[EULOGY TO EDWARD BURROUGH]
A Eulogy Delivered by FRANCIS HOWGILL
Sewell, William. The History of the Rise, Increase, and Progress, of the Christian People
Called Quakers. Philadelphia: Uriah Hunt, 1832, Vol. I pages 406-408.
This is The Quaker Homiletics Online Anthology, Section One: The17th Century
Shall days, or months, or years, wear out thy name, as though thou hadst no being ? Oh nay! Shall
not thy noble and valiant acts, and mighty works which thou hast wrought through the power of
him that separated thee from the womb, live in generations to come? O yes! The children that are
yet unborn, shall have thee in their mouths, and thy works shall testify of thee in generations, who
yet have not a being, and shall count thee blessed. Did thy life go out as the snuff of a candle ? O
nay! Thou hast penetrated the hearts of many, and the memorial of the just shall live for ever; and
be had in renown among the children of men: for thou hast turned many to righteousness, and
shall shine as a star of God in the firmament of God's power, for ever and ever; and they that are
in that, shall see thee there, and enjoy thee there, thou though be gone away hence, and can no
more be seen in mutability; yet thy life and thy spirit shall run parallel with immortality. Oh
Edward Burrough! I cannot but mourn for thee, yet not as one without hope or faith, knowing
and having a perfect testimony of thy well-being in my heart, by-the Spirit of the Lord; yet thy
absence is great, and years to come shall know the want of thee. Shall I not lament as David did
for a worse man than thee, even for Abner; when in wrath he perished by the hand of Joab,
without any just cause, though he was a valiant man? David lamented over Abner, and said, died
Abner as a fool dieth ? (Oh nay ! He was betrayed of his life.) Even so hast thou been bereaved of
thy life by the hand of the oppressor, whose habitations are full of cruelty. Oh-my soul, come not
thou within their secret, for thy blood shall be required at the hands of them who thirsted after thy
life; and it shall cry as Abel's who was in the faith; even so wert thou, it shall weigh as a
ponderous millstone upon their necks, and shall crush them under, and be as a worm that
gnaweth, and shall not die. When I think upon thee, I am melted into tears of true. sorrow; and
because of the want that the inheritance of the Lord hath of thee, my substance is even as
dissolved. Shall I not say as David did of Saul and Jonathan, when they were slain in Mount
Gilboa, the beauty of Israel is slain upon the high places: even so wast thou stifled in nasty holes,
and prisons, and many more who were precious in the eyes of the Lord: and surely precious wast
thou to me, oh dear Edward, I am distressed for thee my brother, very pleasant hast thou been to
me, and my love to thee was wonderful, passing the love of woman: Oh thou whose bow never
turned back, nor sword empty from the blood of the slain, from the slaughter of the mighty; who
made nations and multitudes shake with the word of live in thy mouth, and wast very dreadful to
the enemies of the Lord; for thou didst cut like a razor, and yet to the seed of God brought forth,
thy words dropped like oil, and thy lips as the honeycomb. Thou shalt be recorded amongst the
valiants of Israel, who attained to the first degree, through the power of the Lord, that wrought
mightily in thee in thy day, and wast worthy of double honour, because of thy works. Thou was
expert to handle thy weapon, and by thee the mighty have fallen, and the slain of the Lord have
been many; many have been pricked to the heart through the power of the wor d of life; and coals
of fire from thy life came forth of thy mouth, that in many a thicket, and among many briers and
thorns it came to be kindled, and did devour much stubble that cumbered the ground, and stained
the earth. Oh how certain a sound did thy trumpet give! And how great an alarm didst thou give
in thy day, that made the host of the uncircumcised greatly distressed! What man so valiant,
though as Goliath Gath, would not thy valour have encountered with while many despised thy
youth? And how have I seen thee with thy sling and thy stone, (despised weapons to war with,)
wound the mighty! And that which hath seemed contemptible to the dragon's party, even the jaw
bone of an ass, with it thou hast slain the Philistines heaps upon heaps even as Samson. Thou hast
put thy hand to the hammer of the Lord, and hast fastened nails in the heads of the Lamb's
enemies, as Jael did to and many a rough stone hast thou polished and squared, and it fit for the
buildings of God; and much knotty wood hast thou hewed in thy day, which was not fit for the
building of God's house. Oh thou prophet of the Lord, thou shalt forever be recorded in the
Lamb's book of life, among the Lord's worthies, who have followed the Lamb through great
tribulations, as many can witness for thee from the beginning; and at last hast overcome and been
found worthy to stand with the Lamb upon Mount Sion, the hill of God; as I have often seen thee,
and thy heart well tuned as a harp, to praise the Lord, and to sound forth his great salvation;
which many a time hath made glad the hearts of them that did believe, and strengthened their faith
and hope. Well, thou art at rest, and bound up in the bundle of life; and I know tears were wiped
away from thy eyes, because there was no cause of sorrow in thee: for I know thou witnessedst
the old things done away, and there was no curse, but blessings were poured upon thy head as
rain, and peace as a mighty shower, and trouble was far from thy dwelling; though in the outward
man trouble on every side, and [thou] hast had a greater share in that, for the gospel-sake,
(though a youth) in thy time, than many besides: but now thou art freed from that and hast
obtained a name through faith, with the saints in light. Well, hadst thou more to give up than thy
life for the name of Jesus in this world? Nay: and to seal the testimony committed unto thee with
thy blood, as thou hast often said in thy day, which shall remain as a crown upon thee for ever and
ever. And now thou art freed from the temptations of him who had the power of death; and from
thy outward enemies who hated thee because of the love that dwelt in thee; and remainest at the
right hand of God, where there is joy and pleasure for evermore in the everlasting light; which
thou hast often testified unto, according to the word of prophecy in thy heart, which was given
unto thee by the Holy Ghost; and art at rest in the perfection thereof, in the beauty of holiness; yet
thy life and thy spirit I feel as present, and have unity with it, and in it, beyond all created and
visible things, which are subject to mutation and change; and thy life shall enter into others, to
testify unto the same Truth, which is from everlasting to everlasting; for God hath raised, and will
raise up children unto Abraham, of them that have been as dead stones; his power is Almighty,
great in his people in the midst of their enemies.