A Divine Prospective, Title page – Dedication
A Divine Proſpective: Repreſenting THE JUST MANS PEACEFULL END. In a Funerall SERMON Preached at Katherine Creechurch, Aug. 14. 1649. At the Enterrement of the Remaines of the Right Worſhipful and truly Religious, Sir JOHN GAYR, Knight: deceaſed July 20. 1649.
By NATHANIEL HARDY, M.A. and Preacher to the Pariſh of Dionis Back-church.
PROV. 28. 18. Who ſo walketh uprightly, ſhall be ſaved: but he that is perverſe in his wayes, ſhall fall at once.
ESAY 32. 17. The Worke of righteouſneſſe ſhall be peace, and the effect of righteouſneſſe, quietneſſe and aſſurance for ever.
LACTANT. Sicut vita ipſa bonum eſt ſi cum virtute vivitur, malum ſi cum ſcelere: Ita & mors ex preteritis vitae actibus ponderanda eſt.
AMBR. Pretioſum eſt videre virum juſtum, ut videas eum ſecundum imaginem Dei: quod foris eſt nihil prodeſt, quo lintus eſt ſanat.
LONDON, Printed for JOHN CLARK, and are to be ſold at his Shop under S. Peters Church in Cornhill. 1649.
To the VVorſhipfull, ROBERT ABDY, Eſquire, Son-in-law: Together with his Vertuous Conſort, and the reſt of the hopefull Sonnes and Daughters of the Right Worſhipful, Sir John Gayr, Proſperity on Earth, and felicity in Heaven.
TO preſerve the precious names, perpetuate the pious memories, and publiſh the eminent graces of dead Saints, is a due debt from the living. The glory which from hence redounds to God, the benefit which hereby accrueth to the Church, the reſpect which herein we manifest to them, are all ſeverally, much more joyntly, ſtrong obligations to this ſervice. No fitter inſtrument for ſuch a work then the pen, which ſurpaſſeth the voice in this double excellency, that it both extendeth farther, and continueth longer, according to that knowne expreſsion of the Poet,Vox audita perit, littera ſcripta manet.
Theſe I doubt not (worthy Sir) were the impellent cauſes moving you to deſire a publication of this imperfect piece, in which, if there appear any luſtre, it is no other then what it receiveth from the beames of his Virtues, whom it repreſents. Indeed, what S. Bernard ſaid of his friend Malachy, I may juſtly apply to your deceaſed Father; he was, while he lived, Lucerna ardens & lucens, a burning and a ſhining Lamp: and by Death, Non extincta ſed admota, not ſo much put out, as removed to Glory. The light of his good words is ſtill left behinde him, and now ſet on a Candleſtick to enlighten with its ſplendour this declining Age of the World.
The Character here given to this faithfull Servant of God, may by ſome (who throughly knew him) be juſtly accounted deficient; by others, (through Envy, or Ignorance at beſt) be unjuſtly cenſured as exuberant. To the former I ſhall Apologize in the words of the Oratour: Pictoros pulchram abſolutam que faciem rarò niſi in pejus effingunt, Plin. 2.an exact face is ſeldome drawne but with much diſadvantage. To the latter, S. Bernards expreſsion ſhall be my Anſwer, Teſtimonium veritati praebeo non affectioni; my Conſcience witneſſeth to me, that my Teſtimony concerning him, was not byaſs'd by Affection, but meaſured by Verity.
To your Candid acceptance and Patronage (Honoured Sir!) I preſent theſe unpoliſhed Lines: the truth whereof I know you can fully, and will freely atteſt. I have nothing more to adde but a gratefull acknowledgement of your many immerited favours, and my inceſſant ſupplications at the throne of Grace, That both your ſelf, who eſteeme it an happineſſe to have been grafted into the Stock of that Worthy Family, and all the naturall Branches of that choice Root, may be daily watered with the plentifull ſhowers of Divine bleſſing, continually grow up in a reſemblance of theſe pretious Fruits which he brought forth: and finally, be tranſplanted into the Paradiſe of Bliſſe, where, together with him you ſhall be flouriſhing Trees of Righteouſneſſe for ever. So prayeth he, who is
Yours in all Affection and Service, Nathaniel Hardy.