A sermon preached at the funeral of Mr. James Houblon who was buried at St. Mary Wolnoth Church in Lombard-Street June 28, 1682 / by Gilbert Burnet.

PSALM xxxvii. Vers. 37.

Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace.

THINGS that are very unusual and strike upon our minds by reason of their novelty, do commonly attract our eyes, and fix our attention: New sights work somewhat on most people, and a great deal on the wea∣ker sort. Men of remote Nations or Mon∣strous Productions are run after and gazed

upon: but the proper subject on which every wise man fixes his thoughts, is that which can afford him such Instructions, that he be∣comes wiser and better by his observations: and indeed I am sorry to add, that there are so few of those objects, that if a desire to learn from them, does not work much on us, yet meer curiosity might produce more than ordinary care to observe them: for we do not see such sights every day.

We meet with crouds of fools and mad∣men, of corrupt and crooked men every where, but for the perfect and upright man we may be justly called upon,* 1.1 as Ieremy did on the People of Ierusalem, to run to and fro through the streets, and to see and know and seek in the broad places thereof (somewhat like Exchanges or Market-places) if we can find such a man, if there be any that executeth judgement and seek∣eth the truth. If I tell you, that he who is to be the subject of a great part of this Dis∣course, was such a man, I hope it may be of some use, to let you see in what things this Character agreed to him; though it comes with this melancholy diminution, that he was and is no more among us. The

Prophet promises in the Name of God, that upon their finding such a one, he would par∣don Ierusalem. But though upon this occa∣sion we cannot make that comfortable infe∣rence from the discovery we are now about, yet if the observing what he was, does in any measure dispose us to imitate him, then we may hope for a National Pardon, upon yet more certain grounds, unless our sins are grown to that pitch, that God will not par∣don them, and that good men among us shall only be able to deliver their own souls, when the Day of our Visitation shall come upon us; which indeed does not seem to be very far from us.

But I shall prepare you for what I am to say concerning this perfect and upright man, by considering first the importance of the words which I have read to you. There is a great variety among the several Translations of them, which make them have very different senses. The Hebrew as it is pointed in our Bibles, is rendred exactly in our Transla∣tion; but the Seventy Interpreters have read it otherwise, which in English is exactly this, keep innocence and behold uprightness, for there is

a remnant to the peaceable man. They are fol∣lowed by the Vulgar. The Chaldee Para∣phrase renders them thus, Keep integrity and behold uprightness, for the end of man is peace. The Syriack has it thus, Observe sincerity, and chuse uprightness, for there is a good end to the man of peace. The Arabick is thus rendred, Keep meekness, and thou shalt see uprightness; for there will be an end to the peaceable man. We see all these Translators have read the words rendred in our Bibles upright and perfect, so, that they did not understand them of an upright and perfect man, but of uprightness and perfection in the abstract; which the same words a little varied in the pointing do in∣deed signifie. The word rendred by us mark, they have rendred keep, which it does strictly signifie; and because what we mark we keep in our memory, therefore it is of∣ten used in that sense. The word rendred latter end does also sometimes signifie a re∣ward, because it is given at the latter end of the performance of that for which it was pro∣mised; and so the sense will be much the same, whether it be rendred thus, There will be a reward at last for the men of peace, or the latter end of that man is peace. Thus I have

shewed the different wayes of reading and rendring these words; and in discoursing of them, I shall consider them in all these seve∣ral senses which we see have been put on them, and shall speak to these particulars.

• 1. I shall shew you, what is meant by perfection and uprightness, or by the perfect and upright man.
• 2. I shall shew, how we are to keep and observe those Vertues, and what re∣gard we ought to have for such as are eminent for them.
• 3. I shall shew, what is the happy end and conclusion of them, and of those that possess them.
• And then I shall come to the Applica∣tion to the occasion of our present assembly.

To return:

First, By perfection, we are not to under∣stand, either such essential perfection as be∣longs only to that eternal being in strict∣ness

of speech; nor such a perfection as we hope for in another state; but only such a perfection as makes any thing compleat in its kind; that is, such a soundness in the faculties and powers of a mans soul, as makes him an entire man, that is, one that is truly a reasonable creature, acted and guided by reason. All that belongs to a thinking na∣ture, is a clearness of understanding and judging, an obsequiousness in the will to the dictates of an enlightned mind, and a disposition to consider things carefully, which is the chief and best exercise of the freedom of the will; together with the regulation of a mans inward affections and passions, and the conduct of his actions. He that has a considerable soundness in every one of these, is perfect in those parts that may be said to compose a rational nature: But in all these there are different degrees: some men have a greater extent of knowledge than others, though many of the pretenders to it, are too often employed about things that are either impertinent or hurtful to them: but every one may be called perfect in his knowledge, who rightly apprehends and judges well those things which relate to

himself, who has his mind raised towards the best objects, and possessed with deep impressions of God and true goodness, and the rewards of another state: and the more deeply he considers these things, and the more frequently he reflects on them, he is so much the more perfect, how little soever he may know or relish those vain and empty Notions, which many magnifie as the highest flights of knowledge. Again, he who em∣ployes the powers of his will, and his facul∣ty of choice, or liberty to turn his under∣standing to the best objects, and breaks him∣self either of an obstinate and ungoverned stiffness, or of a sluggish faintness and feeble easiness, and attains to a due firmness in his resolutions, and a stability in his purposes, avoiding the extreams of being too perem∣ptory, or too yielding, is also perfect in this part of a rational nature; and if this temper pre∣vails in the main current of a mans life, he may be well accounted a perfect man, though in some particulars and upon some occasions he leaves it behind him.

As for a mans passions and affections, he that resists their fury, and brings him∣self

to an habitual calmness and gentleness, that is not sudden and violent, but deliberate and composed, that observes the weak sides of his constitution, and keeps himself at as great a distance as he can from that which may inflame him too much, that endeavours to raise his affections to the best objects, which make him strong against in∣feriour objects and weak assaults, he that has learn't to make a right estimate and value of things, and studies to poise him∣self, so that none of the various accidents of life may very much alter him, that keeps a watchful eye upon himself, and is jea∣lous of every thing that is apt to heat him too much, this is a perfect man.

I do not think a man unless he be ex∣treamly stupid, can really be perfectly the same in all the turns of his life; and there∣fore I am very apt to conclude, that the pretensions of the Stoicks in this matter, were either only extravagant boastings and vain affectations, or that they first brought their minds by a long constraint to a heavi∣ness and dulness, by which the active pow∣ers of their souls were in a great measure

enervated and stupified. That quickness of thought or acrimony in the mind which is called affection or passion, is often necessary to animate us to great undertakings, and to support us in difficult performances: and if a man could so far prevail on himself, as to root it out of his mind, it might per∣haps enable him to suffer uneasie things with less pain, but it would mightily emas∣culate the vigour of his active powers. So I conclude, a perfect man is he that cools his passions, and governs his affections, and not he that roots them out entirely.

The last and most visible branch of this perfection, is a good and wise conduct of a mans actions: he that considers well the station that God has set him in, and the relation in which he stands, to the rest of mankind, together with the duties incum∣bent on him, and acts prudently and dis∣creetly, that governs his tongue, so as not to give advantages against himself, nor to make enemies needlesly, that guides his affairs with discretion, that orders his fami∣ly with prudent care and foresight, that lives to the good of mankind, that consi∣ders

himself born not only for himself, but for the publick good, and therefore layes himself out to do all the good that he can, first by his own example and the in∣fluence that may have on the world, and then by instructing, admonishing and dire∣cting those that are under his authority or influence, and is ready to assist, advise and relieve those that are in any difficulty, or stand in need of any thing that he can spare, this is the perfect man; and that temper is the perfection which we are to observe or keep.

I would not raise the notion of perfecti∣on too high, lest any should be discou∣raged from endeavouring to attain to it; nor let it fall too low, lest some may come too easily to imagine they are already perfect. It's good to have such high and great no∣tions of Vertue as are on the one hand apt to excite a generous temper of mind in us; and yet on the other hand, are not impra∣cticable Idea's, which subsist only in the imaginations of high-flown men. A man that has all these in a good and solid mea∣sure, is a perfect man, and a perfectly religious

man, though he has not yet attained to such degrees in every one of them, as he may hope to grow up to, after some years pro∣ficiency. Single instances and errors now and then may fall out, and yet he remain still a perfect man: for we are to remem∣ber a distinction between a perfection of parts, and a perfection in degrees: as a man in relation to his body is a perfect man, if he has all the Vitals within, and all the Organs and Members without, that belong to the structure of his Body, though there is not in all that exact symmetry of parts, nor that agreeableness in every one of them.

As for uprightness or the upright man, the true Notion of this will be easier formed, and the sooner dispatched. Uprightness is an exact correspondency between a mans thoughts and his words and actions, when a man is possessed with such a candour and probity of mind, that he lyes under no tem∣tations to disguise or dissemble his thoughts, so that integrity and truth is that to which he trusts,* 1.2 as knowing it will preserve him; and therefore concludes, that he who walks uprightly,* 1.3

walks surely: when a man is so far raised above the World, that neither a desire to recommend himself to any, by abject flatte∣ry, nor to make unreasonable gains in his dealings, can work on him, so as to say any thing otherwise than as he thinks, he is an upright man, and such as alwayes speaks the truth as it is in his heart.* 1.4 This straight∣ness of soul, supposes many things necessa∣ry to prepare a man to it: he must be both innocent and humble, moderate in his de∣signs, and free from covetousness: for any of all these things will make a man warp insensibly, and bend into some crooked postures, which after a long bending, will grow to be so strangely rooted, that that which is crooked cannot be made straight: and when a man lets his integrity once go, the fears of a discovery, together with the other ill consequences of it, and that fatal train that is in ill actions, by which one draws on another, will make it much harder to recover it, than it is at first to maintain it. And if a man can once so far prevail over those honest and candid dispositions that are in him, as to let him∣self cool and sleep and go on, in any thing

that is indirect or disingenious, he will come to be so fortified against those ten∣dernesses and awakenings of Conscience, that he is in a probable way of growing up to any pitch of wickedness to which he may be tempted.

And thus I have considered the impor∣tance of this Character, the perfect and up∣right man, or perfection and uprightness.

I come next to the Second Particular, which is the observation and regard we ought to have to such persons or such a temper. We ought to mark them well; to consider what they offer for our imitation, and to keep well in our memory that instruction which their example affords: and as we ob∣serve them, so as to learn from them, so we ought to carry in our minds such a sense of their Vertues, as to make us esteem them highly while they live, and pay all due honour to their memories when they are dead.

First, We are so to mark them as to learn from them, and are to lay up in our me∣mories

what we have observed in them; and thus we may both mark the perfect man, and preserve or keep up that same temper in our selves: There is no way more effectual to the study of Vertue, than the observing the excellent patterns that good men set us. In them Vertue appears cloathed with all those circumstances, that may both represent it more amiable, and make it be more easi∣ly imitated by us. The abstracted and Phi∣losophical Idea's of Vertue are indeed very beautiful and convincing to them that can frame them right, and pursue and apply them well; but every man has not that strength of apprehension, and clearness of judgement that is necessary for this: and general rules are so diversified by various circumstances, that every one has not a faculty of applying them to the several actions and in the vari∣ous turns of life: and therefore when God was to instruct mankind in the excellentest way of Religion that was ever proposed, which was delivered in the greatest simplici∣ty of expression that was possible, he set at the same time before us the perfectest pat∣tern that ever was.* 1.5 The Word was made flesh and dwelt among men: and the greatest part

of the Gospels consists rather of a Narrative of his holy and exemplary Life, than of an exact system of his Precepts: for the one is contained and delivered in the other. In him we see those shining Vertues of Patience, Contempt of the World, Humility, Meek∣ness, Submission to the Will of God, Zeal for his Glory, and an unwearied readiness to do good, which could not be overcome by the most ungrateful and injurious returns that were possible.

There is this difference between that and all other patterns, that we cannot exceed in our exactness of imitating it: whereas we may grow affectate and apish in imitating any other pattern. The best men have their defects and failings, which made St. Paul restrain and limit our being followers of the Apostles themselves, by this Caution,* 1.6 as they were followers of Christ. There are also par∣ticular humours in very good men, which do well enough in them, being natural to them, and being set off with many other excellencies that are in them; but these being more visible and coming under more com∣mon observation, some vain and foolish

persons hoping to be thought like those ex∣cellent persons, by an affectation of some Gestures and Customs that were peculiar to them, make themselves thereby the ob∣jects of the scorn of the Wise and Judicious. We are to observe what is truly excellent and useful in those whom we have known, and as to small matters, we are still to do that which is most natural, and has least of constraint in it.

It is a great blessing for one, especially in his young and tender years, in which he is scarce capable of any thing but imi∣tation, to have this easie and profitable way of instruction offered to him: and every one is to consider, that this will be put to their account, and that they have a great deal to answer for on this very rea∣son. If Divine Providence was thus be∣fore-hand with them, and laid such a hap∣piness in their way so early, that good im∣pressions did prevent all bad ones, then what a heavy charge will it be, if they have en∣deavoured to blot all these out, and to super∣induce bad ones?

But as we owe our selves the good Improve∣ment of this way of Instruction, so we owe those Persons, to whom the Characters in my Text agree, great esteem and reverence as long as they live, and all due respect when they are dead. We ought to look on them as burning and shining Lights, and are to rejoice in their Light: we ought to consider them as the Salt, the Light, and the Pillars of the Earth: we do not know how much we owe them for the lengthning out of our Tranquillity, their very being in the World may be a mean to suspend such Judg∣ments in which they might be involved, and their Prayers and Intercessions have certainly great Efficacy; so that every time we see such a Person, it should rejoyce our Heart, and we should conclude there goes one of the Preser∣vers and Supporters of the Nation, if not of the World; for when the number of the Elect is accomplished, then the rest are not to expect those common Favours of Day and Night, of Times and Seasons, of Sun-shine and Rain, in which the wicked share more for their Neigh∣bour-hood to good Men, than upon their own account. We are to do nothing to grieve them, nor to make those Lives that are so usefull to

us, uncomfortable to themselves. Every Man is to consider a truly Good Man as his Bene∣factor, and as a sort of a Father to him: but those who receive a more immediate Blessing from them, owe greater returns of tender Af∣fection and reverent Duty.

When they die, we are not to afflict our selves with an unmanly Sorrow, especially if they have lived out their course, and die in a good old Age, full of Dayes, and full of Chil∣dren: but the true Decencies and Solemnities of a Religious Mourning require better and more useful Exercises. Those more immediately con∣cerned in them, ought to reflect on their Lives, and gather, as the remains of a Shipwrack, all that was memorable in them; that so that which Humility and Modesty required should be kept secret while they lived, may be then published to the honour of Religion, and for the instruction of others; and in particular to be a Remembrance to those relating to them, or descended from them. And, above all things, when such are withdrawn, who, as may be rea∣sonably supposed, were a publick Blessing to the Nation, those who survive, especially such as do more immediately fill up their room in o∣ther

respects, ought to set themselves with all possible care to make up that Loss to the Pub∣lick, and so endeavour to imitate, and as much as they can to out do them (for in such a Case, Emulation even with ones Father is a Vertue) in all those excellent things in which they were a Pattern to them, and a Blessing to the Nati∣on, or place where they lived. Thus, if we so mark Perfect and Upright Men, as to keep the like temper in our selves, then we fully comply with the Duty in my Text.

The third Particular is the happy End and Conclusion of those Vertues, and of them that possess them. What ever the exact rendring of these Words may be, of which I made mention in the beginning of this Discourse, it comes all to one purpose, that either those Men of Peace shall have a good End, or that their End shall be Peace. By this Peace in their End, we are not to understand an easie or peaceable Death, tho' perhaps in the old Dispensation, that consisted much in Temporal Promises, this might have been a part of their Reward. But under the Religion of a Crucified Saviour, and the Dis∣pensation of the Crofs, we are not to promise

our selves an Exemption from uneasy and pain∣ful things, neither in our lives, nor at our death. The greatest Glory of the Christian Church hath been in their Deaths, literally burning and shining Lights, and in those fiery Chariots have triumphed over the World; and what the Psal∣mist observed under the Old Testament, is much oftner verified under the New, that the wicked have no Bands in their Death,* 1.7 and both living and dying, seem to have great Advan∣tages over good and vertuous Men; of whom, as the World is not worthy, so it does not know the Value it ought to set on them, nor the Use it ought to make of them: But verily, there is a Reward for the Righteous,* 1.8 because there is a God that judgeth in the Earth: and since he doth not always give them their Reward in this Life, it is certain he has provided one for them after it; and in order to their having a full Reward and an higher degree of Happiness in the next State, he does exercise them often very feverely as to all outward Appearance in this Life.

But if they have not a great measure of Peace neither living nor dying; yet upon the Separa∣tion of their Souls and Bodies they do then en∣ter

into Peace, and into the Ioy of their Lord, into those blessed and peaceful Habitations, where none of those Jars and Contentions with which this World is exercised, disturb their Rest. No Disputes about Religion, no Factions of State, mar that everlasting Quiet,* 1.9 which they always enjoy, when they adore the God of Peace, and follow the Lamb, the Prince of Peace. The Contests and Heats now among us must needs make all the Sons of Peace grow weary; and wish with the Psalmist, that they had Wings like a Dove, so that they might fly away and be at rest, and hasten their escape from the windy Storm and Tem∣pest; for certainly we are fallen heavily un∣der the Curse in the following Words: De∣stroy, O Lord, and divide their Tongues; for I have seen Violence and Strife in the City: and when it is come to that, that to be a Man of Peace, is look'd on as an ill Character, of one that is ei∣ther luke-warm and indifferent, or is a false, and temporizing Man, who would not long for those cool and silent Shades of the Grave, and for that Peace that is in the Regions beyond it? And since this is not in a Man's Power to bring it sooner on him, than as it is ordered by Divine Appointment, it would at least make a

Man seek a retreat in some solitary Place, where he might neither hear nor see any more of the disorders and madness of a wicked World, than were necessary to direct him in his Prayers and Intercessions: or, if this is likewise denied one, and that his Station and Circumstances ob∣lige him still to live in the World, it will at least have this effect on him, to make him have as little meddling, and to live as much within himself as he can; and to maintain within him∣self that Peace which he has ineffectually endea∣voured to advance in the World: and certainly when ever Death comes on a good Man, it will be so much the more welcome to him, because he can find very little Pleasure in living among People that seem to have lost both their Tem∣per and their Wits. Let us raise our Thoughts and Hopes above this present World, and en∣courage our selves, that tho' we live uneasy here, and tho' we may be perhaps called to end our Days in a most terrible manner, which may prove our Punishment for those many Sins, for which tho' God will be merciful to us with relation to another State, yet he may think fit to correct us severely for them in this Life; yet if we continue so to mark the perfect

Man, and so behold the Upright, as to follow their Steps, then as their End is Peace, so shall ours likewise be.

I have now gone through those Particulars which I proposed; the Application is still be∣hind; and this relates to this sad Occasion that now calls us together. I am next to tell you what you are to mark in this perfect and upright Man, who has now entered into Peace. But how should I adventure to speak of one that lived so long, and in so eminent a Condition amongst you, of whose Praises you who knew him are now so full! He that had not that Hap∣piness, must be forgiven, if he doth not describe him with those Advantages that another might have, who had observed him long, and had known him intimately. I will be strictly cauti∣ous in what I shall say, because I know that ex∣cessive Commendations, which are too ordinary on these Occasions, have this ill Effect among many others; that because, perhaps there is a little too much said, the whole is disbelieved; and generally those Discourses are considered, rather as a flattery of the Living, than a peice of Justice to the Dead. I shall therefore rather

lessen things than enlarge them; and shall tell you nothing but that of which I have good As∣surance, and that upon such Information that I have no reason to doubt of it. It is, I confess, some comfort that I am to speak of a Man that was well known in this very place, so that I am perswaded many that hear me, shall say, I have rather said too little than too much.

Mr. Iames Houblon was descended from that worthy Confessor, Mr. Houblon, a Gentleman of Flanders, who above an hundred Years ago fled over to England, from the Persecution that was raised there; against all that embraced the Purity of the Christian Religion, and rejected the Idolatry and Superstition of the Church of Rome, by the Duke of Alva, who proceeded in it with all the Rigor and Cruelty with which that bloody Religion could inspire a Man of so fierce a Temper, acting under a King no less bloody than his Religion; that, as a second Herod, defiled his own House with the Blood both of a Son and a Wife, and having resolved to root out of the World the Purity of the Christian Religion, and to that end having set up the bloody Tribunals of the Inquisition, he

put those Provinces under that implacable Go∣vernour. Then all that received the Reforma∣tion, were reduced to those hard Straits, which how far they are from us, the only wise God only knows, either to act against their Consci∣ences, and worship as a God that which they believed was but a piece of Bread, the most bru∣tal and unaccountable of all the sorts of Idolatry, or to seal their Faith with their Blood, and that with all the Preparatives of Torments before it that merciless Inquisitors could invent, and in Conclusion, to be burnt at a Stake, and de∣stroyed in such numbers, that no fewer than 18000 were reckoned to have suffered by the hand of the Executioner in seven Years time, or as the least dreadful, to sit down with the loss of all they had, and fly for their Lives to other Coun∣tries. This last being the most eligible, where it can be done, our Saviour having allowed us, when we are persecuted in one City,* 1.10 to flee to ano∣ther, was the choice of that noble Person, who did by this Action both ennoble himself, and all that descended from him. It is true, in such Persecutions every one cannot possibly fly; tho' this is but a melancholy Comfort, that one by leaving their Country and Friends, and all

they have, may hope to get safe, tho' almost na∣ked, to another Kingdom; yet even this small Mercy is denied under the Influences of that cruel Religion. Here in England in Q. Mary's Time, the Strangers were suffered to go away, yet care was taken no secure the Ports, and not to suffer Natives to fly beyond Sea, when they were resolved to burn them at home; and now in France, when Methods are taken to make those of the Reformed Religion, either die of Famine and in Misery, or to force them to commit Idolatry, it is made capital to fly, and those that endeavour it are to be condemned to the Gallies. But I cannot leave this matter without encouraging you to go on in your Charities, and Readiness to releive those that are forced to come and take Sanctuary among you. You see what the Nation and this City has gained by the Reception of the Strangers that fled hither for refuge in the last Age: You see how great a Citizen you had in him that is now dead, and into how many he is now divided, who by their Interest could almost make a City alone: and you do not know how many such may be in the Loins of those that now come among you, who may produce many to be

as great Blessings to the next Age, as this Fa∣mily is to the present. But to return to this Upright Man.

He was born in this City, the 2d of Iuly, 1592; so that he wanted but a few days of being 90 Years of Age when he died. He was bapti∣zed in the French Congregation, and continued a Member of it his whole Life; he married one of his own Country-Women, the Daughter of Mr. Ducane, who fled over hither upon the same account; so that this Family is descended from Confessors on both sides. He was one of the chief Pillars of that Congregation, in which he often served as Antient, and to the sup∣port of which, and of all the poor Exiles that came over, he contributed always so liberally, that if he did not still live in so many Children, to whom God has given Hearts as well as Fortunes like his, this loss would be very sen∣sibly felt. He did communicate once a month constantly, and was never absent from their Assemblies either on the Lord's-day or on the Week-day, and this was become so customary to him, that it was not without difficulty, that he was kept from going thither even during his

Sickness. He was known to be a very devout Man and frequent in Prayers, both in publick and private; he was always breathing out that deep Sense he had of Religon to those about him, more particularly to his Children, on whom, as he took care to have them all religi∣ously educated, so as they grew up, he conti∣nued still to exhort them to go on in that good way in which he had early initiated them, and he often recommended to them secret Prayer, as the great means of keeping up the Life of Religion, which he thought could not be kept up without it; and not being satisfied with what he said to them by word of Mouth while he lived, he took care that after his Death he should still speak to them, in a great many excel∣lent Letters and Papers which he left behind him, both for all his Children in general, and for every one of them in particular, of which I have seen some, and must say this of them, that they express a most genuine and lively sense of Religion, without any laboured Peri∣ods, or Affectations of Words or Phrases, but with a Simplicity which shews he writ as his Heart dictated; of which I will give you an Essay, taken out of the Letter he writ for them all in general.

The Lord bless you all, and give you his Grace, that you may love and fear him all your days. O! labour with all your Might to be holy in all manner of Conversation, eschewing all Evil, and the Appearance there∣of. Be charitable to the Poor, live in Unity and Love among your selves; which if you do in Sincerity, you may expect God's Blessings up∣on your Endeavours, so far as they be law∣ful. Forget not daily Prayers in your Fami∣lies, and walk humbly before him all your days; if you do that which you ought as Chri∣stians, you will find Mercy with the Lord, and Respect with good Men. The Lord in Mercy bless you all (my sweet Ones) prin∣cipally in Spiritual Blessings, Amen.

It is, I assure you, my daily Prayer, that you may so do, Amen.

All my drift in all my Papers has been, that you may live holily and righteously before the Lord in this your Pilgrimage, that so you may be happy to Eternity, when time shall be no more, and that through his free Grace

and Mercy in our Blessed Saviour and Pre∣cious Redeemer; for without Holiness and Sanctification none shall see him with Com∣fort. O love the Lord, and all Men, and live in Love one with another, if you expect God's Blessing.

And in relation to the Government, he left this Charge on them.

Fear the Lord and ho∣nour the King, praying daily for all whom God hath set over you in Church and State, that so you may under them live a godly and peaceable Life.

You see how fervently and seriously he re∣commends the Fear of God, and mutual Love, to his Children. As he saw them to his great Joy, live in this blessed Harmony, during his own Life, so he took all possible care to have it kept up after his Death; for he charged them to enter into solemn Promises upon his removal to continue still to love one another; which they are resolved religiously to perform; and of which no doubt very happy Effects will appear.

As he was very sensible of the Blessing of Brethren dwelling together in Unity, so his Love and Charity were more diffused than to be restrained only to his own Family. He had an univesal Charity for all good and worthy Men, against which let hot and angry Men say what they will, it is, and still wil be the Badg of a true Disciple of Christ. He never engaged in our unhappy Differences; but, without meddling in matters that did not belong to him, he loved all that was good in all Men, and extended his Charity to the Relief of proper Objects of all Perswasions, both in City and Country: Of which I need say the less, because it was so eminent, and so many did partake of it. And he took particular care to manage this so secret∣ly, that often the Persons themselves knew not from whence their Relief came: He did also industriously seek out such proper Objects for it, without putting modest but necessitous Persons to the uneasines of asking it. He him∣self, while in the City, did always joyn with the French Congregation, but when he was in the Country, he joyned in the Worship of the Church of England.

He looked on the Reformed Churches, by reason of the unreformed Lives of the Members of them, with great regret, and did apprehend there was a severe Cup to go round them, and was afraid England might drink the Dregs of it, and might be again brought under the Tyranny of the Church of Rome, and the inundation of a Forreign Power, in which we have all reason to pray God that his Fears prove not too pro∣phetical: of this I have seen a full account in one of his Letters to one of his Children, which was sealed up with his Will.

I need not enlarge upon other Particulars, of his Justice and fairness in his Dealings, of his gentle and affable Deportment to all Per∣sons, and of his readiness to do all the Good that was in his Power: you all know so much of those things, that I may well say the less; for I find his Memory lives, and is like to maintain it self long in this place: the Witnesses of his Vertues being so many and the Instances of them having been so frequent and so signal.

Thus we see what a perfect and upright Man he was; now let us a little consider what his latter end hath been. This good Man had a great deal of that hundred-fold which our Savi∣our promised even in this Life, to those who forsook their Houses,* 1.11 Lands and Families for his sake. This entail descended on him from his Father, and he having taken care to secure and maintain his Title to so great a Blessing, has had as visible and long a share of the good things of this Life, as, all things being put together, any Man in this Age has had.

He lived 90 Years, all to a few days; and the last 35 years of his Life, till a little before his Death, he enjoyed a vigorous and perfect Health, together with the greatest of all earth∣ly Blessings, the perfect use of his Senses, his Memory, and Judgment: so that he continued to write many Letters weekly till his last Dis∣ease fell upon him.

About 47 years ago, an unhappy Accident had almost cut him off, when he was yet in the Strength of his Age; he being at a Training

near Morefields, some Powder took fire, by which he, with several others, were blown up; but tho' some of the rest were struck dead out∣right, yet God had a great deal of more Service for him in the World, and so after an Illness of six or seven Weeks continuance, of which it was long doubted, whether he could ever recover, he was again restored to his Family, and lived to see his Childrens Children, and some of their Children, to so great an Increase, that in his time a full hundred came into the World de∣scended from him, all born in full time, and all baptized save one: of these, 67 are yet alive, to which, if eleven, that are come into his Family by Marriages, be joyned, there wanted but two of fourscore, that had right to his daily Blessing. And so entirely did the first Blessing of Encrease and Multiply rest on him and his Children, that there was never an Abortive nor a Child dead∣born in all his numerous Family: A rare and singular Happiness, to which very few have ever been known to have attained. I shall not add any thing of the Comfort he had in them, tho' that is a necessary Ingredient to make such things Blessings indeed, but that belongs too much to the Living, to be insisted on by me.

Having thus lengthened out his Days with a great Increase both of Family and Fortune, he at last for several Years withdrew himself from all wordly Affairs, and so lived only to fear God, and do Good. He having so entire a Health, so plentiful a Fortune, and the Freedom of that Leisure which he gave himself, added to his Crown of Gray-hairs, and the Crown of his Children, that of Good Works, and at last ex∣changed them all for a Crown of Glory.

A few days before Christmass last, he was ta∣ken ill, and tho' it might have been imagined that in so ancient a Man, Nature was so far spent, that it could not have held out long; yet the length of his Distemper, the great Pains and Agonies he endured for about six Months, and the Feaver in which his Life ended, shew∣ed that there was still a great stock of Vigor and Strength in him: but tho' his Memory and Judgment were sometimes clouded during his Sickness, yet it appeared that Goodness and true Piety were become, by long Use and Practice, so natural to him, that when the Clearness of his Mind was much darkened, yet

the excellent Temper of his Soul remained with him to the last.

During his long Sickness, and under all the returns of Pain, which were sometimes very violent, he was never heard speak one impati∣ent word; but was almost always either pray∣ing to God, or praising him; he caused the Scriptures to be read, and Psalms to be sung often about him, and heartily prayed for all that came to see him, and amidst those his A∣gonies, he did not forget the Churches of God both at home and abroad. The last sensible Words he spake to his Children were the Night before he died, upon his Sons coming to see him; he prayed God to bless them, and their Children, with all Temporal Blessings, and above all, with Spiri∣tual Blessings; after this he spoke nothing perfect to any of them, but was heard say in a Devo∣tion to God; My Soul doth magnify the Lord, and my Spirit hath rejoyced in God my Saviour, which he repeated several times; and as these words were a very proper Conclusion to such a Life, so they were, the last he spake distinctly. And tho' it was likely that so long a Sickness in so aged a Person had so shaken the whole

Fabrick, that the Separation of that Soul and Body that had dwelt so long together would have been easy and perhaps insensible, yet it proved otherwise, for he lay many Hours in his last Agonies; but in Conclusion, God took pity on, and released him, so that he entred into his Rest on the 20th of this Month.

Thus was this Righteous and Merciful Man taken away; he has now entred into Peace, and we are to lay his Body in this his Bed, the Grave. I wish we may all lay it to heart, and consider well whether this righteous Man is not ta∣ken away from the Evil to come, which certainly must come on the sooner, for the loss of those that stand in the breach while the measure of our Iniquities seems to be very near filled up: for as it is in the words after my Text; The Transgressors shall be destroyed together, and the end of the wicked shall be cut off: But the Salvation of the Righteous is of the Lord, he is their Strength in the time of Trouble; and the Lord shall keep them and deliver them; he shall deliver them from the Wicked, because they trust in him.

God of his infinite Mercy give us Grace so to mark and follow this and all other perfect and upright Men that have gone before us, and en∣tred into Peace, that we may dy the Death of the Righteous, and that our latter end may be like his; that is, that our end may be Peace. To which, let us earnestly pray to God that we may attain, through Jesus Christ our Lord, that came to make Peace, who is over all, blessed for evermore; Amen.

FINIS.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Jer. 5. 1.
• * 1.2

  Psal. 25. 22.
• * 1.3

  Prov. 10. 9.
• * 1.4

  Psal. 15. 2.
• * 1.5

  John 1. 14.
• * 1.6

  1 Cor. 11. 1.
• * 1.7

  73 B. 4.
• * 1.8

  Ps. 58. 2.
• * 1.9

  Ps. 55. v. 6, 7, 8, 9.
• * 1.10

  Mat. 10. 23.
• * 1.11

  Mat. 19. 29.