Orations of divers sorts accommodated to divers places written by the Lady Marchioness of Newcastle.

A Funeral Oration of a Poet.

Beloved Brethren,

OUr Brother, whose Body is Dead, and is brought to this place to be Inurned, was the most Fearfull man that ever Nature made, not to Die, but to be Forgotten; also he was the most Ambitious man, not for Wealth, Title, or Power, but for Fame; In truth, he was so Am∣bitious, as his Body and Mind was Restless, in∣deavouring to Live, like as Nature, or the Gods of Nature, which Live, and are partly Known In their VVorks, and By their Works, which are their Creatures, especially the Chief of their Creatures, which are Mankind; for we cannot Perceive, but that the Chief Habitations of the Gods are in the Minds of men, with which Ha∣bitations they are so Pleased and Delighted, as they Punish those men that Neglect or Forget them; nay, the Gods Made Men, or such kind of Creatures, to Remember them, as to Speak of them, Think of them, and to Admire them in their Praises, Contemplations, and Adorations; also to have Visible VVorship to their Invisible Deities, as to have Altars, Priests, and Sacrifices, to Offer Praise, Prayers, and Thanksgiving: So that the Gods are not Satisfied to Live only To or In Themselves, but in their Creatures; VVherefore, those men Resemble the Gods most, that desire Fame, which Fame is to be Re∣membred

and Prais'd by All Men in All Ages throughout the VVorld; whereas on the Con∣trary, those that Slight, Neglect, or Speak a∣gainst Fame, as being a Foolish Vain-Glory, in that it doth a man No Good, to be Remembered and Praised after the Bodily Life, are Irreligi∣ous, Ungratefull, and Unnatural: Irreligious, not Desirous to Imitate the Gods; Ungratefull, not Divulging. Natures Gifts; and Unnatural, caring not for the Memory of their Own Kind, as not caring to Live with Them, which is to Live in their Minds: Also they are Unjust to Themselves, not desiring their Own Good, as their Perpetual Name, Memory, and Fame. But this our Brother was not of that sort of Mankind, as to be Contented to be Buried in a Terrestrial Oblivion, but would have a Celestial Remembrance, which the Gods Perpetuate for a Reward to his Merit. So let us lay his Body in the Grave, and let his Praise Ring out his Peal.