and Sorrow For though all that knew her Conversation which was like that of Hizabeth in St. Luke 1.6 A walking in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless are mightily satisfied that her Soul resteth with God in the Regions of Light and Glory after which She with great Zeal and diligence had long aspired in a way of sincere Obedience Yet it is grievous to be deprived of One that was so fruitful in Age and always rich in Good Works and whose Prayers doubtless were through Christ very prevailing with God Upon which Account not only Her Family particular Friends and this Village but the whole Church of God sustains a great Loss in Her Remove and especially this sinful Nation Considering that she prayeth no more for this People It would imploy a large Volume to describe fully the eminent Qualities with which God had endowed Her The sum of which I shall endeavour to represent to this end That God in whom all Her fresh Springs were and from whom she received all may be glorified by it And that we all may be moved to the Imitation of so compleat a Patern of that Sanctity that is attainable in this present and imperfect State having had this Testimony from all that observed her That she was stedfast unmoveable and always abounding in the Work of the Lord. AN ACCOUNT OF THE Life and Death Of the LADY Elizabeth Brooke Including the Character given of Her in the Sermon preached at her Funeral THE Life and Death Of the LADY ELIZABETH BROOKE THE Lady Elizabeth Brooke was born at Wigsale in Sussex in January 1601 Her Father was Thomas Culpepper of Wigsale in Sussex Esquire a Branch of an antient Family of Gentry of that Name which was afterwards in her Brother advanced into the Rank of the Nobility who for his great Loyalty and eminent Services done to the Crown was created a Baron by Charles the First with the Title of John Lord Culpepper of Thoresway Her Mother was the Daughter of Sir Stephen Slaney Thus she had the Honour of a Genteel Extraction and a Noble Alliance and as her Family derived an Honour upon her so she hath reflected an additional Glory upon her Family by her great Vertues having been one of the most Accomplished Persons of the Age whether considered as a Lady or a Christian While she was in her Infancy she lost her Mother and in her Childhood her Father so that she came early under the more peculiar Care and Patronage of God who is in an especial manner the Father of the Fatherless Her first Education was under her Grand-mother by the Mother's side the Lady Slaney She had rare Endowments of Nature an excellent Mind lodged in a fine Body and under a beautiful Aspect something of which remained even in her old Age. She had an extraordinary quickness of Apprehension a curious Fancy great Solidity of Judgment and a considerable Memory She was married very young to Sir Robert Brooke Knight descended from a younger Brother of the Antient and Noble Family of the Brooks formerly Lord Cobham a Person of a good Estate and Vertue who lived with her six and Twenty Years and died July 10. 1646 by whom she had seven Children three Sons and four Daughters viz. James who died an Infant John who lived Twenty six Years and was married but died without Issue Anno Dom. 1652. Robert who had the Honour of Knighthood conferred upon him upon the King's Restauration a Gentleman of fine Parts and great Loyalty to his Prince and Fidelity to his Country He was a Member of that Parliament which brought the King from his Exile and of the following Parliament which began May the 8th 1661. He died as he was travelling through France Anno Dom. 1669 in the 33d Year of his Age much lamented by his Friends and Acquaintance He was married also but left no Childeren Mary her Eldest Daughter and the only Survivor who inherits much of her Grace and Vertues Elizabeth and Martha Persons of great Piety were married to Gentlemen of fair Estates and good Reputation who had divers Children and died the Elder Anno Dom. 1647 8 in the 25th Year of her Age the Younger Anno Dom. 1657 about the 29th Year of her Age. Anne who died in her Childhood They continued the two first Years in London as Boarders in the House of the Lady Weld her Aunt From thence they removed to Langly in Hartfordshire a Seat which her Husband purchased purposely for her Accommodation that she might be nearer her Friends in London And after some Years stay there they came to Cockfield his Paternal Seat and there she passed the Residue of her Earthly Pilgrimage excepting the two first Years of her Widowhood In all which places she lived a rare Example of Goodness and left a good Name behind her in every place from which she departed and especially in the last where she passed the most and last and best of her time and from which her Soul was translated to Heaven She had many Excellencies which recommended her to all that had the Happiness to know her But the greatest glory that shined in her was in Religion in which she was not only sincere but excelled To which general Head may be referred the following things as the distinct Flowers in that Crown of Righteousness She devoted her self to God and Religion very early rising in the Morning of her Age to attend the Work and Service of her great Lord Remembring her Creator in the days of her Youth She made haste and delayed not to keep his Commandments And this she pursued with great steadiness through the course of a long Life So that she was not only an Aged Person but which is a great Honour in the Church of God an Old Disciple And having begun thus early to apply her self to Religion in the Power and Strictness of it Parts and Industry and length of Time and the use of excellent Books and Converse with Learned Men uniting together rendred her one of the most knowing Persons of her Sex especially in Divinity and in the Scriptures which made her wise unto Salvation And this Knowledg was not confined to the Practical but extended also to the Controversal and Critical Part even to the Difficulties concerning Scripture-Chronology and the Solutions of many of them She was able to discourse pertinently upon any of the great Heads of Theology She could oppose an Atheist by Arguments drawn from the Topicks in Natural Theology and answer the Arguments of Papists Socinians Pelagians c. by the Furniture against them in the Holy Scriptures I never knew any other Person that had so great a Knowledg in Divinity who was not skill'd in the Learned Languages so that no Scholar could repent the time spent in Converse with her For she could bear such a part in Discourses of Divinity whether Didactical Polemical Casuistical or Textual that some of her Chaplains have professed they have been sometimes
Concerns of their Souls though of meaner Rank and Condition in the World To such she would speak wisely hear them patiently and treat them compassionately when under Temptations and Disquiet of Mind One of her own Servants coming to her Closet upon this account and beginning to open to her the Grief of her Heart She required her for that time to forget she was a Servant and discoursing with her with great Tenderness and Prudence in reference to her Temptations dismissed her comforted and much revived And very many others she received with the greatest Freedom ministring spiritual Comfort to them That part of Religion which is peculiarly stiled Devotion was the Joy of her Life and the Delight of her Soul A very considerable Portion of her Time was daily employed in Prayer searching the Scriptures and in holy Meditations These things were her proper Element and in them she would often profess she found her greatest Refreshments in these she conversed with God and was then least alone when most alone For she did not meerly perform these Duties nor generally engage in them as a Task but observed the frame of her Spirit in them and commanded the Affections of her Soul to wait upon God not being satisfied without some Emotions of Mind suitable to these holy Exercises as she hath often professed and which I gathered from her complaining sometimes of her Infirmities and of the Difficulty of Praying aright and of preserving throughout that Duty a due Sence of God The Christian Sabbath was also her Delight and a Day in God's Courts better to her than a thousand elsewhere and her Enjoyment of God in the Publick Ordinances and Services of that Day was to her as a little Heaven upon Earth And the Impressions she received by attending those holy Institutions were such as that she long'd in the Week for the return of the Sabbath And great was her Affliction when her Hearing was so impaired that she could not attend the Publick Worship of God though few were better furnished to supply that Want by private Exercises and Closet Devotions And having so eminently prized and improved the Lord's-Days it pleased God on the Evening of one of them to take her to himself there to keep an Everlasting Sabbath in his most immediate and glorious Presence in the Arms of Christ the Beloved of her Soul and in the Assembly of Angels Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and all departed Saints And which deserves Admiration in the midst of all these Attainments Vertues and Graces she was greatly humble and clothed with the Ornament of a Lowly Spirit and while many admired the Example she gave in the World She apprehended that others excelled her in Grace and Godliness and continually reckoned her self among the least of Saints For notwithstanding her Quality in the World her exquisite Knowledge eminent Grace and the mighty Value her Friends had justly for her I could never observe in the whole Course of eighteen Years Converse the least Indication of vain Glory or self-Admiration in her And her Humility was of an excellent kind the Fruit of great Knowledg proceeding also from a deep Sense of the Fall the Corruption of Man's Nature the Imperfection of Mortification in this present State and the Remains of Sin in them that are sanctified and was nourished by a great Sight of God and Acquaintance with him and frequent Self-Examinations and by observing how Sin mingles it self in our best Actions and most holy Duties and by a diligent comparing her Self and her Actions with the exact Rules of the Scriptures Which Grace of Christian Humility was the more illustrious in her by the Accession of the Vertue of Courtesy which she had in a high degree entertaining all Persons with Civilities proper to their several Qualities so that she obliged all though she was evermore careful that nothing in Conversation might border upon those Freedoms that dishonour God and blemish the Christian Profession by this means adorning the Gospel and shewing that Religion though it requires great Strictness yet it doth not necessarily introduce either Melancholly or Moroseness And which is a much greater thing than to be courteous in the highest degree as a real Disciple of Christ she had learned to deny her self and could abridge her own Right that she might thereby promote the Glory of God benefit others avoid Offence and maintain Love and Peace And which may properly be subjoyned to her Self-denial as a Grace equal to it she industriously avoided Censoriousness disliking it in others and endeavoured to make the best Interpretation of both Words and Actions not lightly speaking Evil of any nor readily receiving an evil Report And above all things she abhorred to be Censorious in reference to Preachers and Sermons of which she was a most candid and equal Hearer Judicious and Critical enough but not Captious in the least If but Truth were spoken and Piety urged in any ordinary method she was satisfied so as not to find fault But the Sermons which she preferred were either Discourses greatly Rational or such as did particularly illustrate the sense of the Scriptures or discover the Excellency of the Gospel or such as displayed Christ in his Person Undertaking and Offices or such as discovered the difference between the Real and Almost Christian and such as did most nearly approach the Conscience and urge the Exacted Conversation and the governing the Heart Thoughts and inward Affections In all her Relations she demeaned her self as a Christian She was a faithful dutiful loving and prudent Wife And the Heart of her Husband safely trusted in her She was a most affectionate tender Wife and watchful Mother restraining her Children from Evil according to her power and bringing them up in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord most constantly endeavouring to inftil into their Minds the Principles of Justice Holiness and Charity To them that became her Children by marrying into her Family she was most kinde and treated them as her own To her Servants and Tenants she was just and kind and to her Neighbours all that they could desire To her particular Friends she was endeared by her Prudence Fidelity and almost Excesses of Love and improving of Friendship to serve the great Ends of Religion which are the honouring of God and the bettering one another She was also a Loyal Subject to her Prince of which there is full Evidence in this following Relation which was communicated to me by one of her intimate Friends When his late Majesty was in his Enemies Hands and they were preparing for the horrid Murther of that Excellent Prince she was most passionately concerned and being very earnestly desirous that an Hand from Heaven might have prevented that Wickedness kept a private Fast in her Closet on his behalf And when she knew that God in just Judgment to the Nation had permitted Men to take away his precious Life she resented it with the Passions of a Mother professing that the loss
rebuilt with much more Glory Magnificence and Splendor returns into it with more Pleasure than ever he had in it before so the Soul will rejoyce much more in it s repaired Fabrick than ever before during the time of this mortal Life especially upon finding it purged entirely from Sin the fretting Leprosy in the Walls of it which could never be cleansed but by the breaking of it down And probably there will be a mighty Addition to this Pleasure by the Soul 's sensible uniting with it or joyning to the Body with a Perception of doing so The first Union that was made between them was to the Soul insensibly performed by the meer Hand and Power of God in the first Formation of the Body and so the Felicity of that Uniting was never understood But at the Resurrection the Body being raised again and most gloriously formed and the Soul coming down from Heaven and knowing to what end it descends will with a strange Pleasure sensibly enter again into its old Habitation repaired and made glorious And being raised from our Graves with this Pleasure of the Reunion of Soul and Body we shall be conducted to Christ's Right-hand and hear such Words as these spoken to us by Him the Judg and Lord of all Come ye Blessed of my Father inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the Foundation of the World And Well done good and faithful Servant enter you into the Joy of your Lord. When the Ungodly shall hear the Words of the Curse more terrible than the Thunder on Mount Sinai Depart from me ye Cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels And then together with all the Church of God and the holy Angels we shall Souls and Bodies united together never more to be separated ascend into the highest Heaven and enjoy throughout an Eternity the fullest most refined and most agreeable Happiness that our Natures are capable of which if we can believe depending upon the Verity of the Scriptures we must acknowledg our Labour is not in vain And why should we make any doubt of it Have we not all the Evidence we can have of this matter The Scriptures have the Attestation of multitudes of Miracles performed and Prophecies fulfilled They have the Signature of God also upon them in the Holiness of the Matter and the Majesty of the Stile in many places never Book spake like this Book The Matters of Faith in it are so high the Mysteries so grave and sublime the Precepts so holy and pious the Promises so agreeable and refreshing to Minds that are mortified and purged from Vice the Threatnings so solemn severe and just the Examples so glorious and the whole so admirable that if we consider it we cannot imagine the Author to be other than God who is most holy just and good There being then no doubt but that the holy Scriptures will be in all Points verified and in particular in the Promise of future Happiness consisting in a glorious Resurrection and a blessed Immortality as the Reward of true Holiness Let us be perswaded to comply with God in the things he requireth of us And let us manage our Lives according to our Christian Profession and our Vowes in Baptism and since And let us hearken no more to the Charms of Sense the Voice of a tempting World and the Whispers of the Devil our great Enemy enticing us to Sin and to abide in evil and unholy Ways and Practices But let us deny Ungodliness and worldly Lusts and live soberly righteously and godly in this present World putting on the Armour of Light and Righteousness on the Right-hand and on the Left And let us in earnest make Religion the great Business of our Lives believing God's Promises and expecting this most glorious Reward But some may possible object in this manner We have heard the manifold Duties of Religion and have sometimes considered of the great Reward proposed But we find to our Discouragement that Religion is a Wisdom too high for us and the Practice of it a Province too difficult It is a way too strait and a Gate too narrow a Yoke too pressing a Burden too heavy a severe Warfare a tedious Travel It is impossible to comply with it and if we would endeavour the Practice of it we cannot effect it It were more easy to us to dig in the Mines or serve in the Gallies then to break off our Sins and live a holy Life And therefore urge us not to attempt Impossibilities My Answer to this Objection is That it is a Mistake and that what is required is through Divine Assistance and Grace very possible and certainly practicable The Difficulties are great but there is a Grace given to Believers that surmounts them all that levels the Mountains fills up the Valleys makes the crooked places streight and the rough places even that opens the blind Eyes of Mens Minds and softneth hard Hearts and subdues rebellious Wills and regulates disordered Affections that enlightens and enables to will and to do and out of Weakness makes strong and calls things that are not as if they were and raises dead Souls to Life Therefore let it not be said It is impossible to be Religious But let Men beg the Grace that will make it possible And never let it be said it is impracticable when Multitudes though few in Comparison of greater Multitudes have lived in the practice and exercise of Holiness A Cloud of Witnesses as they are called Heb. 12.1 have gone before us in the practice of these things though Men of like passions with us The Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs and many others have given us the Pattern and Proof of all this Piety and Godliness Some of all sorts have sincerely effectually and successfully engaged in it viz. some Kings Princes and Emperours as David Jehosaphat Hezekiah c. some Generals of Armies as Joshua and Gideon c. some Officers of State as Joseph Obediah c. some Learned Rich and Honourable and some Poor Mean Illiterate and Despifed Perfons so that none of us of what quality or condition soever can say Religion and Godliness is Impracticable by Persons of our Condition and Circumstances in the World Having then Patterns of Piety in all Ranks and Conditions of Men let us set these Examples before us and asking Grace and imploring Aids from God through the Mediator Christ Jesus let us imitate them and be holy as They were in all manner of Conversation And besides these Ancient Examples we have some in this present Age by whom it is evident that Godliness in the Life and Power and Exactness of it is really practicable We have now before us That which is sufficient utterly to silence the Objection I mean The Remains and Memory of this Eminent LADY and Excellent CHRISTIAN whose great Piety was the Glory of this Place And whose Recess from amongst us though She died full of dayes hath filled many Hearts with a passionate Grief
more profitable and pleasant than their own Studies and that they themselves did learn as well as teach This perhaps may seem incredible to them that were not acquainted with her But something of the Wonder will be abated by shewing how she attained her Excellent Knowledg She was an Indefatigable Reader of Books of the Scriptures especially and various Commentators upon them the best that our Language affords which perhaps are not exceeded by any other She had turned over a Multitude not only of Practical Treatises but also of Learned Books and amongst many others some of those of the Antient Philosophers translated into English gathering much from those great Lights among the Heathens so that she could interpose wisely in a Discourse purely Philosophical She was also a most diligent Inquirer and made use of all Learned Men of her Acquaintance to increase her Knowledg by moving Questions concerning the most material things as Cases of Conscience and hard Texts of Scripture and the Accomplishment of the Divine Prophecies She generally also took Notes out of the many Books she read that she might with the less Labour recover the Notions again without reading them a second time And She used a mighty Industry to preserve what either instructed her Mind or affected her Heart in the Sermons she had heard To these she gave great Attention in the Assembly and heard them repeated in her Family After this she would discourse of them in the Evening And in the following Weeks she had them again repeated and discoursed the matter of them to some of her Family in her Chamber And besides all this she wrote the Substance of them and then digested many of them into Questions and Answers or under Heads of common Places and then they became to her Matter for repeated Meditation And by these Methods she was always increasing her Knowledg or confirming the things that were known And having a great Treasure of Knowledg she improved it through Divine Assistance which she was most ready to acknowledg into a suitable Practice working out her Salvation with Fear and Trembling and was zealous of good Works Her Piety was exact putting Rules upon her self in all things and universal having respect to all God's Commands equally regarding the two Tables of the Law It was also constant and affectionate her whole Heart was given up to it and a holy Zeal attended it which Zeal was guided by much Wisdom and Prudence the Prudence never degenerating into Craft nothing appearing in all her Converse contrary to Sincerity It was also serious solid and substantial not touched with Enthusiasm yet she had a great regard to the Spirit of God as speaking in the Scriptures and by them guiding the Understanding and operating upon the Heart And as her own Practice was holy so she endeavoured also that her Family might walk in the same Steps providing for them the daily help of Prayer Morning and Evening with the reading of the Scriptures and on the Lord's-day the Repetition of what was preached in the Publick Congregation And for their further Benefit she many Years together procured a Grave Divine to perform the Office of a Catechist in her House who came constantly every Fortnight and expounded methodically the Principles of Religion and examined the Servants which was formerly done by her Chaplains till the Service of God in her Family and the Care of the Parish were committed to the same Person Thus with Joshua she resolved that She and her House should serve the Lord. With her Piety and Godliness there was joyned much Christian Love which was universal extending to all Mankind never suffering her self to hate or despise or over-look unless in the way of Censure for a Crime any Person in the World abhorring only what was vicious and evil in them But this Universal Charity admitted a Difference so as that the more Christian and Holy any were the more They had of Her Regard That Image of God that shined in a good Conversation she could not overlook in any though in some respects they were less acceptable to her valuing Grace above all the Accomplishments of Parts Breeding and Accord in lesser things And besides that all were dear to her in whom appeared the Fear of God she had also a most peculiar value for his Ambassadours and Ministers the Guides of Souls receiving them in their Ministrations as Angels of God fearing the Lord and obeying the Voice of his Servants esteeming what they delivered in consent with the holy Scriptures as his Message and Word She was very exact in matters of Justice and in rendring to all their Dues not suffering any Blot to cleave to her Hand and could not endure to have any thing without a Title in Conscience as well as in Law and was particularly tender in reference to Tithes and gave away all that she held by that * The Impropriations of Blithburgh and Walderswick in Sussex Title to him that took the Care of the Souls reserving only a little Portion yearly for repairing the ‖ The two great Chancels of the Churches there Edifices Her Charity and Alms-giving was very great and much admired by all that observed it though they knew only some part of it Every one that needed it had it in proportion to their Necessities and in the kind that was most suitable to their particular Wants She esteemed her self but as a Steward of her Estate and therefore gave away a great part of it to encourage the Ministry and to relieve the Indigent She dispersed abroad and gave to the Poor and Her Righteousness remains for ever She did most frequently cast her Bread upon the Waters and gave a Portion to seven and to eight and lent much to the Lord. And this she did willingly and chearfully and was ready to these good Works so that when there was any occasion that solicited her Charity it was never any Question with her whether she should give or not give but only in what Proportion she should extend her Bounty And for that she would many times most frankly refer her self to others saying I will give what ever you think is fit and meet in this Case having in this respect an Heart as large as the Sand on the Sea-shore and a most open Hand And as the Poor had her Charity in abundance so her Friends who needed not that kind of Bounty were yet Witnesses of her great Liberality and Generosity by which she adorned Religion and gained many to speak well of it Her Generosity was such That one would have imagined there was no room for Alms and her Charity such that it was wondered how she could so plentifully entertain her Friends But a provident Frugality and Management with the Divine Blessing enabled her to both to Admiration And her Charity was not only extended to the Bodies of others but she also most readily afforded Counsel and Comfort to them that repaired to her for Assistance in the
of one of her dearest Children came not nearer to her Heart And in a Letter to that Friend she thus bewailed it O that you were with us though but for a few days that we might bemoan our selves together and this miserable Nation upon which God poureth out so great Wrath and yet such Spiritual Judgments are seized upon us That many of us who pretend the greatest Interest in Him can see nothing but Mercies and glorious Times I find nothing so much moves me as to hear Men whom I hope I may call pious speak concerning the Times my Patience is so much put to it as Rules of Wisdom and Policy can find no place with me I can truly say I dissent from many whom I would honour and whose Judgments I do in many things prefer before my own without any kind of Doubt or Reluctancy admiring and standing amazed at their Delusions I am now taught the great Danger of Evil Principles strong Engagements Spriritual Pride c. In reference to His present Majesty her Loyalty proceeded by these steps She was a true Mourner under his Sufferings Exclusion Exile and the Disappointment of several Efforts that were made for his Restitution And she so disgusted the then usurping Powers that she would not joyn in the keeping of either the Fairing or Thanksgiving Days appointed by them in reference to their Designs or Successes She rejoyced in all his Deliverances and especially in his Miraculous and Happy Restauration And I do verily believe there was no Person in the three Kingdoms that better understood than she did the Dignity of the High Station to which God restored Him or that paid Him a greater Veneration or prayed more heartily for Him or was more sollicitous for His Safety in His Person and Government She was also conformable to the present Establishment in all things in which her Obedience was required and her Practice concern'd so that in reference to the Church of England she was truly Ours and one of the greatest Ornaments of our Communion The Separation though she respected Piety in all forts of Men was grievous to her and she thought it unreasonable And this was her Judgment from the beginning in which she was encouraged in her early Years by the Divines of her Acquaintance some of them Nonconformists who when those of the then Separation attempted to insinuate their Principles into her advised her to neglect them and to attend the great and substantial things of Religion as Faith Godliness Justice and Charity But withal such was her Moderation that she earnestly desired the Success of the Comprehension designed by the Lord-Keeper Bridgman Sir Matthew Hale then Lord Chief Baron and Dr. Wilkins c. And as that worthy Judg so She relieved many sober Non-conformists with great Bounty and most eanestly desired to have seen them legally settled in a Publick Ministry Many things more might be added to this Account of her Attainments Graces and Vertues but all may be summ'd up in this shorter Character She had the Knowledg of a Divine the Faith Holiness and Zeal of a Christian the Wisdom of the Serpent and the Innocence of the Dove She had Godliness in the Power of it and adorn'd it She was serious but not melancholly and chearful without any Tincture of Vanity very holy and no less humble and thankful to God for all His Mercies and had a mighty Sense of her need of Christ the Mediator depending entirely upon His Merits and Satisfaction renouncing all her own Works in the point of Justification By these things she attain'd a good and which she never sought a great Name Dr. Sibs an Eminent Divine Master of K. Hall Cambridg and Preacher to the Honourable Society of Grayes-Inn who frequented her House at Langley in Hartfordshire would say that he went to other places mostly to satisfy others but thither to please himself Dr. Edw. Reynolds late Lord Bishop of Norwich having been nobly entertained at her House professed afterward that the best of his Entertainment was his Converse with so Excellent a Person Another now a Dignitary of the Church of England returned from a Visit made to her and said the half was not told him Another a Person of Quality and great Learning who loved to speak much in few Words having observed her Gravity Holiness Prudence and Freedom from all that is little humourous or morose said she was a Woman of a Generous Piety Another saith of her That she had a Greatness of Mind rare Knowledg a becoming Gravity and great Sincerity That she was highly devout a chearful Giver patient under the Cross and endued with all the Vertues and Graces of those excellent Women whose Praise is in the Scriptures for Obedience to their Husbands Religious Care of their Children Bounty to God's Ministers Hospitality to their Friends Charity to the Poor and Piety towards God But the Latine is more elegant which came thus from his Ingenious Pen. Ingenio mascula Mente Theologa Ore Gravis Corde Sancta Cultu Intensfa Charitate Laeta Crucis Patiens tota Moribus Generosa Marito Sara Liberis Unice Nepotibus Lois Ministris Lydia Hospitibus Martha pauperibus Dorcas Anna Deo Such were her Qualifications great and eminent and so were the Providences of God towards her for she had great Prosperities and interchangeably great Afflictions The first she entertain'd humbly and the other patiently To her Prosperities may be referred The great Kindness of her Husband with a numerous Family and a very plentiful Estate during his Life and a competent Revenue afterwards in her Widowhood a fine Temperature of Body so that she was seldom sick though never strong the Continuance of her Parts and the Vigor of her Intellectuals and Firmness of her Judgment even in the last Years of her Life the Respects and Civilites she received from the Gentry in her Neighbourhood the Blessing of long Life the concluding of some unkind Law-suits which as she did not begin so she could not prevent and the seeing every remaining Branch of her Family largely provided for and in a very good Condition before her Death And which was more than all these as the best of her Prosperities she enjoyed much inward Peace which though it had sometimes Mixtures of Doubts and Fears was generally firm and steady and sometimes advanced into Joys and great Consolation Her Afflictions were chiefly Widowhood and loss of Children The sharpest of all her Trials was the untimely Death of her last Son with the aggravating Circumstances of it being drown'd this was very surprizing invaded her like an Inundation of Waters threatning all the Banks both of Reason and Grace Her Friends feared she would not long survive it But the Power and Presence of God supported her and she not only lived many Years after it but also recovered again in a great measure her former Chearfulness Her Demeanour under this sad Providence was Christian She did not murmur though at first astonished and after that
Temptations and Mischiefs When our Call is clear our Way is safe Moreover the Practice of this leads me into much Acquaintance with God my very praying is an acquainting with Him And if in every thing I pray I shall in every thing give Thanks and this still brings me into more Acquaintance with him By this means my Life will be filled up with a going to and returning from God X. The real Christian loves Solitude Solitude is no Burden to a real Christian he is least alone when alone His Solitude is as busy and laborious as any part of his Life It is impossible to be Religious indeed and not to love Solitude in some measure for all Duties of Religion cannot be performed in Publick It is also a thing as noble as 't is necessary to love to converse with our own Thoughts The vain Mind doth not more naturally love Company than the Divine Mind doth frequent retiring Such have Work to do and Meat to eat the World know not of Their Pleasures are secret and their chiefest Delight is between God and themselves The most pleasant part of their Life is not in but out of the World XI There is more necessary to the rendring us truly Religious than a mere external Revelation of Truth True Religion is Heaven born for to the perfecting of it in any Soul not only the outward Revelation is necessary but also an inward Secret and particular Divine Impression The savouring of Divine Things is from the Power of the Highest over-shadowing the Mind for till God makes this inward Impression Men are not able to perceive the Things of God There must be a Light within us as well as without us otherwise the Gospel may be hid even where it shines so that whoever conclude aright that they are under the Power of Religion must experience something very supernatural something that is the Work of God and not of Man something above all their own or the Power of the whole World XII Religion in the Practice of it is most highly Rational Religion makes a Man live up to his Reason So far as a Man is a Christian so far is Reason exalted sitteth in the Throne and governs and commands all the Powers of the Soul Religion enlightens and strengthens Reason and Reason helps and serves Religion Reason is inseparable from the Soul we shall be rational in Heaven and Grace is the Recovery of right Reason The whole Practice of Godliness both in Divine and Moral Duties and the frame of a Christian's Spirit is but the Rational Consequence of two great Principles which the Christian hideth and embraceth in his Heart viz. That there is a God and that the Scripture is his Word The Inferences from these two and the Life of a Christian are the same XIII Religion in the Practice of it is a living in and conversing with God True Relion makes a Man not only live above the World and in Converse with his own Reason but also to live out of himself in God conversing much with him A real Christian will deny himself for God quit all Self-interest and resign to him in all Points of Duty and Service God's Glory is his End his Work his Direction He takes no Pleasure in himself nor in any thing without himself further than he seeth the Stamp of God upon it He forgets himself and minds nothing but the Will of God triumpheth in nothing more than in his own Nothingness and God's All-sufficiency and Fulness This is having nothing and yet possessing all things This is Divine Life and the heighth of Religion to know and perceive that not only as to our Natural Life we depend upon Providence and live and move in God But that also as to our Spiritual Life we receive all of his Fulness and are acted by a Life in and from him Of this I desire to be still more and continually sensible XIV Religion gives us a real Enjoyment of God The true Christian liveth above himself not only in a way of Self-denial but in the very Enjoyment of God His Fellowship is with the Father and with the Son He every where and in every thing seeketh out God in Ordinances Duties and Providences whether prosperous or adverse nothing pleaseth unless God may be found in it or admitted into it That is to him an Ordinance indeed wherein he meeteth God That is a merciful Providence indeed in which appears much of the Finger of God God is nearer to the true Christian than to others for there is an inward feeling an Intellectual Touch which Carnal Men have not And herein is the very Soul of Religion and the Quintessence of it that it unites us in a nearness to God and gives us already to enjoy him XV. Religion gives a Man the power of himself who by Nature is his own worst Enemy True Religion gives a Man a great Command of and restores him to a just Power and Dominion over himself by subduing in him his own Will and Passions Man in his depraved Condition is himself his greatest Enemy For the Devil and World prevail against him not by their own Strength but by the Treachery and Baseness of his own Heart The Destruction of Souls is of themselves Ignorance and neglect of God takes away Fear and there is in him such an Inclination to Sin as leads him to a delightful Entertainment of Temptations so that it is not so much the Devil and the World without as the Devil and the World within not the Baits of Honour Wealth and Pleasure without but Ambition Covetousness and Sensuality within which prevail upon Men. Wherefore unto purified Souls and mortified Minds many Temptations do in a great measure cease to be Temptations XVI Self-denial bears a great part in the practice of true Religion The great Property of true Religion is that it teaches Self-dental which Self-denial is indeed the Foundation of Religion and the Sum of all the Precepts of the Gospel Every true Christian sincerely though imperfectly denies himself and makes a Free-will Offering of himself to God in resigning to him his Will And indeed we can never have Peace in Prosperity unless our Will as to Action be swallowed up in the Divine Will nor can we have Contentment in Adversity except our Will be complying with God's Will This is the great Victory to conquer our selves and to him that thus overcomes is the Promise given of sitting with Christ in his Throne XVII We glorify God not by giving to him but by receiving from him I know I can add nothing to God's Glory I glorify him by receiving from him the Impress of his Glory upon me rather than by communicating any Glory to him When the frame of my Mind and Life is according to his Prescription when I am most like to him when a Spirit of Holiness and Love runneth through all my Actions then I glorify him God seeketh his own Glory by communicating Grace and Happiness to me and
to observe God rather than Man and to provide for Eternity rather than Time And all their circumspect walking their redeeming their Time their daily Devotion their Self-denial Consciencious Carriage and what-ever provokes prophane Mouths to reproach them are but the necessary Effects of these three Principles of Wisdome And all the Wickedness of Ungodly Men proceeds from the want of this Wisdom XLV Holiness is a Privilege I look upon Holiness as none of the least of a Christian's Privilege But we are apt to consider it more as Necessary than as Glorious as our Duty rather than our Ornament Acceptance with God is a Privilege And is likeness to Him inferiour to it Is freedom from Satan's Malice a Privilege and is not the destroying his Image in us the same To be turned from Carnal to Spiritual from Earthly to Heavenly from Pride to Humility from Peevish to Kind from Sinners to Saints Are not these things Privileges Let this Truth be entertain'd And when we shall see the beauty of Holiness and desire it because we love and esteem it then God will open the Treasures of his Grace and give us more plentifully of the pouring forth of his Spirit XLVI The necessity of having and living by some stated Rules To the shaking off the Tyrannical Government of Passion Ambition and Self-will and that we may not be hurried by every Motion of our Minds it is necessary to have some fixed and stated Rules of Good and Evil without this we shall never live as becomes Reasonable Creatures Such is our Ignorance as we shall not know how to govern our selves unless we apply to some Rule for Information And so many and great are our Temptations that they will prevail unless we keep some fixed Rule for our Actions He that acteth always according to present Thoughts and Inclinations shall never be able to resist the offers of Sin when Temptations are present Such also is our Incogitancy and Forgetfulness that it is needful to fix some Rules for our Actions to which we bind our selves not to depart from them for this will allarm and inlighten Conscience and Conscience is the surest help to Memory Our Inconstancy also to our selves makes it needful to keep some Rules of Life that so every Thought every Company every Accident of Life may not alter our Minds and Actions XLVII We converse with God in his holy Ordinances when our Minds are sutably affected under them The way and means by which God conveys himself is by the Ordinances of his publick Worship and private Duties of Religion These are like the Tabernacle and Ark of old As they were filled and covered sometimes with the Cloud so these with Spiritual and Invisible Glory But a bare attending on these is not our Communion with God Our Communion is to have our Souls suitably affected with the matter of them When the Heart is hot the Affections moving Grace exercised when a Threatning awes us a Command delights and a Promise enters the Ear like good News in a perilous time when a Discourse of Christ inflames the Soul with Love and Desire when a Discourse of Heaven raises the Mind above the World when Truths are accompanied with Light and Love so that the Soul cleaves to them and hangs upon them this is Communion with God and then are Ordinances and Duties filled with the Holy Spirit XLVIII To govern the Tongue is one of the difficult parts of Religion 'T is hard to govern the Tongue aright much of Mortification lieth in the restraining of it much positive Sanctification in the right use of it It requites much Knowledg Wisdom Faithfulness Courage Watchfulness Deliberation Examination of our selves much Prayer yea much and strong Grace to govern it well The right governing of it is also a glorious part of our Christian Profession and mightily commends it to others XLIX He that governs his Tongue aright the same is a perfect Man The due governing of the Tongue implies and supposes whatever else goes to the making up of Evangelical Perfection Where the Tongue is governed the whole Life also is ordered by Rule And it will be found that whoever wants Grace faileth much in this Particular and discovers the want of it either by his Speech or by his Silence For the same Light which directs the Government of the Tongue the same Arguments that move to it and the same Power that assists it will enlighten us to see other Duties move as strongly to undertake them and as effectually help us to perform them L. A due Care of our Thoughts is a great Evidence of Uprightness It shews that Religion hath indeed possessed our Minds when we are careful so to mangage our Thoughts as that they be not only innocent but most frequently very serious and holy LI. Meekness produces Peace and Joy The Exercise of that Meekness which is a supernatural Grace a Disposition wrought in the Soul by the Holy Ghost which aims at God Glory and the Honour of Religion makes Conscience serene and joyful When I can reflect upon Passions restrained Injuries forgiven an Enemy loved Contentment in every Condition ready submission to every Providence and much Self-denial that God may be pleased how pleasantly doth Conscience look upon it LII Meekness gives us the possession of our selves Meekness giveth us the entire possession of our selves and the use of our Faculties But Anger and Impatience causeth that we cannot enjoy our selves nor apply to any Affair making every thing tedious and troublesom to us LIII Meekness preserves our Peace with our Neighbours As Meekness procures Peace in our own Souls so it also procures Peace and Quiet amongst Neighbours Few will strive with them that will not contend and are so far from injuring others that they readily forgive such as injure them LIV. The expectation of Death is profitable to a Christian The serious Expectation of Death not forgetting Judgment freeth us from the afflicting discomposing Apprehensions thereof It doth the Christian great Service it takes off from Carnal Pleasures Covetous Desires and Ambitious Pursuits and administers to Patience and Contentment It assists his redeeming his Time prompts him to settle the Affairs of his Soul to put his Heart and House in Order to leave nothing to be done to morrow that may be done to day It excites to frequent Examination quickens Repentance and suffers him not to continue in Sin It assists Fervency in Prayer as it drives away Worldly Cares and helps against Distraction for Death is a solemn thing and the thoughts of it breed a Passion in the Mind and all soft Passions help Devotion It sweetens all Labour Work and Duty because of the Everlasting Rest it leads unto It moves us to pray for others to counsel them and do what we can for them Thus Death in the Expectation of it is a Blessing if we expect it as certain and yet uncertain when it shall come as attended with Judgment and as putting a full End
to our Probation State And thus Death is ours LV. Formality in Holy Things must be avoided Every Real Christian hates to act in Divine Things out of Custom and Formality and the least mixture of a By-end is to him troublesome and afflicting His Actions are with Consideration and good Design He will not only pray but consider to whom and why And doth it either in obedience to a Command or as the paying of Homage to God or as an Instance of Trust Dependance and Love or as a Means of obtaining some Blessing or as an Ordinance that brings him near into the Presence of God And when he waits upon the Publick Worship it is that thereby he may make open Profession of Faith and Holiness and that he may draw nigh to God LVI The Government of our Thoughts is necessary It is no little Self-denial to manage our Thoughts strictly yet it is the most reasonable part of Religion and not properly the Heighth of Piety but the Foundation of it without which it cannot stand He that can blush at his Thoughts and endeavours to suppress them who dares not entertain the least Sin no not so much as in his Imagination looking upon God and Conscience as more than a thousand Witnesses This Man is Religious indeed This manage of the Thoughts is of great Service to a Christian it is a vast Security against many Temptations For Thoughts breed Desires and Desires increase into Passion and Passions will grow strong and being grown strong they abuse Reason and throw the Soul headlong and render it exposed to divers Temptations LVII The End of our Actions must be good Great Care must be had concerning the End of our Actions for this like the Altar sanctifies the Gift A Man's End hath a mighty Influence upon him as is the End such is the Man He whose End is worldly is himself earthly But if God be a Man's End it makes him God-like LVIII We must beware of Spiritual Sloth Spiritual Sloth brings Spiritual Poverty To have Affections in Holy Duties requires much force to which Nature is averse Corrupt Nature doth not always discover its opposition to that which is good by passionate contradicting but oftentimes effectually enough by Sloth and sluggishness LIX Detraction must be avoided We are naturally prone to speak evil of others with delight and to aggravate their Faults This Sin persisted in will shut out of Heaven as well as Murder or Theft And there is a secret Plague attending it in this Life for the way of Divine Providence is frequently Retaliation LX. The Promises are full of Support and Comfort but God must illuminate our Minds to discern what is treasured up in them The Promises which are the Covenant of Grace display'd are most precious in the matter of them and most necessary and useful to the Christian's Spiritual Life they help and support when all other things fail The Satisfaction they bring is a real true Pleasure yet their Glory and Excellency is not to be seen till God opens the Christian's Eyes and gives him a new Light There is a Vail upon the Promises or rather a Film upon the Eye of the Soul and until that is removed the Promises are dark and they have no Form or Comliness in them And though they be great and precious in themselves yet they cannot be so to us unless God and the Promise come in together The Spirit must move upon the face of the Waters before they become refreshing Streams to make glad the Heart The Christian's own Arm will not reach Comfort from them For this God must be sought and the Promise must be our Meditation LXI The Holy Ghost proceeds in his Operations gradually The Spirit of God operates gradually He teaches first one Truth and then another He brings us first to make Conscience of a Duty and then of the manner of performing it The Holy Spirit lays a Foundation in the Heart for the whole of Religion and then draws us on gradually to more and more Rules for Practice I. LET Love and Charity be Universal For no pretence whatever no not of Religion and Zeal for God can justifie your not loving any Person in the World Treat all Men with Kindness and wish them well Do them good according to their Necessity and your Power and Opportunity If Persons be above you express your Love to them by paying them the Honour and Observance their Place and Authority call for If they are in Worldly Respects beneath you manifest your Love by Kindness Affability and vouchsafing an easy Address to you If they excel in Natural or Acquired Endowments of Mind express your Love to them by a due esteem of them If they be rather wanting than excelling shew your Love by pitying them and despise not their weakness If any be in Misery compassionate them pray for them comfort them with your Presence if you can reach them relieve them according to your power If any be defamed shew your Love by stopping and rebuking the Defamation II. Be very careful not to harbour any evil Affection in your Heart against any one what-ever For though you are far from intending any actual Mischief yet you tempt God to let loose your Corruption and his Providence to permit you an Opportunity and so before you are aware you may be drawn to an Act you never thought of before Moreover by an evil Affection harboured in your Mind you will prevent the blessed Illapses of the Spirit of God and open a wide Door for the Devil to enter into you And indeed an unkind disposition towards any Man is so much akin to Satan that if you admit the one you cannot exclude the other III. Despise none for Love never rides in Triumph over Inferiours IV. Look upon all unavoidable Temptations as Opportunities for an high exercise of Grace Are you injured be sorry for him that hath done it and bless God for the opportunity of shewing your self hereby a Christian by patient bearing forgiving doing Good against Evil treating him with Meekness and breaking his Heart with Love Every Provocation is a Price in your Hand get an Heart to improve it V. Put a due value upon your Name and Reputation But be not over solicitous about it for that discovers some unmortified Lust at the bottom VI. Pursue Piety under the notion of an Imitation of God and then so great a Pleasure will result from it that neither Men nor Devils shall be able to make you question God's Being and Attributes This will raise an Esteem of it and render it lovely and make the several Duties of Religion more facile and easie and it will gradually wear out the Remains of Unbelief and unkind Jealousies of God VII Let Humility be the constant covering of your Soul and let Repentance follow all your Performances This will demonstrate your Religion is inward For if Religion be suffered to enter deep into the Heart it will always find Work for Repentance
while we are in the State of Imperfection VIII Love nothing above God and Christ for to love any thing more than God or Christ is the way either never to enjoy it or to be soon deprived of it or else to find your self deceived in it IX Do nothing upon which you dare not ask God's Blessing X. Esteem Time as your most precious Talent which when you bestow it upon any you give them more than you can understand A joynt Assistance of Men and Angels cannot restore it to you again XI Never speak of Religion for Discourse and Entertainment sake but for the Purposes of Piety XII Upon the Lord's-Day consider in private the Love of God in the several Instances of it to thy Self and the World in Creation and Redemption the Promises of Eternal Life the Care of his Providence his Mercies to Thee thy Friends and Family And stay upon these Considerations till thy Heart be lifted up in his Praise and thou canst say with David Now will I go to God my exceeding Joy Consider also your Miscarriages in the Week past and industriouly endeavour to prevent them in the following Week XIII Be diligent in your particular Calling in Obedience to God's Command For the same God who said Be fervent in Prayer hath also said Be not slothful in Business That therefore which putteth a good Man upon praying in his Closet calleth him out again even a Submission to God the great Master of the World by whom we are placed in our several Stations XIV Carefully avoid all those Sins which your Calling and Diligence in it exposeth you unto XV. Never let the Infirmity of thy Brother be thy Recreation Let not that which grieveth God make thee merry Let not that be thy Sport which is Heaven's Sorrow and so is every thing that is evil XVI Let the use of Refreshments make you compassionate to the Poor who want them This will be an Evidence that they are sanctified unto you XVII In the Practice of Civility avoid the Sins of Company mention not God slightly inconsiderately or merrily XVIII Censure not any Man's Actions which contradict not a plain Rule and in which there is use of Prudence because much of Prudence depends upon Circumstances of which you are ignorant God hath made you a Feoffee in Trust of your Neighbours Name and it is a Greatness of Mind not to speak evil of others Before thy Brother's Face flatter not behind his back be as tender of his Reputation as of his Life XIX In Civil Converse though your Discourse be not always of Religion yet make it your Design thereby to recommend Religion XX. Let not Fretting and Discontent prey upon your Time It makes you neglect some present Duty It makes you like a Ship tossed upon the Waters which is moved but brought to no place XXI In endeavouring the Conversion of another perswade him only to what is necessary to his Salvation make him understand that you design nothing for your self in it but his own Happiness Press him to nothing that you will not practise your self XXII Be exact in your Actions because they must stand upon Record to Eternity XXIII That you may think of God aright you must abstract from your present Temper and your own Sense For Experience tells us that if a Man be convinc'd of Sin and under Terrors all the Art of Man cannot satisfy him that God intends to pardon such a Sinner as he is because he judges of God by what he feels So he that perceives not the Bitterness of Sin all Arguments can scarcely perswade him that Sin is so great an Evil as indeed it is or that God will severely punish it because he judged of God according to his present Temper and his own Sense of things XXIV Give God the Honour of his Attributes together You desire his Mercy let him have also the Honour of his Wisdom in his chusing the Channel in which his Goodness shall run XXV Never be a Spendthrift of that of which only you can be honestly covetous that is of your Time XXVI Meditate much upon the Promises for though Meditation can add nothing to the Promises yet it draws forth the Sweetness and discovers the Beauty which is in them XXVII Apply the Promises frequently tho you find not such visible Effects either of Grace or Comfort issuing from them as you expect or desire The Manner of fulfilling them may be various but the Performance is most certain The Blessing of the Promise sometimes descends like Rain in visible Showers producing the sensible Effects of Joy and Peace in the Soul and sometimes like Dew which falleth in a silent way without making any sensible Alteration in the Heart The Vertue of it is real but withal hidden and secret FINIS