VVE read in several Authors of famous and sumptuous Monuments erected to perpetuate the Memory of mortal men, they vainly believing their names would thereby continue so long as the cement could hold the stones together: Some we find, with Cardan, only desired that their Names might be known, without knowing either what they were, or how they lived: Others, with Hero­stratus, would be remembred, tho it were for evil, for burn­ing a Temple; but most desired that their good Names might flourish to all posterity, and that their Bodies, by spi­ces, and other ingredients, might be preserved sweet and uncorrupted, till the return of their Souls to their ancient receptacles. For these ends were the Egyptian Pyramids, the Arches, Obelisks and Mausoleums of the Ancients built so vast [Page 2] and lofty, that not only the Revenues of Kingdoms, but the whole purchass-money of Nations have been expended on them; to that height and greatness were they erected, that they were accounted among the wonders of the World: but notwithstanding this, their designs were frustrated, they all proved but the feeding of empty wind; Vanity of vanities (saith the Preacher) all is vanity; what Time or Tyrants have spared of these Fabricks, do yet remain; but whom they do contain, or who the Authors of 'em were, is now a question not to be resolved: all that we know of 'em is, that they are made merchandize of without distinction, and the old Pharaohs and Ptolomies perhaps are now promis­cuously sold, with the bodys of meaner persons, for Mummy by our Druggists and Apothecaries.

These were the false & mistaken measures which the stran­gers to the Israel of God took to perpetuate their Memories, pursuing the vain methods laid down by the early Builders at Babel: Go to, let us build us a City and a Tower, whose top may reach unto Heaven, and let us make us a name, Gen. 11.4. But confusion and disappointment were the effects of both, notwithstanding these mighty endeavors, in Solomon's phrase, The name of the wicked shall rot, Prov. 10.7. But there is a way to be for a ever known, the other part of the same proverb tells us, the memory of the just is Blessed, blessed with content and satisfaction in this Life, with unspeakable joys in the World to come, and leaves an undying fame be­hind it, vertue, as tis it's own reward, vaunteth not its self, is not puffed up, yet it cannot lye hid, nor be suppressed, immor­tal Glory is it's shadow, always keeps it company unknown unto it's self, and even when 'tis declining from our hemis­phere, it then casts the largest shadow, and is rising to ano­ther.

A good name is better than precious Oyntment, and rather to be chosen than great Riches (saith the Wise man) and how [Page 5] is this to be acquired? only by humility and the fear of the Lord, Prov. 22, 1, 4. 'twas to faithful and good Abraham that God promised to make his name great Gen. 12, 2. 'twas to his peculiar people when they should keep his commandments that he promised to make then high above all Nations in praise, and in name, and in honour, Deut. 26, 18, 19. 'Twas to the man who ruled his ways according to Gods own heart, that he said he had made him a great name in the Earth, and had established his Kingdom for ever, 2 Sam. 7, 9, 16. and the same David answereth his own Question, Lord, who shall dwell in thy Tabernacle, or who shall rest upon thy Holy hill? even he that leadeth an uncorrupt Life, and doth the thing which is right, Ps. 15, 1, 2. These are the means to live for ever, for thus saith the Lord unto those that keep my Sabbaths, and chuse the things that please me, I will give them an Everlasting name that shall not be cut off, Isa. 56, 4, 5. The Pious and Charitable works of God's Servants do leave a savour behind them, and a sweet perfume, which are not to be blown away by wind, nor worn by weather. Verily I say unto you, (saith our Saviour of the Woman who annointed him for his Burial) wheresoever this Gospel shall be Preached in the whole World, there shall also this that this Woman hath done be told for a memorial of her, Mat. 26, 13. Wheresoever the Acts of the Apostles shall be read, there shall the Good Works and Alms-deeds of Tabitha be spoke off, and in our generations, where­ever Piety, Charity, Sobriety and Wisdom, are discoursed of, then let the memory be precious of this Excellent and Noble Personage, whose Corps lye here before us, and to Celebrate whose obsequies is the occasion of this Solemn meeting, for she also was a Woman full of good Works and Alms-deeds which she did, but it came to pass in these days, that she was Sick and dyed.

I shall not take up your time in speaking much of this good Disciple of the Lord, mentioned in the Text, she is [Page 2] [...] [Page 5] [...] [Page 6] described unto us by the place of her abode, by her name, and by her good works; the place Joppa, a Maritime Town on the Coast of Judea, one of the first walks of the Apostles after they had received Commission from on high to teach all Nations, and to be witnesses unto our Saviour to the utter­most parts of the Earth; her name Tabitha, which by inter­pretation is called Dorcas a Greek word, which in English signifies a Doe, from derkéin, to behold, because of the Ex­cellency and quickness of sight, which is attributed to that Creeature; and it appears that she was very perspicacious, quick-sighted and apprehensive in her belief of Christianity and Knowledge of Divine things, being one of the earliest Disciples of St. Peter and the other Apostles; Her good works mentioned are such as are proper to, and bespeak her a Woman of Riches, Quality, and good Fortune, as appears also by the great concern which was shewed for her at her Death, St. Peter the great Apostle was immediately sent for, and he arose and went with the messenger, and when he was come, they brought him into the upper chamber (where she lay in state) tho without the pageantry of Heralds and Escutcheons, yet with the more glorious Ensigns of her Vertue & Charity; the Widows stood by weeping, and shewing the Coats and Garments which Dorcas made while she was with them, Acts 9, 39. Thus was she a Woman full of good works and Alms-deeds which she did, and it came to pass in those days, that she was sick and dyed.

In discoursing of these words, I shall begin with the latter part of them, and it came to pass that she was sick and dyed, and from thence shall shew you what death is; 2dly, Since death is a debt which all men owe to Nature, since the death of the Body is but an entrance to another state of everlasting happi­ness or misery, after this Life we must all appear before the tribunal of a just Judg, and give an account of our own actions, whether they have been good, or whether they have been evil, I shall from thence shew you, that the best way to prepare for this [Page 7] Death and Judgment, is by a good Life here; that is, by being full of good works, and Alms-deeds; And lastly, I shall make the application to this mournful object here before us, and shew that this noble Lady was this woman full of good works and Alms-deeds. And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died.

First then, What Death is; I shall not trouble you with making an exact logical definition of it, nor puzzel my self and you with nice and philosophical enquiries into the na­ture of it; but as most proper for your Instruction at pre­sent, shall lay before you the causes of it, and shew some of the effects of it which are most useful for the knowledge of all men. First then God is the cause efficient, and sin the formal cause of Death in man, for tho we are bound to believe that our first Parents were created in a State of Innocence, and therefore of immortality, had they continued obedient to the commands of God, yet was that Immortality not Natural, but Artificial, their Bodies were made of the same Corrupti­ble matter that ours are, dust of the Earth, and there was the same mixture in them of heat & cold, of dryness & moisture, which naturally tends to corruption, yet God was pleased to provide a supernatural Remedy, the Tree of Life was to be to them a continual never dying medicine, to preserve them always in life and health, while they preserved themselves in obedience to the Condition on which that Blessiing was pro­mised, but they becoming disobedient, forfeited their lives, and so brought upon themselves and their posterity the Exe­cution of Gods most just sentence, in the day thou eatest there­of thou shalt surely dye, that is, become mortal; here then is the cause of death, by the sin of Adam we are all reduced to the Laws of our own Nature, and must say with Joab's wise Woman, 2 Sam. 14, 14. we must needs dye, and are as water spilt on the ground, by one man sin entred into the World, and Death by sin, Rom. 5, 12.

Death then is nothing else but the privation or recession of life, for since life consists in the union of the soul to the bo­dy, from whence as from the fountain, proceed motion, sensation and all our vital actions, death must formally con­sist in the actual separation of the the soul from the body; And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his Nostrils the breath of Life, and man became a living soul, Gen. 2.7. when then God pleaseth to stop that breath, and to withdraw his enlivening power, then does man dye, the dissolution is then made, and the separation of the spirit from the body, which when they were joyned to­gether made one living person; this death with the fore­runners of it, is most elegantly described by the wise Preacher in his last Chap. of Ecclesiastes; He chargeth us to remember our Creator in the days of our youth, while the evil days come not, in the days when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease, because they are few, and those that look out at the Windows be darkned, and the doors shall be shut in the streets, and all the Daughters of Musick shall be brought low, and fear shall be in the way, because man goeth to his long home, and the Mourners go about the streets, or ever the silver Cord be loosed, or the golden Boul be broken, or the Pitcher be broken at the Fountain, or the Wheel be broken at the Cistern, then shall the dust return to the Earth as it was, and the Spirit shall return to God who gave it, Eccl. 12. As we have thus seen the first and great efficient and formal causes of death, so if we would consider the secondary & Instrumental causes thereof, they are inumerable, let us reflect on the multi­tude of means & ways by which the life of man is destroyed, by ature, by diseases, by accidents, which may be subdivided into millions, by folly, by the lusts and intemperance of men, and almost every thing we can think of, may be the cause and instrument of our death, there are many sicknesses and infirmitys that walk in darkness, and there are exterminating [Page 9] Angels, that destroy us at Noon; the Sword sweeps away thousands in one Field, Famine and Pestilence have rooted up whole Nations: there is no age nor condition exempted from Death, the Grave either finds or makes all men equal, we dye without rule, and with or without occasions. When Isaac was old, and his eyes grew dimm, he said to his Son, Behold now I am old, I know not the day of my death, Gen. 27.1, 2. With as much reason may every man say this in youth as well as in age, in health as well as in sickness; there are so many sally-ports for the soul to fly out of the body, that were it not for that Almighty providence that deter­mines all things, and preserves every man till his appointed time, It would be a wonder if any should reach to half the standard that David observed in man, the days of our age (saith he) are threescore years and ten; in short, sooner or later, we must all say with Job, I know that thou wilt bring me to Death, and to the house appointed for all living, Job 30.23. So much for the causes of Death.

2dly, The effects thereof are: 1st, It ends this life, as soon as the Bird of Paradice is fled from it's Cage, then all our words, our thoughts, and actions cease, our mirth & jollity, grief and sadness have an end; for when the breath of man goeth forth, he shall turn again to his Earth, and then all his thoughts perish, Ps. 146.3. the dead know not any thirst, their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever, in any thing that is done under the Sun, Eccl. 9.5, 6. And this we must understand of our Religious as well as civil actions, as well of the super­natural gifts and graces of Gods holy Spirit within us, as of the natural indowments of the soul and body, our life, as it gives way to Death, so must it make the way and prepare for it, 'tis the day wherein we must work, death brings the night wherein no man can work, let us then walk while we have the light, lest darness come upon us; are not my days [Page 10] few? saith Job, let us then hear Gods voice, and harden not our hearts, while 'tis called to day, before we go hence and shall not return, even to the land of darkness, and the shadow of death, a Land of Darkness, as Darkness it self, Job 10.21, 22. The most wicked are in this convertible, if they will take warn­ing, and amend their ways; but if they will perversly go on to sin wilfully, after they have received the knowledg of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, after death there is no more hope of Repentance, but a certain and fearful looking for of Judgment Heb. 10.26, 27. Consider this all ye that forget God, lest he destroy you for ever, lest he take you, and pluck you out of your dwelling, and root you out of the Land of the living, Ps. 52.6.

2dly, A second Effect of Death is, that as it ends this life, so it begins a life to all Eternity, both to the godly, and to the wicked, to the latter 'tis the sad conclusion of all joy and comfort, the beginning of never dying pain and sorrow, the entrance of Hell, and the first part and feeling of that just sentence which shall be more fully pronounced by our Savi­our at the last day to those on his left hand, depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil & his An­gels, Matt. 25, 41. But to the former, 'tis the first step to blessedness, the taking down the Tent-poles where with this Earthly Tabernacle is supported, the Goal-delivery of a prisoner, the sleep of the body and the awaking of the soul, transitus a labore ad refrigerium, a passage from labour to rest, as Seneca calls it, and in the phrase of several good men of old, a change from expectation to fruition, from faith to knowledg, from a pilgrimage to a countrey, from a frail world to the father of mercies, a deposition of this burden of flesh, and a journey to the City of God, the birth-day of a better life, a death of misery, and a burial of sin; Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from [Page 11] the foundation of the World; Death shall then be swallowed up in Victory; O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory? 1 Cor. 15.55.

Having so fair an opportunity, I cannot pass from it with­out touching a little at the immortality of the Soul, a Sub­ject most proper for Funeral-Sermons, and made too pertinent by the wicked lives of most men in this degenerate and cor­rupted age, wherein we meet with two many, if not in plain words, yet interpretatively by their actions denying the everlasting being of their own Souls; when we consider how vice of all sorts does abound among us, notwithstanding all the methods that have been taken, and the means that God in his mercy has used to reform us, when we open the eyes of our understanding, and see how God's holy Name, and his very Essence is profaned and blasphemed by profes­sed Atheism, and foul-mouth'd Blasphemy; by unreasona­ble and extravagant Cursing and Swearing, openly practi­sed by all sorts, even by those whose stations fitt and oblige them to reprove others for smaller Crimes: When we re­flect on the great oppressions & injuries committed by men in any sort of Authority, on the Drunkenness and Un­cleanness that walk bare-fac'd in our streets; on the open Injustice practised by almost all men, few making conscience of their ways; but without any remorse, defrau­ding and cheating their Neighbours to that degree, that as the Poet fancied of old, Astrea, even common Honesty and Justice is fled from the Earth, at least from our parts of it. When we see the multitude of our people so far in love with mischief, as to take delight in raising scandal and reproach, in murdering the good Name, and as far as in them lies, the Credit, Fortunes, and too often the very persons of their Christian Brethren: I say, when we consider and reflect on these things, can we believe that men have any sense or ap­prehension of the future and everlasting being of their own [Page 10] [...] [Page 11] [...] [Page 12] souls? that they are placed in their bodies here only as so­journers, for some little time, to prepare for an everlasting state hereafter?

I cannot spare time to run out in a Lecture, to prove this Immortality; and indeed one might think it very needless to spend time in the proof of that which has been owned and acknowledged as a postulatum, or first principle, not on­ly by Christians (who are Baptized into that very Faith) but by the Heathens themselves, who owned any Deity; for they having daily before their eyes objects of good and just men afflicted, tormented, persecuted, by Imprison­ments, Deaths, Banishments; by Poverty, Sickness, and what else is usually unpleasant to humane nature: And on the other hand, seeing the wicked in great prosperity, flou­rishing like green Bay-trees, and glutting themselves with all the varieties of the pleasures of this life: They, I say, observing these things, by the light of their very carnal rea­son, without entring inro the Sanctuary of God, in some mea­sure understood the end of these men, concluded, that (un­less the Gods were unjust, which they conceiv'd impossible) there must certainly be another life after this, wherein all shall be rewarded or punished according as they have here deserved: And indeed this was the great rational induce­ment to the Heathen-world to believe not only the immor­tality of the soul (which generally all acknowledged) but to the wiser of them, the Resurrection of the body also, the most difficult to be believed of any Article of our Faith.

We read that on the great Temple at Delphos, there were two Insciptions written; the one EI, relating to God, by which the Worshippers there acknowledged the immutable Being, and eternal nature of that Godhead who was there [Page 13] invoked; the other GNOTHI SEAUTON as a memento to all who came thither to take notice of, and remember the dignity and immortality of their own souls: Where the souls of these Heathens are, who invented such wise and divine Sayings, is not our business to enquire; but we may believe they lye not so deep in Hell, but they shall rise up in Judgment to condemn the unreasonable folly and wicked­ness of many of our licentious Christians, who indeed ought rather to be called Epicureans, or Sadduces; for they deserve not to name the name of Christ.

There is nothing makes men so much question their own immortality as wicked and sensual lives, when Men have sold themselves to work wickedness, they then quit all thoughts of things above, and settle their affections wholly on earthly blessings, they have no other conversation but with their lusts, and the vanities of this life, which flatter them for a short time with a shadow of contentment, and when that vanisheth, they lose both substance and shadow for ever, they are prejudiced by wicked and abominable Lives to the precepts and Judgments of Almighty God, and rather than forsake their fleshly lusts, which they know do War against the Spirit and Laws of God, they will bid defiance to Heaven, and pronounce War both with the Almighty, and against the Existence of their own Souls, they please themselves with an Imagination of a self-sufficiency here, and being swollen in their own thoughts, their base & earth­ly lives make them first wish, that their Souls were mortal; and then they begin to believe that they are so, from hence the old Philosophers of the Academy concluded, that the Souls of wicked Men could not for a long time rest after their departure from their Bodies, but hover'd and wander'd a­bout the Graves where the Bodies lay, to which they were so strictly wedded, when they were united; but such a wan­dring will not serve for a punishment to the wicked Christi­ans, [Page 12] [...] [Page 13] [...] [Page 14] they shall then but begin their eternal Life of Death (if I may so say) when they shall wish to be annihilated, call to the Mountains to cover them, and to the Sea to swallow them up; but it will not be, for they did not, while they lived here, lift up their Souls with Christ, and because they did not here die daily, they must then live continually in a state of Dying, and yet their worm of Torment shall never Dye, nor their Fire be ever quenched; it is then that in misery they shall cry out, what can a Man give in Exchange for his Soul? Mar. 8.37.

But Vertue and real Goodness, make Men know and be­lieve, and take delight in Contemplating their own Eternal state and fruition of God in another life; the good man lives above this world, and all the false excellencies thereof, he places his heart where his treasure is, where neither rust, nor moths, nor thieves can prejudice him; he looks always beyond this mortal, and suffers not his thoughts to be boun­ded within the narrow sphere of sensual pleasures, but even while he lives here, he sends up his immortal soul to its pro­per home, which, in good time, shall, like a load-stone, draw up after it, his more material part, and place it in the society of Angels in Heaven: The seraphick love wherein the children of God employ their meditations, is stronger than Death, and more powerful than the Grave; this makes them set God always before them; wherefore their hearts are glad, and their glory does rejoyce, their flesh also shall rest in hope; for why? God shall not leave their souls in Hell, neither will he suffer his holy ones to see corruption; he shall shew them the path of life, in his presence is the fulness of joy, and at his right hand there is pleasure for evermore, Psal. 16, from the 9th verse. Tho worms destroy their flesh, and rottenness enters all the letts and caverns of their bones, yet they know that their Redeemer lives, and that they shall perceive him at present with the intellectual eye of their immortal soul, [Page 15] and at the joyful resurrection of their bodies, in their flesh they shall see God, and enjoy for ever the beatifick vision, wherein Blessedness it self consists. I have also heard the same, that power belongeth unto God, and that thou, Lord, art merciful; for thou rewardest every man according to his work, Psal. 62.11, 12. Seeing then that all this world shall be dissolved, and all these things shall so come to pass, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 2 Pet. 3.11. Which leads me to the next thing proposed, that a good life is the best preparation for death and judgment. This Wo­man was full of good Works and Alms-deeds which she did.

I might here (had I time) recommend to you a pious and good life, and prove the necessity and benefit thereof from several topicks and considerations; as the profit, the plea­sure, the easiness of it above wickedness, the righteous shall inherit the earth; If any man desireth long life, and wou'd fain see good days, let him eschew evil, and do good. My Son, saith Solomon, forget not my Law, but let thy heart keep my Com­mandments; for length of days, and long life, and peace shall they add unto thee, Prov. 3.1, 2. A man's Conscience is either his Heaven or Hell upon Earth, and shall be witness either for or against him hereafter: Let the wicked be never so seemingly happy, tumble in his beloved pelf, riot in all the delicacies of Epicurism, of Gluttony, Drunkenness, or Ve­nery; let him, like an Apple of Sodom, appear ruddy and pleasant to the sight, yet he shall be found but dust and rot­tenness within; the twinges of Conscience will upon all cccasions frighten him into ghastly looks, and fearful appre­hensions of himself and his future-state; but the pleasure of a good Conscience is past expression, as the Poet saith of trou­bles, they are only the small that speak, but the great ones are silent, so this cannot well be told, and is only known to those who possess it, this is the true Philosophers Stone which [Page 16] turns all Conditions that can but touch it, to the true gold of Content, and therefore of pleasure, the Hermite in his Cell, the Beggar who has not a roof but the Canopy of Heaven to cover him, the Gally-slave at his Oar, or the wretch in chains dragg'd to Torments, let these have but good Consciences, they may defy the frowns of fortune, command the stars, and much rather deserve to be made the Objects of Envy than Pitty, this is the true nourishment of the Soul, which feeds it so that it may live happily here by grace, and more happily hereafter in Glory.

If we consider the promises and rewards all along in the Book of Gods holy word, we shall find them always pro­pounded on the performance of, and obedience to Gods Com­mandments; under the divine Oeconomy of the Law, when God's people were not grown up to be perfect men, were not ascended unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; we find that people, like school-boys, were to be instructed in that Law, which was a Covenant of works, and established chiefly upon promises of health and plenty, of peace and victory in this Life; for in this manner we find it speaking, If ye walk in my Statutes, and keep my Commandmens, and do them, then will I give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time, and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and I will give peace in the Land, and ye shall chase your Enemies, and they shall fall before you by the Sword, Lev. 26. from the 3d ver. But upon their disobedience the contrary was threatned, as may be seen at large in the same Cap. of Lev. Terror, Consumption, and the burning Ague, and many other Plagues and mischiefs are there denounced against the breakers and contemners of that Law. And when God was pleased to abolish the outward and Ceremonial part of this Law, and in the fulness of time to send his well beloved Son into the World to Establish Christianity, and [Page 17] to propagate the everlasting Gospel of peace, which was to work on the inward, and most retired thoughts and specu­lations of all it's embracers, the first step to this great alter­ation, was to be a change in life, and manners, our Saviour first sent the holy Baptist before him to prepare his way by Preaching Repentance to all men, Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; and when he was come, his Sermons and Lectures (which are the Text of the Gospel) did chiefly consist of enjoining Evangelical Vertues and Graces, Meek­ness, Long-suffering, Humility, Peaceableness, Purity, Tem­perance, Justice, Charity, and to the performance of these are promised fulness, the sight of God, Mercy, Inheritance of the Earth, and the Kingdom of Heaven; The two great Commandments of the Gospel are to love God above all things, and our Neighbours as our selves, on these two hang all the Law and the Prophets, and on the performance of these it was that our Saviour promiseth life to the Law­yr; This do, and thou shalt live, Luke 10.28.

'Tis to the later of these great precepts that the words of the Text, good works and Alms-deeds do chiefly belong. 'Tis one great part of every Disciple of Christ to be Chari­table to his Neighbours, as far as in him lies, and tho 'tis not in the power of every man to exercise Alms-deeds (which is but one part of Charity) yet every man is bound to do good to his Neighbour as far as his Ability can reach, by good advice, by good words, or good deeds.

St. Paul gives a large commendation to this Vertue in his 13th Cap. of his 1st Ep, to the Corinthians; Tho I speak with the tongues of Men and Angels, and have not Charity, I am become as sounding Brass, or a tinckling Cymbal; and tho I have the gift of Prophecy, and understand all Mysteries, and have no Charity, I am nothing: Charity suffereth long, and is [Page 18] kind, envieth not, doth not behave it self unseemly, seeketh not her own, thinketh no evil: Charity never faileth, but Prophe­cies, Tongues, Knowledg shall vanish away, and then he con­cludes, and now abideth Faith, Hope, Charity, but the greatest of these is Charity. St. James places true Religion in being kind to our Brother, and this must not consist in a loving expression, or an empty wish, if a Brother or Sister be naked, or destitute of dayly food, and one of you say unto them, depart in peace; be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it pro­fit? Jam. 2.15, 16. But pure Religion, and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world, Jam. 1.27. we must (if we be able) cloath the naked, feed the hungry, relieve the oppressed, and in all things verify what the moral Phylosophy of the Stoicks said, that men were born for the sake of one another, that they might in all things promote the common good of mankind; but behold a greater than the Stoicks is here. We find the great Apostle of the Gentiles paraphrasing in his and our Master's words, in his Epistle to the Rom. 13.8. Owe no man any thing (saith he) but to love one another; for he that loveth another, hath ful­filled the Law: and again, all the Law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy Neighbour as thy self, Gal. 5.14. Whoso doth these things, shall never fall, Gal. 15.7. These are the means, my Brethren, to make our Calling and Election sure; for if we can perform these good works thro Faith in Jesus Christ, we need not be afraid at the summons of Death, but shall enter into our Master's presence with joy and gladness: Let us then lead good lives in these our days, and then we may be assured, that when we go hence, we shall have the accomplishment of Balaam's wish, Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his, Numb. 23.10.

Thus I have ended the two first general Heads proposed, I have shewed you what Death is, both in its causes, and in its effects; and the best preparation both for Death and Judgment, is a good life here: I come to the last, the appli­cation of what has been said to this Honourable deceased Lady, this Woman was full of good works and Als-deeds which she did, in shewing whereof I shall pursue the general design of this whole discourse, by laying before you the pattern of a life, which if you can but imitate in your practices, will certainly be a means to teach you how to live, and thereby prepare you for Death and Judgment: Death shall be so far from being an evil to any that shall write after her Copy, that it shall rather be reckoned among the benefits and ad­vantages of the best fortune.

Before I speak of the rare endowments of her mind (which indeed is my proper Subject) I shall touch a little at the descent of her body, the Cabinet in which that precious jewel for upwards of sixty years was preserved; It is not my province to personate the Herald, by displaying her Arms, and Banners, nor to play the Bard by ripping up her pedi­gree, and flattering her successors by fulsom commendations of her Family and Ancestors, only thus much it may not be improper to inform you from hence, that she was descended by her Father from the great and ancient family of the O Neil's, a family, who by their Prowess, Wisdom and Valour, for many ages, by a regal power swayed the Scepter of this Province, if not sometimes of this whole Island; As all great Families must subdivide into several branches and houses, so did this great fountain send out it's several streams, who were the Rulers and Proprietors of several Counties & Baronies, and so the Ancestor of this Noble Lady was the chief O Neil of this County, and not far beyond the me­mory of some now living, possessed as his proper Estate [Page 20] this place with all the adjacent Countrey. By her Mother she sprung from the Noble, and ancient Family of the Staf­fords, who for three generations were the great Dukes of Buckingham in England, and for many years both before and after, continued Noble, with several Titles, and were related to the Crown of England, so that by both Father and Mother she descended from, and was related to Crowned heads; Solomon tells us, Blessed art thou O Land, when thy King is the Son of Nobles, Eccl. 10.7. So also blessed is the Land, when the Nobles are the Sons and Daughters of Kings, and when the King's Daughter appears all glorious within, when God gives unto the King Judgment, and his Righteousness to the King's Children Ps. 72.1.

When the Poets describe their Heroes, they always draw their pedegree from the Gods, Contingit sanguine Coelum, saith Virgil of his Aeneas; but our Christian Heroin was more nearly and truly of heavenly descent; by her Vertues she was allied to God himself: Whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my Brother, and my Sister, and Mother, saith our Saviour; Mar. 3.35. Her Countrey then is Heaven, her City the new Jerusalem, which is above; her fellow-Citizens, the Saints and Angels; and her Nobility was the following the steps of her Blessed Saviour, by being holy as he is holy. Thus have you seen the Rock whence she was hewn, and the Pitt whence she was dugg.

She was born (as I am informed) at Black-Hall within 24 miles of London, in or about the year of God 1631. where Sir Henry O Neil, her worthy Father then lived, and where, about seven years after he died. She spent her in­fancy and childhood till the tenth year of her age, under the tuition of a careful, kind, and religious Mother, who early infused into her goodness, both by precept, and by her example; and so well had the Mother perform'd her part in [Page 21] instructing her Child, and so well was the Daughter qualified to stand in the King's Palace, being without blemish, and well favoured, and apt to be instructed in Wisdom and Knowledg, Dan. 1.4. That when King Charles the first (of ever Blessed Memory) in the year 1641, had espoused his eldest Daugh­ter to the then young Prince of Orange, then was our Lady (together with the Daughters of some of the Prime Nobility of England) pitched on to attend the Princess-Royal out of the Kingdom, when the King's Daughter, by being married, was to forget her own People▪ and her Fathers house, then was this to be one of the Virgins to be her fellows, and to bear her Company, Psal. 45.15.

In that high service to that Excellent Princess, she lived for above 9 years, in which time she was educated in all those perfections which are the accomplishments of great Ladies, she spent not her time in the follies and vanities wherein too many place the happiness and greatness of Courts, even in the days of her youth (which are commonly the days of vanity) she knew how to distinguish betwixt true and coun­terfeit greatness, she very early, with Mary, chose that good part which was never taken from her, and so as she grew in stature, she grew in vertue, and therefore in favour with God and Man, and from that path she never deviated all the daies of her Life, she forsook not the guide of her youth, nor forgot the Covenant of her God, Prov. 2.17.

During this attendance on her Royal Highness, that most vertuous Princess observing in this young Lady the seeds of a growing vertue, much good nature, and extraordinary Inge­nuity, admitted her to a more then ordinary friendship and familiarity with her, which, with her deserts always increa­sing, grew at last to that height, that she esteemed her as her intimate friend, which was as her own soul unto her, and this she demonstrated during her whole Life, by many expressions of great fondness and signal favours conferr'd upon her, she [Page 20] [...] [Page 21] [...] [Page 22] shew'd that there is a Friend that sticks closer than a Brother, Prov. 18.24. Nay, we may say she intailed this friendship to her posterity; our present King (whom God preserve) always owning her for such, both before and since his hap­py accession to the Throne of these Kingdoms; His own friend, and his Parent's friend, he never forsook, Prov. 27.10. When maturity of Age had fitted her to change her con­dition from Virgin to Wife, she being Heiress to a great Estate, and Mistress of so many rare Perfections and En­dowments both of mind and body, both of wit and beauty, could not want many Suiters of the first and highest Rank and Quality; but to them all, by her Mother's choice, (which was always a rule to her) the Lord Marquiss of Antrim was preferr'd, and made the happy man, by being Married to this Excellent Lady in or about the year 1652. By this Match she had Nobility and Honour added to her other Blessings, being made Consort to the chief (at least in this Kingdom) of the great and ancient Family of the Mc Donnells, whose Ancestors were the great Lords (and sometimes Kings) of the Isles of Scotland, and whose valour, and their Prince's favour in this later age, made them Ma­sters and Proprietors of one half of the County of Antrim: And how great a Blessing she proved to that Honorable Family, I believe many of the best of this Auditory know better than I can inform them. By these Nuptials, she be­came the second in Quality of the Nobility of this King­dom; and if Vertue be the sole and true Nobility (as long ago it has been called) then she was second to none. And now, if any might glory after the flesh, surely she might glory also. Are they of the seed Royal of Ireland? so was she: Are they descended from the prime Nobility of England? so was she: Are they matched into the ancientest and greatest Families of Scotland? so was she: the whole three Kingdoms joyned together to make her great: She was [Page 23] great by Birth, great by Education, great by Marriage, but greatest of all by her Vertue and Goodness: the others were the adventicious blessings of her good fortune; but this was her own by choice, and therefore most to be va­lued.

Et genus & proavos & quae non fecimus ipsi vix ea nostra voco. She valued not her fortune, for making her Rich or Noble, but thought her self obliged to perform vertuous and worthy actions, lest she should degenerate from the wor­thyness of those Stocks from whence she sprung.

Thus having brought her to the State of woman-hood, 'tis time to describe her to you by those Excellencies by which she was properly and deservedly esteemed good, for all be­fore, what is done in childhood, and youth, are but ten­dencies to vertue, and inclinations to goodness. In perform­ing of this, I shall first speak of her Religion to God, 2dly, of her Charity to man, and lastly of her Sobriety and Wisdom in relation to her self.

First, then of her Religion and Duty towards God, and here we shall find her not of mean and common sanctity, but of extraordinary and exemplary Piety and Devotion; God was always the first in her intention, and therefore that ultimate end, to the enjoyment of whom, all the intermediate ends and actions of her life were directed: She was the most constant and regular at her Prayers and holy Meditations, of any that ever I knew; for these she had her fixed and settled hours, which nothing of business or compliment di­verted her from: Her Closet was her constant withdraw­ing-room, and with holy David, in the evening, and morn­ing, and at noon-day did she always pray, and that instantly, and doubtless was heard in that she prayed, Psal. 55.17. [Page 22] [...] [Page 23] [...] [Page 24] Her Devotion was not superficial and formal, but always so managed as not to be seen of men, not with the ostenta­tion of the Pharisee, to be heard thanking God that she was not like other people; but with the humble and penitent Publican, smiting on her breast, and praying her God to be merciful to her a sinner, Luke 18.13. She was not of a con­stitution like an ill planted and unpruned Tree, which shoots out into excrescencies of suckers, leaves, and irre­gular branches, without bringing any fruit to perfection; but being grounded in Humility, she took deep root downward, and brought forth much fruit upward, in the substantial graces of Christianity, in Meekness and Purity, in Justice and Cha­rity, in Temperance and Prudence, and always turn'd away from such who having a form of godliness, deny the power there­of, 2 Tim. 3.5.

She was born and bred within the Pale of the Protestant-Church of England and Ireland, of whose Doctrine and Discipline, she lived a Zealous Professor, and of whose Communion she dyed a faithful Partaker, and for which great blessing she was ever most thankful to her gracious God, as shall even now appear from her own Notes and Meditations; She was a most strict observer of the Offices and Lyturgy of the Church, which was always read twice a day in her Family; She was a constant companion at the Altar, never omitting any opportunity of Receiving the blessed Body and Blood of her Saviour; and here I must shew you how worthy a Communicant she was, by obser­ving the wonderful order she took in performing this great duty. In a private Cabinet (which she reserved wholly to her self) were found after her death, several excellent pieces of Devotion, written with her own hand; among others, are entries made of every time she Receiv'd the Sa­crament, (which, by computation, appears to be six or se­ven [Page 25] times yearly when in the Countrey, and twelve or [...]fteen times when she liv'd in the City) here are also en­tred her Resolutions at each of these good times, with her performances of them, which are most Excellent, and Wonderfully perform'd; in her Confessional Notes she shewed her great knowledge of her Duty to God, to her Neighbour, and to her Self, by her sorrow for every the least Breach of them, not the least Peccadillo, or Passion shew'd to a Servant, but notice is taken of it with Confession and Sorrow, and every Passage has it's Date; Here she had Registred a Catalogue of Gods Mercies, and favours to her from her Birth, begins with the general blessings of being Born within the Christian-Church, with particu­lar thanks for being bred a Protestant; then she recounts all the particular Mercies Vouchsafed unto her, her jour­nies by Sea and Land, all the Transactions about her Lords and her own Estate, Recoveries of health, Reconci­liations with her Friends and Neighbours, deliverances from Fire, Theft, and Stormes, with the certain times and Dates of Each; thus did she keep her accounts clear with her Great Master, and happy must needs that servant be, Whom her Lord at his coming found so doing, Mat. 24.46. Her Meditations on the Life and Death of our Savi­our, and on the different manner of God's dealing with his own Creatures are most Excellent and Divine; her thoughts were setled on things above, and not on things on the Earth; and therefore in her better part, she is certain­ly risen with Christ, and is now with him on the Right-Hand of God, Coll. 3.1. She was a dilligent and constant Reader of the Holy Scripture, obliging her self to great Portions of it every day, and her neglects herein at any time are found among her Penitential Confessions; she Studied these Books, not out of Vanity, Ostentation or Curiosity, but to render her a true Schollar of Christ, and to make her wise unto Salvation; She knew that this Scripture was given by the Inspiration of God, and is Profi­table [Page 26] for Doctrine, for Reproof, for Correction, and for In­struction in Righteousness, that whoever therein employ themselves may be perfect, throughly Furnished unto all good works, 2. Tim. 3.16, 17. And being on this Subject, I must take notice unto you of a paper found in the afore­said Cabinet, which I cannot better recommend than in her own words, thus then it was written.

Is not this a Rational Discourse, and might it not become the best and most Learned Divine?

There were two other Papers like this, the one against the Socinians Assertion, That the Mystery of the Trinity, is as much against Sense and Reason, as Transubstantiation, wherein she shewed the excellency of her Parts, in confu­ting that newly revived monstrous Heresie; and on the clean Paper on the front is piece of her Closet; BIBLE I saw written in her own Hand, Quotations to several Texts, proving the Divini [...]y of our Saviour, against the Error of that pernicious Sect: The other Paper, is against an infal­lible Guide, the Great Diana of Rome, which brings such Gain to the mighty Men of that occupation, and which most of any one point, keeps up the difference, betwixt them and the Reformed Churches, and all other Christians; by these she demonstrated how much she laboured to make her self Orthodox in the Faith, and that her Religion was not grounded in fancy, or opinion, but on the strength of Reason and a saving Faith; she was not to be blown aside by the Wind of every Doctrine, nor to be prevail'd on, by the specious Sophisms of those, who of all Men are most busie to make Proselytes to their corrupted Tenents; of this sort are they which creep into Houses, and chiefly lead captive silly Women laden with Sins, led away with divers Lusts, 2 Tim. 3 6. But she was too powerful for these, even in their late times of prevailing, when either weak­ness of Judgment, or hopes of profit in them to whom Gain is Godliness, made their endeavours too successful on those who started aside like broken Bows; she stood fixed [Page 28] and unmoved like a Rock against all those beating Bil­lows, and violent Storms, who only broke themselves, but hurt not her; and thus after the way which many of her Relations call Heresie, so Worshipp'd she the God of her Fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and the Prophets, Acts 24.14. So much for her Duty to God.

Secondly, For her Duty to Man, she was most signally famous, she had as it were incorporated Love and Cha­rity into her Soul, and made the principles thereof one with her self, in the Philosophers Phrase; she was dipp'd into Charity over Head and Ears, had not a superficial tincture of it, but was Dyed and Colour'd quite thro' with it; so that, wheresoever she had a Soul, there was Love and Friendship; Plato tells us, Non nobis solum nas­cimur, we are not born only for our selves, but part of us our Country requires, part our Parents, part our Friends, thus did she divide her self, but into more parts than that Wise Heathen enumerated; Nature dictated to him, but she had Nature improved by Grace for her Guide; in Re­lation then to her Country, she was a faithful and Loyal Subject; she knew that 'twas her Duty to Render to Caesar the things that are Caesars, as well as to God the things that are Gods, and therefore she extreamly abominated all Tu­mults and Discords, all Seditions and Rebellions, and that not only for Wrath, but for Conscience sake; Woe was her, when she was constrained to dwell with Mesech, and to have her Habitation among the Tents of Kedar; she laboured much for Peace, and hated those who were al­ways making ready for Battle, Psal. 120.4.6. in her Coun­try likewise she was an eminent Patriot, minding in all things the good of the Publick, she was affable and cour­teous to all People, friendly to her Neighbours, hospita­ble to Strangers, kind and affectionate to her Relations, to her Tenants a most bountiful Land-Lady, forgiving and forbearing them, to that degree, that all or 'em lived [Page 29] happily under her Wings, and under her Protection; and now they have lost a great Mother in our Israel.

If we look upon her as a Wife we shall find that for thir­ty years together, she fully perform'd one of the great Ends for which Woman was made; And the Lord God said, it is not good that Man should be alone, I will make him an help meet for him, Gen 2.18 and surely, she was this meet help unto her Lord, who being bred up in the Delicacies of a Court, and his Genius not inclining to the fatigue of busi­ness, lest the whole management of his Estate and Confu­sed Affairs to her Prudence and Discretion, which in all particulars appeared so Signal, that few Women (if any of our Age ever attain'd to so great a Dexterity in business, and yet without diminishing ought of her Duty to God, or ne­glecting the more weighty Concerns of her Soul. Her Lord and she intirely loved each other, they in all things thought and spake the same thing, save in the manner of Worship­ing of God, and even in that, tho' they differ'd, they did not disagree, but each enjoyed their own way in which they had been Educated in Peace, Content, and Happiness, without the least Heats, or Animosities, which are the too usual consequents of differing Opinions in the same House, betwixt Man and Wife, and not only betwixt them­selves was all Bitterness and Rancour laid aside, but also, their Protestant Tenants and Neighbours enjoyed the Fa­vour and Countenance of their Lord; and never suffered by that furious Zeal and Bigottry, which too often byasses the Great Men of that Perswasion.

As a Mother also we may Remember her; for tho' God was not pleased to Bless her with any fruit of her own Womb; yet she endeavoured to supply that want, by ta­king unto her those of her nearest Relations, and making them her Chil [...]en by Adoption; to whom she gave such Education, as might in all things qualifie them to Inherit her great Estate; which I hope they will look on, as an [Page 30] Obligation on them to endeavour to be heirs likewise of her Vertues; I pray God give them Grace to walk in those Paths of Goodness, and to follow those Methods which she laid down unto them, which besides the Considerations of their Eternal Welfare) will certainly be a means to conti­nue those Earthly Blessings to their Family, which, we may believe, her Vertues procured; let them honour this Mother of theirs, by being Obedient to her Precepts, and their days shall be long in the Land, which the Lord their God giveth them, Exod. 20.12.

In her Family, she was a most excellent Mistress to her Servants of all Degrees, not only Rendring unto them what was Just and Equal knowing that she had a Master in Heaven, but being kind and bountiful, amiable, easie and fa­miliar, without evil speaking, or railing, and thus in all these Relations; whatsoever things were True, whatsoever things were Honest, whatsoever things were Just, whatsoever things were Pure, whatsoever things were Lovely, whatsoever things were of good Report, on these she Thought, and these she Practised, Phil. 4.8.

But in her Duty to her Neighbour, we must not forget her Goodness to the Poor; This Woman was full of good Works and Alms-Deeds which she did; above all things have fervent Charity (saith St. Peter) for Charity shall cover the multitude of Sins, 1 Pet. 4.8. And this part of her Charity did not run in the ordinary Channels, by giving a small Alms to walking Beggars (and even in this, she was very large and liberal; but so as by our Saviours Command, her left Hand scarce knew what her right Hand did) but her way was to relieve by whole-sale; she gave large Sums of Money together, to Gentlemen in Distress▪ or to poor Wi­dows; she had many constant Pensioners to whom she allowed certain Annuities, and they not small ones, but fitted to the Qualities and Necessities of the Receivers, I wish the wants of many now in that Neighbourhood where she lived, may [Page 31] not be one of the Proclaimers of her good Deeds; she cloathed the Naked, and provided Bread for the Hungry; she was Eyes to the Blind, and feet was she to the Lame, and a Mother to the Poor, Job. 29.15. She remembred the Words of our Saviour, That whatever Good was done to the least of these his Brethren, was done unto him, Mat. 25.40. She never forgot St. Paul's Charge; charge them who are Rich in this World, that they be ready to Give, and glad to Distribute, laying up in Store for themselves, a good foundation against the time to come, that they may attain E­ternal Life, 1 Tim. 6.17, 18, 19. She always had pity on the Poor, and thereby lent unto the Lord; and doubtless, what she thus laid out, is now paid her again with Interest and Advantage, Prov. 19.17. I should in the third and last place, speak something of her Duty to her self, in Sobriety and Wisdom; but what has been said, has in some measure laid that before you; and the time being so far spent, I shall proceed no farther in it; you have heard her Beha­viour to God and her Neighbour; and a very good Au­thor tells us, That the fear of the Lord, that is Wisdom, and to depart from Evil, that is Ʋnderstanding, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, and they only have a good Ʋnderstanding who do thereafter, Psal. 111.10.

Thus have I in as few words as I could (much fewer than the Subject required) brought this excellent Lady thro' all the Stages of her happy Life; her warning for Dea [...]h was very short, being Sick but a few days; but indeed her Life was ever so Regular, That she could not be taken unprovided; her every days Devotion prepared her for Death at Night, and she was always one of the Gospel wise Virgins, who kept her Lamp Trimmed, and was ready to Receive the Heavenly Bridegroom at what­ever hour he should come; as she lived in a continued Calm, even when her Affairs were in the greatest Storm; [Page 32] so she desired to dye without Noise or Confusion; and therefore, she prayed her Physitian to make no Discove­ry of what fatal Signs or Symtoms he should perceive in her; not many hours before her departure, she com­manded all People to withdraw from her, and when a­lone, she was perceived by some who watched her, to Rise from her Chair, and to Kneel down, in which Po­sture she continued a considerable time, at most earnest Prayer; and when she had ended, she called in her At­tendance, and soon after in her Chair, she turned away her Head, and breathed her Last; and thus she Lived and Dyed with the Innocence of a Lamb; God was al­ways in that still and quiet Temper of hers; and n [...]w she is with God, in perpetual Rest, Quiet and Happiness.

And now, my Brethren, behold this Woman of Worth and Eminency, consider her Life to provoke unto love and imitation, and let not the meanness of my description de­rogate ought from the greatness of that Character which she deserved. This task was designed indeed for an abler Tongue, our late most excellent Bishop (Dr. Foley) who, had God been pleased to have spared his life, would have laid before you the rare Perfections and Endowments of this departed Saint, in such holy Rhetorick, as so great a Subject deserved; and s [...]nce I mention that good man, I must ask your pardon and patience to drop one Tear to the memory of an old Friend, and a kind Indulgent Fa­ther: I know he designed so much good to these Diocesses, that all the members of them have reason to be concern'd for the great loss we sustain by his death; it looks too like a punishment to us for our sins: I am sure we of his Clergy have reason to lament him in the words of Elisha, when his Master was taken from him; My Father, my Fa­ther, the Chariot of our Israel and the Horsemen thereof: I wish he may have left his Ma [...]e behind him, and a part at least of his good Spirit: When he came first to his [Page 33] Charge here among us (which he intended to Rule not with a rod, but in love, and in the spirit of meekness) he told me that he had heard so great a same of the goodness of my Lady Marchioness of Antrim, that he earnestly desired to be of her intimate acquaintance, and to that end he made her one of his first Visits; and to begin their friendship, he Preached before her; and with her, he first in his Diocess Received the holy Sacrament of the Body & Blood of our Saviour, making that (as it was called truly in the pious Primitive times of Christianity) a Feast of Love and Charity; and I make no doubt, they are now perfecting their acquaintance and friendship, and drinking together the fruit of that Vine new in their Father's King­dom, Matth. 26.29. They are now Blessed, being called to the Marriage-Supper of the Lamb, where all Tears shall be wiped from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, nei­ther sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away, Rev. 21.4. And I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me, write, Blessed are the dead which dye in the Lord, that they may rest from their labours, and their works do follow them, Rev. 14.13. Of which number, that we may all in good time be, God of his infinite mercy grant.

Amen.