in certaine expectation of greater good in the life to come he little reckoned the good of this present life a shame to vs that liue vnder grace if we come short of him that liued before the law You would thinke him an vntoward sonne that being sent by his father into forraigne Countries with this charge to learne the tongues to obserue the manners and to hearken after the state of the Land and be prouided alwaies to returne when hee shall call him backe yet notwithstanding being out of sight playes out of mind and sits downe and euen surfets vpon the diuersitie of pleasures is inamoured with the beauty of Italie delighted with the pride of Spaine Fraunce must fit him with fine stuffes England must fit him with new fashions India must guilt him with gold Arabia perfume him with sweet smels as though the world were made to be his minion but least of any is his Father remembred and worst of all is his charge of obseruancy performed what other then can we thinke of our selues beloued whome God our heauenly father hath set abroad in this world as in a forraigne Countrie to obserue the Heauens which is the Booke and the starres which are so many golden Characters of his glorie to view the earth which is a large table and the ornaments thereof so many footesteps of his power and out of all these to learne vnto our selues that we may be able to declare vnto others the goodnesse of God and in the end to be willing to returne vnto him againe vvhen he calleth Yet for all this vve can no sooner be out of kenning but out of caring too and euen glut our selues vvith vvorldly vanities as if earth not heauen vvere our eternall home This my beloued is a great negligence a madnesse a foolish frenzie I know not vvhat to call it but euen a lulling of our selues asleepe in the cradle of this vvorlds securitie Againe if vvee bee pilgrimes heere on earth vve must learne to doe as pilgrimes doe Quis non saith Saint Cyprian peregrè constitutus properet in patriam regredi What pilgrime doth not make speed to returne home into his owne Countrey vvho hastning to saile homewards doth not wish for a prosperous winde that hee may speedily imbrace his long desired friends and parents and vvhat are vvee but pilgrimes on earth vvhat is our countrey but Paradise vvho are our parents but the Patriarches vvhy make vvee not hast vvhy runne vve not vnto them that wee may see our countrey salute our parents an infinite number of acquaintance expect vs there our parents our brethren and sisters our children our kindred our friends that are alreadie secure of their owne immortalitie but yet sollicitous for our safetie what ioy what comfort will it be to see to imbrace them What celestiall pleasures are there without all feare of dying and with certaine eternitie of liuing there is the glorious quire of the Angels the exultant number of the Prophets the blessed company of the Apostles the crowned troupe of Martyrs the triumphant societie of the Saints who whiles they liued here as out of their own countrey were contemned no men more but are now heires to a crowne and sit vppon a throne blessed for euer Thirdly are wee pilgrimes on earth Let me beseech you then beloued as the * 1. Pet. 2.11 Apostle besought his beloued Dearely beloued I beseech you as strangers and pilgrimes abstaine from fleshly lusts which fight against the soule For a pilgrime will keepe on still the Kings high way and neuer turne to by paths if he sees some quarrelling hee staies not to hearken to them if he meet a wedding hee turnes not to accompany them but keepes on his way still because he is a pilgrime Ad patriam suspirat ad patriā tendit he sigheth after his owne countrey and hasteneth vnto his owne home hee carrieth nothing but his food and his apparell he will not trouble himselfe with any other burthen Retinet quod alimentum reijcit quod impedimentum hee vouchsafeth onely saith Plurarch to carrie his food but casteth off al other things as hindrāces Let the voluptuous man who turneth aside out of the way vnto dalliance let the couetous man who hath euer a great sacke at his backe remember this Lastly if wee bee pilgrimes heere on earth we haue but few friends and many foes let vs be then carefull to procure God to be our friend so assure we our selues our enemies though they hate vs shall neuer haue the power to hurt vs our God whom we serue will protect vs. And now from this subiect of pilgrimage let me lead you to the home of pilgrimes and the house of death this is the graue which as it is the end of all our pilgrimage so shall it be the period and end of my discourse And Abraham said giue me a possession of buriall with you that I may bury my dead out of my sight Whence obserue That the bodies of the dead are to be solemnly buried and honored with a graue The iniunction hereof by God himselfe was as ancient within a little as Adam for euen in Paradise presently vpon the fall the Lord said vnto him From earth wert thou taken and into earth shalt thou returne againe And the God of nature seemeth to haue impressed this sence in all the liuing for buriall of the dead thereby testifying their hope of the future resurrection and life For the burying of bodies is like the sowing of seed which men commit to the earth but with certaine hope that after it is once corrupted it will rise againe And therefore buriall among most men I speake not of Canibals nor Antropophagi vvho are rather beasts then men for their guts are their graue hath euer beene solemnly and religiously practised True it is if we looke into the volumes of old heathenish Philosophers and read songs of Poets wee shall finde that they generally contemned the respect of buriall Among Philosophers looke vpon Diogenes the Cynicke that bad his dead body should be cast to the dogs fowles of the aire and being answered by his friends that so it should be rent and torne hee in scoffe why then set a staffe by mee and I will beat them away with it tush say they you your selfe shall bee senselesse why then quoth hee vvhat need I feare tearing of his humour was Memppus and most of the Cynicks Tullie in his questions Tusculane recordeth this answere of Theodorus of Cyrene vnto Lysimachus that threatned him the crosse Let thy Courtiers feare that said he but as for me I care not whether I rot in the ayre or in the earth so also said Socrates in Platoes Dialogue called Phaedo And as for Poets Lucan in his seuenth Booke of the Pharsalian warre speaking of the dead that Caesar forbad should be buried or burned after hee had deliuered as his custome is many worthy and graue sentences concerning this matter at length hee speaketh vnto
tooke to burne asunder and the thred flaming to the cloth caught such a suddaine hold of the same and Aqua vitae that before any meanes could bee applied the King in this flame vvas burnt to death I speake nothing of others who haue vntimely perished some by one meanes some by another I conclude all with that saying of * Seneca Eripere vitam nemo non homini potest at nemo mortem mille ad hanc aditus patent What shall I say then doe so manie things vvithin vs so many things vvithout vs so manie things about vs threaten a continuall death vnto vs Miser homo cur te ad mortem non componis cum sis pro certo moriturus Then vvretched man thou art that doest not prepare thy selfe for death seeing thou must certainely die But alas the diuell doth so deafe vs the world doth so blind vs and the sensualitie of the flesh maketh vs so extreamely sencelesse that we neither heare nor see nor feele what is euerie minute likely to befall vs. If wee be young wee feare not death at our backes if old wee looke a squint and see not death before our eyes But hearken O young man and learne as the old man can not liue long so the young man may die quickly certaine it is thou shalt die vncertaine when beause thou shouldest alwaies liue readie to die But if it were so that in thy youth thou hadst a lease of thy life till age granted by the Father of heauen ratified by his Sonne and sealed vnto thee by the whole Trinitie then perchance there might be some pretence of thy carelessenesse But now seeing euery houre may be the last vnto thee since euerie moment may dissolue this earthly Tabernacle since a thousand chances may at all times take thee vnawares and bereaue thee of thy soule who but more then mad would not consider of his end and follow the Prophet Esaies counsell to seeke the Lord in time and Salomons precept to learne wisedome in his youth In like manner the olde man hee will not thinke of death vntill the time of his death thinking to become a sudden Saint who hath all his life time liued a wicked worldling But hearken thou old man and learne by the rich man in the Gospell so he had also cast vp his rest hee was setled rich and ioyfull and deferred to bee godly till he saw occasion but what saith the Spirit of God O foole this night shall they take thy soule from thee this night in middest of thy ioylitie in the securitie of thy sleepe suddenly vnwittingly shalt thou die O miserable case saith Saint Austen when suddenly the senses faile the bodie languisheth death readie to burst in sunder the heart strings the conscience heauie with sinne the diuell readie to entertaine thee Who in this plight would not value a minute of repentance to a Monarchy of wealth and yet we banish away daies and moneths and yeeres not regarding the casualtie in the end I vvish therefore that old men as they haue a priuiledge of yeeres so also they had the priuiledge of foresight heerein that as they see their bodies bending towardes the earth so they learne to send their soules towards heauen and if they should not vvish for their dissolution with Paul yet they should wait all the daies of their life for their changing with Iob. Finally all men almost both young and olde rich and poore of all fashions and of all degrees put off this consideraon of death and neuer thinke or prepare to die till they finde and feele they can no longer liue But O let me beseech you all that heere mee this day to exempt your selues from this supine and oxe like securitie You know for certaine you must die you are euerie moment subiect vnto death a thousand thousand chances maie euerie daie bereaue you of your life why then esteeme of euerie present daie as the daie of your death and make such conscience of all your waies words and works as if you were presently to giue an account of your life Qui considerat qualiter erit in morte pauidus prouidus erit in operatione He that thinkes alwaies of dying will bee circumspect in his doing Thinke therefore O thinke and bethinke your selues of this and in the depth of these thoughts prepare your selues for death Set your houses yea set your hearts in order call your soules to account turne your selues as * 2. Kin. 20 Ezechias did to the wall that is from the world to God weepe weepe and bewaile your sinnes past keepe a narrow watch ouer your heart for the time to come * Psa 38. praie with Dauid Lord remember not the sinnes of my youth and with Saint Ambrose Lord forgiue me my faults here where I haue sinned for else where I cannot be relieued except I haue my pardon heere It is in vaine to expect the restfull comfort of forgiuenesse heereafter * 2. cor 6.2 Now is the acceptable time as Saint Paul speaketh now is the daie of saluation This world is for thy repentance the other for thy recompence Hic locus luctae ille coronae hoc cunaeorum tempus est illud coronatorum as Saint Chrysostome speaketh This is the place and time of combating that of crowning this of working that of rewarding this for thy mourning that for thy comforting Now God is helping vnto all men seeke yee therefore the * Isa 55. Lord whiles he is neere and post not off till to morrow for you know not what a daie maie bring forth It is certaine death will come but it commeth for the most part like a theefe stealing and creeping without any warning take heede you bee not taken vnawares You see the stroke thereof is vniuersall for if the reuerence of old age could haue discountenanced it Methushaleth had not died If strength of bodie could haue resisted it Sampson had not died If maiestie could haue terrified it if counsel could haue perswaded it if riches could haue bribed it Nor Solomon nor Achitophel nor Diues had died But Methushaleth is dead and Samson is dead and Salomon and Achitophel and Diues are dead and what is it can free a man from death Nay if youth if beautie if vertue if pietie could worke any relent in death from embracing his cruell hands in mortall bloud see where youth where beautie where vertue where pietie lye enshrined whollie now defaced obscured eclipsed and ouershadowed in death O death how irrelenting is thy heart how bloudy are thy hands how vnpartiall is thy stroake how generall is thy arrest oh that the liuing would consider this And let this suffice to be spoken of the vniuersalitie of deaths stroake Then Sara died And Abraham came to mourne for Sarah and to weepe for her Whether Sara died in absence of Abrahā because Abraham is here said to come to mourn for her as the Iewes affirm she did to this end faine that whē Abraham
go to my Father and if we loue our friend indeed vve vvould rather reioyce then too much grieue at his death for hee is departed from vs he is gone out of the vvorld hee hath left the earth but hee is gone vnto Christ he is entred the Citie of God the celestiall Ierusalem Non ergo amissi sed praemissi saith Fulgentius therefore the godly deceased are not lost foreuer but left for a time not gone away finally from vs but onely gone to God before vs. Fourthly Fletus inutilitas the vnprofitablenes of excessiue weeping for as a moth the garment a worme the wood so too much sorrow hurteth the heart * Pro. 25. therefore the wise man as hee exhorteth to weepe for the dead so he counselleth to comfort our selues againe for our heauinesse for of heauinesse commeth death and the heanesse of the heart breaketh the strength * Eccl. 18.19 The last is Resurrectio generalis the generall Resurection we put not off our apparall saith Lud. Viues vnwillingly because we thinke to put them on againe so neither let vs be vnwilling to lay aside our bodie which after a while we shall resume againe And as we greiue not at the setting of the Sunne because we know it will rise againe So let vs not sorrow at the departure of a soule which vvee knovv vvill returne againe For vvhy saith * Tertul in lib. de pati Tertullian shouldest thou too impatiently greiue at the departure of him vvith-vvhome thou beleeuest shortly to meete againe Hee is not to bee lamented vvho is gone before hee is onely vvanted for a time and his want is vvith patience to bee borne Cur enim immoderatè feras abijsse quem mox subsequeris For why shouldest thou immoderately lament his absence whom thou thy selfe must soone follow after and all of vs shall surely meet againe at the generall resurrection We may indeed saith S. Ierome wish for them because we want them but wee must not weepe out of measure for them because they are with God Loue I grant compells vs to weepe but faith forbids vs to weepe immoderately and therfore Paulinus saith that we may notwithstanding our faith performe to the dead the duties of loue yet we must first notwithstanding the duties of loue afford to our selues the comforts of faith And thus Abraham wept for Sarah here loue inforced him to weepe but faith restrained him from exceeding the bounds of moderate lamentation You see then that wee are to weepe for the death of our godly friends departed but withall you see how sparinge wee ought to bee in weepinge considering our good hope that are aliue and their good hap that are dead And this that dead bodie or rather that Cadauer that Caro data vermibus for her flesh and bones by this time are turned into dust and ashes which is the present spectacle obiect of our eyes which some of you perhaps euen at this instant so seriously think of others so much lament for If it I say should receiue againe her soule vntie her winding knots breake through her Coffin stand vp before you she would preach say the same vnto you weepe if you please for my departure for this shall be a token of your affection but weepe not too immoderately for this will argue your indiscretion for know that though I be departed yet I am not perished but am rather perfected I am now in the state of perfection where I feele no infirmitie where I am not tempted vnto sinne but sing a continuall Halleluiah to the Lord. I am now where I behold the glorious Maiestie of the Trinity where I looke on the amiable countenāce of my Sauiour where I enioy the sweet society of Saints and Angels where I haue saciety without loathsomnesse loue without hatred peace without discord ioy without sorrow eternall blisse without ende or intermission and therefore spare teares for mee weepe not too much for the more you weepe the more you disquiet and disturbe me This would the soule of this dead body say if it should returne againe but she is past speaking and her soule returning vntill the generall returne of all Wee will therefore leaue her to her happinesse and passe to the third subiect of our sad discourse which is the Lot of humane Life and that is a pilgrimage on earth The life of man is a pilgrimage on earth Now Man may be said to be a stranger and a pilgrime on earth either in respect of his soule which is not of the earth but by diuine infusion or in respect of the whole man which was sometime the Citizen of Paradise but now a vvanderer vpon the face of the vvhole earth or most properly in respect of the heauenly Hierusalem from vvhence as also from the Lord the faithfull here on earth vvhose conuersation is in * Phil. 3. Heauen are strangers as long as they are in the * 2. Cor. 5. body Whence Saint Augustine inferreth Omnis homo est aduena nascendo incola viuendo quia compellitur migrare moriendo Euery man is a forreiner by birth and a stranger by life because he is compelled to depart hence by death Therefore said Abraham vnto the Hittites I am a stranger and a forreiner among you among them yea on the vvhole earth for his vvhole life was a pilgrimage on earth as his grādchild Iacob calleth both it and his ovvne The vvhole course of my pilgrimage sayth hee vnto Pharaoh is an hundred and thirtie yeares few and euill haue the daies of my life beene and I haue not attained vnto the yeares of the life of my fathers in the daies of their pilgrimage Gen. 47. Heb. 11. vers 13. And Paul bringing in a whole Catalogue of pilgrimes in the eleauenth to the Hebrewes Abel Enoch Noah Abraham and the rest at length concludeth of all All these died in faith and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrimes on the earth vpon which Saint Augustine inserreth Ipse est Christianus he alone is a Christian that in his owne house and in his owne Countrie acknowledgeth himselfe to be a pilgrime Our Countrie is aboue there we shall be no strangers but here euerie man is a stranger euen in his owne house Let no man deceiue himselfe he is a stranger Velit nolit hospes est whether hee will or no he is a stranger Now if this were the lot of Gods dearest children in olde time we may not looke for a permanent Citie here We see then where we must make the beginning of all godlinesse euen in denying this world and acknowledging our selues to bee but pilgrimes in the same Consider saith the Prophet Isay Isai 51.2 Abraham your father and Sarah that bare you consider that Abraham was a stranger and a pilgrim on earth he had not so much land where he liued as might suffice for the buriall of his dead for in hope of future things he despised the present and
Caesar thus Nil agis hac ira tabesue cadauera soluat An rogus haud refert placido natura receptat Cuncta sinu In this thy wrath is worthless all is one Whether by fire or putrefaction Their carkasses dissolue kind nature stil Takes all into her bosome And a little after Capit omnia tellus Quae genuit caelo tegitur qui non habet vrnam Earths ofspring still returnes into earths wombe Who wants a graue heauen serueth for his tombe And so the declaimer in Seneca Nature giues euerie man a graue to the shipwrackt the water wherein hee is lost the bodies of the crucified drop from their crosses vnto their graues those that are burned quicke their verie punishment entombs them And Virgil who appoints a place in hell for the vnburied Yet in Anchises his words shew how small the losse of a graue is Nec tumulum curo sepelit natura relictos I weigh no tombe nature intombes the meanest And hence it is that the heathens obsequious vnto these Philosophers and Poets as vnto so many Prophets and Oracles haue no more esteemed the bodies of the dead then of the carkasse of an Asse but some of them haue throwne their dead bodies vnto the foules of the aire to be deuoured as the Parthians and Iberians others vnto dogs as the Massagites and Hircanians others vnto fishes as the Lotophagoi and the Ichthyophagoi others vnto men themselues of bodies of men haue made tombes of men as the Indians Padeans Issedonians and those of Scythia Yet we Christians should be no imitatours of their barbarous inhumanitie nor contemne and cast away the bodies of our dead chiefely of the righteous and faithfull whom the holy Ghost saith Saint Austen vsed as organes and instruments vnto all good vvorkes For if the Law will vs saith Saint * Ciuitate Dei cap. 13. ad Paulinum Lib. Tob. ca. 1. Ambrose to couer the naked how much rather ought we to interre the dead and if loue and kindnes moue vs to accompany our friends some part of the way when they set forwards to trauell into farre Countries how much sooner in their iourney vnto the celestial mansions whence they shall neuer returne againe And if the garment or ring of ones father as Saint Austen saith bee so much the more esteemed of his posteritie by how much they held him deere in affection then are not our bodies to be despised seeing vvee weare them more neere vnto our selues then any ring or attire whatsoeuer And therefore the funeralls of the righteous in time of old were performed with a zealous care their funerals celebrated and their monuments prouided and they themselues in their life time would lay a charge vpon their children and acquaintance concerning the burying or translating of their bodies Iacob at his death charged his sonne Ioseph to carrie his body vnto the Sepulcher of his Elders and not to leaue it in * Gen. 47 Egypt and Ioseph himselfe commanded his brethren that they should remember and tell their posteritie that vvhen they went away into the Land of Promise they should carrie his bones thither with them * Gen. vlt. * Tob. 2. Tobie in burying the dead well pleased the Lord as the Angell testified And the Lord himselfe being to rise againe the third day commended the good worke of that religious woman * Mat. 26 Marie Magdalen who powred the precious ointment vpon his head and bodie and did it to bury him And the * Iohn 19 Gospell hath crowned Ioseph of Arimathaea and Nicodemus with eternall praise that tooke downe his bodie from the crosse and gaue it honest and honourable buriall And what thinke you might Iacob deserue but for burying Rachel and Abraham for burying Sara here Nay the very Gentiles in old time bare such respect and reuerence towards the dead For at Venice our English haue no buriall place allowed them but onely the Sea nor at Zant but are carried vp intâ— the Morea among Turkes at Ligornes and other places in Italie an Englishman dying without Confession is throwne into some ditch and made a prey for the fowles that they denied not their verie enemies the honour of a burial the humanity of Alexander vnto Darius of Hanniball vnto Marcellus of Caesar vnto Pompey sufficiently witnesse the same and at this day we our selues finde the like respect among the Turkes though they hold vs base and hate vs liuing yet heerein more kinde then Papists they neither hinder our burials nor violate our graues a hidden sence and natural humanity moueth them to this and what an vncouth thing is it to see a Turke kinde and a Christian cruell But yet these and the like authorities proue not any sence to bee in the dead carkasses themselues but signifie that the prouidence of God extendeth euen vnto the verie bodies of the dead for hee is pleased vvith such good deeds and doe build vp the beliefe of the resurrection We doe not accompany or burie honourably a dead Asse or a dead Oxe because they shall not rise againe but this office we performe vnto dead men to signifie that there is one condition of beasts another of men for men shal rise againe with their bodies vnto euerlasting life a beast shall perish and vanish into nothing To vvhich purpose the custome vvas in ancient time as Origen obserueth that the Priests and the Laiety yeerely vpon certaine daies did assemble at the graues and tombes of their Parents and friends and there render thankes vnto God for the dead that had departed in faith and pray not for the dead nor offer any sacrifice for them but for the like godly and peaceable departure vnto themselues which was wel accepted of God Where by the way we may learne this profitable lesson how great the reward of almesdeeds done vnto the liuing may be seeing this dutie and fauour shewed vnto the dead is not forgotten of God And if they were worthily praised and blessed by * 2. Sam. 2. Dauid the king that shewed mercy vnto the drie bones of Saul and Ionathan how much more praise shall they deserue and how shall they be blessed that for Christs sake shew mercy vnto the liuing bodies of his members they shall be sure to heere the sweet voice of their Sauiour saying vnto them * Mat. 25. Come ye blessed of my Father take the inheritance of the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was a hungry and yee gaue me meat I thirsted and yee gaue me drinke I was a stranger and yee tooke mee vnto you I was naked and yee clothed mee I was sicke and yee visited mee I was in prison and yee came vnto mee In as much as you haue done it vnto one of the least of these my brethren verily I say vnto you you haue done it vnto mee Come therefore I say take the inheritance of the kingdome prepared for you from the foundation of