Mr. GARDINER's SERMON ON THE DEATH OF THE DUKE of GLOUCESTER.   

A SERMON PREACHED At St. Michael CROOKED-LANE September the 8 th'. 1700  
Upon OCCASION of the DEATH OF HIS Illustrious Highness The DUKE of GLOUCESTER.  
By James Gardiner, M. A. Rector of the said Parish.  
LONDON: Printed by Hugh Newman, at the Grasshopper in the P●●try. MDCC.   

Zechariah, Cap. XI. Vers. 2. Howl Fir-tree, for the Cedar is fallen.  
HAVING observed in Print, that 
* V Causes of a Solemn National Fast and Humiliation at Edinburgh, July 31. 1700.  the Commissioners of the Late General Assembly in SCOTLAND, have thought it highly necessary, to oblige all the Lords People in that Church and Kingdom to a Solemn Fast, (as on Thursday, the 29th Day of August last) to Humble themselves greatly before God, in consideration of the sad Disappointments of Endeavours and Undertake for Advancing the Trade, and Wealth of that Nation, and particularly the Lamentable Dispersion of the African, and Indian Companies Colony in America; and more especially (in consideration) of their Slighting and Misimproving the Purity and Plenty of Gospel-Ordinances— and other their Sins, which they know 〈◊〉 themselves to be Guilty of.  
HAVING Observed this, I say; How much more ought we of this Established Church and Nation (tho' we have not the Formality of a Proclamation in the Case) to Mourn, 
† Zech. 12.12, 13, 14.  every Family apart; the Family of the House of David apart— the Family of the House of Nathan apart— the Family of the House of Levi apart— the Family of Shimei apart; Every Family apart, and their Wives apart for those Iniquities, and Abominations, which have caused the Lord, to whom Vengeance belongeth, to show himself.  

* V Archbishop Tenison's Sermon at Her Majesty's Death, p. 20.  IT was the Immorality, the Sin of the Nation, which hastened the Death of the Late 
* V Archbishop Tenison's Sermon at Her Majesty's Death, p. 20.  QUEEN (the Blessed QUEEN) as a Judgement, saith our Excellent Archbishop; and with Shame, and Confusion of Face we may speak the Words, the sad Truth, over again, That it is the Immorality, the Sin of the Nation, which hastened the Death of the Duke too. And, thus much indeed was told us if we had had an Understanding Heart, almost in the same Melancholy Breath (as if it was Immediately Revealed to Our Most Reverend Father) when He Subjoins, The Light shone, and we followed not its Direction, and God hath removed one Branch of it; let us sin no more, lest those which remain be Extinguished also.  
NOT unlike these, are the Words of another Worthy Prelate; 
† V Bishop of Bangor's Sermon on 30 of January 1695 1695/6 6 p. 29.  God, (saith He) hath showed us a Token of his Heavy Displeasure against us, in taking away that Excellent QVEEN, the Great Blessing and Glory of our Church and Nation: I tremble to think what we have reason to fear he should do more.  

* Jer. 44.22.  SINCE, therefore, the Lord could no longer forbear, because of the Evil of our Do, the Blow of the Axe, at the Fall of the Cedar, should Ring through the Forest, and a Dreadful Shriek be heard through the Whole Wood;  Howl Fir-tree, for the Cedar is fallen. 
THESE Words have a vast Spirit in them, and in our own Language, (for Trees have been made Vocal, not only amongst Profane, but Sacred Authors) Speak thus much, viz.  
I. THAT it is very requisite, and commendable, that there should be the several Claffes, Ranks, and Orders of Men in the World.  
II. THAT Great Men must fall by the Stroke of Death, and retire into their Graves as well as others.  
III. THAT the Death of Great and Public Persons should be signally Remarked, and deeply Lamented. Of these in their Order.  
I. THAT it is very Requisite, and Commendable, that there should be the several Classes, Ranks, and Orders of Men in the World. The Forest of a Nation hath not all Trees of the same growth. Are all Apostles? Are all Cedars? No: The Whole Body is not One Member 
* 1 Cor. 12.14. . There are the Nobler, and ignobler Parts.  
IT has been said indeed, and stickled for, (and Those there are still, I'm afraid, in Reserve, who would make special Use of this Doctrine, were it in their Power) that Princes, (Men Noble by Birth, Descent, or Blood,) ought to be cantoned into the Come Level; that there is not any such thing as a distinction amongst Men, in respect or of Dignity or Fortune; but a perfect Equality; and that therefore they ought to be brought down to a common Talley. Such a wretched Principle this, (like Procrustes' Bed, which would wrac, or cramp all Men into One Size, or Stature;) that there is not a Creature under Heaven, whether Beast of the Field, or Fowl of the Air, or Fish of the Sea, or Plant of the Ground, but at Once sufficiently confutes the Folly, and testifies against the Impiety of it: and, by consequence, its Extravagant Abetters (which, one would think, could be none, but an Highway Man, or Banditi) are sunk not only below Christians, and Men, but Brutes, and Inanimate Being's. Not a Creature under Heaven did I say? Nay, in the Heavens above us, What Observable Distinctions are there!  
THERE is an Hierarchy amongst the Angels, both those who are so by Nature, and those who are such by Office, and Denomination. 
† Rev. 1.  There are Principalities in the Heavenly Places; Arch-Angels, Cherubims, and Thrones, as well as Angels. Michael is expressly called a Prince.  
BESIDES the Sun and Moon, the King and Queen of Heaven, there is a kind of Peerage, Stars of the first Magnitude, 'twixt them, and the Common People of the Skies. And, as there is One Glory of the Sun, another Glory of the Moon, and another Glory of the Stars, for one Star differs from another Star in Glory, God having not levelled them either in Height, or Magnitude: 
* 1 Cor. 15.41.  So there is one Terrestrial Glory of Kings, and another Glory of Nobles, and another Glory of the Common People; and these have not the same Glory in Common, even amongst them, one Man differs from another Man in this Worldly Glory.  
GOD hath disposed, and ordered Men, as he hath the Supersicies of the Earth; making some parts of it plain, others Mountainous; some Valleys, and some Hills: Some stand as upon even Ground, Men of Ordinary Fashion; others are as High Mountains, over topping, and over looking the rest.  
PARDON me but this one Similitude more: Have you not observed in the Alphabet of Letters, some to be of a larger, and a deeper Cut than others? Thus it is in that of Mankind: Kings, and Princes are, it's confessed, but Men; yet they are Men in a Great Character; as Aleph, suppose, among the Letters, which as it is first in Order, so it signifies a Chief, a Prince, and a Leader.  
BUT further yet, to clear up the Point, let us search the Scriptures, and hear what they say. Truly they in so many words tell us not only that there are the Abjects 
† Ps. 35.15. , the Lowest of the People 
* 1 Kings 12.31. , Children of base Men, viler than the Earth 
† Job 30.8. , and on the other side that there are the Mighty of the Land 
* 2 Kings. 24.15. , the Honourable Person 
† Isa. 9.15. , Men of high Degree 
* 1 Chr. 17.13. , the Shields of the Earth 
‖ Ps. 47.9. , So Great, that they are called Mountains of Israel 
† Ezek. 36.1. , and so high, that their Height is like the Height of Cedars 
* Amos 2.9. , And brand them for Heretics who speak Evil of Dignities 
‖ Judas 8. , (or Blaspheme Glories, as the Greek Words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signify.) But moreover, they declare unto us how that these Distinctions are Instituted by God. By Me Kings Reign, and Princes decree Justice; by me Princes Rule, and Nobles, even all the Judges of the Earth 
† Prov. 8.15, 16. , Again, Let every Soul be Subject to the Higher Powers, for there is no Power but of God, the Powers that be are Ordained of God 
* Rom. 13.1. . If there were not a Distin, guishing Dignity to be ascribed to Persons of Sublime Place, but all Men must be alike, and brought down to a Par, Why is Joseph called the Second Man in the Kingdom? Joseph of Arimathea an Honourable Counsellor? Festus spoken of by the way of Noble? And the dear Jesus himself compared to a Nobleman?  
WAS there ever any Nation heard of that allowed not Degrees, and Terms of Distance? That cannot give most clear Images, and Impressions of them to very good Advantage?  
AND well it is for the Children of Men, that Providence hath so ordered it; since it is impossible, in the Nature of the Thing, that any Civil Society should subsist, or Nation support itself where there is neither Government nor Order, neither Managery, Guidance, nor Superiority. And therefore They that would thus Democratically argue, and turn the World into a Dividend, are pernicious Neighbours wherever they are; and this Determination is both Just, and plain upon them, viz. That He that cannot be content to have less, or be less than another; is altogether unfit, not only to be as Great, or to enjoy as much as another, but to be, or to have any thing at all.  
LET none therefore dare to wrest from you your Titles ye Men of Honour, or the Distinctions of your Qualities ye Men of Renown; maintain your Crests, and your Rights, for ye are Cedars, and not the vile Crabstock, nor the Brier and Thorn, which cannot be taken with Hands, but the Man that will touch them must be fenced with Iron, and the Staff of a Spear.  
1. ONLY, thus much may be insinuated, we humbly presume, that this Privilege ought to teach the Nobleman Gratitude; to say, with Jacob, I am less than the least of all thy Mercies; with David, Who am I, O Lord, and what is my Father's House, that thou hast brought me hitherto? A Cedar you are, you say; Look to the Rock our of which you were hewn, and let the Praises of God be ever in your Mouth, that hath caused your Lott to fall in such a good Place; be thankful unto him, and speak good of his Name, for Waters of a full Cup; for Silver Wings, and Feathers of Gold; for riding upon the high Places of the Earth; Ascribe you Greatness to the Lord, who hath set you among Princes, and made you to Inherit the Throne of Glory. If a Poor Man ought to bring a Turtle, and Two young Pigeons; the Great, and Mighty cannot any way be excused under an Whole Burnt Offering, an Heacatomb; the Altar should Flame with Sacrifices to that God who hath made Him thus to differ,  
2. AGAIN, thus much, without Offence, may be said, that it ought to be Pious Greatness. As Cedars, they ought to be Trees of Righteousness 
* Isa. 61.3. , and full of Sap 
† Psal. 104.16. . They are called Fools to their Faces, that have a Price in their Hands, and yet will not permit Religious Practice to correspond with Ability. How is God Almighty offended, when He had planted a Noble Vine, and it turned into a degenerate Plant! It was dismal when Jeremy 
* Isa. 61.3.  went unto the Great Men, thinking that they had known the Way of the Lord, and the Judgements of their God; and yet these altogether had broken the Yoke, and burst the Bonds in sunder. Bring unto the Lord, O ye Sons of the Mighty! Be ye Precedents of Religion, let who will be Neglictive of their Duty. For such Personages to degenerate is a Reproach, and a shame not to be forgotten, tho' They were born of a better Father than ever was Jupiter; to use the Words of Menander.  
3. LASTLY, Thus much, from the Premises, may be Suggested without offending against the Rules of Decency, viz. That they ought to be as really servisable, as their Order and Rank in the World bespeaks, and justly demands. That they be of a ductile Temper, benign, and placid in their Expressions; (the Cedar, you know, is not rough and knotty, but smooth and pleasant;) sweet, and obliging in deportment; not swelled with Conceit, not strutting, and looking down with Contempt upon the Creation; but free and easy to be entreated, making use of the soft, still Voice, like Great Moses, who was the Meekest Man upon Earth; and Mordecai, who spoke Peace to all his Seed. Not Humoursome, or supercilious; not designing or reserved for themselves, but useful, as Cedars, for the building of the Commonwealth: not keeping their Timber within its own Bark, but ready and willing to have Pieces quartered out of it, to rear up Structures of Honour to a Kingdom, and to Repair the Breaches and the Old waist Places of their Native Soyl. If a Man's Country be like another God, as Hierocles said, then should a Man, the Man of Splendour and Capacity especially, be ever Sacrificing to this Numen, always contriving how to be serviceable in his Circle, before that Time comes, when he shall be laid aside, as useless, amongst the other Rubbish of the World; for, Die he must as well as others: Which naturally leads me to the consideration of the Second Proposition, viz.  
2. THAT Great Men must fall by the Stroke of Death, and retire into their Graves as well as others. The Loftiest Cedars in Lebanon, and the Goodliest Oaks in Bashan must down, as sure as the Sycamores in the Valley, or Willows by the Water-brooks. This Truth, that God accepts not the Persons of Princes, nor regards the Rich more than the Poor, is Written indelebly in their very Dust; and the One must be content to mingle Ashes with the Other. It is to their Persons, as it is to their Habitations; Destruction takes hold upon Castles, and Abbeys, as well as the Mud wall and Thatch of the Cottager: Neither is it any more trouble for Death to pull the strongest Prince out of his Palace (and that it will come to at last) than to turn a Beggar out of his House of Hurdles.  
WHAT Ground there is for that Observation; The Life of Man is short, of King's shorter, of Pope's shortest (whether it be because they are subject to Envy, and a Rival-ambition; or, because they that stand high are prone to be giddy headed, and consequently are aptest to catch a Fall;) I list not now to inquire: certain it is, since they are part of Adam's sinful Progeny, that die they must; their strength is not the strength of Stones, which yet the very drops of Water wear out; nor their Sinews of Brass or Iron, which yet the Rust and Canker consumes.  
DEATH, like Caesar, Taxes the Whole World, and his Mortal Sith Mows down the Lilies of the Crown, as well as the Grass of the Field. The Mighty of the Earth have no more Dominion over it then the British King Canutus of Kent had against the Sea's encroaching upon his Throne. Those who have a just Power of Life and Death, as to their Subjests, have none over their own, to prolong their Lives, or protract their Death's one moment. Nay, couldst thou, by thy Power, and Policy exalt thy Throne above all the Thrones of all the Kings upon the Face of the Whole Earth, and proclaim thyself Universal Lord and Monarch, and send Yokes by thine Ambassadors to all the Princes, and States of the Universe; Yet the Time will come, and will not tarry, when the Grandees, and Potentates of the World, who have gone down into the Dominions of Death, and Darkness before thee, may take up this Proverb against thee, and say, Art Thou also become weak as we? Art thou also become vanity like unto us? The Globe at One end of the Library, and the Skeleton at the Other, was a pretty Emblem of what we are now Discoursing, and may signify thus much, that supposing a Man Master of the Whole Ball, yet his Spirit shall be taken from Him, that He may be dissolved and become Earth 
‖ Tobit. 3.6. . Diogenes is brought in by Witty Lucian, as Jeering the Ghost of Alexander after Death; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What, is Alexander Dead as well as Diogenes? Alexander had then learned, that he was not Immortal, and could say, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It's no wonder I am Dead, since, at best, I was but a Man.  
WHATEVER course God gives to our Fortune, Nature will certainly maintain and keep hers; and make the Pulse beat alike in Men of High degree, and those that are obscure; and will inflame both alike with Fevers, and i'll both alike with Rheums, and finally close the Eyes of both alike by Death, which draws the Curtain of the Stage, and then the Comedy of Fartune is at an End; Nature, which brought them forth Naked, takes them in more naked than she brought them forth, Stripping the Soul off the Body, and the very Flesh off the Bones: Death divesteth all the Actors of this Play of Life of the False Properties of Fortune, and then, Who can say, This is the Noble, and that the Ignoble Dust? for, in Death, there is neither Small nor Great, neither Male nor Female, neither Bond, nor Free; the Greatest shall lie as low as the Meanest; every One there shall be but as his Neighbour, and as his Brother in the Flesh.  
BUT for the further Illustration of this Great Truth, That no Period of Life, no State, or Quality is secure a Moment from the Arrest of Death, that all our Destinies are hurstled in the same Urn, and sooner or later we shall be all carried into Eternal Exile: let us turn to, and ruminate a little upon these following Texts; for thus it is Written, 
* Heb. 9.27.  It's appointed for ALL Men Once to Die. No Privilege, no Immunity from the Grave. It's a Statue-Law that hath been in Force in all Ages, and will be so to the End of Time. The Decree is , and you may pretend as soon to obstruct the Course of Nature, or hinder God's Covenant of Day and Night, as to preserve Men of what Names or Titles soever Dignifyed or Distinguished, from going to the Place appointed for all Living. This is called in another place 
† Josh. 23.14.  the Way of all the Earth; Some walk indeed on the Golden Sands, others in Dirt and Mire; but the same Uncontrollable Necessity involues all; and whatsoever the Way be, Plea ant or Troublesome, yet every One passeth in it with equal steps, measured by the same invariable Spaces of Hours, and Days and arrive at the same common End of Life. Again,  

* Rom. 5.12.  DEATH passeth upon ALL Men, for that ALL have Sinned. Whatever it is that makes Men Great, makes them not more than Men, nor less than Sinners; and the Work, and Wages are inseparable; for, the Wages of Sin is Death: Nay Death found a Passage where Sin had made none; even the most Holy Jesus was Dead, and Buried. Again,  

† Isa. 40.6, 7, 8.  ALL Flesh is Grass, and the Goodliness thereof as the Flower of the Field; the Grass withers, the Flower fadeth. But is this a Truth so Universal that it admits of no Exception? Are not the Princes, and Herves of the World exempted? Have not They something in them that may be a Preservative from, the insults at least of this Tyrant Death? Something that They may, upon Occasion, plead against the Common Fate? The Prophet seems to agree to this, and therefore makes some difference betwixt the Great and the Person of Low Estate; But what is it? No other than what is between Green Grass, and a Flower; which, tho' more Beautiful and taking to the Eye, and pleasing to the Sense, is every whit as subject to be trod under foot as the Grass; and as they grow together in the same Field are equally liable to be cut down by the Edge of the same Sith. Nay, say they escape the Browsing Mouth of the Beast, the Pruning Knife, the Plucking Hand, and the Nipping Air; yet are they still perishing, still fading, and will whither away of themselves. Again,  

* Psal. 39.5.  VERILY Every Man at his best Estate is altogether Vanity. Every Word strangely Emphatical! In the Original it runs, Every Man is every Vanity. Imagine what Vanity you will, Man is that. This is the true, perfect Map of the Little World Man, drawn and Coloured by the Pen of the Royal Prophet as his Hand was guided by the Holy Ghost. Behold, I show you a Mystery; The Lesser World Man, is more comprehensive of Vanity than the greater. Again,  

† 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! The meaning is, No Man can escape it. Which is the reason that the Assertion is not left bare, and naked, but fixed with a Selah, to assure the Truth of it, or so to engage our Attention, as not to pass it by till we have given it a Serious, and a feeling Thought: Upon which account, it's highly probable, that Man is not here expressed by that common word Adam, which tells him how that He was basely born from the Earth, and derives from the Ground; nor by that word Enos, which implies his Accidental, or rather Providential Infirmities, Sicknesses and Sorrows; but Geber he is called, which represents Man in his most topping Circumstances either of Honour or Greatness; in the best and greatest Figure that possibly he can make? Q. D. What Great, what Mighty Man is there, that liveth and shall not see Death? Once More,  

* Psal. 82.6.  I have said ye are Gods, and all of you the Children of the Most High, but ye shall die like Men, and fall like One of the Princes. Or rather by much, as some render the Hebrew, And the Princes shall die as One, or as any One, i e. as any other Ordinary Man. Great Ones indeed are Baptised with God's own most Reverend and Glorious Name; they be as Gods by Deputation, and by Authority delegated from on High; but it is all but tanquam Lumina illuminata, as Stars are Lighted from the Taper of the Sun; all Earthly Majesty being but a Ray of that which is Omnipotent and Independent above in Heaven: Even (there) all Crowns are cast before the Throne of God, 
† Revel. 4.10. . Therefore is it added, They shall die like Men, In the Eminency of Dignity they resemble God, being clad with Majesty and Honour before the People; yet in the frame, and Substance of their Bodies are of the same Materials with the poorest Creature you can meet in the Streets: So that it is certain, tho' They be Gods with Men, yet (if I may be Pardoned in turning the Words) they are Men with God; and their Lot is to die as other Folk, and Inherit the Place of a Skull.  
Nay, may we not here fix a farther Remark, and say that such Persons are not only Mortal as others, but many times sooner cut off, and more Subject to Violent Death than the Inferior Part of Mankind? Of the Kings of Judah from Rehoboam down to Zedekiah there were in Number Twenty Six of them, that is, almost a Third part Slain: Again, of the Kings of Israel from Jeroboam down to Oshea there were also Thirty in Number, that is, a just Half Slain. And if we look into our own Stories, and our English Chronicles, they are all Bloody; from the Conquest downward of Three and Twenty deceased Princes we find Eight, that is more than a Third part, Slain. What a dreadful thing would it be amongst the Populace if One in Three were Subject to violent Death! But this by the by, tho' not altogether impertinent to the Argument under Consideration.  
But why this Painstaking, you may say, to make out a Truth which Every Hour of the Day Demonstrates, and none doubt of in their retired Thoughts? Let it be so; yet, for all this, since there is a vast Difference betwixt a bare Speculative Knowledge Swimming upon the Understanding, and a Practical, Sanctify'd, and Reduplicative One, when we know the Truth as we ought to know it, by Influenceing our Wills, tempering our Affections, and steering all the Courses and Passages of our Lives, which is called by the Apostle a Knowledge according to Godliness, and knowing of the Truth as it is in Jesus, it may be feared we do not know this Truth (in this Sense) as common as it is. David understood the Difficulty of it, and therefore about to make a Sermon of Man's Frailty, He gins thus, I will incline mine Ear to a Parable, I will open my dark say 
* Psal. 49.4. . And the Prophet going to proclaim all Flesh is Grass— brings it in with the Solemnity of a Dialogue 'twixt a Voice from Heaven, and Himself; The Voice said cry, and he said, what shall I cry. The saying was so Dark, and our Natures so averse to digest it, that there is need of Crying and Crying again.  
(1.) THEREFORE, The Message is to you, O Nobles, Princes, and Governors. O Earth! Earth! Earth! hear the Word of the Lord 
† Luke 12.40. , Be ye ready also: Stand upon your Watch-Tower, look towards the West, to the Setting of the Sun; and since ye know not the Hour that this Arch-Thief will come to break up this sorry, little House of Clay, which the Soul of the Greatest Man is confined to, no higher usually than Two Yards, if so high, but nothing over; Watch with a Watch more jealous than Besieged Cities keep, that have their Eyes and Ears open to all Alarms, to every approach, and single Motion of the Enemy.  
LET not this be the Language of Greatness, or so much as their inward Thought, That their Houses shall endure for ever, and their Dwelling Places to all Generations, since they know, that Man in Honour abideth not, but is like the Beast that perisheth: But this rather, (seeing it cannot be avoided, but they must be visited with the Visitation of all Men,) Let me die the Death of the Righteous, and let my last End be like His. Let it never be observed that there is the least shadow of Likeness 'twixt them and Him we read of in Luke 12.19. Who from the abundance of his Wealth thought he should live a prodigious while, saying, Thou hast Goods laid up for many Years, Soul take thine Ease, eat, drink and be merry; (as if nothing would destroy but starving:) since they know how unexpectedly he received his due Character for that his vain assurance— for, God said unto Him, thou Fool— and the Punishment of it too, This Night shall thy Soul be required of thee: Rather let this Light and Understanding and Excellent Wisdom be found in them, (since they have not a Power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit,) by Temperance and Humility of Soul (which afford a particular Scene of Pleasure) to enjoy what is given, with Patience attending the Appointment of God, when ever His Pleasure shall be, that they shall taste of Death.  
IT'S amongst the Memento's of the Ancient Greeks 
* Stob. , 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Being Momentary, and Mortal, it becomes a Man to be Humble: not to advance upon so lose a Foundation, which, like Quicksands or Quagmires, in a short Time swallow up the Building that is reared upon ' 'em. How ridiculous would he be that should bestow much Time to hue, and square, and polish Cakes of Ice, in order to Build him a Splendid Palace, which he should fancy to be comparable to the Etherial Mansions of Heaven? A Sober thought upon the Matter of our Bodies, that we are only a Lump of Clay, a little refined Dust, that moves and breathes for a Moment, but drops immediately into its First Principles, would cure the most Arrogant and Exalted of the Folly of Pride and the Madness thereof: As Sovereign a Remedy it would be against those Flatuous and High Imaginations of the Heart, as we are told a dead Hand is, by rubbing it on the tumors of the Body, to allay, disperse, and as it were Mortify those Irregular, and Deformed Excrescencies: And the same shame would happen to Us upon the Reflection, that doth to the Bird upon the sight of the black Foot, after it hath been spreading, and perusing its gaudy Train of Feathers. If indeed the Body, which was from the Earth, was to return to it no more, it would be another matter, and Pride would admit of a very fair Apology. But the Law of Death runs thus, etc. All Honours, Titles, etc. to the contrary in Any-wise notwithstanding: Nor could all the Vain-gloriousness of an Haughty Herod exempt him from the stroke of the Destroyer, or make him other than a lousy God 
* Acts 12. .  
HEAR this all ye Guilded Potsherds of the Earth, ye Great Ones that would fain nestle in the Clouds, and in your soaring Thoughts, with that proud Persian, Sapor, writ Brother to the Sun and Moon; that have deified yourselves in your own Imaginations of your Heaven upon Earth; hear this, and rouse yourselves from your bewitching Dreams; submit to what Sense, and Reason, and Experience, and Scriptures speak so loud; and disdain not to make it a Peice of Religion, (seeing the Grave expects you, and bids its other Corpse make Room,) to provide against that Hour, when your Names shall be written in the Shell, and you taken away by a kind of Ostracism.  
(2.) IT is to Us; It speaks that we repose not our Confidence in any Son of Man, let him appear never so big, and lofty: Because, this will be to make Falsehood our Refuge, and to hid ourselves under Vanity. The Duty that we own to those in Eminency is Faithfulness, and Obedience, not Confidence, and Trust. Alas! What can Dust do for Dust? If the weak trust in the weak, how shall it be made strong? Affiance is an Act due from the Creature only unto God, whose is the Power, and whose is the Dominion; and an high Affront we offer his Majesty, if, when He lends us any of these Precious Jewels, we deal as the Israelites did in the Wilderness, and turn our Golden Earrings into an Idol. And most certainly true it will be found in the Conclusion, That never any Persons smarted more under the Disappointment of their towering Expectations, than those very Men that made Flesh their Arm. The Troops of Tema looked, the Companies of Sheba waited for them; they were confounded because they had hoped; they came thither, and were ashamed 
† Job 6.19, 20. .  
CEASE we therefore from Man whose Breath is in his Nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of 
* Isa. 2.22. . And, let us follow that Advice which is given us by a great Prince, from God 
† Psal. 146.3, 4. , Put not your Trust in Princes, nor in the Son of Man in whom there is no Help; (it is not tanti, not worth the while;) His Breath goeth forth, he returneth to his Earth, in that day all his Thoughts perish 
* There is nothing in these words of an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as Pope John 22d. would gather out of them; as tho' after Death his Soul should Sleep, and think of Nothing: What they express is, that all his great glistering thoughts when alive, at Death come to Nothing. . Happy is the Man that hath the God of Jacob for his Help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made Heaven, and Earth, the Sea and all that therein is; which keepeth Truth for ever; whose Name is from Everlasting 
† Isa. 63.16. . But altho' we are not to rely or stay upon them, yet know this too, that it is a Sin against all Conscience and Equity not to make doleful Resentments upon, not to eye the hand of God in the Death of the Princes of the People; which calls to mind the Third and last Proposition, viz.  
(3.) THAT the Death of Great and Public Persons should be signally remarked, and deeply lamented; especially where it is precipitated, and has not in it the Unavoidable reason of Old Age, and the fullness of days. It's fit, when such are taken away, that their Death should be solemnised by a Tribute of Tears levied upon the Whole Kingdom: Our Souls ought then to be Elemented, as it were, of nothing but Sadness, and Sorrow, and the Misfortune should command a Brinish Shower. Can any Man forbidden, or fault this Holy Water? Who would not be Baptised in such a Fountain? If that Tyrant, John Basiliwic of Muscovy, exacted Phialas sudore plenas, the Sweat wiped off his Subjects Brows, to be preserved in Glasses, purely for Him to look upon; Certainly it may be justly expected, when a Virtuous Prince is taken away, not only that the Eyelids should gush out, and that the Public Face of the Nation should be bedewed with Tears; but that a Subsidy also should be bottled up, and kept in store in Remembrance of the Loss, and the Severe Infliction.  
THE Hearses of such Magnificent Persons have, in all Ages, been thus Mournfully Attended; not only of such who have dropped away with Age, but theirs who have been blasted in the Tenderness of Youth. 
* 2 Chron. 35.24.  All Judah and Jerusalem Mourned for Josiah.  
HOWL, then, Firtree, for the Cedar is fallen. Doth it not grieve you, all ye that pass by, to see such a Goodly Plant lie on the Ground, which, but now, stood with Admiration? Can you go, unconcernedly, on the other side of the Way, as the Priest and the Levite did by the Wounded Man, and have no Sense, or Impression of the Blow? What! no more than, That which Dies, even let it Dye; and that which falleth let it fall; Nay, which is worse, can you be pleased at the stroke, and express your Odious Joys at the Breach? Like the Inhabitants of the Earth, who rejoiced when the Two Witnesses were Killed, and sent Gifts one to another 
† Rev. 11.10. . O Cursed Insensibility! O bitter Spirit! O Ominous Presage of further Calamity! When we were in the Dregs of Misery, and Church and Nation lay, as it were gasping under the Bitterness of Death, Heaven took pity upon us, and recovered us by the Hand of our now Dread Sovereign, and we all saw the Great things were done for Us, whereof we were— Scandalously unthankful: For which Iniquity we received of the Lord a just Punishment in the Death of the Late QVEEN: But yet, in the midst of that Judgement he remembered Mercy; and, as if we were a Land that the Lord our God careth for, He extended Peace to it like a River and like a flowing Stream 
* Isa. 66.12. . But instead of a Religious Improvement of it, the Land abounds in Transgressions, and the City is full of Perverseness: Insomuch, that Death is come up again into our Windows, and entered into our Palaces, 
† Isa. 4.11.  and God hath taken away a Prince in his Anger. So that our Condition too much resembles that of Jerusalem, which the Mournful Prophet bewails in the 55th Chapter, v. 18. There is none to guide her of all the Sons she hath brought forth, neither is there any to take her by the hand of all the Sons she hath brought up: And loath I am to say, that this was the very Method God took when he Threatened to Stretch out the Line of Confusion, and the Stones of Emptiness upon it; The Nobles shall be called to the Kingdom, and there should be none there; and all her Princes should be nothing, i. e. there should be no Princes or Nobles left that should be fit to take the Rule, and Government upon them, and then he tells them, not (Sarim) but (Sirin) not Princes, but Thorns s●o'd come up in her Palaces; not (Chorim) but (Chochim) not Nobles, but Brambles in the Fortresses thereof; and it should be an Habitation for Dragons, and a Court for Owls. God forbidden that ever our Island sho●●d be made a Spectacle to Men and Angels in this respect. Well! the Power is lodged in our own Hands, by a Repentance in common, happily to Prevent it. O Repentance! it is thou alone canst save us; Help us, Thou Joy of Angels, and Crown of Nations! Turn in unto us, and let England take Shelter under thy Wings.  
I will plant the Cedar, and the Shittah-tree, and the Myrtle and the Oyl-tree, the Fir, the Pine, and the Box-tree together, that ye may know, and consider, and understand, that the Hand of the Lord hath done it 
* Isa. 41.19. . What tho' we be ranged under Contrary Persuasions, and a Diversity of Judgements and Opinions is amongst us; yet, were our Hearts United in the Fear of God, could we Walk by the same Rule, in turning to the Lord, even this heavy Loss of the DUKE wo●●d soon be made up; and God would Continue to be Gracious to the Land, through the Blood of Jesus, which is Sprinkled upon Nations, as well as Particular Persons. And then, let the Priests of Rome build Seven Altars, and add Seven more to them, and let them Offer upon Every One Seventy Times seven Bullocks, and as many Rams, Masses, Relics, Candles, Hosts, and what they please; let them Continue to Shake our Foundations with the Engine of their Brain, and their Subtlety; and call in all the Devils in Hell to their Consultation, and Gather together the Kings of the Earth against us; Tush, it's in vain, and the Evil they Devise, they shall not be able to perform; for the Lord s with us, and the God of Jacob is our Refuge.  
To which God and Lord be Ascribed all Honour, Power and Praise, by both Worlds, now and over. Amen.  
FINIS.