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
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
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
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
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
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
tuum sanâsti eui vitio obstitisti quâ parte meliores and what custome sayth Seneca can be more commendable These beloued shall arise in iudgement with this generation and condemne it their practice was a kind of vailed Christianitie they did shame to doe that priuately which this age doth perpetrate daily and publikely Mourning is to be performed openly solemnitie expects it and antiquitie that constant wise and vnpainted Herauld prescribes it Coram Abner the last act of his obsequies the last tribute of duty Abner yet carrieth his names the earth yet carrieth his body it is not Cadaver nor Inane corpus anima it is Sacrarium vitae not a Carcase Athan. or empty corpse but as Athanasius well obserueth the dead body is the vestry and Chappell of life and haue their Camiteria sleeping places til the Resurrection of the dead They be as Kings houses not to be contemned when their Masters depart out of them because they are to returne againe life shall visit these desolate roomes all the offices in this Princely bodie of Abner shall be supplied the Court is but remoued Heaven is the standing house this body againe shall be the bedde chamber of the soule yet because life is gon out lament for Abner is Abner still let not your last act faile though your eies cannot see him yet let them send our Teares to sorrow for him and Mourne before Abner The sorrowfull presence of a sad stectacle calls sorrow before it commeth and often createth sorrowe where it is not It is no maruaile that Abruham wept when he saw Sara his wife dead or that Bethshebe wept for her husband or Eleazar for Aaron his father or Dauid for Absalon his sonne or Rebecea for Deborah her nurse or Christ for Lazarus his friend or Dauid for Abner his Captaine But that Alexander should so lament when he came to behold the Sepulcher of braue Achilles or those many in histories to deplore and fall out into teares vpon the first sight of spectacles of desolation may seeme strange Yet those spectacles some-times cause passions of diverse effects When our Sauiour beheld Ierusalem he wept ouer it but when the army of a worthy Conquerour aboue 1000. yeares after came to behould the ruines and rubbish of the same City Hist Ture p. 21 the deuout passions of diuers are very diuers somewith their eies and hands cast vnto heauen calling vpon the name of their Sauiour some prostrat vpon their faces kissed the ground as that wherevpon the Redeemer of the world had walked others ioifully saluted those holy places they had heard so much of then first beheld Our Sauiour in a holy as well pittiful as sorrowfull contemplation beheld the presage of their vtter dissolution and desolation by reason of that horrible contemptuous iniquity of theirs Quod nulla posteritas taceat sed nulla probet Sencea therefore vpon a more cause of griefe then these souldiers of ioy lamented the City and yet slept not till he came neere to the City the sight of the City was the seale of his sorrow Propter Ierusalem hath much more in it then this day can giue mee leaue to deliuer S Iohn in his Gospell doth deliuer the story of Christs raising vp of Lazarus and well may Iohn write Lazarus storie they were both almost in one line in Christs loue Iohannes dilectus Domini Lazarus amicus Domini Ioh. 11. Iohn the beloued of Christ Lazarus the friend of Christ The story is worthy obseruation V. 11. Iesus told his Disciples our friend Lazarus sleepeth they vnderstood him not the Text saith V. 13. Iesus vnderstood it of his death then said Iesus Lazarus is dead yet Iesus wept not in knowing or telling them this Our Sauiour then goeth on his tourney towards Lazarus hee discourseth all the way concerning Lazarus yet Iesus wept not hee meeteth by the way with Martha and communeth with her about her deare deceased brother Nondùm fleuit Iesus Iesus wept not yet At the length Mary commeth shee falleth downe and weepeth and cryeth out Master if thou hadst beene here my brother had not died then Iesus seeing her weepe and the Iewes weepe he groaned in spirit and was troubled yet he wept not At length he asked where haue yee laid him and in his passing thither the Text saith Iesus wept comming neere to the graue he could not containe Fleuit Iesus The Doctrinall obseruation of these words before Abner is that it is the duty of Gods seruants to lament ouer their deceased and carefully to prouide for their Christian funerals Honesta sepultura is much remembred among the fathers Aust and one of them hath writ a booke de cura pro mortuis If there were nothing to proue the Lawfulnesse hereof that one parcell of ground that Abraham bought to consecrate to burials may iustifie the antiquity and reuerend vse hereof How honourable were the sepulchers of the Kings of Israell and Iuda it is a grace to them that had this Epitaph he was buried with his fathers the Piles of Pyramides of Egypt be yet in part to bee seene Mat. they were made of that bricke as some record which the Israelites in the house of their bondage were constrained to make and so it might be that God suffred them to be the instrumēts of making Pharohes sepulcher who were the cause of his death In vita Ambr. In the New Testament wee want not examples of these solemne funerals that of Stephē may serue for all holy men carried him to buriall and made lamentation for him S. Ambrose as appeareth in the description of his life in this kind was very carefull those that were honourable in their places or profitable to the Church or Common-wealth or any way to be esteemed good holy men he would bewaild their death and attend their funerals But it may bee some such Scepticall Cynicall creatures may question whether such pompe as is vsed in funerals be lawfull or no for why should not I thinke that Iudas tribe is not vtterly extinct whose cry is ad quid perditio haec To answere all such that part of solemne seruice the last night being a portion of the 50 Chapter of Genesis may satisfie all such curious and querulous Inquisitors Gen. 50 Ioseph commands his Phisitians to embaulme old Israel forty daies the Embalming continued then they provided furniture for his funerall and all the house of Ioseph and his brethren and his fathers house all the servants of Pharaoh the elders of his house and all the elders of the land of Egypt and Chariots and horsemen and a great company and they made great lamentation To this may bee added many examples sacred and prophane as also the Emperous constitutions Constantine that appointed 950. officers about funerals which order Arcadius and Theodosius confirmed and afterwards Anastasius increased to 1100 and a certaine pension allotted vnto them this also established by Leo and Iustinian some