Sermon of Commemoration of the Lady Danvers Late Wife, Title page – Prayer
A SERMON OF COMMEMORATION OF THE Lady Dāuers, late Wife of Sr. Iohn Dāuers.
Preach'd at Chilsey, where she was lately buried. By Iohn Donne D. of St. Pauls, Lond. 1. Iuly 1627.
Together with other Commemorations of Her; By her Sonne G. Herbert.
LONDON, Printed by I. H. for Philemon Stephens, and Christopher Meredith, and are to be sold at their shop at the golden Lion in Pauls Church yard. 1627.
Errata.
Page 17. line 19. for her, reade the. p. 27. l. 20. for Royall, r reall p. 34 l. 5. for Germ, r. Iohannes Baptista Vergerius. p 35. l. 15. for in, r. into. p. 36. l. 6. for the power, r. the abused power p. 44 l. 12. for hic, r. hûc. p. 47. l. 16. for foundation (adde) or openly disturbed the Church. p. 66. l. 9. for succession, best succession, from here. …iques or at best from an impr…bable example of the Nazarites. p. 67. l 13. in Sacerdotibus, &c. as an vncleane. Act. (adde) in Marg. August. ep. 74. p. 75. l. 20. for Apostolicall, r. Apochryphall p. 93. l. 11. for comming, r. cunning. p. 99. l 13. dele our. p. 123. l. 5. for prosued, r. pursued. p. 160 l. 10. woman (adde) sate on a Beast which had. p. 192. for Edward, r. Edwin. p. c 137. l. 16. for Diuels, r. damned with Diuels. p. 248. l. 2. for Apostle, r. Euangelist. p. 275. l. 17. cita Ferum in cap. 1 Io. …. 1550. p. 34.
THE PRAYER BEFORE the SERMON.
O Eternall, and most Glorious God, who sometimes in thy Iustice,Psal. 79. 2. dost giuegive the dead bodies of the Saints, to be meat vntounto the Fowles of the Heauen, and the flesh of thy Saints vntounto the beasts of the Earth, so that their bloud is shed like water, and there is none to burie them, Who sometimes, Psal. 44. 12.sel'st thy People for nought, and dost not increase thy wealth, by their price, and yet neuer leau'st vsus without that knowledge, Ps. 116. 15.That precious in thy sight is the death of thy Saints, inable vsus, in life and death, seriously to consider the value, the price of a Soule. It is precious, ô Lord, because thine Image is stampt, and imprinted vponupon it; Precious, because the bloud of thy Soone was paid for it; Precious, because thy blessed Spirit, the Holy Ghost workes vponupon it, and tries it, by his diuers fires; And precious, because it is enter'd into thy Reuenue, and made a part of thy Treasure. Suffer vsus not therefore, ô Lord, so to vnderunder value our selues, nay, so to impouerish thee, as to giuegive away those soules, thy soules, thy deare and precious soules, for nothing, and all the world is nothing, if the Soule must be giuen for it. We know, ô Lord, that our Rent, due to thee, is our Soule; and the day of our death, is the day, and our Death-bed the place, where this Rent is to bee paid. And wee know too, that hee that hath sold his soule before, for vniust gaine, or giuen away his soule before, in the society and fellowship of sinne, or lent away his soule, for a time, by a lukewarmnesse, and temporizing, to the dishonor of thy name, to the weakning of thy cause…, to the discouraging of thy Seruants, he comes to that day, & to that place, his Death, and Death-bed, without any Rent in his hand, without any soule, to this purpose, to surrender it vntounto thee. Let therefore ô Lord, the same hand, which is to receiue them then, preserue these soules till then; Let that mouth, that breath'd them into vsus, at first, breath alwaies vponupon them, whilst they are in vsus, and su…cke them into it selfe, when they depart from vsus. Preserue our soules ô Lord, because they… belong to thee; and preserue our bodies, because they belong to those soules. Thou alone, dost steere our Boat, through all our Voyage, but hast a more especiall care of it, a more watchfull eye vponupon it, when it comes to a narrow currant, or to a dangerous full of waters. Thou hast a care of the preseruation of these bodies, in all the waies of our life; But in the Straights of Death, open thine eyes wider, and enlarge thy prouidence towards vsus, so farre, that no Feuer in the body, may shake the soule, no Apoplexie in the body, dampe or benumbe the soule, nor any paine, or agonie of the body, presage future torments to the soule. But so make thou our bed in all our sicknesse, that being vs'd to thy hand, wee may be content with any bed of thy making; Whether thou bee pleas'd to change our feathers into flockes, by withdrawing the conueniences of this life, or to change our flockes into dust, euen the dust of the Graue, by withdrawing vsus out of this life. And though thou diuide man and wife, mother and child, friend and friend, by the hand of Death, yet stay them that stay, and send them away that goe, with this consolation, that though we part at diuers daies, and by diuers waies, here, yet wee shall all meet at one place, and at one day, a day that no night shall determine, the day of the glorious Resurrection. Hasten that day, ô Lord, for their sakes, that beg it at thy hands, from vnderunder the Altar in Heauen; Hasten it for our sakes, that groane vnderunder the manifold incombrances of these mortall bodies; Hasten it for her shake, whō wee hauehave lately laid downe, in this thy holy ground; And hasten it for thy Son Christ…Iesus sake, to whom then, and not till then, all things shall bee absolutely subdu'd. Seale to our soules now an assurance of thy gracious purpose towards vsus in that day, by accepting this daies seruice, at our hands. Accept our humble thankes, for all thy benefits, spirituall, and temporall, already bestowed vponupon vsus, and accept our humble prayers for the continuance and enlargement of them. Continue, and enlarge them, ô God. vponupon thine vniuersall Church, dispersed, &c.