A51833:45
Advice to mourners under the loss of dear relations in a funeral sermon long…
Advice to mourners under the loss of dear relations in a funeral sermon long since preached / by the late Reverend Dr. Thomas Manton ... And now occasionally published on the much lamented death of Mrs. Ann Terry, who died the 9th of November, 1693. With a short account of some passages of her life, and papers left under her own hand.Advice to mourners under the loss of dear relations in a funeral sermon long since preach'd / by the late Reverand Dr. Thomas Manton ... And now occasionally published on the much lamented death of Mrs. Ann Terry, who died the 9th of November, 1693. With a short account of some passages of her life, and papers left under her own hand.
London: printed by J.D. for Jonathon Robinson, 1694
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
O faciles dare summa Deos! eademque tueri Difficiles.—————Lucan.
Stanza I. IN vain do Mortals court Eternity; In vain do they attempt to baffle Fate, And hope by Actions worthy Praise Themselves to Immortality to raise: No: they are all to Death predestinate. For both the Virtuous and the Vicious must Fall, alike, undistinguished in the Dust: Else thou, bright Mirror of thy Sex, Had been preser•'d ali•e To endless Ages; but thy glorious Fame Thy fading Ashes shall survive, And with Arabian Sweets perfume thy fragrant Name.
Stanza I. IN vain do Mortals court Eternity; In vain do they attempt to baffle Fate, And hope by Actions worthy Praise Themselves to Immortality to raise: No: they are all to Death predestinate. For both the Vertuous and the Vitious must Fall, alike, undistingaish'd in the Dust: Else thou, bright Mirror of thy Sex, Had been preser•'d ali•e To endless Ages; but thy glorious Fame Thy fading Ahes shall survive, And with Arabian Sweets persume thy fragrat Name.
II. O that my (long since bed-rid) Muse Could somewhat worthy thee produce! But how (alas!) can she, enfeebled, sing The Praises of an earthly Cherubim? How can she he prepared for such a lofty Theme? Or such rapturous Strains bring forth As may be adequate to thy immensurable Worth? He that unto thine Altar comes, Must bring no less than Hecatombs. ⟨p. xxv⟩Thy Virtues do require a nobler Pen: Virtues above the reach of mortal Verse, And all that the sublimest Flights of Fancy can rehearse. But yet, (methinks) though not inspired, I may be suffered to attend Unto her melancholy Urn, So dear an Aunt, so much esteemed a Friend. Thy Bed of Rest with briny Tears I'll strew, And on thy gloomy Hearse my Wreath of Cypress throw.