her example for your imitation, especially her children that are bound to observe the holy actions as well as instructions of a mother. 3. For the honour of Christ, and his grace, and his servant: for as God hath promised to honour those that honour him, (1 Sam. ii. 30,) and Christ hath said, "If any man serve me, him will my Father honour, (John xii. 26.) so I know Christ will not take it ill to be honoured in his members, and to have his ministers subserve him in so excellent a work: it is a very considerable part of the love or hatred, honour or dishonour, thatChrist hath in the world, which he receiveth as he appeareth in his followers. He that will not see a cup of cold water given to one of them go unrewarded, and will tell those at the last day that did or did not visit and relieve them, that they did or did it not to him, will now expect it from me as my duty to give him the honour of his graces in his deceased servant, and I doubt not will accordingly accept it, when it is no other indeed than his own honour that is my end, and nothing but the word of truth and soberness shall be the means. And here I shall make so great a transition as shall retain my discourse in the narrow compass of the time in which she lived near me, and under my care, and in my familiar acquaintance, omitting all the rest of her life, that none may say I speak but by hearsay of things which I am uncertain of; and I will confine it also to those special gifts and graces in which she was eminent, that I may not take you up with a description of a Christian as such, and tell you only of that good which she held but in common with all other Christians. And if any thing that I shall say were unknown to any reader that knew her, let them know that it is because they knew her but distantly, imperfectly, or by reports; and that my advantage of near acquaintance did give me a just assurance of what I say. The graces which I discerned to be eminent in her, were these. 1. She was eminent in her coutempt of the pride, and pomp, and pleasure, and vanity of the world; and in her great averseness to all these she had an honest impatience of the life which is common among the rich and vain-glorious in the world: voluptuousness and sensuality, excess of drinking, cards and dice, she could not endure, whatever names of good housekeeping or seemly deportment they borrowed for a mask. In her apparel she went below the garb of others of her rank; indeed in such plainness as did not notify her degree; but yet in such a grave and decent habit as notified her sobriety and humility. She was a stranger to pastimes, and no companion for timewasters, as knowing that persons so near eternity, that have so short a life, and so great a work, have no time to spare. Accordingly, in her latter days she did, as those that grow wise by experience of the vanity of the world, retire from it, and cast it off before it cast off her she betook herself to the society of a people that were low in the world, of humble, serious, upright lives, though such as had been wholly strangers to her; and among these poor inferior strangers she lived in contentment and quietness; desiring rather to converse with those that would help her to redeem the time, in prayer and edifying conference, than with those that would grieve her by consuming it on their lusts. 2. She was very prudent in her converse and affairs, (allowing for the passion of her sex and age,) and so escaped much of the inconveniences that else in so great and manifold businesses would have overwelmed her as "a good man will guide his affairs with discretion," (Psalm exii. 5,) so" discretion will preserve him, and understanding will keep him, to deliver him from the way of the evil man, who leaveth the paths of uprightness to walk in the way of darkness." (Prov. ii. 11—13.) 3. She was seriously religious, without partiality, or any taint of siding or faction, or holding the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ in respect of persons; I never heard her speak against men, or for men, as they differed in some small and tolerable things; she impartially heard any minister that was able, and godly, and sound in the main, and could bear with the weaknesses of ministers when they were faithful; instead of owning the names or opinions of prelatical, presbyterian, independent, or such like, she took up with the name of a Christian, and loved a Christian as a Christian, without much respect to such different tolerable opinions. Instead of troubling herself with needless scruples, and making up a religion of opinions and singularities, she studied faith and godliness, and lived upon the common certain truths, and well known duties, which have been the old and beaten way, by which the universal church of Christ hath gone to heaven in former ages. 4. She was very impartial in her judgment about particular cases, being the same in judging of the case of a child and a stranger; and no interest of children, or other relations, could make her swerve from an equal judgment. 5. She very much preferred the spiritual welfare of her children before their temporal; looking on the former as the true felicity, and on the latter without it but as a pleasant, voluntary misery. 6. Since I was acquainted with her I always found her very ready to good works, according to her power. And when she hath seen a poor man come to me, that she conjectured solicited me for relief, she hath reprehended me for keeping the case to myself, and not inviting her to contribute; and I could never discern that she thought any thing so well bestowed as that which relieved the necessities of the poor that were honest and industrious. 7. She had the wonderful mercy of a man-like, Christian, patient spirit, under all afflictions that did befall her, and under the multitude of troublesome businesses, that would have even distracted an impatient mind. Though sudden anger was the sin that she much confessed herself, and therefore though she wanted patience, yet I have wondered to see her bear up with the same alacrity and quietness, when Job's messengers have brought her the tidings that would have overwhelmed an impatient soul. When law-suits and the great afflictions of her children have assaulted her like successive waves, which I feared would have borne her into the deep, if not devoured all her peace, she sustained all as if no great considerable change had been made against her, having the same God, and the same Christ, and promises, and hope, from which she fetched such real comfort and support as showed a real, serious faith. 8. She was always apt to put a good interpretation upon God's providences; like a right believer, that having the spirit of adoption, perceiveth fatherly love in all, she would not easily be persuaded that God, meant her any harm; she was not apt to hearken to the enemy that accuseth God and his ways to man, as he accuseth man and his actions to God; she was none of those that are suspicious of God, and are still concluding death and ruin from all that he doth to them, and are gathering wrath from misinterpreted expressions of his love; who weep because of the smoke before they can be warmed by the fire. 'Yet God is good to Israel; and it shall go well with them that fear before him,' (Psalm 1xxiii. 1; Eccles. viii. 12, 13,) were her conclusions from the sharpest providences; she expected the morning in the darkest night, and judged not of the end by the beginning; but was always confident if she could but entitle God in the case that the issue would be good. She was not a mur murer against God, nor one that contended with her Maker; nor one that created calamity to herself by a self-troubling, unquiet mind; she patiently bore what God laid upon her, and made it not heavier by the additions of uncomfortable prognostics, and misgiving or repining thoughts. She had a great confidence in God, that he was doing good to her and her's in all; and where at present she saw any matter of grief, she much supported her soul with a belief that God would remove and overcome it in due time. 9. She was not troubled, that ever I discerned, with doubtings about her interest in Christ, and about her own justification and salvation; but whether she reached to assurance or not, she had confident apprehensions of the love of God, and quietly reposed her soul upon his grace. Yet not secure through presumption or self-esteem; but comforting herself in the Lord her God; by this means she spent those hours in a cheerful performance of her duty, which many spend in fruitless self-vexation for the failings of their duty, or in mere inquiries whether they have grace or not, and others spend in wrangling, perplexed controversies about the manner or circumstances of duty: and I believe that she had more comfort from God by way of reward upon her sincere obedience, while she referred her soul to him, and rested on him, than many have that more anxiously perplexed themselves about the discerning of their holiness, when they should be studying to be more holy, that it might discover itself. And by this means she was fit for praises and thanksgiving, and spent not her life in lamentations and complaints, and made not religion seem terrible to the ignorant, that judge of it by the faces and carriage of professors. She did not represent it to the world as a morose and melancholy temper, but as the rational creature's cheerful obedience to his Maker, actuated by the sense of the wonderful love that is manifested in the Redeemer, and by the hopes of the purchased and promised felicity in the blessed sight and fruition of God. And I conjecture that her forementioned disposition to think well of God, and of his providences, together with her long and manifold experience, (the great advantage of ancient, tried Christians,) did much conduce to free her from doubtings and disquieting fears about her own sincerity and salvation; and I confess, if her life had not been answerable to her peace and confidence, I should not have thought the better, but the worse of her condition; no thing being more lamentable than to make haste to hell, through a wilful confidence that the danger is past, and that they are in the way to heaven as well as the most sanctified. 10. Lastly, I esteemed it the height of her attainment that she never discovered any inordinate fears of death, but a cheerful readiness, willingness, and desire, to be dissolved, and to be with Christ. This was her constant temper both in health and sickness, as far as I was able to observe. She would be frequently expressing how little reason she had to be desirous of longer life, and how much reason to be willing to depart. Divers times in dangerous sicknesses I have been with her, and never discerned any considerable averseness, dejectedness, or fear. Many a time I have thought how great a mercy I should esteem it if I had attained that measure of fearless willingness to lay down this flesh, as she attained. Many à one that can make light of wants, or threats, or scorns, or any ordinary troubles, cannot submit so quietly and willingly to death. Many a one that can go through the labours of religion, and contemn opposition, and easily give all they have to the poor, and bear imprisonments, banishment, or contempt, can never overcome the fears of death. So far, even the father of lies spake truth; "Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life." (Job ii. 4.) I took it, therefore, for a high attain. ment and extraordinary mercy to our deceased friend, that the King of Terrors was not terrible to her. Though I doubt not but somewhat of averseness and fear is so radicated in nature's self-preserving principle, as that it is almost inseparable, yet in her I never discerned any troublesome appearances of it. When I first came to her in the beginning of her last sickness, she suddenly passed the sentence of death upon herself, without any show of fear or trouble, when to us the disease appeared not to be great. But when the disease increased, her pains were so little, and the effect of the fever was so much in her head, that, after this, she seemed not to esteem it mortal, being not sensible of her case and danger and so, as she lived without the fears of death, she seemed to us to die without them. God, by the nature of her disease, removing death as out of her sight, when she came to that weakness, in which else the encounter was like to have been sharper than ever it was before. And thus, in one of the weaker sex, God hath showed us that it is possible to live in holy confidence, and peace, and quietness of mind, without distressing griefs or fears, even in the : |