% 
 
 7ZG0\ 
 1909 
 
 ELEGY 
 
 THE REVEREND COTTON MATHER 
 
 ONTHEr^ATHQF 
 
 THE REVEREND NATHANIEL COLLINS 
 
BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME 
 FROM THE 
 
 SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND 
 
 THE GIFT OF 
 
 Sienrs HI. Sage 
 189X 
 
 :.a.-yz^^.g?; zi/jr/M... 
 
 6896-1 
 
Dv>««^ ^JI^JL University Library 
 BX7260.C71 M42 1909 
 
 ^'*?llliii'iiXNi»iiSi™?iffiJSnS Cotton Mather on t 
 
 olin 
 
 3 1924 029 461 070 
 
The original of tiiis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029461070 
 
ELEGY 
 
 BY 
 
 THE REVEREND COTTON MATHER 
 
 ON THE DEATH OF 
 
 THE REVEREND NATHANIEL COLLINS 
 
 Edited by 
 HOLDRIDGE OZRO COLLINS. LL. D. 
 
 Republished by 
 
 BAUMGARDT PUBUSHING COMPANY 
 
 1 16 Norih Broadway, Loi Angela, Cal. 
 
PRELIMINARY 
 
 THE REV. NATHANIEL COUJNS WAS BORN IN CAMBRIDGE, 
 MASSACHUSETTS, ON MARCH 7, 1643, THE SIXTH CHILD AND 
 FOURTH SON OF DEACON EDWARD COLLINS AND MARTHA, HIS 
 WIFE. 
 
 HE WAS GRADUATED IN 1660 BY HARVARD COLLEGE WITH 
 THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS, SUBSEQUENTLY RECEIV- 
 ING THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS. ^ "^ 
 
 ON AUGUST 3, 1664, HE MARRIED MARY, DAUGHTER OF MAJOR 
 WILLIAM WHITING AND SUSANNAH, HIS WIFE, OF HARTFORD, 
 CONNECTICUT, AND ON NOVEMBER 4, 1668, HE WAS ORDAINED 
 THE FIRST MINISTER OVER THE CHURCH AT MIDDLETOWN, 
 CONNECTICUT, IN WHICH PLACE HE DIED ON DECEMBER 28, 1684. 
 
 A VERY INTIMATE ASSOCIATION AND A STRONG AND PER- 
 MANENT AFFECTION EXISTED BETWEEN REV. COTTON MATHER 
 AND HIMSELF, AND FEW MOURNED HIS EARLY DEATH AS DID 
 MR. MATHER. 
 
 IN HIS MAGNALIA CHRISTI AMERICANA, BOOK.4, CHAPTER 8, 
 MATHER DEVOTED SEVERAL PAGES TO A DESULTORY AND 
 TURGID LAUDATION OF NATHANIEL COLLINS, HIS FATHER AND 
 BROTHER JOHN, AND IN MANY OTHER OF HIS WRITINGS HE 
 MANIFESTS HIS GREAT SORROW FOR THE LOSS OF HIS FRIEND. 
 
 CHAPTER 8, OF THE MAGNALIA IS ENTITLED GEMINI, AND, 
 FOLLOWING AN ACCOUNT OF REV. JOHN COLLINS HE SAYS : 
 
 "A YOUNGER BROTHER, BUT YET A BROTHER TO HIM, WAS 
 MR. NATHANAEL COLLINS, AT WHOSE DEATH, DEC. 28, 1684, IN 
 THE FORTY-THIRD YEAR OF HIS AGE (WHEREIN HE GOT THE 
 START OF HEAVEN !) THERE WERE MORE WOUNDS GIVEN TO 
 THE WHOLE COLONY OF CONNECTICUT IN OUR NEW ENGLAND, 
 THAN THE BODY OF CAESAR DID RECEIVE, WHEN HE FELL 
 WOUNDED IN THE SENATE-HOUSE. READER, I WOULD HAVE 
 MADE AN ESSAY TO HAVE LAMENTED THE FATE OF THIS OUR 
 COLLINS IN VERSE, WERE IT NOT FOR TWO DISCOURAGEMENTS: 
 NIOT BECAUSE ANNATUS THE JESUITE RECKON'D IT A THING 
 WORTHY OF SCOFF IN OUR DR. TWISS, TO BE GUILTY OF A 
 LITTLE FLIGHT AT POETRY; FOR THE NOBLEST HANDS HAVE 
 SCANN'D POETICAL MEASURES ON THEIR FINGERS; BUT BE- 
 CAUSE MY MEAN FACULTIES WOULD NOT CARRY ME BEYOND 
 
THE PERFORMANCES, WHEREOF THE GENTLEMAN IN THUANUS 
 WAS AFRAID, WHEN HE MADE IT A CLAUSE IN HTS LAST WILL, 
 THAT 'THEY SHOULD NOT BURDEN HIS HEARSE WITH BAD FUN- 
 ERAL VERSES.' " 
 
 HOWEVER, HIS AFFECTION FOR THE LOST FRIEND AND THE 
 GREAT DESIRE TO PERPETUATE HIS MEMORY, SPEEDILY OVER- 
 RULED THIS DETERMINATION AND THiE ELEGY WAS WRITTEN 
 AND PUBLISHED THE YEAR FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF MR. 
 COLLINS. 
 
 THE BOOK IS EXTREMELY SCARCE, AND ONLY THE LIBRARY 
 OF BROWN UNIVERSITY IS KNOWN TO POSSESS A COPY. IT IS 
 GUARDED WITH THE MOST JEALOUS CARE, AND FEW CAN GAIN 
 ACCESS TO ITS PAGES. 
 
 THE PAGES OF THE ELEGY ARE NUMBERED FROM ONE TO 
 TWENTY, BUT BY AN OVERSIGHT OF THE PRINTER PAGE SEVEN- 
 TEEN WAS OMITTED, AND THE TEXT COVERS BUT NINETEEN 
 PAGES, EACH OF WHICH ABOUNDS WITH CURIOUS AND INTER- 
 ESTING NOTES BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
 IN 1896, THE CLUB OF ODD VOLUMES, IN BOSTON, PUBLISHED 
 A RE-PRINT OF ONE HUNDRED COPIES, WHICH WERE EDITED 
 BY MR. JAMES F. HUNiNEWELL, ALL OF WHICH WERE TAKEN 
 BY SUBSCRIPTION, BUT IT HAS BEEN IMPOSSIBLE TO INDUCE 
 ANY OF THE POSSESSORS TO PART WITH HIS COPY. 
 
 THIS RE-PRINT IS, PAGE FOR PAGE, AND LINE FOR LINE, 
 SIMILAR TO THE LITTLE VOLUME IN THE LIBRARY OF BROWN 
 UNIVERSITY. THE PROOF SHEETS WERE SENT TO MR. H. L. 
 KOOPMAN, THE LIBRARIAN, AND A VIGILANT COMPARISON 
 WITH THE ORIGINAL FAILED TO DISCLOSE ANY ERRORS. 
 
 THE EDITOR OBTAINED A COPY OF THE ELEGY SOLELY AS 
 AN ADDITION TO HIS COLLECTION OF MEMORIALS RELATING 
 TO HIS ANCESTOR; BUT ITS MOST ENTERTAINING DICTION IN 
 THE SHOWING OF THE TREND OF THE RELIGIOUS THOUGHT 
 AND EXPRESSION OF COLONIAL NEW ENGLAND, AND THE 
 VEHEMENT ABSOLUTISM OF THE OLD PURITAN DIVINE, WILL 
 MAKE THIS VOLUME A VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION TO THE 
 LIBRARIES OF THOSE WHO ARE LOVERS OF SCARCE AND CURI- 
 OUS BOOKS. 
 
 PS<^(^dcgv Ooyo (^^^^^. 
 
 LOS ANGELES. CALIFORNIA. 
 OCTOBER. 1909. 
 
AN 
 
 ELEGY 
 
 ON The Much-to-be-deplored DEATH 
 OF That Never-to-be-forgotten PERSON, 
 
 The Reverend 
 Mr. NATHANAEL COLLINS; 
 
 Who After he had been many years a faithful 
 
 Pastor to the Church at Middletown of 
 
 Connecticut m New-England, 
 
 about the Fort^ third year of his Age Elxpired; 
 
 On l^tk 10. moneth 1684. 
 
 Testor, Christianum hie de christiano vera proferre. 
 
 Hier. Epist. Paulae. 
 Sic oculoi, sic ille manus, sic ora ferebat. 
 Dignum laude virum musa vetat mori. Horat 
 BOSTON in NEW- ENGLAND 
 
 Printed by Richard Pierce for Obadiah Gill. 
 Anno Christi 1685. 
 
Reader ; 
 
 To Lament the Dead in Verse, having been 
 even from the Dayes of David until Noiv, 
 in some sort almost as Common as Death it 
 self, an Apology for that thing at this time 
 is altogether superfluous; Nor have the Noblest 
 Hands disdained to scan Potetical measures on 
 their Fingers, tho' an Annatus has derided a 
 Twiss for not counting that Exercise beneath 
 him. But there seems more needful an Excuse 
 for the meaness of this Composure, which is born 
 before its Time fi'om a Brain disus'd to such 
 Performances ; in which / have been so farr 
 from the accuracy of Virgil, who having laid out 
 eleven years upon his ^neids, after all judged 
 them not polished enough to be published, that 
 a few stolen hours were all I had to shape them 
 in, and to which I could never have been drawn, 
 if the Subject of these Rhythmes, had like the 
 Gentleman in Thuanus upon his Death-bed, given 
 sufficient caution That his Herse should not be 
 burdened with bad Funeral verses. For this, 
 my utmost Plea is, That the sense of Duty^ awak- 
 ened by the invitation of others hereunto, has 
 
 produced 
 
 A2 
 
produced this Rapsody, for a Censure on whichj 
 I appeal from Curiosity to Candour, expecting 
 no Laurel on this occasion but what I merit by 
 my good Affection to the Memory of a True Is- 
 raelite worthy to be had in Everlasting Re- 
 membrance. 
 
 C. M. 
 
(I) 
 
 FUNERAL-TEARS 
 
 At the Grave of the Much Desired 
 
 And Lamented 
 
 Mr. NATHANEEL COLLINS? 
 
 Who changed Death for LIFE, 
 
 December 28. 1684. 
 
 — But shall he unobserved steal away? 
 Or Israel not afford an hand to lay (a) 
 An Evil-boding Death to heart? no Son 
 Of All the Prophets when Elijah's gone 
 Look after him? 
 
 Forbid this, Heaven! Showr 
 On a bereaved Clod of Earth a pow'r 
 To yield a spire of grass (6) whereon may grow 
 The Name of COLLINS, help a verse to show 
 His Vertues, as that Flock acknowledged 
 Their doe (c) when to the Spicy Mountains fled. 
 Assist mee, thou who hast engag'd the Just 
 A Memory, (d) to whom the precious dust 
 Of Saints Dissolv'd remains united ! — 
 
 I SIGH the Fate for which our broached eyes 
 Spend floods of brine; at which a dire surprise 
 Of a soul-chilling horrour doth invade 
 The Soul not stone before ; at which are made 
 In serious minds as many wounds as were 
 To Caesar {e} given. Reader, shake to hear; 
 
 The 
 
 (a) Isai. S7.1. (b) allusion to the poetical fancy 
 
 of Ajax (c) Dorcas, Act. 9.39. (d) Psa. 112.6. 
 
 (p) whom the Roman conspirators islew "with 23 wounds.^ 
 
(2) 
 
 The DEATH of COLLINS tis. He dead without 
 A Paper winding sheet to lay him out! 
 A shame. O that Egyptian Odours, and 
 Embalmers too (f) were now at my command! 
 I want them. But Hyperboles withdraw, 
 Be gone Licentious Poets. What I saw 
 On this occasion let some countrey Rymes 
 That call a Spade a Spade, tell after-Times. 
 
 DEPRIV'D of Charrets & of Horsemen too, {g) 
 I on the wings of Contemplation flew; 
 Into the howling desart thus I went, 
 The cut-off garden (h) where our David sent 
 His sheep to feed and fold, from which he drave 
 The Rav'nous Tigre-brood, in which he gave 
 His herds a Rest at noon. (i)'On Jordans Banks 
 I meant to sit with Thoughts on this and Thanks. 
 But there found I an Elect Lady, (k) There 
 Grov'ling in Ashes, with dishev'led hair, 
 Smiting her breast, black'd with a mourning dress, 
 Resembling mother Sion in distress; (1) 
 Or like a Rachel in a Bethl'em plight, (w) 
 But with a Beauty glittering too, that might 
 The Features show that Judah's preaching King 
 Much did once in his machless Raptures sing;(M) 
 
 I 
 
 (f) Gen. 50.2. (g) all. to 2. King 2.12. 
 
 (h) so some render the Garden of Nuts, Cant. 
 
 6.11. in a phrase very accommodahle to America. 
 
 (i) Cant. 1.7 (k) some (tho' groundlesly 
 
 though) suppose a Church intended by that name in 
 
 2. lob- I. (1) all. to the figure thereof in B.K.'S ingeni- ' 
 
 us poem. Ini) Mat. 2, 18. (n) vis. the Canticles. 
 
(3) 
 
 I found her. There amaz'd, into a Tree (o) 
 
 Almost transformed with passion : Sympathie 
 
 Produced this Enquiry, Who I wonder, 
 
 Seems Sorroin/s Center, Sorrow's Essence yonder? 
 
 Lo, I no sooner had approached near. 
 
 Then from above this voice did thunder ; Here 
 
 Pitty, the Church of Middletown bespeaks 
 
 Set in the midst of swoons and sobs and shrieks. 
 
 With Bowells full of it I hastned to 
 
 The Wet place, asking Why she grieved so; 
 
 And had this Answer. 
 
 Sir, Ask you this? Are you a Sojourner 
 Within Nezv-Englands bounds & know not whyf 
 I've lost great COLLINS, man ! O that, O there. 
 From this Tears-Fountain (p) is my misery. 
 
 Immortal COLLINS ! what a Charm is in 
 
 So dear a Name? 'Tis Honey mixt with gall 
 
 To think, I had him, but I miss him ; Seen 
 
 He was, sad word! (q) but so no more he shall. 
 
 My Love is Talkative ; tis fit that I 
 
 Thus vent my smother'd Fire. The Rabbins say 
 That when good old Methusela did dye. 
 
 His Wife nine husbands lost in him that day. 
 
 Like Looser I will speak : The Lamentation 
 Over Jerus'lems Woe doth suit me ivell, 
 
 A Widow hozv is she become! UPrivation 
 Seems now to be my only Principle. 
 
 One 
 
 (o) all. to such a metamorphosis celebrated in Ovid. 
 
 (p) Hinc illae lacrymae. (q) fuimus Troes. \\ Lam. i.i. 
 
 A4 
 
(4) 
 
 Once did I prise, I'l now praise what I had. 
 
 The box of his Fames Oyntment* now shall send 
 Abroad its Odours. Alexander fdead 
 Had not the scent which doth from him ascend. 
 
 Some Elogyes compose to try their Wits; 
 
 The Gout, (r) the Feavour, Hyea & Injustice, (s) 
 Folly (t) and Poverty [u] have in the Fits 
 
 Of Ranting Writers had a comeliness. 
 
 My Theme, my Humour is not such an one ; 
 
 Who to prove Cicero not eloquent, 
 Pen'd Books, (x)who truth & worth for guards disown 
 
 Such only count Collins not excellent. 
 
 Bright COLLINS, Star of the Urst Magnitude, 
 Extol him how could I ! I sha'n't be chid 
 
 If as much time on him my gazes shou'd 
 
 Spend, as that Greek (y) in's Panegyric did. 
 
 O that Apelles were my servant now 
 
 To limn this Hero, but his utmost All 
 
 Would blush, and draw a vail upon the Brow(z 
 Below whose Majesty his skill would fall. 
 
 I 
 
 *Bccles. 7.1. j-from whose corpse 'tis said there 
 went a smell surprisingly fragrant, (r) praised by 
 Pichennerus, \\praised by Huttenus, (s) praised by 
 Glaucus [t] praised by Erasmus, [u] praised by 
 Pierius, all in set poems or orations, (x) as once 
 an humoursome person did. (y) Socrates, who 
 spent 15 year in framing of one Panegyric, one ora- 
 tion, (z) as that painter did upon his Minerva's. 
 
(S) 
 
 I would that you, my friend, each drop of Ink 
 Could fill with Elogyes no fewer then 
 
 The little eels *that may swim in't : I think 
 
 They all should celebrate this Flovfr of men. 
 
 I would too that each syllable all round 
 
 This Globe with perfum'd Air might fly about; 
 
 Or your Stentorophonic Tube j might sound 
 The praise of admirable Collins out. 
 
 Death, thou All-biting-f Prodigal!, a blow 
 
 Of thine hath laid within the ground a plant 
 
 Surpassing Cedars. I did hardly know 
 A spice whose quantity on it was scant. 
 
 Good Nature and good Bc^ucation were 
 
 In him conjoyn'd to such an high degree, 
 
 As gain'd the Title of that HEmperour, 
 
 In this rare soul Mankinds delight we see. 
 
 Facetious Snow-balls from his candid breast 
 With early Magic hence would captivate 
 
 His near. Familiars, so that he was blest 
 
 Who could have leave to be his Intimate. 
 
 Hence from his Cradle clothes his neat discretion, 
 
 Mounted upon bridled Urbanity, 
 Before a most obliging Disposition, 
 
 Triumphant rode in ev'ry Company. 
 
 But 
 
 *of which I can with my Microscope see incredible 
 hundreds playing about in one drop of water. ^ which 
 speaking-Trumpet may be heard a vast way off- 
 yall. to ye Acrost. of Mors Mordens Omnia Rostro Suo 
 ||Tit. Vesp. who was termed, Delica^ humarii generis. 
 
(6) 
 
 But Oh the fruits of Heav'nly Graces dew 
 Upon so rich a soyl! Let Peter bid 
 
 His Brethren add one graces pearl unto 
 
 The *rest : The whole heap was in Collins hid. 
 
 You'd scarce believe the FAITH residing in 
 
 This Child of Abraham, the strong Impression 
 
 On his heart of Realities unseen,ll 
 
 Of Gospel glories, of things past expression. 
 
 How dearest to him his Redeemer ; how 
 
 With brave Ignatius^ he could warble out 
 Christ my Love; how we might e'en allow 
 A JESUS grav'd ^within his breast no doubt. 
 
 His VERTUE took this sister by the hand ; 
 
 And with her train accompanyed thus, 
 In vert'ous flights he, went — how much beyond 
 
 An Aristides ;* ;t or a Regulus! 
 
 For KNOWLEDGE, tho in him poor Harvard lost 
 
 One of her tallest sons, one of the best 
 Souldiers in her Minerva's Camp, my boast 
 Of higher Wisdom in him i'n't the least. 
 
 My Moses, he in Egyptsi Learning verstj*)- 
 
 Had more then that; Accomplishments Divine 
 
 In exercise of which, while he converst 
 
 With Isr'els Jah, to us his face did shine.fH 
 
 Yare 
 
 *v. the glorious catalogue 2. Pet. 1.S-7. ||.2i cor. 4 
 18. -i-whose saying often was, Amor mens est cruciAxus 
 If which is grosly and fabulously reported of another. 
 **iwo glories of the heathen, the one for Justice, the 
 o^/^er for Fidelity. +t/}cf. 7.22. +] | JS;i;orf. 34.35. 
 
(7) 
 
 Yare at his GRAMMAR, kenning how and when 
 To speak: his tongue a* tree of life, no (dross 
 
 Proceeding from this Chrysostom^) the penn 
 Of Ready writers like, not barbarous. 
 
 How lofty in his RHET'RIC, when with cryes 
 
 To the Omnipotent reduc'd to say1[ 
 Let me alone, thereby he scal'd the Skyes, 
 
 And with the old \.Artill'ry got the day. 
 
 In the best LOGIC, Oh how Rational! 
 
 How able to spy Canaan through ! how ready 
 To baffle a Temptation! and withal 
 
 Full of his Oracles sound, solid, steady ! 
 
 How right was his ARITHMETIC that knew 
 
 Wisely to measure his ownll dayes! How right 
 
 Was his GEOMETRY, that found the true 
 
 Bulk of the earth! a point *,not worth the sight. 
 
 In his ASTRONOMY how ripe his eye 
 
 Reaching to things beyond the stars! Alwayes 
 
 Exact in this no-vain ^ ^ PHILOSOPHY, 
 
 That in all things he found his Makers H H praise. 
 
 Master 
 
 *Prov. 15.4 \\-\ golden mouth, ^as in Bxod. 32. 
 10. feriendi licenti'am petit a Mose qui fecit Mo- 
 sen, ipreces et lacrymae sunt Arma Bcclesiae. \\Psa. 
 90. 12. *^and an invisible point no doubt would it 
 be to an humane eye in the starry Heaven, tho it 
 probably contains above Ten Thousand Millions of 
 cubic German Icagref. ^^ias some other Philoso- 
 phy is calVd in Col. 2.8. || ||presentem docuit 
 quaelibet herba Deum. 
 
(8) 
 
 Master of all the Arts that shew us what 
 
 'Tis from each Bad unto each Good to goe ; 
 
 To all his Knowledge last subjoyning that,-*- 
 All that I know is, that I nothing know. 
 
 For TEMPERANCE, he liv'd upon it, hee 
 
 Like Hooper spar d much in his diet, more 
 
 In 's speech, but most in Time; the hateful Three 
 
 WFly-gods o' th' world meanwhile he car'd not for. 
 
 To Meat a.* Daniel; a.nd a Rechabite^ 
 
 To Drink; like a John Baptistf in his Rayment; 
 
 His sleep, like David, j. robbing in the Night ; 
 
 Still putting Nature off with scanty payment. 
 
 Abstemious in all things at such a rate 
 
 Some (like Elisa — in her Brothers eyes, 
 
 Him Brother Temp'rance could denominate . 
 
 And Justice caus'd what e'er lookt otherwise. 
 
 For PATIENCE whole beds and loads of it 
 In his soul flourisht. What Affliction meant 
 
 He felt as much as most do talk, and yet 
 
 Groans might from him, but Grumbles *llne're 
 
 (be sent. 
 
 ->■ Socrates his Hoc tantum scio, me nihil scire, \\the 
 Pleasures, and Profits & Honours of the world, be- 
 come the 3 Belzebubs of it, according to the Distich 
 Ambitiosus honos et opes et foeda voluptas, 
 
 Ho^c tria pro trino Numine mundus habet. 
 
 *Dan. I.I2. ^Jer. 35.6. fMat. 3.4. iPsa. 
 iig.62. -^K. Bdw. VI. us'd to call the Princess 
 Elizabeth, his sister Temperance. *||/* was the 
 sentence of a great Saint under great pain, I groan 
 but do not grumble. 
 
(9) 
 
 And under Provocation, 'twas a care 
 
 By him maintained to smile Affronts away. 
 
 Not fireing when meer Cock-boats landed are ; 
 Seldom decoy'd from his mild Yea, or Nay. 
 
 No Brother of * Achilles; like unto 
 
 The Upper Regions free from Tempests ; full 
 Of the doves temper; Able for to go 
 
 Over an Alphabet, ^ tho Anger pull. 
 
 His GODLINESS steer'd Hall his motions still: 
 God had his thrice-hot f love, his life, his Whole : 
 
 Gods Honour was his End, and in the Will 
 Of God he moulded\. his renewed soul. 
 
 His sev'rall Turns on aReligious threed 
 
 He sought to string : fixing that Motto on 
 
 What signal he in both his Callings did, 
 
 With much devotion, Lord —-for thee alone. 
 
 How 
 
 *whom Homer so often represents in fumes. 
 Ifflj was wont to do the Renowned Roman Empe- 
 rour. \\Allusion to Sola fit humanoei pietas cyno- 
 sura ca.Tinae. fAmo te, Domine, plusquam meos, 
 plusquam mea, plusquam me. Bern. +oW. to 
 Rom. 6.17. gr. -t-as he, Propter te, Do- 
 mine, propter te. 
 
(lO) 
 
 How James-like were his \lPray'rs, how did the word 
 Of Life, his heart Christs ^Library affect! 
 
 What God-ward flames did his pure * mind afford, 
 Of any Ord'nance dreading a Neglect! 
 
 BROTHERLY-KINDNESS did procure the 
 
 [Law 
 
 Of kindness in his 'flips, a Denison 
 
 Of Philadelphia [a] in him we saw ; 
 
 Heir to the soul of the Apostle [b]John. 
 
 A Zuinglian entire that ever said[c] 
 
 Let me see Christ in anyone, I shall 
 
 Him with both Armes embrace. Whatever made 
 Distinctions, this with him removed all. 
 
 And CHARITY in him warm Beams extended 
 To all the race of Man ; Philanthropy 
 
 Him like a shaddow every where attended ; 
 
 COLLINS made up of Love, we us'd to cry. 
 
 \\of whom Ecclesiastical History relates, that his hard- 
 ned knees wore the Badges of his hard prayers. 
 1[ as Jerome remarkt of his friend Nepotian. *Ani- 
 ma justi Coelum est. fprov. 31.26. [a] which name 
 signifies brotherly love, [b] Heb. 13.1 gr. 
 [6] of whom tis said that when through age he could 
 do no more, he would give that short Lesson for a long 
 Sermon to his congregation, my Children, love one 
 another, [cl a savory speech recorded of the famous 
 Ztiinglius. 
 
 An 
 
(II) 
 
 An Injury seldom resenting more 
 
 Than Cranmer or the Martyrologer* 
 
 Who urn'd his Ashes, of whom tis notour, 
 
 Of good, for ill. Turns from them sure you were. 
 
 In fine, as the ^Philosopher did give 
 
 His friend advice, suppose a Cato's eye 
 
 On you, and so be wise; when I would live 
 Uprightly, I'd imagine COLLINS by. 
 
 Thus was he for a Christian, and thus he 
 With Conversation lightned, every Deed 
 
 Of his in print a Sermon yeeldeth mee :ll 
 But now what as a Minister you'l heed. 
 
 Methinks I see how fraught the Pulpit was 
 Of Grace, of Gravity, of Wisdom, when 
 
 With most harmonious notes a Barnabas 
 He now was, and a Boanerges then: 
 
 How deep his sermons were, where Elephants, 
 Might take content, and yet withal how plain. 
 
 Suited unto the leather Dublet's Wants, 
 
 All in a near unimitable Strain: 
 
 What 
 
 *Holy Mr. Pox. ^Seneca. 
 ||Ille plus pastor, quo non prestantior unus, 
 Qui faciendo docet, quae facienca docet. 
 
(12) 
 
 What undasht "fwine he gave me: what a Zeal 
 
 For me consum'd him : how material 
 He was in Dispensations aim'd to heal 
 
 Distempers in me, yet how Spiritual: 
 •■ 
 He Hke an Ox* was alwaies labouring 
 
 To feed me, but he like an Eagle* too 
 Did soar to Pisgah's Top, from thence to bring 
 
 Celstial Visions pore-blind us unto. 
 
 One is a Doctor most ^ Invincible 
 
 Another most -^ Profound, a Third is counted 
 A Subtil -^one; (Scholastic Records tell) 
 
 A Fourth I Angelical by none surmounted: 
 
 COLLINS was all of this. The noble i:! Three 
 Geneva crowns, enlightning Calvin, and 
 
 The thundring Far el join'd auspiciouslie 
 
 With shouring Viret, here in one did stand. 
 
 For Memory almost a Seneca}'^ II 
 
 For Judgment and Fancy inferior 
 To few; in learning rich, and ev'ry way 
 
 He was a furnisht Gospel-Orator. 
 
 How 
 foH. to z. Cor. 2.17. gr. **all. to those 2 creatures 
 in Rev. 4.7. whereof by the former some will have the 
 Pastor, & by the latter the Teacher of a Church to 
 be meant, ^so Alexander Hfeiles. -t-so Bradwar- 
 dine. -t-so Scotus. \so Aquinas. \:\thus dis- 
 tinguished in an Epigram of Beza'j. || \\whose 
 tenacious Memory is to all Ages memorable. 
 
(13) 
 
 How many *Lydian-h.ea.Tts reputed him 
 A WClcwiger, by him unlockt? To us 
 
 For Light giv,n to our House how much Esteem 
 He had as an \.Oecolampadius! 
 
 To save poor me and mine, Oh how severe-^ 
 
 His Labours were! how lasting his Renown 
 
 Must to my Offspring be, Once (saying) were 
 
 Doves eyes within the Locks of -*- Middletown ! 
 
 My Neighbourhood shar'd with me too ; he gave 
 Some Spirit unto them : and then his -^ Haven 
 
 He chose: So on the Doyll* we us'd to have 
 
 Heaven from him, from us he flew to Heaven. 
 
 The Age of Perkins !(:*just attained, he thought 
 
 It time to follow him. But IV hy so fast? 
 The cause you know that of such things is brought 
 Belong'd to him, he only grew too fast.^ 
 
 More 
 
 *all. to Act. 16.14. \\an excellent Divine, the 
 Bnglish of whose Name seems to be Key-carrier: 
 ^another, whose Name in likely hood was House- 
 Lamp, -jfobserving the Motto of the Emperour Se- 
 verus, which was LABOREMUS. -t-all. to Cant. 
 4.1 where by those expressions some understand 
 Christian Teachers surrounded with their believ- 
 ing Hearers. -<- One of his last Services was that 
 he assisted in a Day of Prayer at New-Haven, im- 
 mediately on which he sickned. \\*He died on a Sab- 
 bath Day about the beginning of the Morning Ex- 
 ercise. **about 44. 
 f Immodicis brevis est aetas et rara senectus. 
 
 B. 
 
(14) 
 
 More would I say but Heart-corroding Anguish 
 Layes that check on me, you have lost him now. 
 
 Broken with thy big Loss dear Friend, I languish : 
 
 Hence would my Tears more than my River flow. 
 
 Now in Micaiahs Trance *I seem to see 
 
 For Food on mountains, wandring Shepherdless, 
 
 And Shiftless rambling, what belongs to me. 
 Wast Park of mine that now no Keeper has ! 
 
 Lord, is my Night come shall Impenitent 
 
 Transgressours now continue so? Shall it 
 
 Upon my Meeting-House, while men repent. 
 
 This and that man bom here H no more be writ ? 
 
 Shall a forsaken now Society 
 
 Without its Head, its Heart, its Eyes remain? 
 And like Isaiah's woful Vineyard ly(o) 
 
 With with'ring Grapes abandon'd by the Rain? 
 
 O Ghastly Omens! if Paraeus dy 
 
 Let Heidleberge look to 't. If Austin go 
 
 Let Hippo tremble. If Elisha fly(&) 
 
 After his Master, next year brings a wo 
 
 I 
 
 *i. King. 22. 17. \\allusion to Psal. 87. S- 
 
 [a] all. to Isai. 5. [b] 2 King. 15.20. 
 
 'Tis one of the Jewish Oracles, Quando Lumi- 
 
 naria patiuntur Eclipsin, malum est signum 
 
 mundo. 
 
(15) 
 
 I fear of both sorts now [c] Mortalities, 
 
 Of Famines too I fear the [d] worst, I fear 
 
 The Gallop of no less Calamities. 
 
 Then can be wrap'd in a pale Comets Hair. 
 
 Amidst these hideous Frights perplext, I mourn 
 
 With Incohaerent Throbs you see. Now tell me 
 
 Whether it be not just that thus forlorn 
 
 I here bewail this that has late befel me. 
 
 SHE said ; Her heavy words were hardly out 
 When, as one planet-struck, a doleful shout 
 Of the surviving COLLINSes detaind 
 Me from Replies to what had been complain'd. 
 To fill the Stage there seem'd to throng a croud 
 Of his Relations to us. First aloud 
 His Aged Parents with drench'd Hankerchiefs 
 Saw and had cause thus to proclaim their Griefs: 
 
 A Son, our Staff and II Stork; (said they) A Son, 
 Om Benjamin, Alas, must he he gone 
 To his Long-Home before us? Heaven more 
 May now be Heaven to us than before. 
 
 Farewel 
 
 [cl Some have observed, that the Death of a 
 faithful Minister in a place where he hath done 
 God much service, is oft attended with a great 
 Mortality among other persons in that place. 
 /. Collins. Elijahs Lamentation, p. i8. [d] See Amos 
 8.II. \\A Bird fam'd for its regard to its Dam. 
 
 B 2 
 
(i6) 
 
 Farewel, thou world of *Dirt ; we meekly wait 
 But for a WCall too. This deplored : Straight 
 His Brethren not as a fJehoiakim 
 But as a IJonathan, bemoaned him. 
 With this, We live to see the Joseph die. 
 Whom we thought born for our Adversity! 
 
 His Widdow then, (the tender Whiting swam 
 Thro' the Black --sea of Death to us) / came 
 (Said She) to bear a part with you. But I 
 Must in deep Silence do't. That ev'ry Sigh 
 Of mine — O that it Marbles might erect 
 To him, for lack of whom I'm thus deject. 
 
 And then his Orphans, all ensabled add 
 O could we say — that once ap Father had, 
 A Father whose paternal over-sight 
 Did make us over happy, whose Delight 
 Was in our Welfare, whose Behaviours 
 Still taught us — Mercy! what a Loss is our's! 
 
 In this Distraction mixing once again 
 A Consolation-cup; [/] Thick Mists amain 
 About us gathering ; a Murmur there 
 Of the blest Shade himself we then might hear. 
 
 Fond 
 
 *One of the most splendid Cities wherein, is hence ap- 
 positely term'd Lutetia. \\Vitam habentes in pati- 
 entia, Mortihn in d«siderio. ^see Jer. 22.17. 
 iv. 2. Sam. 1. 17. -t-all. to the Mare mortuum. 
 [f] such the Jews were wont to have at their Fune- 
 rals. 
 
(i8) 
 
 [keep 
 FOND Mortals, wipe your eyes (said he) pray 
 
 That liquor for your selves. *poor Envy 'tis 
 Which prompts your Threnodies for me. To weep 
 
 For my sake, is but to Ignore my Bliss. 
 
 what a world of smoke of dust of Folly 
 
 Am I say I'd II from ! No sin shall me annoy, 
 And no Temptation more to be unholy 
 
 Shall e'er molest me in my Masters JOY. 
 
 1 have my Ragged Mantle dropt ; I have 
 
 All Vanity and all Vexation'\ 
 
 Escap'd, my Clay safe kept within a Grave 
 
 Preserv'd lies for the Resurrection. 
 t 
 
 No Cross (^) shall ever gall my shoulders more, 
 From God, correcting my disorders, and 
 
 No Club e're strike me, red with ancient Gore, 
 Still by each Cain (h) retained in his hand. 
 
 I'm got within the Vail, and there I see 
 
 The ever-glorious Face of the (i) GOD-MAN; 
 
 And he with Transports doth convey to me 
 As much of GOD as entertain I can. 
 
 *all. to Luk. 23.28. Wall, to Phil. 1.23. zvhere 
 to depart, is by some translated to loose Anchor. 
 fMors Beatitudinis principium, Laborum meta, 
 peremptoria peccatorum, Aug. (g) Christ & his 
 Cross part at Heavens door, for there's no room for 
 Crosses in Heaven. Rutherf. Epist. (h) Caini 
 adhuc clavus Abelis sanguine rubens ubique circum- 
 fertur. Bucholtz. (i) The Heaven of Heaven 
 pourtray'd in Joh. 17.24. 
 
 (17 is omitted in the original.) 
 
 I 
 
(19) 
 
 I Know, I Liz/e, I Love; But howf forbear 
 
 To be inquisitive: It can't be told 
 To you; No, tho you all (k) Hebricians were: 
 
 Nor can shell-vessels (l)this things meaning hold. 
 
 I find besides my lovingi Guardians here, 
 
 Here the Good Angels that convey'd me thro' 
 
 The Divel-haunted Dungeon-Atmosphere, {^ 
 To mine annex their Hallelujahs do. 
 
 Here, me the Chorus of the glorify'd. 
 
 The polisht (n)stones, now in the Temple plac,t 
 The twice cloath'd (o) Souls, salute on ev'ry side; 
 
 I see Nathaneel (/>)here, I know the rest. 
 
 Be glad that I am here, and after hye, 
 
 Your selves with diligence, all posting hither, 
 
 Precepts and Patterns left, my Counsels eye. 
 And Copyes, so we shall be soon together. 
 
 Souls, follow me. Anon the Stars, the Sands, 
 
 The Atoms of the Universe — a Scrol 
 Like Heaven fill'd with Nines, for cypher stands, 
 
 Compar'd to the Long joyes Hthat over us may roll. 
 
 (k) skitd in the language that hold conjectures think 
 to he Heavens Dialect. (1) all. to 2. cor. 4.7. gr. 
 (m) the territores whereto the apostate troops of Lucifer 
 seem to he confined, from eph. 2.2 (n) all. to 2 cor. S-S 
 (o) all. to 2. ibid, where an upper garment of glory 
 is engaged to the souls on which an under garment 
 of grace is wrought with the Eternal Spirits Needle- 
 work, (p) V. Joh. 1.4.7. (q) fl thing rationally sung 
 by the German Swan the night before he died. \\ a line 
 purposely too long for the verse hut too short not- 
 [original illegible] shaddow of ETERNITY. 
 
(20) 
 
 A PERIOD this puts to the Tragaedy. 
 He vanisht; They retir'd; confused / 
 Now quite alone, have nothing else to do, 
 But to pour out a short Hosannah to 
 The Worlds Almighty GOVERNOUR to whom 
 On this account now these Petitions come 
 From lifted Hands, and bended Knees — 
 
 Dread Lord, 
 
 By whom vast Hosts of Beings with a Word 
 Are made and mov'd:Let thy much-hop' d Salvation 
 Shield us, like Walls from much-fea/d Desolation, 
 O Save New-Englands Churches; Let them be 
 Still golden Candlesticks, belov'd by thee, 
 Still Puritans ; Still Iv'ry Pallaces. 
 Keep up the Quickset Hedge about them; Please 
 To keep the gladsome Streams of them alive. 
 Save Middletown, and cause the Place to thrive 
 Under Fat Clouds still, and that Bochim let 
 By thy Provision be a Bethel yet. 
 Save ev'ry soul that reads this Elegy; 
 Like COLLINS let us live, like COLLINS dy. 
 AMEN. 
 Sic mihi contingat vivere sicque mori. 
 
 Sic op tat. 
 Qui longe sequitur vestigia semper adorans. 
 Qualis vita, ita 
 
 FINIS