DEATH and the GRAVE: OR A SERMON PREACHED AT THE FUNERAL OF THAT honourable and Virtuous lady, the lady ALICE LUCIE, August 17. 1648.  
By Th. Du-gard, M.A. and Rector of Barford in the county of WARWICK.  
LONDON, Printed by William Du-gard, Anno Domini 1649.   

TO THE Right Worshipful, and much honoured, Mr 

Spencer  
Robert  
Richard  
Thomas  
Fulk   lucy. 

The lady Constance Spencer.  
Mrs Brigit Broughton.  
Mrs 

lucy  
Alice  
Elisabeth   lucy   The remains of that honourable Pair, Sir THOMAS lucy Knight, and the lady ALICE his Wife.  
Right Worshipful, and much honoured!  
HAd this 
{αβγδ} Filius doloris mei Gen. 35.48.  Ben-oni died in the ●ar, and been interred with the honourable lady, it had made no addition to My Sorrow. Might I have had my Option, either the Funeral had found me a silent Mourner, or these Funeral Notes had not needed a gentle Reader. But I was in a manner 
— Scripta divolgata sunt, Amicûm sum f●… su, non me âpte audaciâ. Lips. Epist. ●… st p. 20●.  necessitated, as before to the Pulpit, so now to the Pres● my former relation to your Noble family,( where I had the honor to bee Preacher three years) not excusing me from the one, nor your 
Pietas non solùm erga Deum, said etiam parentes& optimè meritos usurpatur. Hinc pus Aeneas. Et illud Ciceronis, Ego omni officio ac potius pietate, &c. sic ep. 9. l. 1.& 6. l. 2.  piety toward your dearest Parent from the other. Howbeit my slow motion toward the Press may bee sufficient evidence, that, although I have an hand in this Publication, I had no heart to it. Not that there is in me the least unwillingness to serve you, and to do all the honor I can to the memory of Her, to whom both myself and mine were so much obliged: But that I am sensible of the imperfections of my Funeral-service;( alas! what could bee performed by a man of so imperfect health, and withal so full of various necessary employments, as I then was?) and am not ignorant that the endeavours of my best health, and greatest vacancy, would have subsided much below her excellent Worth. Add hereunto the Distemper of the Times, casting great dis-respect, as upon 

Non solùm tempora iniqua literis sunt, said etiam judicia hominum. Utinam fallar! said ut haeres fluút, Domitiani edicto opus non erit; bonae artes brevi in exsilium ibunt suâ sponte. Lip. Ep. Qu. p. 201.  
Dixeris haec inter varicosos Centuriones,  
Continuò crassum ridet Vulfenius ingeris,  
Et centum graecoes curto centurse licetur, Pers. S●… t. 5.   secular Learning, the necessary and neat Handmaid; so upon Sacred divinity, the never enough honoured& admired Mistress. divinity finde's but little humanity among many men. Even they that heretofore have said, How beautiful are the Feet of them that preach the Gospel of Peace, and bring glad tidings of good things? and if it had been possible would have plucked out their own eyes, and given them to their pious and painful Ministers, are now ready to pluck out their Minister's eyes, and to pluck meat from their mouths, and to pluck them from their Pulpits, and to trample them under their feet. They cannot see so much beauty in their Faces now, as they did in their Feet heretofore; when they saw their Faces( as the Council did Stephen's) as if they had been the faces of Angels. They say unto them, as konrah and his Complices said to Moses and Aaron, ye take too much upon you, seeing all the Congregation are holy, every one of them, and the Lord is among them: Wherefore then lift you up your selvs above the Congregation of the Lord? Numb. 16.3. or at least as miriae and Aaron said against Moses, Hath the Lord indeed spoken onely by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? Numb. 12.2. and, conceiting them as useless and dangerous as the brazen Serpent at last was, they would as gladly( and think they might as righteously) break them in pieces as Hezekiah did it, 2 Kings 18.4. And how fare's it with orthodox, searching, settling Discourses, delivered to the Ear, and thence commended to public View? Never was there greater need of such, and never a greater neglect of them. Of Hundreds, each whereof may challenge an Hic meret aera liber Sosiis &c. it may now bee said, Quis leget haec? vel dvo, vel nemo. divinity hath had of late but few Readers; and many Learned, godly, Reverend Divines but few Hearers. every Ignis Fatuus hath been followed as if it were the Star that lead to Christ: and every blazing Comet more looked upon and delighted in then the fountain of Light. Rushcandles have been lighted at Mid-daie, and a cry made, O what blessed Lights are here! and the Sun, though shining in his strength, made nothing of in comparison. Now what 
{αβγδ}.  Evils do these Comets portend? May his prophesy prove the falsest that ever was, that shall fore-tell the extirpation of a learned and faithful ministry, the extinction of the liberal Sciences, the putting out of the two eyes of the Land; our relapse into Barbarism and Atheism, and God's heaviest Judgments breaking us into pieces. O may wee never hear Lo-ruhamah, Lo-ammi; nor say Icabod; nor see mogul missabib. Our provocations have been high; were our invocations strong, and our return to our offended God speedy, peradventure our Land might yet bee called Beulah, and Hephzibah; wee might bee 
Isai. 62.3, 4.  a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of our God. What will become of us, whether wee shall bee a People any longer or not, God only know's. If he shall not forthwith proceed to judgement, and cut us off, our iniquities being full, and crying for vengeance, wee must needs acknowledge that his Mercies are admirable, and that he deal's not with us after the manner of men. If he shall, 
Felices ambo tempestivéque sepulti.  how graciously hath he deal't with your Mother in taking her away from the evil to come! Your Father he took away before the late War, and so secured from it: Your Mother he left behind, and secured in it. Scarce was there any house in the Kingdom that enjoyed such a Sabbath from Sorrow as Her's did. For whereas most great Houses were deserted by the Inhabitants, not daring to continue in them, or to leave behind them almost any of their Goods: many rifled by rude harpies, and made as empty as when they were newly erected; other's filled with bitter lamentation for abuses offered to the weaker sex, and carrying away the Master, or some of his Children: and some, either burnt down to the ground, so that their places know them no more, or made utterly unfit for habitation: It pleased God to free Her's, almost to a miracle, from all these miseries. Shee had Peace within her walls, 
Psal. 122.7.  and plenty and prosperity with it. Though men of War came frequently thither in great multitudes, they deported themselves there, and departed thence, like Sons of Peace. Their Quarters they always left free, except from Free-quarter. Shee made the most High her habitation, 
Psal. 91.9.  and he blessed her Dwelling place. Shee delighted in Him, and he in Her. Shee sincerely served Him, and he graciously saved Her. Should new Storms arise,( and wee have no cause of confidence that God hath left of Storming England) you know whither, and by whose Example, to repair for Shelter and Succour. The glory of Children,( Solomon tell's us) are their Parents. 
Prov. 17.6.  yours, having been so ennobled with all Virtues, that it might bee said of them, Deus est in utroque parent, have exceedingly honoured you. You will as much honor 
{αβγδ}.  Them, and much more your selvs, by a lively representation of all their Virtues. It is far more 
Nè tibi adscripseris vetusta stemmata, aut à majoribus partam laudem: pulcrius crit decus, cujus author ipse, quàm cujus haeres fueris. Joach. Fort. Ring. de ratione Stud. p. 166.  honourable thus to reflect and return honor, then to receive it. And this as it is already don by some, so it is expected from all. You are all looked upon as lucida sidera, shining Stars; whose motion must bee regular, and influence singular. The Irish use to require of their Children whatsoever Excellencies were in all their Ancestors. That you may do what is required of them, you need not go further then to your immediate Parents; in whom there was a collection of all the several Excellencies of your most ancient and honourable family; and whom if you shall resemble, as Constantine's Sons did him, to the 
{αβγδ}. Euseb.  life, you shall greatly honor, as Them and your selvs, so almighty God also. Who require's to bee honoured by all, but specially by them whom he hath specially honoured. Such as have the greatest outward Privileges, are apt to conceit themselves privileged persons; and to live to themselves, doing nothing for God, that hath don so much for them. As the poorer sort of people in Swethland were wont to say, It belonged not to them to sanctify the Sabbath, but to the Rich: So some Rich, almost every where seem to say, It belong's not to them to serve, and do for God, but to the Poor, who have more 
— meae Stultitiam patiuntur opes, tibi parvula res est. Hor.  need of him. These must know, that the more liberally God sow's his favours, the larger crop of Honor he looks to reap. Do you, I beseech you, what you can for God; lay out your selvs to the utmost; improve your Talents, your Losses, the Times. Your Talents must not bee napkin'd up; nor your Candle lighted and put under a bushel. Your losses are exceeding great. Parents are precious 
{αβγδ}. Theog.  Mercies; such as yours, invaluable. When God made you Fatherless, he intended you should the more look up to Heaven, and seek a Father there. Now he hath made you Orphans, he purpose's wholly to wean you from transitory Comforts, and to make you more hunger after himself, depend on his Providence, cast anchor where you cannot miscarry. Schola crucis schola lucis. Affliction is God's School, where he teacheth his dearest Children the knowledge of his ways: the faster they learn, the sooner they leave. If they profit not under one Rod, another must bee expected; if two prove ineffectual, a third will follow. You have been twice under the corrrecting hand of God; deprived, by the first stroke, of your Father; by the second, of your Mother. some of you have most dear Yoke-fellows. If the departure of Parents drive you not nearer heaven, the loss of an Husband or Wife shortly may. The Times call upon us to call upon God, and to make our Peace with Heaven, since there is so small probability of Peace upon Earth. If this slender discourse shall afford any furtherance to a right Improvement of your Talents, and Losses, and these threatening Times, I shall have the less cause to wish it un-published. You would needs have it; I here humbly present it; and shall ever bee  
yours to bee commanded 
 in Christ, 
 Thomas Du-gard.   

DEATH and the GRAVE. OR, A Sermon preached at the Funeral of that honourable and Virtuous lady, the lady Alice lucy, August 17. 1648.  PSAL. 89.48. 
What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.  
THis Psalm is one of those twelve that are marked in the fore-head with Maschil; that is, a Psalm giving Instruction.  
It consisteth of as many Verses as the year doth of Weeks, and hath, like the year, its Summer and Winter. The Summer-part is the former, wherein, the Church having reaped a most rich crop,( the best Blessings of Heaven and Earth) the Psalmist breaketh forth into the praises of their gracious Benefactor, I will sing the mercies of the Lord for ever: so he beginneth, and so he goeth on a great way. Who now would expect any thing but mercies, and singing, and Summer all the way' But Summer ceaseth, and Winter commenceth at v. 38. But thou hast cast off, and abhorred: thou hast been wrath with thine Anointed. Mercies and singing are now turned into troubles and mourning. But nothing shall you hear but bitter querimonies& expostulations till you come to the last vers. There the good man comes to himself again. Though God were angry with his People, he cannot part with God in discontent. Though God had laden them with crosses, he lift's up his head, and presents God with Blessings; Blessed bee the Lord for evermore, Amen and Amen. he blesseth him aswell for Winter as for Summer, for troubles as for mercies.  
And thus the last vers of the Psalm having as much affinity with the first in matter, as the last day of the year hath with the first in season; if wee circled the Psalm, and bring both ends together, wee find a fit resemblance between the year and It.  
The Text is one of the Psalmist's Winterdrops; a black line from that Pen, which erstwhile was so filled with Joy, and wrote nothing but rubrics. he complaineth in the next precedent vers, of the brevity of his own life: ( it was like a Winter's day, very short.) in this, of the instability of Man's Life: as though he had said, I am not the onely Mortal. Other mens lives, though haply clothed with more comforts then mine, and extended to a greater length then mine, are altogether as mortal as mine; for his Interrogations are equipollent to strong Negations: There is no man living, that shall not see death, no man living that shall deliver his soul from the hand of the grave.  
Is death visible then? Hath the grave an hand? Is the soul subject to the grave? These I shall answer in the opening of the words.  
What 
{αβγδ}  man liveth] What man of men, what stout-hearted, strong-handed man, what valiant champion 
{αβγδ}  liveth now, or shall live hereafter?  
And shall not see death?] To see death, as it is not a proper, so neither is it a common speech. It occurreth oftener in the New Testament then in the Old, yet but seldom there; Luke 2.26. It was revealed into him,( old Simeon) by the holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. John 8.51. Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death. Hebr. 11.5. By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death.  
So the Scripture speaketh of Sleep, Eccles. 8.16. There is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes. And profane Writers also, I have not seen 
Somnum hâc nocte oculis non vidi meis. Terent. Heaut. act. 3. sc. 1.  sleep with mine eyes this night, saith he in the Poet. And the Orator of 
Caninio consul scito neminem prandisse, nihil tamen eo consul mali factum est. Fuie enim mirilicâ vigilantiâ, qui suo toto Consulatu somnum non viderit. Cic. fam. Epist. lib. 7. Epist. 30.  Consul Caninius; he was a wonderful vigilant man, that during the time of his Consul-ship, never saw sleep.  
Like unto the phrase of Seeing death, is that of Tasteing it. Matth. 16.28. Mark 9.1. Luke 9.27. There bee some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. So John 8.52.— Thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death. And, Heb. 2.9.— that Jesus should taste death for every one.  
Chrysostom distinguisheth between Seeing and Tasteing death. said hallatinatur; eódem enim revidunt, saith 
Drus. Praeter. pag. 82.& 133.  Drusius. Chrysostom is out here, for they are the same. And indeed so they seem to bee by that of John 8.51, 52. Our saviour having said, If a man keep my saying, he shall not see death: the Jews made answer, Abraham is dead, and the Prophets: and thou sayest, If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste of death; where wee have an explication as of the one by the other, so of both by a third. For, as to see sleep is to sleep; so to see or taste death, is to die. There is no surviveing such a sight. Death saie's, as God once to Moses, There shall no man see me, and live, Exod. 33.20.  
Now by this death, which all must see, wee must understand not spiritual death; which is a separation of original righteousness from the soul, with an Intrusion of habitual concupiscence: nor eternal death; which is a separation of the whole man from the glorious presence of God, and a punishing of him for ever in hell:( the one whereof answereth to the loss of Grace, the other to the filth of Sin.) but a corporal death; which is a separation of the soul from the body, or a dissolution of the frame of nature. Whether this corporal death shall bee natural or violent, whether in the morning, or meridian, or evening of our time; whether when wee are at home or abroad, and the like, he onely knowe's that know's all things.  
Shall he deliver his Soul?] The Soul is a spiritual, incorruptible, immortal substance, and therefore no meat for the grave's mouth. There are in these lamentable times, when Truth is cried down, and Errors are cried up, that make a grave for the soul also; and this Scripture among others they make their ground. Such I remit to Calvin's Tractate of Psychopannychia, and to another late one of a learned author, styled, the Prerogative of Man, made by way of Answer to a Pamphlet asserting Whole Man's mortality. Such doctrine cannot but bee very comfortable to Flesh and blood, which cannot inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. 15.50. But very prejudicial, if it were true, to the Children of the kingdom, who, when they come to the end of their daies, expect to receive the end of their hope, the salvation of their souls, 1 Pet. 1.9. And surely they shall not bee ashamed of their hope, Psal. 119.116. as soon as they rest from their labour, they shall receive their penny. as soon as their work is don, they shall hear that soul-ravishing word, Well don, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord, Matth. 25.21, 23.  
Shall he deliver his Soul, in the text is, Shall he deliver Himself? As the body, so the Soul, is sometimes taken for the whole man. The body, Rom. 12.1. I beseech you— that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, &c. So wee sometimes commend a person for a good body. 

Sic Horat. Serm. lib. 1. Sat. 5.— ainae, quails neque candidiores  
Terra tulit, neque queis me sit devinctior alter, de Plotio, Vario,& Virgilio. Et Juven. Sat. 4. ver. 150.  
— claras abstulit urbi  
Illustrésque unimas, impunè& vindice nullo, scil. Domitian●.   The Soul, Rom. 13.1. Let every Soul bee subject to the higher Powers. Matth. 16.26. What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? that is, Himself, as Luke hath it, Luke 9.25. So, Act. 2.43.— fear came upon every soul. And, Act. 7.14. Then sent Joseph, and called his Father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls. So likewise, Gen. 12.5.& 14.21.& 17.14.& 46.27. and so wee use to commend a person for a good soul. This I conceive to bee the Psalmist's meaning, and this might have been our Interpreters Version; who have elsewhere so rendered it, Isai. 5.14. Therefore hath Hell enlarged 
{αβγδ}  herself.  
Or, Shall he deliver his soul, is, Shall he deliver his dead body? So the Original word is rendered, Hag. 2.13. If one that is unclean 
{αβγδ}  by a dead body, touch any of these, shall it bee unclean? So, Levit. 19.28. ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for 
{αβγδ}  the dead. And, Levit. 21.1. Num. 5.2.& 6.6.& 9.6, 7. And so it might have been rendered here.  
From the hand.] By Hand, as in 

{αβγδ}, immensa Regis Potentia. apud Herodotum.  
— {αβγδ},— magnâ vi, &c. apud Homerum Iliad. o.  
Quàm velis eum obligare, in tuâ manu est. Cicero Epist. 6. lib. 8.  
In manibus vestris quantus sit Caesar habetis. Lucan. lib. 1.   Secular, so in Sacred writings, is most frequently signified Power. Behold, thy maid is in thy hand, saie's Abraham to Sarah, Gen. 16.6. My times are in thy hand; deliver me from the hand of mine enemy, saie's David to God, Psal. 31.15. Upon himself put not forth thine hand, saie's God to Satan concerning Job, Job 1.12.  
The Original word for Hand is sometimes rendered Power, Behold, all that he hath is in thy Power, Job 1.12. God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, Psal. 49.15. I will ransom them from the power of the grave, Hos. 13.14.  
Power and Hand wee meet with sometimes together: It is in the power of mine hand to do you hurt, saie's Laban to Jacob, Gen. 31.29. Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it, Prov. 3.27. so also Micah 2.1.  
By the Hand of the grave here is meant the Power of it: and therefore it is so rendered, Psal. 49.15. and Hos. 13.14. But whether an apprehending or an holding Power? If the former, then the second question import's no more then the first, but rather the later. And so, Death, like a sergeant, apprehend's and arrest's men; the Grave, as a Jaylor, receive's them. Death hath hands and feet, to go about and bring men in; the grave an hand to hold them when they are so brought. There is no breaking prison, no escapeing out of this hand, until the judge of all the earth shall give command for a general gaol-deliverie.  
Of the grave.] The original word signifie's Hell also; and it is most frequently so rendered. The Root signifie's to ask, require, &c. Hell and the Grave are ever asking, and never satisfied, Prov. 27.30. and 30.15, 16. They lay claim to all men, as being now fitter for them then for a better place. The Grave saie's, Give me those wretched mortals, so unworthy to breath in the Air, and to bee above ground, that I may cover them from the face of the Sun. Nay, saie's Hell, That is not bad enough; give them me that I may torment them to all eternity. Hell laie's claim to all, but receiv's onely some: onely the wicked; of whom it may bee said, as it was of Judas, that they go to their own place, Act. 1.25. The Grave laie's claim to all, and receiv's all; the wicked and the godly too: one as well as another, as David faie's, the sword devour's, 2 Sam. 11.25. For, what man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the Grave? Selah.  
Selah.] Is set to as a seal. It is used onely in the Psalms, and the prophecy of Habakkuk. saint conceive it is never used but where the matter is very remarkable, and calleth for more then ordinary observation and consideration. some, that it is the same with Amen, and note's a belief of, and a willing submission to what is spoken. some that it is onely a Musical note, signifying a letting down or lifting up of the voice, together with an elevation of the heart to God.  
You have the words opened. Wee have in them two parts.  

1. Maschil, or a Doctrine.  
2. Selah, or an Use.   
The Doctrine in the two Questions, where wee have.  

1. Man living.  
2. A necessity of his death.  
3. His Grave.  
4. His impotency to recover Life and liberty.   
All which may well bee contracted into these two.  

1. Death's unavoidableness, in the former Question.  
2. life irrecoverableness, in the later.   
And these two( especially, if there bee such a coïncidence and identity in the two Questions, as was in Pharao's two dreams,) may bee clap't together, or shrunk into this one, namely, Man's mortality. And so they commend unto us this Point.  
No man living shall live always. Or,  
every man living is a mortal man. Or,( if you will have it in the words of the Text)  
every man living must see death.  
The Use, in the word Selah, stirreth us up to four duties.  

1. Seriously to consider our mortal condition.  
2. steadfastly to believe it.  
3. Patiently to submit to it.  
4. Wisely to improov it.   
These I purpose not to handle severally, but to weav them into my discourse of the forenamed principal Point, viz.  
every man living is a mortal man; or, must see death.  
But, as some heretofore have not seen Death, so many hereafter shall not see it. Enoch,( whose years were of the same number with the daies of the year) was translated, and did not see it, Gen. 5.24. Heb. 11.5. Elijah was put into a chariot of fire, and went up by a whirlwind into heaven, 2 King. 2.11. and did not see it. And the Apostle telleth us, 1 Cor. 15.51. Wee shall not all sleep. So also, 1 Thes. 15,& 17. Wee which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep.  

Solut.  I answer. First concerning Enoch and Elijah,  
1. That some conceive, that these did see death; that the one was dissolved without any pain when God took his soul. And that the other had his body burnt in his fiery chariot.  
2. That, if they did not see death,( as it is more probable that they did not) yet they were Mortal, and as subject to death as any that ever actually died.  
Secondly, concerning them that shall bee found alive at the coming of Christ.  
1. That though they shall not sleep, they shall bee changed: so the Apostle telleth us, in that 1 Cor. 15.51. And that change shall bee in stead of Death.  
2. That it is sufficient that they are by nature obnoxious unto Death; having by sin deserved it, and Hell after it. And although by their sudden change they shall bee freeed from Death, yet from Hell they shall not; unless there bee wrought in them before that change, a spiritual change; and so a meetness for Heaven.  
The Reason of the Point is rendered by the Apostle, Rom. 5.12. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. So Rom. 6.23. The wages of sin is death. This is the woeful wages which God threatened to the first wicked work, Gen. 2.17. Of the three of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt die the death. {αβγδ}, so Theodotian render's it. Mortalis eris, so Symmachus, i.e. Thou shalt bee mortal. Others that do not so render it, yet so expound it: as Vatablus, Junius, Mercerus, and many more.  
Should wee not then have been mortal, or obnoxious to death if Adam had not sinned?  
Pelagians indeed affirm that wee should. They say Adam was created mortal. But the Milevitan 
Quicunque dicit Adam primum hominem mortalem factum, ità ut sieve peccaret sieve non peccaret, moreretur in corpore, hoc est, de corpore exiret, non peccati merito, fed necessitate naturae, Anathema sit. Carranz. Summa Milevet. council. c. 1.  Council hath set an Anathema on their heads for it. Whosoever shall affirm( saith the Council) that Adam was created mortal, so that whether he had sinned or not, there was a necessity of dying, let him he accursed. For man was created to life; he was created after the image of God; a part whereof is immortality.  
And, if man, continuing in the state of innocency, had died; it had come to pass either 
Vide sis. Arch. Rubeum in lib. 2. Sentent. dist. 19.  through the disagreement of Elements, out of which his body is compounded; or through the consumption of radical moisture; or through some external lesion or hurt. But it could not have come to pass any of these ways.  
First, not through the disagreement of Elements. For 1. against such a disagreement, he had an excellent temper, and perfect health: so that one quality had not any destructive predominancy over another. 2. he had such an excellent power bestowed on his soul, that it could preserve his body from all distemper of humors, and all manner of infirmities whatsoever.  
Secondly, nor through the decay and consumption of radical moisture For the radical moisture which was impaired by the natural heat, was repaired by his daily food. And that Repairs might bee made equivalent to Losses, God provided the three of Life. Hence is that of Augustin, 
Cibus aderat homininè esuriret; potus, nè siti et; Lignum Vitae, nè illum senectus dissolveret. Aug. de Civ Dei. l. 24.  Adam had meat, that he might not hunger; drink, that he might not thirst; the three of Life, that he might bee preserved from old age, and from death. This three of Life did so comfort and confirm his conversive and nutritive faculty, that it could not possibly bee weakened and fail: and consequently the approach of old age and death must needs have been hindered.  
Thirdly, nor through any external lesion or hurt. For 1. against extrinsical Elements, he had a most convenient temper of Air. 2. Against the injury of evil Angels, he had a guard of good ones. 3. All the beasts were then mild, and gentle, and obedient to him, acknowledging his dominion over them. 4. Against all other things casually hurtful, he had a great measure of prudence; so that he could beware of them. 5. When mankind had been increased and multiplied, all should have been just, and free from sin; none should have had the least injurious thought against his brother: if any had offended that way, he had been presently expelled Paradise, as our first Parents were.  
In one word wee may say, That if man had continued in the state of innocency, his body had been preserved from all internal passion by his soul: and from all external, by the providence of God. Therefore it is evident, that if he had not fallen, he had not actually died. Death is the daughter of disobedience.  
Since man, if he had continued in the state of innocency, had not died, but had been immortal: What would have become of him? Whether should he have continued in Paradise still or not?  
No, he should not. The three of Life was unto Adam a symbolical 
Vide Ainsworth in Gen. 2.9.  three; a sign, as of a blessed natural life in Paradise for a time, so of a spiritual life afterward in Heaven for ever, if he continued in his obedience to God. After a 
Corpore simul& animâ, post-quam diu sine labour ac molestiâ vixisset, in coelum translatus fuisset, ad aeterna cum Deo gaudia percipienda,& Dei essentiâ fruendum Merc. in Gen, 2.17.  long life lead without labour and molestation, both body and soul had been translated into heaven, saith Mercer. And Polanus, 
Corpus Adami pulcerrimâ mutatione, sine morte, in aeterna●… incorruptibilicatem à Deo transformatum fuiss●…. Pelan. Syntog. lib. 5. cap. 28.  God hat● transformed Adam's body by a most excellent change without death, into eternal incorruptibility.  
The sum of all that hath been said, is this.  
First, that man, every man is mortal: and that an exemption from Death, is no exemption from subjectedness or obnoxiousness unto Death.  
Secondly, That man, had he not sinned, had not been mortal. Mortal indeed he was before his fall, potentiâ moriendi, by a possibility of dying. Erat posse mori, quia erat posse peccare. Death was possible, because sin was possible. Mortal he was not necessitate naturae, by any necessity of nature: for his body was of an excellent temper and constitution; his Humors were of so sweet an harmony, that there was not the least jarring and disagreement among them. Yea, his Soul had power to preserve his body from Death, so long as it preserved itself from sin. His radical moisture had been repaired by his food, as fast as impaired by his natural heat: the fruit of the three of Life had been as great a comfort to his nutritive faculty, as the honey was to fainting Jonathan. Neither Devils, nor beasts, nor any thing had don him any harm. Devils could not, being hindered by tutelarie Angels. Beasts would not, being ready to yield unto him all obedience. Against casual inconveniences, God's providence, and his own prudence had been his protection.  
Thirdly, that man, if he had not sinned, but continued immortal, should not have continued always in Paradise; but at last should have been removed into the place and presence of God.  
Now for Selah, or Application.  
Use 1. Since man is mortal, and must see death, Let us make no more of man then he is. Apt wee are,( and it is our folly that wee are so apt) to magnify overmuch, yea, to deïfie man. The voice of a god, and not of a man! was the blasphemous voice of the foolish people concerning Herod, Acts 12.22. But the Angel of the Lord confuted their conceit, by 
{αβγδ}.  confounding that so much magnified and admired majesty. The people proclaimed him immortal; the Angel and the worms echoëd, mortal. The Angel smote him, the worms ate him, and that immediately. Never was there a more certain and sudden demonstration of mortality then that was: and it may forever deter men from making more of themselves or others, then they ought to do. Three ways wee make more of men then wee ought: by excessive Fear, excessive Delight, excessive Confidence. All which wee must beware of.  
First, of excessive Fear. And since man is a mortal thing, why should he bee so terrible unto us? See how God speaks to him that fear's man too much, Isa. 51.12, 13. Who art thou that thou shouldst bee afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man that shall bee made as grass? And hast feared continually every day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? And where is the fury of the oppressor? As if God had said, What a fool art thou to bee afraid of a mortal man? to make as if he were immortal and almighty. Furious oppressors there are, but suddenly they are not: for, where is the fury of the oppressor? both his fury and himself shall come to nothing: he shall bee cut down as the grass, and his fury must then fall with him. Such a fear of man our saviour forbid's us, Matth. 10.28. Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. There are that make themselves Gods, in killing the body; but they are not so much to bee feared, because they are not able to reach the soul.  
Secondly, Wee must beware of excessive Delight. And since man is a mortal thing, why should he bee so much delighted in as commonly he is? God allows us to delight in one another; friend in friend, husband in wife, wife in husband, parents in children, children in parents, &c. But our delight must bee moderate; wee must not forget that such objects are mortal. And wee shall do well to consider, that 
Immodicis brevis est aetas,& rara senectus. Mart. Epig. 29. lib. 6.  immoderate delight in them is the next way to lose them, and ourselvs too. How often hath God taken away a dear yoke-fellow, a child, a friend, because he hath been too dear, and too much delighted in! Yea, how often hath the heart broken, when it hath been too much dilated and let out! 'tis true, that of 
Quem res plus nimio delectavere secundae, Mutatae quatient; si quid mirabere, pones invitus. Hor. Ep. 10. l. 1.  Flaccus, Answerable to our affection while wee enjoie a comfort, will bee our affliction when wee are deprived of it. And as good counsel, that of 
Quicquid amas cupias non placuisse nimis. Mart. Ep. 29. l. 6.  marshal, Whatsoever thou delightest in, delight not in it too much. It is wisdom( and so our duty) to suffer our hearts so to lay hold on a comfort, that they may let it go again without any eminent prejudice; so to injoie and joy in our friends, that when they die, yet wee may live; that their death may nor bee our death; that wee may follow them to the Grave, and not into the Grave.  
Thirdly, Wee must beware of excessive Confidence. And since man is a mortal thing, why should wee put such confidence in him? Put not your trust in Princes( saie's David) nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. Why? His breath goeth out, he returneth to his earth: in that very day his thoughts perish, Psalm 146.3, 4. Mortal he is, and not to bee confided in. Had he been still immortal, he had not been to bee trusted in; much less now. many a man build's high hopes on such or such a friend: he trust's one day to bee, or to do thus and thus: but his friend dies, and down fall●… his hopes to the very ground. Thus caesar Borgia, that wicked son of a more wicked father, Pope Alexander the Sixth, grounded many designs on his relation to that Pope. But the Pope suddenly dies, and dashe's all. And Borgia, when he heard of his death, cried out, I never dreamed of such an accident: now all my purposes and projects are stisted, and come to nothing. he that know's man well, know's him too well to trust him too much.  
Use 2. Since man is mortal, and must see death, let him know himself, and bewail himself, and humble himself.  
First, Know himself. David praie's to God to put the Heathen in fear, that they may know themselves to bee but men, Psalm 9.20. But men? Why, did they think themselves to bee more then men? It seems they did. Empedocles 
Deus immortalis haberi dum cupit Empedocles, &c. Hor. Art. Poet.  would needs bee accounted a God; and so would Alexander the Great, and many others: and Heathens they must needs bee that would bee so. Such as know God, know themselves to bee but men, and would bee taken for no more. But a spice of this Heathenism and Atheism there is in most. many a man with Simon Magus, conceit's himself to bee some 
{αβγδ}.  great one, Acts 8.9. Popes there have been so blasphemous, so heathenish, as to admit, with Domitian, that style, Dominus Deus noster, our Lord God. Sixtus the fourth, 
Orâclo votis mundi moderaris habenas, Et meritò in terris crederis esse Deus.  excepted not against the grossest fals Position that ever was, when in that devilish Distich he found himself exalted in the place of God. And Paul the Third, he, that when he was taking his leave of this world, said, he should now very shortly bee resolved of three things which all his time he had much doubted of: viz. Whether the soul were immortal: whether there were an Hell: and whether there were a God: made no scruple of making himself one. How different from Paul the Pope was Paul the Apostle! who style's 
{αβγδ}.  himself the least of the Apostles, 1 Cor. 15.9. Less then the least of all Saints, Ephes. 3.8. But the greatest of sinners, 1 Tim. 1.15. Mortal he knew himself, and the meanest of mortals he accounted himself: and it will bee no sin, if every man shall so account himself. God is pleased so far to honor some men, as to put upon them his own name. I have said, ye are Gods, Psalm 82.6. But he would not have them forget that they are men. Therefore he adds in the very next vers: But ye shall die like men; and fall like one of the Princes. Lest they should bee exalted through the abundance of honor, he presently laie's their honor in the dust. {αβγδ}. Gods, but not immortal ones.  
Secondly, Let man Bewail himself. How will a man bewail the loss of a fair and comfortable estate, when he is sunk down into a low condition! Call me not Naomi, said shee, after her return to Bethlehem; call me Marah: for the Lord hath dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full, and the Lord hath brought me home again empty, &c. Ruth. 1.21. Wee cannot say the Lord hath made us mortal, but our selvs: wee might have continued happy and immortal still, had it not been our own fault and folly. The death of a dear friend strike's very deep into us; specially if it hath been occasioned through our carelessness and imprudence. The loss of our immortality how should it affect and afflict us! How should the remembrance of it bee grievous to us! as the remembrance of Zion was to the Jews in Babylon. To have been happy, and not to bee so now, is a great unhappiness. To have been immortal,( as wee were after a sort) and not to bee so still, but obnoxious to death; yea, more deaths then one, surely should bee oftener thought of, and more mourned for by us all, then usually it is.  
Thirdly, Let man so know himself to bee mortal, and so bewail his mortality, as to Humble himself. And whosoever doth the first and second, will bee sure to do the third. A proud heart never troubled itself with the knowledge of itself, and sorrow for its mortal state: A proud eye never wept for it: A proud person is a very stranger at home. But whosoever is well acquainted with himself, and wisely conside'rs the state of man, cannot but bee an humble man. Humble he will bee  
1. Towards God, whom he hath offended and dishonoured by putting himself out of that most comfortable and happy condition of immortality wherein God made him. A dishonour it is to a father when his son suffers himself to bee cheated and cast out of his inheritance: and well may such a son bee ashamed to look his father in the face: and well may he carry himself with the lowest humility towards him all the daies of his life. The poor Prodigal comes to his father in a most penitent, humble, submissive sort; acknowledging, that having so dealt with him, and so undone himself, he was no more worthy to bee called his son. Thus it is with every child of God: he is full of sorrow and shane; he creep's to God, and walk's humbly with him.  
2. Towards man; Whom though he may exceed in some inward or outward qualifications, yet he despise's and disdain's him not; he looks not upon him as God may upon man, or man upon a beast. For he know's him to bee his equal, once no less immortal, now no more mortal then himself: and therefore carrie's himself in a loving, lowly, sweet, sociable manner toward him.  
Use 3. Since man is mortal and must see death, let him reflect with sorrow and detestation, upon that which hath put him into such a condition. God made him immortal; and if he had been ruled by him, he had still continued so, and never seen death. Sin onely made him mortal, and put him into a necessity of dying.  
Sin therefore should bee  
First, Sorrowed for. First, and chiefly indeed, for the dishonour that was thereby don to so good and gracious a Maker: whom rather then to offend by the least degree of disobedience, wee should choose to undergo the severest and greatest punishment that ever was or can bee inflicted. Secondly, for the dishonour and danger that was thereby brought upon our selvs. 1. dishonour; in that wee are made like the beast that perisheth. Between the body of a beast, and the body of a man, in respect of corruptibilitie, there is now no difference at all: the one returneth to the dust, and so doth the other. many a man when his estate is broken, his heart is broken too. To bee a bankrupt; to have been in great height, and now to fall, and break; to have shined gloriously, and now to bee in darkness; to have been placed in the Firmament, and now to bee a fleeting meteor, is a great dishonour, and well may bee a stinging sorrow. That wee have so dishonoured our selvs by sin, that, as God said by an irony or Sarcasmus, Gen. 3.22. Behold! the man is become as one of us, to know good or evil. So the beasts may most truly say, Behold! man is become as one of us, to die and return to dust, even as wee: how should this affect our hearts, and fill us with grief. 2. Danger●; in that when wee have ended this mortal life, wee are liable to eternal death. For by the first disobedience, wee not onely lost eternal happiness,( it had been some kind of happiness to have stayed there) but exposed our selvs to eternal misery. So that, as the beasts may say, Behold! man is become as one of us, in respect of mortal life: so the Devils may say, Behold! man is become as one of us, in respect of eternal death: which without the infinite mercy of God, and merits of Christ, it is not possible for us to escape. How heavy their should that sin lye upon our hearts, which exposeth us to so woeful a condition! But as it should bee sorrowed for, so  
Secondly, Detested and abhorred. How should our hearts hate and rise against that sin whereby wee fell! That by sin wee are become mortal, should put us into an immortal hatred of it. Wee should endeavour the death of that which hath been the cause of our death. The first sin,( which was the mother of our misery and mortality) wee can onely mourn and sorrow for. Original sin, wee must not onely mourn for, but mortify. That body of death,( as the Apostle style's it, Rom. 7.24.) wee must every day, with all our might, wrestle with labouring to enervate and overthrow it. And thus if wee endeavour the death of Original sin, wee shall prevent the birth of Actual sin: as the stoping the fountain will bee the drying up the streams. And truly, this one thing well considered, That our mortality is the fruit of our sin, would bee sufficient to sharpen our hatred against, and work in us an abstinence from all sins whatsoever: and make us say, Shall I not bee avenged on the mother in the daughter, on the first sin in Original? Shall I dally with, and indulge the daughter, when the mother hath been my undoing? Shall I not, ought I not, to abstain from all, even the smallest sins, since the first hath proved so pernicious? As the first made me mortal, so the smallest is mortal. Were I now in the state of innocency and immortality, as Adam once was, any of the sins that are commonly committed, and accounted little,( an officious lye, a petty oath, a wanton glance, yea, a wanton thought, and the like) would throw me out of that happy condition, as that first sin did him, and make me as mortal, as obnoxious to death, to eternal death, as now I am. For all are of the same nature: and therefore I must take heed of, and abstain from all.  
Use 4. Since man is mortal, and must see death, Let him moderate his affections and hang loose to the things of this life. Wilt thou( saie's Solomon, Prov. 23.5.) set thine eyes upon that which is not? i. e. not permanent, nor certain. For riches certainly make themselves wings, they fly as an eagle towards heaven. It may as truly bee said, Wilt thou that art not, set thine eyes on riches? for thou certainly art a mortal creature, and must one day fall down into the earth. And when wee fall down thither, were carry nothing with us, except a rag, and a flower, and a board, or, at best, a piece of led. Gold, and silver, and houses, and lands, and the like, which wee are so wedded to, and dote on, while wee live, wee must of necessity bee divorced from, when wee go down into the Grave. A worm, how much dirt soever he hath contructed by creeping above ground, leaves it all behind him when he creep's into his hole. It is 
Kno'ls Turk. hist. pag. 73.  storied of Saladine, a Turkish Monarch, that he commanded a shirt to bee fastened to to a spear it manner of an Ensign; and then proclamation to bee made by one of his Priests in these words: Saladine, Conqueror of the East, of all his mighty riches, carrie's away no more then This. A good lesson for Christians to learn; among whom, too many are too apt to forget themselves, in gapeing greedily after, and grasping abundance of earth as though they were not mortal, but were to live here for ever. And so they seem to sing a contrary song to those Epicures, of whom the Apostle speaks 1 Cor. 15.33. Let us eat and drink, for to morrow wee shall die. But these earth-worms, thus, Let us add house to house, and land to land, and fill bag after bag, for wee shall never die. Such as these, when they come to die,( for die they must) how will they sing Loth to depart! With what difficulty will they bee divided from their dear Mammon! Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, Luke 2.29. And, I desire to bee dislolved, and to bee with Christ, Phil. 1.23. is for a Simeon, that had his arms full of Christ; and not for them that have their hearts full of earth: and for a Paul; who accounted no more of gold, and silver, and all the riches of the Indies, then of dross, and 
{αβγδ}.  dung, or of dogs-meat, that he might win Christ, Phil. 3.8. And not for such as thought not less of any thing then of Christ; nor more of any thing, then of their Mammon. Wee should use this world( saie's the Apostle, 1 Cor. 7.31.) as not abuseing it. His reason is, because the fashion of this world passeth away. Another reason wee may give: viz. because wee our selvs pass away. Whatsoever we have may bee taken from us; specially in such times as ours have lately been, and begin again to bee. How lawfully since the first drawing the Sword hath the world been altered with many a man! His fair estate hath served out it time, and is 
Permutat dominos,& cedit in altera jura. Hor. Epist. 2. l. 2.  gon to a new master. That which is thine is mine; saie's the son of violence to the true 
Haec mea sunt, veteres migrate, &c. Virg. Ecl. 9.  owner: and so change's estates with him; takes his riches, and leaves him his own poverty. But if what we have bee not taken from us, surely wee must bee taken from it. And therefore let us desire what we have not, and use what we have, as not abuseing it: yea, as not abuseing and abaseing our selvs. Wee abuse the things of this life, and abuse and abase our selvs when we desire them, and delight in them immoderately, and make more of them and of our selvs then we ought; accounting them stable commodities which are most unstable, and our selvs immortal who are but mortal. Wee advance our selvs indeed by accounting our selvs more then we are: but we abase our selvs in fixing our affections upon such inferior things; no less then a man of noble birth dishonoureth himself by marrying his kitchin-maid. Though our bodies are mortal, our mindes are not so: and should bee taken up with higher and more noble objects. As for these things here below, though wee may desire them, and labour after a good measure of them; First, for supplying our necessities, and preserving us from contempt and injury: Secondly, for distributeing to the necessities of our poor brethren, and for other pious and charitable uses: Thirdly, for the comfort of our posterity; he being wors then an infidel( as the Apostle saie's) that provide's not for his family, 1 Tim. 5.8. Yea, A good man( saie's Solomon) leaveth an inheritance to his children's children, Prov. 13.22. Yet when wee have them, wee must not set our hearts upon them, but look upon our selvs as mortal creatures, who must one day bee divided from all our earthly comforts; and whose wisdom therefore it will bee so to stand affencted to them, that wee may part fairly, and willingly, without any reluctancy and looking back.  
Use 5. Since man is mortal, and must see death, Let him prepare for parting with this life. 
{αβγδ}.  Life is a sweet, but not a stable blessing: Death sooner or later seizeth on all. There is no immunity, no privilege to any. How then concerns it all to fit themselves for their final farewell!  
Consider to this purpose these three things.  
First, That wee can die but once. Could wee die a second time, wee need not bee so careful for the first: for the second might amend a miscarriage in the first; as the second Edition of a Book doth many times the faults of the former: and as many a man and woman useth a second yoke-fellow with much more respect and tenderness then the former. And undoubtedly, as many a dying man saie's, if his life might bee continued, he would live better then before he did: so many a dead man, would draw, if his life might bee restored, to die better then before he did. But though there bee a second death, there is no second dying a corporal death. Therefore, since wee can die but once, how should wee prepare our selvs to die well! What can bee don but once in all his life, and is of singular concernment and consequence, a wise man will endeavour to do to purpose.  
Secondly, That it is a most difficult 
{αβγδ}.  thing to die well. To die is ordinary: every man can, and must do that. To die courageously, and with a contempt of death, is no miracle: many even among the Heathens have don it. But to die so, as not to die again afterward: to die so, as to have 
Prov. 14.32.  hope, and an heart full of joy in death: Hoc opus, hic labour est: this is one of the greatest works in all the world. The greatest part of men will not bee persuaded so, till they come to try it: and indeed many will not then. The Devil that prevailed with them before to neglect( if not to puff at) a godly life, and the counsel tending thereunto, prevail's with them then also to make but a puff of their own lives: and to conceive that their death is happy if it bee quiet, and free from the convulsion-fits of an awakened conscience. Yet some there are, that, when they come to die, confess their former mistake: they now find it a most difficult work, which before they accounted most easy: they now see that a man's whole life should bee nothing but a preparation for death; they now break out into sad complaints of their 
{αβγδ}  mispence of precious time, of their following ungodly courses and company; of their neglect of God, and happiness: they now wish, 
O mihi praeteritos referat si Juppiter annos!  O that my life were to begin afresh! Or, O that God would try me one year, or one month longer! And if a freedom from death were purchaseable, they would purchase it with a great sum of money. A great Knight of this kingdom drawing towards his dissolution, was heard to say, That he would willingly buy his deliverance from it at a thousand pounds an hour, Yea, doubtless there are among the godly, that look not on the mighty, weighty work of dying as a pleasant thing: they think not of it without some affrightment and retreat of spirit, Though Elijah request God to take away his life, 1 King. 19.4. And Simeon sing, Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, Luke 2.29. And Paul, desire to bee dissolved, Phil. 1.23. Yet David praie's to God, not to take him away in the midst of his daies, Psal. 102.24. And Hezekiah, being summoned to die, complain's that he shall bee deprived of the residue of his daies, Isa. 38.10, 11. These men were holy men as well as the other; and knew that this life is nothing to the next, and that death is the way to it. Moreover, as they doubted not of eternal life, so they could not but desire to bee presently possessed of it. Yet the great work of dying they are loth to come yet unto. They believe( belike) they are not yet fit enough for it: and therefore they desire a longer time for preparation. A great and most difficult work it must needs bee, which requireth a through repentance, a lively faith, a firm hope, perfect charity, utmost patience, humble submission, holy contentedness, fervent prayer; and many such as these.  
Thirdly, That according to our care or carelessness in prepareing for death, will bee our consolation in it, and condition after it. With what a sad heart may an ungodly man, that never made any preparation for his death, lye upon his death-bed! he cannot fetch any comfort from his former life. he consider's his neglect, or miserable misperformance of duties, his defect of grace, his manifold sins against manifest conviction, which are now to his conscience, as so many swords in his sides; and make him lye upon feathers as upon thorns. he saie's unto death as Ahab unto Elijah, 1 King. 21.20. Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? Heaven he cannot hope for, and Hell he cannot but fear: he could bee content to miss of Heaven, so that he might escape Hell: he wishes that either himself or his sins had never had a being: and would bee willing to die a thousand deaths one after another, if thereby his sins might bee expiated, or himself amnihilated. he considers God's mercy, but cannot comfort himself with it, having so much abused it: he looks on his Justice, as looking strictly on him, and ready to commit him to that infernal prison, from which there is no redemption.  
But with what a glad heart, and cheerful countenance may a godly man, that prepare's for death, entertain it when it comes! It comes to him without a sting,( the sting of death is sin, 1 Cor. 15.56.) and therefore he can safely take it, and put it into his bosom; as a man may a snake, when the sting is pulled out of it. Death is restorative to such a man, as the sight of the brazen Serpent was to them that were bitten with the fiery Serpents, Numb. 21.9. It strike's indeed, but no otherwise then the Angel did Peter, to bring him out of prison, Acts 12.7. So death comes to the godly, to deliver their souls from the 
E corporum vinculis, tanquam è carcere, evolaverunt. Cic. some. Scip.  prison of their bodies, and to return them to God that gave them. A godly man expect's and prepare's for this guest, and therefore bids it welcome. When men come upon us unexpected, and find us not in such a posture and readiness as wee desire, wee are not very well pleased: and though wee love them well, wee could wish they had not come so soon. But if our selvs, and all about us bee in right order, the sooner they come, the better pleased wee are. So, to an unprepared heart, death strike's could: but to a prepared one, it is as sleep to a weary labourer; or could waters to a thirsty soul; or good news from a far country: as Solomon speaks, Prov. 25.25.  
How shall wee perpare for Death?  
First, By true repentance. Sin is the meritorious cause of both first and second death. Repentance prevent's the second, and makes us ready for the first. Let death come when it will, it comes not unseasonably to a repentant soul, that hath endeavoured to wash itself white again in it own tears: this washing work wee must do every day. every day original corruption spot's us: every day by repentance wee must get out 〈◇〉 our spots, and endeavour to stop up that cursed fountain. every day we fall into sin: every day wee must rise again by repentance.  
Secondly, By taking heed of all such things as must bee repented of. Do 
Cujus poenitendum fuerit, nè feceris. Commisisse cave quod mox mutare labores.  nothing which afterwards thou must griev for, and wish undone; is a good rule: If wee observe it well, it will preserve us in such a sweet frame of spirit, as will make our lives comfortable, and prepare us for parting with them.  
Thirdly, By leaving nothing undone till death approacheth, which ought to bee don before. To this most difficult work of dying well, what things are requisite I  told you before. Now all our time is little enough for the acquireing of them. And the greatest measure of them that wee can get, wee shall find little enough when wee come to make our last use of them. It is utmost folly to neglect Grace, till wee are entering into the Grave, and the lamp of our life is going out. Yet thus it is with the greatest number of men. When they perceive death coming to them, then they will provide for it, then they will repent, and believe, and call upon God, and make their peace with Heaven. Thus the Devil blinde's and besot's them: thus they listen to his lure, and rather suffer him to cousin them into a conceit of dying well, though they never cared for living well, then God to persuade them, That if they would die well, they must live so; that they must provide all their daies for their last day; that Repentance, and Faith, and other Graces are of more 
{αβγδ}.  worth then to bee so easily obtained; that if wee would have God hear us calling upon him in sickness, wee must hear and obey him calling upon us in health; that Heaven will not bee at peace with us till wee are ready for death; and that wee must not conceive our selvs ready for death, if wee prepare not for it till wee are ready to die.  
Fourthly, By doing nothing in which wee would bee unwilling that death should find us. Wee would bee loth that death should find us either idle, or ill-emploied: that it should find us not onely in any ungodly, unjust, intemperate action, but with an oath, or a curs, or a scoff, or a lye, or an obscene, wanton, foolish, idle word in our mouths: yea, with any sinful thought in our hearts. Abstain wee then carefully from all these. For these will make death most unwelcom to us; because they argue an utter unpreparedness for it: now where an unpreparedness is, there death is never welcome.  
Fifthly, By doing all that wee do in such a sort, as if death were to seize upon us in the very act. Let a man so red, and hear, and pray, and sing Psalms, and communicate, and confer, and do all other actions, as if they were to bee his last, and he will do them so sincerely, thoroughly, self-denyingly, as is possible for him to do; and so will bee in a preparedness for death, whensoever it shall come.  
Sixthly, By the daily meditation of death. Death is the first of those 
Mors tua, mors Christi, fraus mundi, gloria coeli, Et dolor inferni, sunt meditanda tibi.  five things which are commended to every man's meditation. And whosoever shall think frequently with himself thus: Dust I am, and to dust I must return, Gen. 3.18. My earthly house of this tabernacle must bee dissolved, 2 Cor. 5.1. Here I have no continuing city, Hebr. 13.14. Neither noble parentage, nor large patrimony, nor high honors, nor vast riches, nor excellent beauty, nor firm strength, nor rare endowments, nor any thing, can keep life and soul, or rather soul and body always together: implacable death, maugre all that the most learned Physicians can do to the contrary, will at last plunder this earthly house, and make me keep open house for every worm that comes. Sin hath put me into a necessity of departing hence: it is God's mercy that I have continued thus long undissolved; how soon his Justice may command my dissolution, he onely know's: obnoxious I am every moment to the devourer of men: Death may sweep away this dust this very day, yea, this hour, yea this minute, while I am in the mention of it: Wheresoever I am, whatsoever I do, I may bee reached by the inevitable stroke of impartial death. Whosoever, I say, shall frequently think thus with himself, shall find the fruit of it. Such a man, and onely such a man, is likely to bee ripe and ready for death, come when it will: like a good hous-keeper that keep's a constant table, and hath always great store of good provision about his house, fit to entertain any guest that comes. Such a man is likely to have his heart in order, and his accounts even, and to look death in the face with joy, and to take well all that death doth, as knowing that( as one said, 
{αβγδ}. Epist. Ench. cap. 79.  Anytus and Melitus can kill me, but cannot hurt me, so) death can do him no harm; but open's a passage for him into Paradise; where he shall bee troubled no more with Death, or Sin, or Satan; but filled with Grace, and glory, and God, to all eternity.  
Seventhly, By frequent discourse of Death. And if it bee much in our Meditation, it cannot but bee sometimes in our Communication. For what the mind runs on, the mouth will talk of: as what a 
Omnia quae sensu volvuntur vota diurno, Pectore sopito reddit amica quies. Claudian.  man does or desire's in the day, he commonly dream's of in the night. Now among all things that men discourse of, nothing should bee more seriously, nothing can bee more profitably discoursed of then Death, which will put an end to all discourse. To discourse of death will dispose us for death, and make us more familiar with it, and less fearful of it. It argue's utter unfitness for death, when men are not willing to speak of it, till they are not able to speak of it; and not willing to hear of it, till they cannot hear of it. It is storied of Lewis the Eleventh King of France of that name, That fearing that 
{αβγδ}. Arist. Eth. ad Nic. lib. 3. c. 9.  King of Terrors,( as Bildad style's Death, Job 18.14.) he strictly charged, that none should so much as name it within his Court.( So bitter is the remembrance of Death to a man that liveth at rest in his possessions, to a man that hath nothing to vex him, and that hath prosperity in all things, as the Wise-man saie's, Eccl. 41.1.) How much short was this Christian of that Heathen, Philip, King of Macedonia! who commanded a trumpet to bee sounded every morning at his chamber-window, and then these words to bee uttered with a loud voice, 
{αβγδ}.  King Philip, remember that you are but a mortal man. How shall this Heathen rise up in judgement against many millions of Christians and condemn them! who will distaste, and it may bee deride discourse of Death. Talk of sitting for the Grave, and they will think you go about to bury them alive. With whom therefore when they come to die, it may bee as it was with Adrian the Emperor: he, drawing towards his dissolution, broke out into this bitter complaint, 
Animula vagula, blandula, hospes, comésque corporis, quae nunc abil is in loca, Pallidula, rigida, tristia, nec, ut soles, d●bis joeos, &c. Dion. Cassino.  O my soul what will become of thee? whither will death sand thee? into what a dreadful place will the Devils drag thee? now thy jollity must bee no more. Take wee heed of such jollity and vanity as will render the discourse of death distasteful, and make us unfit for the sudden approach of it. Rather let us bee willing in the midst of our Feasts and mirth at any time, to entertain thoughts, and to exchange discourse thereof: which will excellently season every dish, and preserve us from that excess which wee are too apt to fall into. Herodotus reporteth, That 
{αβγδ}. Herod. lib. 2. c. 78.  great men among the Egyptians, when they made a Feast, caussed a dead man made in wood, as lively as might bee, to bee brought in, and shewed to every one of the guests, with these words: Look on this and drink; and delight thyself so now, as knowing that thou shalt bee such an one when thou art dead. It were not amiss if the same practise were among great persons every where. It might restrain them haply, not onely from too liberal an use of the creature, but also from that looseness and lewdness of language, wherewith many times they defile their own mouths, and griev the hearts of such among them as fear God; who had rather fast, then bee so feasted. And well it were for prepareing men for Death, if not onely at all their meals, but at all their meetings; they were enjoined to make a Grave, and serious mention of that, which will dissolve our meetings and our selvs too, wee cannot tell how soon.  
Eightly, and lastly, By a right going to the house of mourning. A right going I say: not such as commonly wee make. David saie's of his enemy thus, If he come to see me, he speaketh vanity: his heart gathereth iniquity to itself, when he goeth abroad, he telleth it, Psalm 41.6. If it bee not altogether so ill with us, when wee go to visit the sick, or to bury the dead, yet it is ill enough. Wee look upon the sick person, wee see him laid along on his bed, unable to turn, or to feed himself; wee see death in his face, wee see his tears, wee hear his sighs, and groans, and lamentations. One would think that such an object should make us retire into our selvs, and work well upon us, but it seldom doth: wee return as mindeless, and unfit to die, as wee went. So we go to the Funeral: we see the Corps; we see it put into the Coffin; we see mourning, but we do nothing, for the most part, aright. Wee eat and drink, and talk as pleasantly, as if we were at a Wedding, and not at a Funeral. So that as one said to a Philosopher, who, when the ship was in very great danger of being cast away by a grievous tempest, minded nothing, but employed his tongue in asking many trifleing questions: 
{αβγδ}; Agell.  Wee are in a most sad and sinking condition, and dost thou trifle thus? So it may bee said to us, You are come to the house of Mourning, and are you so merry? You see a man dead before you, and do you think that you shall never follow? Wee follow the Corps to the Church, we see it committed to the Earth, wee hear the Funeral Sermon; Can we choose now but bring death home with us in our hearts, and make preparation for it? But alas, how little do wee? Who almost thinks with himself, hody tibi, cras mihi: thou art butted to day, my turn may bee to morrow. Wee procrastinate, and put far away the evil day, Amos 6.3. as though with the drunkards of Ephraïm, wee had made a covenant with death, and were at an agreement with Hell, Isa. 28.15. How few are there that can say with Francis Borgia, a Spanish Courtier? he, 
Ribaden De vitâ Fr. Borgiae. lib. 1. cap. 9.  having been at the Funeral of the Empress, and considering how little a Grave had devoured all earthly Greatness, said when he came home, Augustae mors mihi vitam attulit; The death of the Empress hath brought me life; and forthwith became a wonderfuly 
Totus mutatus est in melius. Ibid  reformed man. If wee go aright to the house of Mourning, wee go more willingly to it then to the house of Feasting: because as Solomon saie's, Eccles. 7.2. it is better to go to that then to this. And wee return more wise, more weaned from the world, more willing to die, more prepared to die, then when wee went. As one saie's to another in the poet, 
Nunquam accedo, quin abs te abeam doctior, Ter.  I never come to you but I return better instructed: so may wee say, if wee bee not wanting to our selvs, when wee visit the Sick, or perform the last office to the dead: Wee never do so, but wee return much better. every thing that wee either behold or hear, is a real Sermon to us, and calls upon us to make a good use of it. every Funeral-daie is an Humiliation-daie, which setteth the heart in a good frame, and so keepeth it a great while after. And therefore, such as truly desire to prepare for Death, will as willingly go to a dying man, and attend him when he is dead, as those persons that desire to discharge conjugal duties, will desire to bee present at Matrimonial contracts, where their duties are discoursed of.  
Now as wee ought every day to prepare for death, that wee may say with the Apostle Paul, I die daily, 1 Cor. 15.31.( though 
Mortis pericula adeo. Metonymia effecti Hyperbolica. Sic 2 Cor. 11.23. in mortibus saepe se fuisse scribit. Pisc. in locum.  he speaks it in another sens:) so ought wee more specially to do it, the nearer wee are to our Close. It is reported of the birds of Norwey, that they are of swifter flight then the birds of any other country: not because nature hath bestowed upon them more agility of wing; but by an instinct they know the daies there to bee exceeding short, and therefore they hasten the more unto their nests. A ston the nearer it falls to the Center, the faster it mov's. The Sun, the nearer it is to it going down, the more glorious it looks. Thus it should bee with us: The shorter our time is, the more hast wee should make: the nearer wee are to our descent into the Grave, the more vigorous should bee our preparation for it. Thus if wee do, when wee are cast on our bed of sickness, and receive a summons to appear in another world, wee shall bee fitted to part with this. A man that death daily, hath little to do when he comes to die but to die: and he may die not onely patiently, but delightfully; 
Qui capit dissolvi& esse cum Christo, non patienter moritur, said patienter vivit,& delectabiliter moritur.  as Augustin saie's, he that desire's to bee dissolved, and to bee with Christ, doth not die patiently; but lives patiently, and dies delightfully. he know's that as his earthly friends will carefully commend his body to the Earth: so his heavenly friends, the holy Angels will cheerfully convey his Soul into Heaven. This good office these holy Angels perform to every godly Soul by the appointment of God. The Soul, doubtless, can find the way back again to Heaven of it self: being free from the body of Death, it asscend's to Heaven as naturally as the body descend's to the Earth; or as a wicked Soul, unpurged of it sin, falls down to Hell. Notwithstanding it pleaseth God to sand forth these ministering Spirits, and it pleaseth them exceedingly to come, to accompany their Souls who are to bee Heirs of Salvation, and to preserve them in safety from the Prince of the power of the Air, and his hellish company, who would gladly intercept the asscending Soul, and hale it into his own Quarters. This, I say, a man that dies daily, and so is prepared for Death, is certain of, and therefore dies delightfully. Let it bee the care of us all so to prepare for Death, that wee may so die.  

I Have now don with my Text. But should I do no more, I am sure you would say, that I did not enough. Wee use to say to them that coming from London bring no News with them, They deserve to bee sent back again. Should I come down from this place without speaking somewhat of this thrice-worthie lady, whose earthly part wee are now to deliver to the hand of the Grave, as those blessed Spirits have already conducted her Better part into the glorious presence of her God, you would all say, It were fit to force me up again.  
I know you all have a longing desire to hear some Commemoration of her manifold worth. My purpose is to save your longing, by giving you a Taste of that whereof you desire so much. I shall present you with the vast Earth in a small Map; with Homer's Iliads in a nut-shel; with a Chapter in the Contents; or with a Book in the Index: leaving enlargement to your selvs, and knowing that by your meditation, the few Grains which I shall scatter may greatly multiply, and my little cloud, no bigger then a man's hand, may mask the face of the whole Heaven.  
Should I now put you to the exercise of another hours patience, I make no question but you would all say of my discourse of Her, as many have said of her noble Husband's Epitaph: It is true, all that is said of him, every word. Much more might have been said there of Him, but specially of Her. But such was her modesty, that although in that Magnificent Monument which shee erected for him, shee caussed her self to bee laid by him in full proportion; yet shee would not suffer her Epitaph to bear any proportion with His. Shee conceived the most that could be said of Him too little; and the least that could bee said of Her self too much. Unwilling shee was to have any thing at all said of Her self. When that might not bee, shee would by no means allow of any more then This, Her Observance of her dearest Husband while shee enjoyed him; Her Remembrance of him by that Monument when shee had lo'st him. Onely one thing more was added, but much against her will: viz. That her other exquisite Virtues were forbidden by her excessive modesty, to make their appearance in that Marble. I will now acquaint you,( and it is my great Grief, as it is all yours, and all the country's also, that I can so soon acquaint you,) what I meant by those other Virtues: And I desire you to expect no more but what may bee a Supplement or Addition to her Epitaph.  
Her Birth was none of Hers: and therefore cannot bee either her Virtue or her Prais. High Descent, and mighty Names, far fetch't, are but 
Ista vestra nomina nunquam sum admiratus: viros eos qui ea vobis reliquissent magnos arbitro Cic. Appio Pulcro. Epist. 7. l. 3.  Names; and the names of others too. Scarcely 
Genus& provos,& quae non fecimus ipsi. Vix ea nostra voco. Ovid. Met. l. 13.  can wee call ours what our selvs are not the authors of. And, not many Generations, and a multitude of mouldy Statues, but onely Virtue, 
Tota licèt veteres exornent undique cerae Atria, nobilitas sola est atque unico virtus. Juv. sat. 8.  give's the Character of truly-Noble. Thus even Heathens could say. How far then should Christians bee from committing idolatry with stocks, and worshipping Images! Asscribeing so much, I mean, to Families, and esteeming themselves or others truly-Noble, if their progenitors have been so. nobility is not hereditary but inherent; not relative and transmitted, but moral and personal; or at least not so much. Apt wee are to give much Honor to the very Shadow of nobility. But when to the Shadow there is added the Substance, nobility inherent to nobility hereditary, there wee owe a Debt of double Honor. And such a Debt wee owed to this Noble lady, so conspicuous in both.  
Her entrance was early into the Conjugal condition.( Such Fruit, so rare, so ripe, could not continue long ungathered.) Yet not sooner then shee was fit for it. Shee knew that her taking of a Second-Self, was a Self-denying work: and therefore shee resigned both her reason and her will unto her Head. To whom shee was, as Monica the mother of St. Augustine, was to her husband Patricius, 
Reverenter amabilis,& mirabilis. Aug. confess. lib 9. cap. 9.  Reverently amiable, and admirable: And from whom, for all the Virtues which an Husband can wish for in his Wife, shee received as much Honor, as any daughter of Sarah can receive from a son of Abraham.  
After they had drawn together in this yoke for the space of thirty years, with as much mutual dearness and delight, as wee have heard of in any; it pleased God to dissolve the knot, by taking to himself, Praesidium,& dulce decus,& anima dimidium; her support and honor, far dearer to her then her very life. But then it pleased God also, to show himself abundantly gracious to her. When he had made her a Widow, he made himself her Husband; supporting her, protecting her, comforting her, and enabling her to manage her great Estate, and to order her numerous family, with such a measure of Prudence, as was admirable; specially if wee consider that her bodily infirmities most commonly confined her to her chamber, and very seldom permitted her to stir abroad. It is no wonder that the Senators and privy counsellors of the Musulman-Monarch carry themselves with so much fidelity and exactness towards him, though he never come among them. he hath his dangerous window 
Vide Joannis à Chokier Thesaur. Polit. Aphorism. l. 2. c. 23. p. 148. , where he can see and observe all their behaviour, though none of them can see him. Wonderful is it, that all in so great a family as this Ladie's, should bee so regular, so diligent in their places, so faithful to Her: who as shee never came among them, so had no window through which shee might overlook them. The excellent adiministration of such a family, by such a secret Governess, hath often seemed to me a 
Sic parvis componere magna, &c.  lively representation of the admirable Government of the whole Creation by it invisible Governor. God's Wisdom is every where visible, though himself bee not: So her influence extended to all her affairs, though her self were so retired.  
The burden of a weak body shee continually carried about her. But shee bare it with singular patience; and improoved it to her spiritual advantage. It is a blessed Weakness, which makes us make God our strength: a blessed Confinement, which set's the Soul at liberty, and set's it a longing after more communion with God. Her great affliction it was, that shee could not visit the house of God, and attend upon the public Ordinances: where he hath promised his presence, and wee may expect his blessing. What many in these giddy daies depart from, shee most earnestly desired to repair to. But because shee could not go from her house to the Church; shee made a Church of her house: where for sundry years, shee every Lord's day in the Evening( unless shee were hindered by extraordinary weakness) heard the Preaching of the Word; strictly requireing the presence of all her family, and showing her self an example of singular Reverence and Attention.  
It hath been observed, that shee never removed out of one room into another, but shee used some short Ejaculations, with lifting up her eyes and hands to God.  
Her first employment every day, was her humble address to almighty God in secret. Her next, the reading the Word of God, and some other godly books. A great library shee had, wherein were most of our choicest English Authors. No sooner could shee hear of any pious Book made public, but shee endeavoured to make it hers, and her self the better for it. Much shee was in Reading, and able to give as good an account of what shee red; having an excellent understanding, as in secular, so in spiritual things. finding the benefit of this course to her self, shee commended it to her Children; whom shee caussed to red, in her hearing, every day, some portions of both Testaments. In the Afternoon shee spent some time as before in the Morning. About an hour before Supper, shee appointed some one of her Children to red some godly Sermon in the presence of the rest, and of her self; frequently instiling into them sweet instructions, and exhorting them to a religious walking. A little before shee betook her self to her repose, shee commanded them all to come into her lodgings; where they sung a Psalm:( as the Servants also constantly did after Supper, before they rose from the Table: man-servants in the Hall, and maid-servants in another place.) And whence, after many pious exhortations, and her motherlie benediction, shee dismissed them: and then closed the day as shee began it, with begging the blessing of God upon her self. And thus shee did constantly, every day.  
You cannot but observe, by what I have said, as a gracious and precious spirit in her, so an exceeding great care of leaving gracious impressions upon her Children. A very fruitful Vine shee was, and many were her Olive-plants about her Table. some of them have seen death before her: Ten shee hath left behind her; the same number in either Sex, and all here present. And all of them will with thankfulness to God acknowledge that they were as much blessed in their Mother, as they were in their Father, or as their Father was in his Wife. As they daily fell down and asked her Blessing: so they rose up( as the Children of the virtuous woman, Prov. 31.28.) and called her Blessed. Next to her golden Chain, I mean that Chain of Graces mentioned by St. Peter, 1 Pet. 1.5, 6, 7.( wherewith shee was eminently beautified) and the ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit, 1 Pet. 3.4. shee accounted( with 
Haec ornamenta mea sunt. Val. Max. l. 4. c. 4. exemp. 1.  Cornelia that noble Roman matron) her Children her chief Ornaments. Her earnest endeavours were to adorn them with all virtuous habits, and to make them the true children of God. Shee knew, and would have them know too, that there must bee added to Great birth, the New birth: to great Kindred and Allies, relation to the family of Heaven: to a great Estate, the state of Grace: or else they would wish one day that they had never been born. Shee failed not to tell them, that true Grace is true greatness; and the more any of them feared God, the the greater portion of Love they might expect from her.  
The last link in St. Peter's Chain is charity. And this shall bee the last Grace that I will speak of in this Elect lady. I doubt not to style her so, as St. John doth his, 2 John 1. Shee was much in those gracious practices whereby shee might make her Calling and Election sure: much in the duties of piety, as I  told you before: much in the duties of charity, as I shall tell you now. But what need I tell you? You know more then I can speak. You know what 
Acts 9.39.  Coats and Garments this our Dorcas made while shee was with us. I can touch onely the Hem of her Garments; as the diseased people desired to do the hem of our Savior's, Mat. 14.36. And O that by this Touch that I shall give, if there bee among you any hard heart, it might now bee healed: if any withered hand, it might bee stretched forth: if 
1 John. 3.17.  any man that hath this world's good, and see'th his brother hath need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him; he might hence forward open his bowels to him: and so writ after this excellent copy which shee hath set. As our neighbor-Corporation, from whence our county deriveth it name, may for acts of charity at all times, but specially in these times of universal Dearth, bee a pattern to all Corporations: the Poor that are there( though very many) being very comfortably provided for by the singular care of the Chief Magistrate, whom God hath appointed for such a time as this: So may this most worthy Person, whose charity I onely hint unto you, bee a pattern to all private persons. God had given her the Blessing of a great Estate: and he gave her a greater Blessing then that, an Heart to make a right use of it.  
every day, shee stretched out her hand to the Poor, 
Pro. 31.20.  yea, shee reached forth her hands to the needy: relieving a great number at her gates; and giving a charge to her Porter, that when there came any very aged, and others that complained of great losses in our late lamentable times, if they seemed honest, he should come and certify her, that shee might enlarge her charity towards them. Which if he had neglected at any time to do, and shee had known of it, it is likely shee would have been as much displeased with him, as once shee was with another of her Servants, for neglecting a command which shee had given him in reference to the Poor's refreshment.  
every Week, in these times of scarcity, shee sent many loavs of bread to many neighbor-Towns; caussed her corn to bee sold in the markets by the smallest measures, that it might not exceed the Poor's ability; and allowed certain meals in her house, to sundry poor neighbors, whose empty bellies were discernible in their pale faces. Who when they had hereby recovered their old complexion, and so received( as it were) a new life, shee rejoiceingly professed, that the sight of such an alteration in them did her as much good, as any thing which shee ate her self.  
every Year, at the return of our Savior's nativity, shee visited( as her Noble Knight had don before) all the Towns about her, with cartload of Bread and Flesh.  
Continually, shee employed many poor old men and women in such works as were suitable to their skill and strength.  
When the Physician came to her house, shee made inquiry whether any were sick in the Town: that if any were, they might partake of the same benefit with her self. But at all times, when any wanted health, shee presently had intelligence of it, and most cheerfully communicated whatsoever shee conceived conducible to their recovery: having not onely great store of Restoratives always by her, but great skill in the application of them.  
To conclude. As our saviour Christ said unto the woman of Canaan, Mat. 15.28. Great is thy faith: so wee may say of our Religious lady, Great was her charity. Shee knew right well, and effectually, 〈◇〉 it seems considered,  
That Faith is but a fancy without the labour of Love: for true Faith cannot bee idle, it is never out of work, 1 Thes. 1.3. and it worketh by Love, Gal. 5.6.  
That the Greater any are, the Better they should bee: the more goods they have, the more good they should do: and, as they have opportunity, 〈◇〉 do good to all, Gal. 6.10.  
That such as are Rich in this world, have a great charge. They are charged, not to bee high-minded, and close-handed,( which they are apt to bee) but to do Good, to bee Rich in good Works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, so laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life, 1 Tim. 6.17, 18, 19.  
That the Wisdom that is from above, as it is pure and peaceable, gentle, and easy to bee entreated: so it is full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy, Gal. 3.17.  
That pure Religion, and undefiled before God and the Father, is this; To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world, Jam. 1.27.  
Thus unspotted shee ever kept her self. As the Apostle saith, Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect? It is God that justifieth. Rom. 8.33. So may I, Who can lay any thing to the charge of this Elect lady? God had sanctified her: Not so, as to free her from the inherencie of sin,( for so he sanctifieth none in this life,) but so, as to free her from the regency of it, and from all such acts as would have proved a spot and blemish to her: which all that knew her must need's acknowledge. And this also, That shee was like a choice Garden; not onely free from eminent weeds, but richly furnished with all manner of fragrant flowers and delicate fruits: or, like the glorious Sun, not onely free from Spots, but full of Light. All the country knew her; as Boaz saith, all the 
Ruth 3.11  city knew Ruth to bee a virtuous woman. And so virtuous, that I am confident this county of ours, hath not any virtuous woman( though it hath as many as any county in the Kingdom, of no larger extent,) to whom that admirable commendation in the last of the Proverbs is more agreeable then it was to Her. The Question is there, Who can find a virtuous woman? As if shee were like the 
Mat. 7.14  way which leadeth unto Life, and few they were that find her. Were Sr. Thomas lucy alive, he would answer with as much joy, That he once found her; as our whole country speaks with sorrow, That it hath lost her.  
At her entrance into her last sickness( which was about a fortnight's length) shee conceived her Life to bee but of a very short continuance; and therefore composed her self for her Dissolution. Yet her Physicians shee dur'st not but make use of; whose singular ability and fidelity shee had frequently experienced; having been raised up by them when shee was fallen almost as low as the very Grave: and who now say as Hector once, 

Virg. Aen. 2Defendi — Si Pergama dextrâ  
2Defendi possent, nostrâ hac defensa fuissent.  If shee had been Recoverable, wee had recovered her. But, as he saie's, 

Ovid. de Pont. lib. 1. El. 4.  Non est in Medico semper relevetur ut aeger;  
Interdum doctâ plus valet arte malum.  The most learned Physicians cannot keep Life when God calls for it. No Antidote against Death: no Dosis 
{αβγδ}.  will free us from paying our last debt. Go wee must when our Life-lord bids come. The last words of our Noble lady were, My God, I come flying unto thee. Presently after which shee took her flight.  
Now what shall I say more? Shall I tell you the greatness of our loss? I cannot. Shall I call for Mourning for it? I need not. I see mourning, I hear mourning; and more need there is of stoping then provokeing grief. What an innumerable company of people, of all ranks is here, and all mourners! How do the Flowers of our county,( the gentry, to which shee was such an Honor; and the clergy, to which shee expressed so much Love,) hang down their heads! Her Servants( to come nearer home) are free among the Mourners, as Heman 
Psal 88.5.  complained that he was among the Dead; despairing while they live, of regaining their lost happiness. But her Children lament, and weep, and mourn for their dearest Mother; as that Mother did once 
Mat. 2.18.  for her Children, and will not bee comforted, because shee is not. But when David's Father and Mother forsook him( as now yours have don you,) Who took him up? Will not David's God bee your God? Doubtless he will, if you will have him so. Turn( I beseech you) Lamentation into Imitation. Make your Parents your Patterns. Let none of their Virtues fall to the ground; but all be kept up, and live in you. They have set you excellent Copies; writ you after them: Sons, after your Father; Daughters, after your Mother: and endeavour to honor your Selvs and your Sexes, as much as They have don. Our most exemplary lady I commend also to the imitation of all you, who desire to bee commended as accomplished either Wives, or Mothers, or Mistresses, or Christians.  
I have now don, but that me thinks I hear the cries of a mighty multitude of Poor people: who seem to bee so affencted with the Death of their Benefactress, as Thomas was with the death of Lazarus, when he said to the other Disciples, Let us also go that wee may die with him, John 11.16. And peradventure for so good a woman, so full of good works and alms-deeds, some of them would even have dared to die. While shee lived, shee frequently filled their mouths, and refreshed their bowels. And their mouths are full still: but it is of her Praises, and their own Forlornness. But their bowels who will refresh? They lament, and weep, and mourn, and will not bee comforted; unless it bee in the hopes of his speedy settling here, to whom now descend's so great an Estate, with the Examples of so much Nobleness. It is pity, but that Charlcot should bee Charlcot still; pity! but that when one generation thus passeth, another should come; and fill that Orb, which for so many generations hath held forth to this county so great a Light. If this may bee,( and wee all desire and hope it speedily may) the less will bee our Lamentation for the loss of this most Excellent lady; whose Virtues did so shine among us, and whose Name shall bee always to us as a most sweet Perfume.   
FINIS.   

THE MONUMENT 
 Of the Right Worshipful 
 Sir THOMAS lucy, 
 AND THE 
 Virtuous lady ALICE 
 HIS WIFE  

Thomas lucy MILES.  
AGRI Varvicensis Decus& Deliciae. Antiquissimâ oriun●… us Familiâ, Virtute nihil duxit Antiquius. Quâ Majoribus suis ●tiam perillustribus emicuit( si fas dicere) mayor& illustrior. Quantus extiterit in Illum Patriae Amor, quanta Illius in Patriam Pietas, publica Regni Comitia( quibus saepenumero popularis Illum ardour inseruit abound perhibent. Rei Familiari splendidissim●e ne●… aut meliùs prospexit, aut minùs serviit; promentibus indies Liberalitate& Magnificentiâ quae, Frugalitas condiderat. Patrem-familia●… praesti●it q●… less perpauci. Famulorum si quem morbus corripuerat,& Ipse statim malè habuit, adhibuit Medicu●…, Suis sumptibus restituit. Qui Pater in Hero erga Servos ●… cil èjudices quid fuerit in Patre erga suavissimam Pro●em, in Marito erga dilectissimam Uxorem. Mensae( quae nunquam non opipara) Bonus quisque gratissimus accubuit, praefertim si Theologiam sapuit, 〈◇〉 Musas imbibit: Quarum Ipse sitientior dubium an scientior fuerit. Museum certè Animatum audiit. Neque minùs benigna Pauperculis Janua. cvi, famem omnibus eximenti, qui valedixit etiam benedixit. Multas operas, praecipuè nè nihil agentes malèagerent, quotidie exercuit. Multis Oppidulis etiam Plaustra Cibariorum quotannis transmisit. Bellatorem Equum, qui apud Illum plurimus,& nusquam loci pluris, nusquam generosior, animi gratiâ, saepiuscule pressit. cvi nisi callidiùs fuisset quàm Sibi moderatus( nam Equo intentior laesit Intestina) nondum Ille, quo fuimus felices,& quo non alter fuit in Terris felicior, fuisset in Coelis felicissimus. Nobis autem occidit, sibíque exortus est, Decembris VIII. Anno Domini M. DC.XXXX. Aetatis suae, LVI.   

Et Domina Alicia, Uxor Ipsius.  
FIlia& Haeres Thomae Spencer, de Claverdon, Armigeri. Cujus eximias Virtutes prohibet hoc Marmore( quod nec illas capit) nimia superstitis Modestia. Hoc solum patitur: Fuisse Conjugis, dum in vivis erat, observantissimam; posuisse Mortuo hoc qualecunque Monumentum; factámque prae Amore atque Moerore( utì cernis) Marmoream.   

sir Thomas lucy KNIGHT;  
ONe of this Countie's greatest Glories. An Extract of a most ancient family. But a dis-esteemer of Birth, in respect of Worth. Wherein he out-shone the brightest of his noble Ancestors. A singular and much honoured Patriot. Witness the supreme Court of the Kingdom: Whither he was frequently sent by the unanimous and fervent suffrages of his endeared country. His great Estate none could either better manage, or bee less servant to. What frugality laid up, liberality and Magnificence laid out. A loyal Consort, a numerous Off-spring, and great abundance of attendants were never bles't with a better Governor. His servant's Sickness was his sympathy, and their recovery his Cost. being thus a Father in a Master toward his Servants, what must he bee in a Father toward his most lovely Children, and in an Husband toward his most beloved lady? To his Table ( which was always choisly sumptuous) all Good men were ever most welcome; especially if Professors of either Sacred or Secular Learning. Wherein, though he were so rare a proficient, that he was accounted a Living library; yet was he uncessantly acted with an impetuous desire after a greater hight. His Gate was not less propitious to the Poor: whose Valediction to it was a Benediction; their farewell an hearty prayer for the Master's welfare. many poor labourers he daily employed, chiefly, That they might not by doing nothing, learn to do wors. many Neighbor-Towns he yearly refreshed, sending unto them plentiful Provision. The Great horse was his great delight. many he had, as generous and elegant as any were; which he frequently backed with as much skill as any could. Had he not better known to moderate his horse then Himself,( for from his Delight arose his disease) he, in whom his family, Friends, county, country, were so happy, and then whom none was more happy on Earth, had not yet been most happy in Heaven. Our happiness set, and his arose, Decemb. VIII. M. DC. XL. In the LVI year of his Age.   

And lady Alice, his Wife.  
DAughter and Heir to Thomas Spencer of Claverdon, Esquire. Whose exquisite Virtues are forbidden by her excessive modesty to appear in this Marble. Nor can they bee comprehended in it. Shee permitteth no more then this; That shee was most observant of her dearest Husband while he lived; hath erected this Monument for him being dead; And, through Love and Lamentation, is herself( as you see) become Marble.