ΘΡΗΝΩΔΙΑ. THE church's LAMENTATION FOR THE Good Man his loss: Delivered in a Sermon To the Right honourable the two Houses of Parliament, and the Reverend Assembly of Divines, at the funeral of that Excellent Man JOHN PYM, Esquire, late a Member of the Honourable House of Commons. Preached in the Abbey-Church of Westminster, by Stephen Martial, B. D. Minister of God's Word at Finching-field in Essex. Published by Order of the House of Commons. Esa. 57 1. The righteous perisheth, & no man layeth it to heart and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. London, Printed for Stephen Bowtell, and are to be sold at his Shop in Pope's head Alley. 1644. To the Right honourable THE Lords and Commons assembled in Parliament: Right Honourable, THis plain piece, which (were it worthy) should be sacred to this excellent Man, memory, comes now also devoted to your service: It should have been his picture, but becomes your possession; and let it be inter {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, and that by your fourfold interest. 1. In himself, whilst he lived, every one of you deservedly esteeming him as a Friend, a Brother, if not a Father. 2. In his loss, ●or rather yours of him) which because I cannot describe, 〈…〉 veil over with silence. 3. In the work wherein he lived, and by which he died; which was not so much his as yours; or, yours, as your Countries, your Gods: in which he laboured so much, that he died the sooner, that you might have his better help toward the finishing of it, who (through the mercy of God) live longer. 4. In this mean Sermon, which by your command comes to public view, and therefore craves patronage in your favourable acceptance: The Lord make it yours by a greater right; even by making the commands delivered in it to be so engrafted in your hearts, that you may all not only with him be cast into the same mould, but that his Spirit may be so doubled upon you all, that you cheerfully and without fainting may bear whatever remaining heat and burden of the day; and at last come to the same blessed evenings-reckoning, rest, and reward in everlasting life. So prayeth daily Your most unworthy Servant, in, and for Christ Jesus, Stephen Martial. Die Veneris, 15 Decembr. 1643. IT is this day Ordered by the Commons assembled in Parliament, That Master solicitor do return thanks to Master Martial, for the great pains he took in his Sermon preached at the funeral of Master Pym, a worthy Member of the House of Commons; and to desire him to print his Sermon. And it is Ordered, that no man presume to print this Sermon, but whom the said Master Martial shall authorise under his hand-writing. H. Elsing Cler. Parl. D. Com. I do authorise Stephen Bowtell to print this Sermon. Stephen Martial A SERMON PREACHED BEFORE THE Right Honourable, the LORDS and COMMONS, and the Reverend Assembly of Divines at the funeral of JOHN PYM ESQUIRE. RIght Honourable and beloved, Should a stranger Introduction. behold the face of this Assembly, and see the Honourable Houses of Parliament, and the Reverend Assembly of Divines, and such a great confluence of persons of all ranks and qualities, in this mournful posture, they would say as the Inhabitants of Canaan did, when they saw the mourning for old Jacob in the floor of Arad, This is a grievous mourning to England; and would certainly inquire, What Prince? what great man Gen. 50. 11. is this day fallenin our Israel? But you, who knew the worth of this excellent person, whose shadow lies here before you, do rather wonder that all faces are not covered with blackness, and all bodies with sackcloth, and come hither so fully prepared to mourn, that you even long till something be spoken of him, that you may ease your hearts a little, though it be with weeping. But stay a while (I beseech you) till I first deliver an errand from God, the ground whereof you shall find, Micah the seventh, the first and second verses. MICAH. 7. 1, 2. Woe is me, for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the vintage. There is no clusterto eat: my soul desireth the first ripe fruit. The good man is perished out of the Earth. THis Text, and two or three verses following, contains a sad complaint of the Prophet The Text explained. in the church's name, of the small number of the good, and the great multitude of evil men in the days wherein he lived. The paucity of goodmen is set down in an elegant comparison: they are as the scatterings after the In-gatherings of the summer fruit, as the grape gleanings after the Vintage, here and there a berry in the top of a bough, not an whole cluster anywhere left to eat. She needed full clusters; the work she had to do required many able hands, and gracious hearts. There were clusters enough of vile ones, whole boughs, whole trees, whole hedge rows of such were to be found everywhere. Every Family, every street, Town, and City abounded with them. There were Princes that were oppressors, judges who received bribes, great men uttering their mischievous desires, a world of people who lay in wait for blood, who could hunt every man his brother with a net, that could do evil with both hands earnestly, the best of them as a briar, the most upright sharper than a thorn hedge; but such a thin scattering of men willing and fit for the service of God and his Church, that if one searched as diligently as Diogenes did in Athens at noon day for an honest man, he was hardly to be found. But how comes the Church to be thus empty? had she never any better store? O yes! Vers. 2. she had precious sons, comparable to fine Gold; She had Nazarites, purer than Snow, whiter than milk: At the first she had her judges, that were upright and wise; her Prophets, that taught them the fear of the Lord; her Priests and Levites pure, who bore the vessels of the sanctuary: she had her mighty men, and the men of war; the honourable man and the Counsellor, the cunning Artificer, and the eloquent orator: She had every place furnished with men of renown, the Throne, the camp, the Senate, the college, the City, but in her greatest need they were well nigh all gone. How gone? Were they apostatised? had they voluntarily left her? No neither; but even perished, cut off before their time, and for these things she weeps, her eyes run down with tears, and she cries out, Woe is me, because the comforters which should refresh her soul are removed far from her. O England, England, I see thy woeful face in this glass: this Text holds out a type of thy sad condition. But I proceed to the words, Woe is me, the good man is perished out of the earth. Wherein observe these two things. First, The state and condition of the Church in this prophet's days, The good man is perished out of the earth. Secondly, The church's sensibleness of her present condition, Woe is me for it. The words need no great explication, only let us inquire what is meant by the good man: Secondly, what by the good man's perishing. By a good man in the largest sense is meant a godly man, a holy man, a righteous man, but more strictly, here a good man is an useful man, such are instruments of good to others, such as are good Magistrates, the pillars of a State, who execute judgement and justice in the gate: a Mordecai, who seeks the wealth of his people, and procures Hest. 10. 3. 2 Chron. 24. peace to all his seed. Or good Ministers, such an one as Jehojada, who did good in Israel; such an one as Barnabas, Act. 11. 24. a good man and full of the holy Ghost, by whose ministry much people were added unto the Lord. A good Father in a Family; as Abraham, who teaches all his children the Gen 8. 19 fear of the Lord: Thus some interpret that place, Rom. 5. 7. Scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet per adventure for a good man some would even dare to die: that though they would hardly die to excuse an ordinary man though godly, yet some eminent useful man, they would not only with the Galathians pluck out their eyes, but lay down their lives for them. Secondly, what by perishing; how the good man may be said to perish. You know to perish in the common acceptation is taken in the worst sense, to be cut off from the Land of the living by the hand of God in wrath and fury, and their souls cast for ever into the pit of Hell; but thus the good man perisheth not; though the wicked be driven away to Hell in his wickedness, yet the righteous Prov. 14. 32. hath hope in his death. But here to perish, and elsewhere is to die immaturely, unseasonably, to be cut off from the place where they were useful, and could ill be spared. Many excellent lessons do these words hold forth unto us: As first The Prophet makes the church's condition his own, with Aaron bearing them on his shoulders, on his breastplate, yea in his very heart. If it be ill with the Church, you may discern it in his countenance, hear it by his speech. If well, by the cheerfulness of his spirit. If they be afflicted, he mourns; if they rejoice, he is cheerful with them. Secondly, the Prophet observes all his people, whose faces stand towards heaven, who look another way; who are Saints, who are Children of Belial; is diligent to know the state of his flock. Thirdly, that it is no new thing to find in the Church of God, many evil, and few good; in God's field, many tares, little good corn; in his barn floor, much chaff, and little Wheat; in his great house, many Vessels of dishonour, and few of honour; many stones, few precious stones; in his drag. Net abundance of weeds, many bad Fishes, and few good ones; in his Vineyard, many wild grapes, and few right Grapes. Fourthly, And this also; that even those few Godly men, which are the church's Treasure, are subject to Death, even immature and untimely death, as well as others. But, I pass over all these, with a bare mention of them; and confine myself to these two Observations, as most clearly held forth in the Text, and suitable to this sad meeting. First, that the most excellent and useful men, are often taken away, when the Church could ill spare them. The Church at this time did abound (as we also now do) with Sons of Belial, compassed about with many Enemies, and therefore needed the first ripe fruits, many choice Instruments, and yet those very few she had were now taken away; the good man is perished out of the Earth. Secondly, that when God doth this, it is a matter of sad lamentation; Woe is me, the good Man is perished, &c. The first of these, that God often takes away choicest men, Doct. 1. Men more precious than Gold, than the fine Gold of God oft takes away useful Instruments; and proved 1. by Examples. Ophir, When the Church hath greatest need of them, hath, (Alas) abundance of sad evidence; A whole Cloud of Witnesses might easily be brought in: A large Catalogue of Examples. Abel, the first Flower that ever grew in the Lord's Garden, cropped off as soon as blown, and in him all the seed of the Woman devoured by the seed of the Serpent; slain by the eldest son of reprobation; So Moses and Aaron, when the Israelites were to take possession of the Land of Canaan, to root out thirty kingdoms, to set up both Church and commonwealth, these long experienced and able Leaders, Prince and Priest, taken off in the very beginning of the work, and all seem to be left to raw heads and hands, that know not how to manage it: so Elisha the man of God fell sick and died, when in the judgement even of a wicked King, he was all the Chariots and Horsemen of Israel, all 2 King. 13. the strength they had left: So Josiah, that rare and excellent Prince, who seemed to be created as a new Star, purposely to shine in those darksome times, cut off in the midst of his work, for whose death Jeremiah composed the whole book of the Lamentations: And in the Christian Church, in the beginning of it, when all the World was to be subdued to the faith of Christ, The Harvest very great and the Labourers but few, John the Baptist, a greater Prophet than whom was never borne of a woman, coming in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the heart of the fathers to the Mal 4. ult. children; and the heart of the children to the fathers, and the disobedient to the instruction of the wise, taken away violently, after but two or three years' work, whiles he was making ready a people for the Lord: James the brother of John, one of the Pillars, one of the chief Apostles, cut off by the sword; and Stephen a rare man, full of the Holy Ghost, whose wisdom and spirit the enemy was not able to resist, exceedingly fitted to convince the Jews, and to prove that Jesus was the very Christ, suddenly taken off, and knocked on the head in a popular tumult and commotion: And now of late, our Edward the sixth, another Josiah, when this Land had been long in bondage unto Antichrist, overwhelmed with the darkness of Idolatry and Superstition, and seemed to be purposely raised up to bring light and salvation to this desolate Land, while he was preparing this wilderness to be the Lord's fruitful Vineyard, planting it with the choicest Vines, and setting up a Wine press in the midst of it, walling it, and fencing it about, after five or six years' labours, suddenly snatched away. So the incomparable King of Sweden, brought over the Baltic Sea by the hand of God to restore the ruins of Germany, travelling in the greatness of his strength, and working little less than wonders for two or three years together, and drawing the eyes of all men towards him, as the man that should undoubtfully have delivered that woeful country; in a moment this bright Sun set, soon after his rising: Yea, since this very Parliament, when there was never more work nor fewer hands; Religion to be reformed, Liberties to be recovered, great offenders to be punished, and all the Gates of Hell opened to hinder us, to devour us, yet of those few how many of our choicest Nobles, Parliament men, soldiers and Ministers, hath the hand of God deprived us of? But what need we seek for more examples, when our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was himself cut off from out of the Land of the living, when he had not Esa. 53. 8. attained the one half of the age of man. This is one of the Lords strangest works, a work By Reason. Hereby hepro vides for his own Glory. wherein his enemies often rejoice, and his people mourn, the reason therefore should diligently be sought out; in which enquiry we shall find, that he, whose works are all done with unsearchable wisdom and for excellent ends, doth hereby first provide for his own glory, and that many ways. As first, he often takes away instruments, that it may His Power. be known that his Church and Cause is not supported by them, but by himself alone; that the Pillars of the Church are not borne up by any created strength, but by him, Who measureth the water in the hollow of his hand, and weighs the mountains in the Scales, and the Hills in a balance; that men may know, when the youths faint and be weary, and the young men utterly fall, the most active and able Instruments brought to nothing, yet the Church is carried in his bosom, and by him alone shall renew its strength, and mount up with wings as an Eagle, run Esa. 40. and not be weary, walk and not be faint. Secondly, to set out his wisdom and the abundance of spirit, in providing variety of instruments: he purposely 2. Wisdom. takes some away to make way for others, as in the frame of the world the variety of the creatures endued with their several abilities do all serve for the beauty and good of the universe: and thereby set forth the wisdom as well as the power of the Creator: so here Moses shall have one part, Joshuah another; And Joshuah shall do as excellently in Canaan as Moses in the wilderness, he shall honour God as much in the Military part, as the other in the legal: Elihu a young men shall convince Job, and compel him to give glory to God, when other wise and gracious men, much older than his father, had long wrangled with him to little purpose: Elisha, who poured waterupon Elijah's hands, shall work more miracles than his Master did: yea, Christ's Apostles I●h. 14. 12. shall do greater works than he himself did, that the world may know that he hath abundance of the spirit. Other Kings and Princes are compelled to preserve their chief Instruments, because when they are gone they know not where to find a supply, but God (as he needs none so) when he pleaseth to use any, can raise up stones to be children, and children to do the work of men, and yet all these empty Pipes, further than he fills them, bubbles, easily broken, further than he supports them. And that is the first reason. Secondly, As for his own glory, so herein he also 2 E●r the good of his own, of them who die. provides for the good of his own people, his own I say, both them that are thus cut off, and them that remain behind. First, of them who die, for they are henceforth freed from their labours, from the body of sin, from the cohabitation of it, the molestation of it, & the too often prevailing power of it, from the fiery darts of Satan's temptations, from the conversation of the wicked, from their oppositions, persecutions; from the world's allurements on the right hand, and afflictions on the left hand, from all these they are delivered, with sa. 53. which hitherto they had been vexed; yea and oft times taken away from greater evils to come, and they also enter into rest, receiving the full recompense of all their labours, not only what they have actually done, but even what they were resolved and prepared to do if God had been pleased to employ them any longer in his service. Secondly, for the good of them that live, (though this seem most unlikely) who shall lose nothing by cutting 2. Of them who live. the pipes whereby mercies are conveyed, as long as the fountain of power and goodness remains i●tire in God himself, who can and will issue it out by other ways and means, to as great advantage of his people: yea, I say, he makes them gainers by it, and that several ways. First, He hereby cures them of one of the most dangerous evils which his people are or can be guilty of, and that is, setting up the instruments of their good to be Idols in their hearts, which they are extreme prone to do; and for this very cause doth the Lord often break these bubbles with the touch of his finger, that his people may think of them no otherwise than they are, and for this very reason some think the Deut. 34. 6. Lord buried the body of Moses, and would never let the people know where his grave was, because he foresaw that they would be ready to worship his dead body. Secondly, hereby the Lord doth humble his people, and awe them with the fear of his wrath, making them sensible of it, in these heavy strokes, and quicken them more up to prayer, and serious seeking after himself, as this Church doth in this place; Woe is me, the good man is perished, the Princes, the Judges, the Nobles &c. are all nought, none to be trusted, neither Wife, nor Father, nor brother, ver. 7. then follows, therefore will I look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me. And this lesson the Lord taught his people by Josiah's death, Lament. 5. ver. 16. &c. The Crown is fallen from our heads, good King Josiah is dead. Woe unto us that we have sinned, for this our heart is faint, for these things our eyes àre dim, but thou (O Lord) remainest for ever, thy throne from generation to generation. wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time. Turn thou us, O Lord, unto thee, and we shall be turned. Now this is one of the greatest blessings in the world, to be put into such an humble, penitent, praying, seeking temper as this is, his death which can procure this is like to be more advantageous than any man's life. Thirdly, Hereby the Lord makes his Church more sensible of his power, goodness, and faithfulness, when they shall find all these constantly continued, even when the instruments are taken away. Thus Moses the man of God taught the people upon the meditation of all the Sons of men returning to dust, to stay themselves wholly upon God, who was their dwelling place in all generations, from everlasting to everlasting, a God all-sufficient. Thirdly, though he doth this for the good of his own glory, and the good of his own Saints, both the 3. For judgement and 〈◊〉 upon others. living and the dead, yet hereby he makes way for his wrath upon others, who enjoyed th●m, and either opposed them, or undervalued them, or improved them not as they might have done, this God threatens, Isa. 57 The righteous perisheth, merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to com●: by their removal the Lord opens the sluices to his judgements, as men pluck away the props or Pillars of an house when they are willing it should fall down, as in Noah's time, as soon as God had housed him in the ark, he presently sent in the flood upon the World of the ungodly: and in Lot's time, as soon as the righteous man, vexed with the unclean conversation of Sodom, was removed from them, presently God rained fire and Brimstone from Heaven, and destroyed those five Cities: 2 King. 23. thus was it in Josiah's time, as soon as he slept with his fathers, all that fierce wrath of God wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah and Jerusalem, which was kept in all the while Josiah lived, broke out to the removing of Judah and Jerusalem out of his sight. Give me leave now to make a brief application of uses. this: First, Is this so, doth God often times take away the most useful men, when his Church hath most need of them; then let all the Church learn never to rest on men, how excellent so ever. I begin with this first, because it is our great and general sin, that we either vilify or deify all God's instruments, either respecting them less or more than God will have us: if God give us any precious jewels, we deal as the Israelites did in the wilderness, turn our golden earrings into an Idol, and thereby change our glory into our shame and misery, offering infinite injury unto God, who gives us these means to use, but not to depend upon; to bring us nearer to him, not as we sinfully make them occasions to draw us further from him; this is a very great sin, whereby we lose the taste of God's goodness, while we choose to respect the stream rather than the Fountain, and even take our heart off from God, and stay too much upon the creature, making our comfort to ebb and flow according as these weak props do break or hold, and even compel God to deprive us of them, as Ezekiah vused the Brazen Serpent, reserving it in an honourable shrine so long as it was but looked upon, as a monument of God's deliverance; But when once they went a-whoring after it, he broke it in pieces; and that they might know, it was but Ne●ushian, a piece of brass: thus do we break our staves in leaning too hard upon them. It is confidently reported that the King of Sweden a little before his death told some in ward friends, that he verily feared God would not use him long, because the people attributed more to him than was due to a mortal man; and I fear this sin costs us dear at this day, we have overvalued our Parliaments, our Armies, our Treasures, our interests in the hearts of the people, leaned too much upon them, looked too little unto God, who hath therefore brought us low in most of these. To my own knowledge, some good men have said of some choice Instruments, whose hearts were right with God, and zealous in his cause, These are the men who must do the deed; God will certainly deliver us by their hands: Who when they have heard of the sudden and unseasonable cutting off of those men, have been forced to lay their hand upon their mouth, and to say, What fools are we to expect any great things from Man, whose breath is in his Nostrils. God hath sadly broke all our carnal confidence, some excellent men he hath took away by death; some, whom we over-highly valued, have been permitted to discover the falseness of their own hearts; others, little less then blasted by people's mistake, although their hearts remain upright to God and his cause. And I verily fear, left our relying too much upon the assistance of our brethren from Scotland by their Armies, may more prejudice theirs and our success, than the strength of the Enemies can do. Let us therefore be persuaded in the fear of God, to use men, as God's instruments, but build nothing upon them, lest our expectation prove that of Cesar Borgia, who built infinite projects upon his interest in the Pope, and when news was brought him of the Pope's sudden death, cried out, This I never thought upon, now my designs are all lost! Certainly, whoever looks for much from men, how excellent soever, will prove like men who go to lotteries, with their head full of hopes, and return with their hearts full of blanks. Let therefore every one whom God hath fitted for use 2. any service, do what their hand finds to do with all their power: this is Solomon's counsel, Eccles. 9 and upon this very ground, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with all thy might, for there is neither work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the Grave, whither thou goest; as if he should have said, thou knowest not how long God will use thee, lay not up thy talon in a Napkin, thy Master may suddenly call thee to an account for it. This made our blessed Lord take so much pains, John 12. & 13, 14, 15, 16, & 17, Chapters, delivering all that excellent matter in one evening; because he was to leave them the next Day; This made Paul continue his Preaching at Troas until midnight, because he was the next Morning to be gone from thence: this very Argument was thought upon and applied by our blessed Saviour unto himself, John II. who when his Disciples would have persuaded him not to hazard himself among the Jews, who lately sought to stone him, answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day, must I not do the work of him who sent me, while it is called to day, when night comes no man can work: God hath fitted thee with many Excellent Talents, with wisdom and understanding; with place of Office and Authority; with interest in Friends; with strength of Body, and courage of Spirit, and by all these put some beams of his own excellency upon thee, which is the greatest favour in the World: To be a useful man, is at least equal with being a saved man; ply this work diligently, do as it is recorded of a famous Minister, who wrote upon his Study door, Minister verbies, hoc age; Thou art a Minister of the Word, attend to this work; and think often how uncomfortable it would be to thee, if GOD should take thee off in the midst of thy race, when thou hast burnt out much of thy Candle in play, wherein thou shouldest have done much of thy Master's work. And Secondly, let the thought of this keep thee from being high minded, think not too much depends upon thee, it may be thou imaginest what great need the Church or State, the City, Parish, or Family, hath of thee, or thy parts and abilities. Suppose they have, are these things thy own, are they not thy Master's Talents, for which thou must be countable, and for which thou wilt be condemned as a thief, for withholding that which was their due and none of thine; but I tell thee, God hath no need of thee, thou art obliged to him for using thee, he is not obliged to thee; he can do his work without thee, and raise up them whom thou thinkest meanly of, to do greater things than thoucanst imagine: therefore whatever he pleases to employ thee in, be faithful in it, follow his business, and do it diligently, and with an humble heart. Thirdly, doth God often take away the choicest Instruments use 3. of our good after this manner, then let all learn to make use of them, and improve them to the best advantage while we have them: this our Lord teacheth upon the same ground, John 12. 35. when his hearers had propounded a needless question, how he could say Messiah should be lifted up, that is, crucified, whereas the Scripture saith, that Christ abides for ever, instead of giving a solution to this doubt, he replies, Yet a little while the light is with you, walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you: as if he should say, you frivelously lose your time in making no better use of the light which shines among you, which is given you for another end, even to guide you to do that work which alone is necessary; to get sound evidence of your being children of the light; to enable you to lead Gospel lives, under Gospel light; you spend your time in needless questions, and neglect this which most concerns you, as if it were in your power to do it at your leisure: but be not deceived, this Market will not long last, after a little while the Gospel will be taken from your Nation, and whoever then is to seek in this great work, will miserably wander in the dark, and lie down in sorrow. Let me therefore persuade you to give all diligence while this light shines, to get your calling and election made sure. Thus Christ there presseth it upon his hearers, and let us urge it upon our own souls, neglect no opportunity of drawing out from good and useful men, what God hath put into them for our good, because we know not how long they shall abide with us: If any of us have any choice or excellent book which is our own, we commonly read it at leisure, now and then a leaf or two, but if it be borrowed, and we know not how soon the owner may call for it, we sit up night and day, till we have gathered all the flowers out of it; thus did Elisha the servant of Elias, when he once knew that his Master was shortly to be taken from him, he would not part a moment from his presence, but endeavoured earnestly to get as much of his spirit as was possible: O, if this wisdom were in us! that considering the Prophets, and other servants of God, do not live with us for ever, we might use them as Jacob did the Angel, not let them depart till we have got our blessing from them. Fourthly, but above all, because the most useful men are use 4. often taken away in an ill time from us, let us make sure of God, whose years, power, goodness, faithfulness, and truth, never fail, but are always present and everlasting helps in time of trouble: this use the Lord teacheth his people upon the same ground, Psal. 146. 2. Put not your trust in Princes, nor in any son of man, in whom there is no help; his breath goeth forth, he returns to the earth, his thoughts perish: but happy is he which hath the God of Jacob for his God; whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven and earth, the Sea and all that is therein; which keepeth truth for ever: the Lord shall reign for evermore, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations: This use the afflicted Church made of it, Isaiah. 63. 18. When they had considered the days of old, and how all instruments and means of mercy had but their time, and how the Lord was always the same, they sit down with this meditation, doubtless, O Lord, thou art our father: though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not, we are past receiving any benefit from them, thou O Lord art our Father, our Redeemer, thy name is from everlasting: This use did Asaph also make of it, Psal. 73. when he had considered not only the world's vanity, and worldly men's vanity, but the vanity of whatever earthly thing was most like for to comfort him; his flesh failed, and his heart failed: and how that the Lord alone was the strength of his heart, and his portion for ever, he concludes all with this, ver. 28. It is good for me to draw nigh to God, and put my trust in the Lord God. And verily, so long as we are strangers to this, we shall be as Saint James his double-minded man, unstable in all our ways; as the weeds, which are driven every way where the ebbing and flowing Sea doth carry them; and as the tops of Trees, which are driven with every wind, this way and that way: but if once we had learned to make the most high our stay and strength, to trust in the Lord Jehovah, Esa. 26. Psal. 125. we might possess our souls in perfect peace; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength: We might be as a Rock in the midst of the Sea, not moved with any tempest; as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but standeth fast for ever. Now what argument could be a greater spur to this, then to know the brevity vanity, instability, of all other helps; look upon whatever is dear, and thought to be advantageous to thee, without which thou knowest not what to do, thy father, husband, pastor, friend, estate, life, &c. of all these thou must acknowledge, they are but grass, the glory of them is but like a flower in the field: but in God thou Mayest find all the same things sufficiently, eminently, everlastingly; an everlasting Father, an everlasting Husband, an everlasting Friend, an everlasting shepherd, an everlasting Portion, an everlasting Life. Let thy soul therefore wait upon the Lord, make him thy only help and shield; let thy heart rejoice in him, and trust in his holy name alone, and let thy mercy O Lord be upon us all, who desire to fear thy name, and to hope in thee alone. And thus much of the first observation, That God often deprives his Church of most useful men, when they could ill be spared. The second follows, which is, That when God doth take away such useful instruments, Doct. 2. it is a matter of sad lamentation: for proof hereof we have first God himself requiring of it; 2. Examples of the Saints practising, thirdly, strong Scripture-reason enforcing it. First, you have God himself so far calling 1. God requires it. for it, that in Esaiah 57 he charges it upon them as a great sin, and the forerunner of a great judgement, that the righteous die, and merciful men are taken away, and no man considers it. Secondly, we have plenty of examples, the whole Church crying out, Psal. 12. help 2. The Saints practising it. Lord, for the Godly man ceaseth: for the faithful fail from amongst the children of men. You all know the great lamentation made at the death and burial of old Jacob; Gen. 50. Deu●. 34. 2 Chron. 35. 24, 25. at the death of Moses, of Samuel, of David; especially at the untimely death of good King Josiah, how all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him; how Jeremy the Prophet lamented for him, and all the Singing Men, and Singing Women, spoke of Josiah in their lamentations to this day: and made them an ordinance in Israel, & behold their lamentations are written in the book of the Lamentations: insomuch that the greatest mourning that ever should be in the world, is by the Lord compared to the mourning of Hadadrimmon Zechar. 12. in the valley of Megiddon, which was the bitter lamentation of the Church at Josiah his death: so in the 24. of Esaiah, you shall find, that among the songs that were heard from the uttermost parts of the Earth; even glory to the righteous, rejoicing in that remainder of Godly men, who were found amongst them, the Church cryeth out, My leanness, my leanness, Woe unto me, because the good men were but as the shaking of an Isa. 24. 13. 16 Olive-tree, and as the gleaning Grapes when the Vintage is done: And when the Martyr Stephen was so barbarously murdered, when devout men carried him to his burial, they made great lamentation over him. The time would fail to name particular instances: I will Act. 8. 2. add but one more, of a King, and he none of of the best; Joash the King of Israel, who when Elisha was fallen sick of his sickness whereof he died, came down unto him, 2 Ki●. 13. 14 and wept over his face and said, O my Father, my Father, the Chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. Thirdly, we have also strong reason out of Scripture to enforce it. 3. Scripture-reason infor●eth it. Because God is then displeased. First, in regard of God, there is required sorrow, fear and trembling, at such evident manifestation of his wrath in these remarkable judgements. When Nadab and Abihu fell untimely by fire, which issued out from the Lord, and devoured them, though they died in and for their sin, yet being the Lord's Priests, from whom better things might have been expected, God commanded that the Whole house of Israel should bewail 〈◊〉. 10 8 the burning which the Lord had kindled: Assuredly if God would have the death of these men lamented (in whose fall his displeasure was manifested, not against his people, but against themselves only) much more doth he expect it when he taketh away our jewels, our comforts, our means and instruments of good; not in wrath to them who die, but in sore displeasure to us who remain alive: when our heavenly Father thus spiteth in our faces, should we not be humbled and ashamed before him? Secondly, From the hon●ur due to them who are 2. Because the dead are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Psalm 122. thus taken away. God threateneth in his word, that the name of the wicked shall rot, but the memorial of the just shall be blessed: the righteous shall be had in everlasting remembrance: now it is one great degree of rottenness to the name of the wicked, as to live undesired, so to die unlamented: which was Jehojakim his portion, Ier. 22 18. concerning whom thus saith the Lord, they shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, ah my sister! They shall not lament for him saying, Ah Lord! or, ah his glory! He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. But now this is a great glory and honour which God putteth upon his servants, to have their death honoured with the sighs of his mournful people, and embalmed in their tears. Was it not a great honour to the Patriarch Jacob, to have all the Princes and Nobles of Egypt, and all the Elders of Israel, lament his death threescore and ten Gen. 50. days together? Was it not a great honour to Abner, to have David and all his people following the beer, lifting up their voices and weeping over him, & saying, died Abner as a fool dieth? &c. Was it not a great honour to Elisha the Prophet, to have the King of Israel to 2 Samuel 3. acknowledge that the Chariots and horsemen of Israel all fell in his death? The like may be said of all mentioned before, and of Dorcas, about whom the widows stood weeping, mournfully showing her Coats upon their Acts 9 39 Backs. I have read of jews the eleventh, King of France, that he counterfeited himself to die, to try whether his death should be honoured with the tears of his Court: and somewhat to this purpose, of Paulus Aemilius, whose Son died just when he was himself to triumph; that he more joyed to see their mourning for his son, then in all the other glory of his Triumph: nature in these men did draw them to breath after that, which free Grace castss-in to them even in this World, who do worthily in the service of God, besides their eternal reward in heaven: that as they are desired in life, so they shall be lamented at their death. Thirdly, in regard of ourselves, there is then great cause of mourning in divers respects: First, because we 3. Because we ourselves are hereby endamaged. Pro. 10 21 Pro. 15. 7 are hereby deprived of so many means of our good, of their counsel and direction; the lips of the righteous feed many, and disperseth wisdom and knowledge: their examples are as a tree of life; they are the lights of the world, their very presence everywhere a blessing: they are a blessing in the midst of the land, wherever they go God is with them; God will give kingdoms for their ransom; he'll rebuke the devourer for their sake: they may stand in the Mal. 3 Psal. 106 breach, to turn away God's wrath, when it's ready to breakein to devour people: they may run with their Censers, and stand between the dead and the living, and make an atonement Num. 16. 46 for a whole Congregation when wrath is gone out from the Lord against them: the innocent Job 22. men may deliver the island, and it is delivered by the pureness of their hands: they are the very chariots and horsemen of the places where they live; their Prayers are exceeding powerful, which can open and shut heaven itself. What is it that the God of mercy will deny to Iam. 5. 17, 18 their prayers, who saith, ask me of things to come, concerning my sons, and concerning the work of my hands Esa. 45 11 command ye me? In a word, they are very storehouses and granaries of good to the places where they live; fruitful trees, affording both food and shelter, the only excellent men of the world, they are wholly medicinable: and should not such a loss as this be felt and lamented? Secondly, And as their death deprives us of much good, so it often presages and pregnosticateth wrath to come upon those they leave behind, Esa. 57 The righteous perisheth, and no man lays it to heart; merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. So it proved in this place, The good man is perished, the vile are left behind; then followeth, vers. 4. The day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh, now shall be their perplexity: It's true, as I said before, to them who are godly, the fountain remains when the Pipes are cut; and there is ten thousand times more cause of joy in their God who lives, than of sorrow for their friends who die; but to others it's a sad prediction, that when God makes up his Jewels, and carries them away, he hath a Mal. 3. 17 day coming that shall burn as an Oven, and all the wicked shall be as stubble, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. And indeed they are the very {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman} {non-Roman}, the only means to keep off wrath and judgement from the places where they live: Every mercy saith to such a people, as Elisha to Jehoram, Surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehosaphat, I would not look toward 2 Kings 3 thee, nor see thee: and the devouring judgements say to these godly ones, as the Angel said to Lot, We are come to destr●y this place, up get thee out, haste thee, escape hence, Gen. 19 13. 22 for we can do nothing till thou art gone. When the husbandman thus p 〈…〉 s up the fence, and gathers in his crop, it is a sign that shortly you'll have wild beasts in the field: This, Jeroboam and his whole family found to be true, who had Abijah, one child in his family, in 2 Kings 14 whom some good thing was found toward the Lord, and as soon as he was taken away, the judgements of God broke in upon his house, and cut off him that pissed against the wall, and him that was shut up and left in Israel; and took away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man takes away dung, till it be allgone. This the old world found true in Noah; and Sodom, with the rest of the Cities, in Lot: this the Jews found true, when the Christians (admonished from heaven) left Jerusalem & fled to Pella; soon after their departure the enemies made a trench about them, and laid their City even with the ground, and their children Luke 19 with them, not leaving one stone upon another: Thus fared it with the City of Hippo in Africa, where Saint Augustine was Bishop, which, as soon as ever he was dead, was taken and sacked by the Goths and Vandals: Luther was no sooner translated to a better life, but the Smalchaldick war begun in Germany, wherein all the Protestants were almost wholly wasted: No sooner was old Paraeus taken away from Heidelberg, but Spinola entered the town. These, and many other instances of God's wrath breaking in upon the departure of godly men, abundantly manifest, that we have cause to weep and lament (not for them who thus die, but) for ourselves, and our children, because of the miseries which we may then justly fear are coming upon us. Take a brief Application of this Lesson, and I have use 1. For reproof. done my Sermon. First, Would God have his people thus to mourn, when useful men decay and fail, how sadly then doth this reprove our general stupidity: the Lord hath made many great and lamentable breaches amongst us in this kind, he hath broken all our carnal confidences; our Parliament is weakened, our Armies wasted, our treasure is exhausted, our enemies increased; and of those few able hearts, heads, and hands, who abode faithful to this great cause and work in hand, it might even stab us to the very heart to think how many of them the Lord hath even snatched away, in the midst of their work, and our greatest need! That excellent spirited Lord, the Lord Brooke; that rare man, Master John Hampden; that true-hearted Nathaniel, Master Arthur Goodwin, (pardon me, I beseech you, though I mention them amongst these friends, who cannot think of them without bitterness●) How are these mighty men fallen in 2 S●m. 1. 1●. &c. the midst of the ba●tell, ana the weapons of war perished! the beauty of our Israel is slain in the high places: Whose heart wou 〈…〉 not b●eed, and cry out, as David at Jonathan his death, Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of ●skelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph! But now which of us lays these things to heart? who considereth the bitter things which God writes against us? No, we are rather like that wretched people, who when the righteous perished, and merciful men were taken away (though it were from the evil to come) were so far from laying it to heart aright, that they banished all serious thoughts from them, every one looking to their own way; some to their gain, others to Esa. 56. ult. Esa. 52. 1. their pleasure: Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink, and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant; and this even when the righteous perished. Verily this is our carriage; the Lord deprives us of these excellent men, and we (it may be for a moment) bewail their loss in some passionate expression, saying, There is a brave man lost! I am sorry such a man is dead! &c. and then every one goeth on again in his own way: As I have seen a Hen (pardon an homely similitude) go clocking and scraping in the midst of her Chickens; then comes the Kite, and snatcheth away first one, than another, than a third, till all are gone; and the Hen brustles and flutters a little when any is snatched away, but returns instantly to her scraping and picking, as if she had lost nothing: Even so do we, presently forgetting our great losses, but no man sitting alone by himself, to inquire What God hath done? and what He means to do with us? or, what we have done to provoke him thus far against us? thrusting such thoughts far away from us, passing by on the other side of the way, as the Priest and Levite did by the wounded man, as if it nothing concerned us: O, Beloved, this woeful security and regardlesness of ours, is one of the saddest tokens of God's purpose still to bring us lower; It was the Prophet Hósea his complaint against Israel, a little before their utter ruin, Strangers have devoured Hos. 7. 9 his strength, and he knew it not; grey hairs were here and there upon him, and he regarded it not: The loss of good men was one of his grey hairs, which argued his declining; and his not-regarding it was the saddest evidence of his incurableness; the Lord in mercy make us sensible of these heavy strokes before it be too late, lest we prove like them of the old world, who did eat and drink, marry and give in marriage, and would know nothing, until the flood came, and swept them all away. Secondly, but how exceedingly doth this discover 〈◊〉. the wickedness, the devilishness of the spirits of a generation of men amongst us, who are so far from bemoaning and lamenting the loss of good men, that they have no greater joy or content, then to hear of their fall; who, with the Edomites, rejoice over the Obad. 2. Church in the day of their destruction, and speak proudly in the day of their distress; who say with Tyrus, Aha, now Ezech. 26. 2 I shall be replenished, since they are brought low; who, with the inhabitants of the earth, Rev. 11. rejoiced Rev. 11. 10 when the two Witnesses were killed, and sent gifts one to another, because those Witnesses tormented them with their prophesying whilst they lived. But stay, profane and wicked man, (if any such be here) and let me a little reason with thee: What such cause is there of thy rejoicing? art thou a gainer by their deaths? dost thou imagine to rest more safely, because the pillars of the house which covers thee are taken away? hast thou any surer footing, because the bough is cut whereupon thou treadest; because the thread is cutting asunder, whereby the sword hangs which is over thy head, art thou therefore further from danger? or dost thou conceive that God hath taken them away to gratify thee? is it possible for thee to think that they who are thus precious in his eyes, who are to him as the apple of his own eye, are by him removed for any advantage to thee, whom his soul ●ateth? I tell thee nay; I tell thee, if thou weighest things seriously, thou shalt find their life was thy gain, and their death thy loss; because it assures thee, first, chat thou art now deprived of them, who put up many a prayer for thee; who stood in the gap, to turn away wrath from thee; for whose sake thou faredst the better every day, God delighting to do good to the place where his children lived. And secondly, their death assures thee, that thou also must die: If the green tree be cut down, the dry must not long escape; & not only die, but after thy death thou must come to judgement, and their souls whom thou thus hatedest will give most terrible evidence against thee, of all the ungodly deeds which thou hast ungodly committed; and of all the hatred, spite, and hard speeches, which thou hast thus long exercised and spoken against them: the very sight of whom at that day will be more dreadful to thee, than the most terrible lion, at terrible as Death, or hell itself. Thirdly, and lastly, would God have the death of 〈◊〉 3. his Saints thus to be lamented; then (Right Honourable and Beloved) learn the right and only way to attain that which (I know) all your souls desire, even to be desired whilst you live, and lamented when you die: a thing so naturally engraven in the heart of every man, that nothing can be more; to have an eternal and Honourable memorial; Ego si bonam famam servavero sat ero felix, said the heathen man. You have read of Herod, that Monster of men, who perceiving the approaching of his death, caused the flower of all the Jews to be apprehended, imprisoned, and to be murdered at the instant of his death, that he might have lamentation to accompany his death and Funerals: nor was there, amongst the Heathens, any thing esteemed a greater plague, then to die unlamented, and their memorial to be buried in obscurity, or remain in infamy: And I believe there is not a man in this great Assembly, who would not esteem himself extremely miserable, to be, with Jehojakim, buried with the burial of an ass; to live undesired, and to die unlamented: Now know for certain th'only way to prevent this, and to be truly honoured in life, and bewailed in death, is to be good men, to serve God and his Church faithfully in your generation. It may be some of you as yet do not think so, being accustomed only to be flattered and daubed up, and made to believe that you are as great in other men's eyes, as you are in your own; that because (with Dives) you swim in pleasure, we are soft Raiment, fare deliciously every day, & enjoy the worldly accomplishments of health, wit, honour, friends, &c. though in the mean time you be strangers from God, and it may be, enemies to him, his ways, his servants, and his ordinances: but could you know how meanly you are now esteemed by them who are best able to judge of things that differ, even by God, his Angels, and Saints: and couldst thou guess the discourses will be of thee when thou art dead, thou wouldst certainly think otherwise. Do but listen abroad in the world, and thou Mayst discern what is spoken of them, who in their life time blessed themselves as much as thou canst do: Is such a Noble Man dead? blessed be God, who hath rid his Church of a great enemy: Is such a rich Mandead? the world is well rid of a griping Usurer, a cruel Oppressor, a Mammonist, who had his portion in this World: Is such a great scholar dead? God be praised for it, his learning and parts were employed only for the hurt of the Church of Christ: Is such an one gone? then there's a cursed blasphemer, a profane swearer, an unclean adulterer, a swinish Drunkard, a dangerous stumbling block, out of the way of the Saints happily removed: This or the like talk will be of thee when thou art gone, if thy life be such a one: and, which is worst of all, thine immortal soul for ever sunk into a lake, burning with fire and brimstone, where is nothing but weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth for evermore: but couldst thou with a single heart, give up thyself to be good, and do good, every one who hath interest in Heaven would beg thy Life; and when thy work is done, and thou gathered to thy Fathers, every godly man's eye would lament thee, every one of their tongues would praise thee; thy memorial should be Crowned by them all: Yea, God himself would make thy funeral Oration, rather than thy work should not praise thee in the Gates; and, which is best of all, thy soul shall enjoy the fruit of all in Everlasting life and glory. ANd now the more particular Application of all this, brings me directly to the sad occasion of this present meeting; even to lament the fall of this choice and excellent man, in whose death the Almighty testifies against us, and even fills us with gall and wormwood. I know you come hither to mourn, so fully prepared for it, that although I am but a dull orator to move passion, I may serve well enough to draw out those tears, wherewith your hearts and eyes are so big and full: there is no need to call for the mourning women, that they may come; and for cunning women, that they may take up a-wailing, to help your eyes to run down with tears, and your eyelids to gush out with waters: the very looking down upon this beer, and Ier. 9 1● the naming of the man whose corpse are here placed, and a very little speech of his worth, and our miserable loss, is enough to make this Assembly (like Rachel) not only to lift up a voice of mourning, but even to refuse to be comforted. I know, large encomiastical praises of the dead, unless their lives were eminent in goodness, and free from any notable blot, are much condemned by the most judicious and godly Divines, as a thing of very evil consequence: first, to the Minister himself, who hereby is evil spoken of, as a man who for a reward, or some other base respect (like unworthy Heralds) will give greatest badges of honour to any ignoble person. Secondly, to the deceased, whilst it occasions some others, who haply knew them better, to rake into their lives, and lay open their former faults, which otherwise had been buried in oblivion. Thirdly, but the worst of all is, that wicked men make this a fearful stumbling-block; who when they hear such men highly commended, in whom peradventure they knew such and such enormities, do hereupon conclude, that our preaching for abandoning of all evil is of no great necessity, even in the Preachers own judgement; who sends men to heaven in his funeral Orations, who yet lived, and (for aught they know) died in the practice of such things as the Minister useth to declaim against. But I am called to speak of a man so eminent and excellent, so wise and gracious, so good and useful, whose works so praise him in every gate, that if I should altogether hold my tongue, the children and babes (I had almost said, the stones) would speak: upon whose hearse could I scatter the sweetest flowers, the highest expressions of rhetoric and eloquence, you would think I fell short of his worth; you would say, this very name, JOHN PYM, expresseth more than all my words could do, should I say of him, as they of Titus, that he was Amor & deliciaegeneris humani: should I say of his death, as once the Sicilians upon the Grecians departure, Totum ver periit ex anno Siciliano: should I say, he was not only as one of David's thirty Worthies, but one of the three, one of the first three, even the first and chief of them, the Tachmonite who sat in the seat: should I say, our whole land groaneth at his death, as the earth at the fall of a great mountain, I might do it without envy in this Assembly: Yea, should I write a whole book in his commendation, and publish it, many of you would say as a Philosopher once did, who falling on a book entitled Encomium Herculis, said with indignation, Et quis Lacedaemoniorum eum vituperat? he thought it time ill spent, to praise him whom none could blame: and I believe yourselves are resolved to make some such monument of your high esteem of him, that after-ages, as well as the present, shall know you valued him above my words. But I am well pleased to be impar huic negotio: Est hoc maximum laudis genus, x orationis Chrys. hom. de laudib.. Paul. copiam virtus exuperet & magnitudo laudati; sicque vinci nobis est multo gloriosius quam saepe vicisse. And for that I am able to say, I am presently at a loss, having in my serious thoughts viewed him in his naturals, in his morals, in his graces, in his relations, in his public and private behaviour, inopem me copia fecit. I know I could not speak long, but you would be weary of such a speaker; and I remember Salusts speech, when he was to speak of Carthage, Praestat tacere quam pauca dicere, then I wished seriously that it had fallen to the lot of some such able tongue, to have so characterised and deciphered him before you, that you who now mourn for his loss, and knew his worth, might say, This is the very image of the Man; and might once at least be refreshed to see His lively picture represented to your eyes, by such a tongue as was suitable to His worth, and this present Auditory; that that might have been your refreshing, which was once Cyprians Auditors, to hear the Martyrs praised by such an orator as Cyprian was. I spare to English what was Percepimus gaudia, magna solatia, magna fomenta, maximè quòd et gloriosas Martyrum, non dicam mortes, sed immortalitates gloriosis et condig●is laudibus prosecutus es; Tales enim excessus talibus vocibus personandi sunt, ut quae referebantur sic dicerentur qualiter facta sunt, Cypri. Ep. 26. spoken of the holy Martyr his Eloquence, because to do the like, is above my Sphere, I want such a tongue, and therefore must study to be short, and shall confine myself to that rule which Basil (worthily called the great) observed in the praise of Gordius the Martyr. It's the custom of the World (said he) when they would praise a man, to speak of his Family, to derive his Pedigree through many descents, to open to the full his education, parts, and learning, and such other accomplishments: Sed Ecclesia haec tanquam supervacua dimittit: The Church looks only at those things which may glorify Christ in his Saints, and thereby do good to them who remain alive. According to this rule, I shall forbear to speak any thing of his Family, Education, natural endowments, His clear understanding, quick apprehension, singular dexterity in dispatch of business: His other moralleminences, in His justice, patience, temperance, sobriety, chastity, liberality, hospitality: His extreme humanity, affability, courtesy, cheerfulness of spirit in every condition; and (as a just reward and just fruit of all these) the high and dear esteem and respect which he had purchased in the hearts of all men of every rank, who were acquainted with him; such only excepted, of whom to be loved and well reported, is scarce compatible with true virtue: All men who knew him, either loved or hated him in extremity: such as were good, extremely delighted in him, as taken in a sweet captivity with his matchless worth; the bad as much hated Him, out of their antipathy against it. But, all these things (though most desirable and excellent in their place) I pass over, and shall insist only upon two things, which alone are desirable in any man, which indeed make a man more precious than Gold, than the fine gold of Ophir: First, he was a true Christian man, a faithful servant of Jesus Christ, one who long since was borne again of Water and the Holy Ghost, engratted into Christ, adopted to be the child of God justified freely by his grace, renewed in the spirit of his mind, sanctified throughout, in spirit, soul and body: one who had made God his portion, and God's word his guide: who in his whole course had left off to fashion himself according to the World, but in all things studied to know (as his rule) what was the good and perfect will of God: in a word, He was a true Nathaniel, in whom there was no guile. Secondly, he was a man of a public spirit, a most useful man; He was the good Man of this Text, wholly laid out for the public good: the public safety was written in His heart, as men report, Queen Mary said, that Calais was in hers: it was His meat and drink, His work, His exercise, His recreation, His pleasure, His ambition, His all: What 〈◊〉 was, was only to promote the public good: in and for this helived, in and by this He died. And this excellent useful spirit of His, was accompanied with three admirable properties, wherein he excelled all that ever I knew, and most that ever I read of: First, such singleness of heart, that no by respect could any whit sway him; no respect of any Friend: He regarded them in their due place, but knew neither Brother, Kinsman, not Friend, Superior nor Inferior, when they stood in the way to hinder his pursuit of the public good: Magis amica Respublica: And he used to say, Such a one is my entire friend, to whom I am much obliged, but I must not pay my private debts out of the public stock. Yea, no self-respect, no private ends of His own or family, were in any degree regarded, but Himself and His were wholly swallowed up in the care of the public safety; insomuch that when friends have often put Him in mind of his family and Posterity, and pressed him, that although he regarded not himself, yet he ought to provide that it might be well with his Family; (a thing which they thought he might easily procure;) his ordinary answer was, If it went well with the public, his family was well enough. Secondly, such constancy and resolution, that no fear of danger, or hope of reward, could at any time so much as unsettle him. How often was his life in danger? what a World of threats and menaces have been sent Him from time to time? Yet I challenge the Man that ever saw Him shaken by any of them, or thereby diverted from, or retarded in His right way of advancing the public good: nor could the offers of the greatest promotions (Which England could afford) in any measure be a block in His way: in that He was as another Moses (th'only man whom God went about Exod. 32. 10. Num. 14. 12. to bribe) who desired that he and his might never swim, if the cause of God and his people did ever sink: His spirit was not so low, as to let the whole World prevail with Him so far as to hinder his work, much less to be his Wages. Thirdly, such unweariableness, that from three of the Clock in the morning to the evening, and from evening to midnight, this was his constant employment, (except only the time of his drawing nigh to God) to be some wayor other helpful towards the public good; burning out his Candle to give light to others. Who knows not all this to be true, who knew this man's conversation? not only since the time of this Parliament, but for many years together hath He been a great pillar to uphold our sinking frame; a Master workman, labouring to repair our ruinous house; and under the weight of this work hath the Lord permitted this rare Workman to be overthrown: and that's all I mean to say of His Life. And as His life, such was His Death, enjoying all the time of his sickness the same evenness of spirit which he had in the time of his health, with an addition of a more clear evidence of God's love in Jesus Christ, and most ready subjection to God's will, to live or die at God's choice; professing to myself, that it was to Him a most indifferent thing to live or die: if he lived, he would do what service He could; if he died, he should go to that God whom He had served, and who would carry on his work by some others: And to others He said, that if his Life and Death were put into a pair of balances, He would not willingly cast in one dram to turn the balance either way. This was his temper all the time of his sickness; but as He drew nigher to his end, the swifter His motion was to God-wards; enjoying more abundant comfort in His spirit, more frequently pouring out His heart in prayer: and whereas formerly his Soliloquies and private devotions were only betwixt God and his own soul, now, out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth was compelled to speak, and that so audibly, that such of his Family or Friends, who endeavoured to be near Him (lest he should faint away in his weakness) have overheard Him importunately pray for the King's Majesty, and his Posterity, for the Parliament, and the public Cause; for himself begging nothing, but that if His work were done, He might be received into his Master's joy: And a little before His end, being recovered out of a swound, seeing his friends weeping about Him, he cheerfully told them, he had looked death in the face, and knew, and therefore feared not the worst it could do; assuring them, his heart was filled with more comfort and joy, which he found and felt from God, than His tongue was able to utter; and soon after (whilsta Reverend and godly Minister was at prayer with Him) He quietly slept in the Lord. It may be some of you expect I should confute the Calumnies and Reproaches which that generation of Men who envied his Life, do already begin to spread and set up in Libels concerning his Death'; as that he died Raving, crying out against that Cause wherein he had been so great an instrument: Charging him to die of that loathsome Disease, which that accursed Balsack, in his book of slanders against Mr Calvin, charged him to die of. But I forbear to spend time needlessly, to wipe off those reproaches, which I know none of you believe. And this will satisfy the World against such slanders; that no less than eight Doctors of physic, of unsuspected integrity, and some of them Strangers to him, (if not of different Religion from him) purposely requested to be present at the opening of his Body; and well near a thousand people, first and last, who came many of them out of curiosity, and were freely permitted to see his corpse, can, and do abundantly testify the falsehood and foulness of this Report; the Disease whereof he died, being no other than an impostume in his Bowels. But now (to leave this) tell me all you that pass by the way, have we not great cause of Mourning, in the fall of such a Man! May I not say, as David to the People, Rent your Clothes, and gird you with Sackcloth, and mourn before Abner? Verily, when I consider how 1 Sam: 3. 31. God hath followed us with breach upon breach, taken away all those Worthy Men I before mentioned, and all the other things wherein the Lord hath brought us low; and now this great blow, to follow all the rest, I am ready to call for such a Mourning, as that of Hadadrimon in the valley of Megiddon. Zach. 12. 11. But mistake me not; I do not mean that you should mourn for Him, You his dear children; You, Right Honourable Lords and Commons, who esteem him little less than a Father; I mean not that you should mourn for Him, his work is done, his warfare is accomplished; He is delivered from sin and sorrow, and from all the evils which we may fear are coming upon ourselves: he hath received at the Lord's hand a plentiful reward for all his Labours. I beseech you, let not any of you have one sad thought touching him. Nor secondly, would I have you mourn out of any such apprehension as the Enemies have, and for which they rejoice; as if our Cause were not good, or we should lose it for want of hands and heads to carry it on: No, no, beloved, this Cause must prosper; and although we were all dead, our Armies overthrown, and even our Parliaments dissolved, this Cause must prevail; out of the mouth of Babes and Sucklings, will God ordain strength to quell all the Enemies of it; even the great Enemy, and the Avenger. Nor should we much mourn, because the Enemies rejoice: I confess it is as a Sword in our Bowels, to hear their blasphemies; but as in relation of the Cause, their blasphemies need not trouble us; Let my enemy (said Job) be as Iob. 27. 7. the wicked; and he that riseth up against me, as the ungodly; Let them fill up the measure of their wickedness, God Mat. 23. 32. will the sooner take a course with them, and the more eminently and speedily plead our Cause: but let us mourn that we have thus far provoked the Lord God to displeasure, and to manifest it by such heavy strokes, that we are deprived of such an Excellent Godly man, such a Patriot, such a Light, such an Example, such a storehouse of good, such a jewel snatched out of our bosom, as we all knew him to be, and that we have such a sad prediction in his death of the increase and prolongation of our Calam●ties. But especially (right Honourable Lords and Gentlemen) let me prevail with you to make such use of him, that with Abel, though he be dead, he may still speak Heb. 11. 4. unto you; that, as a grain of corn, he may prove more fruitful when buried under the ground, then while he lived John 12. 24. with us upon earth. And certainly, if God sends us to the Pismire, to consider her ways, and thereby to Prov. 6. 6. learn wisdom; it can be no disparagement to any of you to consider his worth, and thereby to grow better; I shall therefore make bold to propound him, as Bishop Mountacu●e did Master Perkins in his funeral Sermon, To be the Man that taught England to serve God, and Ministers to preach Jesus Christ; so Master John Pym to be the Man, whose example may teach all our Nobles and Gentlemen, to be good Christians, good Patriots, good Parliament-men. You all knew him well, and knew That he was not a man, who when he was called to the public service of his country, lay here to satisfy his lusts, spending his time in riot and wantonness, in gaming, drinking, whoring, &c. Take heed none of you be such. He was not a man who proved a traitor to God and his country, and the cause of Religion, which he had solemnly protested to maintain. Take heed none of you be such. He was not a man, who (though he appeared often in the Parliament house, yet) neither promoted good causes himself, nor willingly permitted others to do it. Take heed there be none such among you. He was not a man who owned the good cause so long as it was like to thrive, and then tacked-about when it seemed to decline; resolved to secure himself, what ever became of the public. Beware none of you be such. He was not a man who would feed himself, or feather his own nest, or provide for his family or friends out of the public stock or treasure of the kingdom. Take heed none of you be such. He was not a man who would favour the cause of his friend, or press too heavily against his enemy; he was no respecter of persons in any cause or judgement. Take heed none of you do so. He was not a man who would consider how far any public service would stand with his own private designs, and promote the one no further than the other could be driven on ●ith it. Beware this be none of your condition. He was not a man who for maintaining or propagating any private opinion, or way of his own, would hazard the public safety. Take heed none of you be such. He was not a man who feared to promote the Reformation of Religion, lest himself should be brought under the yoke of it. Take heed that none of you do so. Not a man living (I believe) could justly tax him for any of these; God grant none of you may be found guilty of any one of them in the day of your account. If you be such, or should prove such, let me tell you, it's most probable you do but dance in a net; All good men are not fools, some of them will discover you: however, though we may possibly suffer a while by your wickedness, yet soon enough to your own ruin your sins will find you out. But in stead of these things, he was the holy man, the good man, adorned with that integrity, constancy, and unweariableness in doing good, which I before told you of: go, and do likewise: Get such an upright heart to God; Lay out yourselves wholly in the public cause; Put both your hands to this work, and the smaller your number is, be the more diligent, and fall the closer to it; Set self, and self-respects, aside; Drive 〈◊〉 designs of your own; Count it reward enough, t● spend, and be spent in this cause; esteem the work● more worth than all your lives; ●mitate him in thei● things: So might you make him, as another Samson more advantageous to the cause of God in his Death then ever he was in his whole Life. You have done well thus to follow his corpse with honour to his Bed of rest: you have done well to appoint a Committee to consider his debts, and how he hath wasted his estate as well as spent his life in the public service, that so his Family may find he did not all this to an ungrateful State; The Lord reward this faithfulness into your bosoms: But would you endeavour to be like him, to set him up for your pattern, and not to rest till a double portion of his spirit might be found in you, This were the greatest honour you could possibly do unto him: So should we all bless God for his example, and your imitation; so should you be Repairers of our breaches; so should you be even Saviours Esa. 58. 12. Obad. 21. unto us; so should you do worthily in Ephrata, and be famous Ruth 4. 11. in Bethlem. Consider what I say, and the Lord give you understanding in all things. FINIS.