comforted for his losse or whether for the liues of those many that had dyed in the desert You see that the manner of his praier yeeldeth vs this observation Observ That the comfortes of Gods spirit are not ministred by God nor can be expected by mā vntill man hath beene throughly seasoned with sorrowe None can come to Paradise but by the burning Seraphins of affliction none returne from Canaan but they must passe by the waters of Marah no passing backe to Ierusalem but by the vally of weeping no seeing of Mount Sion before we haue sit at the waters of Babylon Christ came only to comfort the mourners Esay 61.2 Esay 61.2 The second blessing that he pronounceth in his first sermon is to mourners Mat. 5.4 Mat. 5.4 appointeth none to be marked in Ierusalem to be preserved but mourners Ezech 9.4 Ezek. 9.4 Our Saviour then only promised comfort to his disciples when they were mourners Ioh. 16 22. Yee are now in sorrow but I will see you again you shall reioice your ioy shall no man take from you All the
K Richard 8 Arthur sonne to Hen. 8. No more created but those Ed. 6. not invested by Patent nor created For if the Romans called the heire apparant Princeps Inventutis Prince of the youth and Prince Edgar the last heire male of that blood royall was long after called Englands dearling and when Prince Arthur died the Poets then complained that Arcturus was vanished in the heavens what can we say of him that would haue beene subiect for all pens and obiect for all eies as if the worthines of all the eight created Princes of Walles of the English blood and of the eight Henries his Highnesse Royall Auncestors had met in him as in the Confluence I will say of him as S. Paule to the Hebrewes spake of those with whome our Master is nowe in Company Prince HENRY was hee of whom the world was not worthy Yet beloued let me still say as my Text God may Comfort vs even according to the greatnes of our losse his power is not weakned his arme is not shortned It was a blasphemous speech in the Governour in the daies of Elisha that doubted whether there might after that great dearth bee so great plenty though 2. Kings 7.3 saith he God would make windowes in heauen Hee is able to doe whatsoeuer in faith we are able to beleeue Wee haue yet the sunne and moone and starres of a Royal firmament and though we haue lost the morning starre yet we haue Charls-waine in our Horizon wee haue a Prince if starres be of any truth like to be of long life great learning most hopefull for his time most fruitful for his hopes we hope that God hath said to our Iacob Gen. as Iacob said of his Iudah sceptrum non auferetur à Iuda so the scepter shal not be taken from our Iacob til Shiloah come againe into the world Let this Comfort serue vs so long as wee are Gods servants so long hee will be our Lord. Send out Comfort in ambush against all feares al enimies and when she returneth with conquest Iudg. 5. say to thy soule as Debora did to hers thou hast marched valiantly O my soule Thinke not that our Master is dead Musa vetat mori saie as Christ said of Lazarus He is not dead but sleepeth Ioh. 11.3 In a word after all these Cloudes be past the sunshine will appeare or we shall appeare before God our selues sure I am this Text will be vncontrouled for ever Heauen and earth shall passe but no iot of this word shall passe Act. 1. After the Lord hath afflicted vs he will comfort vs. Let vs therefore with the Apostles who staid at Ierusalem expecting the Comforter continue in holy deuotions hearing praying fasting falling downe before his presence for he is holy And thou O Lord that seest all hearts vnto to thee let our crie come and let comfort descend vnto vs in this house of mourning and valley of teares Now like poore distressed sinners we beseech thee then with thy Saints and Angels we shall glorifie thee Lord grant this for thy promise for thy mercy for thy Zyon for thy sonnes sake CHRIST IESVS Amen 2. SAM 12.23 Now he is dead wherefore should I fast can I bring him againe I shall goe to him but he shall not returne to me THE story sheweth you David the king in a sorrowfull case weeping mourning crying for his sonne lying all day and night on the earth Hewept wept and would not be comforted S. Bernard mentioneth Bern. in Passione Dom. Heb domadam dolorum a week of sorrows David had no lesse the child died the seaventh day 2. Sam. 12.18 the 7 day David arose from his low lamentable lodging his meditation could be no other thē this O who shal deliver his soul from death His cause of mourning was non propter vitam sed propter animam Chrys non propter animam non propter filium sed propter adulterium not so much for the life as for the soule of his childe not so much for his sonne as for that sinne by which his mother conceived him The childe was messis in herba life was spes in messe but the soule of the childe was gloria messis the ioy and glorie of the harvest this is the cause that David mournes bitterly There is a strange sentence in the former verses Non Morieris thou shalt not die Davids sinne is acquitted sed Morietur filius but thy childe shall die the innocent babe is punished 2. Sam. 12.13 I need not to vncover the nakednes of this father further then scripture takes away the vaile from him he committed adultery heaven sees it God sends Nathan 2. Sam. 11 4. Nathan wounds David through the sides of one of his owne subiects David sentenceth himselfe in another thus He that hath done this shall die and pay fourefold At hoc iustum est iniustum iudicium This iudgement is both iust vniust The trespasse is but a lambe to pay fourefold is satisfaction enough for a lambe if it be the life of a man to die for it is the satisfactiō required enough for a Mans life but suppose it what it may bee to die and pay pay and pay fourefold is iniustice it is to much Therefore God tooke one part of Davids sentence against himselfe though Non morieris stood as God had promised 2. Sam. 28. yet David shal pay fourefold as himselfe had sentenced 1. Hee paid the life of Ammon his sonne 2. Sam. 18.9 by the sword of Absalon here is one satisfaction 2. he paid the life of Absalon hanging in the Oke by the sword of Ioab the 2 satisfactiō 3 the life of Adoniah by the sword of Iehoiada 1. King 2.25 the 3 satisfaction and fourthly the life of a childe here by the sword of God the fourth satisfaction For the life of one Vrias no lesse thē foure of his own children must die the death vers 14. The first of this Tragical Chorus is this childe sentenced in the 14 verse in the 15. ye find him sicke poore infant silly innocent after his panting and striuing for breath he is deceased in the 18. verse ver 15. vers 18. while he was sicke David did sorrow wept and fasted prayed and lay on the ground but being dead riseth apparelleth washeth worshippeth eateth herevpon his servāts expostulate What thing is this that thou dost ver 21. thou didst fast and weepe for the childe while it was aliue but when the childe was dead thou dost rise and eate David answereth and the best part of his answere is this my Text Being dead why should I now fast Can I bring him againe any more I shall go to him but he shall not returne to mee These two be points very remarkeable that vsher the meditations of my Text the first the punishment of the childe for the father David commits adultery the childe dies
God saith Gregory in sinu Abrahae saith the Gospell Phil. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Paule they be with Christ Returne cannot be misery shall not bee vnto them Vse Whence I settle this observation Obs 3 that every man shall haue his passe in death but none his returne till the day of iudgement The Tearme of death hath no essoynes no returnes All must celebrat this Passover all must trusse vp their loines all must take vp their staues in their hands al must passe to their lower roomes all must lay forth their shrowds napkins to bind their heads annointings for their bodies to the burial I meane preparation meditation for their death that their names rot not but that their memories may remaine in the posterities that are to come None shal returne til the earths great Iayle delivery heavens great summons to the sessiōs A point that may be of much comfort to ease and mitigate the gripings of the pangs and fangs and iawes of death when our bodies lie vpō the altars of our beds for the sacrifice of our souls whē the Evening of our life is even at the ende and shutting vp this is a sweet smelling savour to remember that all our holy friends that we leaue behind vs shal follow vs all that are gone before shall meet with vs none faile for following none want for meeting Villand therefore not to feare death to be so horrid thinke thy sicknesse thy prison thy pangs of death thy last fits thou art vpō recovery thy Pantings be but the sem briefes the notes of division of the harmony that they ever haue in heauen the bells that call for thee be but to tole thee to the triūphant Church thy friends that weep greeue because they cannot go with thee Divels that gape vpon thee looke but for legacies leaue one thy pride another thy lust another thy ambition and so as sinne brought in death let death driue out sin Death is but a ferrey a boat a bridge to waft thee over into another place or a groome that lights a Taper into another Room thy soul like a Tritō lying in the water is presētly to be mounted vpon the waue Angels carry thee thou shalt hauing thy Nunc dimittis Chrys passe into Abrahams bosome Thus the Lord shall let his servants depart in peace according to his word and it will be their comfort that they haue run their race and fought their fight and finished their course and receaue the glory of the better life Conclus And now beloved for conclusion giue mee leaue to repeat the words of my Text and so end Our MASTER is dead wherefore should we now fast Can we bring him againe we shall go to him hee shall never returne to vs. But doe I aske wherefore should I now fast where fore should we now mourne shall I say there is no cause now of mourning for our Master I dare not say so Seneca Hectora flem us for his death is like an Ecclypse the event whereof appeareth many yeares after the future generations shall lament his losse and I feare out of the sides of their sorrow shall runne both water and blood I confesse it is in vaine to ad new showers to our late streames of teares the losse was such that if after all our sighes and groanes we should herein weepe out all the humours of our bodies and wast out all the marrow of our bones all were but vanity and vexation of spirit Yet there is a cause to draw the Cesternes of our sorrow dry and to make vs vow not superstitiously but religiously an everlasting lent of fasting and mourning and humbling our selues before God the reason is Cananeus non est occisus nec factus tributarius Greg. in Moral and this brought such plagues vpon Israel The Cananite is amongst vs the basphemous Traiterous Papist is neither exiled nor suppressed but hath more countenance and maintenance secretly then good men openly and more pleasure content in prisons then many holy men in their houses This snake lyeth close in the City this spider creepeth vp into the Court and hath feeding in our Church housing in our vniversities My thoughts be not bloody I shal hartily pray for them though they be our enimies though they reioice triumph at our present miseries though they haue evil wil at our Siō yet my wishes devotions shal be rather for their conuersiō thē confusion But for our selues let our praiers be daily howrely powred out that the Lord adde not so heavy and grievous a misery vnto this present so great an ecclipse of his glory and our good to this present clowde of both as that this his Church ever become an Egypt a Sodome a Rome a Babylon a prostituted stewes for all commers but that all good harts may be encouraged and all good lawes may be executed to bring al the people of this kingdom to the knowledge of the Lord. And for this purpose let vs fast and pray and weepe watch and cry betweene the porch the Altar Spare vs good Lord spare thy people and be not angry with thine inheritance Opē their eies that they may see the wondrous things of thy law Open thy hid treasures that we may receiue frō the hidden fountaines of thy loue Grace mercy and peace in our daies and the daies of our posterities from thee O God the father and from thy sonne Iesus Christ To whom both with the eternall spirit of thee holy Father bee all honour and glory in both worlds Amen FINIS SORROVV FOR THE SINNES OF THE TIME A SERMON PREACHED AT St. JAMES on the third Sunday after the PRINCE his death BY DANIEL PRICE then Chaplaine in Attendance EZEK 9.4 Go through the middest of the Citty through the middest of Ierusalem and set a marke vpon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the middest of her AT OXFORD Printed by Ioseph Barnes and are to be sold by Iohn Barnes dwelling neere Holborne Conduit 1613. TO THE RIGHTLY HONOVRABLE AND TRVELY RELIgious LADY the LADY CAREY wife to the Noble and worthy SIR ROBERT CAREY ELect Lady 2. Ioh. 1.2 for so S. Iohn styleth an Honourable Matrone to whom hee sent his second Epistle your holy sorrow for the losse of the former Illustrious and former service to the excellent gracious Prince CHARLES deserue much respect of all good harts VVith these another argument particularly doth incite me to offer this service a sacrifice of my sorrow to your worthy hands The grace and Countenance you afford Religion and her followers which will bring a blessing vpon you and your posterity as is already apparent in those fruitfull beautifull Oliue branches your sonnes of whom our ollege is much ioyfull because they are so truely hopefull adding to Nobility of birth Nobility of vertue Continue Noble Lady to bee a faithfull client for
nay more one among the rest a chiefe one Currus Daemonis Pint. in Ezek. quo multi vehebantur ad infernum a chariot of the Devill wherein many were carried to hell this mōster hath a Censor in his hand in the middest of them every one of them round about burne incense to this Idolatrous imagery pourtrayed on the wall yet this was only in their chambers it was privatly But the third abomination is greater women weeping for that monster that Devill of lust or that devill of Idolatry women shamelesse Idolaters The devill had no other engine in Paradise but the woman Gen. 3. shee was the wheele to turne about all the world Ahabs Iezebell is his instrument to slay the Prophets Herodias daughter to strike of Iohn Baptist his head Helena shal further Symon Magus stratagem Philumena her Apelles Montanus must haue his Prisca Donatus his Lucilla Priscillinus his Galla Arrius must be favoured and furthered in his heresie by Constantines sister and Nicholas the Deacon will haue choras foemininas whether it be that women by their nature are more flexible or by law lesse lyable to punishment though very many of them haue beene holte worthy Saints and Martyrs of God yet many haue beene most faithfull servants to their infernall Master they be the loadstones and loadstars in all evill the Iesuit not more serviceable to the Pope then Idolatrous womē to the devill These women were not in the common streetes but in the gate of the house of the Lord in an eminent place do they commit this Idolatry Yet the fourth is far beyond all in al the circumstances It is much that the Idoll should be publicke yet better publicke by the common people then in private by the Lords Ancients of Israell in the second it is not so much that the Nobles and Ancients do commit Idolatry in private in their chambers as that these women those idolatrous witches should openly even at the doore of the house of the Lord mourne for that monster whether it were the God of their corporall or spirituall filthines for both be sworne sisters and inseparable associats In the third it is not so clamorous in the eares of heavē that women weake for their sex though wicked in this service should weepe and mourne this being done without t the gate though in an Idolatrous custome I say it is not so clamorous as that the Priests of the Lord the seers of Israel the strong men of Sion the foundation of Ierusalem they that should haue bin the Oracles of God that these should build Babell in Salem it is more then that all the Commons many Nobles some women bee Idolaters Numb If the light be darknesse how great is that darknesse Nadab and Abihu if they offend fire shall strike them Corah if he offend the earth shall swallow him The offring of the Priest was greater then the offring required frō the Prince Lev. 4.15 not respectu dignitatis but pietatis the Prince to offer a Goate Bux but the Priest a bullocke The Priest was not only the sacrificer Sacerdos sal sacrificii but the salt of the sacrifice if this salt haue lost his savour wherewith shall he be seasoned if the Priest commit Idolatry what hope in people or Prince at his hands all wil be required Here then is the full measure people and Prince women Priests all are found faulty all are ahominable or at least some of all kinds and qualities among them this is the cause that this mourning is required that the Saints may herein be discerned that they are so far from participating in the wickdenesse of the world that they in consideratiō hereof may be found not only watching but weeping as the Pelican Storke Doue Turtle bemoaning the increase of iniquity and as my Text speaketh for the abominatiōs that are done Observ 6 Whēce this observation properly ariseth that it is the duty of all Gods Saints to deplore the sins of the time by which Gods iudge ments are hastned vpon the world Moyses left this as a legacie to his people they did not more lament his losse after his death then hee mourned for them and their ensuing sorrows for their present sins before his death Deut. 32. David had the same spirit Ps 119. mine eies gush out with waters because men keep not thy law To say no more all the Prophets do bewaile the sinnes of Ierusalem the seate of the kings of Iuda and Samarta the citty of the kings of Israell Ieremy wished himselfe a fountaine if you read his Prophecy and Lamentations you may think hee shed an Ocean of Tears for the sinnes of the daughter of his people As I name him for all the Prophets so I only direct you to S. Austin of al the fathers who besides his practise herein Confessions Meditations Aust and Soliloquies doeth vpon this occasion of my Text exhorte all to this generall Lamentation Aug. lib 2 cont Ep. Parmenian Cum idem morbus plurimos occupaverit nihil aliud bonis restat quà m dolor gemitus vt per illud signum quod Ezechieli Sancto revelabatur illaesipossint evadere ab impiorum vastatione whē the same discase or general calamity shall visit many there remaineth nothing to the Godly but sorrowe weeping that by that signe which was manifested to holy Ezechiell they may escape vnhurt Chauc Gerson Alvar. Pelag. in the devastation of the wicked what Gerson and Alvarez Pelagius a Papist in his booke named Gravamen Ecclesiae haue written even against I dolatrous Papists is worthy for ever to be remembred though it cannot in this scanrell of time be recited Vse In this dysastrous time of my distracted meditations I haue been at a maze to cōsider whether these prophecies of Ieremy Ezekiel be Oracles for Ierusalē only or the Chronicles of our own lands sure I am we haue the Idol of indignatiō among vs Popery the mother of two sorry twinns Idolatry Treachery we haue some Idola trous Ancients noble Idolaters Idolatrously luxurious women I dare not say that Noble women mourne for Tammuz Wee haue Idolatrous Priests of our owne Tribe of our owne Temple who wish more Rome in the Land who often offer strange fire vpon the altar even in Bethel spurious Heterogeneous monsters Hermaphrodites Ambodexters Rapsodisticall Postillers false hearted fellowes who edge their swordes vpon the Philistins forges and for this and these commeth the wrath of God vpon the children of disobedience It is confessed that Ieremy and Ezekiel prophecied both at one time Compare their prophecies you will beleeue that they prophecied purposely for this age and this place wherein we breath Ier. 13.16 In the 130 of Ieremy there is a prophecy that while men looke for light there should bee great darknesse Is not this fulfilled and haue not our eyes seene sorrowed haue we not wept day night to see our present
and apparant ioy ecclypsed the expectation of such solemne and solid comfort in the cōiunction of that blessed starre with the religious Prince Palsgraue In the same Chapter in the 18. Ier. 13.18 verse the Prophet as if hee cried to the English Court vseth these words Say vnto the King Queene humble your seiues for your Principality is come down even the Crown of your heads And were the sun and moone of the firmament of this land I meane his Royall Maiestie and the Queene ever so distressed with sorrow as now that the glory of the Brittish Principality is ecclypsed In the 20 of the same Chapter the Prophet asketh where is the beautifull flocke that came from the North the flocke that was given him And may we not aske where now is the beautie and glory of this flocke of this family where be those worthy actiue rarely qualified Religious Noble and divinely tempred Gentlemen whom if another Queene of Sheba had beheld in the order of their service manner of their attendance shee had pronounced 1. King 10.8 Happy are these men happy are these servants In the 22. Ier. 23.10 of Ieremy there is a command to weepe bitterly the reason because of the death of the Prince Shallum the son of Iosiah for saith Ieremy He shall goe away and shall never returne to see his natiue Country O that the graue had opened her mouth vpon vs and that this had not beene sulfilled in our eies that a Million of our liues had served as an expiatory sacrifice for our blessed Prince In. Ezekiel there be many notable places that hee that rūneth may read how truely our history is pourtrayted in that Prophecy but this string wil grow harsh if it bee touched longer or lowder Yee may aske me wherein be any of these Prophecies fulfilled in our times in connivence of Idolatry But yee are wise yee haue harts iudgements and eyes to behold the increase of this desolation yee need not aske or if yee wil aske aske the father in Christs name for some redresse for did not the wakefull eye of heauen keep Centinell over vs and the divine hand protect vs from the furious battry of tempestuous Popery wee should bleed vnder the presence of their wished for desolation as now we ought to weepe for that continued abhomination Babylon hath beene described by Esay Ieremy Ezekiel and almost all the Prophets especially S. Iohn haue foretold her Papall Tyranny and farall and final misery If there were any life or spirit or any of our Ancestors iealous zealous courage in vs we would bee avenged of Gods enimies Is it not enough that they haue reaped of the best fruits of our land and blasted some of the fairest hopes crept into houses led women captiues laden with diverse lusts and haue their annuall sessions and customary officers for their subsidiarie collections among the hell borne brood of bastards enimies to our King and God and Church I knowe if there were no Popery in our land yet Abhominations might every where be found Oportet esse hareses Oportet esse abhominationes But I say it is impossible that all the world should afford so many high and horrid abhominations as be in these What greater pride then that a Priest shall so abase the mettall of the Crowne and lay the golden head of the picture vnder the earthy foot of the Pope what sensualitie more then to proclaime indulgence with liberty to all kinde of lust what Covetousnesse more then to sell soules the great marke of Romes market in the Revelatiō Rev. 18.13 A most notable place to prone the abhomination of Rome No place of the world selling soules but Rome Tully in Catil coniur Iob. A place so invincible to convince Rome of Antichristianisme as no quicksilvered Sulphurous Enginer among the Iesuits shall ever be able to countermine it Veniunt in senatum veniunt thy liue and come to Church and I would they came no neerer But come they as neere as they may he that sitteth in heauen shall laugh them to scorne the Lord still hath them in derision the sea is limited nay hell it selfe is bounded their Navies haue beene shipwrackt their fire workes prevented their weapons poisons Treasons ever hitherto descried and God will continue to bee our God their Dagon ever shall fall before our Arke if we continue his servants Acknowledge this Honourable Beloved let Gods protection if nothing else seale the certaintie of our Religion vnto vs you that haue any place of government and deriue any beames of authoritie from the sunshine of his Royall Maiestie looke to your oathes of allegeance to God and the King how soone you must giue account of your stewardship you knowe not be faithfull in the cause of the Lord. In some parts of this land by the countenance and furtherance of our late Renowned Prince authoritie hath kenneld vp some blood thirstie she-seminaries Banbury Castle and Religion that was sicke of a Consumption beginneth daily to recover There is no open Toleration for Popery I confesse better were it that the Eagles of the valley should pick out their eies but in eo quod superstitio non tollitur toleratur I never shall remember that remarkable place of S. Paule to the Galathians but my soule will abhorre the thoughts of blending or suffring two religions in one place The Gospell was planted in that Church and yet this desired to retaine some few of their ancient Iewish ceremonies if yee read the place Gal. 3.4 and 5. Chap. you will wonder that Paule should bee so vehement against the participation of some fewe reliques of their old religion You will find him more bitter if I may call his holy zeale the seale of his Apostleship bitternesse I say you wil find him more earnest and piercing then in all his Epistles Besides an ingeminated Anathema to those that preached Iewish doctrin among them Gal. 2.1 foolishnesse heaped on their heades because they did hereby frustrate the grace of God he protesteth vnto them in the 5. chapter and second verse Behold I Paule say vnto you that if yee be circumcised Christ profiteth you nothing Is Circumcision growne so odious Is the seale of the covenant Abrahams covenant of grace antiquated Is there no means that this and the gospell may stande togither Wil not Paule suffer a little leauen in the lumpe not agree that an agreement or reconcilement be made between Moyses and Christ I say between Moyses a type of Christ Christ between Moyses who was with God the father in mount Sinai Christ with him in moūt Tabor Not this Moyses and his law to be endured where Christ is his gospell How then if leauen bee not suffred is poyson mingled if Law and Gospell not to be togither how shal that be endured graced maintained and countenanced among vs which is derogatory to law and gospell Beloued be ye not deceived
God is not mocked he seeth harts as you see faces Idolatry and the connivence of Idolatry brought all the plagues vpon Israell favours among vs done to our enemies haue almost vndone vs. Eheu suslulerunt Dominum I may say with Mary they haue takē away our Lord. Whether it was by any hellish plot of theirs sent from their infernal caues and cavernes or the too much sparing of these Amalekites whom God if man neglect will punish I may say sustulerunt Dominum The choicest and greatest plague that these Incendiary Sāguinary assaciāts could haue devised they haue perfourmed I know not whether it was their damned villany when they saw that Salomon would not linke with Pharaoh that they fearing Salomon would pull of the crest of Pharaoh haue prevēted it by their infernall stratagems Speak it I must not feare it I do yet not because I feare to speake it for alas now that sustulerunt Dominum for vs of this distressed family did they cut our throats presently they would rather free vs then adde any thing to our present miseries But Lord looke downe vpō vs we are thy people and the sheepe of thy pasture thou hast broken our bones in sunder yet art able to cause the bones that thou hast broken to reioice build vp the wals of thy Ierusalem looke downe vpon thine Annointed cloath his enemies with shame but vpon him his let his Crowne flowrish on earth til thou crowne vs all in heaven Amen TEARES SHED OVER ABNER THE SERMON PREACHED ON THE Sunday before the PRINCE his funerall in St. JAMES Chappell before the body BY DANIEL PRICE then Chaplaine in Attendance SENECA Hectora flemus AT OXFORD Printed by Ioseph Barnes and are to be sold by Iohn Barnes dwelling neere Holborne Conduit 1613. TO THE HONOVRABLE AND worthy Sr DAVID MVRRAY SIR MY ende in publishing this Sermon is not popular ostentation that neither becommeth this season nor this subiect being then framed whē having lost the light of my Master his life I desired to confine my selfe to the circle of solitarinesse yet was I put vnto this and the like burdens aboue my strength and beyond my will This was my last homage to his memory who hath exchanged highnesse for happinesse in the highest heauens It is my first service to you who were one of the first and faithfulst servants to him till the holy passage of his heavenly soule your watry eies having then no other obiect but him and heaven where now he is cloathed with the rich wardrop of his Redeemer Accept worthy Sir these mites graines drops teares they be the best odors and ointments that in that hast I could provide to present to him dead and you living Our Tribe oweth much to you but Religion much more and therefore I knowe many ioyne with mee to wish your worthinesse complement of ioy in this life and full accomplishment of glory in the next for the which as your favours haue bound mee I continually pray while I am DANIEL PRICE 2. SAM 3.31 Rent your garments and put on sackcloath and mourne before ABNER MY Text containeth the furniture for a funerall an Honourable shadow presented on the stage of mortalitie concluding his last act vpon the face of the earth In the 1. of Samuel and 14. yee may finde his birth 1. Sam. 14.50 Abner the sonne of Ner kinseman to Saul a Prince of the blood In this Chapter is recorded his death funeral and last obsequies v. 27. and these so fully described that neither the maner nor marshalling of it be left out v. 31. Herse Sepulcher mourning garments mourning Elegies be not omitted and as if David gaue the Impresse v. 38. his owne words bee knowe yee not that a Prince and a great man is fallen this day in Israell I will stay my meditations from running as Peter and Iohn did to the sepulcher Ioh. 20.4 he that commeth after whose shooe latchet I am not worthy to vnloose he is to annoint the body at the buriall foelix est cui talis praeco contigerit and happy is our dead Achilles as in heaven in his soule Rev. 1 that hee singeth praises with those who are made Kings Priests to God so in earth that at the interring of his body his praises shall be sounded by him Aug. who is as Augustin spake of Cyprian Tanti meriti tanti pectoris tanti oris tantae virtutis Episcopus our most Reverend Prelat of such worth such wisdome such speech such spirit My part at this time is to shed some Teares over Abner and as David in the 31. verse of this Chapter to lament before the hearse V. 31. a duty vnexpectedly imposed on me the weakest of my worthy brethren yet now to be performed so farre as Omnipotency shall enable as a finall end and funerall of my service to that vertuous gratious Princely spirit which once inhabited this Tabernacle of earth that here lieth before vs. Abner the Princely Hebrew was now going to his last Passeover From the Egypt of this world to the Canaan of heaven is one Passeover but this was not it he was now to pass the other frō the world into the earth to remaine in silence and solitarinesse in the wombe and Tombe of the earth David asketh the question died Abner as vnregarded died Abner not lamented No for the Text saith David lift vp his voice and wept all the people wept for Abner againe David lamēted followeth the beere wept besides the sepulcher all the people wept again for him yet further David commands them to mourne in a solemne observance wisheth them to lay aside their purple Princely furniture their wanton superfluous and supercilious sailes of Pride nay not only lay them aside but to rent and teare them in peeces and to put on Sables mourning Abiliments outwardly to testifie their sorrowing inwardly because Abner was fallen in Israel And what was Abner that he is so lamented so honoured by these observances so mourned for in these obsequies that King and people and all Israel lament him Abner was the grace of the Court the hope of the Campe he was the Candle of his father as the originall signifieth Abner was the bearer of the sword and the ioy of the souldiers Abner was the glory of the king the supporter of the kingdome a noble-minded Martialist that did not after a dishonourable Peace which is no better then lusts truce valours rust To say no more hee was Abner the light of Israel now this light extinguished Abner is dead and departed therefore Rent your cloathes put on sackcloath and mourne before Abner for Abner lieth dead before you Not only change your garments but rent them teare them to totters and put on not only sables semblances of sorrow but saccloath hairy dusky dusty sackcloath nor only Scindite vestimenta rent your garments but scindite corda rent your hearts
good holy iust godly men But in this kind also these blessed seruāts of God are not without example Dauid shall speake for all in his Elegies for Saul Ionathan Absolon Abner c. Nay our Sauiour as before I mentioned wept for his friend I find that name bestowed onely vpon his friend Lazarus and I find our Sauiour weeping onely for Lazaru for no one particular but his friend Lazarus and that was so obserued by the Iewes as that their speech was behold how hee loued him Ioh. 11. Our Sautour raised vp as S. Austin noteth Aust three especially and particularly inhis life but he wept only at one of them The circumstances of his raising these differ much the first was dead but an houre the second dead a day the third dead foure dates the 1. dead but not taken out of the bed the 2. dead and laid in the coffin but not in the graue the 3. dead and laid in the graue dead 4. daies and began to sauour he touched the hand of the first the coffin of the second but the third he touched not at all At the first few persons were present and Christ charged them not to speake of it at the second many were present and it was noised farre abroad at the third a number of Iewes present and they obserued it At the first there was no publike weeping Ioh. 11. at the raising of the second the mother wept at the raising of Lazarus the friends and sisters and Iewes wept fleuit Iesus fremuit turbauit seipsum Iesus wept and groaned in the spirit and was troubled and againe hee groaned and was troubled and cried with a lowd voice thē said the Iewes behold how he loued him Et quare fleuit Iesus nisi hominem flere docuit and why did Christ so weepe but that hee hereby taught man to weepe he opened 2. fountaines of passion and compassion and therefore those that carry his name are to conforme themselues in some measure and though there bee no proportion betweene finite iufinite yet in the best manner we may precept and example and promise doe enforce this blessed practice It was a strange lawe that the Athenians made an edict to prohibit mourning at funcials fit for heathen not Christians to imitate For they that haue been honourable commendable in their liues are to be followed with the best testimony of affection that the iust may be had in euerlasting remembrance yet with this warning in mourning that as we proue not without charitie in not lamenting their deaths so also not without hope to forget the good estate of their soules when we so ouermuch lament the death of their bodies In the 9. of Numbers when the cloud was taken vp Num. 9 the children of Israel iournied when it abode the children of Israel pitched so when sorrow commeth sit downe with sorrow and mourn when ioy commeth returne and reioice yet neuer to bewray a want of faith when we would manifest an abundance of loue Vse Hence then wee see our warrant for bewailing the irrecouerable losse that the Church Common-wealth and Protestant world hath now sustained by the sad spectacle before vs we may rent garments and put on sackcloath and mourne Mourne then ye children of the bride-chamber the bride-groome is taken from you Mourne ye sonnes of Eli Nebility and Gentry the Arke of God is gon from among you Mourne ye Priests of the Lord betweene the porch and the Altar Iosias is dead and slaine among you Howle yee poore fir trees your shelter is downe the Cedar is fallen and lieth here before yee Let the house of Dauid mourne lugeat Domus Iacobi let S. Iames mourne Zach. let the inhabitanes of Ierusalem mourne and to vse the words of Zacharie let them mourne as for their only sonne and lament as for their first borne In that day shall be a great mourning in Ierusalem as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddo and the land shall bewayle euery family apart mourning shall bee in all the ends of the land complaining in the streets of euery City crying in the chambers of euery house Alas for the day of the Lord is come it is come all the orders and Companies I say not of this house only but of all this Realme from the honourable Counsellour to him that draweth water from the man of gray yeeres to the young child shall plentifully water their cheekes and giue iust occasion to the Chronicles and Prouerbes of our posterities to be remembred And we especially of this Collegiate society that shall this night end our watching shall to morrow haue a new occasion not only of increasing but renewing our weeping Hitherto we haue mourned for the departing of his soule out of his body now vvee must lament for the departing of his bodie out of this place so long as his herse his vrne remained we had a Master though wee could not inioy him aliue yet it was some solace in sorrow to attend him dead though we heard not his words so full of grace nor enioyed his presence so full of glory yet his ashes his effigies gaue a glimse to vs sitting in darknesse and now wee must loose this and this vnhappinesse will admit no helpe Gen. 50.10 When Iacob was carried from Goshen to Canaan the Egyptians mourned with a great and very sore lamentation and that mourning was so wondred at by the Canaanits that they call the place Abal-Mizraim to this day Egyptians gaue the cause of the name Canaanits gaue the name of the place mourning the cause of both both these strangers nay in themselues infestuous enimies to the Israelites If Egyptians and Canaanits strangers haue done this for Iacob what shall the seruaunts doe and attendants in familia Iacobi pro filie Iacobi let vs crie mightily vnto heauen that after our bodies lie buried in the dust our lamentation may be remembred Ah the Prince ah our glory ahlas for the day of the Lord is come for Abner lyeth dead before vs My last part Mourne before Abner Coram not Claà m not priuately but openly Math. Many acts of deuotion are to bee performed priuatly when thou giuest almes saith our Sauiour doe it priuately when thou prayest enter into thy chamber doe it priuately when thou repentest saith Dauid commune with thine owne heart and in thy chamber Psal 4 and be priuat Priuacy is a speciall circumstance in all these and sure if many would but vndergoe the catechising of their soules in priuate Laer. tit 3. de Jra they would not be obserued so much for their sinnes in publike Laertius mentioneth Pyrrbus Eliensis which was wont to consult himselfe daily in some secret place and being obserued to talk to himselfe hereupon being questioned the cause hee answered Meditor bonus vt sim And Seneca mentioneth Sextius in this kinde who euery night would priuatly examine himselfe Quod bodiê maesum