Deaths
Dvell,
OR,
A Consolation to the Soule, against
the dying Life, and liuing
Death of the Body.
Deliuered in a Sermon at White Hall, before the
Kings Maiesty, in the beginning
of Lent, 1630.
By that late learned and Reuerend Diuine,
Iohn Donne, Dr. in Diuinity,
& Deane of S. Pauls, London.
Being his last Sermon, and called by his Maiesties houshold
The Doctors Owne Fvnerall Sermon.
London,
Printed by Thomas Harper, for Richard Redmer
and Beniamin Fisher, and are to be sold at the signe
of the Talbot in Alders-gate street.
M.DC.XXXII.
To his dearest sister Mrs. Elizabeth
Francis of Brumsted in Norff. DEarest Dearest Sister, for any so meane as
my selfe to prefixe a Dedication to
so worthie a mans worke as this is,
is a bouldnesse little inferior to pre-
sumption it selfe. But the Copie
being bestowed vpon me by a worthie Friend of
mine (farre more able) who would not himselfe
take that office vpon him; Principally to let you
know, how faine I would shew my gratitude to
you, whose debtor I haue euer bin; & well know-
ing your well knowne zeale to deuotions of this
straine, To you I dedicate (before all others) this
sacred Tractate; Of your acceptation of it, I doubt
not; But my desire is that you would accept also
the loue of him that can no wayes else (as yet) giue
your deseruings better satisfaction, then by remai-
ning. Your euer truly louing and deuoted
Brother,
Rich. Redmer.
To the Reader.
THISThis Sermon was, by Sa-
cred Authoritie, stiled the
Authors owne funeral Ser-
mon. Most fitly: whether
wee respect the time, or the
matter. It was preached not many dayes be-
fore his death; as if, hauing done this, there
remained nothing for him to doe, but to die:
And the matter is, of Death; the occasion and
subiect of all funerall Sermons. It hath beene
obserued of this Reuerend Man, That his
Faculty in Preaching continually encreased:
and, That as hee exceeded others at first; so,
at last hee exceeded himselfe. This is his last
Sermon; I will not say, it is therefore his best;
because, all his were excellent. Yet thus much:
A dying Mans words, if they concerne our selves selues; doe vsually make the deepest impres-
sion, as being spoken most feelingly, and with
least affectation. Now, whom doth it not con-
cerne to learn, both the danger, and benefit of
death? Death is euery mans enemy, and in-
tends hurt to all; though to many, hee be occa-
sion of greatest goods. This enemy we must
all combate dying; whom hee liuing did almost
conquer; hauing discouered the vtmost of his
power, the vtmost of his crueltie. May wee
make such vse of this and other the like prepa-
ratiues, That neither death, whensoeuer it
shall come, may seeme terrible; nor life te-
dious; how long soeuer it shall last. R. Psalme (1) [1] Psalme 68. vers. 20. In fine.
And vnto God the (Lord) belong
the issues of death. i. e. From
death.
BVildingsBvildings stand by
the benefit of their foun-
dations that susteine and
support them, & of their
butteresses that compre-
hend and embrace them,
and of their contignations that knit and
vnite them: The foundations suffer them
not to sinke, the butteresses suffer them not
to swerue, and the contignation & knitting
suffers them not to cleaue; The body of our
building is in the former part of this verse:
It is this, hee that is our God is the God of B sal- (2) saluation and salutes; of saluation in the plu-
rall, so it is in the originall; the God that
giues vs spirituall and temporall saluation
too. But of this building, the foundation,
the butteresses, the contignations are in this
part of the verse, which constitutes our
text, and in the three diuers acceptations
of the words amongst our expositors. Vn-
to God the Lord belong the issues from death,
Of for first the foundation of this building, that
our God is the God of all saluations) is laid in
this; That vnto this God the Lord belong the
issues of death, that is, it is in his power to
giue vs an issue and deliuerance, euen then
when wee are brought to the iawes and
teeth of death, and to the lippes of that
whirlepoole, the graue. And so in this ac-
ceptation, this exitus mortis this issue of
death is liberatio à morte, a deliuerance from
death, and this is the most obuious and
most ordinary acceptation of these words,
and that vpon which our translation laies
hold, the issues from death. And then second-
ly the butteresses that comprehend and
settle this building, That hee that is our
God, (3) God, is the God of all saluation, are thus rai-
sed; vnto God the Lord belong the issues of
death, that is, the disposition and manner of
our death: what kinde of issue and transmi-
gration wee shall haue out of this world,
whether prepared or sudden, whether
violent or naturall, whether in our per-
fect senses or shaken and disordered by
sicknes, there is no condemnation to bee
argued out of that, no Iudgement to bee
made vpon that, for howsoeuer they dye,
precious in his sight is the death of his saints,
and with him are the issues of death, the
wayes of our departing out of this life are in
his hands. And so in this sense of the words,
this exitus mortis, the issues of death, is libe-
ratio in morte, A deliuerance in death; Not
that God will deliuer vs from dying, but
that hee will haue a care of vs in the houre
of death, of what kinde soeuer our passage
be. And in this sense and acceptation of the
words, the naturall frame and contexture
doth well and pregnantly administer vn-
to vs; And then lastly the contignation and
knitting of this building, that hee that is B2 our (4) our God is the God of all saluations, consists
in this, vnto this God the Lord belong the
issues of death, that is, that this God the
Lord hauing vnited and knit both natures
in one, and being God, hauing also come in-
to this world, in our flesh, he could haue no
other meanes to saue vs, he could haue no
other issue out of this world, nor returne to
his former glory, but by death; And so in
this sense, this exitus mortis, this issue of
death, is liberatio per mortem, a deliuerance
by death, by the death of this God our Lord
Christ Jesus. And this is Saint Augustines
acceptation of the words, and those many
and great persons that haue adhered to
him. In all these three lines then, we shall
looke vpon these words; First, as the God
of power, the Almighty Father rescues his
seruants from the iawes of death: And then
as the God of mercy, the glorious Sonne res-
cued vs, by taking vpon himselfe this issue
of death: And then betweene these two, as
the God of comfort, the holy Ghost rescues
vs from all discomfort by his blessed im-
pressions before hand, that what manner of 5 (5) of death soeuer be ordeined for vs, yet this
exitus mortis shall bee introitus in vitam,
our issue in death (shall be an entrance into
euerlasting life.) And these three conside-
rations? our deliuerance à morte,A morte, in
morte, per
mortem. in morte,
per mortem, from death, in death, & by death,
will abundantly doe all the offices of the
foundations,Foūdation,
butteresses
and conti-
gnation. of the butteresses, of the conti-
gnation of this our building; That he that is
our God, is the God of all saluation, because
vnto this God the Lord belong the issues of
death. First, then,I. Part. we consider this exitus mor-
tis, to bee liberatio à morte, that with God
the Lord are the issues of death, and there-
fore in all our death, and deadly calami-
ties of this life, wee may iustly hope of a
good issue from him. In all our periods and
transitions in this life, are so many passages
from death to death; our very birth and en-
trance into this life,Exitus a
morte vteri. is exitus à morte, an is-
sue from death, for in our mothers wombe
wee are dead so, as that wee doe not know
wee liue, not so much as wee doe in our
sleepe, neither is there any graue so close, or B3 so 6 (6) so putrid a prison, as the wombe would be
vnto vs, if we stayed in it beyond our time,
or dyed there before our time. In the graue
the wormes doe not kill vs, wee breed and
feed, and then kill those wormes which
wee our selues produc'd. In the wombe
the dead child kills the Mother that con-
ceiued it, & is a murtherer, nay a parricide,
euen after it is dead. And if wee bee not
dead so in the wombe, so as that being dead
wee kill her that gaue vs our first life, our
life of vegetation, yet wee are dead so, as
Dauids Idols are dead.Psal. 115.
vers. 6. In the wombe wee
haue eyes and see not, eares and heare not;
There in the wombe wee are fitted for
workes of darkenes, all the while depriued
of light: And there in the wombe wee are
taught cruelty, by being fed with blood, and
may be damned, though we be neuer borne.
Of our very making in the wombe, Dauid
sayes, I am wonderfully and fearefully made,
Psal. 139. 6. and such knowledge is too excellent for me,
Ps. 118. 23. for euen that is the Lords doing, and it is
wonderfull in our eyes; Ipse fecit nos,100. 3. it is hee
that hath made vs, and not wee our selues,
nor 7 (7) nor our parents neither; Thy hands haue
made me and fashioned me round about, saith
Iob, and (as the originall word is) thou hast
taken paines about me, and yet, sayes he, thou
doest destroy me. Though I bee the Master
peece of the greatest Master (man is so,) yet
if thou doe no more for me, if thou leaue
me where thou madest mee, destruction
will follow. The wombe which should be
the house of life, becomes death it selfe, if
God leaue vs there. That which God
threatens so often, the shutting of the womb,
is not so heauy, nor so discomfortable a
curse in the first, as in the latter shutting,
nor in the shutting of barrennes, as in the
shutting of weakenes, when children are
come to the birth, and no strength to bring
forth. It is the exaltation of misery,Esay 37. to fall from
a neare hope of happines. And in that ve-
hement imprecation, the Prophet expresses
the highest of Gods anger giue them ô Lord,
what wilt thou giue them? giue them a mis-
carying wombe. Therefore as soone as wee
are men, (that is, inanimated) quickned in the 8 (8) the womb) thogh we cannot our selues, our
parents haue to say in our behalf, wretched
man that he is, who shall deliuer him from
this body of death?Rom. 7. 24. for euen the wombe is a
body of death, if there bee no deliuerer. It
must be he that said to Ieremy, Before I
formed thee I knew thee, and befored thou ca-
mest out of the wombe I sanctified thee. Wee
are not sure that there was no kinde of
shippe nor boate to fish in, nor to passe by,
till God prescribed Noah that absolute form
of the Arke.Exo. 23. That word which the holy
Ghost by Moses vseth for the Arke, is com-
mon to all kinde of boates, Theball, and is
the same word that Moses vseth for the
boate that he was exposed in, That his mo-
ther layed him in an arke of bulrushes. But we
are sure that Eue had no Midwife when
she was deliuered of Cain, therefore shee
might well say,Gen. 4. 1. possedi virum à Domino, I
haue gotten a man from the Lord, wholly,
entirely from the Lord; It is the Lord that
enabled me to conceiue, The Lord that infu-
s'd a quickning soule into that conception,
the Lord that brought into the world that
which 9 (9) which himselfe had quickened, without all
this might Eue say, My body had bene but
the house of death, and Domini Domini sunt
exitus mortis, Exitus a
mortibus
mundi. to God the Lord belong the is-
sues of death. But then this exitus a morte,
is but introitus in mortem, this issue, this de-
liuerance from that death, the death of the
wombe, is an entrance, a deliuering ouer to
another death, the manifold deathes of this
world, wee haue a winding sheete in our
Mothers wombe, which growes with vs
from our conception, and wee come into
the world, wound vp in that winding sheet,
for wee come to seeke a graue; And as pri-
soners discharg'd of actions may lye for
fees; so when the wombe hath discharg'd
vs, yet we are bound to it by cordes of hestæ
by such a string, as that wee cannot goe
thence, nor stay there; wee celebrate our
owne funeralls with cryes, euen at our
birth; as though our threescore and ten years
life were spent in our mothers labour, and
our circle made vp in the first point there-
of; we begge our Baptisme, with another
Sacrament, with teares; And we come into C a 10 (10) a world that lasts many ages, but wee last
not;Ioh. 14. 2. in domo Patris, says our Sauiour, spea-
king of heauen, multæ mansiones, there are
many mansions, diuers and durable, so that
if a man cannot possesse a martyrs house,
(he hath shed no blood for Christ, yet hee
may haue a Confessors, he hath bene ready
to glorifie God in the shedding of his blood.
And if a woman cannot possesse a virgins
house (she hath embrac'd the holy state of
mariage) yet she may haue a matrons house,
she hath brought forth and brought vp
children in the feare of God. In domo patris,
in my fathers house, in heauen there are ma-
ny mansions; but here vpon earth the sonne
of man hath not where to lay his head,Mat. 8. 20. sayes
he himselfe. Nonne terram dedit filijs homi-
num? how then hath God giuen this earth
to the sonnes of men? hee hath giuen them
earth for their materialls to bee made of
earth, and hee hath giuen them earth for
their graue and sepulture, to returne and re-
solue to earth, but not for their possession:
Here wee haue no continuing citty,Heb. 13. 14 nay no
cottage that continues, nay no persons no 11 (11) no bodies that continue. Whatsoeuer
moued Saint Ierome to call the iournies of
the Israelites, in the wildernes, mansions;
Exo. 17. 1. The word (the word is Nasang) signifies
but a iourney, but a peregrination. Euen
the Israel of God hath no mansions; but
iournies, pilgrimages in this life. By what
measure did Iacob measure his life to Pha-
raoh; the dayes of the years of my pilgrimage.
And though the Apostle would not say
morimur,Gen. 47. 9. that, whilest wee are in the body
wee are dead, yet hee sayes, Peregrinamur,
whilest wee are in the body, wee are but in
a pilgrimage, and wee are absent from the
Lord; hee might haue sayd dead,2 Cor. 5. 6. for this
whole world is but an vniuersall church-
yard, but our common graue, and the life &
motion that the greatest persons haue
in it, is but as the shaking of buried bodies
in their graue, by an earth-quake. That
which we call life, is but Hebdomada mor-
tium, a weeke of death, seauen dayes, seauen
periods of our life spent in dying, a dying
seauen times ouer; and there is an end. Our
birth dyes in infancy, and our infancy dyes C2 in 12 (12) in youth, and youth and the rest dye in age,
and age also dyes, and determines all. Nor
doe all these, youth out of infancy, or age
out of youth arise so, as a Phœnix out of
the ashes of another Phœnix formerly dead,
but as a waspe or a serpent out of a caryon,
or as a Snake out of dung. Our youth is worse
then our infancy, and our age worse then
our youth. Our youth is hungry and thirsty,
after those sinnes, which our infancy knew
not; And our age is sory and angry, that it
cannot pursue those sinnes which our youth
did; & besides, al the way, so many deaths,
that is, so many deadly calamities accom-
pany euery condition, and euery period of
this life, as that death it selfe would bee an
ease to them that suffer them: Vpon this
sense doth Iob wish that God had not giuen
him an issue from the first death, from the
wombe, Wherefore hast thou brought me forth
out of the wombe?10. 18. O that I had giuen vp the
Ghost, and no eye seene me? I should haue
beene as though I had not beene. And not
only the impatient Israelites in their mur-
muring (would to God wee had dyed by the hand 13 (13) hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt) but
Eliah himselfe,Exo. 16. 3. when he fled from Iesabell,
and went for his life, as that text sayes,
vnder the Iunipertree, requested that hee
might dye, & sayd, it is enough now, O Lord,
take away my life.Rev. 19. 4.
4. 3. So Ionah iustifies his im-
patience, nay his anger towards God him-
selfe. Now ô Lord take, I beseech thee, my life
from mee, for it is better to dye then to liue.
And when God asked him, doest thou well
to be angry for this, he replyes, I doe well to
be angry, euen vnto death, how much worse
a death then death, is this life, which so
good men would so often change for
death? But if my case bee as Saint Paules
case, quotidiè morior, that I dye dayly, that
something heauier then death fall vpon
me euery day; If my case be Dauids case, to-
ta die mortificamur; all the day long wee are
killed, that not onely euery day, but euery
houre of the day some thing heauier then
death fall vpon me, though that bee true
of me, Conceptus in peccatis, I was shapen
in iniquity, and in sinne did my mother con-
ceiue me, (there I dyed one death,) though C3 that 14 (14) that be true of me (Natus filius iræ) I was
borne not onely the child of sinne, but the
child of wrath, of the wrath of God for
sinne, which is a heauier death; Yet Domi-
ni Domini sunt exitus mortis, with God the
Lord are the issues of death, and after a Iob,
and a Ioseph, and a Ieremie, and a Daniel,
I cannot doubt of a deliuerance. And if no
other deliuerance conduce more to his
glory and my good,Apoc. 1. 18. yet he hath the keys of
death, and hee can let me out at that dore,
that is, deliuer me from the manifold
deaths of this world, the omni die and the
tota die, the euery dayes death & euery houres
death, by that one death, the finall dissolution
of body and soule, the end of all. But then
is that the end of all? Is that dissolution of
body and soule, the last death that the bo-
dy shall suffer? (for of spirituall death wee
speake not now) It is not, though this be
exitus à morte; It is introitus in mortem:
though it bee an issue from manifold deaths
of this world, Exitus a
morte Inci-
nerationis. yet it is an entrance into the
death of corruption and putrefaction & ver-
miculation and incineration, and dispersion in 15 (15) in and from the graue, in which euery dead
man dyes ouer againe. It was a preroga-
tiue peculiar to Christ, not to dy this death,
not to see corruption: what gaue him this
priuiledge? Not Iosephs great proportion
of gummes and spices, that might haue pre-
serued his body from corruption and in-
cineration longer then he needed it, longer
then three dayes, but it would not haue
done it for euer: what preserued him then?
did his exemption and freedome from ori-
ginall sinne preserue him from this corrup-
tion and incineration? 'tis true that original
sinne hath induced this corruption and in-
cineration vpon vs; If wee had not sinned
in Adam, mortality had not put on immorta-
lity,1 Cor. 15.
vers. 33. (as the Apostle speakes) no, corruption
had not put on incorruption, but we had had
our transmigration from this to the other
world, without any mortality, any corrup-
tion at all. But yet since Christ tooke sinne
vpon him, so farre as made him mortall, he
had it so farre too, as might haue made
him see this corruption and incineration,
though he had no originall sinne in himself; what 16 (16) what preseru'd him then? Did the hyposta-
ticall vnion of both natures? God and Man,
preserue him from this corruption and
incineration? 'tis true that this was a most
powerfull embalming, to be embalmd with
the diuine nature it selfe, to bee embalmd
with eternity, was able to preserue him
from corruption and incineration for euer.
And he was embalmd, so embalmd with
the diuine nature it selfe, euen in his body as
well as in his soule; for the Godhead, the di-
vine nature did not depart, but remained
still vnited to his dead body in the graue;
But yet for al this powerful embalming, his
hypostaticall vnion of both natures, we see
Christ did dye; and for all his vnion which
made him God and Man, hee became no
man (for the vnion of the body and soule
makes the man, and hee whose soule and
body are separated by death as long as that
state lasts is properly no man.) And there-
fore as in him the dissolution of body and
soule was no dissolution of the hypostaticall
vnion; so is there nothing that constraines
vs to say, that though the flesh of Christ had 17 (17) had seene corruption and incineration in the
graue, this had bene any dissolution of the
hypostaticall vnion, for the diuine nature, the
Godhead might haue remained with all
the Elements and principles of Christs bo-
dy, aswell as it did with the two constitu-
tiue parts of his person, his body and his soul.
This incorruption then was not in Iosephs
gummes and spices, nor was it in Christs in-
nocency, and exemption from originall sin,
nor was it (that is, it is not necessary to say
it was) in the hypostaticall vnion. But this
incorruptiblenes of his flesh is most conue-
niently plac'd in that; Non dabis, thou wilt
not suffer thy holy one to see corruption, Psal. 16. 10. wee
looke no further for causes or reasons in
the mysteries of religion, but to the will and
pleasure of God: Christ himselfe limited
his inquisition Mat. 11. 26. in that ita est, euen so Father,
for so it seemeth good in thy sight. Christs bo-
dy did not see corruption, therefore, because
God had decreed it shold not. The humble
soule (and onely the humble soule is the
religious soule) rests himselfe vpon Gods
purposes and the decrees of God, which he D hath 18 (18) hath declared and manifested not such as
are conceiued and imagined in our selues,
though vpon some probability, some vere-
similitude,Acts 2. 31.
13. 35. so in our present case Peter pro-
ceeds in his Sermon at Ierusalem, & so Paul
in his at Antioch. They preached Christ to
haue bene risen without seeing corruption,
not onely because God had decreed it, but
because he had manifested that decree in his
Prophet, therefore doth Saint Paul cite by
speciall number the second Psalme for that
decree; And therefore both Saint Peter &
S. Paul cite for it that place in the 16.
Psalme,Vers. 10. for when God declares his decree
and purpose in the expresse words of his
Prophet, or when he declares it in the reall
execution of the decree, then he makes it
ours, then he manifests it to vs. And ther-
fore as the Mysteries of our Religion, are not
the obiects of our reason, but by faith we rest
on Gods decree and purpose. (It is so ô God,
because it is thy will, it should be so) so Gods
decrees are euer to be considered in the ma-
nifestation thereof. All manifestation is ei-
ther in the word of God, or in the execution of 19 (19) of the decree; And when these two concur
and meete, it is the strongest demonstration
that can be: when therefore I finde those
markes of adoption and spirituall filiation,
which are deliuered in the word of God to
be vpon me, when I finde that reall exe-
cution of his good purpose vpon me, as that
actually I doe liue vnder the obedience, and
vnder the conditions which are euidences
of adoption and spirituall filiation; Then so
long as I see these markes and liue so; I may
safely comfort my selfe in a holy certitude
and a modest infallibility of my adoption.
Christ determines himself in that, the pur-
pose of God was manifest to him: S. Peter
and S. Paul determine themselues in those
two wayes of knowing the purpose of
God, the word of God before the execution
of the decree in the fulnes of time. It was
prophecyed before, say they, and it is perfor-
med now, Christ is risen without seeing cor-
ruption. Now this which is so singularly
peculiar to him, that his flesh should not see
corruption, at his second coming, his coming
to Iudgement, shall extend to all that are D2 then 20 (20) then aliue, their Hestæ shall not see corrup-
tion, because as th'Apostle sayes, and sayes
as a secret, as a mystery; Behold I shew you a
mistery, wee shall not all sleepe, (that is, not
continue in the state of the dead in the
graue,) but wee shall all be changed in an in-
stant, we shall haue a dissolution, and in the
same instant a redintgeration, a recompacting
of body and soule, and that shall be truely a
death & truely a resurrection, but no slee-
ping in corruption; But for vs that dye
now and sleepe in the state of the dead, we
must al passe this posthume death, this death
after death, nay this death after buriall,
this dissolution after dissolution, this death of
corruption and putrifaction, of vermiculation
and incineration, of dissolution and dispersion
in and from the graue, when these bodies
that haue beene the children of royall pa-
rents, & the parents of royall children, must
say with Iob, Corruption thou art my father,
and to the Worme thou art my mother & my
sister. Miserable riddle, when the same worme
must bee my mother, and my sister, and my-
selfe. Miserable incest, when I must bee ma-
ried 21 (21) ried to my mother and my sister, and bee
both father and mother to my owne mother
and sister, beget & beare that worme which
is all that miserable penury; when my mouth
shall be filled with dust, and the worme shall
feed, and feed sweetely vpon me, when the
ambitious man shall haue no satisfaction,Vers. 24 20 if
the poorest aliue tread vpon him, nor the
poorest receiue any contentment in being
made equall to Princes, for they shall bee
equall but in dust.Iob. 23. 24. One dyeth at his full
strength, being wholly at ease & in quiet,
and another dyes in the bitternes of his soul,
and neuer eates with pleasure, but they lye
downe alike in the dust, and the worme co-
vers them; In Iob and in Esay,Vers. 14. 11. it couers them
and is spred vnder them, the worme is spred
vnder thee, and the worme couers thee,
There's the Mats and the Carpets that lye
vnder, and there's the State and the Cana-
pye, that hangs ouer the greatest of the sons
of men; Euen those bodies that were the
temples of the holy Ghost, come to this dila-
pidation, to ruine, to rubbidge, to dust, euen
the Israel of the Lord, and Iacob himselfe D3 hath 22 (22) hath no other specification, no other deno-
mination, but that vermis Iacob, thou
worme of Iacob. Truely the consideration
of this posthume death, this death after bu-
riall, that after God, (with whom are the
issues of death) hath deliuered me from the
death of the wombe, by bringing mee into
the world, and from the manifold deaths
of the world, by laying me in the graue, I
must dye againe in an Incineration of this
flesh, and in a dispersion of that dust. That
that Monarch, who spred ouer many na-
tions aliue, must in his dust lye in a corner
of that sheete of lead, and there, but so long
as that lead will laste, and that priuat and
retir'd man, that thought himselfe his owne
for euer, and neuer came forth, must in
his dust of the graue bee published, and
(such are the reuolutions of the graues) bee
mingled with the dust of euery high way,
and of euery dunghill, and swallowed in
euery puddle and pond: This is the most
inglorious and contemptible vilification,
the most deadly and peremptory nullifica-
tion of man, that wee can consider; God seemes 23 (23) seemes to haue caried the declaration of
his power to a great height, when hee sets
the Prophet Ezechiel in the valley of drye
bones, & sayes, Sonne of man can these bones
liue? as though it had bene impossible, and
yet they did; The Lord layed Sinewes vpon
them, and flesh, and breath into them, and
they did liue: But in that case there were
bones to bee seene, something visible, of
which it might be sayd, can this thing liue?
But in this death of incineration, and dis-
persion of dust, wee see nothing that wee
call that mans; If we say, can this dust liue?
perchance it cannot, it may bee the meere
dust of the earth, which neuer did liue, ne-
ver shall. It may be the dust of that mans
worme, which did liue, but shall no more.
It may bee the dust of another man, that
concernes not him of whom it is askt.
This death of incineration and dispersion,
is, to naturall reason, the most irrecouerable
death of all, & yet Domini Domini sunt exi-
tus mortis, vnto God the Lord belong the is-
sues of death, and by recompacting this dust
into the same body, & reanimating the same body 24 (24) body with the same soule, hee shall in a bles-
sed and glorious resurrection giue mee such
an issue from this death, as shal neuer passe
into any other death, but establish me into
a life that shall last as long as the Lord of
life himselfe. And so haue you that that belongs to
the first acceptation of these words, (vnto
God the Lord belong the issues of death)
That though from the wombe to the graue
and in the graue it selfe wee passe from
death to death, yet, as Daniel speakes, the
Lord our God is able to deliuer vs, and hee
will deliuer vs. And so wee passe vnto our second ac-
commodation of these words (vnto God the
Lord belong the issues of death) That it be-
longs to God, and not to man to passe a iudge-
ment vpon vs at our death, or to conclude
a dereliction on Gods part vpon the man-
ner thereof. Those indications which the Physitians
receiue,2. Part.
Liberatio in
morte. and those presagitions which they
giue for death or recouery in the patient,
they receiue and they giue out of the grounds 25 (25) grounds and the rules of their art. But we
haue no such rule or art to giue a presagi-
tion of spirituall death & damnation vpon
any such iudication as wee see in any dying
man; wee see often enough to be sory, but
not to despaire; wee may bee deceiued
both wayes, wee vse to comfort our selfe
in the death of a friend, if it be testified that
he went away like a Lambe, that is, with-
out any reluctation. But, God knowes, that
may bee accompanied with a dangerous
damp and stupefaction, & insensibility of his
present state. Our blessed Sauiour suffered
coluctations with death, and a sadnes euen in
his soule to death, and an agony euen to a
bloody sweate in his body, and expostulations
with God, & exclamations vpon the crosse.
He was a deuout man, who said vpon his
death bed, or dead turfe (for hee was an
Heremit) septuaginta annos Domino seruiuisti,
& mori times? hast thou serued a good Master
threescore and ten yeares, and now art thou
loath to goe into his presence? yet Hilarion
was loath; Bartaam was a deuout man (an
Heremit too) that sayd that day hee dyed. E Cogi- 26 (26) Cogita te hodie cœpisse seruire Domino, & ho-
die finiturum. Consider this to be the first days
seruice that euer thou didst thy Master, to
glorifie him in a Christianly and a con-
stant death, and if thy first day be thy last day
too, how soone dost thou come to receiue thy
wages? yet Bartaam could haue beene con-
tent to haue stayd longer forth: Make no
ill conclusions vpon any mans loathnes to
dye, for the mercies of God worke momenta-
rily in minutes, and many times insensibly to
bystanders or any other then the party de-
parting. And then vpon violent deaths in-
flicted, as vpon malefactors. Christ him-
selfe hath forbidden vs by his owne death
to make any ill conclusion; for his owne
death had those impressions in it; He was
reputed, he was executed as a malefactor, &
no doubt many of them who concurred
to his death, did beleeue him to bee so; Of
sudden death there are scarce examples to
be found in the scriptures vpon good men,
for death in battaile cannot be called suden
death; But God gouernes not by examples,
but by rules, and therefore make no ill con-
clu- 27 (27) clusion vpon sudden death nor vpon distem-
pers, neither though perchance accompa-
nied with some words of diffidence and dis-
trust in the mercies of God: The tree lyes as
it falles its true, but it is not the last stroake
that fells the tree, nor the last word nor
gaspe that qualifies the soule. Stil pray wee
for a peaceable life against violent death, &
for time of repentance against sudden death,
and for sober and modest assurance against
distemperd and diffident death, but neuer
make ill conclusions vpon persons ouer-
taken with such deaths; Domini Domini sunt
exitus mortis, to God the Lord belong the is-
sues of death. And he receiued Sampson, who
went out of this world in such a manner
(consider it actiuely, consider it passiuely in
his owne death, and in those whom he slew
with himselfe) as was subiect to interpre-
tation hard enough. Yet the holy Ghost
hath moued S. Paul to celebrate Sampson
in his great Catalogue,Heb. 11. and so doth all the
Church: Our criticall day is not the very day
of our death: but the whole course of our
life. I thanke him that prayes for me when E2 the 28 (28) the Bell tolles, but I thank him much more
that Catechises mee, or preaches to mee, or
instructs mee how to liue. Fac hoc & viue,
there's my securitie, the mouth of the Lord
hath sayd it, doe this and thou shalt liue: But
though I doe it, yet I shall dye too, dye a bo-
dily, a naturall death. But God neuer men-
tions, neuer seems to consider that death,
the bodily, the naturall death. God doth
not say, liue well and thou shalt dye well,
that is, an easie, a quiet death; But liue well
here, and thou shalt liue well for euer. As
the first part of a sentence peeces wel with
the last, and neuer respects, neuer hear-
kens after the parenthesis that comes be-
tweene, so doth a good life here flowe into
an eternall life, without any consideration,
what manner of death wee dye: But whe-
ther the gate of my prison be opened with an
oyld key (by a gentle and preparing sicknes)
or the gate bee hewen downe by a violent
death, or the gate bee burnt downe by a ra-
ging and frantique feauer, a gate into heauen
I shall haue, for from the Lord is the cause
of my life, and with God the Lord are the is-
sues 29 (29) sues of came death. And further wee cary not
this second acceptation of the words, as this
issue of death is, liberatio in morte, Gods care
that the soule be safe, what agonies soeuer
the body suffers in the houre of death. But passe to our third part & last part; 3. Part.
Liberatio
per morte.
as this issue of death is liberatio per mortem,
a deliuerance by the death of another. Suf-
ferentiam Iob audijsti, & vidisti finem Do-
mini, sayes Saint Iames 5.11. You haue heard
of the patience of Iob, says he, All this while
you haue done that, for in euery man, ca-
lamitous, miserable man, a Iob speakes
Now see the end of the Lord, sayth that A-
postle, which is not that end that the Lord
propos'd to himselfe (saluation to vs) nor
the end which he proposes to vs (confor-
mitie to him) but see the end of the Lord,
sayes he, The end, that the Lord himselfe
came to death, and a painefull & a shame-
full death, but why did he dye? and why
dye so? Quia Domini Domini sunt exitus
mortis De ciuitate
Dei lib. 17.
618 (as Saint Augustine interpreting this
text answeres that question) because to
this God our Lord belong'd the issues of death. E3 Quid 30 (30) Quid apertius diceretur? sayes hee there,
what can bee more obuious, more mani-
fest then this sense of these words. In the
former part of this verse, it is sayd; He that
is our God, is the God of saluation, Deus sal-
vos faciendi, so hee reads it, the God that
must saue vs. Who can that be, sayes he,
but Iesus? for therefore that name was giuen
him, because he was to saue vs. And to this
Iesus, sayes he, this Mat. 1. 21:Mat. 1. 21Sauiour, belongs the issues
of death; Nec oportuit eum de hac vita alios
exitus habere quam mortis. Being come
into this life in our mortal nature; He could
not goe out of it any other way but by death?
Ideo dictum, sayes he, therefore it is sayd. To
God the Lord belong the issues of death; vt
ostenderetur moriendo nos saluos facturum, to
shew that his way to saue vs was to dye. And
from this text doth Saint Isodore proue;
that Christ was truely Man, (which as ma-
ny sects of heretiques denyed, as that he was
truely God) because to him, though he were
Dominus Dominus (as the text doubles it)
God the Lord, yet to him, to God the Lord
belong'd the issues of death, oportuit eum pati more 31 (31) more can not be sayd, then Christ himselfe
sayes of himselfe; Luk. 24. 26 These things Christ ought
to suffer, hee had no other way but by
death: So then this part of our Sermon must
needes be a passion Sermon; since all his life
was a continuall passion, all our Lent may
well bee a continuall good Fryday. Christs
painefull life tooke off none of the paines
of his death, hee felt not the lesse then for
hauing felt so much before. Nor will any
thing that shall be sayd before, lessen, but
rather inlarge the deuotion, to that which
shall be sayd of his passion at the time of
due solemnization thereof. Christ bled not
a droppe the lesse at the last, for hauing
bled at his Circumcision before, nor wil you
a teare the lesse then, if you shed some
now. And therefore bee now content to
consider with mee how to this God the
Lord belong'd the issues of death. That God,
this Lord, the Lord of life could dye, is a
strange contemplation; That the red Sea
could bee drie, That the Sun could stand
still, that an Ouen could be seauen times heat
and not burne, That Lions could be hungry and 32 (32) and nott bite, is strange, miraculously strange,
but supermiraculous that God could dye· but
that God would dye is an exaltation of that.
But euen of that also it is a superexaltation,
that God shold dye, must dye,; & nō exitus (said
S. Augustin, God the Lord had no issue but by
death, & oportuit pati (says Christ himself, all
this Christ ought to suffer, was bound to suf-
fer; Deus vltionum Deus says Dauid, Psal. 9.1. God is
the God of reuenges, he wold not passe ouer
the sonne of man vnreuenged, vnpunished.
But then Deus vltionum libere egit (sayes
that place) The God of reuenges workes free-
ly, he punishes, he spares whome he will. And
wold he not spare himselfe? he would not:
Dilectio fortis vt mors,Cant. 8 6. loue is strong as
death, stronger, it drew in death that natu-
rally is not welcom. Si possibile, says Christ,
If it be possible, let this Cup passe, when his
loue expressed in a former decree with his
Father,Vers. 7. had made it impossible. Many waters
quench not loue, Christ tryed many; He was
Baptized out of his loue, and his loue dete-
rmined not there. He mingled blood with
water in his agony and that determined not his 33 (33) his loue; hee wept pure blood, all his blood
at all his eyes, at all his pores, in his fla-
gellation and thornes (to the Lord our God
belong'd the issues of blood) and these expres-
sed, but these did not quench his loue. Hee
would not spare, nay he could not spare him-
selfe. There was nothing more free, more
voluntary, more spontaneous then the
death of Christ. 'Tis true, libere egit, he dyed
voluntarily, but yet when we consider the
contract that had passed betweene his Fa-
ther and him, there was an oportuit, a kind
of necessity vpon him. All this Christ ought
to suffer. And when shall we date this obli-
gation, this oportuit, this necessity? when
shall wee say that begun. Certainly this de-
cree by which Christ was to suffer all this,
was an eternall decree, and was there any
thing before that, that was eternall? Infi-
nite loue, eternall loue, be pleased to follow
this home, and to consider it seriously, that
what liberty soeuer wee can conceiue in
Christ, to dye or not to dye; this necessity of
dying, this decree is as eternall as that liberty;
and yet how small a matter made hee of F this 34 (34) this necessity and this dying? His Father cals
it but a bruise,Gen. 3. 15. and but a bruising of his heele
(the serpent shall bruise his heele) and yet
that was that, the serpent should practise
and compasse his death. Himselfe calls it
but a Baptisme, as though he were to bee
the better for it. Luk. 12. 40. I haue a Baptisme to be Bap-
tized with, and he was in paine till it was
accomplished, and yet this Baptisme was
his death. The holy Ghost calls it Ioy (for the
Ioy which was set before him hee indured the
Crosse) which was not a ioy of his reward
after his passion,Heb. 12. 2. but a ioy that filled him
euen in the middest of those torments, and
arose from him; when Christ calls his Ca-
licem, a Cuppe, and wee worse (can ye drink
of my Cuppe) he speakes not odiously,Mat. 22. 22. not
with detestation of it: Indeed it was a Cup,
salus mundo, a health to all the world. And
quid retribuam, says Dauid, what shall I ren-
der to the Lord? Ps. 116. 12. answere you with Dauid,
accipiam Calicem, I will take the Cup of salua-
tion, take it, that Cup is saluation, his passion,
if not into your present imitation, yet into
your present contemplation. And behold how 35 (35) how that Lord that was God, yet could dye,
would dye, must dye, for your saluation. That
Moses and Elias talkt with Christ in the
transfiguration,Mat. 17. 3. both Saint Mathew and
Saint Marke tells vs,Mar. 9. 4. but what they talkt
of onely S. Luke, Dicebant excessum eius,
says he,Luke 9. 31. they talkt of his decease, of his death
which was to be accomplished at Ierusalem,
The word is of his Exodus, the very word
of our text exitus, his issue by death. Moses
who in his Exodus had prefigured this issue
of our Lord, and in passing Israel out of
Egypt through the red Sea, had foretold in
that actuall prophesie, Christ passing of man-
kind through the sea of his blood. And Elias,
whose Exodus and issue out of this world
was a figure of Christs ascension, had no
doubt a great satisfaction in talking with
our blessed Lord de excessu eius, of the full
consummation of all this in his death, which
was to bee accomplished at Ierusalem. Our
meditation of his death should be more vi-
scerall and affect vs more because it is of a
thing already done. The ancient Romanes
had a certain terdernesse and detestation F2 of 36 (36) of the name of death, they cold not name
death, no, not in their wills. There they
could not say Si mori contigerit, but si quid
humanitus contingat, nor if, or when I dye,
but when the course of nature is accompli-
shed vpon me. To vs that speake dayly of
the death of Christ, (he was crucified, dead
and buried) can the memory or the men-
tion of our owne death bee yrkesome or
bitter? There are in these latter times a-
mongst vs, that name death frely enogh,
and the death of God, but in blasphemous
oathes & execrations. Miserable men, who
shall therefore bee sayd neuer to haue na-
med Iesus, because they haue named him
too often. And therfore heare Iesus say, Ne
sciui vos, I neuer knew you, because they
made themselues too familiar with him.
Moses and Elias talkt with Christ of his
death, only, in a holy and ioyfull sense of the
benefit which they and all the world were
to receiue by that. Discourses of Religion
should not be out of curiosity, but to edifica-
tion. And thē they talkt with Christ of his
death at that time, when he was in the grea-
test 37 (37) test height of glory that euer he admitted in
this world, that is, his transfiguration. And
wee are afraid to speake to the great men of
this world of their death, but nourish in
them a vaine imagination of immortality, &
immutability. But bonum est nobis esse hic (as
Saint Peter said there) It is good to dwell
here, in this consideration of his death, and
therefore transferre wee our tabernacle (our
deuotions) through some of those steps
which God the Lord made to his issue of
death that day.Conformitas, Take in the whole day from
the houre that Christ receiued the passe-
ouer vpon Thursday, vnto the houre in
which hee dyed the next day. Make this
present day that day in thy deuotion, and
consider what hee did, and remember
what you haue done. Before hee instituted
and celebrated the Sacrament, (which
was after the eating of the passeouer) hee
proceeded to that act of humility, to wash
his disciples feete, euen Peters, who for a
while resisted him; In thy preparation to
the holy and blessed Sacrament, hast thou
with a sincere humility sought a reconci-
F3 liation 38 (38) liation with all the world, euen with those
that haue beene auerse from it, and refused
that reconciliation from thee? If so and
not els thou hast spent that first part of
his last day, in a conformity with him. Af-
ter the Sacrament hee spent the time till
night in prayer, in preaching, in Psalmes;
Hast thou considered that a worthy recea-
ving of the Sacrament consists in a conti-
nuation of holinesse after, aswell as in a pre-
paration before. If so, thou hast therein
also conformed thy selfe to him, so Christ
spent his time till night; At night hee went
into the garden to pray, and he prayed pro-
lixious he spent much time in prayer, how
much? Because it is literally expressed, that
he prayed there three seuerall times,Luk. 22. 24. & that
returning to his Disciples after his first
prayer, and finding them a sleepe sayd, could
ye not watch with me one houre,Mat. 26 40Mat. 26. 40. it is collected
that he spent three houres in prayer. I dare
scarce aske thee whither thou wentest, or
how thou disposedst of thy self, when it grew
darke & after last night: If that time were
spent in a holy recommendation of thy selfe to 39 (39) to God, and a submission of thy will to his,
It was spent in a conformity to him. In that
time and in those prayers was his agony &
bloody sweat. I will hope that thou didst
pray; but not euery ordinary and customary
prayer, but prayer actually accompanied
with shedding of teares, and dispositiuely in
a readines to shed blood for his glory in ne-
cessary cases, puts thee into a conformity
with him; About midnight he was taken
and bound with a kisse, art thou not too con-
formable to him in that? Is not that too li-
terally, too exactly thy case? at midnight to
haue bene taken & bound with a kisse? from
thence he was caried back to Ierusalem, first
to Annas, then to Caiphas, and (as late as
it was) then hee was examined and buffe-
ted, and deliuered ouer to the custody of
those officers, from whome he receiued all
those irrisions, and violences, the couering of
his face, the spitting vpon his face, the blas-
phemies of words, & the smartnes of blowes
which that Gospell mentions. In which cō-
passe fell that Gallicinium, that crowing of
the Cock which called vp Peter to his repen-
tance,/fw> 40 (40) tance, how thou passedst all that time thou
knowest. If thou didst any thing that nee-
ded Peters teares, and hast not shed them, let
me be thy Cock, doe it now, Now thy Ma-
ster (in the vnworthiest of his seruants)
lookes back vpon thee, doe it now; Betimes,
in the morning, so soone as it was day, the
Iewes held a counsell in the high Priests hall,
and agreed vpon their euidence against him,
and then caried him to Pilate, who was to
be his Iudge; diddest thou accuse thy selfe
when thou wakedst this morning, and wast
thou content euen with false accusations
(that is) rather to suspect actions to haue
beene sin, which were not, then to smother
& iustify such as were truly sins? then thou
spentst that houre in conformity to him: Pi-
late found no euidence against him, & there-
fore to ease himselfe, and to passe a comple-
ment vpon Herod, Tetrarch of Galilee, who
was at that time at Ierusalem (because Christ
being a Galilean was of Herods iurisdiction)
Pilat sent him to Herod, & rather as a mad-
man then a malefactor, Herod remaunded
him (with scornes) to Pilat to proceed a-
gainst 41 (41) gainst him; And this was about eight of
the clock. Hast thou been content to come
to this Inquisition, this examination, this
agitation, this cribration, this pursuit of thy
conscience, to sift it to follow it from the
sinnes of thy youth to thy present sinnes, from
the sinnes of thy bed, to the sinnes of thy
boorde, & from the substance to the circum-
stance of thy sinnes? That's time spent like
thy Sauiours. Pilat wold haue saued Christ,
by vsing the priuiledge of the day in his be-
halfe, because that day one prisoner was to
be deliuered, but they choose Barrabas, hee
would haue saued him from death; by satis-
fying their fury, with inflicting other tor-
ments vpon him, scourging and crowning
with thornes, and loading him with many
scornefull and ignominous contumlies; But
they regarded him not, they pressed a cru-
cifying. Hast thou gone about to redeeme
thy sinne, by fasting, by Almes, by disciplines
and mortifications? in way of satisfaction
to the Iustice of God? that will not serue,
thats not the right way, wee presse an vtter
Crucifying of that sinne that gouernes thee; G and 42 (42) & that conformes thee to Christ. Towards
noone Pilat gaue iudgement, and they made
such hast to execution, as that by noone hee
was vpon the Crosse. There now hangs that
sacred Body vpon the Crosse, rebaptized in
his owne teares and sweat, and embalmed
in his owne blood aliue. There are those
bowells of compassion, which are so conspi-
cuous, so manifested, as that you may see
them through his wounds. There those glo-
rious eyes grew faint in their sight: so as the
Sun ashamed to suruiue them, departed with
his light too. And then that Sonne of God,
who was neuer from vs, and yet had now
come a new way vnto vs in assuming our na-
ture deliuers that soule (which was neuer
out of his Fathers hands) by a new way, a
voluntary emission of it into his Fathers
hands; For though to this God our Lord,
belong'd these issues of death, so that consi-
dered in his owne contract, he must neces-
sarily dye, yet at no breach or battery, which
they had made vpon his sacred Body, issued
his soule, but emisit, hee gaue vp the Ghost,
and as God breathed a soule into the first A-
gadam, 43 (43) dam, so this second Adam breathed his soule
into God, into the hands of God. There wee
leaue you in that blessed dependancy, to hang
vpon him that hangs vpon the Crosse, there
bath in his teares, there suck at his woundes,
and lye downe in peace in his graue, till hee
vouchsafe you a resurrection, and an
ascension into that Kingdome, which
hee hath prepared for you, with
the inestimable price of his
incorruptible blood. AMEN. G2 44 (44) 45 (45) An Elegie,
On Dr . Donne, Deane of Pauls. TOTo have liu'd eminent in a degree Beyond our loftiest flights, that is, like thee; Or t'haue had too much merit is not safe; For such excesses find no Epitaph, At common graues wee haue poetick eyes Can melt themselues in easy Elegies; Each quill can drop his tributary verse, And pin it, like the Hatchments, to the hearse. But at thine, poeme or inscription (Rich soule of wit and language) wee haue none. Indeed a silence doth that tombe befit, Where is no Herald left to blazon it. Widdow'd inuention iustly doth forbeare To come abroade knowing thou art not there, Late her great Patron, whose prerogatiue Maintain'd and cloth'd her so, as none aliue Must now presume to keepe her at thy rate, Though hee the Indies for her dower estate. Or els that awfull fire, which once did burne G3 In 46 (46) In thy cleare braine, now fal'ne into thy vrne, Liues there to fright rude Empericks from thence, Which might profane thee by their ignorance, Whoeuer writes of thee and in a style Vnworthy such a theame, does but reuile Thy pretious dust, and wake a learned spirit, Which might reuenge his rapes vpon thy merit. For all a low pitch'd fancy can deuise, Will proue at best but hallowed iniuries. Thou (like the dying Swan) did'st lately sing Thy mournefull dirge in audience of the King: When pale lookes, and weake accents of thy breath Presented so to life that peece of death, That it was fear'd and prophecied by all, Thou thither cam'st to preach thy Funerall. O! had'st thou in an Elegiak knell Rung out vnto the world thine owne farwell; And in thy high victorious numbers beat The solemne measure of thy grieu'd retreat: Thou might'st the Poets seruice now haue mist As well, as then thou did'st preuent the Priest, And neuer to the world beholding bee So much as for an Epitaph for thee. I doe not like the office, nor is it fit, Thou who did'st lend our age such summes of wit, Should'st now reborrow from her bankrupt mine That ore to bury thee, which once was thine: Rather still leaue vs in thy debt, and know (Exalted soule) more glory'tis to owe Vnto thy hearse, what wee can neuer pay, Then with embased coyne those rights defray. Commit wee then thee to thy selfe; nor blame Our 47 (47) Our drooping loues, which thus to thy owne fame Leaue thee executor: since but thy owne No pen could doe thee Iustice, nor bayes crowne Thy vast desert, saue that wee nothing can Depute to bee thy ashes Guardian. So Iewellers no art nor mettall trust, To forme the Diamond, but the Diamonds dust. An Epitaph on Dr. Donne. II Cannotcannot blame those men, that knew thee well, Yet dare not helpe the world to ring thy knell In tunefull Elegies. Ther's not language knowne Fit for thy mention, but was first thine owne. The Epitaphs thou writt'st, haue so bereft Our pens of wit, ther's not one fancy left Enough to weepe thee, what hence forth wee see Of art and nature, must result from thee. There may perchance some busy gathering friend Steale from thine owne works, and that varied lend (Which thou bestowd'st on others) to thy hearse; And so thou shalt liue still in thine owne verse. Hee that will venture further, may commit A pitied errour, shew his Zeale, not wit. Fate hath done mankind wrong; vertue may aime Reward of consciense, neuer can of fame, Since her great trumpet's broke, could only giue Faith to the world, command it to beleeue. Hee then must write, that would define thy parts Heere lyes the best Diuinity, all the Arts. Finis.