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A56121
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A sermon at the funeral of the learned and ingenious Mrs. Ann Baynard daughter and only child of Dr. Edward Baynard, Fellow of the Colledge of Physicians, London. Together with some remarkable passages in her life. Preached at the parish-church of Barnes in the county of Surry, June the 16th. 1697. By John Prude, A.M. chaplain to his Grace the Duke of Norfolk, and curate of St. Clements Danes in the county of Middlesex. Published at the desire of her friends.
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Prude, John.
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1697
(1697)
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Wing P3881; ESTC R218353
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15,546
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40
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that profess the Religion of the Crucify'd Jesus I have heard her say That human Learning was worth nothing unless as a Handmaid it lead to the knowledge of Christ revealed in the Gospel as our only Jesus our Lord and Saviour And would Discourse very finely after this manner What availeth Solomons Skill in all the works of Nature if by them we be not brought to see the God of Nature What is it saith she to be so Skilful in Astronomy as that by the Motions of the Heavens we can foretel things here below if we never study by our Holy Practices to come thither What is it to be so Skilful in Arithmetick as that we can divide and sub divide to the smallest Fractions if as God hath revealed unto us in his Holy Word We do not so learn to number our days Psal 90.12 that we may apply our hearts unto Wisdom What is it says she for a Physician to be skilful in foreseeing and preventing the Diseases of the Body if as God hath revealed unto him he knoweth not where to find that Balm of Gilead Jerem. 46.11 the Wine and Oyl of that Samaritan the Lord Jesus to pour into the fester'd Wounds of his own Soul and Conscience Such as this was her frequent Discourse and will well enough lead me to the second Grace that did shine in her most brightly and that was her Piety And that as it branches it self out into these two known Duties Publick and Private As for the Publick she was a constant frequenter of the Word and Sacrament and the Prayers of the Church which call for our daily attendance She never miss'd unless hinder'd by some bodily Infirmity to which of late she had been too subject Her Private Piety and Devotion was no less by which she dieted her Soul and in her Chamber with holy David she communed with her own heart Psal 4.4 privately examining the State and Condition of her own Soul that she might stand in awe and not sin She greedily catch'd at all opportunities of Retirement that she might have the better entercourse with Heaven as knowing the surest way of overcoming the World and living above it was to sequester her self from in and the best Preparatory for Death was dying daily in holy Solitude and Privacy By which she had so dispos'd her Mind for the time of her Dissolution that it pleased God to give her some distant presages of it For it is two years since her Meditations leading her in her solitary Walks into this Church-yard and resting her self here in the Porch and no doubt ruminating on her Mortality which the place suggested to her a sudden Thought a strong Impulse broke in upon her Mind that in a short time she should die and be buried in this very Church-yard which was so far from casting any Horror or Melancholy upon her Spirits that on the contrary it made her in love with the place and did ever after desire to retire hither and did accordingly choose it for her Burial-place The third thing that I mention'd was her Charity which perhaps you will think under her Circumstances could not be very extraordinary as to the Sums yet was it so as to the Chearfulness and Constancy of her giving for what ever her Allowance was she duly laid aside a certain portion of it to charitable and pious uses Neither did her Charity rest here but raised it self to a higher degree of Spirituality and beyond the scene of this World She had a great love for the Souls of Men was heartily afflicted with the Errors Follies and Vices of this present Age to see that those who called themselves Christians should by bad Principles and worse Practice dishonour their Profession and not only hazard their own Salvation but that of their weak Brother too for whom Christ dy'd And this temper of mind made her not only importunate in her Intercessions for the good of the World but gave her Courage and Discretion above her Years or Sex to benefit the Souls of those she conversed with by friendly Reproof good Counsel or some learned or pious Discourse In the exercise of this Christian Love she liv'd in this she died and here that I may not be thought to flourish only in this matter be pleased to understand that she desir'd me on her Death-bed that I would exhort all young people to the study of Wisdom and Knowledge as the means to improve their Vertues and bring them to the truest Happiness And this I think I cannot do better than in the words which were taken from her own Mouth just upon her departure when her Soul was hovering upon her Lips ready to take the wing for that other World Her words were these which were faithfully Pen'd down and deliver'd into my hands I desire says she that all young People may be exhorted to the Practice of Vertue and to encrease their Knowledge by the study of Philosophy and mote especially to read the great Book of Nature wherein they may see the Wisdom and Power of the Great Creator in the Order of the Universe and in the Production and Preservation of things For Quaelibet herba Deum This was a Language which was very familiar to her and if you would know the English of it she would have you to understand thus much by it that the least Spire of Grass as well as the Lillies of the Field do demonstrate the Being of a God She proceeds It will fix in their Minds a Love to so much Perfection frame a Divine Idea and an awful regard of God which will highten Devotion and lower the Spirit of Pride and give a Habit and Disposition to his Service it will make us tremble at Folly and Profaneness and command Reverence and Prostration to his Great and Holy Name That Women says she are capable of such Improvements which will better their Judgments and Vnderstandings is past all doubt would they but set to 't in earnest and spend but half of that time in study and thinking which they do in Visits Vanity and Toys 'T would introduce a composure of Mind and lay a sound Basis and Ground-work for Wisdom and Knowledge by which they would be the better enabled to serve God and help their Neighbours Thus far this rare Young Woman And after such Rhetorical Lines as these such powerful Exhortations what can I add what can I subjoin but what will fall short very short of what this young Disciple has laid before you She joyns with Moses and the Prophets in what they have declar'd unto you and if you would have a Preacher from the dead why may not a dying Preacher prove as effectual especially to those of her own Sex to whom she does most passionately apply her self Let her words be as powerful upon you as if she did actually rise from the dead to your Conviction for otherwise since she has given you this Admonition she may one day rise up in judgement against you And here I could weep heartily if it were not to shew the Weakness of my Nature but I will lament the loss of so excellent a Creature so rare a Pattern of so much Vertue so much Goodness so much Piety And what shall I more say for the time would fail me to tell of her Meekness and Patience Temperance and Chastity Modesty and Humility these are moral Vertues and in the Practice of which she was very exact and this brings into my Mind what I heard from her when we were Discoursing of moral Vertues some few weeks before her Departure Morality says she is the Life of Religion but our moral Actions unless influenc'd by our Religion are of no use as judging no doubt according to the Opinion of St. Austin that our best Actions without Faith in Christ were but splendida peccata like the Apples of Sodom of more shew than Value Much more I might repeat to you to this Purpose excellent Sayings that proceeded out of her Mouth and worthy to be recorded from Generation to Generation The nearer she drew to her End she manifested to all that came to see her the great Contentment that she had in her approaching Death declaring that to her it did appear no other than the putting off her Clothes a Disrobing that this Mortal part might put on Immortality By all which it does appear that she has set before you a most excellent Example and that in an Age expos'd to the greatest Temptations And therefore we may well turn the words of the Text into a Lamentation and say Alas That there should be no more remembrance of t he Wise than of the Fool for ever That what now is in the days to come should be forgotten And that the wise Man and the wise Woman too should die even as the Fool. I conclude in the words of the same Author Prov. 31.29 Many Daughters have done vertuously but thou excellest them all God Almighty give us Grace to labour that we may excel in Wisdom and Vertue and true Piety and then however our Name or our Remembrance be lost here on Earth yet we shall have a Name written in Heaven for better than that of Sons and of Daughters which God of his infinite Mercy grant Amen FINIS