bradshaw's VLTIMUM VALE, Being the Last WORDS That are ever intended to be Spoke of HIM.  
As they were delivered in a SERMON Preached at his Interment.  
By J. O. D. D.  general of England.  
OXON, Printed in the Year, 1660.   

Harken unto the words of my Text, as you shall find them written round about the Dial of Pancridge Church.  
WE MU  
SPEND WELL THY TIME  
FLY SWIFT FROM SIN  
BEloved, they say, yea the Heathen say, that Roundheads will not Steal, but they will Lie abominably. I on fez myself to be a Round-head, and the Son of a Round-head (of else what should I do here) and yet contrary to the reproaches of the ungodly, I believe I have now spoken a truth, which neither you will, nor they dare deny.  
The words consist of seven letters W: e: e: M: u: s: t, and a certain thing called an Hieroglyphic. What that is, I shall tell ye by and by, if I can, though beloved I must needs say unto ye, 'tis a very hard word. But let us begin first with the Letters, for give me leave to tell ye, there be many mysteries hid under other Letters and Figures, as well as under S, p, q, R, or 666, as, give me but a little leave, and I'll show you: as for example W: e: e: M: u: s: t. Here W; is as it were a discovery of the natures of a right Congregational Man; as if I should speak to any of ye all here present who have been famous in your Generations, and say W. S:— W. V:—, W. N:—; what were this, but as if I should say, You Double or double hearted S:—, You Double or doublehearted V:—, You Double or double hearted N:—. Then in the second place, being such, and liable also to death, it denotes unto you, and me, and all of us (for I see never a Barrel better Herring) that as the strokes of the W: will never meet at the top, but are easily joined at the bottom: so none of us here congregated together are likely to meet above, that is to say, in Heaven, but must be joined and riveted together in the lower Parts of the Earth. Benlowes sacred Fancies, c. 2. v. 5. The same learned Author affirms that, and resembles a man who being very melancholy, hangs down his Head in his Breast, which is now our condition; for though we have no reason to be sad for the Rings we have got, yet have we great cause to hang down our Heads and Mourn for the loss of our Brother. Now there is not one e: but two ees: Mark how pat this falls out, as much as to say, We are in little ease. Judge ye now if this be not just to a Cow's Thumb, for who among us can say now he is at ease? No! for We are all in little ease; Partly for the loss of our Friend here, partly for the loss of our Honours and Gospel enjoyments which I fear is nigh at hand, for that our Foes do multiply, and there is none to save us. Dr. H—, Beloved, a Brother of ours, hath spoken and made public in his Fancies upon the Revelation and Daniel, many pretty Knick-knacks and Whimsies of his own, and truly very applicable to the words, but if he could fetch such a mystery as this out of two ees, I'll give him my Mother for a Maid. The subsequent Letters are M: u: s: t, which being put together composeth or compileth the word Must; some say this word is a royal word, because of the Proverb that saith, Must is for the King. Truly Beloved I could wish it were only for the King, but here's the mischief on't; and indeed the Devil ought u● a spite, for he made us little Kings and Princes also every one in his turn, on purpose to put his Must upon us too. But this word Must hath several significations, Firstly and first of all, it signifies a term of force or violence, as you shall find it in the second Chapter of the English Proverbs, v. 3. Needs Must he go whom the Devil drives. But our Brother Cook at the Bridge foot, who dressed many a good Dinner for the upright, took it in another sense: And so I can assure you, that Rhenish Wine upon the Must is very sweet, but Death upon the Must is very sour. The next thing that I shall explain to you, is the Hieroglyphic, by which we have expressed the two Monosyllables Dye all. To do this I shall tell you negatively first what it is not, and secondly affirmatively what it is. Give me leave then in the first place to tell ye that a Hieroglyphic is no Sturgeon; for though a Sturgeon be good meat, yet it is not Hieroglyphically so. I will not deny but that a Sturgeon may be a Hieroglyphic; yet this on the other side I dare affirm, that though every Sturgeon may be a Hieroglyphic, yet every Hieroglyphic is not a Sturgeon. 'Tis true many of our Ancient and Modern Prophets, have hid the mysteries of their mystical say, under the shapes of several Beasts; but this argues not that a Sturgeon should in this place be counted an Hieroglyphic. For though they make many of their Monsters to come out of the Sea, yet they give unto none of them the shape of Fish; and indeed it is thought, that ever since Ionas was in the fishes belly, none of those kind of people cared that Fish should come into their bellies. Yet I could wish our deceased Precedent were now in a Fish's belly, because of the report of Men, who say, that he is in a place where there is so much want of water. But some will object and say, what think ye of Mermaids? To which I answer, that Virgil and Homer were in their Liquor, when they found out that watery and fluid invention; So that a Mermaid can be no Hieroglyphic neither. 'Tis true, a Maid joined with a Man, or with a Mastiff, may be a Hieroglyphic, as our Brother Benlowes observes in his comment upon Alciates Emblems; but I hope Maids have more wit, when there are such Creatures upon Land, than to run into the Sea to look after Tritons. Neither can a Bag Pudding be in this place counted an Hieroglyphic; for that a Pudding hath two ends, but all those that die have but one end; and some say, when they are dead they have no end; but as to that I shall say little at present; Abel best knows it, who was the first man that ever died in this World. But now to let ye know what this thing is we have so much talked off, an Hieroglyphic, being truly defined, is an Egyptian Trimtram; But some will say, what? do you make use of Fool's Baubles, and Trimtrams, to express the death of so worthy a Patriot as here lies before us? To this I answer, that I wonder at ye my beloved; for would you have me Preach any other sort of Sermon at his Funeral, than he was wont to hear while he lived? where was there such a Poltroon as our Brother Foxley, who spoke Bulls more reverently in the Pulpit? or was more gravely impertinent in his Homilies? Yet was he Chaplain to our deceased Patriot, and he fed him with Money, and fat Venison. But why have we made use of a Sundial? why? because it is the only thing which discovers the Thieveries of that Arch Pilferer old Time: You'll say, I might as well have made use of those things, with which the young Striplings play for Saucers in Bartholomew Fair: but I deny that; for though they serve to pass the time away, yet they are no Sundyals. Now this Time my Beloved, was one of the arrantest Thiefs in the World; He was Great grandfather to Robinhood, that Robbed in Yorkshire, and his Mother was Sister to Wood of Kent, For he was as great a Glutton, as a Thief; and he Robbed to Eat, and Eat that he might Rob. And therefore our Ancestors knowing how great a Thief he was, translated the Latin word Tempus, and called it Time, placing him upon the Beams of Sundyals, with a great Si●h in his hand; judge ye what great gobbets he puts in his mouth, and what a Stomach he hath, by the weapon with which he uses to cut his meat. Now this Time being made a Daemon or Semigod, even as our fore Fathers deified Wine, and called it Bacchus, by reason of its great power over Mortals, will not yet leave his Theiving, but steals our Years, our Days, Months, and Minutes, nay our very Lives from us: And more than this, if the Sexton be not too nimble for him, makes no Conscience to steal our winding Sheets from us, as we lie helpless and succourless in our Graves. In Law Offices, the Rats and He feed together upon old Parchments; so that the Lawyers are fain to make their Deeds, and Leases, of no use after so many years, lest he should eat away the Evidences of men's Inheritances. Ecce venio ut Fur, saith the Dyal of Cannon Street Church. Surely he was a Wise Man, that made that Dial, and understood Latin; for never was a better Character given of Time than this. But let him go like a Thief as he is, and let us see what we have next to insist upon.  
You find by what we have said already, a true explanation of the Letters, and Hieroglyphic of this Text. Now the Letters and Hieroglyphic being put together, do immediately spawn or procreate this sense or meaning, We Must Die all. Here we are to note the action, and universality of the action; The action is Dying, the universality of the action, We Must Die all. Well then, We Must Die all; But what? must we Dye all after one fashion? In other things there is variety; as of Women, there are the Black, the Brown, the Fair. Of Drink there is variety, as Ale, Beer, Cider, Sack, Claret, etc. There are also several sorts of Meat, as Flesh, Fowl; And of these also, there are various kinds, whereby the  need not to be nauseated always with one and the same thing. And is there but one way of Dying? Beloved ye need not fear: There are as many ways of Dying, as of Eating and Drinking. Some Men Dye for Love, as you may read in the first Book of Claudian Gruget, or the Chronicles of Queen Margot. Beloved, I shall read unto you the Text itself; where you shall find the Story of a certain young man who this way lost his Life; It is said o him,  
V 1. c. 10. There was a certain young man who loved a certain Lady, and his Love was grounded on no other end, but to Love her with all his power as perfectly as he could.  
V 2. But this Lady, he being not a match sufficient for her, was by the urgency of her Friends, caused and forced to marry another Gentleman.  
V 3. Therefore he fell Sick, and his strength failed him, so that he was forced to keep his bed.  
V 4. Nevertheless the Daughter and the Mother, having some compassion on him, came to visit the Gentleman, whom they found near his end;  
V. 5. But then being ready to descend unto the sleep of Death, and beholding her whom his Heart loved, he found himself so fortified, that he did arise up in his bed,  
V 6. And said unto the Mother of the young Lady, I beseech you to give her into my Arms, and command her to Embrace and Kiss me.  
V 7. Then Embracing the cause of his death, and Kissing her with his pale and cold Lips, he held her with so much vehemence, that his weak Heart could not endure the strength of his Love.  
V 8. Therefore the faculties of Life abandoining him, the seat of his Soul failed, and she fled to her Disposer.  
Thus you see the Example of one way of Dying; But what says the Learned Hircan in his Comment upon this place. This, saith he, was the veriest Fool that ever I heard speak; for is it likely or reasonable that we should Die for Women who are made for us, and be afraid to ask them what they are enjoined to give us?  
Now I speak not this for myself, nor for any man here that is married, for I have enough of a Woman; or rather more than will serve my turn; but to show you that there are more ways to the Wood than one. Truly Beloved, our dear and worthy Brother here lying before us, was not a little guilty of this vanity, which made him in hisyounger days quaff a health to his Mistress in his own blood. I should have blamed him for it, but that it made him known, and showed him fit for the trust reposed in him, for he that was so lavish of his own blood, could never be chary of another man's. But there are other ways of leaving the World, and I believe as many postures there are of dying, as our Brother Aretine hath delivered postures of Copulation. Let us reckon; One I have told ye already.  
The second is, when a man going to bed takes a good Dose of Opium, and sleeps away his life: and this is called the Syndercomb.  
The third is, the Turks way of strangling, and borrows its name from a stuff in Pater-noster-ro: and is called Lutestring.  
The fourth is, that posture which Derick most commonly uses: and is called Noosing.  
The fifth is, burning to death: and is called the Witches Farewell.  
The sixth is, breaking on the wheel: and is called St. Katherine's Legacy.  
The seventh is, when a man wasted with a Disease lies upon his back, and gives up the Ghost: and is called the Custom of Women.  
The eighth differs little from the seventh, only that the man lies on one side: and this is called King Arthur's way of dying.  
The ninth is, broiling to death: and is called St. Lawrences March.  
The tenth is, drowning: and this is called Neptune's Excise.  
The eleventh is, beheading: and is called bradshaw's Delight.  
The twelfth and last which I shall now number up, referring you for the rest to the Pictures of the ten Persecutions, and Sennertus' work, is our deceased Brorhers' way of dying: and is called the Agues Triumph. Whereby you may see that a Souls House, and a Man's House are not alike; for they say of Building, that a trembling House stands fastest; but a Soul loves not that her Mansion should shake.  
The Physicians say, because they are not able to cure this Disease, that it is a certain Devil which possesses a man. If this be so, then certainly it was Belzebub himself possessed our dear Precedent; For he shook him worse than he shook the Protectors Trees, and never left shaking him, till he had shaken him into his Grave. Truly Beloved, 'tis a sad thing when the Devil comes to Winnow a man's Soul out of his Body. But to say truth, what had he to do, to live any longer, he had done his great work, neither was there any likelihood that he should have any more, by reason that the Nation was so generally inclined for a Commonwealth; He knew, for ordinary Delinquents, and a Common High Court of Justice, the Lord Lisle could serve as well as he; He saw that the Rump stunk in the Nostrils of the Nation, and it grieved him to see them so despised by the people. He had had his reward in this World; and therefore thought 'twas time to get his reward in the other. What that is, we cannot tell: his Friends hope the best; his Enemies hope the worst. However, to give ye some satisfaction, we shall a little dive into the Actions of his life, and see if they deserve that punishment, which his Enemies would inflict upon him. I confess we have a difficult task to undergo, to Cloth Virtue in the Habit of Vice, and to trick up Vice in the Habit of Virtue. Nevertheless we must do something in the discharge of a good Conscience; for else how can I be said to have merited my Ring, and my Five pieces; perhaps it may be Ten, which is a Sum considerable. Truly we Ministers love Money, 'tis the main thing we Ball for; and I think he's a Fool that does not. You know 'tis Money that makes the Mare to go: 'tis Money that makes the Pot boil. Now good victuals my Beloved, are highly reverenced and esteemed among us Parsons; 'tis that which encloses our Kidneys, and lines our Midriffs with fat. They talk of the Food of the Soul; but I believe that if there were no other Food, we might starve for all that. Therefore saith the famous father Binet, c. 31. v. 130. By Hook or by Crook it matters not whether, so we can but gain Riches, which are indeed the Nerves and Sinews of a Man's life. Thus much by way of pickeering from our Text, a thing usual among us modern Divines. Now let us begin to justify our deceased Precedent. You must know then, that once upon a time Escobar and Lopez meeting together, they fell into a dispute concerning the Actions of a Man's life; But me thinks I hear Somebody, pulling me by the sleeve, say unto me, who is that Escobar and Lopez you talk o●? why my Beloved this Escobar was great Grandchild to the Pin●…r of Wakefield, who coming of the race of the Valiant, became a very strong man at an argument; Now Lopez was an East-Indian Divine, and he wore a Jerkin made of Ostrich Feathers; his Shoes were made of an Elephant's Hoof, and upon his Head he wore a Fools Cap. Then said Lopez unto Escobar, May a Man do Evil, that Good may come thereof? and Escobar answered and said, Fellow the Prestdent that lives in our days; Don Juan de S●…, the Portugal Ambassadors Brother, proves this most exactly from the Doctrine of Probability. For saith he, ●. 7. v. 3. A Man may do that, which he conceives lawful according to a probable opinion, though the contrary be in reality the more honest. And Vasques saith, in his book of Sanctifi'd Experiences, that in cases of Morality, a man ought not to be guided by the ancient Divines, but by the modern Casuists; Of this opinion also, was our dear Brother Julian the Apostate. Now you will say that our deceased Precedent was Ambitious: I grant it; but what then? but hear what the famous Escobar saith; Ambition, which is an immoderate desire of greatness and dignity, is of itself a venial Sin; 〈◊〉 when a man covets that greatness to prejudice the State, the external circumstances are that which make it Mortal; But our Precedent exercised his Ambition for the good of the State. He pretended Religion, the destruction of Tyranny, and at last the setting up of the Good Old Cause: And therefore ye may read, in our de●● Brother Catiline's Remains, how that he disturbed 〈◊〉 Country, for that he was greatly in Debt, and had no other way to get money to be honest to his C●…. But me thinks I hear the Cavaliers crying out with open mouth, how he killed the King. Why what if he did? did not our dear Brother Ravillac kill Harry the Fourth? would not our Brother Faux have blown up the King and all his Peers? did not our Sister Tomyris cut off King Cyru's Head? did not our Ancestors run a hot spit into the Fundament of King Edward. Therefore saith our Brother Syndercomb, It is as lawful for to kill a Tyrant, as it is to drink Coffee. And the ancient Greeks and Romans, gave rewards to those that were most swift in the execution of such an enterprise. Machiavelli in his Comment upon the works of Heliogabalus, saith, that it is lawful to kill a Man for six or seven Ducats; and our holy Brother Molina the Jesuit assures us, that regularly a Man may kill another lawfully for the value of a Crown; and in this opinion consents with him Domitian the Fly-killer and the holy Nero: Also further saith, that it is lawful for one Man to kill another for an Apple. Now if this be true, that a Man may be killed for six or seven Ducats, or for such a slight thing as an Apple; then certainly might our Precedent judge a Man to Death for my Lord Cottingtons' Estate. Our Precedent was like Necessity, for he had no Law; If then he had no Law, could ye blame him for not doing that which was agreeable to Law? Thus my beloved you see it proved out of the Labours of the most authentic Divines, that he was not so bad as the World took him to be; But he is gone, and we stay here behind to wear Rings for his sake. Truly I would wish, if I might reap the same benefit, that such a Precedent might die every day: For I'll warrant ye our Rings are worth eight and twenty shillings a piece, now twenty eight shillings a day, is five hundred and eleven pounds per annum; I'll promise ye a good younger Brother's Estate, and I believe the time has been, when the best of ye all here present, hath been contented with far less. I am sure the time was when our Beloved Precedent had not so much; but thanks be to God, and his own impudent face, his condition was well amended before he departed this transitory World. Now they say that Mr. Tyburn mourned also for him, and was himself at the charges of a black Cloak. Truly I wonder I do not see him here; I know no reason why he might not have come along, having three Legs, as well as we go along that have but two. But me thinks I hear you enquiring of me whither he is gone; why truly for my part, I cannot tell. Now What are you the better for ask? His Friends say he is in Heaven, but his Foes say he is in Hell; now of these two opinions choose you which you will believe. If he be in Heaven, 'tis well, and if he be in Hell, 'tis well too I think, especially if he had the wit to carry his Ague along with him; for Agues love warmth. Had he but had the French Disease, it might then serve him instead of a hothouse; I hope in God he is by this time turned into a Salalamander; for than I am sure the Fire can do him no hurt. Truly I think 'tis the best place he could go to; for they say there are three Judges or Lords Commissioners there. Now if there should happen to come a change there, as perhaps Noll and he may bring it to pass, if they will lay their Noddles together, why then 'tis but putting out them, and there's a place for him, which he may keep to himself till Lisle and Keeble can come to assist him. Doubtless this was his design when he died, which was the reason he would have carried the Great Seal along with him. I know not why such a thing may not be dove, for the Devil has been dealt withal before now. St. Dunstan you know led him up and down by the Nose with a pair of Tongues; and Cook Ruffian scalded him in his Feathers, and we see daily as great alterations here among us and as unlikely: therefore let us wonder at nothing, but wait with patience. This I will say for him, that he was a good Housekeeper, and liberal of his diet, as our Brother N— well can tell, and our Brother Foxley also had daily experience thereof; For he fed him till his Ears dript again, and taught him to live in another man's House and pay no rent, just as he himself did.  
As for his Conscience, they say it was as large as one of my Lord Desboroughs Sacks; and truly if it were so, it was as large as any reasonable Man need desire.  
As for his Religion, some say he was a Turk, but I hardly believe it, because that Religion is solely composed for a Monarchical Government. Neither was he a Jew, for they cried out for a King. Therefore doubtless he was a Christian, but what sort of Christian we know not; Some say he was a Disciple of Caesar Borgia, which is very probable. Truly 'tis well he was of any Religion, for there are abundance of Atheists in these times.  
But he is gone; farewell He: for I cannot help it, nor all the Physicians in England could not help it. Thus you see Protectors die, Precedents die, yea and the great Whale is dead, though 'tis no miracle, for according to the words of my Text, We must die all.  
Is it so then that We must Die all, then let us live as long as we can, and enjoy the Creature while we may: and when our time is come, let us, because we cannot help it, bequeath our bodies to the Earth, and our Souls to him that gave them: I know no other remedy; 'tis Hobson's choice; And so much for this time.  
FINIS.