_Serious dying, as well as living testimonies of Men of Fame and
Learning, viz._
1. Solomon.--2. Chilon.--3. Ignatius.--4. Justin Martyr.--5.
Chrysostom.--6. Charles V.--7. Cardinal Wolsey.--8. Sir Philip
Sidney.--9. Secretary Walsingham.--10. Sir John Mason.--11.
Sir Walter Raleigh.--12. H. Wotton.--13. Sir Christopher
Hatton.--14. Lord Chancellor Bacon.--15. The great Duke of
Montmorency.--16. Henry Prince of Wales.--17. Philip III. King
of Spain.--18. Count Gondamor.--19. Cardinal Richlieu.--20.
Cardinal Mazarine.--21. Chancellor Oxenstiern.--22.
Dr. Donne.--23. Jo. Selden.--24. H. Grotius.--25. P.
Salmasius.--26. Fran. Junius.--27. A. Rivetus.--28. The late
Earl of Marlborough.--29. Sir Henry Vane.--30. Late Earl of
Rochester.--31. One of the family of Howard.--32. Princess
Elizabeth of the Rhine.--33. Commissioner Whitlock.--34. A
Sister of the family of Penn.--35. My own Father.--36. Anthony
Lowther of Mask.--37. Seigneur du Renti.
I. Solomon, than whom none is believed to have more delighted
himself in the enjoyments of the world, at least better to have
understood them; hear what he says, after all his experience:
(Eccles. ii. 1-11:) "I said in my heart, Go to now, I will prove
thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and behold, this also
is vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad: and of mirth, what doth
it? I made me great works, builded houses, planted vineyards, made
gardens and orchards, planted trees in them of all kinds of fruit: I
got me servants and maidens, also great possessions: I gathered me
silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and provinces;
also men and women, singers, and the delights of the sons of men,
as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great,
and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem, and
whatsoever mine eyes desired, I kept not from them: I withheld not
mine heart from any joy. Then I looked on the works which mine hands
had wrought, and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit."
The reason he gives in the 18th and 19th verses is, that the time
of enjoying them was very short, and it was uncertain who should be
benefited by them when he was gone. Wherefore, he concludes with all
this: "Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole
duty of man: for God shall bring every work into judgment, whether
it be good, or whether it be evil." O that men would lay this to
heart!
II. Chilon,[75] one of the seven wise men of Greece, already
mentioned upon another occasion, affords us a dying testimony of
great example. It is related thus by A. Gellius: when his life
drew towards an end, ready to be seized by death, he spoke thus to
his friends about him: "My words and actions, in this long term of
years, have been, almost all, such as I need not repent of; which,
perhaps, you also know: truly, even at this time I am certain I
never committed anything the remembrance of which begets any trouble
in me, unless this one thing only: which, whether it were done amiss
or not, I am uncertain. I sat with two others as judge, upon the
life of my friend: the law was such, as the person must of necessity
be condemned, so that either my friend must lose his life, or some
deceit be used towards the law. Revolving many things in my mind,
for relief of a condition so desperate, I conceived that which I
put in practice to be of all others the most easy to be borne:
silently I condemned him, and persuaded those others who judged,
to absolve him: thus I preserved in so great a business, the duty
both of a judge and a friend. But from that act I received this
trouble: that I fear it is not free from perfidiousness and guilt,
in the same business, at the same time, and in a public affair, to
persuade others contrary to what was in my own judgment best." Oh,
tender conscience! Yet an Heathen's. Where dwells the Christian that
excelleth? Hard to be found among the great rabbies of Christendom.
[75] Severus Apop. p. 175.
III. Ignatius,[76] who lived within the first hundred years after
Christ, left this, amongst other things, behind him, who was torn in
pieces of wild beasts at Rome, for his true faith in Jesus, "There
is nothing better than the peace of a good conscience;" intimating
there might be a peace to wicked consciences, that are past feeling
anything to be evil, but swallowed up of the wickedness of the
world. And in his epistles to the churches at Ephesus, Magnesia,
Trallis, and Rome, upon his martyrdom, saith, "Now I begin to be a
disciple, I weigh neither visible nor invisible things, so that I
may gain Christ." Oh, heavenly-minded man! A blessed martyr of Jesus
indeed.
[76] Ignatius Epist. ad Ephes. Mag. Trall. Eus. 1. iii. c. 32, Rom.
IV. Justin Martyr, a philosopher who received Christianity
five-and-twenty years after the death of Ignatius, plainly tells us,
in his relation of his conversion to the Christian faith, that the
power of godliness in a plain, simple Christian, had that influence
and operation on his soul, that he could not but betake himself to a
serious and strict life; and yet, before, he was a Cynic, a strict
sect: and this gave him joy at his martyrdom, having spent his days
as a serious teacher, and a good example. And Eusebius relates,
that, though he was also a follower of Plato's doctrine,[77] yet
when he saw the Christians' piety and courage, he concluded, no
people so temperate, less voluptuous, and more set on divine things:
which first induced him to be a Christian.
[77] Euseb. Eccl. Hist. 1. 4, c. 8.
V. Chrysostom, another father, so called, lays this down for
necessary doctrine, "To sacrifice the whole soul and body to the
Lord, is the highest service we can pay unto Him. God promiseth
mercy unto penitent sinners; but He doth not promise them they shall
have so much time as to-morrow for their repentance."
VI. Charles V. Emperor of Germany, King of Spain, and Lord of the
Netherlands, after three-and-twenty pitched fields, six triumphs,
four kingdoms conquered, and eight principalities added to his
dominions, a greater instance than whom can scarce be given,
resigned up all his pomp to other hands, and betook himself to his
retirement; leaving this testimony behind him, concerning the life
he spent in the honours and pleasures of the world, and in that
little time of his retreat from them all: that the sincere study,
profession, and practice of the Christian religion, had in it such
joys and sweetness as courts were strangers to.
VII. Cardinal Wolsey, the most absolute and wealthy minister of
state this kingdom ever had, that in his time seemed to govern
Europe as well as England, when come to the period of his life,
left the world with this close reflection upon himself: "Had I been
as diligent to serve my God, as I was to please my king, He would
not have left me now in my grey hairs." A dismal reflection for all
worldly-minded men; but those more especially, who have the power
and means of doing more good than ordinary in the world, and do it
not; which seems to have been the case and reflection of this great
man.
VIII. Sir Philip Sidney, a subject indeed of England, but they say
chosen king of Poland, whom Queen Elizabeth called her Philip; the
Prince of Orange, his master; whose friendship the lord Brooks was
so proud of, that he would have it part of his epitaph, "Here lies
Sir Philip Sidney's friend;" whose death was lamented in verse by
the then kings of France and Scotland, and the two universities of
England; repented so much at his death of that witty vanity of his
life, his Arcadia, that, to prevent the unlawful kindling of heats
in others, he would have committed it to the flames himself: and
left this farewell amongst his friends, "Love my memory, cherish
my friends; their faith to me may assure you that they are honest;
but above all govern your wills and affections by the will and word
of your Creator. In me behold the end of this world, and all its
vanities." And indeed he was not much out in saying so, since in him
was to be seen the end of all natural parts, acquired learning, and
civil accomplishments. His farewell seems spoken without terror,
with a clear sense, and an equal judgment.
IX. Secretary Walsingham, an extraordinary man in Queen Elizabeth's
time, towards the conclusion of his days, in a letter to his
fellow-secretary Burleigh, then lord-treasurer of England, writes
thus: "We have lived enough to our country, our fortunes, our
sovereign: it is high time we begin to live to ourselves, and to
our God." Which, giving occasion for some court-droll to visit and
try to divert him: "Ah!" said he, "while we laugh, all things are
serious round about us; God is serious, when He preserveth us, and
hath patience towards us; Christ is serious when He dieth for us;
the Holy Ghost is serious, when He striveth with us; the whole
creation is serious, in serving God and us; they are serious in hell
and in heaven: and shall a man, that has one foot in the grave,
jest and laugh?" O that our statesmen would weigh the conviction,
advice, and conclusion of this great man, and the greatest man,
perhaps, that has borne that character in our nation! For true it
is, that none can be serious too soon, because none can be good too
soon. Away, then, with all foolish talking and jesting, and let
people mind more profitable things.
X. John Mason, knight, who had been privy-counsellor to four
princes, and spent much time in the preferments and pleasures of the
world, retired with these pathetical and regretful sayings: "After
so many years' experience, seriousness is the greatest wisdom;
temperance the best physic; a good conscience is the best estate.
And were I to live again, I would change the court for a cloister,
my privy-counsellor's bustles for a hermit's retirement, and the
whole life I lived in the palace, for one hour's enjoyment of God in
the chapel. All things else forsake me, besides my God, my duty, and
my prayers."
XI. Sir Walter Raleigh is an eminent instance, being as
extraordinary a man, as our nation hath produced; in his person
well descended; of health, strength, and a masculine beauty; in
understanding quick: in judgment sound; learned and wise, valiant
and skilful; a historian, a philosopher, a general, a statesman.
After a long life, full of experience, he drops these excellent
sayings, a little before his death, to his son, to his wife, and
to the world, viz.: "Exceed not in the humour of rags and bravery,
for these will soon wear out of fashion: and no man is esteemed for
gay garments but by fools and women. On the other side, seek not
riches basely, nor attain them by evil means: destroy no man for
his wealth, nor take anything from the poor; for the cry thereof
will pierce the heavens: and it is most detestable before God, and
most dishonourable before worthy men, to wrest anything from the
needy and labouring soul: God will never prosper thee, if thou
offendest therein; but use thy poor neighbours and tenants well."
A most worthy saying. But he adds, "Have compassion on the poor and
afflicted, and God will bless thee for it: make not the hungry soul
sorrowful; for if he curse thee in the bitterness of his soul, his
prayer shall be heard of Him that made him. Now, for the world,
dear child, I know it too well to persuade thee to dive into the
practices of it; rather stand upon thy own guard against all those
that tempt thee to it, or may practise upon thee; whether in thy
conscience, thy reputation, or thy estate: resolve, that no man
is wise or safe but he that is honest. Serve God; let Him be the
Author of all thy actions: commend all thy endeavours to Him, who
most either wither or prosper them: please Him with prayer; lest if
He frown, He confound all thy fortune and labour, like the drops of
rain upon the sandy ground. Let my experienced advice and fatherly
instructions sink deep into thy heart: so God direct thee in all thy
ways, and fill thy heart with his grace."
_Sir Walter Raleigh's Letter to his Wife, after his Condemnation._
"You shall receive, my dear wife, my last words, in these my
last lines. My love I send you, that you may keep when I am
dead; and my counsel, that you may remember it when I am no
more. I would not, with my will, present you sorrows, dear Bess;
let them go to the grave with me, and be buried in the dust:
and, seeing that it is not the will of God that I shall see
you any more, bear my destruction patiently, and with a heart
like yourself. First, I send you all the thanks which my heart
can conceive, or my words express, for your many travails and
cares for me; which, though they have not taken effect as you
wished, yet my debt to you is not the less; but pay it I never
shall in this world. Secondly, I beseech you, for the love you
bear me living, that you do not hide yourself many days; but
by your travails seek to help my miserable fortunes, and the
right of your poor child: your mourning cannot avail me, who
am but dust. Thirdly, you shall understand, that my lands were
conveyed, _bona fide_, to my child; the writings were drawn at
Midsummer was at twelvemonth, as divers can witness: and I trust
my blood will quench their malice who desired my slaughter,
that they will not seek to kill you and yours with extreme
poverty. To what friend to direct you, I know not, for all mine
have left me, in the true time of trial: most sorry am I, that,
being surprised by death, I can leave you no better estate: God
hath prevented all my determinations, that great God, which
worketh all in all. If you can live free from want, care for
no more, for the rest is but a vanity. Love God, and begin
betimes; in Him shall you find true, everlasting, and endless
comfort: when you have travailed and wearied yourself with all
sorts of worldly cogitations, shall you sit down by sorrow in
the end. Teach your son also to serve and fear God, whilst he
is young, that the fear of God may grow up in him; then will
God be a husband to you, and a father to him; a husband and a
father that can never be taken from you. Dear wife, I beseech
you, for my soul's sake, pay all poor men. When I am dead, no
doubt but you will be much sought unto, for the world thinks I
was very rich. Have a care of the fair pretences of men; for
no greater misery can befal you in this life, than to become a
prey unto the world, and afterwards to be despised. As for me,
I am no more yours, nor you mine: death has cut us asunder, and
God hath divided me from the world, and you from me. Remember
your poor child, for his father's sake, who loved you in his
happiest estate. I sued for my life, but God knows, it was for
you and yours that I desired it: for know it, my dear wife,
your child is the child of a true man, who in his own respect
despiseth death, and his misshapen and ugly forms. I cannot
write much. God knows how hardly I steal this time, when all
are asleep, and it is also time for me to separate my thoughts
from the world. Beg my dead body, which living was denied you;
and either lay it in Sherborne, or in Exeter church, by my
father and mother. I can say no more; time and death call me
away. The everlasting God, powerful, infinite, and inscrutable,
God Almighty, who is goodness itself, the true light and life,
keep you and yours, and have mercy upon me, and forgive my
persecutors, and false accusers; and send us to meet in his
glorious kingdom. My dear wife, farewell; bless my boy; pray for
me; and let my true God hold you both in his arms.
"Your's that was, but not now mine own,
"Walter Raleigh."
Behold wisdom, resolution, nature, and grace! How strong in
argument, wise in counsel, firm, affectionate, and devout! O that
your heroes and politicians would make him their example in his
death, as well as magnify the great actions of his life. I doubt
not, had he been to live over his days again, with his experience,
he had made less noise, and yet done more good to the world and
himself. It is a sad thing to consider, that, men hardly come to
know themselves or the world, till they are ready to leave it.
XII. Henry Wotton, knight, thought it the greatest happiness in this
life, "to be at leisure to be and to do good;" as in his latter end
he was wont to say, when he reflected on past times, though a man
esteemed sober and learned, "How much time have I to repent of, and
how little to do it in!"
XIII. Sir Christopher Hatton, a little before his death, advised
his relations to be serious in the search after "the will of God in
the holy word:" "for," said he, "it is deservedly accounted a piece
of excellent knowledge, to understand the law of the land, and the
customs of a man's country; how much more to know the statutes of
heaven, and the laws of eternity; those immutable and eternal laws
of justice and righteousness; to know the will and pleasure of the
great Monarch, and universal King of the world: I have seen an end
of all perfection, but thy commandments, O God, are exceeding broad."
Whatever other knowledge a man may be endued withal, could he by a
vast and imperious mind, and a heart as large as the sand upon the
sea-shore, command all the knowledge of art and nature, of words and
things; could he attain a mystery in all languages, and sound the
depth of all arts and sciences; could he discourse of the interests
of all states, the intrigues of all courts, the reason of all civil
laws and constitutions, and give an account of all histories; and
yet not know the Author of his being, and the Preserver of his life,
his Sovereign, and his Judge; his surest refuge in trouble: his best
Friend; the support of his life, and the hope of his death; his
future happiness, and his portion for ever; he doth but _sapienter
descendere in infernum_, with a great deal of wisdom go down to Hell.
XIV. Francis Bacon, lord high-chancellor of England, some time
before his death, confessed, that, to be religious, was to live
strictly and severely; for if the opinion of another world be false,
yet the sweetest life in this world is piety, virtue, and honesty;
if it were true, there be none so wretched and miserable, as loose,
carnal, and profane persons.
XV. The great duke de Montmorency, colleague to the duke of Orleans,
brother to the French king, Lewis XIII., in the war by them agitated
against the ministry of Cardinal Richlieu, being taken and convicted
at Lyons, a little before his beheading, looking upon himself, then
very richly attired; "Ah!" says he, "this becomes not a servant of
the crucified Jesus! What do I with these vanities about me? He was
poor, despised, and naked, when He went to the cross to die for my
sins;" and immediately he stripped himself of all his finery, and
put a more grave and modest garment on him: a serious reflection, at
a time when he best knew what was best.
XVI. Henry, Prince of Wales, eldest son to king James I., of whom
others say many excellent things, hear what account he gives of
himself at last: a person whom he loved, and that had been the
companion of his diversions, being with him in his sickness, and
asking him how he did, was, amongst many other sober expressions,
answered thus: "Ah, Tom! I in vain wish for that time I lost with
thee and others in vain recreations." So vain were recreations, and
so precious was time to a prince, and no ordinary one neither, upon
a dying bed. But why wished he with others for more time, but that
it might be better employed? Thus hath the just principle and holy
Spirit of God in men, throughout all generations, convinced them of
their vanity and folly upon their dying beds, who before were too
much taken up to mind either a dying bed, or a vast eternity; but
when their days were almost numbered, when mortality hasted on them,
when the revelation of the righteous judgment was at the door, and
that all their worldly recreations and enjoyments must be parted
with, and that eye for ever shut, and flesh turned to worm's-meat,
that took delight therein; then, O then, was it the holy witness had
room to plead with conscience: then nothing but a holy, strict, and
severe life was valuable; then all the world for a little time, who
before had given all their time for a little of a vain world. But if
so short a representation of the inconsistency of the vanities of
the world with the Christian life, could make so deep an impression;
oh! to what a noble stature and large proportion had they been grown
in all pious and heavenly knowledge; and how much greater had
their rewards been if they contentedly had foregone those perishing
entertainments of the world betimes, and given the exercise of their
minds to the tuition and guidance of that universal grace and Holy
Spirit of God, which had so long shined in darkness, uncomprehended
of it, and was at last but just perceived to give a sight of what
they had been doing all their days.
XVII. Philip III. King of Spain, seriously reflecting upon the
life he had led in the world, cried out upon his death-bed, "Ah!
how happy were I, had I spent these twenty-three years that I have
held my kingdom, in a retirement." Crying out to his confessor, "My
concern is for my soul, not my body. I lay all that God has given
me, my dominion, power, and my life, at the feet of Jesus Christ my
Saviour." Would kings would live, as well as die so!
XVIII. Count Gondamor, ambassador in England for that very king,
and held the ablest man of his time, took great freedom as to his
religion in his politics, serving his ends by those ways that would
best accomplish them. When, towards his latter end, he grew very
thoughtful of his past life, and after all his negotiations and
successes in business, said to one of his friends, "I fear nothing
in the world more than sin;" often professing, he had rather endure
hell than sin: so clear and strong were his convictions, and so
exceeding sinful did sin appear to him, upon a serious consideration
of his ways.
XIX. Cardinal Richelieu, after having been first minister of state
of Europe, as well as of France, confessed to old Peter de Moulin,
the famous Protestant of that country, that, being forced upon many
irregularities by that which they call reason of state, he could not
tell how to satisfy his conscience for several things, and therefore
had many temptations to doubt and disbelieve a God, another world,
and the immortality of the soul, and thereby to relieve his mind
from any disquiet, but in vain. So strong, he said, was the notion
of God on his soul, so clear the impression of Him upon the frame
of the world, so unanimous the consent of mankind, so powerful the
convictions of his own conscience, that he could not but taste the
power of the world to come, and so live as one that must die, and
so die as one that must live for ever. And being asked one day why
he was so sad, answered, "Monsieur, Monsieur, the soul is a serious
thing; it must be either sad here for a moment, or be sad for ever."
XX. Cardinal Mazarin, reputed the most cunning statesman of his
time, and who gave great proofs of it in the successes of the French
crown, under his ministry: his aim was the grandeur of the world,
to which he made all other considerations submit: but, poor man! he
was of another mind a little before his death: for, being awakened
by the smart lashes of conscience, which represented his soul's
condition very dismal, with astonishment and tears he cried out,
"Oh, my poor soul, what will become of thee! Whither wilt thou go?"
and spake one day thus to the Queen-mother of France, "Madam, your
favours have undone me. Were I to live again, I would be a Capuchin,
rather than a courtier."
XXI. Count Oxenstiern, chancellor of Sweden, a person of the first
quality, station, and ability in his own country, and whose share
and success, not only in the chief ministry of affairs in that
kingdom, but in the greatest negotiations of Europe during his
time, made him no less considerable abroad. After all his knowledge
and honour, being visited in his retreat from public business, by
commissioner Whitlock, ambassador from England to Queen Christiana,
in the conclusion of their discourse, he said to the ambassador, "I
have seen much, and enjoyed much of this world, but I never knew how
to live till now. I thank my good God that has given me time to
know Him, and to know myself. All the comfort I have, and all the
comfort I take, and which is more than the whole world can give,
is feeling the good Spirit of God in my heart, and reading in this
good book," holding up the Bible, "that came from it." And further
addressed himself thus to the ambassador: "You are now in the prime
of your age and vigour, and in great favour and business; but this
will all leave you, and you will one day better understand and
relish what I say to you; and then you will find that there is more
wisdom, truth, comfort, and pleasure, in retiring and turning your
heart from the world, to the good Spirit of God, and in reading the
Bible, than in all the courts and favours of princes." This I had,
as near as I am able to remember, from the ambassador's own mouth,
more than once. A very edifying history, when we consider from
whom it came; one of the greatest and wisest men of his age, while
his understanding was as sound and vigorous, as his experience and
knowledge were great.
XXII. Dr. Donne, a great poet, taking his farewell of his friends,
on his dying bed, left this saying behind him, for them to measure
their fancies and their actions by: "I repent of all my life, but
that part of it I spent in communion with God, and doing good."
XXIII. Selden, one of the greatest scholars and antiquaries of his
time: one who had taken a diligent survey of what knowledge was
considerable amongst the Jews, Heathens, and Christians; at last
professeth this toward the end of his days, in his conference with
Bishop Usher, that, notwithstanding he had been so laborious in
his inquiries, and curious in his collections, and had possessed
himself of a treasure of books and manuscripts, upon all ancient
subjects; yet he could rest his soul on none, save the Scriptures,
and above all that passage lay most remarkably upon his spirit,
(Titus ii. 11-15,) "For the grace of God, that bringeth salvation,
hath appeared unto all men, teaching us, that, denying ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly
in this present world: looking for that blessed hope, and glorious
appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave
Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works: these
things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority." And indeed
it is one of the most comprehensive passages in the Scripture; for
it comprises the end, means, and recompense of Christianity.
XXIV. Hugo Grotius, than whom these latter ages think they have not
had a man of more universal knowledge, "a light," say the statesmen;
"a light," say the churchmen too; witness his Annals, and his Book,
De Jure Belli et Pacis; also his Christian Religion, and elaborate
Commentaries. He winds up his life and choice in this remarkable
saying, which should abate the edge of other men's inordinate
desires after what they falsely call learning; namely, "I would
give all my learning and honour for the plain integrity of Jean
Urick, who was a religious poor man, that spent eight hours of his
time in prayer, eight in labour, and but eight in meals, sleep, and
other necessaries." And to one that admired his great industry, he
returned this by way of complaint: "Ah! I have consumed my life in
laboriously doing nothing." And to another, that inquired of his
wisdom and learning, what course to take, he solemnly answered,
"Be serious." Such was the sense he had, how much a serious life
excelled, and was of force towards a dying hour.
XXV. To whom I join Salmasius, that famous French scholar, and the
other's contemporary, who after his many volumes of learning, by
which he had acquired great veneration among men of books, confessed
so far to have mistaken true learning, and that in which solid
happiness consists, that he exclaimed thus against himself: "Oh! I
have lost a world of time; time, that most precious thing in the
world; whereof, had I but one year more, it should be spent in
David's Psalms, and Paul's Epistles. Oh, Sirs," said he to those
about him, "mind the world less, and God more: the fear of the Lord,
that is wisdom; and to depart from evil, that is understanding."
XXVI. Francis Junius, an ingenious person, who hath written his own
life, as he was reading Tully de Legibus, fell into a persuasion,
_Nihil curare Deum, nec sui, nec alieni_; till in a tumult in Lyons,
the Lord wonderfully delivered him from imminent death; so that
he was forced to acknowledge a divine Providence therein, and his
father hearing the dangerous ways that his son was misled into,
sent for him home, where he carefully and piously instructed him,
and caused him to read over the New Testament; of which himself
writeth thus: "When I opened the New Testament, I first lighted upon
John's first chapter, "In the beginning was the word," &c. I read
part of the chapter, and was suddenly convinced, that the divinity
of the argument, and the majesty and authority of the writing, did
exceedingly excel all the eloquence of human writings: my body
trembled, my mind was astonished, and was so affected all that day,
that I knew not where and what I was. Thou wast mindful of me, O my
God, according to the multitude of thy mercies, and calledst home
thy lost sheep into the fold." And, as Justin Martyr of old, so he
of late professed, that the power of godliness in a plain simple
Christian wrought so upon him, that he could not but take up a
strict and a serious life.
XXVII. A. Rivetus, a man of learning, and much reverenced in the
Dutch nation, after a long life of study, in search of Divine
knowledge, upon his death bed, being discoursed by his friend of
heavenly things, brake forth in this manner: "God has learned me
more of himself in ten days' sickness, than I could get by all my
labour and studies." So near a way, so short a cut it is to the
knowledge of God, when people come into the right way, which is to
turn, in their minds and hearts, to the voice of God, and learn of
Him, who is a Spirit, to be taught of Him, and led by Him: For in
righteousness such shall be established, and great shall be their
peace.
_A Letter from James, Earl of Marlborough, a little before his
Death, in the Battle at Sea, on the Coast of Holland, &c._
XXVIII. "I believe the goodness of your nature, and the friendship
you have always borne me, will receive with kindness the last
office of your friend. I am in health enough of body, and, through
the mercy of God, in Jesus Christ, well disposed in mind. This I
premise, that you may be satisfied that what I write proceeds not
from any fantastic terror of mind, but from a sober resolution of
what concerns myself, and earnest desire to do you more good after
my death, than mine example (God of his mercy pardon the badness of
it!) in my lifetime may do you harm. I will not speak aught of the
vanity of this world; your own age and experience will save that
labour: but there is a certain thing that goeth up and down in the
world, called religion, dressed, and pretended fantastically, and
to purposes bad enough, which yet by such evil dealings loseth not
its being. The great good God hath not left it without a witness,
more or less, sooner or later, in every man's bosom, to direct
us in the pursuit of it; and for the avoiding those inextricable
disquisitions and entanglements our own frail reasons would perplex
us withal, God in his infinite mercy hath given us his holy word, in
which, as there are many things hard to be understood, so there is
enough plain and easy to quiet our minds, and direct us concerning
our future being. I confess to God and you, I have been a great
neglecter, and, I fear, despiser of it: God of his infinite mercy
pardon me the dreadful fault! But when I retired myself from the
noise and deceitful vanity of the world, I found no true comfort in
any other resolution than what I had from thence: I commend, from
the bottom of my heart, the same to your, I hope, happy use. Dear
Hugh, let us be more generous, than to believe we die as the beasts
that perish; but with a christian, manly, brave resolution, look to
what is eternal. I will not trouble you further. The only great God,
and holy God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, direct you to a happy end
of your life, and send us a joyful resurrection! So prays your true
friend,
"Marlborough."
XXIX. The late Sir Henry Vane must be too fresh in memory to need a
character; but it is certain, his parts were of the first rate, and
superior to the generality of men; but he would often say, he owed
them to religion. In his youth he was much addicted to company, and
promised little to business; but in reading a book, called, "The
Signs of a Godly Man," and being convicted in himself that they were
just, but that he had no share in any one of them, he fell into that
extreme anguish and horror, that for some days and nights he took
little food or rest, which at once dissolved his old friendships,
and made those impressions and resolutions to religion, that
neither university, courts, princes, nor parents, nor any losses
or disappointments that threatened his new course of life, could
weaken or alter. And though this laid him under some disadvantages
for a time, his great integrity and abilities quickly broke through
that obscurity; so that those of very differing sentiments did not
only admire, but very often desired him to accept the most eminent
negotiations of his country, which he served according to his own
principles with great success, and a remarkable self-denial. This
great man's maxim was, Religion was the best master, and the best
friend; for it made men wise, and would never leave them that never
left it; which he found true in himself: for as it made him wiser
than those that had been his teachers, so it made him firmer than
any hero, having something more than nature to support him: which
was the judgment as well of foreigners as others, that had the
curiosity to see him die. Making good some meditations of his own,
viz.: "The day of death is the judge of all our other days: the very
trial and touch-stone of the actions of our life. It is the end that
crowns the work, and a good death honoureth a man's whole life.
The fading corruption and loss of this life is the passage into a
better. Death is no less essential to us, than to live or to be
born. In flying death, thou fliest thyself; thy essence is equally
parted into these two, life and death. It is no small reproach to
a Christian, whose faith is in immortality, and the blessedness of
another life, to fear death much, which is the necessary passage
thereunto."
XXX. The late earl of Rochester was inferior to nobody in wit, and
hardly anybody ever used it worse, if we believe him against himself
in his dying reflections; an account of which I have had from some
that visited him in his sickness, besides that larger one, made
public by the Bishop of Salisbury. It was then that he came to think
there was a God, for he felt his lashes on his conscience, and that
there was such a thing as virtue, and a reward for it. Christianity
was no longer a worldly or absurd design; but Christ, a Saviour, and
a most merciful one; and his doctrines plain, just, and reasonable,
and the true way to felicity here and hereafter. Admiring and
adoring that mercy to him, which he had treated with so much
infidelity and obstinate contempt: wishing only for more life to
confute his past one, and in some measure to repair the injuries he
had done to religion by it; begging forgiveness for Christ's sake,
though he thought himself the most unworthy of it for his own,--thus
died the witty Lord Rochester, and this retreat he made from the
world he had so great a name in. May the loose wits of the times, as
he desired, take warning by him, and not leave their repentance to a
dying bed!
XXXI. A noble young man of the family of Howard, having yielded too
much to the temptations of youth, when upon his sick bed, which
proved his dying bed, fell under the power and agony of great
convictions, mightily bewailing himself in the remembrance of his
former extravagancies; crying strongly to God to forgive him,
abhorring his former course, and promising amendment, if God renewed
life to him. However, he was willing to die, having tasted of the
love and forgiveness of God; warning his acquaintance and kindred
that came to see him to fear God, and forsake the pleasures and
vanity of this world: and so willingly yielded his soul from the
troubles of time, and frailties of mortality.
XXXII. The late princess Elizabeth of the Rhine of right claimeth a
memorial in this discourse, her virtue giving greater lustre to her
name than her quality, which yet was of the greatest in the German
empire. She chose a single life, as freest of care, and best suited
to the study and meditation she was always inclined to; and the
chief diversion she took, next to the air, was in some such plain
and housewifely entertainments as knitting, &c. She had a small
territory, which she governed so well, that she showed herself fit
for a greater. She would constantly, every last day in the week,
sit in judgment, and hear and determine causes herself; where her
patience, justice, and mercy were admirable; frequently remitting
her forfeitures, where the party was poor, or otherwise meritorious.
And what was excellent, though unusual, she would temper her
discourses with religion, and strangely draw concerned parties to
submission and agreement; exercising not so much the rigour of her
power, as the power of her persuasion. Her meekness and humility
appeared to me extraordinary; she never considered the quality,
but the merit of the people she entertained. Did she hear of a
retired man, hid from the world, and seeking after the knowledge
of a better, she was sure to set him down in the catalogue of her
charity, if he wanted it; I have casually seen, I believe, fifty
tokens sealed and superscribed to the several poor subjects of her
bounty, whose distances would not suffer them to know one another,
though they knew her, whom yet some of them had never seen. Thus,
though she kept no sumptuous table in her own court, she spread
the tables of the poor in their solitary cells; breaking bread
to virtuous pilgrims, according to their want, and her ability.
Abstemious in herself, and in apparel void of all vain ornaments.
I must needs say, her mind had a noble prospect; her eye was to a
better and more lasting inheritance than can be found below: which
made her often to despise the greatness of courts, and learning of
the schools, of which she was an extraordinary judge. Being once at
Hamburgh, a religious person, whom she went to see for religion's
sake, telling her it was too great an honour for him, that he
should have a visitant of her quality come under his roof, that
was allied to so many great kings and princes of this world, she
humbly answered: "If they were godly as well as great, it would be
an honour indeed; but if you knew what that greatness was as well as
I, you would value less that honour." Being in some agony of spirit,
after a religious meeting we had in her own chamber, she said, "It
is a hard thing to be faithful to what one knows: Oh, the way is
strait! I am afraid I am not weighty enough in my spirit to walk in
it." After another meeting, she uttered these words: "I have records
in my library, that the Gospel was first brought out of England
hither into Germany, by the English, and now it is come again."
She once withdrew, on purpose to give her servants the liberty
of discoursing with us, that they might the more freely put what
questions of conscience they desired to be satisfied in; for they
were religious: suffering both them, and the poorest of her town,
to sit by her in her own bedchamber, where we had two meetings. I
cannot forget her last words, when I took my leave of her: "Let
me desire you to remember me, though I live at this distance, and
that you should never see me more: I thank you for this good time;
and know and be assured, though my condition subjects me to divers
temptations, yet my soul hath strong desires after the best things."
She lived her single life till about sixty years of age, and then
departed at her own house in Herwerden, in the year 1680, as much
lamented as she had lived beloved of the people: to whose real
worth, I do, with a religious gratitude, for her kind reception,
dedicate this memorial.
XXXIII. Bulstrode Whitlock, has left his own character in his
"Memoirs of English affairs;" a book that shows both his employments
and greater abilities. He was almost ever a commissioner and
companion with those great men that the lords and commons of
England, at several times, appointed to treat with King Charles
I. for a peace. He was commissioner of the great seal, ambassador
to the crown of Sweden, and sometimes president to the council: a
scholar, a lawyer, a statesman; in short, he was one of the most
accomplished men of the age. Being with him sometimes at his own
house in Berkshire, where he gave me that account I have related of
chancellor Oxenstiern, amongst many serious things he spoke, this
was very observable, "I have ever thought," said he, "there has
been one true religion in the world, and that is the work of the
Spirit of God in the hearts and souls of men. There have been indeed
divers forms and shapes of things, through the many dispensations
of God to men, answerable to his own wise ends, in reference to the
low and uncertain state of man in the world; but the old world had
the Spirit of God, for it strove with them; and the new world has
had the Spirit of God, both Jew and Gentile, and it strives with
all; and they that have been led by it, have been the good people
in every dispensation of God to the world. And I myself must say,
I have felt it from a child to convince me of my evil and vanity,
and it has often given me a true measure of this poor world, and
some taste of divine things; and it is my grief I did not more
early apply my soul to it. For I can say, since my retirement from
the greatness and hurries of the world, I have felt something of
the work and comfort of it, and that it is both ready and able to
instruct, and lead and preserve those that will humbly and sincerely
hearken to it. So that my religion is the good Spirit of God in my
heart; I mean, what that has wrought in me and for me." And after
a meeting at his house, to which he gave an entire liberty for all
that pleased to come, he was so deeply affected with the testimony
of the light, spirit, and grace of Christ in man, as the gospel
dispensation, that after the meeting closed in prayer, he rose up,
and pulled off his hat, and said, "This is the everlasting gospel I
have heard this day: and I humbly bless the name of God, that He has
let me live to see this day, in which the ancient gospel is again
preached to them that dwell upon the earth."
XXXIV. A sister of the family of Penn, in Buckinghamshire, a young
woman delighting in the finery and pleasures of the world, was
seized with a violent illness that proved mortal to her. In the
time of her sickness she fell into great distress of soul, bitterly
bewailing the want of that inward peace which makes a death-bed
easy to the righteous. After several days' languishing, a little
consolation appeared after this manner. She was some hours in a
kind of trance; she apprehended she was brought into a place where
Christ was; to whom, could she but deliver her petition, she hoped
to be relieved. But her endeavours increased her pain: for as she
pressed to deliver it, he turned his back upon her, and would not
so much as look towards her. But that which added to her sorrow,
was, that she beheld others admitted: however, she gave not over
importuning him. And when almost ready to faint, and her hope to
sink, he turned one side of his face towards her, and reached forth
his hand, and received her request: at which her troubled soul found
immediate consolation. Turning to those about her, she repeats what
had befallen her, adding, "Bring me my new clothes, take off the
lace and finery;" and charged her relations, not to deck and adorn
themselves after the manner of the world: for that the Lord Jesus,
whom she had seen, appeared unto her in the likeness of a plain
countryman, without any trimming or ornament whatever; and that his
servants ought to be like Him.
XXXV. My own father, after thirty years employment, with good
success, in divers places of eminent trust and honour in his own
country, upon a serious reflection, not long before his death,
spoke to me in this manner: "Son William, I am weary of the world:
I would not live over my days again, if I could command them with a
wish: for the snares of life are greater than the fears of death.
This troubles me, that I have offended a gracious God, that has
followed me to this day. Oh, have a care of sin: that is the sting
both of life and death. Three things I commend to you. First,
Let nothing in this world tempt you to wrong your conscience; I
charge you, do nothing against your conscience, so will you keep
peace at home, which will be a feast to you in the day of trouble.
Secondly, Whatever you design to do, lay it justly, and time it
seasonably; for that gives security and dispatch. Lastly, Be not
troubled at disappointments; for if they may be recovered, do it;
if they cannot, trouble is vain. If you could not have helped
it, be content; there is often peace and profit in submitting to
Providence, for afflictions make wise. If you could have helped
it, let not your trouble exceed instruction for another time:
these rules will carry you with firmness and comfort through
this inconstant world." At another time he inveighed against the
profaneness and impiety of the age; often crying out, with an
earnestness of spirit, "Woe to thee, O England! God will judge thee,
O England! Plagues are at thy door, O England!" He much bewailed
that divers men in power, and many of the nobility and gentry of the
kingdom, were grown so dissolute and profane; often saying, "God
has forsaken us; we are infatuated; we will shut our eyes; we will
not see our true interests and happiness: we shall be destroyed!"
Apprehending the consequences of the growing looseness of the age
to be our ruin; and that the methods most fit to serve the kingdom
with true credit, at home and abroad, were too much neglected:
the trouble of which did not a little help to feed his distemper,
which drew him daily nearer to his end: and as he believed it, so
less concerned or disordered, I never saw him at any time; of which
I took good notice: wearied to live, as well as near to die, he
took his leave of us, and of me, with this expression, and a most
composed countenance: "Son William, if you and your friends keep to
your plain way of preaching, and keep to your plain way of living,
you will make an end of the priests to the end of the world. Bury me
by my mother: live all in love: shun all manner of evil: and I pray
God to bless you all: and He will bless you."
XXXVI. Anthony Lowther, of Mask, a person of good sense, of a sweet
temper, a just mind, and of a sober education; when of age to be
under his own government, was drawn by the men of pleasure of the
town, into the usual freedoms of it, and was as much a judge as
anybody of the satisfaction that way of living could yield; but
some time before his sickness, with a free and strong judgment, he
would frequently upbraid himself, and contemn the world for those
unreasonable as well as unchristian liberties that so much abound
in it; which apprehension increased by the instruction of a long
and sharp sickness, he would often despise their folly, and abhor
their guilt; breathing, with some impatience, after the knowledge of
the best things, and the best company; losing as little time as he
could, that he might redeem the time he had lost; testifying often,
with a lively relish, to the truth of religion, from the sense he
had of it in his own breast: frequently professing, he knew no joy
comparable to that of being assured of the love and mercy of God;
which, as he often implored with strong convictions, and a deep
humility and reverence, so he had frequently tastes thereof before
his last period; pressing his relations and friends, in a most
serious and affectionate manner, to love God, and one another more,
and this vile world less. And of this he was so full, it was almost
ever the conclusion of his most inward discourses with his family;
though he sometimes said, he could have been willing to have lived,
if God had pleased, to see his younger children nearer a settlement
in the world; yet he felt no desire to live longer in the world, but
on the terms of living better in it. For that he did not only think
virtue the safest, but the happiest way of living: commending and
commanding it to his children upon his last blessing.
I shall conclude this chapter of retired, aged, and dying persons,
with some collections I have made out of the life of a person of
great piety and quality of the French nation.
XXXVII. Du Renti, a young nobleman of France, of admirable parts,
as well as great birth, touched with a sense of the vanity of
the world, and the sweetness of a retired and religious life,
notwithstanding the honours and employments that waited for him,
abandons the pride and pomp of the world, to enjoy a life of more
communion with God: do but hear him: "I avow," saith he, "that I
have no gust in anything where I find not Jesus Christ; and for
a soul that speaks not of Him, or in which we cannot taste any
effect of grace flowing from his Spirit, (which is the principle of
operations, both inward and outward, that are solidly Christian,)
speak not to me at all of such an one: could I, as I may say, behold
both miracles and wonders there, and yet not Jesus Christ, nor
hear any talk of Him, I count all but amusement of spirit, loss of
time, and a very dangerous precipice. Let us encourage ourselves
to lead this life unknown, and wholly hid from men, but most known
to and intimate with God; divesting ourselves, and chasing out of
our minds all those many superfluities, and those many amusements,
which bring with them so great a damage, that they take up our mind,
instead of God. So that when I consider that which thwarts and cuts
into so many pieces this holy, this sweet, and amiable union, which
we should have continually with God, it appears, that it is only
a monsieur, a madame, a compliment, and chatting, indeed a mere
foolery; which notwithstanding doth ravish and wrest from us the
time that is so precious, and the fellowship that is so holy, and so
desirable. Let us quit this, I pray you, and learn to court it with
our own Master; let us well understand our part, our own world, as
we here phrase it, not that world I mean, which we do renounce, but
that wherein the children of God do their duties to their Father.
There is nothing in this world so separate from the world, as God;
and the greater the saints are, the greater is their retirement into
Him. This our Saviour taught us whilst He lived on earth, being in
all his visible employments united to God, and retired into the
bosom of his Father. Since the time that I gave up my liberty to
God, as I told you, I was given to understand to what a state of
annihilation the soul must be brought, to render it capable of union
with Him: I saw my soul reduced into a small point, contracted and
shrunk up to nothing: and at the same time I beheld myself, as if
encompassed with whatsoever the world loves and possesseth; and, as
it were, a hand removing all this far from me, throwing it into the
ocean of annihilation.
"In the first place, I saw removed all exterior things, kingdoms,
great offices, stately buildings, rich household-stuff, gold and
silver, recreations, pleasures; all which are great encumbrances
to the soul's passing on to God, of which therefore his pleasure
is, that she be stripped, that she may arrive at the point of
nakedness and death, which will bring her into possession of solid
riches and real life. Assure yourself, there is no security in any
state, but this of dying and annihilation; which is to be baptized
into Christ's death, that we live the life of mortification. Our
best way is therefore to divest ourselves of all, that the holy
child Jesus may govern all. All that can be imagined in this lower
world is of small concernment, though it were the losing of all our
goods, and the death of all the men in it; this poor ant-hill is
not worthy of a serious thought. Had we but a little faith, and a
little love, how happy should we esteem ourselves in giving away
all, to attend no more, save on God alone; and to say, _Deus meus et
omnia_; my God, and my all! 'Being,' saith he, 'in a chapel richly
wainscotted, and adorned with very excellent sculpture, and with
imagery, I beheld it with some attention, having had some skill in
these things, and saw the bundles of fleurs-de-luce, and of flowers
in the form of borders, and of very curious workmanship; it was on
a sudden put into my mind, The original of what thou seest would
not detain thee at all in seeing it. And I perceived, that indeed
all these, and those flowers themselves, not in pictures, would
not have taken me up; and all the ornaments which architecture and
art invent are but things most mean and low, running in a manner
only upon flowers, fruits, branches, harpies, and chimeras, part
whereof are in their very being but things common and low, and part
of them merely imaginary; and yet man, who croucheth to everything,
renders himself amorous and a slave of them; no otherwise than as
if a good workman should stand to copy out, and counterfeit some
trifles and fopperies. I considered by this sight how poor man was
to be cheated, amused, and diverted from his sovereign good. And
since that time, I could make no more stand to consider any of these
things; and if I did it, I should reproach myself for it, as no
sooner seeing them in churches or elsewhere, but this presently put
upon my spirit. The original is nothing; the copy and the image is
yet less; each thing is vain, except the employment of ourselves
about God alone. An absolute abnegation will be necessary to all
things, to follow in simplicity, without reserve or reflection, what
our Saviour shall work in us, or appoint for us, let it be this or
that. This way was showed me, in which I ought to walk towards Him:
and hence it is, that all things to me ordinarily are without any
gust or delight. I assure you, it is a great shame to a Christian
to pass his days in this world more at ease than Jesus Christ here
passed his: ah! had we but a little faith, what repose could we take
out of the cross!'"
I will conclude his sayings with his dying blessing to his surviving
children.
"I pray God bless you, and may it please Him to bless you, and to
preserve you by his grace from the evil of the world, that you may
have no part therein: and, above all, my children, that you may live
in the fear and love of God, and yield due obedience to your mother."
Expressions of that weight and moment to the immortal good of man,
that they abundantly prove to all sensible readers, that the author
was a man of an enlightened mind, and of a soul mortified to the
world, and quickened to some tastes of a supernatural life: let his
youth, let his quality, adorned with so much zeal and piety, so much
self-denial and constancy, become exemplary to those of worldly
quality, who may be the readers of this book. Some perhaps will hear
that truth from the several authors I have reported, whose names,
death, and time have recovered from the envy of mess that would
hardly endure it from me, if at all from the living. Be it as it
will, I shall abundantly rejoice, if God shall please to make any
part of this discourse effectual to persuade any into the love of
holiness, without which, certain it is, no man shall see the Lord:
but the pure in heart shall behold Him for ever.
To conclude, I cannot pass this reflection upon what is observed
of the sayings of dying men, and which to me seems to have great
instruction in it, viz.: All men agree, when they come to die,
it is best to be religious; to live a holy, humble, strict, and
self-denying life; retired, solitary, temperate, and disencumbered
of the world. Then loving God above all, and our neighbours as
ourselves, forgiving our enemies, and praying for them, are solid
things, and the essential part of religion, as the true ground of
man's happiness. Then all sin is exceeding sinful, and yields no
more pleasure: but every inordinate desire is burthensome, and
severely reproved. Then the world, with all the lawful comforts in
it, weighs light against that sense and judgment, which such men
have between the temporal and the eternal. And since it is thus with
dying men, what instruction is it to the living, whose pretence for
the most part is a perpetual contradiction? O that men would learn
to number their days, that they might apply their hearts to wisdom!
of which, the fear of the Lord is the true and only beginning. And
blessed are they that fear always, for their feet shall be preserved
from the snares of death.