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American Puritan & Colonial

Upon the Death of John Alden

John Cotton (1584-1652) · 824 words · 4 min

The source for this document is https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A34701.0001.001

Project Note

This is licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND. This license allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form only, for noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator.

The source of this document is the Early English Books Online (EEBO-TCP) website. Those books were transcribed in a character for character manner and can be very cumbersome to read since there was no standard spelling during that time. Many spelling variations such as "unlesse", "vnlesse", and "vnles" regularly appear.

This project was conceived to clean up those books as much as possible and make them more accessible to the interested reader, leading to the creation of a massive list of variant spellings and their corrections. This was used to clean up the text, but is of course only as complete as the list itself. Because of the nature of the original transcription, some words have missing characters or places where the original language (e.g., Greek) was not transcribed. This effort does not change that. Be aware that the original transcription can also be faulty and in some cases entire sentences may be missing.

Although this is no substitute for a properly compared, proofed, and scholarly edition, I believe that the result is a document which is far more accessible, particularly for searching for terms using standard spelling. The document has been cleaned and presented in what I hope is a pleasing and useful format for the vast majority of Christian brothers and sisters who just want access to read these spiritually nourishing works.

However, a word of warning: The Puritans were a very diverse group of people and their age was characterized with godliness, but also much upheaval, disputation and strife. They disagreed on many doctrines and some of these works contain less orthodox or Scriptural views than others. The reader is strongly advised to read with discernment, particularly if it is unknown whether author is trustworthy.

This project took a huge amount of time and skill to bring to fruition. I would particularly like to thank David Jonescue for the initial list of Puritans he found on EEBO and the concept behind this project as well as the continuous, unceasing efforts toward seeing this complete. Without his labor, this would not be available. Alex Sarrouf was invaluable in providing the initial list of over 7,000 spelling variations he had identified and corrected, as well as continuing to review more than 16,000 additions to that list for any typos.

Logan West
(with David Jonescue and Alex Sarrouf)
www.puritansearch.org

Upon the DEATH of that Aged, Pio • s, Sincere hearted CHRISTIAN, JOHN ALDEN, Esq Late MAGISTRATE of New-Plymouth Colony, who died Sept. 12th, 1687, being about eighty nin • years of age.

THE • taff of bread, and water eke the stay,
From sinning Judah God will take away,
The prudent Counselor; the Honorable,
Whom Gracd and Holiness makes delectable,
The Judge, the Prophet and the ancient Saint,
The deaths of such cause sorrowful complaint,
The Earth and its Inhabitants do fall,
The aged Saint bears up its pillars all.
The hoary head in way of Righteousness
A crown of glory is. Who can express
Th' abundant blessings by Disciples old
In very deed they are more than can be told.
The guise 'tis of a wanton generation
To wish the aged soon might quit their station.
Tho' truth it be, The Lord our God does Jrown,
When aged Saints by death do tumble down.
What though' there be not such Activity,
Yet in their Prayers there's such Fervency
As doth great mercy for a place obtain,
And gracious presence of the Lord maintain.
Tho' Nature 's strength in old age doth decay,
Yet th' inward man renewed is day by day.
The very presence of a Saint in years.
Who lifts his soul to God with pray'rs and rears,
Is a rich blessing unto any place
Who have that mercy to behold his face:
When sin is ripe and calls for desolation
God will'call home old Saints from such a nation.
Let sinners then of th' Aged weary be.
God give me grace to mourn most heartily
For death of this, dear servant of the Lord,
Whose life God did to us so long afford:
God lent his life to greatest length of days;
In which he lived to his Redeemer's praise.
In youthful time he made Moses his choice,
His soul obeying great JEHOV AH 's voice,
Freely forsook the world for sake of GOD,
In His House with His Saints to have abode.
He followed GOD into this Wilderness;
Thereby to all the world he did profess,
Affliction with the Saints a better part
And more delightful to his holy heart
Than sinful pleasures, lasting but a season:
Thus said his Fa ••• so saith not carnal Reason
He came one of 〈◊〉 first into this Land,
And here was kept 〈◊◊〉 • od 's most gracious hand
Years sixty-seven which time he did behold.
To poor New-England mercies Manifold:
All God's great works to this His Israel
From first implanting what to them befell:
Of them he made 〈◊〉 serious Observation,
And could of them present a large Narration,
His walk was holy, humble, and sincere,
His heart was filled with JEHOVAH's Fear
He honor'd GOD with much integrity,
God therefore did him truly magnify.
She hearts of Saints entirely did him love,
His Uprightness so highly did approve,
That whilst to choose they had their liberty
Within the Limits of this Colony
Their Civil Leaders, him they ever chose.
His Faithfulness made hearts with him to close.
With all the Governors he did Assist;
His Name recorded is within the List
Of Plymouth 's Pillars to his dying day.
His Name is precious to eternal Ay.
He set his Love on God and knew His Name,
God therefore gives him everlasting Fame.
So good and heavenly was his Conversation,
God gave long life, and showed him His Salvation.
His work now finished upon this earth;
(Seeing the death of what he saw the birth)
His gracious Lord from heaven calls him home,
And saith, My servant, now to Heaven come:
Thou hast done good, been faithful unto Me,
Now shall thou live in bliss ETRNALLY,
On dying bed his Ailes were very great,
Yet verily his heart on GOD was set.
He bare his griefs with Faith and Patience,
And did maintain his lively confidence:
Saying to some, The work which God begun,
He would preserve to its perfection.
His mouth was full of blessings till his death
To Ministers and Christians all: his breath
Was very sweet by many a precious word
He uttered from the Spirit of his Lord.
He lived in Christ, in Jesus now he sleeps:
And his blest soul the Lord in safety keeps.

JOHN ALDEN. Anagram End all on hi.

Death puts an End to all this world enjoys,
And frees the Saint from all that here annoys.
This blessed Saint hath seen an end of all
Worldly perfections. Now his Lord doth call
Him to ascend from earth to heaven high,
Where he is blest to all Eternity.
Who walk with God as he, shall so be blest,
And evermore in Christ His bliss shall rest.
Lord, Spare thy remnant, do not us forsake,
From us do not thy Holy Spirit take.
Thy Cause, thy Int'rest in this land still own:
Thy gracious presence ay let be our Crown.

J. C.