.11 Fu11eral Sermon. tion would be no cxcufe to h;m from th.e.IX:r.empt?rY Summo~s of Death; nc1thcr did he make it any cxcufe ~o him from an ,t~duft.nous .and :R:na: p~cparation for it. This he tcflified by the fer1cs of his wholeJ,1fc1 m wluch there evidently appc1rcd .fiJCh an ayv,e qfGod, a!1,d a reif~ fc~fe ?f true Piety and Rchg1~n, as clearlY e~inccd he had flrong and habJtnlted MedJtatwns of that great levelhng day, wherem the highefl 01allltanf) upon .n? higher Ground ~han the mcanelt.. . . He did nqt thrnk Rehg10n any Stam to his fl.onour, nor tpwdwg Hea~en l;obethe "Employment of.thofe only who have nothillg; on Earth. h)deed lrrehgtOn and Arhcifm ar~ now reckoned as a piece of gqod bre~dingam9ng tbe gre:'t Ones of the World ; 'ti~ Q.qw _c9unted as a ~1gn of~ degenerous and \0"!-fun~ Spmt, t~ acknowledge even·P,od.hupfelffor thc1~ Supe.nour. , T\lofe a:e cned up as the WJts of the time, who ea~ d.anngly ddj?l}tC It aga~nft. what:(oever IS {;:tcred m Chnfr1a~1~ty .; yea againfl the hewg of God hlmfelf. 'TiS !lOW become an Argument of a JqdKIOUS and Gallant Mmd, to o~l mto q_ueft\OO the moft Ftmd~menta1 Maxtms of our Fatth, and th'e Authori~y .tOo ofthofe Holy Oracle~ that confirm them. Reafop. aJonc is extol~ led as the belt and moll: fuflicient Guide both in Mlttersof Belief and Praqice; and they appe•~iq ;hat for their judge, which 70111JII'>nly by their Debauches and lutempcrancies, they either fo corrupt that It wtllnot dtfcern the Truth, or elfe fo fot and ftnpifi.e that it cannot. And thus, ds the Moon fi1ines brighteft when it isat the grcateft Oppofition to the Sun, thefe think their Reafon then fh.incs brighteft, when it fhnds at the greateft oppofition to God. This Noble Perfon, whofe Reafon had as fleet a wing, and could foar as high a . pitch as any of theirs who pretend to nothing above it, yet faw it Reafon to give his Faith the precedency, and always found more acquiefcence in a T huJ f aith the Urd, than in the moft critical Refearchcs, and pofitive Co!Iclu fions of his Reafon. So reverend an cfl:eem had he for thofe Sacred Dictates of Scripture, that though his \\lit and Parts fuone forth to admiration, in whatfoever he pleafed to employ them about, yet he never prefumed to exercife them on that Common Place of abnflng Divine Veri ties; he was not ambitious to commence a Wit by Blafphcmy, nor did he pretend to Ingenuity by being Impious; but whereas too many nfc their Wjt in jefting at them, he fuewed his Holy Wifdom in believing and Obeying. Other Books he made the Ornament of h.is Mind, this the Guide of his Life; he knew what others, but did what God fpake. He was not made a Chriftian out of Old Heathens, nor owed his Vcrtues to the Sage Precepts of Plutarch or EpiiletvA. Thefe are now become the Pen~men :1.nd Evangclifts of our Young Gentry: Seneca is with them prefetTed before Saint Paul, though his chiefeft credit be that he wrote fo well that fomehave miftakingly thought J1im Paul's Difciple. The Vertue of this Noble Perfonacknowlcdgecl a more Div'ine Original, being formed in him by the fame Spirit that gave him Rules toatl: it. Tliis taught him to out-ftrip in true Wifdom, Temperance and Fortitude, not oniy what~ .foever thofc fl:archt Moralifts did, but whatfocver they wrotei and whereas they prefcribcd but the exercife of Vertue, he fublim'd it and made it Grace. Next to his abfolute Ii1bjeCt:ion to God, was his obedience unto his honourable, and now difconfolatc Mother, wherein he was to Iiich a degree -punaual, tl13t as her \Vifdom comman·dcd nothing but what was fit, fo his Duty difputcd not the fitnefs of things beyond her Command. His Demeanour towards her was moft - fubmiffivc,towards all fo obliging, that 'twas but the f:une thing toknowandadmire him. H is Converfe pve the World a fingular Pattern of hannlefs and inoffi:: nfi ve Mirth, of a Gentility not made up of fine Clothes, and hypocri tical Conrtfhip · a fweetnefs an<! .familiar~ty ,.that at once gain'd Love., and preferv:d RefpcCl: ; a gr~n _9eur and nobiJity fafe m tts own worth, nor needmg to mamtam it felfby a jealous and morofe dtftance. ~ever did vice in .youth find a. more confirmed goodnefs. S~ impregnable was he agamft the Tempt~uons. that gat~ an ~fie accef~ to thofe of Ins rank and quality, tha~ t~cy could. ~either mfin~Jate mt.o h1~ by thetr allurements, nor force him by. thetr unportunmes. Nor dtd he thmk Jt enough to fecure his mind from the infec.. tion of Vice, unlefs alfo he fecurcd his Fame from the fufpicion of it. Some indeed owe their innocence to their dulnefs and ftupidity, and arc only not vicious becaufe not witty enough to be talking, and handfomely wicked. His Vertue was ~f choice and the fevcrc!l: exercife of it mingled with fuch charms from his partsand ingenuity, that
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