A SERMON PREACHED At FLITTON in the County of Bedford, At the Funeral of the Right Honourable HENRY Earl of Kent, the sixteenth of March 1614 By I. B. D. D. LONDON, Printed by William Stansby for Richard Woodroffe, and are to be sold at his shop in Paul's Churchyard, at the sign of the Golden Key, near the great North door. 1615. A SERMON PREACHED AT FLITTON IN THE COUNTY OF BEDFORD, AT THE FUNERAL OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE HENRY Earl of KENT, the sixteenth of March, 1614 LUKE. 2. 29. Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy Word. THe first words of S. john's Gospel ARE, that in the beginning was the Word, john 1. 1. The beginning of Saint Marks Gospel Is, that a voice went before the Word, Mark, 1. 3. jesus was the Word, john was the voice. * Gre. in Ho. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sonat ut Verbum possit audiri, Chrisost. sup. Matth. Vox est sonus confusus, qua vult aliquid dicere ille qui clamat. Verbum est sermo mysticus, quo Deus mysterium suae voluntatis ostendit: Gloss. Verbum clamat in voce. Beda, Per vocem nunciatur, per Verbum ostenditur. From john's preparing and jesus coming, the Fathers have observed that Christ the Word of God, was in the dispensation of his Incarnation, accompanied with the voices of man. When he was two years old, voce lamentantis, with the voice of lamentation. A voice of Ramah, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, Matth. 2. At his Baptism, voce proclamantis, with the voice of proclamation: And behold, a voice from Heaven, saying, This is my well-beloved Son, etc. Matth. 3. In his Preaching, Voce acclamantis, with the voice of acclamation. They that went before, & that followed after, cried Hosanna, etc. Math. 21. At his Death, Voce exclamantis, with the voice of exclamation: The Centurion was afraid, & said, Truly this was the Son of God. But of all the voices which accompanied the Word, Four have a prerogative: which are not simple voices, but settled songs. The first, the Angel's song, as in Luke, the second Chapter, and fourteenth verse. The second, blessed Mary's song, Luke 1. 46. The third, Zacharies song, Luke 1. 68 The fourth Simeons' song, the text of this Scripture. All of them remarkable: For the Angels they were messengers of Heaven: Mary's song, she was the mother of our Saviour: Zacharies song, he an anointed Priest. Simeons' song, he an inspired Prophet. But above ALL, Simeons hath the Prerogative. For the Angel's song was in the fields. a Luk. 2. 8. Mary's song was in a Chamber, b Luk. 1. 41. betwixt her and Elizabeth. Zacharies song was at a feast, c Luk. 1. 39 but a private feast, of a few mountain people. But Simeons' song was in Jerusalem d Luk. 2. 25. the great City, and in the Temple, e Luk. 2. 27. the most public, and most sacred place of jerusalem. The text than is a voice attendant upon the Word: Is a song, which is a comfortable voice: Is a public song; A solemn song, A Church song; A song in the Temple: All which might have been sufficient motives to warrant the choice of this Scripture, at this mournful time, to comfort the living; at this solemn time, to honour the dead. But these are common Inducements: For the text is yet more fit. It is Cantus funebris: A funeral song. f Martial. Cantatur Cygnus funeris ipse sui. A white Swan, whose Almond tree is blossomed, sings his own Epitaph. And of these songs we have but two in Scripture: One of Moses in the old Testament g Deut. 31. 3. . And this of Simeon in the new Testament. Both Old men. Moses one hundredth and twenty h Deut. 31. 2. Simeon, saith Nic●phorus, i Lib. 1. Cap. 12. Ad tantum senium provectus, continued to a great age, that he might see Christ. Both Great men. Moses Ruler of the People forty years. And Simeon, saith * Citatur à Kimitio, in hunc locum. Galatinus Master of Gamaliel, an Honourable man among the people k Act. 5. 34. . Both Good men. Moses God's servant, l jos. 1. 2. and Simeon, God's servant m Luk. 2. 25. . Both Fit to honour the memorial of an old, Honourable, Religious Peer. But Simeon the fitter; For Moses' eyes only beheld Canaan n Deut. 34. 4. . But Simeons' eyes beheld Christ o Luke 2. 30. . And that it may appear, that the text is fit, not only in the body and bulk, but in every branch; It is like one of David's Psalms, which are entitled, Cantica graduum, Psalms of Degrees; Arising like Jacob's Ladder, step by step, till you come to peace. Which peace the Scripture noteth expressly to be the Complement of Abraham's blessing: a Gen. 15. 15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, thou shalt be buried in a good old age. Peace which Saint Austen doth determine to be the perfection of happiness, b De Civit. Dei Finis civitatis huius in quo summum habebit bonum, lib. 19 cap. 11. vel pax in vita aeterna, vel vita aeterna in pace dicendus est. The end of the Saints in the City of God, is either peace in life eternal, or eternal life in peace. THe first step, 〈◊〉. is the time (I follow the Greek Original) Nunc, now. The second is the passport, Dimittis, let depart. The third is the subject, servum tuum, thy servant. The fourth is the Prince, Domine, O Lord. The fifth is the promise, Secundum Verbum, according to thy Word. The sixth is the Condition, In pace, in peace. 1 The time present. 2 The desire fervent. 3 The servant dutiful. 4 The master powerful. 5 The promise infallible. 6 The condition comfortable. Are like the Throne of Solomon c 1. King. 10. 18 with six steps of Ivory over laid with gold. A Throne fit for Solomon the Prince of Peace. Nunc. THe first step is the Time. Now, And Now it was, that Christ was in the Arms of Simeon. Never a better (Now) to die, then with Christ in our arms. (Now) Simeon prays, for death (before) Simeon prayed, for life. (Now) let me depart, Therefore (before) let me not depart. This is probable by collection; but apparent by relation, verse 26. It was revealed unto him, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord Christ. Simeon (then) was promised to see Christ in the flesh: Simeon (therefore) desired life till he had (seen) Christ in the flesh. So long as he expected the consolation a Verse 25. of Israel; so long he desired life in Israel. But when his first desire was accomplished: his second desire (was,) to be dissolved. Both the desires of Simeon, (both in life and death) are lawful, if lawfully desired; * 1. Hezekiah may desire life with mourning and chattering, Esay, 38. 14 if his desire be to plant Religion. * 2. Saint Paul may desire death with groaning, Phil. 3. 23. If it be to have Christ in fruition: As Simeon desired (life,) to have Christ in Contemplation; as Simeon desired (death) to have Christ in possession. But every man doth not so desire (life,) doth not so desire (death.) There is a Nabal b 1. Sam. 25. 2. that desires to live to shear his sheep, and to make a feast like a King, * And 36. 37. v. though the next day his heart die within him, & he become like a stone. There is a fool, Luk. 12. that desires long life, to build barns, to gather goods, to lay up fruits, to take ease, to eat, to drink, to be merry, to be mad: * Contra jovini. Vt Ebrij & ructantes intrent in paradisum: That reeling and belching (saith Jerome) they may fall into an Epicures Paradise. There is a Nebuchadnezar c Dan. 4. 33. that desires to live, to mount up his piles of wonderment, & his turrets of Babel, though in the midst of his pride, he be turned into an Ox. There is an a 2. Sam. 18. 9 and 14. Absalon, who desires to live, that he may wear a Crown upon his head, though he be hanged by the hair of the head, and he be stricken with three Darts through the liver. There is an Achab, that desires to live, to take possession of Naboths vineyard, though in the place where the Dogs licked the blood of Naboth, Dogs shall lick the blood of (Achab.) b 1. King. 21. 19 There is an Haman c H●st. 7. 10. that desires to live, till he may be revenged on Mardoche, his enemy, although a gallows of fifty foot high, an eminent place for execution, be the end of a mischievous Courtier's promotion. All such desires of life, (whose ends are our corrupt passions,) are unlawful desires. And although they have as d De Paenitentia. Tertullian calls it, Volaticum gaudium a winged pleasure in their lives: yet they shall have Talentum e Zach. 5. 7. plumbi, as the Prophet speaketh, a Talon of lead, an intolerable pressure of their conscience in their death. But as life may be unlawfully desired, so likewise death may be desired unlawfully. It cannot be denied, but Elias prayed for death in a wrong (Nunc.) In the 1. King. 19 verse 3. Elias fled from (jezabel) fled in the (morning,) fled for his (life.) Yet in the fourth verse: at (evening) when he was a little weary with flying, he prays for (death.) Now, f 1. Kings 19 4 O Lord, take away my life. A very strange passion, that one days journey should make such an alteration. It cannot be denied, but jonas had a wrong (Nunc.) In the second Chapter of jonas, and the second verse, he cries out of the Whale's belly: he calls it the belly of hell, he cries and calls for (life.) But in the forth Chapter of jonas, and the third verse, some three or four days after, he begs and sues for (death.) Now, O Lord, take my (life.) What was the reason of this sudden alteration? It was not reason: but passion; because the Ninivites did not (die) therefore he would not (live.) But Elias did not well, to call for death for a little affliction. jonas did not well, to be angry with God, and to desire to die, to despite God's great affection. No affliction in ourselves; no envy at others are warrantable motives to desire death. We must not be like Elias, to die fainting: we must not be like jonas, to die chase. They that desire death in passion, do desire death only for fashion. It being long since observed by Saint Austen, a Lib. de morte. that when sickness comes, the harbinger of death, Medici adducuntur, manera promittuntur, Physicians are requested, rewards are promised, prayers are conceived, vows are offered, that death may be deferred. Would you have a sanctified rule, to know a sanctified (Nunc?) when to desire (life,) when to desire (death,) take Simeon for both. In Life. DEsire so long to live, till you may see Christ: otherwise the first death will be terrible, the second death will be intolerable. It is the contemplation of Bernard: b Citatur a Ludolpho, in 2. Lucae. Tu quomodo exibis, anima misera, quae ducem itineris jesum non nôsti? O miserable soul, with what horror wilt thou go from a body of earth, which knowest not thy jesus the Lord of life, and the way to Heaven? If a man should live as long as Methusalem; though his head were as white as silver; and his skin as writheled as parchment; yet if he knew not Christ, he is not fit to die. It is a miserable comfort to have lived long, and to have lived little, a Sen●●●. Diu fuit, sed non diu vixit. Such a man (was) a great while, (lived) a little while. Better it had been, for such a man, to have been strangled in the womb, then to have died an Embryo in Religion. Let us therefore (then) desire to leave the earth, when we know the way to Heaven. In Death. WHen you have known Christ, then desire to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. Then imagine all the honours of earth to be but b Meditat. Anselmus his Butterflies, which children follow from bush to bush, from flower to flower, at which they catch with childish passion: the Butterflies sometimes flying before them, sometimes behind them, sometimes close by their eyes, sometimes through their fingers: and if they catch them, they are but Butterflies. So light a thing is (Honour,) so slight a thing is (glory,) such a vanity, such a Butterfly. Then conceive all earthly pleasure, to be but c Consolati. Philosophica. Boetius his gloriosa pericula, glorious perils. Then understand all worldly riches to be but d Epist. 1. ad Dom. Cyprian his speciosa supplicia, glittering punishments. Then suppose all things under the Moon to be but Saint e Phil. 3. 8. 9 Paul's Retrimenta & Stercora: retriment and dung, in comparison of the fruition of jesus Christ in Heaven. In Sum DEsire to live, till you are inspired with grace, desire to die, when you are assured of glory. This was the time wherein Simeon desired to depart. And with which time, it is time for me to depart, and to come to Simeons departing. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LEt depart, Is the word in English, whose original importeth three senses. First, to depart out of Prison, Acts 5. 40. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, they let the Apostles depart out of Prison. Secondly, to depart from a place of exile, into our native Country, Matth. 14. 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, until he let the people depart, from the Wilderness, to their own Houses. Thirdly, to depart from an Office, in which we were placed by Superior Authority, Act. 13. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, they let Paul and Barnabas depart, when they had fulfilled their ministery. In all these three senses, Saint * Libro de bono mortis, cap. 2. Ambrose doth interpret it. In the first sense, our soul is supposed to be in prison, and desires to depart, Psal. 116. 16. Dirupisti vincula mea. Thou hast loosed my bonds. In the fifteenth verse, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of all his Saints: (Death and Bonds,) but Death doth lose the Soul from the Bonds of the Body. Psalm 142. 7. It is the prayer of David, Deduc è custodia animam meam. Bring my soul out of Prison, that I may praise thy name. 2. Cor. 5. 1. We have (saith Saint Paul) Domum subterraneam, It is translated an earthly house, but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, signifieth a house under earth, (a very dungeon.) By all which Scriptures, the soul seemeth to be manacled, imprisoned, and cast into the dungeon of the body. Not that any man should communicate in the error of Origen, to conceive that our souls were created in Heaven, and for their demerits were tumbled into houses of Clay, but to express what Saint Paul lamenteth, Luke 7. 23. That he saw another Law in his members, warring against the Law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity to the Law of sin. But to express the complaint of Cyprian a Libr● de mortalitate. Quae clementia est amare pressuras, & poenas, & lachrimas mundi? What a madness is it for men, to dote upon their golden fetters, their guilded prison, their painted dungeon, for every man to be his own Suff●nus, and like Narcissus, to be enamoured of Earth, of Dust, of Slime, of our Bodies, of rottenness, and Corruption? When the silliest Bird that flies, is not content with a cage of Ivory. In the second sense, our life is supposed an exile, and we desire to go into our Country, Psalm 39 12. I am a stranger with thee (saith David) and a sojourner, as all my Fathers were. Et ideo b De bono mortis, cap. 2. tanquam peregrinus ad illam Sanctorum omnium Patriam ●estinabat. And therefore (saith Saint Ambrose) David made haste to be indenized, & possessed of the Kingdom of Heaven. Why doth the fire move upward? Why do the stones fall downward? Why do the waters glide through rocks of Flint, to pay their natural tribute to the Ocean? Why doth the Air fly from the bowels of the earth, with shaking of the World's foundation? But that every thing moveth impetuously to the Centre from whence it was taken. It is the speculation of Philosophy, that Lapis cum stat, amovetur: That a stone lying stone-still, hath notwithstanding a secret motion to the Centre. It is the subtlety of the School. Aquinas was the Author, that whilst we are in this life, we turn and change as the Moon. Quiescimus in desideriis: We rest in the desire of rest, and yet we have restless desires. But in Heaven there is Desideriorum quies, the very Centre and quiet of desiring, where our desires shall not be satiated, but they shall be satisfied. It is the sweet contemplation of Saint Austen, c Con●e●. Fecisti nos Domine, àte, & inquietum est Cor nostrum, donec revertatur ad te: Lord, our souls they came from thee, and never are quiet till they return unto thee. In the third sense, Our life is supposed an Office and place of charge, and we must not depart without the leave of our Superior. d job. 7. 1. Editio Hieroni. Militia est vita hominis super terram: Our life (saith job) is a warfare, God placed some in the forward, some in the rearward, some in the wings, some in the battle, every man hath a station, and no man must depart without his Dimittis, without his Passport. Neither the light of Nature, nor the light of Grace, directeth a man in any case to put out the light of life. In the monuments of Heathen History, Lucretia, Cato, Cleombrotus, are honoured for their own dishonour: for if Lucretia was unchaste, why is she honoured: If she were chaste, why was she murdered? Si a Aug. de Civit. Dei, lib. 1. cap. 19 non est illa impudicitia qua invita comprimitur, non est haec justitia qua casta punitur. If it were not want of Chastity in her that was forced unwillingly, it was want of justice in her that was slain unjustly. If Cato did well to tear out his own bowels, why did he command his son, his own bowels, to beg his life of Caesar? Tantum b Ibid. cap. 23. gloriae ipsius Caesaris invidit, he so much envied Caesar's glory, that he was transported to unreasonable fury. Cleo●brotus read Plato's Phoedo unadvisedly, else would he not have destroyed his body, to obtain the soul's immortality. Maiori c Plato in Phoedone. supplicio afficiendus est, desertor vitae; quam desertor militiae: he is more to be punished, that voluntarily forsaketh his life, than he that flieth from his Captain and Leader. The very light of Nature teacheth, that there is more valour to endure a miserable life, then to embrace a wretched death. But the light of grace commands us not to kill others, much less to violate our selves. Samson cannot be excused, except by God he was secretly inspired. Nisi d Aug. de Civit. Dei, lib. 1. cap. 21. quia Spiritus latenter hoc iusserat, qui per illum miracula faciebat. Except the Spirit of God did secretly inspire him, who did miraculously upon his prayer at his death strengthen him. Those sacred Virgins, who in the sack of Rome sought to prevent the barbarous Adulterer, by a voluntary murder of themselves, committed a certain sin, to prevent an uncertain shame. Non sit tedio vobis vita vestra, siludibrio fuit hostibus castitas vestra. O blessed Souls (saith Saint Augustine) a Aug. de Civit. Dei, lib. 1. cap. 27. Why should you be weary of life, when your Chastity was a prey to your enemies? How could you endure the shame of the Cross of Christ, that cannot endure the rumours of Pagans? There is no shame, no sorrow, no misery, that should force a Christian to a desperate prevention. Consider what Saint Paul, Phil. 1. balanced together, I am in a straight betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better, nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. Quasi b Ambro. de bono mortis cap. 2. sapiens amplectitur mortis lucrum: Quasi servus non refugit vitae obsequium. As a wiseman he desireth death, as a servant he endureth life. Will you have another rule for the act of departing, as you had for the time of departing? Behold Simeon, patient in life, patient in death. He would not live without a (permittis) a promise to see Christ; he would not die without a (dimittis,) without a licence to enjoy Christ. Saint Augustine speaks plainly, and yet acutely. Some men that are crowned with Roses, and enjoy the World's Paradise, they desire to live. Some men who are wasted with sorrows, they desire to die. Now saith the Father, c Tract. 9 in Epist. johan. Si habes vitam in desiderio, habe mortem in patientia; Habes vitam in patientia, si habes mortem in desiderio: If you have life in desire, yet die patiently; If you have death in desire, yet live contentedly. In sum. (WHen) God will, be not troubled to die. (Till) God will, be not troubled to live. To be thus prepared, Simeon thought it his duty; for he confesses that he is a servant. And you know a servant comes, when his master bids come; goes, when his master bids go; and therefore it is not, dimit me, let me depart: nor let Simeon depart; But let thy servant depart. Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth; give leave, O Lord, for thy servant obeyeth. servum tuum. I Find this title of Servant, given to them by God, which I am sure never intended to serve God. jer. 25. verse 9 jer. 27. verse 6. Nabuchadnezzar my Servant. Esay 44. verse 28. Cyrus' my Shepherd, and a Shepherd is a Servant. I find on the contrary, that the best Saints of God have no better title, josu. 1. 2. Moses' my Servant is dead, job 1. 8. Hast thou not considered my Servant job? This Contrariety, imply some difficulty. If Nabuchadnezzar, and Cyrus be God's Servants, what privilege is it for Moses and job to be the Servants of God? One plain distinction makes a perfect resolution. It is one thing to serve God actively, and another thing to serve God passively. All the world are God's Flails, Gods Mallets, b jer. 50. 23. Gods Sceptres c Psal. 2. 9 of Iron, to break in pieces his enemies as a Potter's vessel: but some few in the World are his Trumpeters, d Esay 58. 1. are his Labourers, e 1. Cor. 3. are his Ambassadors, f 1. Cor. 4. his Messengers of fire, g Heb. 1. are his Angels, h 16. his ministering i 16. Spirits. Bears, k 2. King. 2. 24. and Lions, l 1. King. 13. 25. and Caterpillars, m joel 1. 4. and Worms, n Io. 4. 7. are the Executioners of his justice: But Lambs, and Doves o Mat. 3. 17. are the voluntary instruments of his mercy. Nabuchadnezzar burned the Temple: p 2. King. ult. Cyrus did build the Temple: q Ezra 1. Both (did) the will of God: Neither (intended) to do the will of God: Both were God's Servants in execution: neither of both were God's Servants in affection. Both served him with the hand, neither with the heart. But to be God's Servants in affection to God, and in protection from God, is a singular prerogative: For if the Servants of Solomon were happy, r 1. King. 10. 8. much more happy are they who serve a greater than Solomon s Mat. 12. 42. If the Angel t Rom. 22. 9 in the Revelation acknowledgeth himself to be the Apostles fellow-servant: how great an honour is that, to be entertained into such a service, where the Angels are our fellows? You call me Master, saith Christ▪ (and you do well;) for surely he doth very ill, that hath not Christ for his Master: very (Ill) indeed since it is man's necessitaled condition, to be a Servant. Ye were the Servants of sin, Rom. 6. 20. Ye are the Servants of righteousness, Rom. 6. 22. In both estates, still Servants. Ye cannot serve a Mat. 6. God & Mammon, two Masters; but you must serve God or Mammon, one Master. We must not halt betwixt God & Baal, but we must adhere to God or b 1. King. 18. Baal. We must either serve the Devil, as Simon Magus: or we must serve Christ, as Simon Peter. It is the piercing contemplation of Basil, that he envied the devils happiness, c Hom. Ethi. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, who neither made us, nor died for us, but seeks our body's destruction, and our soul's perdition; yet he hath more Servants than jesus Christ, that came down from Heaven to redeem us, and offered up his blood to save us. It is S. Augustine's experience, that to serve God is liberty, to serve sin is slavery. servus d In verba Apostoli. tot Dominorum, quot vitiorum, (saith the Father) a man is a slave to so many Masters, as he is subject to vices. Many a great man endures Cham's e Gen. 9 25. Curse, he is servus servorum; A Slave of his Slaves. Many a wiseman could not be abused, as Herod was by Blastus his Chamberlain, Acts 12. Verse 20. if their own guiltiness did not make them fear their own Servants. He that will not be the Slave of men, let him be the Servant of God. A good conscience is far richer far safer, than the Breastplate of Aaron, or the golden shield of Solomon. To draw to a conclusion. Will you have a third rule, to know when you are God's Servants? Behold Simeon, earnestly desiring to be with his Lord. Simeon had a pattern of Abraham's servant, Genesis 24. He went along journey to fetch a Wife for Isaak: he laded ten Camels; he came at evening to the house of Bethuel, he would not eat till he had told his errand, the next morning he would go to his Master. Send me away, verse 54. hinder me not, verse 56. Send me away that I may go to my Master. I will not stay ten days for the Damsel, not one day to refresh my weary Camels. I came in the evening, I will return the next morning. Here is a true Servant, as soon as he had Rebecca, nothing pleased him but to return to Abraham. Here is a Simeon, as soon as he had Christ, nothing can content him but to return to God. Excellent is the meditation of Cyprian, a Lib. de Mortal. Eius est mortem timere, quinon vult ad Christumire: That man fears death, that fe●res to come to the Tribunal of Christ. You say, you are God's Servants, you boast of your faith, you talk of Heaven: let me see the Character of God's Servants: show me the power of your faith. Express the desire of Heaven. There is a secret infidelity: our tongues and hearts are contrary: to fear death, and to desire eternal life, are things incompatible. Volumus ab eo praemijs honorari, ad quem venimus inviti. How can we (saith Cyprian) hope for heavens happiness, when we are dragged thither with a fearful unwillingness? God is not bound to make every Saul a King, that only seeks for his Father's Asses. To conclude, if we be God's Servants, why do we fear to go to God? If we fear to go to God, how are we Gods Servants? Simeon desired to be gone: and we will leave him, and so pass from the servants condition, to the Lords Dominion. The Servant was dutiful, and the Lord is powerful. Lord IS the chief word in the Text, and the chief word for the time: For we see the Hearse of a dead Lord, and we hear the power of a living Lord. There are many in earth, who are called Lords, but they are Lords of earth, and those Lords are earth, and those Lords must return to earth, as you see this day fulfilled in your eyes. He, who is the son of joseph, Lord of Egypt; the son of jacob, Lord of Caaaan: who is the son of Isaak, who is the son of Abraham, who is the son of Nachor, who is the son of Sem, who is the son of Noah, the son of Adam, He is the son of Dust. There is a Lord of Lords, who hath the power of life and death, who raiseth out of the dust, and setteth with Princes: who poureth contempt upon Princes, and layeth their honour in the dust. For none of us (saith the * Rom. 14. 7. Apostle) liveth to himself, and no man dieth unto himself. For whether we live, we live to the Lord: and whether we die, we die to the Lord: whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lords. The very word which Simeon useth is, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: Lord, saith Varinus, hath reference to a Freeman. Master, to a Bondman. Intimating in the very propriety of syllables, that man is a very Bondman, under the despotical power of God. Which principle of Religion, the light of Nature seeth. In a storm at Sea, a jonas 1. every Idolatrous Mariner calls upon his God: In a drought at Land, b Osc. 7. every Churl howls upon his bed: even those who never think on God in their life, will call unto the Lord for fear of death. But by the light of grace, c 1 King. 18. Elias in his agony: jonas d jonas 2. in his fury, Lord, take my life; (death they desired, but death by God permitted.) The Apostles in their fear, Lord, save us, we perish. The thief in his pain, upon the Cross, f Luk. 23. Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom. Stephen g Act. 7. under the stones, Lord jesus, receive my spirit. h Act. 9 Saul, cast down from his Horse, but cast down lower in his soul. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? Lord, Lord, is the Echo of misery, is the suppliant for mercy. Saint i In Psal. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Homi. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Basil gives the reason, GOD created 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the inward man of the soul. God fashioned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the outward man of the body. And God joined soul and body together, with an incomprehensible union. Fire and Water are not so contrary, as flesh and spirit. Tell me then, what are the strings? what the buckles? what are the cords of love? what slime of Euphrates? what Gum of Arabia? what Cement and Glue do join an immortal, incorporeal, insensible soul, in a house of Clay, in a body of earth, the most gross, most base, most solid element? Surely, we are wonderfully made: None but God did compose us; none but God can preserve us; none but God, by his permission, or direction, ordinary, or extraordinary administration of second causes, can dissolve us. He with a breath gave us breath: he with a word takes away our breath: and all our thoughts perish. Let no Asa trust in his Physician: no Naaman's trust to the Rivers of Damascus: no Absalon to the lustre of Beauty: no Maximus to the strength of an Elephant: no Herod to the flattering clamour of Idolising People, that we are not men, but Gods. Those, who in regard of their constitutions, communicate in the sanguine of the Rose, and in the snowy beauty of the Lily; their bodies are (saith Saint chrysostom) but nidus hirundinum. A Swallows nest, composed of dirt and straw: they are no fairer than jonas Gourd a Worm struck it at the root, and the Gourd withered. The greatest Lord that lives, may make King Philip's Fable, his Motto, and Moral. * Lucian. Menippus, the Satirical Philosopher, meeting Mercury in the Elysian fields: amongst all the ghosts, would needs know, which was Philip the great King of Macedon. He (quoth Mercury) is Philip of Macedon, that hath the bald head. Menippus. I know him not by this, for all their skulls are bald. Mercury. He which hath a flat nose, is Philip of Macedon. (Menippus.) Why, all have flat noses, (Mercury) He with the hollow eyes, is King Philip of Macedon. (Menippus) Why, all have hollow eyes, bare teeth, naked ribs, open pores, disjointed members, all are carcases. Mercury. Why then, Menippus, in death there is no difference betwixt a King, and a Beggar. We must say, that he that was Lord of Solomon the Prince, he was Lord of Simeon the Prophet. We must say with job, the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. The balance of life and death, in which the highest, and lowest are weighed, is only turned by the imperial hand of God. Simeon therefore, as in the rest, so in this, he is curious to die, he asketh death of him, who only hath the power of life and death: So absolute a power, that as the Psalmist speaketh, Dixit, & facta sunt: he spoke the word, and all things were made. So, Dicat, & non sunt: let him speak but a word, and all things will be marred. Therefore Simeon, to the duty of a servant, and the power of a Lord, addeth Secundum Verbum tuum: according to thy Word. Knowing, that it is the duty of a servant, to depart at the least word of his Master. Secundum Verbum tuum. THis clause is plainly interpreted vers. 26. Simeon had a revelation by the holy Ghost, that he should not see death, till he had seen Christ. This was God's word, and this was a certain word; but yet look into this word, and for one certainty, you shall find two uncertainties. First, the Text saith, Expectabat consolationem: he expected the consolation of Israel. To see Christ, he was certain: but when to see Christ, he was uncertain. Again, he was to live, till Christ came, that was certain; but whether he should then immediately die, that also was uncertain. Nicephorus saith, he died presently at that instant. But the Scriptures and Apostolical Fathers are altogether silent; therefore it is dangerous to be confident. Simeon therefore had an absolute certainty of life, no absolute certainty of death. No more had Moses and Aaron, they were certain to die, and never to enter into Canaan: but they were not certain, when they should see Canaan from the Mount, and so die. Hezekiah that was promised fifteen years life, must so be understood, as he was threatened a present death; both condicional and limited to the order of second causes, which have not in them an absolute necessity, but a voluble contingency. God did not make Hezekiahs' body impassable against external violence; nor incorruptible against internal corruption: But thus saith the Lord: I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, I will add fifteen years of strength. I will repair the defects of nature, and extend them to a possibility of fifteen years, with an implicit condition of thy repentance, and so of thy lives continuance. Yea, to go a little farther, that which Christ said of the day of judgement, is applied by the Fathers to the day of death, that neither the Angels, nor Christ the Lord of Angels, doth know that day and hour, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: He knoweth that, saith Nazian, as God, but as Man, he doth not know it. I am not ignorant, that the School and some of the Fathers do interpret those words in another sense; But Bernard, Ambrose, and chrysostom do concur with Nazian▪ affirming that Christ, as man did not know it: not because he could not, but because he would not. Ne a Bernard. eam ignorantiam feramus molestius, quaecum Christo & Angelis, nobis est communis: that we may bear that ignorance patiently, which is common to us with Christ and his Angels. Many men (I confess) are sick of lingering consumptions, the infallible harbingers of death; and yet they are not certain of the moment of their consumption. Many at the beginning of their sickness, feel in their hearts, a presage of their death: and yet they languish in hope, and know not the certain hour of their dissolution. The general rule remaineth, that Simeon knew not, that no man knoweth the place, the manner, the moment of death. First, not the place: and it is no great matter, since Rachel died in the highway, aswell as jezabel in the streets: since josias and Achab both died in the field: since Saul and jonathan died both in one battle, and their carcases were hung up as Trophies of a bloody Victory in a barbarous City. Will you hear a Philosophical comfort? Earth, you know, is the Centre, & heaven is the world's circumference. If any man shall draw a Circle with his pen, with a point in the midst of the Circle, the Circle is equally distant from all points of the Circle, unto the point of the Centre. There is therefore, from all parts of the point and Centre of the earth, an equal distance to the Circle and Circumference of Heaven. What matter therefore though the bodies of the Martyrs were entombed in the entrails of wild beasts? though their ashes were scattered upon Rhodanus? though their carcases were made a prey to the fowls of heaven? What glory was it to Marshal's fly, though it were buried in concreted Crystal? what shame to Naboth, though his blood was licked up of Dogs? What hurt to the Virgins in the sack of Rome, whose bodies were unburied upon earth, whose souls were received into heaven? Nec vivorum culpa, qui non potuerunt praebere; nec mortuorum poena, qui non potuerunt sentire: De Civit. Dei. l. 1. It was neither (saith S. Augustine) the fault of the living, who had no power to bury the dead, nor the punishment of the dead, who had no sense of the afflictions of the living. We know not the manner of our death, 2. Manner. and it is a very trifle. job compares man to a flower: Esay to grass: john B. to a tree. Is it any great matter whether the flower be cropped, or the grass be mowed, or the Axe be laid to the root of the tree? At the death of Christ there were three crosses; upon those crosses were three persons; The Thief blaspheming, The Thief repenting, The son of God praying. Quid similius istis crucibus? quid dissimilius istis pendentibus? What more like, (saith S. a De Civi. li. 1. Augustine) than those crosses? what more unlike than those persons? We do not know the time of our death, 3. Time. and it is good for us, we do not. In nature b Seneca. peior est letho, timor ipse lethi, the fear of death is more terrible than death. Caesar had the death he desired: and surely that he deserved, to die suddenly by the hands of the Senators of Rome. But Nature hath only a Trumpet of lead, the Ark of God hath a Trumpet of silver. Look no farther then to another song in this Gospel. Zacharias song agrees with Simeons' song, Luke 1. 54. 55. That we being delivered out of the hands of our Enemies, might serve him without fear, all the days of our life. Men would serve God, as they do their servants, with reversions. In ultimis diebus mortis: in the last days of their death: but God will be served, In omnibus diebus vitae: In all the days of our life. Nature saith, O cives, cives, quaerenda pecunia primùm, virtus post nummos first: seek gold, and then serve God: first betray Christ, and then buy a field of blood to bury strangers. First make many beggars by usury and oppression, and then build an Hospital, the monument of a bloody devotion. But grace saith, c Mat. 6. Quaerite primùm regnum Dei: first seek Gods Kingdom, and all things else shall be cast unto you. All the rubbish of the world's treasure, are but castings; adiectanea, chippings and shavings, compared to the Pearl of heaven. Vt dum semper ignoratur, quasi proximus esse credatur. id. Bas. ut nec impij desperarent, quasi nullum tempus relictum poenitentiae, nec boni, quasi longum tempus patientiae. Latet ultimus dies ut obseruetur omnis dies. Therefore (saith S. Augustine) We know not our last day, that we may observe every day. Epicures and Balaams that have lived ill, a Cyprian. quando anima in extremis labris, when the soul sits on their lips, to take her flight, than they send for their Minister, to teach them to die well. We may then give you a little Opiate divinity to benumb you; we cannot give a cordial to secure you. We may tell you, that one b Ser. Par. 38. Bor. unus latro in fine bene poenituit, ille quidem ut nullus desperet, solus autem ut nullus praesumat. thief went from the gallows to glory: but we must not conceal that God opened the mouth of one Ass, which is no privilege for common Asses. And yet I will be liberal on God's part; I will promise heaven assuredly to that sinner, that doth repent but one day before he dies. You hear this mercy with greediness; turn not the grace of God into wantonness: be sure you repent one day before you die, whereof you cannot be sure, except you repent every day. God at some times, (it may be at this time,) doth touch your hearts. c Ang. conf. Deus in meloquebatur, & ego nesciebam: When good motions come into our hearts, God speaks, and we do not know it. If you quench the Spirit: the Spirit bloweth where it listeth, and when it listeth: You know not therefore, whether if to day you will not hear his voice, Aug. de verbis Domini. to morrow you shall hear his voice. Nemo promittat sibi, quod evangelium non promittit: let no man promise to himself, what the Gospel hath not promised. God hath promised grace to the penitent, but God hath not promised grace to morrow, or life to morrow to repent. How can there be peace in the conscience, when the whoredoms, and witchcrafts of jezabel remain in the Soul? There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God. If Simeon had not repaired his soul in life, he never could have had the settled peace of conscience in death. But peace in death is the fruit of a sanctified life, is the end of Simeons' petition, is the end and period of the Sermon. In Pace. WHich peace was implicitly promised to King Hezekiah in his life: explicitly unto Abraham in his death. Let there be peace in my days, was Hezekiahs' prayer, Esay 39 8. Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; this was Abraham's promise, Gen. 15. 15. Not that we are to think, that Peace was only communicated to Hezekiah in Life, to Abraham in Death. But to express in their persons, the world's passions. Every man is either a Dives, dreaming of nothing but ease and peace in life: Or a Balaam, desiring nothing but grace and peace in death. It is a vulgarisme of note; Such a man died like a lamb, though he lived like a Lion. As though Consumptions may not spend our choleric humours: apoplexies may not stop our vital passages: Palsies may not take away our speech: dropsies may not exhaust our spirits. There are many defects in nature, that may cause men to die quietly, but not religiously. Sisera, after a draft of milk, was no more sensible of the hammer of jael, than Holofernes, after a tun of wine, of the sword of judith. Look therefore to the Text, unto Simeons' peace. Which whether you interpret with Euthinius, pro pace cogitationum: for peace of mind, opposed to doubting: Or with Cyprian, pro pace securitatis: for peace of security, opposed to falling: or with Irenaeus, pro pace mortis: for peace in death, opposed to labouring: or with Origen, pro pace conscientiae: for peace of conscience, opposed to despairing: In all these, the rule of Bernard is certain. Vis in pace mori, sis servus Dei: would you die in peace, you must serve the God of peace. No Simeons service. No Simeons security. We are not to doubt, but Simeon prayed for that peace, which Christ promised, john 14 27. Pacem meam: My peace I give unto you. Christ's peace is the peace of a Christian. But Christ's peace is joined with, jugum meum; my yoke: crucem meum; my cross: servum meum; my servant: verbum meum; my word: and then pacem meam; my peace. He that takes upon him Christ's yoke by obedience active; Christ's Cross by obedience passive; he that serves Christ in conscience, and according to Christ's word, in science: let him never doubt, but that in all duties, in all crosses, in all service, in all controversies, he shall have God's Angel to comfort him in a furnace of fire. Let him never doubt but that the sting of death shall be extracted, the power of hell shall be conquered, the gates of heaven shall be opened, the bosom of Abraham shall be prepared, and he in the eternal peace of Saints and Angels shall be glorified: unto which peace Simeon is long since ascended: Where it is best to leave him: It being just, that as we found Christ in the arms of Simeon; so we should leave Simeon in the arms of Christ: there being no better way to end, then with the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, and surpasseth all commending. But though I have done with Simeon, I have not begun with the parallel of Simeon: it being an unreprovable custom in God's Church, that as you read, 2. Chron. 32. 33. that all judah and jerusalem did honour Hezekiah at his death: so for Ambrose to honour Valentinian; Satyrus, Theodosius; for Nazian▪ to honour Basil; Gregory, Gorgonia; for Eusebius to honour Constantine; for Augustine to honour his Monica; Hierome his Nepotian; for us to power out a sacrifice of thanksgiving, for the religious life, and Christian death of the Saints of God. Only we must remember, that we are Preachers, and not Orators; we must not speak for affection, nor for faction. a Praese. adversus Haereticos. Nullubi citius proficitur, quam in haereticorum castris: Ibi enim esse, est magnum esse. A man (saith Tertullian) is never more easily, more speedily, more hyperbolically magnified, then among Schismatics and heretics: to be one of their faction, (though otherwise never so unworthy) is to be a man of estimation. Every molehill is made a mountain, where partiality sways the balance. I will seek no farther than the Text, wherein I find Dominum and servum, both titles given to Princes. I said, Ye are b Psal. 82. 6. Gods: there is the title of a Lord; David the son of a c Psal. 186. 16. handmaid, there is the title of Servant. These two titles shall be to me, as Hercules' Pillars; Nequid ultra: nothing beyond them, nothing but contained in them. First, I will consider him, as a Lord of men. Secondly, as a servant of God. So shall we give unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God, that which is Gods. He was a Lord whose Hearse we here attend; And a Lord, as Elizeus was a Prophet, with a double mantle of honour. His Barony of Ruthen extended from Edward the first. His Earldom of Kent extended from Edward the fourth: yea, and so extended (witness his arms of unstained Honour) that as his Progenitors received Honour from the royal favour of Princes; So they continued their Honour by loyal service to their Sovereigns. I confess indeed, that many times, the virtues of our Progenitors, are but fig-leaves, to cover the nakedness and worthlessness of our own persons. But yet, saith * In Psal. 1. Basil, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: A green leaf doth give a beauty to a golden Orange. So Antiquity, that perpetuates the silver cord of Honour, to posterity; it gives a lustre to Nobility. A lustre it gives, and yet it is but a blazing Star, and Meteor, compared with the fixed Stars of our own virtues. Descend we therefore to the person of this Honourable Henry, and let us search without fraud, or flattery, what Heroical virtues commended him to his King: what Political virtues commended him to his Country; what Economical virtues commended him to his servants. Alas, you know that he was troubled with many infirmities; as S. Paul writes of Timothy: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, even in the pain and daily crudities of his stomach. He might say with old and honourable Barzillai, 2. Sam. 19 32. that he was a very old man, (three score and fourteen years old) that he could not hear the voice of singing. Deaf many years. What then were the motives unto Queen Elizabeth of immortal memory, to invest him? to King james of incomparable judgement, to continue him in the lieutenancy of this Country? To communicate unto him the supreme image of their own glory. If the times had been secure, the charge had not been so honourable nor so observable; because goodness and virtue are not ever respected in times of safety. * 2. Sam. 18. Cashi runneth by the mountains, and Ahimaaz runneth by the plains, and both unto David. But in times of danger, when the Commonwealth was like to the Moon, subject to alteration, and change, that in those times he should be honoured with such a charge, might seem to be no other, then to lay Pelion upon Ossa, one burden, upon another. There can be no other reason given, than what * In obitu. Ambrose said of Theodosius, Senior aetate, validus fide; he was feeble, but he was faithful. He was a Barzilla, a lover of his King, a lover of his Country. I know, you remember the times of fear and amazement in Eighty eight. When the Bulls of Rome roared, the Cannons of Spain thundered; when Traitors were bred in our own bowels, Horseleeches were shipped to suck the Country's blood; Then by the care of this Honourable Lord, your Troops were trained, your armory was surveyed, your people by his presence were encouraged, your villages and towns were guarded, your Captains and Leaders were counseled, all things without excess of charge, without corruption and falsehood, without partiality and hatred, were sufficiently provided: and he and you for your mutual and faithful offices, were of the Queen and Council most remarkably honoured. You know that when your late great Queen was translated from a Crown of earth, to a Crown of Stars, that there was need of a skilful Pilot to rule and stern the ship of State, in so sudden a storm; which how well it was governed; how carefully and loyally your peace, against all malcontents, was preserved, yourselves can best relate it, whose fears made you most sensible of it. To conclude therefore the commendation of his Heroical and Noble virtues, we may invert the speech which Tacitus * Verba Taciti de Galba. Omnium judicio indignus Imperio, nisi imper asset. reporteth of Galba the Emperor, Omnium judicio, indignus Imperio, nisi imperasset. Such infirmity, by all men's judgement, had been unfit for government, had he not been Governor. For his Political virtues, which commended him to the love of this Country, I require no other jury, than your eyes and ears. It is the contemplation of the Singer of Israel, that justice and Peace have kissed each other. It is true in many what S. Austen hath paraphrased, unam vis, & aliam non vis: some men are so tyrannous, that they will have nothing but extreme justice; some men so effeminate, they would have nothing but disordered peace. It was a question of State, recorded by Suetonius, whether it were worse to live under Nero, where a man might do nothing; or under Claudius, where a man might do any thing? Our Honourable Earl caused justice and peace to kiss each other. Just he was, a Solomon, that no harlot could deceive him: merciful he was as David, that no injury, no, not that which concerned his Honour, his Barony, his estate, could habituate in him an Italianate, and eternal malice. When the Laws of the Kingdom had determined his right and title, his own heart was Chancellor, to quench the fire of contention. Just he was, to keep the Country free from the sons of Belial. A peacemaker he was to compromise, and to end unchristian controversies. Just he was, and feared not the greatest. Loving he was, and contemned not the least. I can remember, that when I was brought up at the feet of this Gamaliel, that every Thursday (which is now by God's direction, contrary to your first resolution, the day of his memorial) he road to a neighbour-Towne of Amptill, where he first frequented God's Temple; to hear a Sermon, and to offer up a sacrifice to God; and then consulted with the justices, and Officers of trust, for the peace of the Country: There might you see every Thursday as at the Pool of Bethesda, the Orphan and the widow, the poor and afflicted, seeking and finding of comfort: There the Recusant and ill-affected subject, were convented, examined, persuaded; and if all would not serve, restrained, from infecting the credulous multitude. So that God's Religion was countenanced, the oppressed were succoured, the darnel was severed, the peace and civility of the Country, by such a solemn and ordinary meeting, was maintained. If I speak false, accuse me: If I speak truth, testify with me: for many of you know the substance, when I remember only the shadow. For his Economical virtues, as he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Lord of a Family: three things are observed by the Philosopher. First, the choice of a wife. Next, the entertainment of servants. The third, the care of our estate, that we be not hurtful, but helpful unto others. The Wife is the first: for she either is our helper, or our tempter; our good, or our evil Angel. But before I can speak a word of her, of whom I learned first to speak, I must make a Conf. 1. Saint Austin's confession. Pudet me illius aetatis, in qua me vixisse non memini: I am ashamed of my infancy amongst you, in which I do not remember that ever I lived. But could I remember, what some of you have told me, (whom I am bound to believe) I should here give public thanks to God, that hath called me to his Ministry, upon this occasion Collater alley to honour her memory, who for her recreation, vouchsafed to instruct me in the Alphabet and elements of learning. I beseech you give way a little to my affectionate thankfulness, if I interueyne our Earls honours, with his wives virtues. Her first life's blood was derived from ancient Gentry, but her service in Court, her excellence of body, and graces of mind, transplanted her into the stock of more ancient Nobility. Our Earl found her the Widow of that great Earl, Edward of Derby, found, and a while kept her, a most beloved, loving, gracious, compassionate, religious, and noble Lady: whose untimely death without issue, divided a pair of honourable Turtles, divided their bodies, but not their souls; 34. years he spent, as a mourner of her Funerals; divided their bodies, but not their loves; for though her body lies buried at great Gaddesden, which necessity did enforce; yet all that jacob could do for Rachel, he hath done for her, in joining her pillar upon his own sepulchre, making one individual monument for them both, in this Chapel; to testify to all the world that happy union, of which, neither life nor death could make a disjunction. Such was his Lady, such was their love. I would to God the discontentments of great Lords and Ladies did not make it remarkable. What a shame is it, when our honourable marriages are like that of Pompey with julia, of Anthony with Octavia: which are not made to unite hearts, but houses; nor to join affections, but factions: the issue being as fatal, as the beginning was unfaithful? But I had rather power forth prayers to God for reformation; then spend unregarded words of reprehension. Let it suffice, that they there lie together in one grave, of whom you cannot judge, whether their honour were greater, or their love. The next thing in a family, is the entertainment of servants: which this Honourable person knew best to choose, because himself had been a servant. Though he was borne of a most Noble family, yet being a younger brother, (as the unjust, yet usual custom of our Country is,) he was compelled by necessity to serve in a Noble Family: but after, was preferred to the service of the late Queen of happy memory. In both which he gained such experience, that he knew with jacob how to reform his household: that no Idolatrous Baalite, no Idle-bellied Cretian, no profane Esau, no Ruffian Lamech, no blasphemous Rabsache, no inordinate persen, should by his will and knowledge, shroud their abominable vices under his Honourable virtues. He well knew the sharp speech of a Dioge. Laer. in V●a Arist. Aristippus, who replied to a wonderer of a great train of servants: At plures muscas in culina: he had not (saith the Philosopher) so many servants in his Hall, as he had flies in his Kitchen. Servants, who are fed like great horses, only for pomp and show, are usually irreligious and unprofitable creatures. But those servants whom he entertained, those he trusted, accounting it a French lightness, to entertain a few Pies, and to change them as often as their Liveries. His ancient servants, fit for a settled and an Honourable house, sufficient for their number, and extraordinary for their qualities; whereof some had continued with him ten years, some twenty, some thirty, some forty years, those (according to the means and measure of his estate) he rewarded at his death. Others, who served him less time, he honoured either with a Ring of remembrance, or comforted with half a years wages for their present maintenance. Generally he commended them all to his Honourable Brother, that howsoever they had lost a loving Lord, yet they might find a Noble Master. It was a great part of his care at death, that his servants might be provided for the means of life. I must not forget to conclude this point, with the remembrance of another Legacy. Our Noble Earl did so remember his own servants, as he did not forget Gods poor servants: 50. pounds he allotted by his will, to be distributed to Christ's brethren, to feed them, to cloth them, or in such manner to comfort them, as their necessity required, and his brother's judgement should order; that as his soul was to be comforted by the blood of the Lamb: So, (as job speaketh) the loins of the poor might be warmed with the fleece of his sheep. The third point was the care of his estate, which, as he publisheth in the Record of his Will and Testament, he found almost ruinated, by the vain prodigality of Richard Earl of Kent. He knowing therefore that Honour without means, is but a glorious burden, but the Tower of Babel, the seminary of confusion, he made a careful frugality, the fuel of his continual hospitality. Great things by providence are attained, by prodigality ruinated. You read in the 15. of Luke of a prodigal son, in the 16. of Luke, of a prodigal servant: and prodigality brought both to beggary; the one with shame a Luke 15. 21. came crying to his father; the other said, he was driven to b Luke 16. 3. 4. cozen his Master. Our honourable Earl therefore professeth in his Will and Testament, that he did not build yonder Monument of stone for any vain glory, but as an Emblem to his posterity, that their house was ruinated by Richard's prodigality, was restored by Henry's frugality. Such a curse followeth Absalon: Such a blessing followeth joseph. I call not evil good, I apparel not vice with the Livery of virtue. It was not baseness, but providence that laid the foundation; It was not oppression, but time, that finished this building. You of this Parish know his voluntary contribution to public charges, whereof he was freed by Law. You of the Country know his perpetual housekeeping, his relieving of the poor, his feasting of whole Towns at public times, and solemnities. He knew full well, that a man may better cheap keep a constant and good house, than an unconstant and wicked harlot. In one word, jacob provided, and God prospered. But all these Heroical, political, Economical virtues are common unto trajan, aswell as to a Christian; all these things without grace, are not a natural, but a painted flower of glory. Except we can find that he was as good a servant of God, as he was a Lord of men; omnis humana justitia simil●s est corpori caput non habenti: All human justice (saith Lactantius) is but like a body without a head; Is but the shadow, Is not the substance of virtue. Let us leave him therefore as a Lord of men, and consider him as a servant of God. To express which attribute of a servant, I find two other words in the Text; the first doth express the duty of life: the second doth afford security in death. I Secundum verbum, according to God's word in living. 2. In pace, according to Gods will in dying. His life was secundum verbum, according to God's word, whether you consider his public or his private devotions. His public devotions in favouring and honouring the Lords Prophets; like another Obadiah, he fed them at his own Table, he used them with all respect of their calling, he accounted them as the Angels of God's Church, and not as many politics do, the basest of jeroboams Priests: He knew that those that served at God's Altar, were not to be accounted as the retriment of the people. It being an infallible consequence, that he who despiseth God's Ministers, doth contemn God in his Ministers. If Christ be Christ, Christians will honour the Ambassadors of Christ. Atheism is the mother, and contempt the daughter of profaneness. Next, his devotion appeared in the doctrine and discipline of truth▪ against superstitious Idolatry, and ignorant novelty. Let me record what I know, what he knew and professed, (For although ivy cling about the Oak, yet is not the fruit of the Oak.) It cannot be denied, but that some that had more zeal than knowledge, and I fear (notwithstanding their frequent lip-labor) more knowledge, than conscience, (I am sure more sacrifice, than obedience) shrouded themselves under his protection, which through the defect of his hearing, he could not avoid, being compelled to entertain such, as the partiality of some about him did commend unto him; but for his own judgement, he ever desired men of religion, void of ostentation; men of conscience, free from faction: accounting the established Apostolical discipline of the Church of England, to be preferred before the lunacies, and Fancies of Consistorian confusion. Lastly, his public frequenting of God's Temple, (not his private Chapel) where (through want of hearing) he was rather a Spectator, than an Actor, gave so good example to his household, to the Inhabitants of the Town and Country, as the good that came thereby, did testify to all the world, how much it concerns every great person, to be either a Michael, a Leader of Angels, or a Lucifer, a Captain of Devils: I express myself. Truth and Religion seek no corners, no woods, no chambers, no places, no persons, of darkness. God doth give that blessing to the public Temple, that he doth not give to a private Chapel; Indeed they are Chapels of ease, more for their ease, than their honour. As though we cannot adore the God of heaven, except we be attended like Beronice, with pomp on earth. If at the day of judgement we shall all stand in the Valley of jehosaphat: If the four and twenty Elders do cast their Crowns at the feet of the Lamb: I beseech you, must we (for flat) contemn the public assemblies? Our most noble, most humble Earl, knew, that in respect of our sins, the blood of the poor Virgin's Son doth equally wash the soul of a Lazar, aswell as of Caesar. Therefore as there is but one common salvation, so there aught to be a common, and a public, and a joint humble Invocation. His private devotions were performed without a Trumpet: I will not make them more by Art, than they were in heart. Pray he did: pray he did every morning and evening; pray he did in his own person; pray he did in his Chamber, without any other witness, than the witness of a broken spirit to God. Some one (necessarily) saw, and observed him, (as Daniel was observed to pray towards jerusalem,) but he did not pray to be seen, though he was seen when he prayed. As Christ went up to Mount Olivet, which mountain he chose for solitariness, not for greatness. His prayers ended, his body refreshed, his mind quieted, the rest of the day he spent in reading the Scriptures and the Commentaries of holy writers, in revolving the Histories of Church and State. In few words, the vanities of the world did not draw him from a constant and continual course of Piety. So that the latter part of his life, was like the daily revolution of the Sun, in a seasonable and infallible and a certain Sphere of Virtues. His death was the last Scene of all his labours, Death. which (as I was informed) was like to Simeons in the comfortable peace of his soul. Great is God's mercy, when the earthly Tabernacle of the body doth so sensibly decay, that we find our deaths, before we feel it. His body, you know, was ploughed with furrows of age, which caused him to keep his bed, before any (but himself) saw his period. A Physician was sent for, whose presence is mixed with fear and comfort; but to him, who was prepared, his Physician brought neither comfort, nor fear. He rejoiced, that he trusted not with Asa in his Physician, but in his God. And according to that confidence, he exhorted his affectionate brother, with words of grace and piety; He put his house in order like Hezekiah, and with great patience expected the hour of his dissolution. His want of hearing excluded all possibility of external comfort, but he felt a Comforter within, which none can tell, but he that enjoys him; yet the inward joy of his salvation, sent forth (as Austen speaks of the Egyptians) quasdam eiaculationes: certain winged darts unto Heaven. His heart was like a Furnace, and his words (though short) were as so many sparks of devotion. I have a relation from his Chaplain, to whom in private he disclosed the burden of his conscience. His body being decayed with age, and wearied with sickness, our Adversary, who is a seeking Lion, sought to devour him: His private confession showed the particularity of his temptation. The Devil presents to his melancholy fancy, the power of Witches; tempting him to conceive, that for his sins, God had forsaken him, and given him over to the malice of Sorcerers; striving to make him think that this his weakness and sickness, was hot a defect of nature, but an effect of Satan. Thus was our good Earl winnowed; but he that prayed for * Peter. Peter, prayed for Henry, that his faith might not fail. And fail it did not; God's Spirit brought unto his memory, the mercy of God to David repenting, the power of God against Balaams cursing; and now he found the comfortable fruit of reading the Scriptures, in them he found Balm of Gilea●, comfort and consolation against the power of hell and darkness. He concluded an humble confession, with a firm resolution: that God would be merciful (as to David,) that God would be powerful (against Balaam) that God would not forsake him, notwithstanding his sins; that he would not forsake God, notwithstanding his sickness. If any man demand and say, Is this the peace of Simeon, where there is such temptation? I answer; that peace is the end of a combat; In that soul where there is no spiritual combat, there is no spiritual peace. For as we teach against the Church of Rome, that our faith is not swallowed up of doubting: So we teach according to truth, that a true faith is troubled with doubting. When a man considers his own demerits, than he justly doubts of mercy: when a man considers Christ his merits, he firmly trusts in God's mercy. As in a battle, all the time of the skirmishing, there is doubt: But when the enemy flies and is put to rout, than there is no doubt. So in the soul, all the while the Devil flings his fiery darts, there is doubt: but when he is conquered by the sword of the Spirit, than there is no doubt. As therefore you read of the Pool of Bethesda; First, the Pool was troubled, and then the sick were healed: so this noble Earl first felt a troubled spirit, to try him, and then the joy of the holy Spirit to comfort him. And surely it was the holy Spirit; for it never left him, after it had found him. The last words that ever man heard him speak, were three Amens to his chaplains prayers, concluding his life as the holy Ghost doth the Scripture, Amen, Revel. 22. 20. Amen, Revel. 22. 21. As Christ concluded his Cross, Amen, This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise, Luke 23. 43. To which Paradise, I doubt not, but his blessed soul is gone before. God grant that ours may follow after; That we may all depart in peace, to the fruition of eternal happiness. Amen, Amen, Amen.