THE frequent Objects of Mortality, even of the greatest Monarchs, daily presented before our Eyes, should make us carefully to manage the moments of our Mortal Life, Walking circumspectly, not as Fools, but as Wise, [...], redeeming the time, because it is enacted by the Statute Law of Heaven, se­mel mori, and written indelibly in the Dust, That all must Dye. If Adam had stood in his Primitive Glory, and not fell from his Original Purity in the state of Inno­cency, we had not known what Death or Misery had meant, but continued a piece of Immortality to this very [Page 2] Gen. 3. 19. Day: but Adam in an instant after he had sinned became Mortal, no sooner Sin entred into his Soul, but mortali­ty and corruption immediately entered into his Body; then the parcels of Dust that were bound together by the bond of innocency, were shaken loose by the gros­ser spots of Sin our first Parents disobedience contracted, and involv'd their Posterity in a Labyrinth of Miseries, and our Misery is not of yesterday, but as antient as the first Criminal, and our perplexities almost coaeval with Gen. 2. 17. Humane Nature. The Day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely Dye, viz. thou shalt be guilty of Death, and thy Body shall that very hour become Mortal, subject to in­finite number of Chances, Diseases, and Old Age, con­tinually decaying unto the last Destruction of this Bodi­ly Mass, languishing to its fatal period, and hastening to the dark Cells of the Grave, which are the [...] dormitories and sleeping Places of the Dead, till the joyful Morning of the Resurrection. Death insults over the frailties of Mankind, for all the Tombs and Charnels of the World are but so many Monuments of Deaths Conquests, and the instability of Humane Greatness, how all things on this side Heaven are fleeting and tran­sitory. If I should procure you a Painter to pencil Death, he would shew you a grim Anatomy, with a lean Body, a pale Face, and a wann Countenance, &c. That which hath devoured the World so many times over (like Pharaoh's lean Kine) is as lean as ever. The Bell still toles for the voluptuous Epicure; and the Earth, that insatiable Grave, longs for his corpulent Body to feast Worms. The swift motion of the Heavens roles up the thread of our Lives, and the fleet Horse on which Death runs is still posting after us. Crowns nor Scepters can't secure from the Artillery of Death. There is no confi­dence to be placed in Humane Prosperity; for neither Kingdom, Empire, nor any Greatness whatsoever can [Page 3] secure their owners from ruine. Behold Andronicus cloathed in Purple, adored by Nations, commanding the East, his Temples enriched with a Royal Diadem, the Imperial Scepter in his Hands, and his very Shoes stud­ded with Oriental Gemms, yet pays his Life as Tribute to Death: so that the Majesty of the greatest Monarchs are subject to perish. Think upon this seriously, that the Gates of Death are ever open, and the Enemy lies conti­nually in ambush to assault u [...]; nay, there is not a Vein, or Artery, but is a Room in Natures Work-house, where­in our humours (as so many Cyclops's) are forging those Instruments of Mortality, and in an instant hurry us in­to our Graves. Every Day, Hour, and Moment, wears away a part of our Life, and so much as is already spent, so far we are already Dead. So that the longest liver (as the Antediluvian Patriarchs witness) is no more but only Gen. 5. Heb. 9. 27. longer a dying than others. It is appointed, saith the Apostle, [...], unto Men once to dye, but after this to Judgment, where they shall receive for the deeds Eccl. 12. 14. of the Body, whether it be good or evil. They that have done good to the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto eternal damnation. This proclaims our happiness or misery, and as it tells the danger, so in all reason it should awaken our care: but Heaven and Hell are Ʋtopia's in conceit, saith the Atheist, and no where exist but in melancholy distemper'd Brains. The joys of the one promised to a virtuous and holy Life are only pleasant Fancies, and torments of the other denounced against Vice and Impiety but fearful Dreams. Our Sa­viour, who knows it best, hath described unto us the management of the whole affair, and the different Por­tions of the good and bad. When the son of man, saith Matt. 25. 31. S ^t Matthew, shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him; all nations shall be gathered before his throne, 32. and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd [Page 4] divideth his sheep from the goats. To the good the King Ib. 34. shall say, Come ye blessed; a Benediction far surpassing that of the old Patriarchs, and putting down the dew of Hermon, which dispersed it self over the Mountain of Sion. Here thou shalt dwell for ever in a Land flowing with Milk and Honey of Divine Blessing, abounding with the Bread of Angels and Heavenly Manna, freed from all Captivity by the presence of our Lord. But unto 41. the Wicked, Go ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels. Be gone thou cursed Fig-Tree, thou art not worthy to take Root in blessed Earth, to have any place in the Garden of my delight; and they are not only eternally exiled from the Glorious Resi­dence of Heaven, but their Doom is sealed up to infer­nal Flames, delivered over into the power of the Dragon, without all hopes of escaping from him, who will seize upon their Souls, and carry them to the Abyss of Hell, there to be tormented for ever. And these shall go, saith M [...] 25. 46. Dan. 12. 2. the Evangelist, into everlasting punishment, but the righte­ous into life eternal. Men being adjudged rewards and punishments in a future state or life to come, sutable to their actions in this World, was a general resentment a­mong the Heathens, as Justin Martyr truly tells the Greeks in his Oration to them, That not only the Pro­phets, and other Divine Persons of the Old Testament, but also those that were accounted wise among the Hea­thens, both Poets and Philosophers, did acknowledge a Judgment to come after Death. If the thoughts of the Worlds last Day, filled S ^t Hierom's Heart with such a dread as made him lose both his food and repose, because the voice of the Arch-Angels Trumpet sounded incessant­ly in his imagination, surgite mortui, & venite ad judicium, Arise ye Dead, and come to Judgment: What weight should that Eternal Doom have in all our Hearts, that shall crown the Just with Glory and Immortality, but [Page 5] involve the Wicked in quenchless flames. Death is [...], said an Heathen Philosopher, which in Job's Language may be rendered, the King of Terrors. 18. 14. Nature shrinks when we see the pale-horse of Death ap­proaching. It is a sharp corrosive to most Men and Wo­men in the World, when they think of the separation of these dear Companions, the Soul and Body, the two con­stitutive parts of Man. His breath goeth forth, saith the Psalmist, there is the egress of the one; and he returns to his Earth, there is the regress of the other; the one is verified in ipso articulo mortis, in the very point of Death; the other is most evident in sepultura corporis, at the time of Burial: they have slept their sleeep, and all the Men whose hands were mighty have found nothing. The Life of Man is but of little value, and all his Ho­nour but contemptible, because Mortality is the disgrace of all sublunary things. With David, the Psalmist Roy­al, Psal. 146. 4. I may call him a vain shadow; and with the Holy Prophet, less than nothing, and altogether lighter than vanity it self, were it nor for Eternity. Consider now the Day is far spent, the Night is hastning and spreading its wings over us, the Grave expects us and bids other Corps make room. Death is ready to grasp us in its cold Arms, and hale us to the dreadful Tribunal, and yet how little of our great Work is done; we burn away our precious Days, and miserably wast our light and Life; we exhaust our strength, and lavish out our affections on fond Toys and Nothings, ȧs if Eternity were to be ex­pected here, and none hereafter. Is the blind and the lame a sacrifice for the great God? shall we devote the flower of our Youth to Vanity and Folly? and can we think the Majesty of Heaven will accept of the frozen and cold affections of decrepit Old Age? he may sure­ly say, go to the Gods that ye have serv'd, therefore let us remember our Creator in the morning of our Youth, not Eccl. 2. 1 [Page 6] consuming our Days in Vanity, and Years in Folly, letting the delights and pleasures of this World, steal away our Hearts and Affections from God our Ma­ker, drawing us from true Happiness. The young Man may rejoyce, but not so as to forget his Crea­tor, and if they live many years and triumph in them all, yet let them consider the days of darkness. It is not Crowns Imperial, nor Thrones, nor Diadems, that can escape the great Assize. The last judgment is such a day, as neither Wisdom, nor Riches, nor Honours can deliver them from it. The Minions of the world may brave it awhile as the only Favorites and Darlings of the age, they may swim in a stream of Gold, and tum­ble Eccl. 11. 9. in Arabian Spices, but know for all these things God will bring you into judgment: therefore the vast con­cernments of an everlasting state requires the most se­rious thoughts and consideration both of Prince and People. Every object should read something to our observation either of our own mortality, or excite us to piety and holiness, that so by the memory of death we may learn to live in Gods holy fear, that we may die in his favour, and dwell in those everlasting habitations of glory and happiness. The Romans of old did put a Sergeant in the triumphal chariot to keep the Conque­ror amidst all his triumphs within bounds of moderati­on and sobriety of Spirit, by crying to him, Memento te esse mortalem, Remember thou art a mortal Man. Phi­lip King of Macedon directed his Page to call at his chamber door with this morning Salutation, Memento mori, Remember death, and so put him in mind, that in the midst of all enjoyments they are still but Stewards, and know not how soon our Lord may summon us to appear at the great Audit. Saladine also the puissant Em­peror of Persia, who had extended the limits of his Em­pire by many victories and successful battles, and being [Page 7] in no pitched field ever vanquished or overcome, at last falling mortally sick, caused one of his chief Comman­ders to hang his Winding sheet on a staff, and to pro­claim in the streets of Persia, This is all he can have of his many conquests, nisi parva quod urna capit, but what may suffice to bury him. The Jews likewise, who were of the greater and better sort, had their Sepul­chres in their Gardens, that in the midst of their plea­sures they might be mindful of Death, and to be unto them as monitors of their mortality: So while we are contriving our profits and pleasures, our employments and recreations, and sharing out our lives among them, let us not forget how easily we may be cut off by the sudden and surprising stroaks of death. Fabius the Roman Senator was suffocated with a hair in a little milk. Pope Adrian by a gnat flying into his mouth. Anacreon the Poet swallowed death in a grape. Homer also was murder'd by a fit of grief. And Sophocles died of an excess of joy. Death may possibly fly to us, as once to Aeschylus in an Eagles wing, or fall like Pindarus by our repose, or else we may be snapped in pieces by some sad accident, and the thread of our Life worn a­way by a languishing Consumption, and burnt asunder by a violent Fever, benumm'd with Palsies, Lethargies, Epilepsies, Convulsions, and other innumerable diseases, that cause the dissolution of our earthly Tabernacle, and bring us into Job's Lineage, I have said to the Grave thou Job 17. 14. art my house, to Corruption thou art my Father, Brother to the Worms, and Sister to the Dust. If we contem­plate the nature of things, we may see how nothing is without the Empire of death; the day dies into night, and the Summer into Winter; the life of to day is the death of yesterday: we die dayly, and it is great ig­norance to think the greatest Potentates are exempt from the common ruine. Every little publick, or per­sonal [Page 8] Cross is a petty death, and a Harbenger sent by that insatiable enemy of humane nature to take possessi­on of his right. An Apoplexie in the Brain, an Inflam­mation or Quinsie in the Throat, a violent eruption or sudden Rising of the Lights, may quickly dispatch us, and cause us in an instant to die and shut the great Gulph of Eternity, and Eternity at one draught swallows up the fluency of time, and is above the temporal conditi­ons of past, present and to come. Man is a compound of jarring qualities, heat, cold, drought and moisture, which are always wageing an intestine war within him, so that poor mortals are subject to desolation every mo­ment. For the truth of this, let us search the Records of the Grave, there lies the rich and the poor, the wise and the foolish, the learned and unlearned, the Noble and Ignoble, even the rubbish of a thousand genera­tions heaped up one upon another. Our very Graves were once living, we dig through the veins of our Fore­fathers, and we must shortly become earth to bury our Posterity, therefore let us learn the necessity of dying, for amongst all Arts and Sciences whatsoever, there is none in comparison, more beseeming our Christian care, than that which teaches us to live righteously and god­ly here, that afterwards we may live eternally when we depart hence, and be happy in the Regions of bliss in the world to come. Life is a spot of time between two Eternities, and it is an act of the greatest prudence to pray for Divine Arithmetick to number our days and ap­ply our hearts to wisdom, and contemplate with our selves of the uncertainty of life, that our hearts may be lift­ed up to desire the Heavenly inheritance. It is but a small remnant of time we have to live, our Days are but a span long, while we turn our selves, Immortality will be here. Abraham had not in the Land of Canaan any Ground of his own to dwell in, but only the Inheritance of a Sepulchre. [Page 9] And this is that we may truly claim, for we are Sojour­ners as all our Fathers were in Houses of Clay (as Eli­phaz Job 4. 19. the Temanite fitly calls them) whose foundation is in the dust, because the claims of honour can give no pri­viledge from the Arrests of the grim Serjeant Death.

If Majesty or Greatness could have staid the violent hands of Death, we had not condoled the Funeral Obsequies and mournful Solemnity of the Royal Charles; but as the Painter Tymanthes being to express Agamem­non's Grief, conceiv'd for the loss of his Daughter Iphi­genia, drew him with his Face covered over with a Vail, that Men might conceive that sorrow which he could not express: So in the rehearsal of our present sufferings, who can express that Grief of Heart the English Nation is plung'd in for the Death of the High and Mighty Prince Charles our most Dread Soveraign? who hath not a Vail cast over their Face in token of a great deje­ction, paying the tribute of Sorrow to his Memory, which they owed of Love and Allegiance to his Person? Our Royal Joshua, and all the Elders of our Israel, the King and Kingdom, put on Sable Colours as it fit for Mourn­ers, all wearing the Blacks of Sadness, pouring forth their Souls into melting Accents, shewing it self in Sobs and Sighs, and commenting on it with Tears for a forced Separation,

In the fall of this Royal and Stately Cedar: for as the Apple Tree among the Trees of the Wood, so was He among Cant. 2. 3. the Sons of Men.

[Page 10] First, The Apple-Tree as it is a good flourishing and beautiful Tree, and it doth not only bud and blos­some, but bring forth Fruit: So this Royal Tree, that is cut down by the Axe of Death, whilst it stood was beautiful and flourishing; His Converse gave his No­bles a pattern of harmless and inoffensive Mirth, a sweet­ness and familiarity that at once gain'd Love and pre­serv'd Respect in all his Subjects; a Nobility and Gran­deur safe in its own Worth, not maintaining it self by a morose distance, but comporting with the greatest Ma­jesty: so that Gallantry and Bravery of Spirit and De­portment were the Buds of this Royal Tree; thus Vir­tue and Honour become Rivals, and Vice and Baseness become extinct. Pure Oyl cannot mingle with Water, nor the extracted quintessence of true Nobleness with the dregs of unworthiness; and so Clemency, sweetness of Nature, and candor of Disposition, were the buds and blossoms of this Royal Tree.

Thus was he a mighty Sovereign in the hearts of his People, ruling all his Dominions with the Scepter of his Clemency and Tenderness, which is the most amiable thing to Mankind. And who is it that can disparage that com­mendable ornament of civil and decent demeanour, it being congruous to the simplicity of the Gospel, which aggrandizes the renown of this mighty Monarch to the most wise, and perpetuates his worth with the remem­brance [Page 11] of honour. These qualifications meeting with a brave and aspiring mind conquer'd men, and killed en­vy with the Majesty of a look,

O think what a Potent Oratory there is in Princely Clemency! Who would not be captivated by so sweet a Conquerour? Who would not be melted in so delicate a Flame? What Heart would not entertain so pleasant an Arrow? It struck through the Hearts of all his Liege People; and they as faithful Subjects returned the streams of Loyalty and Love, Duty and Obedience unto the Ocean whence it flow'd. Clemency and Tenderness in Princes, does not only cast a Glorious Lustre round a­bout, attract the Eyes and Hearts of others, but it also reflects with chearful and comfortable Gleams on Maje­sty it self: for Man being designed by God for a sociable Creature, hath such propensions and inclinations as are proper to that end; and these are gratified and pleased, when they so demean themselves as may answer that in­tention. Mercy and truth, saith the Royal Philosopher, Prov. 20. 28. preserve the King, and his throne is established by mercy. It is the splendid Diadem of the Crown of Heaven; and therefore the greatest Glory of Temporal Soveraignty. It is the Goats Milk of mild Mercy, not the hard stroak of the Hammer, that dissolves the Adamantine Heart. It is the warm sparks of Charity and Love, not the frost of [Page 12] a frowning Brow, that makes the Icy obdurate Consci­ence to melt and drop into Tears. It was the soft still Voice, not the Whirl-wind and Earth-quake, that caused Elias to cover his face with his mantle; therefore this Pious Prince qualified all violent administrations and corrosive notions with the antidotes of Mercy: so that Clemency and Tenderness, Sweetness and Candor of Disposition were the Buds and Blossoms of this Royal Tree, while he reigned and flourished upon Earth; therefore it may be said of this Pious Prince, what the Son of Sirach did of Judas Maccabeus, His memorial is and shall be blessed for ever. It is true what Fame reported him, he was a most excellent Monarch, and the Life of the Deceased hangs on the File of Memory, and register'd in the re­membrance of the Living; his Royal Accomplishments, like Bullion new coin'd, having the stamp of Majesty up­on it, will be transmitted to Posterity and Generations to come.

Secondly, The Apple Tree has great variety, it is not an easie matter to reckon the several Apples of different taste: So neither can we the rare and singular Perfecti­ons, and Theological Graces, Excellencies and Endow­ments of this Pious Prince, all harmoniously mixt, which speaks great variety. Some indeed owe their innocence to their dulness and stupidity, and are not vitious, because not witty enough to be takingly and handsomly wicked; but here it is far otherwise, as will appear from the quickness of his Parts and Ingenuity, his Activity and Motion, Wisdom and Prudence meeting in him, with all other Virtues and Excellencies mutually embracing each other. And the Endowments of his Mind will give it a clear illustration, his Apprehension was quick and pierce­ing, his Memory faithful and retentive, his Fancy spright­ly and active, and his Judgment over-ruling them all; neither prejudicated by vulgar Opinions, nor easily co­sen'd [Page 13] by varnish'd and plausible error. He was an An­gel cloathed in Flesh, a lawful Image of his Maker, a model of Heaven made up in Clay, a living Temple of the Holy Ghost, a Patron of Christianity, and a most tender Nursing Father of the Church and People of Eng­land. He was Pater Patriae, Father of Gods Israel, and Defender of the Faith: for Religion, saith Plato, is the Bulwark of Laws and Authority, the Fountain of Justice and Fidelity, and all other Virtues. Religion is the Pillar on which the great Fabrick of the Microcosm standeth, and all Humane Societies, and Civil Associations, are united by this Holy Cement in the Bands of Concord, Unity, and Love. The Nation in the Reign of this Piou sPrince was inriched with all Regal Blessings, as doth illustrious­ly appear in the Peace of his Kingdoms, the Serenity of his People, the Tranquillity of Publick Affairs, the grow­ing Riches of his Subjects, and universal Happiness of his Government both in Church and State ever since his Majesties Happy Restauration, which we have peaceably injoyed many Years, and owe the Happiness of it (un­der God) to his Goodness and Conduct: his Majesty therefore having done so much for his People, and pur­sued them with such unparallell'd instances of Clemency and Tenderness, it now remains on us, not only to retain a grateful Memory, and Hearts full of Duty and Allegi­ance to his Heir and Successor, but to bless God for set­ting so Gracious a King to Reign over us.

The Meekness of Moses, and Wisdom of Solomon, the Affability of David, and Friendliness of Jonathan, the Liberality of the Emperour Titus, and Goodness of Con­stantine, all these lovely Qualities and Graces were re­splendent and shining in this Great and Mighty Monarch, [Page 14] putting on Righteousness as a Garment, and Judgment like a Robe and a Diadem. And the King, who is the Supreme, is not like the Sun, which by his motion carry­eth his light through his whole Circuit; but he is like the Sea, having all fulness in it self, sends from it self Foun­tains and Rivers to water all the Continent, where the Sea it self cannot come; which shews him a most Graci­ous Soveraign, and calls on the House of David, the House of Nathan, the House of Levi, and all the Elders of our Israel, and every Family, to the House of Mourning to bear a part of the sad Chorus of England's Sorrow, weeping out Elegies and Lamentations for the Death of our good King of Blessed and Immortal Memory.

Thirdly, The Apple Tree is a most fruitful Tree. So this Royal Tree while he Reigned, Flourished upon Earth, brought forth his Fruit in Season; the Fruits of Piety and Holiness to God, long Suffering, Meekness, and Charity, or Tenderness to all his People.

1. His Piety. Religion is the fair Daughter of the Al­mighty, and that Immense Being has planted it in the Heart of Man, to direct us in our way to Heaven. It is the universal Patrimony which entitles us to be the Sons of God, and by which we are Adopted unto the assured Hope of Life and Immortality. It is the most Sacred Anchor which upholds Church and State; for without the knowledge and fear of a Deity, all things would run into disorder and Confusion; without an opinion of Provi­dence to see and reckon with us, Might, Craft, and Falshood would sway alike with Men and Beasts, and the Conscience of good and Evil would be all one. Religion then is the Loadstone with which when our Souls are once touched, they are directed to the right Pole of the beatifical Visi­on, and without which we must infallibly expect to split a­gainst the Rocks of Eternal Perdition; therefore this Pious Prince did think it the greatest Character of his Glory to [Page 15] be truly Religious towards God, and to preserve the Ho­nour of the Divine Majesty in his own Soul, because in a pure Conscience Gods Face is to be seen, and no where else on Earth. It is the Mountain of Transfiguration where we may see the Kingdom of God. This is the on­ly Isle Patmos where are the Visions and Revelations of the Son of Man. It is the Garden God walks in. It is the Temple that the Holy Ghost dwells in, the Golden Pot, the hidden Manna is laid up in it. It is Gideon's Fleece which all the Dew of Heaven falls on; for he that hath a pure Heart, and clear Hands, washed not in Water but Innocency, may with Holy David compass Gods Altar; their Walks are in a Wood dropping Honey, their Dwel­lings on a Mountain of Myrrh, and Lodging on a Bed of Spices. We read in Holy Writ that the Sun and Moon speak loud, their sound is gone out into all the Earth; but yet a holy and virtuous Life speaks louder, Psal. 19. 1. the sound of it is heard in Heaven, and causeth Joy a­mong the Angels. The sound of it also goes out to the Earth, and fills the Mouths of Men with Gladness and Rejoycing. It is the manifestation of Grace and Vertue, which makes the Lord to be admired in them who fear him. This opens every ones Eyes, and causes all to con­fess that God is in them of a Truth: practis'd Piety is the most perswading Oratory to Piety and Godliness, and all Vertue. They who live in the unfruitful Works of Darkness dishonour their Maker, it is only the Trees of Isal. 61. 8. Righteousness which Glorifie him: so saith our Saviour, Herein is my Father glorified, when you bring forth much John 25 8. Fruit. I need not mention Abraham's Faith, nor Job's Patience, Elias's Zeal, David's Uprightness, or Moses's Meekness: these things are writ for our Learning; not only for our remembrance and speculation, but for our practice also and imitation. Every Grace, and every Virtue of a Christian, is a real Sermon to convince the [Page 16] World of its Impiety. The Pious Mans Devotions con­fute Atheistical Prophaneness. The Chast Mans Behavi­our teaches the wanton Modesty, and the Sober Mans Carriage declaims against Excess, and bespeaks Sobriety to the Intemperate. The Meek Mans Conversation preaches Mercy to the furious Ones, and so it is the pious manifestation of Grace and Virtue for which Men bless God, and the abundant Grace bestowed on our late Gracious Soveraign, his admirable Courage, Piety, and Patience in the greatest Agony of his Sufferings, and with earnest Prayer and Supplication, desiring the disso­lution of his Earthly Tabernacle, speaks him the most Christian King, and that Sanctity and Piety as Fruit did grow on this Royal Tree. These were the Principles of his Piety and Religion on which this Mighty Monarch served God, with Fasting and Prayer (like Anna the Prophetess) Night and Day in the Temple, and with Fear and Reverence worshipped God in his Holy Sanctuary; therefore praise waiteth upon him in the Gate, for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a good under­standing have all they that do thereafter. For the knowledge of God is the Philosophers Stone in Divinity, by it we may turn all events into Golden Advantages to our Souls. This is the Knowledge that speeds our passage to Eternal Glory, that is the shortest cut to Immortal Happiness; and the truest Honour is inveloped in this rich Mantle of Wisdom, in that it appears God himself is the Grand Teacher thereof. Our Wise Solomon, as a prudent De­puty under God, and a worthy Successor of a Blessed Fa­ther, served the God of his Father with a perfect Heart and a willing Mind, and performed all things in order ac­cording 2 Chron. 8. 14. to the commandment of David the man of God. And 'tis also the commendation of his late Majesty, as of 2 Chr. 35. 24. other good Kings, Asa, Jehosaphat, Hezekiah and Josiah, that they did that which was right in the Eyes of the [Page 17] Lord, as did David their Father. Now as all Judah and Jerusalem mourned for their good King Josiah; should not the tide of Englands sorrow swell so high for Bri­tain's Josiah, King Charles the Second, seeing the parallel consideration is as full of Equity, and transforms us into Niobes, making our Heads Rivers of Waters, and our Eyes Fountains for continual Tears?

2. His Princely Goodness to all his People, is eviden­ced,

First, In the rare Christian Grace of Humility: though he was the fountain of Honour, and advanced above o­thers, shining like the Sun in the lower Firmament, bright with Rayes of Glory and Greatness; yet he did not soar on the wings of Pride and Ambition, either fondly to disdain the meanest of his Subjects, or proud­ly to lord it over others: nor yet did the Greatness of Majesty make him forget his Parentage or Mortality, or to derive his Pedigree from the Off-spring of Death: But this illustrious Prince as the Son of Wisdom, and it is justified of her Children, did know he was cast of the same Mould with those of a lower Species; and though he did sit as a God, in respect of Imperial Authority, yet he must die like Man, and rest also in the Bed of Silence, and by necessary consequence not neglect holy and seri­ous preparation for it. Thus may we discover his Chri­stian Piety by the Virgin-temper of Humility, walking in the Steps of his Blessed Saviour and Redeemer, be­holding him from his Cradle at Bethlehem to his Cross at Jerusalem as a mirrour of Humility. And this Pious Prince, as a Noble Imitator of his Lord, followed the Grand Exemplar of the Christian Religion, who bids us learn of him to be meek and lowly, therefore he was cloathed Matt. 11. 29. 1 Pet. 5. 5. Jam. 4. 6. with Humility, as the Apostle speaks, and had it written in the Table of his Royal Heart, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the Humble, which now is consummated [Page 18] with Glory; for he wants not the envied Crowns of this World, having exchanged the shadows of an Earthly Kingdom for one Eternal in the Heavens, wearing the Crown of Righteousness and Perseverance in a better World.

Secondly, His admirable Patience or Long-suffering. In Long-suffering, sayes one of the Ancients, the Lord doth inhabit. This sublime Spirit indeed possessed the Royal Breast of his late Majesty, which raised him a­bove the ordinary Rank of Mankind in a truly Pious Patience under the greatest Sufferings. His Christian Meek­ness, Compassionate Kindness, Tender-hearted Charity, and Pious Patience against all injuries, declare him not only one of the greatest Worthies of the English Nati­on, but the Best of Kings, and shews that Religion and Vertue, as Fruit, did grow on this Royal Tree. We may without Sword or Fire become Martyrs, if we have Patience in our Hearts. For true Patience carries with it a singular property, that Satan hath not the power to attain so much as a shadow of it, [...], he is always in Impatience; Patience is too beauti­ful for his deformed Nature and crooked disposition, be­ing a composition of all those lovely Vertues and Graces of the Holy Spirit, to which he is a perfect stranger. To die by a Persecutor, it s Martyrdom in open work; but to suffer injuries, and love our hater, it is Martyrdom in heart. Let Baptism be your Armour, Faith your Helmet, Love your Spear; but [...], Pa­tience Cap-a-pe, your whole Armour of defence, it is the sweetest Salve to mishap, or desire of revenge, the truest Remedy of Injuries, and the Shield against Wrongs, be­cause, through Patience in well-doing, we seek for Glory and Honour, Life and Immortality. It is great Forti­tude, if being hurt, to forgive. It is great Glory if thou mightest punish, and yet to Pardon. This was [Page 19] one of the Gemms in the Crown of his late Majesty, that he exercised a Soveraignty over all his Subjects with a re­joycing and delightful kind of Patience, which does e­ternize his Memory, and blazon his Honour to Posteri­ty, even his auspicious and most gentle Government; and Chronicle will free me from the least tincture of flat­tery, if any think I am beyond the bounds either of Sin­cerity or Truth. Now if the Prophet Jeremiah com­posed the whole sorrowful structure of his Lamentations on the mournful Obsequies of the Good King Josiah, shall not the English World weep out Elegies, and con­dole the Death of the Royal Charles, the light of our Eyes, and breath of our Nostrils, of whom we said, under his shadow we shall live among the Heathen.

Thirdly, His wonderful Beneficence or Christian Cha­rity displays it self,

First. In forgiving his Enemies, when they had forsa­ken their Allegiance by acts of Rebellion, and his late Majesty could have crush'd them with the Hand of Great­ness; yet he made an act of Indemnity or Oblivion the vehicle of his Kindness, which speaks his Kingly Benefi­cence, that he was a Patron of Goodness and Charity, and gives us occasion to discern how transporting a de­light it is to a Noble and Generous Mind, to be an In­strument of good to others. As the bountiful light in the Body of the Sun, illuminates and beautifies all the Orbs, and Heavenly Bodies about it; by the projection of its beams, it begets all the Beauty, Glory, Sweetness, we have here below on the Earth, and it is so communi­cative of doing good, as it never restrains the free Com­munication of its Influence and Glory, until it determine by natural and necessary expiration: Even so proporti­onably his late Majesty, as the Sun, did cherish and enli­ven Terrestrial Bodies, and folded not up his Rays, but dispensed them freely, so that his Princely Clemency and [Page 20] Charitable Disposition, like a rich Fountain, did run with large streams of Goodness, which renders his Deceased Majesty deservedly honoured by all his Subjects; for all things that have an affinity with the Heavens, have a com­municative Goodness, and move upon the Center of an­other which they benefit; and Man may be, by so much, Neighbour to the Gods, by how much he doth good be­yond requital: for self is a poor Center of a Mans actions; but to do good to others begets a strong reflection of Majesty and Honour. O that all those who pretend to greatness of Mind would copy out this Munificence, ta­ing all Opportunities [...] to do good; for 'tis goodness which sits gloriously Triumphant at the Top of Heaven, and uncharitableness lies miserably grovelling under the bottom of Hell. Heaven descends from one as its principal Cause, Hell is built on the other as its main Foundation; as the one approximates the Blessed Angels to God, and beatifies them; so the other removeth the cur­sed Fiends to such a distance from God and Happiness (saith a Reverend Divine) not to wish, not to do any good. It is true Nobleness, and carrys with it the signa­tures of Majesty and Greatness, Honour and Piety, to be of a large diffusive Spirit, exercising Bounty and Mercy, Tom. 2. as holy Athanasius in his Works affirms, that Mercifulness is the Queen of Vertues; and his late Majesty (whose Sacred Memory we celebrate) did practise this high piece of Christian Perfection, according to the Prescriptions of Matt. 5. 41. our Lord, in forgiving his Enemies: which shews that Goodness and Charity, as Fruit, did grow on this Royal Tree.

Secondly, His Kingly Munificence and Liberality, not on­ly to the Tribe of Levi, but to all that implored his Royal Favour, dispensing of his Treasures to the supply of the needy, and putting on Bowels of Mercy to those in want and necessity, giving Bread to the Hungry, and cloathing [Page 21] the naked with a garment: And one Charitable Action (performed in Obedience to the Divine Command) will be more conducive to our Eternal Welfare, than the va­lue of innumerable Worlds. Therefore this Pious Prince was inclined to acts of Beneficence and Compassion, who now injoys the happy consequences thereof; for Bread cast upon the Waters is trajectitia pecunia, Money, for which you take a Bill of Exchange from God, and it meets you in a far Country, no Robbers by Land, no Pi­racies by Sea, no unfaithfulness of Factors, no violence of Tempests shall take it from you. He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor (saith the Psalmist) and his righte­ousness Psal. 112. 9. endureth for ever. And so Goodness and Charity did shine in this Mighty Monarch, like the precious Stones in Aarons Breast-Plate. There is no felicity now a want­ing (to this illustrious Monarch) but that of Virginius Ruffus, to have another Tacitus to write his Funeral Ob­sequies, those just Encomiums and Praises due to his rare and singular Perfections; for Vertues are Copies drawn for imitation, and left as paths for succeeding Ages to tread in:

And his late Majesty being Dead, yet speaks by his Roy­al Example to all his loving Subjects, in the Language of the Holy Apostle, Be ye followers of me, as I was of Christ, in Faith and Hope, Humility and Meekness, Charity and Patience, till you come ad interior a velaminis, above the reach of dull Mortality, filling up those seats of Blessed­ness, and triumphing in the Glories of a Saviour. Death, however we figure it with the Pencil of Fancy, yet it does but rend the vail of Mortality, and lets the Soul into the Palace of inestimable Majesty, where we shall not only behold Jesus in all his Glory, but receive the ut­most effects of his mighty Love, and live with him for [Page 22] ever in Heavenly Places. The quality of the Grave is al­ter'd since Christ slept there; it was a Prison, now a Chamber of repose. The Prophet Isaiah, speaking of the Isai. 57. 2. Death of the faithful, saith, They shall enter into peace, they shall rest in their beds, for Death of a formidable Ene­my is made a Friend, and a Blessing in Christ, a passage from the Valley of Tears to the Kingdom of Glory. Now who would be afraid to be Happy? Indeed were our Tombs the Everlasting Repositories of our moulded A­shes, and the Grave a sad Closet of Eternal Sleep, a Man had some reason to tremble at the apprehensions of Death; and since the Day cannot arise but through the shadows of the Night, and there is no transition to Heaven and Eternal Life but through the Chambers of a Temporal Death, we should be content to go that way to Glory, that our Saviour went before. Venerable Job, under the sad Tragedy of Misery, with a Triumphant kind of Joy, Job 19. 25, 26, 27. laid up in his Bosome this joyful expectation, I know my Redeemer liveth, and though Worms destroy this Body, yet in my Flesh shall I see God. The same individual Bodies Joh. 5. 28. that died will be raised, Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the Grave shall hear John 11. 25. his voice, and come forth. And the Resurrection of our Bodies is assured by Christs Testimony, the veracity of Acts 10. 38, 39, 40, 41. 1 Cor. 15. 20. Christ is witnessed by his Resurrection, for Christ is the first-fruits of them that sleep. As the first Fruits are a sure demonstration and evidence of the near approach and drawing on of the Harvest, so the Resurrection of Christ is a sure ground of hope and comfort for assuring us, that 1 Cor. 15. 14, 15. all those who dye Christs Disciples, shall rise to a Blessed Immortality. He shall make us partakers of his Glory, and bring us into those everlasting Habitations, where dwells an undisturbed Peace, where neither Diseases ap­proach the Body, nor Vices have access unto the Mind, where shall be life without fear of Death, and Joys with­out [Page 23] mixture of Sorrow. In the Primitive Times, at Fune­rals, they were wont to sing Psalms of Thanksgiving. The [...], or Triumphant Song of S ^t Paul, O death, where 1 Cor. 15. 5. is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory, bringing them as Champions to the Grave, as those that have passed the Pikes, and finished their Course, and kept the Faith, and have conquered the World, Sin, and Death. What cause is there now of Sorrow or Lamentation? but rather of Joy and Gladness: when we consider Deaths Errand, it is our convoy to Heaven, the dawning of an Eternal Day, and Eve of a Glorious Festival, the way wherein we must walk to Happiness If old Jacob, when he saw the Chariots come from Aegypt, his Heart did leap within him, because he should see his Son Joseph: We may ima­gine what a comfort it will be in the beatifical Vision, when Adam shall see all his Grand-Children the Sons of Enos to­gether; Abraham his faithful Seed; Moses his true Israel­ites; Aaron his Spiritual Posterity; John the Baptist shall see his Penitents; Peter his Converts; Paul his Follow­ers; the Angels shall see all their Wards; God all his Sons; Christ all his Members What a glorious appeaing will there be? What a ravishing Heavenly Quire? What an Anthem shall there be gloriously sung, when the Gates of Heaven shall be as it were shut, there being no more to enter, and these made welcome by the mutual and ineffable embrace­ments of God and Christ. Christ now and his Believers, like Joseph and Benjamin, falling about each others Necks, not weeping, but shouting for Joy. O that this confide­ration might have its proper operation in the Hearts and Minds of all, so as to fear God and practise Religion, that we may obtain a Glorious Reward; for all Ornaments and Excellencies, whether of Art, Nature, or Policy, are but a dead thing, unless they be animated and quickned with the power of Religion and fear of God: therefore whe­ther we aim at a Temporal or Spiritual good, Religion is [Page 24] mainly to be magnified. Many Blessings belong to the Religious which they enjoy in this Life. The Riches of Grace are poured on them, and the Word of Life is preach'd unto them; their Thoughts are Heavenly, and Hearts the Throne of the Holy Ghost; their Tongues talk of the Praises of the Almighty, and their Feet stand in the Temple of the Lord; their Prayers are like Incense, and the lifting up of their Hands as an Evening Sacrifice; Who will not now become Religious? to wear a Crown that never shall have an end after Death, to have Angels their Companions, and Saints their Fellows, Heaven their dwelling Place, and Pleasures of Paradise the recom­pence of their Reward. If sumptuous and stately Build­ings do delight, what Habitation is so Magnificent and Glorious as the New Jerusalem? If Riches, what so Rich as that, whose Foundation and Wall are of Precious Stones, and Gates of Orient Pearls? If Honour, what Honour comparable to this, to be Servants of the Most High, the Sons of so mighty a King, and Heirs of so Glorious a Kingdom; where neither the Teeth of Time can con­sume, nor Rancor of Envy deprive of Honour, nor Pow­er of Adversary spoil its Glory, being endless and Incom­prehensible. There is no such gain as trading to Hea­ven, to be Merchant Adventurers for Happiness, all o­ther things are nothing; let this so raise your apprehen­sions as your Lives may be an Argument to prove it: for if we do expect Salvation, Mercy and Glory, at the Hands of the Almighty, we must be active in well doing, Obedient to his Laws, Confident in his Promises, and Religious in his Service, that so being followers of the Blessed Saints, who are departed out of this Life in the Faith of Christ, directing our Lives after their Good Ex­ample, and particularly of this Pious Prince, who has changed the Terrestrial Paradise of all his Kingdoms, to be partaker of a Celestial One, which is beyond the [Page 25] Power of Empire, and grasps greater things than Au­thority or Command can compass; his Name survives his Life, and is anagram'd in the choicest Memories, and stands in Renown amongst the greatest Worthies that ei­ther Pole can boast of, being Embalm'd in Honour, and whose Actions blossom in the Dust. A voice from Hea­ven has declared Happiness to the Righteous, Because bles­sed Revel. 14. 13. are the dead which dye in the Lord; even so saith the Spirit, for they rest from their labours, and their works fol­low them.

NOW after the dayes of Mourning in England for the Death of Britain's Josiah, the Great and Good King James the Second hath given us a day of re­joycing in the peaceable Accession to the Imperial Throne of these Kingdoms, which hath been long and happily en­joyed by his Royal Ancestors, and by an unquestionable Right and lineal Succession descends on his Sacred Maje­sty. We have great cause to rejoyce, when we consider our happiness, that it hath pleased the Almighty God to give us for our King a Prince of the same Blood, Son of Charles the Martyr, and Brother to Charles the Good and Great: and His Sacred Majesty has attained the Cha­racter of James the Just, who is not only an Inheritor of the Crowns of his Royal Progenitors in all the Tri­umphs and Glories of a Coronation, but of their Vir­tues. And since the Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church, it is the happiness of this Nation that the Seed of that Glorious Martyr of happy Memory, is still to reign over us, which turns our Tears into Joy and Exultation of Spirit, praising and glorifying God for so great a Benefit. We adore the Divine Goodness, and acknowledge it a Miracle of Mercy, by which he kept his Sacred Majesty in Store, a Blessing in reserve for us, who in the depth of our Affliction, hath vouch­safed [Page 26] to bring us from Death to Life again, by guiding us through the Horror of our Fears into a State of Secu­rity and Comfort, by his Princely Word and Promise to follow the Example of our late Dread Sovereign in Clemency and Tenderness to his People. And with e­qual Gratitude and hearts full of Duty and Allegiance, we pay the Tribute of Thanks to his Sacred Majesty, for his most Indulgent Declaration, that he will take our Lives, Liberties and Religion into his immediate Pro­tection; and the inviolable Steddiness of his Royal Word is that on which we rely with an intire Confi­dence, for the Support and Enjoyment of our Establisht Religion; a Religion, that has been (as his Majesty gra­ciously observes) and ever will be for the Maintenance of Monarchy. And as our Church is the Rule to us of a pure and unspotted Loyalty, so it is not possible we should lose the one, since his most Illustrious Majesty is so graciously pleas'd to preserve the other. And what can we desire more on this side Heaven, than that we live under his auspicious Reign, safe in our Religion and Properties. What bet­ter pledges could we have asked for them, than what we have; his Sacred Word, which hath made us intirely se­cure; and hath left us nothing now to wish or pray for, save only that it would please Almighty God by a merci­ful and over ruling Providence to defeat the Malice, and to frustrate and disappoint all the Conspiracies of his E­nemies. And we humbly beseech the Great God, the King of Kings, to preserve his Sacred Majesty in Health and Hap­piness, to prosper all his Affairs at home and abroad, and make all his Subjects truly Loyal and Obedient, and esta­blish his Royal Throne many and many Years, that he may long and happily Reign over us to the utmost period of Humane Nature; and when the Crown shall slide from his Sacred Temples, be at last translated to an Eternal Throne of Glory.