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 PRINCETON, N. J 
 
 
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 Division . 
 
 Section 
 
 Number 
 
 

 
 
s 
 
COMFORT 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 AFFLICTED, 
 
 Under every Distress. 
 
 with 
 SUITABLE DEVOTIONS. 
 
 By WILLIAM 7 D ODD, M.A. 
 
 Prebendary of Brecon, and Chaplain to the Lord 
 Bifhop of St. David's. 
 
 Comfort ye, comfort ye my People^ faith your God: fpeak 
 ye comfortably to J erujalem. Ifaiah xl. i. 
 
 Behold thou haji tnflrutled many, and thou hafl firengthened 
 the weak Hands : Thy Words have upholden him that was 
 falling and thou haji firengthened the feeble Knees. 
 
 Job iv. 3, 4. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for Edward and Charles Dilly, 
 in the Poultry. 
 
 MDCCLXIV. 
 

 A 
 
T O 
 
 The Right Reverend Father in Goj>, 
 
 SAMUEL SQUIRE, D.B. 
 
 Lord Bishop of St. David's, 
 
 The following Work, 
 
 Pablifhed with a fincere Intention to do Good, 
 
 And therefore acceptable to his Lordship, 
 
 Is mofl humbly Infcribcd, 
 
 BY ONE, 
 
 Whofe Heart, full of Gratitude 
 
 For many kind and unfollicited Favours, 
 
 Always feels the higheft Satisfaction in every Opportune/ 
 
 However trifling, 
 
 Of declaring himself, 
 
 With undiflembled Reverence and Affection* 
 
 His Lordship's moft dutiful, 
 And devoted Chaplain and Servant^ 
 
 William Dodd, 
 

Advertisement. 
 
 tc TT^Nquiries afcer Happinefs, and Rules for 
 
 ][2j ct attaining it, are not fo neceffary and 
 " uieiul to Mankind (Mr. Addifon remarks) as 
 u the Arts of Confolation, and fupporting one's 
 " felf under Affliction." Convinced of this, from 
 Experience, and from the frequent Scenes of Dii- 
 trefs, to which his Office introduced him, the 
 Writer of the following Work imagined, that 
 he could not engage in a more benevolent Attempt, 
 than that of offering Comfort to his iuffering and 
 afflicted Fellow-creatures. 
 
 He therefore refolved upon preaching a Set of 
 Difcourfes with this View : In which he had made 
 great Progrefs ; when, accidentally, the good Bi- 
 fhop Hall 's Treatife, called, The Balm of Gilead, 
 fell into his Hand. As this coincided with his 
 Plan, he freely ufed fuch Arguments of this amia- 
 ble Writer, as approved themfelves to his Judg- 
 ment, altering the Style, and making other Im- 
 provements asfeemed neceffary. 
 
 When he had finifhed the Difcourfes, it was de- 
 termined to weave them into a Treatife, and lay 
 them in a regular Form before the World, for the 
 Benefit of fuch as might need, and would be glad 
 of the Confolation afforded in them. Free Ufe 
 hath been made of fuch WYiters, as have united 
 their kind Endeavours to affuage the Burthen of 
 human Woe ; amongfl whom particular Refpect 
 mould be paid to Dr. Grofvenor, to whofe Holy 
 Maimer we are greatly indebted. 
 
 To the Treatife are added Devotions, fome 
 .of which have been fclected from the moil emi- 
 
 a 2 neat 
 
vi ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 nent Divines : And it is hoped that they will be 
 found fatisfactory to the Chriflian labouring under 
 any Species of Affliction or Diftrefs. 
 
 The Writer claims no Merit, and expects no 
 Fame from this Work •, which he publifhes with a 
 fincereand fingle Defign to ferve and to blefs his 
 Fellow- creatures : Nothing can or mall deprive 
 him of the Reward of that good Intention ; nor 
 has he the leaft Doubt, that God will fail to make 
 his humble Endeavour fubfervient to fo happy en 
 End. — And mould that End be obtained, mould 
 one Tear be wiped from the Eye of Sorrow, one 
 Groan fuppreffed at the Heart of Grief — fhould 
 any learn from hence, to fupport with Patience 
 the Weight of Calamity, and to look up, under 
 it, with becoming Refignation to the Father of 
 Comforts ; — Every good Heart will allow, that an 
 End fo defirable, as this, will render alike infig - 
 nificant, the Breath of Applaufe, or the Blaft of 
 Cenfure. — FJowever, the Author is fatisfied, ihere 
 remains fo much Candour and Humanity amongft 
 us, that tc the Defign of the Work (to ule Bi- 
 " fhop Patrick's Words) is fufficient to give it 
 " Protection, if it cannot gain it Approbation. 
 ".It hurts no Body, and therefore may pafs, it- 
 " ielf, with more Safety : And it offers its Service 
 " to do every body Good -, which, methinks, fhould 
 
 be taken kindly, even bv thofe who (rand in no 
 
 Need of it." 
 
 l? r f f!-Ham, } 
 March, 1764. S 
 
 C O ' 
 
 cc 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Of Afflictions in general. 
 
 Page, 
 
 Section i. Introduction. The principal ends of 
 
 afflictions in general, — I 
 
 Sect. 2. Ufes of affliction. General arguments of 
 
 confolation, — — ■■ II 
 
 Sect. 3. Arguments of confolation, from the exam- 
 ples of holy men in all ages, the patriarchs, &c. 18 
 
 Sect. 4. Arguments of confolation, from the exam- 
 ples of holy men in all ages, the prophets, &c. 
 General application, — 25 
 
 Sect. 5. General remark. Arguments of confola- 
 tion, from the example of the apoftles,&c. 34. 
 
 Sect. 6. Arguments of confolation, from the exam- 
 ples of the martyrs, &c. Application of the 
 whole, ■ 44 
 
 Sect. 7. The exampleof Job enforced, 55 
 
 Sect. 8. Reflections on the example of Job. His ar- 
 guments of confolation recommended and en- 
 forced, — -—64. 
 
 Sect. 9. Arguments of confolation, from the blef- 
 fednefs of a future ftate through Chrift, Rev. vii. 
 13 — 17, explained, — 7$ 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Confolations for the AjfliEted in Mind. 
 
 Sect. i. Confolations for the afflicted in mind, 84 
 
 Sect. 2. The fame continued, . 02 
 
 Sect. 3. The fame continued, ■ 99 
 
 Sect. 4 The fame concluded ; with a Letter, ico 
 Sett 5. Confolations forperfons under temptation : 
 
 The right notion of temptation ftated, 128 
 Sect. 6. The fame continued j with proper methods 
 
 of refuting temptation, — ■■ ■ ■— — i?8 
 
 CHAh 
 
m CONTENTS; 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Confolations for the Afflicted in Body. p age 
 
 Sect. i. Confolations in ficknefs, . j^q 
 
 Sect. 2. Confolations on a Tick bed, • 1 rg 
 
 Sect. 3. Confolations in ficknefs, . ifry 
 
 Sect. 4. Further confolations for the fick bed, 174 
 
 CHAP. IV; 
 
 Confolations for the Affiled in Ettate. 
 
 Sect. i. Confolations under the lofs of friends, drawn 
 
 from confiderations refpe£ting God, igj 
 
 Sect. 2. Confolations under the iofs of friends, drawn 
 from confiderations refpecling thofe friends them- 
 felves, — 195 
 
 Sect. 3. Confolations under the lofs of friends, drawn 
 
 from confide! ations refpecling ourfelves, 201 
 
 Sect. 4. Confolations under the lofs of friends, drawn 
 
 from confiderations refpeeting others, 206 
 
 Sect. 5. Sir Wm. Temple's letter of confolation to 
 
 Lady Effex, on the lofs of her only daughter, 210 
 
 Sect. 6. Conclufion of Confolntions under the lofs 
 
 of friends 223 
 
 *Sect. 6. Confolations under the lofs of eflate, or 
 
 fortune, — 228 
 
 Sect. 7. Confolations under the lofs of eftate. Ex- 
 hortation to the poor, ■ ■ 237 
 
 Sect. 8. Confolations under the lofs of reputation, 244 
 
 Sect. 9. Confolations under the lofs of outward 
 
 fenfes, fight, hearing, &c. 264 
 
 Sect. 10. Confolations under the want of children, 276 
 
 Sect. ii. Confolations under the inconveniences of 
 
 old age, — — 2S3 
 
 Sect. 12. The good Chriftian comforted in death, 304 
 
 Sect. 13. Prayer, the grand fource of comfort, re- 
 commended and enforced, 320 
 
 APPEN- 
 
CONTEN T SV ix 
 
 APPENDI X. 
 
 Page. 
 
 1. Serious advice to a perfon recovered from ficknefs, 335 
 
 2. On a mother's grief for the lofs of her infant, 352 
 
 3. Archbidiop Tillotfon's Letter to a friend, who lay 
 
 ill of a languishing diforder, — — 357 
 
 D E V O T I O N So 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 For the Jffiifted in general. 
 For a perfon under the prefiure of heavy affliction, 362 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 For the dffiified in Mind. 
 
 A Prayer which a foul may ufe, that is full of doubts, 
 
 and troubled in mind, ~- 365 
 
 Another for the fame, or for one under deep melan- 
 choly and dejection of fpirit, ■ 368 
 
 For one convinced of fin, 369 
 
 For theincreafe of faith in (Thrift, 371 
 
 For repentance, 373 
 
 In time of temptation, _— 376 
 
 For one under fears and doubts, as to the goodnefs 
 of his fpiritual condition : or under perplexing 
 
 thoughts and fcruples about his duty, 377 
 
 For one who is hurried with wicked and blafphemous 
 
 thoughts, - — 379 
 
 For one who is afflicted with a profane miftruff. of di- 
 vine truth, and blafphemous thoughts, 381 
 
 For one under the dread of God's wrath, and ever- 
 
 lafting damnation, — — * 382 
 
 C H A P. 
 
x CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 For the Jjflifled in Body. 
 
 Pag?. 
 A Prayer to be faid by the family or friends, when a 
 
 ficknefs continues long, -—- — •' 383 
 
 For a fick penitent, — — 385 
 
 When a perfon is giving up the ghoft -—— * 386 
 
 Thankfgiving after recovery from ficknefs, 387 
 
 CHAP: IV. 
 
 For the Jfflifted in Eflate. 
 
 An a£t of refignation, when a friend is dead, 38^ 
 A Prayer for the ufe of a child that hath loft its pa- 
 rents, ; 391 
 
 A Prayer to be ufed by a widow, 392 
 
 A Prayer under lofles and damages in our goods and 
 
 eftates, 393 
 
 A Prayer to be faid by fuch as are poor and low in 
 
 the world, ■ 394. 
 
 A Prayer under any injuries, abufes, or provocations, 396 
 
 A Prayer for the ufe of one that is aged, 337 
 
 A Prayer againft the fear of death, . 398 
 
 A Prayer for afliftance at the hour of death, 39^ 
 
 COMFORT 
 
COMFORT 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 AFFLTCTED,^. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 Of AjfliElions in general. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Introduction. — The principal Ends ofjf- 
 jliftions in general. ■ 
 
 T. Paul fpeaking of himfelf, and his 
 fellow-fufferers, in the firft and trying 
 days of Chriftianity, obferves, that if 
 in this life only they had hope, they were 
 of all men mofi inferable*. And of man- 
 kind in general we may fay, that if in this 
 life only we have hope, if this life only be 
 the end of our exiftence, we are of all crea- 
 tures, formed by the hand of God, the moll: 
 miferable ! The irrational part of the crea- 
 tion, Grangers to the anxiety, and unacquaint- 
 
 * i Cor. xvt 19. 
 
 B ed 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ed with the cares and troubles which perplex 
 mankind , freely enjoy what is fet before 
 them; and indulge without remorfe.or re- 
 ftraint the appetites implanted in them. 
 Unconcerned for the future , and uncon- 
 fcious of events , they enjoy the prefent, 
 and feem to have no farther hopes : and tho' 
 doomed, full often, to naffer beneath the cruel 
 hand of man, they indicate no fenfations of 
 foreboding pain j nor appear to double their 
 misfortunes, by the melancholy anticipation 
 of them. 
 
 But man, the great lord of the inferior 
 world, finds care an inmate, which he can- 
 not diilodge : and is fo far from enjoying the 
 prefent, without a view to the future ! that 
 all his life long, he feems living only for the 
 future, and treafuring up the means of well- 
 being hereafter. So far is he from finding 
 fatisfaclion in the free and unreftrained grati- 
 fication of his appetites -, that his beft reafon 
 continually difapproves fuch gratification : and 
 wifdom perpetually inculcates, that his duty 
 and his happinefs confiff. in the reftraint of 
 thofe appetites. A Have to labour and anxiety, 
 he frequently finds his labour fruitlefs, and 
 his anxiety diftrefsful : and at length every en- 
 deavour difappointed, he finks down beneath 
 the oppreffive load of afflictions and troubles ; 
 and drops into the grave, foon to be wholly 
 forgotten upon earth, worn out with forrow, 
 and wafted by ficknefs and woe. 
 
 Though 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 Though from this view of human nature, 
 the ancients rationally inferred the exiftence 
 of a future {late : yet from the light of the 
 Gofpel only can we fatisfactorally refolve thefe 
 riddles, and explain thefe otherwife inextri- 
 cable difficulties. Look at man in himielf, 
 and without an eye to a future world, and he 
 is a perfect myftery. Look at him, as a can- 
 didate for an eternal, an unchangeable inherit- 
 ance ; as a probationer in a world of trial, as 
 a paffing pilgrim thro' the defert of life to the 
 manfions of uninterrupted repofe j — and the 
 myftery at once is cleared up. All is confident, 
 great and good. Trials and afflictions, feen 
 in this view no longer amaze or perplex us : 
 we fee, in them, the hand of a wife con- 
 ductor, and are able to difcern, that they alfo 
 work for the good of Man. 
 
 Now as fuch is the ftate of man here be- 
 low ; as trials and afflictions more or lefs, 
 (whether brought upon us, thro' our own 
 offences, or thro' the unavoidable neceffity 
 of things) are the inevitable portion of ail the 
 children of Adam : Much of our wifdom con- 
 lifts in the knowledge how to fupport and im- 
 prove thefe trials ; — how to receive them with 
 propriety, and to render them productive of 
 thole good ends, which they are defigned to 
 attain. — As fome affiftance in which ne- 
 ceffary work, I propofe to fhew in general the 
 principal ENDS, which God may be fuppofed 
 to delign by afflictions of whatever fort ; 
 B 2 —which 
 
4 DESIGN. 
 
 — which will naturally lead to the USES we 
 ought to make of fuch afflictions ;— fome 
 general arguments for consolation under 
 them fliall next be offered :— And this done, I 
 will defcend to particulars ; and endeavour to 
 prefent the lenient balm of comfort, to fuffc- 
 rers of every fort j — to thofe who are oppreit 
 with troubles of MIND - t to thofe who are 
 burdened with Sicknefs and pains of the 
 BODY; to thofe who are afflicted in E- 
 STATE , with temporal loffes j lofs of 
 friends ;— lonelinefs, and defolation, hard- 
 fhips, and the frowns of the world. 
 
 And may that Prince of fufferers, who 
 entered not into his glory, before he was 
 crucified, fuccecd my endeavours, and blefs 
 them to the fuccour and fupport of thofe 
 for whom they are defigned ! That, thro' his 
 grace, every child of affliction, who reads 
 them, may be ftrengthened to endure with 
 chearfulnefs whatever God fhall pleafe to or- 
 dain ; and to bring forth the fruits of patience, 
 and refignation : Graces, which will be crowned 
 with glory in that ftate, where forrow and 
 iighing (hall for ever be done away ! 
 
 We are iirft then to fpeak of the principal 
 ENDS j which the goodnefs and wifdom of 
 God may be fuppofed to intend, by afflicting 
 his people. 
 
 Now we may fay, with great truth, in the 
 general, that in all the afflictions where- 
 with 
 
Enbs of AFFLICTION. 5 
 with he is pleafed to try us, nothing is, no- 
 thing can be intended by the author of our be- 
 ing " but our good, and his glory." For 
 he doth not afflitt willingly ', nor grieve the chil- 
 dren of men. — He doth not chajlife for his own 
 pleafure, but for our profit \ that we may be 
 made partakers of his holinefs ; that we may 
 improve in virtue under his correcting hand, 
 and become like our father, in difpofition and 
 in happinefs. — But then, as different difpen- 
 fations are neceffary to produce that good, and 
 to manifeft that glory ; fo afflictions may be 
 fent with a defign — either to correct and a- 
 mend what is evil or amifs in us j or to pre- 
 ferve us from evil for the future ; — to wean 
 our affections and draw off our hearts from 
 this world, and to raife in them an earned 
 defire for the next : — they may be fent to 
 exercife our graces and elevate our devo- 
 tions ; to try our patience, and fo increafe 
 our glory, if we be found faithful. 
 
 It muft be allowed , that as thefe are 
 great and important ends ; fo afflictions are 
 in their own nature, well fitted and cal- 
 culated to produce them. For they are 
 fent, by our heavenly Father, " to correct and 
 amend what is evil and erroneous in our lives 
 and practices, to punifh us for the part, and 
 preferve us from tranfgreffions for the future ?" 
 — By flopping our carreer in wrong, and giv- 
 ing us as it were a paufe : — they awaken the 
 mind to reflection, and open upon our view, 
 a fcene, to which in a courfe of uninterrup- 
 B 3 ted 
 
6 Ends of AFFLICTION. 
 
 ted profperity we perhaps mould never have 
 lifted our eyes. When the mind of man is 
 engrofTed by wrong defires and purfuits ; 
 his whole attention engaged, and hiS whole 
 heart filled ; to talk to him of the error of 
 his ways, or to fuggeft to him the improprie- 
 ty of his conduct, founds light and abfurd in 
 his ears ; and maketh no more impreffion, 
 than the light dew-drop which falls on the 
 marble. 
 
 But let thofe defires be thwarted, and thofe 
 purfuits difappointed ; let the good, which he 
 fo much doats on, be withdrawn ; the evil, 
 which he fo much diflikes, be given him in 
 its flead ; and he will foon be in a difpo- 
 fition, proper for ferious reflection ; capable 
 of receiving , and willing to improve wife 
 counfel. Take away from the intemperate 
 his health; from the vain his magnificence; 
 from the wealthy his gold ; from the ambi- 
 tious his honours : take from the blind and 
 over-weaning parent the child of his dotage ; 
 from the lover of this life, every means of 
 enjoying it : The former will grow temperate ; 
 the vain will learn humility : each will 
 feel ; and then will know themfelves : and 
 be led by affliction into the path of right, and 
 into an obiervance of the law of God. 
 
 David declares, from his own experience, 
 before I was afflicted^ I went wrong ; but now 
 1 have kept thy laws. It is good for me that I 
 have been in trouble> that I might learn thyfta- 
 
 tutes* 
 
Ends of AFFLICTION. ; 
 
 tutes. And his defcendant Manajfeb joins in 
 the fame confefflon ; proud and wicked, till 
 he was afflicted and in chains 5 — but in his 
 ajflicJion, he be fought the Lord, and humbled him- 
 felf greatly ! * 
 
 As afflictions are thus fent by God to cor- 
 rect our part and amend our future conduct, 
 and are in themfelves well calculated to pro- 
 duce that end ; fo are they no lefs condu- 
 cive to another good purpofe , which our 
 father gracioufly deiigns, namely " the wean- 
 ing our affections from this world, and railing 
 them up to a better" — Oh Death, fays the 
 wife man, — how bitter is the remembrance of 
 thee, unto a man who liveth at reft in his pojjcf- 
 Jions j unto the man, who hath nothing to vex 
 him j and who hath prosperity in all things .•"•j- 
 In fuch a iituation, full of peace and full 
 of plenteoufnefs, the heart is riveted to this 
 world: the enjoyment of things prefent dif- 
 iipates the very thought of things to come. 
 
 But change the fcene j and draw the dark 
 and black veil of affliction over it ; turn this 
 bright day into night, this peace and pleafure 
 into corrofive troubles :— and weary of the 
 trial, the foul looks up and fighs for that eter- 
 nal realm of r'epofe, where pain and anxiety, 
 mall torment us no more. 
 
 And thus the wife man paints the contrafr. 
 Oh Death, acceptable is thy Jentence unto the 
 
 * See Chron. xxxiii, 12. 
 t Ecclef. xxxi. 1, &c. 
 
 B 4 needy ; 
 
8 Ends of AFFLICTION. 
 
 needy ; and unto him whofe Jirength faileth, who 
 is now in the lafi age, and is 'vexed with all 
 things. Indeed the more we fee and feel of 
 the cmptinefs, vanity, and afflictions of this 
 world, the more of neccflity we muft be led 
 to defpife it ; — the more muft our affections 
 be weaned from it ; — and the more earneftly 
 fhall we long for that place of comfort, where 
 our joys will be uninterrupted, unchangeable, 
 and everlafting. 
 
 Nay, when God thinks fit to try us with 
 afflictions here, when he is pleafed, either by 
 withdrawing our health— by removing from 
 us our friends — by taking away our fupport 
 —or by any other means incapacitating us 
 for the enjoyments and endearments of this 
 world ;— what is there in it, which can at all 
 engage our affections, or with-hold our defires 
 from that place of future recompence, where 
 ficknefs never enters ; whence our friends mail 
 never be removed ; where want (hall never be 
 known j and where we (hall reft in peace 
 with God, and the Lamb for ever and ever ? 
 
 Another end which our heavenly Father 
 deligns , by afflicting his children is " the 
 cxercife of our graces, the trial of our pa- 
 tience, and in confequence, our greater glory." 
 In this refpect, afflictions are even neceffary. 
 Since without them, there are many chriftian 
 graces, which could not even exift. Hu- 
 mility , refignation , patience and chriftian 
 fortitude, without them, would not be known. 
 
 Thefe 
 
Ends of AFFLICTION. 9 
 
 Thefe are virtues, which, like the palm, 
 profper moft, nay profper only, under prefTure: 
 and which then appear in their moft amiable 
 and flourifhing condition, when the caufe, 
 which calls them forth into action, is moft 
 difficult and afflictive. Now as thefe are gra- 
 ces of the firft Name in the chriftian fyftem ; 
 fo we may be allured, that the moft perfect 
 exercife of them will, thro' Chrift, obtain the 
 fulleft reward. We may be aflured, that they 
 who are moft humble, moft refigned , and 
 moft patient, under the correcting hand of 
 Heaven , will receive from that hand , the 
 faireft rccompence; and the beft increafe of 
 future glory. 
 
 We may alfo obferve, that as afflictions are 
 neceffary for the exertion of thefe diftin- 
 guifhed graces, fo are they very conducive to 
 the improvement of our devotion, and to the 
 enkindling, with the moft lively energy, the 
 fpirit of prayer in the heart. Cold and lan- 
 guid arife our prayers too often ; when the 
 world fmiles around us, and our hearts are at 
 eafe : but let the ftorms and tempefts of 
 trouble arife, and tofs our veffels on the 
 threatening furges of affliction, and diftrefs;-- 
 we mall cry unto the Lord then, in our dan- 
 ger — we fhall haften to him importunately, 
 with a Lord fave or we perijh. —To this the 
 experience of every man living bears teftimo- 
 ny.— Now as earneft and fincere prayer, we 
 are informed by our mafter, fhall never be re- 
 jected ; 
 
io Ends of AFFLICTION. 
 jected ; we here again fee the advantage or" 
 affliction, which aroufing the dormant foul to 
 zealous devotion, engages for it the defence 
 and regard of Omnipotence. 
 
 I might urge further, to fhew the natural 
 tendency of afflictions to profit and amend 
 the mind, (in agreement with thofe ends, 
 which God all-gracious ever propofes in them,) 
 « — I might urge the difpoiition of mind, 
 which they induce j that tendernefs and foft- 
 nefs of temper, which they generally occa- 
 fion j which is fo favourable to good im- 
 prellions, which fo readily admits the feeds 
 of induction and religion. High in profpe- 
 rity, and unfubdued to knowledge, the mind 
 hard, and callous, reje&s with difdain every 
 means, every offer, of improvement. But 
 when forrows wound and foften the foul, 
 then is the feafon to cultivate, as it is the fea- 
 fon when the cultivation will be admitted. 
 And when wants are felt in the heart, then 
 is the time, that the fufficiency of Chrift's re- 
 ligion to fatisfy every want, may be fuppofed 
 mod likely to be allowed. 
 
 SECT. 
 
t " ] 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 The Ufes of Affliftion. General Arguments cf 
 Confolation. 
 
 SUCH then being the principal ENDS, 
 which afflictions are meant to produce. — 
 Ends whieh kindly centre in our advantage, 
 and which propofe nothing but our eter- 
 nal felicity' — we cannot be at a lois to know, 
 what USES we are bound to make of them, 
 whenever the wife providence of God finds 
 them neceffary and fitting for us. We are 
 told, that whom the Lord loveth he chajieneth, 
 and fcourgeth every fin whom he receiveth. 
 Wherefore we have no reafon to repine or be 
 diiTatisfied ; to defpair or be uneafy; though 
 our trials be great, or long, or complicated, 
 in the fevered degree. They are marks of 
 God's paternal love ; and they will be a means 
 of our everlafting good, if we are wife rightly 
 to improve them. 
 
 Now in order to improve them, we mould 
 ferioufly confider, when they furround us, 
 <l for what caufe and to what end they are 
 fent ? " 
 
 Are they fent to punifli and correct our 
 pad faults, to amend our lives, and lead us 
 into a better path for the future?— -Jt is 
 
 our 
 
t% Uses of AFFLICTION, 
 
 our duty to examine every former tranfaclioti 
 of our lives : ferioufly to deplore thofe offenc- 
 es, which we have committed : and under 
 the afliftance of almighty grace to refolve, and 
 to enter, upon a new and blamelefs courfe of 
 life. 
 
 Are they fent to wean our hearts, from 
 this world ? — Again we muft fearch, whe- 
 ther indeed we be not too ftrongly attached 
 to temporary loves, and affections : whether 
 fublunary things, do not hold our hearts too 
 faft. And if we find this fad captivity ; we 
 muft break the chain, and dedicate our foul 
 to him, who alone can fatisfy its defires. 
 
 Doth it pleafe God to try us, for his glory, 
 and our greater good hereafter, for the exer- 
 cife of our patience and iubmiffion ; and for 
 the animating and enlivening our devotions ? 
 —Ours muft be the bufinefs to work with 
 him, for thefe gracious ends ; chearfully to 
 receive all his good pleafure ; to cleave to 
 him the more clofely, the more he thinks fit 
 to afflict j and, like Job, to maintain our in- 
 tegrity, even tho' he fhould reduce us from 
 the higheft ftate, to that condition of naked 
 want and mifery, in which we entered and in 
 which we muft leave this world : — faying with 
 an unfeigned fubmifiion, the Lord gave, and 
 the Lord hath taken away j bleffed be the name 
 of the Lord! 
 
 In fhort, to know the end, is to know the 
 ufe of afflictions j and the man, who is fatis- 
 
 fied, 
 
General CONSOLATION. 13 
 
 feed, that the hand of God is in all ; that he 
 defigns only the good of his creatures j— will 
 never fail to receive with propriety, and to 
 ufe with profit, whatever trials or troubles 
 he may encounter : fatisfied as he is, that 
 all will work together for his good, though 
 for the prefent it may feem hard and grievous 
 to be borne ; and though the intention and 
 ufe of each particular difpenfation may not be 
 evidently manifeft to him. 
 
 And this is the first ground of consola- 
 tion, under whatever befalls us below. " The 
 knowledge that a wife and good God ordains, 
 and dire&s the whole fyftem of human af- 
 fairs." 
 
 The confolation-s, which the philofophy 
 of the Heathens held forth to be afflicted, 
 were too weak $ were inefficacious to reprefs 
 the figh of woe ; nay (as one of the Roman 
 Emperors faid, when thofe vain comforts were 
 adminiftered to him) they were fo far from 
 foothing, that they aggravated diftrefs *. 
 For the beft things they had to offer, were, 
 that fufFerings, forrows, and death were una- 
 voidable : — .that tears and lamentations were 
 fruitlefs : — -that there could be no remedy, 
 and therefore it was wrong and impious to 
 grieve. While others abfurdly advanced, that 
 nothing was an evil to the wife man ; and that 
 
 • Hoc ipfum eft, quod me male habet. It was faid by 
 Augujlus. See Abp. Tilkt/on's Sermons. Serm. 5. 
 
 happy 
 
14 Arguments of CONSOLATION. 
 happy himfelf, he could never be touched by 
 the hand of forrow. 
 
 Far different is the confolation, which our 
 divine religion prefents to us ; when it fets be- 
 for our view — c< a God creating, governing, 
 and preferving the world. Nay, redeeming that 
 world by fufferings ; and holding forth to all 
 thofe, who patiently endure, and willingly 
 tread in the fteps of their great Mafter, a 
 kingdom of everlafting life !" 
 
 " The very firft principle of religion, (as 
 one has faid-f-) is wonderfully conducive to 
 bear us up, under all the changes and chances 
 to which our life is fubject; namely, that 
 there is a God, a powerful, a wife, a good 
 Being ; who firft made the world, and con- 
 tinues to govern it j by whofe goodnefs all 
 things are defigned; and by whofe provi- 
 dence all things are conducted to bring about 
 the greateft and beft ends. The forrowful 
 and penfive wretch, who was giving way to 
 his misfortunes, and mournfully finking un- 
 der them, the moment this doctrine comes 
 in to his aid, hufhes all his complaints ; and 
 thus fpeaks comfort to his foul : It is the 
 Lord, let him do what feemeth him good ; 
 without his direction I am affured that no evil 
 can befal me ; without his permiffion, that no 
 power can hurt me -, it is impoffible a Being 
 fo wife fhould miftake my happinefs; — or 
 that a Being fo good fhould contradict it. If 
 
 + See Stemes's Sermons, Vol. 2. 
 
 he 
 
Arguments of CONSOLATION. 15 
 
 he hath denied me richer, or other advantages, 
 perhaps he forefees the gratifying my wifhes 
 would undo me, and by my own abufe of 
 them, be perverted to my ruin. — If he hath de- 
 nied me the requeft .of children. — or in his 
 providence has thought fit to take them from 
 me — how can I fay, whether he has not dealt 
 kindly with me, and only taken that away, 
 which he forefaw, would embitter and fhor- 
 ten my days — It does fo to thoufands, where 
 the difobedience of a thanklefs child, has 
 brought down the parents grey heirs with for- 
 row to the grave. — Has he vifited me with 
 iicknefs, with poverty, or other difappoint- 
 ments ? Can I lay, but thefe are bleflings in 
 difguife ? So many different expreffions of his 
 care and concern, to difentangle my thoughts 
 from the world, and fix them upon another — • 
 another, a better world beyond this ! "—This 
 thought opens a new fcene of hope and confo- 
 lation to the unfortunate, and as the perfua- 
 fion of a providence, reconciles him to the 
 evils he has fuffered : — this profpect of a fu- 
 ture life, gives him ftrength to defpife them, 
 and to efteem the light afflictions of this life as 
 they are; not worthy to be compared with 
 what is referved for him hereafter." 
 
 But I urge not this motive at prefent, as I pro- 
 pofe to confider it at large in a diftinct fection : 
 and to fet before you the. exceeding happinefs 
 awaiting thoie, who coming out of great tri- 
 bulation 
 
i6 Arguments of CONSOLATION. 
 
 bulation have wajhed their robes and made them 
 white in the blood of the Lamb*. 
 
 'Tis from thence that the Chriflian draws 
 his peculiar comfort ; from the view of that 
 bleeding Lamb, of that divine and gracious 
 Matter, who was made perfect by fuiferings : 
 who has left the crofs, as a precious burden 
 to be borne by all his followers ; but as a 
 burden which his love and example mall make 
 light and eafy; which that fpirit, whofe 
 name is the Comforter, mall at length totally 
 remove j and give in its place, the crown of 
 glory which fadeth not away. 
 
 Tho' therefore in every trial, and in every 
 affliction we may derive ftrong confolation 
 from the remembrance, that God in every 
 trial intends his fervants good ; that he doth 
 not willingly afflict, for his own pleafure, but 
 for our profit j — correcting in love, that 
 his children may be zealous and repent: — 
 tho' we may derive ftrong comfort from the 
 happy knowledge, that we are in the hands, 
 and under the providential care of the God, 
 who created and preferves the whole univerfe 
 of his rational creatures ; oftheGod, who is 
 all-wife to provide, all-powerful to protect; 
 all-good to relieve, affift and blefs us! — 
 Of the God, who is our father, and who re- 
 gardeth us with the moil tender paternal 
 care ; who hath given us not only our exif- 
 tence, but all things which we enjoy; and 
 who alone can give us all things which we 
 
 * Rev. vii. 14. 
 
 expect 
 
Arguments of CONSOLATION. 17 
 
 expert hereafter 3 — though an eternity of blifs, 
 we are allured, awaits our faithful and pa- 
 tient enduring: though, from each of thefe 
 arguments, we may derive the fvveeteft fa- 
 tisfaction, and the fulleft hope to our fouls 3— 
 yet fuperior to them all will be the fteajdy 
 looking unto JESUS, the author andfinijher of 
 our jalvation 3 who, for the joy which was placed 
 before him, endured the crojs, defpijtng thejhame 3 
 and is jet down for ever at the right hand of God I 
 
 When we cjonfider him, who endured fuch 
 contradiction of finners againft himfelf, we 
 mall not be wearied, nor faint in our minds 5 
 but (hall rejoice, inafmuch as we are found 
 worthy to iuffer with him, that we may fill 
 up the meafure of his afflictions in this world, 
 and enter triumphant into that realm, where 
 the palm of victory and the crown of glory 
 mail adorn each hand and head, which have 
 been faithful unto death j and have received, 
 with the true fpirit of refignation, evil as well 
 as good from the hand of their Lord. 
 
 Deiigning to offer, in our next fection, 
 the example of the fuifering Saints and Ser- 
 vants of God who have gone before us, as 
 another Argument of Confolation, — We will 
 conclude the prefent with the words of our 
 Church 
 
 M There mould be no greater comfort to 
 
 chriftian perfons, than to be made like unto 
 
 Chrift, by fullering patiently adverfities, trou- 
 
 C bles 
 
1 8 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 bles, and ficknefs. For he himfelf went not 
 up to joy, but firil he fuffered pain ; he en- 
 tered not into his glory, before he was cru- 
 cified. So truly our way to eternal joy, is 
 to fuffer here with Chriilj and our door to 
 enter into eternal life, is gladly to die with 
 Chrift ; that we may rife again from death, 
 and dwell with him in everlaftin£ life." 
 
 SECT. HI. 
 
 Arguments of Confolation — -from the Examples of 
 holy Men in all Ages — The Patriarchs, &.C. 
 
 E come now to lay before you another 
 argument of general confolation, de- 
 rived from the example of the Saints and Ser- 
 vants of God in all ages. An argument, which 
 St. James urges in the following words : Take, 
 my brethren, the prophets, who have fpoken in the 
 name of the Lord, for an example of fuffer in g 
 affliction and of patience. Behold, we count them 
 happy who are patient. Te have heard of the 
 patience of Job, and havefeen the end [and pur- 
 pofe] of the Lord, in fo trying him : and learn 
 from thence] that he Lord is very pitiful, and 
 of tender mercy. * 
 
 St. fames here propofeth to the afflicted 
 Chriflians , as an argument of great confo- 
 
 * Jamcsv. 10, II. 
 
 lation, 
 
from Examples of Holy Men, &c. 19 
 lation, the example of thofe who were 
 mod favoured by God, fo much favoured 
 as to deliver his particular melTages to the 
 people, — and yet were not exempt from 
 fullering and affliction, from evil treatment > 
 (xaxo7ra(?£icts) perfecution and diftrefs'j which, 
 neverthelefs, they bore with all poffible 
 patience, and long-fuffering. — He then re- 
 marks, that this was no proof of their mifery 
 and difefteem, either in the fight of God or 
 good men. For behold, faith he, we count them 
 happy * who are patient — we, not I myfelf, 
 but all of us — -, all Chriftians are agreed in 
 this judgment, that they are truly bleffed 
 people, who endure with patience and refig- 
 nation the trials wherewith God may pleafe to 
 exercife them. And he continues to obferve, 
 that they had a lively proof of this felicity, 
 and of God's tender mercy, in that affliction 
 which Job endured fo patiently, and which 
 redounded fo much to his own happinefs, and 
 to the glory of God, who tried him only to 
 reward him, and who afflicted him only to 
 recompence him in the end, with peculiar 
 favour. 
 
 This argument cannot fail of its effect, 
 whenever the foul, melancholy, defpond- 
 ing, and uneafily diftrefl: with fear of the 
 Divine difpleafure — looks up to that multi- 
 tude of fuffering Saints, and Servants, who 
 received the higheft marks of God's choice 
 
 * M«Kap£of*E», Wc congratulate them, as happy people. 
 
 C 2 and 
 
20 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 and love here below, and vet were not exempt 
 from the fevereft: of fufferings. — To improve 
 it, let us take a view of thole Patriarchs and 
 Prophets, thofe Apoftles and Martyrs, thofe 
 excellent and approved Children of our hea- 
 venly Father, who have trod the fuffering 
 path to glory, who now wear the robe of 
 white, and hold the palm of victory, in that 
 realm, where the Lamb who was (lain, ad- 
 mits them to the participation of his triumph. 
 
 The firft righteous man, to whom God 
 gave teftimony, fell a facrifice to the envy 
 and malice of his brother -, and his blood fo 
 cruelly fhed (till fpeaking to us, declares, that 
 tribulation is no proof of the Divine dilplea- 
 fure j and that the higherl: and moft exemplary 
 virtue, procures no exemption from it. 
 
 Noah — diftinguifhed fo much for his righ- 
 teoufnefs in a totally corrupted world, that 
 God made choice of him to preferve the hu- 
 man race, and re-people the deluged earth, — 
 was a man of fufferings and forrow, as we 
 may reafonably conclude, from the Hate of 
 things before him. For as a good man, how 
 could he behold his fellow-creatures fo wretch^ 
 edly depraved, without the tendered concern ; 
 how could he behold his fellow-creatures, (o 
 terribly deftroyed, without the moft feeling 
 forrow of heart ! nor can we apprehend a 
 more afflictive fource of uneafinefs, than the 
 profane difobedience of one of thofe children, 
 who had been fo miraculoufly preferved — and 
 
 from 
 
from Examples of Patriarchs, &c. 21 
 from whofe difobedience, he faw, by the 
 fpirit of prophecy, a long chain of evils and 
 troubles extending itlelf through one ffcem of 
 his devoted race ! 
 
 Abraham, fecond to none in the Divine re- 
 gard, peculiarly chofen, favoured, vifited, — 
 was by no means unacquainted with the diffi- 
 culties of trial, and the burden of affliction. 
 Long he travelled a pilgrim and a fojourner in 
 a ftrange country, without any certain pofTef- 
 iions, moving his tent, as God ordained — at 
 whofe call he had left his father's houfe and 
 his own inheritance, which are always moft. 
 dear to every man. Though the heir of the 
 world by promife, God did not pleafe for a 
 long time to give him children — his beloved 
 wife was barren. A ftranger, he thought 
 was likely to be the heir of his houfe. At 
 length, after hope had become hopelefs, the 
 promifed fon was given. Then how fevere a 
 trial was it to difmifs the bond-woman and her 
 fon, in fuch fad circumftances ? — But how 
 much more fevere — to flretch upon the altar 
 his fon, his only, his beloved fon, Ijaac, to 
 hold the fatal knife to his dear throat ! Heroic 
 inftance of faith and refignation ! this was a 
 trial indeed : from thence the children of af- 
 fliction may derive ftrong confolation, under 
 every oppreffive circumftance. 
 
 Ifaac had a bitter ingredient in his cup ; one 
 
 of the moft bitter perhaps, which parents 
 
 can tafte— the unnatural divifion between his 
 
 C 3 fons 
 
22 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 fons Efau and Jacob, and the fad probability, 
 that, like the firft father, he might (through 
 the malice of the elder) be deprived of them 
 both in one day. 
 
 Jacob 1 % was a life of fufFering : Few and evil, 
 faid he to Pharoah, have the days of the years 
 of my life been, — and indeed, upon a re- 
 view of it, one cannot well conceive any 
 fcene more afflictive and uneafy. Banifhed as 
 it were, through his brother's hatred, from 
 home, and wandering a lone ftranger through 
 a diftant land, he lived long in a ftate of fer- 
 vitude, under a rnorcfe and peevifh matter, 
 whofe alliance to him ought to have foftened 
 his difficulties. " Thus 1 was, fays he expof- 
 tulating with Laban, in the day the drought 
 confumed me, and the frofi by night ; and my 
 Jleep departed from mine eyes. Thus have I been 
 twenty years in thy hcufe : I ferved thee fourteen 
 years for thy two daughters, and fix years for 
 thy cattle, and thou baft changed my wages ten 
 times. Except the God of my Father, the God 
 of Abraham, and the fear of Ifaac, had been 
 with me, furely thou hadfil Cent me away now 
 empty. God hath feen mine affliction and the 
 labour of my hands, and hath rebuked thee." 
 And as the beginning, fo the dole of bis 
 life was made up of afflictions : greater than 
 which we cannot well conceive : when his 
 beloved fon Jofeph was fo cruelly taken from 
 him — when famine oppreft his family — ; 
 and the only way to efcape death, was even 
 
 worfc 
 
from Examples of Patriarchs, &c. 23 
 work than death, — the parting with his be- 
 loved Benjamin — My Jon, laid he, JJjall not go 
 down with you : — me have ye bereaved of my 
 children j Jofeph is not, and Simeon is not, and 
 ye will take Benjamin away 5 all thefe things are 
 againjl me. He Jhall not go with you — -for his 
 brother is dead, and he is I ft alone ; if mifchief 
 befal him in the way by which ye go, thenjljall 
 ye bring down my grey hairs with Jorrow to the 
 gr-ave. 
 
 Nor was Jofeph, the favourite fon of this 
 afflicted parent, a flranger to the fchool of 
 trial, in which his father was 10 feverely ex- 
 ercifed. Jofeph ftands forth, a diftinguimed 
 character in the facred hiftory ; and the parti- 
 cular hand of a protecting providence, fo dif- 
 cernable in all the events of his interefting 
 life, affures us, that God, in the manage- 
 ment of his wife purpofes, can render evils 
 and afflictions productive of the beft and great- 
 eft ends : while they, whom, from external 
 appearances, we fhould judge, lead regarded 
 by him, are chief in his favour, and firft in 
 his attention. Jofeph in the pit, and with 
 the Ijhmaelites, in the houfe of Potiphar, and 
 in confinement; Jofeph the Have, and the 
 prifoner, was yet the chofen fervant of God ; 
 was in his hand the falvation of the whole 
 vaft empire of Egypt, as well as of his own 
 family ; and the inftrument, by which a mod 
 awful difpenfation of providence was con- 
 ducted. 
 
 C a. Enflaved 
 
2\ Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 Enilaved and afflicted in Egypt, and oblig- 
 ed to ferve with rigour, the whole nation 
 of the Ifraelites, confidered as the peculiar 
 people of God, may, with propriety, be 
 faid to fet us an example of differing afflic- 
 tion. Selected from all the families of the 
 earth, and taken into the immediate protec- 
 tion of the moil high, they were not pro- 
 tected by him from the ftroke of affliction ; 
 but were proved, and tried, as gold is tried 
 in the furnace. 
 
 MofeSy their great law-giver, like whom 
 no mere man was ever admitted to fo near an 
 intercourfe with the Deity, fent upon fo high 
 a commiffion, and employed in fo important 
 an office, as that of mediator, between Jeho- 
 vah and the people — even this Mofes, meek 
 man of God, was all his life long familiar 
 with afflictions and troubles - 3 — wearied out 
 with the weight of care j and even in the end 
 deprived of that temporal bieffing, which he 
 expected— an happy admiffion into the pro- 
 mifed land. And we are informed to our com- 
 fort, that fo far was Mofes from judging af- 
 flictions to be evils in themfelves, that he 
 agreed with St, James, and with all Chrif- 
 tians, in counting them happy who patiently 
 endure— for we read, that he refufed, when 
 he was come to years of ' difcemment, to be called 
 the fon of Pharoah'j daughter— choofatg rather 
 to fuffer affliction with the people of God, than 
 to enjoy the pleafures of fin for afeafon : efleem- 
 
 ing 
 
from Examples of Patriarchs, &c. 25 
 ing the reproach oj Chrifl, greater riches than 
 the trcajures of Egypt ; for he had refpecl unto 
 the recompence of reward — that recompence, a 
 refpect to which renders all afflictions light 
 and eafy to be borne. 
 
 Nor was Aaron his brother, though fo emi- 
 nently preferred to the firfr. place in God's fer- 
 vice, and the nearer!: accefs to the Divinity 
 — exempt from the common lot of mortals. 
 Out of four fons, he had the affliction to be- 
 hold two devoured by fire fent from God 
 to punim their irreligion -, and on account of 
 his own and his lifter's mourning, had the 
 misfortune to iee her covered with Ieprofy, 
 while himfelf was obliged earneftly to depre- 
 cate the Divine difpleafure. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 Arguments of Conjolation—from the Examples 
 of holy Men in all ages. — 'lhe Prophet s> 6cc— 
 General application, 
 
 THE time would fail me to fpeak of all 
 thofe recorded in the Word of God, who 
 have been made perfect through fufTering : 
 of fob in particular, it is not poffible to fpeak 
 in a mort compafs -, his example deferves and 
 fliall have a feparate and full conlideration 
 hereafter.* I pafs on therefore to him, of 
 whom a character is given expreffive of the 
 higheft divine complacence — " the man after 
 
 * See Seft. vii. 
 
 God's 
 
26 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 God's own heart?* Yet before he came to the 
 throne, what a life of uneaiinefs, perfecution, 
 trial, and trouble was David's, hunted as he 
 was by Saul, like a partridge on the mountains^ 
 according to his own expreffion ! And after 
 he came to the throne, after his fall efpe- 
 cially, what a fcene of forrow, diftrefsful be- 
 yond imagination, was before him ! Filial in- 
 gratitude, rebellion, inceft, murder: the 
 iword never departed from his houfe; and 
 forrow, we may be afTured, never departed 
 from his heart. — Thefe afflictions, it may be 
 faid, were drawn upon him, by his own im- 
 piety : and alas, what but our own impieties 
 and tranfgrefflons, for the moft part, draw 
 down the chaftifements of heaven upon 
 us ? But was it not a gracious mark of God's 
 tender care for David, that he fuffered him 
 not to enjoy undifturbed his criminal indul- 
 gence ? but by fatherly corrections awakened 
 him to repentance, and by fevere chaftife- 
 ments upon earth purified his foul for heaven ? 
 David, in his afflictions, powerfully declar- 
 eth the defire and fearful effe&s of prefumptu- 
 ous tranfgreffions ; and if any man thinks 
 himfelf encouraged, by his example, to fin — 
 let him look at his punimment, and tremble 
 for the miftake. While, in his afflictions, 
 David addreffeth the fweeteft confolation to 
 
 * I Sam. xxvi. 20. 
 
 f See Dr. Chandler's Vindication of David, &c. — See alfo 
 Chrifiian's Magazine, vol. Hi. 300, fcfff. 
 
 ail 
 
From Examples of Prophets, &c. 27 
 
 all thofe who, burdened with the guilt, are 
 kindly corrected here, with the punifhment 
 of fin. Happy will it be, if the evils, which 
 our offences have fo juifly merited and drawn 
 down, have the fame effect upon ours, which 
 they had upon the heart of the King of Ifrael : 
 happy they, who have defervcd juftly the 
 Divine difpleafure, experience, on the contrary, 
 with David, the Divine loving kindnefs in 
 fatherly corrections - 3 and, with David, fin- 
 cerely repent. 
 
 From David, the King and the Prophet, 
 look we to Ifaiah, a Prophet of the firft 
 name, and alio of royal blood. None of the 
 Prophets were enlightened by the heavenly 
 wifdom to deliver more excellent and elevat- 
 ed prophecies, concerning the Mefiiah and 
 his kingdom. And no man's life was more 
 holy : yet no man's death was more afflictive. 
 For it is the conftant tradition, both of Jews 
 and Chriftians, that he was put to death by 
 being fawn afunder, in the reign and by the 
 command of Manajj'eh— 'The lives of Elijah 
 and Elijha were an uninterrupted fcene of dif- 
 trefs and trouble : as the commifiions which 
 they had to deliver were fo harfh and fevere, 
 that they were compelled often to iecrete 
 themfelves, and to live in loneiinefs and exile j 
 in wearinefs and anxiety. 
 
 Jeremiah, as we learn from his own ac- 
 count, was continually perfecuted by the 
 priefts and falfe prophets of his day : Zede- 
 
 kiah 
 
28 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 kiah at length fhut him up in prifon; and 
 efcaping from hence, he was caft into a dun- 
 geon, where he funk in the mire, and lay 
 almoft fuffocated in it. He faw the deftruc- 
 tion of his country, and was himfelf carried 
 a captive into Egypt; where, according to 
 gener.l tradition, he was put to death ; fome 
 fay, ftoned by the Jews, who could not bear 
 his rebukes and prophecies. His book of 
 Lamentations abundantly proves, that he was 
 a man of forrows, and acquainted with grief. 
 
 Ezekiel was a fufferer in the common cala- 
 mity of his country, and lived a wretched 
 captive in Chaldea. God was there pleafed to 
 try him with private afflictions. The defire 
 of his eyes was taken away with a ftroke. — 
 And at length he was killed by the General of 
 his own nation, who was enraged at the Pro- 
 phet for cenfuring his conduct. 
 
 The fufferings of Daniel are well known, 
 his many trials, and God's wonderful deliver- 
 ance of him from them : as well as theirs, 
 who boldly confefTed their God amidft idola- 
 ters, and were preferved from the power of 
 the fire, by the mighty hand of him who 
 careth for his fervants, and who is Almighty 
 to fave. 
 
 The reft of the Prophets trod in the fame path ; 
 and we fhall find, that the followers of Chrifr. 
 (who himfelf triumphant over fufferings, leads 
 the way) have walked with chearfulnefs and 
 
 patience 
 
From Examples of Prophets, &c. 29 
 
 patience after their divine Mafter — whom 
 the Apojlles and Evangelifts, the Martyrs and 
 Confeffors, and all the chofen Saints in every 
 age, and place, and time, have joyfully ac- 
 companied, through tribulations and afflic- 
 tions to glory. — But the review of thefe (hall 
 engage the following fedlion : while we clofe 
 the profpect we have taken of the fervants 
 of God before Chrift, with the account of 
 that heroic furTerer, in the time of the Mac- 
 cabees, who herfelf and her feven fons gladly 
 embraced death in all its terrors, that they 
 might approve their fidelity to that God, 
 whofe loving-kindnefs and mercy they joyful- 
 ly confefTed in the midft of tortures. 
 
 Indeed the whole family of the Macca- 
 beeSy than whom it is not eafy to find 
 a race of men, more pious or more vali- 
 ant, fland forth illuftrious examples of fuf- 
 fering patience. — It was in their days, under 
 the tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes, who was 
 one of the greateft perfecutors of the Jewijb 
 Church, that feven brethren, with their mo- 
 ther, were taken, and by the King command- 
 ed to renounce their religion, and to tafte 
 iwine's fle(h contrary to their law ; and, upon 
 their refufal, to oblige them to it, they were 
 tormented with whips and fcourges, when 
 one of them, who fpoke firft, faid thus : 
 " What wouldeft thou afk or learn of us? 
 we are ready to die, rather than to tranfgrefs 
 the laws of our fathers/' Upon which the 
 
 King 
 
30 Arguments of CONSOLATION", 
 King being in a rage, commanded pans and 
 caldrons to be made hot; which forthwith 
 being heated, he commanded the tongue of 
 him to be cut out that fpake firffc, and to cut 
 off the utmoft parts of his body; the reft of 
 his brethren, and his mother, looking on. 
 When he was thus maimed and wounded, 
 Antiochus commanded him, being yet alive, 
 to be brought to the fire, and to be fried in 
 the pan ; and as the vapour of the pan was for 
 a good fpace difperfed, the reft exhorted one 
 another, with the mother, to die manfully. 
 Six of the brethren were put to death in this 
 manner, amidft the moft excruciating tor- 
 ment. — But the mother, fays my hiftorian, 
 was marvellous above all, and worthy of ho- 
 nourable memory ; for when fhe faw her fons 
 thus flain before her eyes, (he bore it with a 
 good courage, becaufe of the hope ihe had in 
 the Lord. And in a pathetic fpeech fhe ex- 
 horted and encouraged her fons. — Antiochus^ 
 after the fix elder brethren were put to death, 
 whilft the youngeft was yet alive, did not 
 only exhort him by words, but allure him by 
 oaths, that he would make him both a rich 
 and a happy man, if he would turn from the 
 law of his fathers ; and that alfo he would 
 take him for his friend, and truft him greatly 
 in his affairs. But when the young man 
 would in no cafe hearken unto him, the King 
 called his mother, and exhorted her, that fhe 
 would counfel the young man to fave his life. 
 
 —She 
 
from Examples of Maccabees, &c. 31 
 —She promifed him, that fhe would counfel 
 her fonj and accordingly fhe faid to him, 
 ,{ O my fon, have pity upon thy mother, 
 who bare thee and fuckled thee, who nou- 
 rifhed thee, and brought thee up unto this 
 age, and endured all the troubles of thy edu- 
 cation. I befeech thee, my fon, look upon 
 the heaven and the earth, and all that is there- 
 in j and confider, that God made them of 
 things, which were not ; and fo was man- 
 kind made likewife. Fear not this tormentor, 
 but being worthy of thy brethren, take thy 
 death, that I may receive thee again with 
 thy brethren." While fhe was yet fpeaking, 
 the young man faid, " Whom wait ye for ? 
 I will not obey the King's commandment, 
 but I will obey the commandment of the 
 law, which was given by Mofes. And thou 
 who haft been the author of all the mifchief 
 againft the Hebrews, malt not efcape the 
 hands of God, — for we fuffer becaufe of our 
 Jim. And though the living Lord be angry 
 with us a little while y for our chajlizing and cor- 
 rection, yet fiall he be at one again with his 
 fervants. But thou, godlefs man, fhalt not 
 efcape the judgment of Almighty God, who 
 feeth all things." — Then the King being in 
 a rage, handled him worfe than the reft. So 
 the man died undefiled, and put his whole 
 truft in the Lord. Laft of all, after her fons, 
 died the mother, cruelly tormented, but re- 
 joicing, inafmuch as me was found worthy 
 
 to 
 
32 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 to fufTer for God, and to be united again in the 
 kingdom of heaven to her happy and trium- 
 phant fons.* 
 
 From thefe examples we fee, how much 
 
 it hath pleafed God to try his beft and moft 
 
 chofen fervants with afflictions — thofe fervants, 
 
 fome of who??!, as St. Paul expreiTes it, had 
 
 trial of cruel mockings atid fcourgings y yea 
 
 moreover of bonds and imprifonment : others were 
 
 tortured, not accepting a deliverance, that they 
 
 might obtain a better refurrediion. They were 
 
 ftoned, they were fawn a/under, were tempted, 
 
 were fain with the /word; they wandered about 
 
 in foeep-fkins and goat-Jkins, being defitute, of- 
 
 f idled, tormented. 
 
 When oppreft with the burden of af- 
 fliction, the foul contemplates this company 
 of Patriarchs and Prophets, and all thefe 
 chofen fervants of God, who in this world 
 had great conflicts, but now rejoice, now 
 are comforted, now are fecure in the everlaft- 
 ing kingdom — the view cannot fail to dif- 
 pel every defponding thought, to infpire the 
 Deft hopes, and firmeft refolutions. While the 
 foul mud derive the ftrongeft confolations from 
 it, and thus fpeak peace to his troubled 
 thoughts : "If any thing had been better, 
 and more conducive for the falvation of man 
 than fuffering ; furely God would have fhewn 
 it, and lead his choiceft fervants by that way 
 to glory ! But His choiceft fervants have been 
 *See 2 Mauab. c. via. 
 
 made 
 
from Examples of Maccabees, &c. 33 
 made perfect — and happy are they, who with 
 them are made perfecl, through fuffering : 
 willingly and thankfully therefore do I em- 
 brace, oh ! heavenly Father, thefe corrections, 
 wherewith thou art pleafed to try me — I ac- 
 cept them as tokens of thy love, and look 
 with pleafure to my fellow-fufferers, who 
 have palled through the trial, and are now 
 for ever at reft ! While I behold their great 
 examples, let me rejoice to fuffer with ; 
 let me learn to be patient and refigned, like 
 them ! The bitter cup which thou giveft me 
 to drink, is no mark of thy wrath ; — thy 
 Saints in all ages have drank of it ; I receive 
 it therefore gladly from thy fatherly, thy 
 loving hand. Even thy only begotten Son 
 drank of that cup of trembling ! Happy foul, 
 who art fo regarded by thy God, that he will 
 not leave thee to the dangerous delufion of a 
 fmiling world, and of uninterrupted eafe; he 
 hath better things in ftore for thee ! Hold up ; 
 — fupport thy heart — j the kingdom is pre- 
 pared for thee — Thou (halt be united to the 
 goodly fellowfliip of the Prophets — : thy 
 light afflictions, which are but for a moment \ are 
 not worthy to be compared with the glory which 
 tboujhaltffiortly receive." 
 
 SECT. 
 
34 Arguments of- CONSOLATION, 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 General remark Arguments of Conjo/atton, 
 
 from the Example of the Apojlles^ &c. 
 
 A MONGST the various arguments which 
 ±\^ are urged in proof of the Chriftian Re- 
 ligion, that perhaps is not the leaft conclusive, 
 which is drawn from the doctrine of Suffering 
 and Trial, fo conftantly inculcated throughout 
 the New-Teftament. For that religion can 
 be no other than Divine, which propofing no 
 earthly motives or emoluments ; which fup- 
 ported by no temporal power, and recom- 
 mended by no external earthly accommoda- 
 tions — j but which, on the contrary, fetting 
 before mankind tribulation and diftrefs, per- 
 fection and contempt, — notwithftanding 
 prevails over the earth, gains Confeflbrs to 
 avow it in the midft of peril, gains Martyrs 
 to atteft it in the midft of tortures. 
 
 And fuch is the Religion of Chrift ; the . 
 Divine Author of it came meek and lowly 
 himfelf, a man of forrow and acquainted 
 with grief; and fought not to allure follow- 
 ers by fpecious propofals, and high offers 
 of advantage. So far from it, that, he 
 plainly declared, whofoever would be his 
 Difciple, muft take up the crofs, deny him- 
 felf, and follow a fuffering Mailer in the 
 fu^ering way. He declared, that whofoever 
 embraced his faith, muft encounter the hatred 
 
 and 
 
from Examples of the Apostles, &c. 35 
 and oppofition of the world ; that much tri- 
 bulation would infallibly be their portion ; 
 that their rewards were future, but their trial 
 prefent. Averfe to fufferings as human na- 
 ture univerfally is; univerfally as human na- 
 ture longeth after eafe and happinefs, and 
 wifheth to enjoy the favourable efteem of fel- 
 low-creatures ; one would imagine, that fuch 
 a Religion would have found few followers : 
 for, alas ! who is fo much in love with tri- 
 bulation, as voluntarily to embrace a profef- 
 fion, which is infeparably connected with it 5 
 nay, which propofeth it as neceffary and un- 
 avoidable ? — and yet this religion—which made 
 fuch propofals ; nay, whofe bleifed Propounder 
 verified his doctrine, by his own afflictive 
 life and death,— prevailed in the hands of a 
 few mean men ; and in a fhort time rilled the 
 world ; in a mort time found thoufands and 
 ten thoufands, ready to die in fupport of it; 
 — nay dying — .dying amidft the fevered: tor- 
 tures, in fupport of if. — This Religion tri- 
 umphed over all the powers of oppofition, 
 united with the utmoft firmnefs to item its 
 progrefs ; triumphed over the ftrongeft. and 
 moil uniform principle of human nature; over 
 the almo(t invincible prejudices of cuflom and 
 education ; over the wiidom of fclf-furficient 
 philofophy ; over the craft and fecuiar intereils 
 of the eftablimed fuperftitions ; over the au- 
 thority of Magistrates, and the power of Kings : 
 —nay, triumphed even over human nature! — 
 D 2 and 
 
36 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 and thus abundantly demonftrated its Divine 
 original. For upon an impartial furvey, let 
 a man point out, if he can, any rational fo- 
 lution of fo extraordinary a.faB ; and fhew to 
 us, how fuch an effect fhould follow, except 
 from that caufe which we affign, the im- 
 mediate and miraculous interpofition of God. 
 To this all things are eafy j and when the 
 Omnipotent lays to his hand, we cannot mar- 
 vel, that -a Pveligion mall prevail which op- 
 pofes every earthly maxim, ofFereth only 
 fufTerings and trials at prefent, its rewards 
 being at a diftance, after death, and in a fu- 
 ture world. 
 
 As from this argument we may certainly 
 derive a ftrong confirmation of our faith ; fo 
 may we add ftrength to the argument itfelf, 
 as well as much confolation to our fouls 
 in every trial, from a review of thofe Saints 
 and Servants 'of this fuffering Mafler, who, 
 in proof of the truth of this doctrine, that 
 " through much tribulation we mud enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven" — have, through 
 much tribulation, run their courfe, and borne 
 their crofs after their crucified Lord. 
 
 From a review, in the laft fection, of the 
 Patriarchs and Prophets, and moft chofen Ser- 
 vants of God, before the coming of Chrift— 
 we have feen, that this is no peculiarity in the 
 Chriftian difpenlation. The fuffering way hath, 
 from all time, been the way to glory : and we 
 found, that the moft approved Servants of the 
 
 Father 
 
from Examples of the Apostles, &c. 37 
 Father of heaven, have paffed along this path 
 to their Father's houfe. But when the ever- 
 lading Son of God himfelf vouchiafed to 
 dignify this way; from that time it became 
 the way of peculiar blefTednefs, as through 
 the precious blood he hath fried upon it, its 
 roughnefs is in a great meafure removed, and 
 it is found far more delightfome to tread : for 
 Chrift not only drew out the fling from death, 
 when he died, but drank all its bitternefs from 
 the cup of forrow, when it was held forth to 
 him in the garden of agony ! 
 
 In profecution of our deiign, let us now 
 take a view of thofe bleffed Saints, the Apof- 
 tles and Evangelifts, the Martyrs and Con- 
 felTors, who have followed his fteps, and 
 been perfected through fafferings. 
 
 Amidft the innumerable multitude, who 
 are clothed in robes, warned and made white 
 in the blood of the Lamb 3 — behold the 
 Proto-martyr St. Stephen ! He was a good man, 
 and full of the Holy Ghoft ; the wifdom, with 
 which he fpake, was not to be refilled ; the 
 fplendor of his countenance, bright as an an- 
 gel's declared the angelic purity of his mind ! 
 Yet, behold, he is not exempt from fuf- 
 fering — : the hardy perfecutors flop their ears 
 againft him; he is ftoned; while the tri- 
 umphant fufferer, kneels,— prays, " Lord 
 Jefus receive my fpirit— Lord, lay not this 
 (in to their charge" — and thus faying, falls 
 afleep ! 
 
 D 3 Peter, 
 
38 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 Peter, firfr. in zeal, and firft in honour a- 
 midft that glorious company of Apcftles, who 
 were all made perfect by fufferings, early after 
 his Mailer's death began to talle the cup : 
 he, with others of the facred College, when 
 unjuftly fcourged by the Jewifo Rulers, de- 
 parted from the prefence of the Council, re- 
 joicing, that they were counted worthy to 
 fufFer {hame for their divine and beloved 
 Matter's name. And after a life of labour, 
 fatigue, and diftrefs, he was at length put to 
 death, by the command of the favage Nero, 
 who ordered him to be crucified; when the 
 Apoftle, affirming, that he was unworthy to 
 fuffer in the fame pofture, wherein his Lord 
 had fufFered before him, was affixed to the 
 torturing machine with his head downward. 
 
 St. James indeed was the firft apoftle who 
 kid down his life for his Mafter. His life was 
 the moft exemplary, and his character in Je- 
 rusalem the molt elevated. Herod, the gover- 
 nor of Jerujalem, in order to gratify iome of 
 the people, ordered the good man to be be- 
 headed. And it is remarkable, that as he 
 was going to the place of martyrdom, his ac- 
 cufer, being enlightened by the courage and 
 conftancy which St. James had fhewn at his 
 trial,, repented of what he had done, and fall- 
 ing at. the Apoftle's feet, humbly begged his 
 fprgivenefs for whatlie had witneflcd againfc 
 him. After a little furprize, St. James raifed 
 fym up, and embraced him, faying, Peace be 
 
 to 
 
c 
 
 from Examples of the Apostles, e?<r. 39 
 
 to thee. Whereupon he publickly profefTed 
 himfelf a Christian, and was beheaded at the 
 fame time with the ApoiTle. 
 
 St. JbM', his divine brother, the peculiar 
 friend and favourite of his Lord, though in- 
 deed he was the only one of the Apoftles who 
 died not a violent death ; yet for many years 
 endured all the hardships of periecution, and 
 all the difficulties of the apoftolic funclion. 
 It is well known, that a rrioft painful death 
 was defigned tor him, though the power of 
 his God prevented the boiling oil from 
 harming him. It is well known, that he was 
 fent a baniihed Have to work in the mines at 
 Patmos, and fuch flaves always were forcibly 
 deprived of one of their eyes, and endured 
 other great extremities. He remained feve- 
 ral years in this defolate place, and fuffered 
 all the feveriries of the word and raoft painful 
 exile. 
 
 Which of the Apoftles ftands not forth an 
 example of patient endurance ? — St. Andrew, 
 after having traverfed the inhofpitable wilds 
 of Scythia y to plant there the Chriftian faith, 
 was at length feized by an idolatrous Pro- 
 conful, commanded to be fcourged, and then 
 to be crucified ; and that his death might be 
 as lingering and painful as poffible, he was 
 fattened to the crofs, not with nails, but with 
 cords ! How ftrong an inftance of patience 
 and triumph was he, when coming within 
 fight of the crofs, perfectly chearful and com- 
 D 4 pofed, 
 
40 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 pofed, he fpake thus, " Long, very long, 
 have I expe&ed and defired this happy hour ! 
 The crofs hath been confecrated by bearing 
 the bcdy of Chrift; joyful and triumphant 
 therefore do I come to it, that it may receive 
 me as a Difciple and^ follower of him, who 
 once hung upon it ; and be the means to 
 carry me fafe unto my bleffed Mafter, as it 
 was the inftrument upon which he redeemed 
 me." Having prayed and exhorted the peo- 
 ple to conftancy and perfeverance in their re- 
 ligion, he was faftened to the crofs, whereon 
 he hung three days, teaching and inftructing 
 the people all the time ; and when great im- 
 portunities were ufed with the Proconful to 
 fpare his life, he earneftly begged of our 
 Lord, that he might depart at this time, and 
 jcal the truth of his Religion with his blood: 
 which happened accordingly. 
 
 St. Philips after a fevere and terrible fcourg- 
 ing at Hierapolis, was hanged up by the neck 
 againft a pillar. St. James the Lefs, reverenced 
 ior his extraordinary virtues no lefs by Jews 
 than Chriftians, was, by the envious Scribes 
 and Pharifees, thrown from a rock -, and be- 
 ing very much bruifed, though not killed with 
 the fall, he recovered fo much as to get upon 
 his knees, and pray for them who thus cruelly 
 ufed him ; and while he was thus praying for 
 them, they loaded him with a mower of 
 ftones, till one with a fuller's club beat out 
 his brains. It is remarkable, that Jofephas 
 
 men- 
 
from Examples of the Apostles, &c. 41 
 
 mentions the death of this juft man, as that 
 which more immediately alarmed the Divine 
 vengeance, and haftened the univerfal ruin 
 and deitruction of the Jewijh nation. 
 
 The zealous fervant of Chrift, St. Bartholo- 
 mew, who, unwearied in duty, pierced even 
 into India to fpread the glad tidings of re- 
 demption, was firft nay'd alive, and after- 
 wards crucified with his head downwards. 
 He bore with unmaken patience and chear- 
 fulnefs the horrid ufage, and continued to 
 comfort and confirm his Chriftian converts to 
 the laft moment of his life. 
 
 St. Thomas, who travelled through the moft 
 diftant regions, and encountered the greatefl 
 difficulties, was at length murdered by the 
 Bramins. For having converted many to the 
 faith in India, and amongft the reft the Prince 
 of the country, the Bramins perceiving that 
 their craft was thus in danger, refolved to 
 put a flop to his fuccefsful progrefs, and con- 
 fpired his death. And one day, when our 
 Apoftle was retired without the city of Ma- 
 lopur for his private devotions, they aflaulted 
 him, with feveral armed men, loaded him 
 with darts and ftones, and then one run him 
 through with a lance. 
 
 St. Matthew, whofe principal province of 
 inftruction was Ethiopia, there fuffered mar- 
 tyrdom, though the manner of his death is 
 not certainly known. St. Simon and St. Jude 
 both fell by the hands of perfecution -, the one 
 
 was 
 
42 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 was crucified, the other put to a cruel and 
 tormenting death by the Magi. St. Matthias 
 was firft ftoned, and afterwards beheaded. 
 St. Mark fuffered martyrdom in Egypt. The 
 people enraged againft him, for difcrediting 
 their vile idol Serapis, broke in upon him 
 when he was performing Divine fervice, and 
 binding his feet with cords, dragged him 
 into the ftreets, and thruft him into prifon, 
 where he lay all night. Next day the en- 
 raged people renewed the tragedy, and ufed 
 him in the fame manner, till his flem being 
 raked off, and his blood run out, his fpirits 
 failed, and he expired : fome add, that they 
 burnt his body. 
 
 St. Barnabas, the companion of St. Paul 
 for a long time, was feized by the yews when 
 preaching in one of their fynagoguesj in a 
 corner cf which they fhut him up till night, 
 when they brought him forth, and after in- 
 finite tortures, ftoned him to death. 
 
 And to fill up the account, how many, how 
 great, how long were the trials and afflictions 
 of St. Paul himfelf, that chofen veffel, pecu- 
 liarly' feparated and fet apart to the Gofpel of 
 Chrift? They are enumerated by himfelf, 
 and the hearing of them cannot fail to teach 
 us patience and fubmiffion : " Are they mi- 
 nifters of Chrift ? faith he, I am more : in 
 labours more abundant, in ftripes above mea- 
 fure, in prifons more frequent, in deaths oft. 
 Of the yews five times received I forty ftripes 
 
 favc 
 
from Examples of the Apostles, &c. 43 
 
 fave one. Thrice was I beaten with rods ; 
 once was I (toned ; thrice I iufTered fhip wreck j 
 a night and a d :y I have been in the deep: 
 in journeying often', in perils of water, in 
 perils of robbers, in perils by my own coun- 
 trymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in 
 the city, in perils in the wildernefs, in perils 
 in the lea, in perils amongft falfe brethren : 
 in wearinefs and painfulnefs, in watchings 
 often, in hunger and third, in fallings often, 
 in cold and nakednefs. Befides thofe things 
 that are without, that which cometh upon 
 me daily, the care of all the Churches." — 
 And in the Acts of the Apoflles we have the 
 hiirory of this great champion's fufferings 
 continued, which at length terminated in a 
 violent death : for he was martyr'd at Rome, 
 by the command of Nero , who was the firft 
 of the Roman Emperors that dyed his hands 
 in the blood of the Chriitians; and who 
 caufed thole two chief pillars of the faith, St. 
 Peter and St. Paid, the one to be crucified, 
 the other to be beheaded. 
 
 If now we fraud iliil a while, and con- 
 template this glorious company of the Apof- 
 ties and Evangelills, who were chofen pecu- 
 liarly, and peculiarly favoured by their divine 
 Mailer ; who were employed in the higheit 
 and mod honourable office, and endowed with 
 the moll: lingular and eftimable gifts — and 
 yet entered into the celellial kingdom through 
 much tribulation -, we mail be fatisfied, that 
 
 the 
 
44 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 the faith muft needs be Divine, which could 
 fupport men, amidft the wreck of every 
 worldly good, and cheer them amidft the 
 endurance of every worldly evil ; we mall be 
 fatisfied, that afflictions are blefllngs j and fo 
 learn to bear them not only with patience, 
 but with joyfulnefs ; as thereby we are con- 
 formed to thofe mining patterns, who are 
 feated around the Lamb that was flain, upon 
 twelve thrones, in the fulnefs of honour and 
 blifs. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 Arguments of Confolation — -from the Examples 
 of holy Men in all ages.-— The Martyrs, Sec. 
 Application of the whole. 
 
 FROM the Apoflles and Evangelifts let 
 us extend our view mil farther, and we 
 mail find yet greater caufe of chearful fub- 
 miffion under the correcting hand of our Fa- 
 ther: for not the Apoflles and Evangelifls only, 
 but the noble army of Martyrs praife him, 
 and with fongs of triumph atteft the glorious 
 truth which we would enforce, that " thro' 
 much tribulation we muft pafs to the king- 
 dom of heaven" — and that " our light afflic- 
 tions, which are but for a moment, work out 
 for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory/' 
 
 The 
 
from Examples of the Martyrs, &c. 45 
 The hiftory of the church for the three 
 firft centuries, is little more than a hiftory of 
 perfecution and martyrdom : the numbers 
 who gave up their lives under the feveral 
 Roman perfecutions are almoft incredible. 
 They are called in the Revelation — a multitude 
 which no man could ?iumber. The fufferings 
 they endured are mocking to relate, and fuch 
 as one would have imagined, brutality itfelf 
 could never have inflicted upon human na- 
 ture. The chearfulnefs wherewith the Mar- 
 tyrs and Confeffors — young and old, women. 
 and children, went to the torture — the pa- 
 tience wherewith they endured — nay, the 
 earneftnefs they exprefTed to endure, and to 
 give up their lives for their beloved Mafter,— - 
 are wonderful proofs of the power of Divine 
 grace; and fuch as cannot fail to produce 
 very happy fruits in your hearts and lives, 
 if you carefully perufe the hiftories ; than 
 which nothing perhaps may be more ufefui or 
 more inftructive, may tend more to confirm 
 your faith and eftablim your hope. 
 
 I will only juft produce two or three paf- 
 fages, refpecting the perfecutions in general 
 at Rome, and in Africa, from an hiftorian of 
 good credit and authority:* and which will 
 ierve to fill your fouls with praife, as well on 
 
 * The hiftory made ufe of, is that of the Abbe Fleury, which 
 indeed is not to be recommended without great referve. It is to 
 be lamented, that we have not a rational and fatisfa&ory Church 
 hiftory to refer to in our language: though, it is hoped, rhat 
 this deficiency will ere long be fupplied. 
 
 behalf 
 
46 Arguments of CONSOLATION. 
 behalf of thofe, who endured fo triumphantly ; 
 as on behalf of yourfelves, whom the good- 
 nefs of God doth not call forth to fuch ievere 
 trials ! Oh ! how grateful mould we be for 
 his exceeding loving-kindneis : and — alas ! 
 for our luke-warmneis — how diligent to ex- 
 prefs our fenfe of his particular favour, by the 
 particular zeal and devotion of our lives ! 
 
 <c Nero, the Emperor of Rome, had him- 
 felf fet that great city on fire, and in order to 
 avert the public odium, as well as to fatisfy 
 his cruel revenge on the Chriftians, he laid 
 the blame upon them, and accordingly com- 
 menced a perfecution againft them. Many of 
 them were taken up and put to death, as be- 
 ing convicled of the greateft crimes, without 
 any enquiry into the truth. Their torments 
 were attended with cruel mockings ; feme 
 were covered with the fkins of wild beafts, 
 and given to dogs to be torn to pieces ; fome 
 were crucified, and others run through with 
 ftakes. Some they dreffed in a kind of gar- 
 ment, dipt in pitch and other combuftible 
 matter, which they afterwards fet on fire : fo 
 that thefe fufiferers ferved inftead of torches to 
 give light in the night time. Nero made an 
 entertainment of this kind in his gardens, 
 where he himfelf drove his chariot by the 
 light of thefe horrible illuminations. — This 
 was the firft perfecution of the Emperors a- 
 gainft the Chriftians, and' they gloried in be- 
 ing condemned by Nero, who was a difgrace 
 
 to 
 
from Examples of the Martyrs, &c. 47 
 to human nature, and an enemy to goodnefs 
 itfelf." 
 
 In another place fays the hiftorian, cc Dedus 
 coming to Rome in the beginning of his reign, 
 published a cruel edict againft the Chriftians, 
 and fent it to all the Governors of the pro- 
 vinces. The perlecution began in a very ter- 
 rible manner, and the whole employment of 
 the magiftrates was to find out the Chriftians 
 and punifh them. To threatening they added 
 a dreadful preparation of all forts of inftru- 
 ments of torture, as fwords, fires, wild beafts, 
 pits, red-hot chains, wheels to extend their 
 bodies upon, in order to tear them with ta- 
 lons of iron. Every one ftudied to find out 
 fome new inventions. Some made it their 
 bufinefs to accufe, fome to feek out thofe who 
 lay concealed, others to purfue thofe who 
 fled, and to feize upon their eftates. Their 
 punimment lafted a long time, in order to 
 deprive them of the hopes of dying, and to 
 torment them without cealing till their con- 
 ftancy failed them." 
 
 Again — {f finding that torments were in- 
 effectual, through the power of Jefus Chrift, 
 and the patience of the Martyrs, they fhut 
 them up in. dark and loathfome prifons ; they 
 put their feet in wooden ftocks, extended them 
 even to the extremeft hole, and ufed them in 
 fo barbarous a manner, that the greateft part 
 of them were ftifled in the prifon. Some, 
 after having been fo violently tormented that 
 
 they 
 
48 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 they feemed paft recovery, even though the 
 utmoft care imaginable fhould be taken in 
 dreffing their mangled bodies, lay in the pri- 
 ibn deprived of all human affiftance, but were 
 £o greatly ftrengthened by the Lord, that they 
 comforted and encouraged the reft. Others 
 all frem and newly taken, whofe bodies had 
 not been yet abufed, could not bear the 
 loathfomneis of the prifons, and died there. 
 They were not contented with the death of 
 the Martyrs j they extended their perfecution 
 to their dead carcafTes. Thofe who had been 
 ftifled in prifon, where thrown out to the dogs 
 and wild beafts, and not fuffered to be bu- 
 ried, in order to prevent, invalidate, and 
 ridicule the Chriftian doctrine of a Refur- 
 rection." 
 
 In Nicomedia, Egypt, and various other 
 places of the Empire, unheard of cruelties were 
 committed during the Dioclefmn perfecution. 
 An edict was fet up, that all their Churches 
 mould be razed to the ground, and their 
 writings burnt. That thofe who profefs the 
 Chriftian Religion fhould be deprived of all 
 their honours and dignities ; that they fhould 
 be liable to be tortured, though they were of 
 the higheft rank and quality -, that any one 
 might fue them at law, but they might not 
 fue any body. In confequence of this many 
 were murdered, great numbers of every age 
 and fex were burnt, and that not fingly, but 
 in great crowds, by fetting fire round about 
 
 them. 
 
 
from Examples of the Martyrs, &c. 4.9 
 
 them. We are told, that there were feveral 
 men and women among them, who, out of 
 an excefs of zeal, threw themfelves upon the 
 pile ; others, being tied together in great 
 numbers, by the hands of the executioners, 
 were put into large boats, and call: into the 
 fea, with great ftones about their necks. A 
 poor little boy of feven years old, who being 
 afked, whether it were better to adore Jefus 
 Chrift than idols, replied — " There is but 
 one God, and Jefus Ghrift is the true God" — 
 was ordered by the judge to be fcourged fo 
 cruelly before his mother, that the blood ran 
 down from every part of him. Not one of 
 the fpectators,. or even the executioners them- 
 felves, could refrain from tears. His mother 
 encouraged him, and reprimanded him for 
 difcovering too much weaknefs, becaufe he 
 had afked for fome drink. The child was 
 thrown into prifon, and afterwards fentenced 
 to be tortured and beheaded. His mother 
 carried him in her arms to the place of exe- 
 cution, and delivered him to the executioner, 
 with the mod tender and compofed fortitude, 
 but without once fhedding a tear : (lie only 
 khTed him, and befought him to pray for her; 
 then held out her mantle to receive his blood 
 and his head, which (lie carried away in her 
 bofom. 
 
 In Egypt thoufands were martvr'd at the 
 
 fame time; fome were burnt, alter having 
 
 been torn with talons of iron ; others were 
 
 E thrown 
 
50 Arguments of CONSOL Ai:CN, 
 
 thrown into the fea; others died under tor- 
 ture ; others were ftarved to death ; and others 
 nailed with their heads downwards, where 
 they were kept till they died with hunger 
 upon the ftake. Incredible cruelties were ex - 
 ercifed at Thebais, for inftead of iron talons 
 they made ufe of potmerds to tear the Martyrs 
 bodies to pieces, till they expired. There 
 were fome men, whom they tied by the legs 
 to large branches of two different trees, which 
 they had drawn near to each other with en- 
 gines : then they were let loofe, in order to 
 recover their natural iituation, and at the fame 
 time tore the limbs of the Martyrs to pieces* 
 And thefe cruelties, fome too mocking even 
 to mention, were exercifed not for a fhort 
 fpace, but for whole years together 5 while 
 the Chriftians joyfully received their condem- 
 nations, and fung fongs of thankfgiving to the 
 laft gafp : many of them being perfons of the 
 firft rank, for their birth, reputation, and 
 learning. 
 
 And not only then, but in after times, 
 efpecially under the papal tyranny , how 
 many have fuffered with equal conftancy, 
 and not with lefs feverity ? A fenfible and 
 accurate writer of our age* obferves, that 
 " the heathen Emperor of Rome may have 
 flain his thoufands of innocent Chriftians, but 
 the Chriftian Bijhop of Rome hath flain his ten 
 thoufands. There is fcarce any country that 
 
 * Dr. Newton* now Bifhop of Briftol, in his third volume 
 on the Prophecies. 
 
 hath 
 
from Examples of the Martyrs, &c. 51 
 hath nor, at one time or other, been made 
 the ltage of theie bloody tragedies -, fcarce any 
 age that hath not, in one place or another, 
 feen them- acted." In proof of which read 
 only " the acccount of the perfections of the Pro- 
 tejlants in France"* — (which, by the way, 
 well deferves to be read by every Protectant 
 family, as it ferves abundantly to difcover the 
 fpirit of popery, which furely can never be a 
 faith acceptable to God, when cruelty and 
 inhumanity are the firft principles of it — ) 
 read, I fay, their account — and the accounts of 
 the fufferings of the JValdenfes and Albigenfes^ 
 and of the firft Reformer in Germany — nay, 
 and come nearer home, read the accounts of 
 the terrible nerfecutions which have been car- 
 ried on in cur own land — of the Martyrs 
 who have happily confefTed their divine 
 Mafter — of the Cranmers y the Latimers^ 
 the Ridley s — and all whofe names dilgrace 
 the bloody reign of Mary — and you will 
 rejoice that fo many have been found 
 worthy to follow triumphantly the Saviour, 
 who bought them with his own blood , to 
 give fo ftrong a teftimony to the faith, and 
 to fet fo great an example of patient endur- 
 ing. 
 
 Were we to trace this fubject with greater 
 accuracy, and to enter minutely into a detail 
 of the lives of the beft and moil celebrated 
 fervants of God, in all places and times, wc 
 
 * Sold at Waugtis in Lombard-Street, 
 
 E 2 fhould 
 
52 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 mould ftill find that much of tribulation hath 
 been their lot, that through Teas of affliction 
 they have made their way, and (land forth to 
 us lively monitors to perfevere ; and to receive, 
 with filial refignation and thankfulnefs, every 
 difpenfation of an all- wife Father, who can 
 neither miftake nor oppofe our good. And, 
 perhaps, there is nothing which will tend, 
 under God's grace, more to improve our 
 minds, to influence our hearts, and ftimulate 
 our practice, than a ferious attention to and 
 diligent perufal of the lives of thofe bleffed 
 fervants of Chrift ; who have approved them- 
 ielves faithful to their Matter, even unto death ; 
 who have fought victorioufly the good, but 
 arduous fight-— and have received the crown 
 of victory. 
 
 After the view which we have here taken, 
 I would, wifli juft to recal to your attention 
 the argument which was urged at the begin- 
 ning of the former fection. You fee how 
 familiar with fufTerings the beft fervants of 
 Chrift have been j and you cannot but be fa- 
 tisfied, that a ftronger proof of the Divinity of 
 our religion can fcarcely be produced, than 
 that which is taken from the conduct of thefe 
 fufferers. For to fuppofe fo many thoufands 
 of rational creatures dying with triumph, 
 amidfh the moft horrid cruelties, without a 
 fupernatural fupport, and in defence of a 
 falihood, exceeds all probability : We can 
 never doubt, but that religion is true and of 
 
 God, 
 
from Examples of the Martyrs, &c. ^ 
 God, which thus enables men to triumph 
 over themfelves, and their neareft interests, to 
 efteem the world, and all things in it as 
 worthlefs and infignificant 3 to defpife the 
 bittereft pain, to reject the greated happinefs 
 — to endure all things rather than forfeit the 
 hope of the future recompence of reward ! 
 
 Oh that more of their fpirit refted upon 
 us ! that, bleft as. we are with the free pro- 
 feffion of our faith, and with innumerable 
 felicities, our zeal and piety witneffed our 
 fenfe of thefe bleffings ! that we were lefs 
 attached to thefe poor patting toys below— - 
 and that warned by their fufferings, there was 
 no need of the afflicting fcourge to remind us 
 of our duty ! to recal us to our God ! 
 
 But when the kind hand of our Father and 
 Redeemer applies this fcourge — let us receive 
 it fubmiffively 3 let us improve by the chaf- 
 tifement. And while we caft our eyes on 
 the innumerable multitude of the chofen fons 
 of God, who have been purified in the fur- 
 nace of affliction- -let defpondence and grief 
 be difpelled by thankfgiving and joy — and 
 let us efteem ourfelves happy, inafmuch as we 
 are not neglected by him, who careth for his 
 people. 
 
 Na^y, let the children of affliction, upon a 
 review like this, fay whether they would even 
 wifh to be free from tribulation — and to be 
 neglected, as it were, by their heavenly Fa- 
 ther? — "Seeftthou, oh happy fufferer, un- 
 E 7 der 
 
54 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 der whatever calamity thou laboured — feed 
 thou the triumphant Saviour, with that innu- 
 merable multitude who have followed his 
 fteps, and are come out of great tribulation ! 
 Wouldeft thou not rather choofe to differ here 
 a while like them, that with them thou 
 mayed wear the robe of white, the crown of 
 glory, the palm of victory, in eternal peace 
 and reft — than enjoy the pleafure and grati- 
 fications of fin and the world unmoleded for 
 a feafon — and after that feafon, be excluded 
 from God and from happinefs for ever ? — 
 It is a reproach to reafon even to make the 
 comparifon. Alas, that there mould ever be 
 need of it, that any mould make not the com- 
 parifon ; — but the choice ! Be it ours to 
 act more confidently ; like Mcfes y rather 
 choofing the reproaches of Chrift, and the 
 evils of the world, than to enjoy the pleafures 
 of tranfitory indulgences ! We have a noble 
 and glorious company to animate usj while 
 we contemplate them, we mail never think 
 heaven too dear an acquiiition, though pro- 
 cured at the price of every thing mod: va- 
 luable to us upon earth. 
 
 Look up then, lift up your faces unto 
 heaven. Behold Chrift Jefus, and all his 
 Saints with him, who in the world had great 
 conflicts, but do now rejoice, now are com- 
 forted, now are fecure, now are at reft, and 
 mall remain everlaftingly in the kingdom of 
 his Father— and let the view ftrengthen your 
 
 faith, 
 
from t^e Example of JOB. 55 
 faith, confirm your hope, and encreafe your 
 patience : and thus will you be prepared, 
 through Chrift, when the iblemn call (hall 
 come, to leave this realm of forrow and trial, 
 and to join — with 
 
 The goodly fellowfhip of the Prophets, 
 The glorious company of the Apoftles— 
 And the noble army of martyrs— 
 To praife the King of heaven— and to cry 
 continually with feraphims and cherubims, 
 and all the angelic hofts, 
 
 Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of fabaoth. 
 Heaven and earth are full of thy glory — 
 Glory be to thee, O Lord, moft high. Amen. 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 The Example of J o b enforced. 
 
 NOTHING is more common, than for 
 men to fancy themfelves independent, 
 and to live, as if they conceived this life the 
 ultimate end of their exiftence. Miftaken and 
 deluded ! This tranfitory fcene is only the 
 introduction to a fcene unalterable : we are 
 only probationers here, on this ftage of trial, 
 for a ftate of the utmoft moment, — a ftate of 
 eternal blifs or woe. 
 
 Averfe as we too commonly are to this 
 knowledge, though nothing appears more 
 plain or more reafonable, God, from his 
 
 fatherly 
 
56 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 fatherly care of us, is pleafed frequently to 
 lead us to it, and to perfect refignation in 
 confequence, by the hand of affliction, and 
 the ftroke of kindly chaflifement. And as 
 the facred Scriptures, the oracles of confu ru- 
 in ate wifdom, not only teach us what is right, 
 but give us lively examples of it too — fo in this 
 reipect, we have before us many patterns of 
 this virtue , which may fupport us amidfl 
 trials, and encourage us under every difficul- 
 ty. In the former fections many of thefe 
 have been propofed : but that oi Job, fet forth 
 peculiarly in the facred writings, as an ex- 
 ample of fuffering affliction and patience, de- 
 fences, and fhall have, as we promifed* , a 
 particular attention, for it is fraught with a- 
 bundant confolation. 
 
 It is uncertain who was the author, or what 
 was the time of writing the book of 'Job; it 
 is generally efteemed the moil antient of all 
 the facred books : and fuppofed by many, to 
 have been written by Mofes> under the im- 
 mediate direction of God, as a Jcflbn of pa- 
 tience and fubmiffion to the lfraelites, under 
 their afflictions. And as this is the mod: 
 common, fo it is the moft probable opinion : 
 at left St. James feems to direct: us to this 
 view of it, when he propofeth Job as an ex- 
 ample of patience to all Ghriftians ;--- ye have 
 heard of the patience of Job, and have feen the 
 end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful, 
 and of tender mercy. 
 
 * See Seft. IV. 
 
 From 
 
from the Example of JOB. $j 
 From the hiftory we learn, that no parti- 
 cular defeat, or finfu] deviation in the conduct 
 of Joby occafioned this fevere trial ; it was 
 lent wholly with a deiign to exercife his pa- 
 tience and faith, and that both being found 
 perfect, might be honourably rewarded and 
 propofed to the imitation of future ages. And 
 we muft acknowledge, that as no trials could 
 be more fevere, fo no faith can be imagined 
 more firm, no patience more perfect. 
 
 To ftruggle with difficulties, and to wring 
 under the burden of hardships, becomes lefs 
 afflictive to thofe, who from their cradle have 
 been inured to poverty and diftrefs j who have 
 never known the foft fmile of profperity, nor 
 the honour and comforts of an elevated fta- 
 tion. But to fall into poverty and diftrefs, 
 to drink only the cup of mifery and contempt, 
 when through all our days before we have 
 been accuftomed to the better things of life — 
 to fall into misfortunes without any fault of 
 our own — nay, with a virtuous and approving ' 
 confcience — to fall into misfortunes which 
 render our neareft friends my of us ; and 
 which caufe our very virtues to be fufpecled : 
 this, it muft be owned, is a truly afflictive and 
 trying ftate — to bear up under which muft 
 require no fmall degree of heroic refolution. 
 But fuch was the afflictive ftate of Job. 
 He was a great man, and a good man ; up- 
 right and applauded by God himfelf in prof- 
 perity : and in adverfity, as he had the hea- 
 vier!: 
 
58 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 vicft difficulties to fupport, Co did he fupport 
 them with the greater! fubmiffion. 
 
 " The beginning of his days (I ufe the 
 words of a late writer*) was crowned with 
 every thing that ambition could wim for ; he 
 was the greater!: of all men of the eaft ; — 
 had large and unbounded pofleilions, and no 
 doubt enjoyed all the comforts and advantages 
 of life, which they could adminifter. — Per- 
 haps you will fay, a wife man might not be 
 inclined to give a full loofe to this kind of 
 happinefs, without fome better fecurity for 
 the fupport of it, than the mere pofTemon of 
 fuch goods of fortune ; which often flip from 
 under us, and fometimes unaccountably make 
 themfelves wings and fly away. — But he had 
 that fecurity too j— for the hand of providence 
 which had thus far protected, was (till lead- 
 ing him forwards, and feemed engaged in the 
 prefervation and^continuance of thefe bleffings. 
 God (we read) had fet a hedge about him, 
 and about all that he had on every fide ; he 
 had blefled all the works of his hands, and his 
 fubftance encreafed every day. — Indeed even 
 with this fecurity, riches to him that hath 
 neither child or brother •, as the wife man ob- 
 ferves, inftead of a comfort prove fometimes 
 a fore travel and a vexation.— -The mind of 
 man is not always fatisfied with the reafon- 
 able afTurance of its own enjoyments, but will 
 look forward -, and if it difcovers fome ima- 
 
 • See Sterne*s Sermons. 
 
 ginary 
 
from the Example of JOB. 59 
 
 glnary void, the want of Tome beloved object 
 to fill his place after him, will often difquiet 
 itfelf in vain, and fay, " For whom do I la- 
 bour and bereave myfelf of red r" 
 
 This bar to his happinefs God had like- 
 wife taken away j in bleffing him with a nu- 
 merous offspring of ions and daughters, the 
 apparent inheritors of all his prefent happinefs! 
 — Pleafing reflection ! to think the bleffings 
 God has indulged one's (elf in, fhall be hand- 
 ed and continued down to a man's own feed ! 
 How little dues this differ from a fecond en- 
 joyment of them, to an affectionate parent, 
 who naturally looks forward with as ftrong an 
 intereft upon his children, as if he was to live 
 over again in his own pofterity. 
 
 What could be wanting to finifh fuch a 
 picture of an happy man ? Surely nothing, 
 except a virtuous difpofition to give a relifh to* 
 thefe bleffings, and to direct him to make a 
 proper ufe of them. He had that too ; — for 
 he was (from the testimony of God himfelf ) 
 a perfect and upright man, one that feared 
 God and efchewed evil. 
 
 In the midft of all his profperity, which 
 was as great as could well fall to the (hare of 
 one man ; — whilft all the world looked gay, 
 and fmiled upon him, and every thing round 
 him feemed to promife, if poffible, an increafe 
 of happinefs ; in one moment, all is changed 
 into forrow and utter defpair ! 
 
 It 
 
6o Arguments of CONSOLATION . 
 
 It pleafes God, for wife purpofes, to blafl the 
 fortunes of his houfe, and to cut off the hopes 
 of his poflerity : and in one mournful day to 
 bring this great prince from his palace down 
 to the dunghill ! His flocks and herds, in 
 which confifted the abundance of his wealth, 
 were part con fumed by a fire from heaven, 
 and the remainder taken away by the fword of 
 the enemy : — his fons and daughters,-- whom 
 it is natural to fuppofe fo good a man had 
 brought up in fuch a fen(e of their duty, as 
 to give him all reafonable hopes of much joy 
 and pleafure in their future lives j — natural 
 profpect for a parent to look at, to recompenfe 
 him for the many cares and anxieties which 
 their infancy had coft him ; — thefe dear 
 pledges of his future happinefs were all, — all 
 ihatched from him at one blow ; juft at the 
 time, when one might imagine they were be- 
 ginning to be the comfort and delight of his 
 old age, which moft wanted fuch pleafing 
 ftaves to lean on ! — And as circumftances add 
 to an evil, fo they did to this -, for it fell out 
 not only by a very calamitous accident, which 
 was grievous enough in itfelf, but like wife up- 
 on the back of his other misfortunes, when 
 he was ill prepared to bear fo fad a mock ; 
 and what would ftill add to it, it happened 
 at an hour when he had leaft reafon to ex- 
 pect it, when he would naturally think 
 his children fecure and out of danger; " For 
 whilft they were feafting and making merry, 
 in their eldeft brother's houfe, a great wind 
 
 out 
 
from the Example of JOB. 61 
 
 out- of the wildernefs fmote the four corners 
 of the houfe, and it fell upon them." 
 
 Such a concurrence of misfortunes are not 
 the common lot of many j and yet there are 
 inftances of fome, who have undergone as 
 fevere trials, and bravely flruggled under them : 
 perhaps by natural force of fpirits, the advan- 
 tages of health, and the cordial affiftance of 
 a fympathizing friend. And with thefe helps 
 what may not a man fuftain? — But this was 
 not Job's cafe, for fcarce had thefe evils fallen 
 upon him, when he was not only borne down 
 with a grievous diftemper which afflicted him 
 from the crown of his head to the fole of his 
 foot, but likewife his three friends, in whofe 
 kind confolations he might have found a me- 
 dicine—nay even the wife of his bofom, whofe 
 duty it was with a gentle hand to have foften- 
 ed all his forrows — infiead of doing this, thefe 
 friends and this wife cruelly infulted and be- 
 came the reproaches of his integrity ! O God, 
 what is man, when thou thus bruifeft him, 
 and makeft his burthen heavier, as his ftrength 
 grows lefs ! — who that had found himfelf 
 thus an example of the many changes and 
 chances of this, mortal life ; — when he con- 
 iidered himfelf now flript and left deftitute of 
 fo many valuable bleffings, which the moment 
 before thy providence had poured upon his 
 head : — when he reflected upon this delight- 
 fome ftruclure, in appearance fo ftrongly built, 
 fo pleafingly furrounded with every thing that 
 
 could 
 
62 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 could flatter his hopes and wifhes ; and beheld 
 it all levelled with the ground in one moment, 
 and the whole profpecl: vanifh with it, like 
 the defcription of an inchantmentj who, I 
 fay, that had feen and felt the (hock of fo 
 fudden a revolution, would not have been 
 furnifhed with juffc and beautiful reflections 
 on the occafion ; and have faid with Job, thus 
 experiencing the vanity of all fublunary things, 
 " That man who is born of a woman, is but 
 of few days and full of mifery j that he com- 
 eth forth like a flower, and is cut down ; he 
 fleeth alfo as a madow, and continueth not !" 
 . — But without the peculiar grace of God, who 
 like Job could have faid — " Naked came 1 out 
 of my mother s womb, and naked JIsalL I return, 
 thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath 
 taken away: blejfed be his name-, — mall we 
 receive good at the hand of the Lord, and 
 ihall we not receive evil ? " 
 
 Hence we learn the greatnefs of this fuf- 
 ferer's fubmiffion and refignation,— We do not 
 find, that external expreffions of grief are im- 
 proper j or that the tendereif. and moll: feel- 
 ing fenfe of forrow, is inconfiftent with the 
 higheft degree of patience. Job rent his 
 mantle, fhaved his head, and fell down upon, 
 the ground , in token of the deepeft diftrefs— • 
 yet at the fame time he worfhipped the So- 
 vereign difpofer of all events j acknowledged, 
 that as he was the giver, it was but reafon- 
 able to allow him to refume his gifts, if he 
 thought proper; his name equally merciful in 
 all difpenfations, required equal praife ; whilft 
 
 the 
 
from the Example of JOB* 63 
 the ble flings of this life were fo little worthy 
 a fond attachment, that the leaft refledion 
 would (hew they mud mortly all be given up; 
 — and therefore if God mould pleafe to refume 
 them before death,— to God mould be the 
 glory, from man mould be the willing facri- 
 fice. — Nay, fuppofe he mould refume the 
 good, and give evil in their ftead — (hall we 
 not, receive the latter with dutiful fubmiflion, 
 as well as the former with joy ? " What, 
 may we fuppofe this good man expostulating, 
 mall we receive good at the hands of God, 
 and mall we not receive evil alfo ? Are not 
 both alike the difpenfations of an all-wife and 
 good Being, who knows and determines what 
 is be/i ! And wherefore mould I make myfelf 
 the judge to receive the one, and yet be fo par- 
 tial as to reject the other ? when by fairly put- 
 ting both into the fcale, I may be convinced 
 how much the good out-weighs the evil in all 
 cafes ? In my own, let me confider how ftrong 
 this argument is againft me. 
 
 " In the beginning of my days, how did 
 God crown me with honours ? In how re- 
 markable a manner did his providence protect 
 me, and all that I had ? how he profpered the 
 work of my hands, fo that my fubftance and 
 happinefs increafed every day ? 
 
 " And now, when for reafons beft known 
 to his infinite wifdom, he has thought fit to 
 try me with afflictions : mail I rebel againft 
 him, in finning with my lips, and charging 
 him foolifhly ? God forbid !— O rather may 
 
 I look 
 
64 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 I look up towards that hand, which hath 
 bruifed me : for he maketh fore, and he bind- 
 eth up ; he woundeth, and his hands make 
 whole: from his bounty only iiiued all I 
 had — from his wifdom, all I have loft ; for 
 he gketh and he taketh away — bleffed be his 
 name !" 
 
 Such was the pious and heroical reiignation 
 of this chofen fervant of God, of whom it is 
 witnelied, that in all this he finned not, nor 
 charged God foolifhly. And we find, that the 
 confequence of this refignation was remarkably 
 happy, we fee the end and delign of the Lord 
 in it, and are convinced that the Lord is very 
 pitiful and of tender mercy. For we read, 
 that the Lord bleffed the latter end of Job 
 more than his beginning; that he lived to an 
 extreme old age in the greateft profperity and 
 affluence, and died full of days and full of 
 peace. 
 
 SECT. VIII. 
 Reflections on the Example of Job. — His Argu- 
 ments of Conflation recommended and enforced. 
 A MORE ftriking inftance of the inftabj- 
 lity of human affairs, of the vanity and 
 uncertainty of all human enjoyments, cannot 
 eafily be produced, than that which we have of- 
 fered in the lafl fedtion. We fee a man flourifh- 
 ing to-day in all the accomodations of world- 
 ly affluence and profperity, blooming as the 
 
 gay eft 
 
prom the Example of JOB. 65 
 
 gayeft flower of the garden, to-morrow de- 
 prived of all his felicities, reduced to the 
 loweft ebb of mifery, and, like the flower, 
 hanging his withered head, dejected and con- 
 temned ! And alas ! this is but too true a re- 
 prefentation of human life in the general, 
 which, though perhaps it may rarely be tried 
 with misfortunes fevere and complicated as 
 were thofe of Job, yet abounds with difap- 
 pointments and vexations, with difficulties 
 and trials, and will at length be compelled to 
 abandon every earthly acquiiition, and naked 
 as it came, naked to depart hence and appear 
 before its God. While we ferioufly contem- 
 plate this irreverfable condition of mortality, 
 it will furely infpire us with the beft wifdom, 
 and the mod: unfhaken refolution to build our 
 dependence, and to place our confidence up- 
 on better and more folid foundations, than the 
 fandy bottoms of this world's goods j let it 
 move us to build upon the never-failing rock of 
 ages, Cbrift the giver of life eternal to all 
 who love and obey him. — That we may attain 
 to refignation and humility like Job's, we 
 mall do well ferioufly to confider and attend 
 to thofe principles upon \vhich he built his 
 refignation. 
 
 Job feems to found his refignation upon 
 the moft folid and rational principles j prin- 
 ciples, which rightly received, and duly cul- 
 tivated, would produce the fruits of the fame 
 refignation in every mind. 
 
 He confidered, that if God were pleafed 
 F to 
 
66 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 to deprive him of every thing, it was but 
 anticipating a little that hour, when he mull: 
 neceffarily be deprived of every thins; — 
 <{ Naked came I, lays he, out of my mother's 
 womb, and naked mull I return thither." If, 
 therefore, God thinks fit to take from me all 
 I have before J die, it will only prepare me 
 the better for that hour, when I mujt depart 
 from all things which I have and poffefs in 
 this world. And certainly this argument 
 may be of great confolation to us under af- 
 flictions 5 especially if we religioufly contem- 
 plate the hour of our diffolution, when, pof- 
 fefs we everfo much, enjoy we comforts ever 
 fo many, blefled are we with friends and re- 
 lations ever fo dear and beloved, yet we mud 
 leave them all behind — and as we brought 
 nothing into this world, fo muft we carry no- 
 thing thence. — Therefore, if by the ftxoke of 
 affliction we are deprived of thefe, it will tend 
 much to teach us fubmililon, when we reflect 
 that they are only taken from us a little before 
 that time, when we muft be compelled una- 
 voiadably to forfake them. 
 
 Another argument of confolation, which 
 Job applies to himfelfis, God's free donation 
 of all he had. "The Lord gave — and if he 
 gave, furely he hath a right to take away — 
 bieffed be the name of the Lord—- in each be 
 his name equally blelTed ! For what right had 
 I to his gifts — they were beftowed of his own 
 free mercy upon me. If therefore he fees, 
 either that I mifufe the gifts, or that they 
 
 will 
 
from the Example of JOB. 67 
 will be prejudicial to me, he furely hath a 
 right — and he furely is good to withdraw 
 them." — When we improve this confeder- 
 ation, it will be a great iburce of comfort 
 to us under every tnal ; for alas! when we 
 lay our hands to our hearts, which of us muft 
 not confefs, that he is unworthy, very un- 
 worthy, of the manifold gifts and bleflings 
 vouchfafed to him of Almighty God ! And if 
 Almighty God mall, in his unerring wifdom, 
 remove any of thefe gifts, either take away 
 the children, the friends, the fortune, the 
 health, or any of the comforts we enjoy, 
 what reafon can we have to repine ? What 
 merit of ours deferved them ? They were the 
 Father of heaven's rich bounties to us; and 
 perchance we ftrangely erred, and loved the 
 gift more than the Giver ; nay, forgot the 
 Giver, while we profanely doted on the gift. 
 Should he then think fit to relume thefe gifts, 
 and to reclaim our apellate heart; — Oh let 
 us not murmur at his difpofals, but confefs 
 him juft and good in all he doth — t( the Lord 
 gave, and the Lord hath taken away," &c. 
 
 A third argument upon which Job founds 
 his patience, is derived from the liberality of 
 God in bellowing good upon his people as 
 well as evil — wjhallwe receive good, and Jh all 
 we not receive evilV What are we, that we 
 think felicity and bleflings only our due from 
 the hands of God ? Arc we then indeed fo de-* 
 ferving of his favour ? Are we fo perfectly good 
 and holy, that we merit no mixture in our cup ? 
 F 2 Alas! 
 
68 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 Alas ! there lives not a man, who is not con- 
 fcious of innumerable offences in the fight of 
 God ! and yet, tho' we deferve nothing but 
 chaftifement, how graciouily doth the Lord 
 mower bleffings upon us ! what a profufion of 
 good things do we all enjoy — And if we re- 
 ceive theie, unworthy as we are, from a boun- 
 tiful Father and Redeemer, (hall we not, with 
 content and acquiefcence, receive and wel- 
 come thofe correcting evils, which are fen t on- 
 ly in mercy ; and which are productive folely 
 of our happinefs, if we are wife rightly to im- 
 prove them ? — No, let us ftop every querulous 
 complaining, when we drink the draught of 
 bitternefs from the mixt cup of this life ; here 
 we have neither abiding city, nor perfect; hap- 
 pinefs ; this is not the lot of mortals ; but we 
 may all have that, which is next to perfect 
 happinefs, we may have CGtitent. This is a 
 flower which flourifhes in every foil j and if 
 we are prudent enough to eftimate properly 
 the good and the evil of life, to receive the 
 former with thankfulnefs, the latter with re- 
 signation.— -Life will pafs off with all pofiible 
 peace and ferenity, and we fhall enjoy as much 
 of felicity here, as our ftate is capable of af- 
 fording us. 
 
 But let me obferve in conclufion, that as 
 
 from thefe arguments lb effectually applied 
 
 by Job, we may derive much comfort to our 
 
 . fouls under affliction -, fo may we contemplate 
 
 the end of this illuftrious fufferer's trial, with 
 
 the 
 
from the. Example of JOB. 69 
 the greateft fatisfadtion and improvement: 
 We fee the end of the Lord, fays St. James, that 
 the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. 
 We fee that, like an affectionate parent, he 
 corrects only to amend, and having tried the 
 fidelity and love of his child, rewards him 
 with the higheft liberality. It may indeed 
 happen, that our misfortunes and miferies 
 may find no recompence, may meet no alle- 
 viation, may have no end on this fide the 
 grave; God may not think fit to deal with 
 us as with fob, to blefs our latter end more 
 than our beginning, nor to remunerate our 
 temporal fufferings with temporal bleffings.— - 
 But there is afTuredly a mighty recompenfe 
 awaiting them ; if not here, yet in that ce- 
 leftial country, where our life unending (hall 
 be blefTed indeed, blefTed far beyond our be- 
 ginning — where, whatever we may have en- 
 dured here below, mall be recompenfed. — oh 
 how amply recompenfed — with immortality, 
 with confummate felicity ! — {t When there- 
 fore thy hand, O God, is upon us, when thou 
 malt fee good, O blefTed Saviour, to try and 
 prove us in the furnace of affliction here be- 
 low, we will bow our heads in humble fub- 
 miffion — while our faith, unfhaken, looks to 
 that defired hour, when toil and care, and 
 woe and grief mail all be laid to reft in the 
 filent grave : and our triumphant fouls, ex- 
 ulting over fin, over forrow, over death, mall 
 be admitted to thy prefence, and eternally 
 enjoy the unexhaufted pleafures of thy divine 
 love." Amen, SECT. 
 
f 7° } 
 
 SECT. IX. 
 
 Arguments of Confolation from the Bhjfedmjs of 
 a future State through Chriji. Rev. vii. 
 13 — 17, explain d. 
 
 IN a former fection *, we prcmifed to con- 
 sider at large, as another lively and power- 
 ful argument of conflation, the exceeding hap- 
 pinefs reierved for thofe, in a future ftate, who 
 coming out cj great tribulation, have wajhed their 
 robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 
 The whole pafTage in the Revelation J, which 
 is remarkably beautiful and comfortable, runs 
 thus : 
 
 And one of the elders anfwered, faying, what 
 are thfe, who are arrayed in white robes f and 
 whence came they ? and I [aid unto him, Sir, thou 
 hiowefl. And he f aid unto me, Thefe are they, who 
 came out of great tribulation, and have wajhed 
 their robes, and made them white in the blood of 
 the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of 
 God, and ferve him day and night in his Temple ; 
 and He that fit teth on the throne foall dwell among 
 them. They Jl Q all hunger no more, nor thirfl any 
 more ; neither Jhall the fun light on them, nor any 
 heat. For the Lamb which is in the midjl of the 
 throne Jhall feed them, and 'jhall lead them unto 
 living jountains of waters ; and God fiall wipe 
 away all tears from their eyes. 
 
 * Sefi. ii. I Ch. vii. ver. 13 — 17. 
 
 It 
 
Arguments of CONSOLATION', 71 
 It is not my intention, to enter into the 
 prophetical meaning, and relation of thefe 
 words, or to confider, to what perfons and 
 times they peculiarly belong; whether by thofe 
 who came out of great tribulation, are meant 
 the martyrs in the tenth persecution ; or whe- 
 ther thole who are deicribed in a happy (late, 
 picture out to us the chrifHans, in the more 
 fortunate days of the church, from the time 
 of Conjlaniine to that of Theodofius the Great%. 
 Leaving thefe enquiries to men of profound 
 fpeculation, enquiries, in which there is much 
 of uncertainty, at the bed; for the book of 
 "Revelation is a deep fea, in which many have 
 waded fo far, that they have never been able 
 again to make the fhore — leaving then thefe 
 enquiries, as lefs ufeful to our prefent purpofe 
 we will take the words, in that plain and 
 practical ienfe, which they offer to us; and 
 which conveys the mod fublime and impor- 
 tant truths, fufficient to elevate our hopes, 
 and fupport our faith, amidft all the trials and 
 difficulties, the changes and chances of this 
 uncertain fcene. 
 
 For the great lefTon here held forth to 
 us, is, " that the fchool of Affliction is 
 the fchool of Virtue, and that they who, 
 exercifed in it, repofe their faith in, and 
 feek for ftrength from, that divine Saviour, 
 who was made perfect by fufferings — (hall 
 like him alfo be made perfect ; fhall be ad- 
 
 § Sec Dr. Newton, Bijhop cfBtil\o\ } on the Prophecies, Vol. 
 iii. p. 67, &c 
 
 F 4 vanced 
 
ji Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 vanced to the confummation of honour and 
 glory — (hall be admitted to the full enjoyment 
 of uninterrupted felicity." 
 
 How comfortable a truth, how bleffed an 
 information to the children of men ! to whom 
 indeed without it, life would be perfectly 
 worthlefs and miferable; and the load of hu- 
 man woes, and cares, and troubles too heavy to 
 be fupported by the moulders of mortality ! 
 But when we wring beneath their weight - y 
 when hard and oppreflive lies upon us the 
 burden of affliction ; how light and eafy doth 
 it feem, nay with what chearfulnefs is it borne 
 when we look to a matter, who entered not 
 into his glory before he had fuffered j who 
 hath dignified the fuffering way ; and who 
 Hands ready, with the Palm and the Crow??, 
 and the robe of fplendid white, to receive, and 
 array thofe, who tread in his fteps, who fuffer 
 with him, that with him they may be glo- 
 rified ! 
 
 St. 'John informs us, that he faw, in viiion, 
 (for the Book of Revelation hfce?iical through- 
 out) a great number of thefe, a great multi- 
 tude, which no man could number of all nations 
 and people, ftanding before the throne, and 
 before the Lamb, clcathed with white robes, 
 emblems of their j unification, and holinefs, 
 their purity and advancement ; and with palms 
 in their hands, emblems of their complete 
 victory and triumph. — And they cried with a 
 loud voice, faying, Salvation to our God, who 
 
 fittcth 
 
from a future Sta'e thro Christ. 73 
 fitteih upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. — 
 One of the ciders who talked with him — 
 afked him, laying, what are they who are 
 arrayed in white robes, and whence came they ? 
 and J, faith St. John, fuppoiing, that by this 
 queftion he afked in order to quicken my at- 
 tention to what he had to tell me, concern- 
 ing them — [aid to him, Sir, I conclude thou 
 khowefl, though I do not. And he {aid unto 
 me, it is true ; and I would have thee obferve 
 for thine own encouragement, for that of thy 
 brethren, and of thofe who may arife after thee, 
 that " thefe are they who are come out of much 
 tribulation, which they have endured in the 
 caufe of true religion ; and they have warned 
 their robes, and made them white, as you 
 fee them, in the blood of the Lamb — that is, 
 they owe all their exaltation and glory, not 
 to the blood which they may have offered 
 themfelves, nor to the fufferings which they 
 may themfelves have endured — but to that 
 moft precious blood of the Lamb, which he 
 flied for their fakes — to thofe meritorious fuf- 
 ferings, which he voluntary endured for hu- 
 man redemption. 
 
 It may be proper jufi: to obferve, that whits 
 robes amongft the antients, were feldom worn 
 by any other than Kings and Priefts j whence 
 they became expreffive of honour and purity. 
 The Saints here are faid to have warned their 
 rebes and made them white in the blood of 
 the Lamb; which is a flrong figurative 
 
 exprefhon, 
 
74 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 expreffion, for the purification of their na- 
 tures and their advancement to holinefs, ho- 
 nour, and happineis, through the all-prevail- 
 ing efficacy of the blood and fufferings oije- 
 Jus Chriji. 
 
 They are purified by faith in his blood : 
 made partakers with him in his fufferings : 
 adorn'd through him, with righteoufhefs, and 
 true holinefs, and admitted to glory, through 
 his infinite merits only. In the iirft chapter 
 of the Revelation, ver. 5. St. John faith, that 
 Chriji loved us, and wajhed us, that is, puri- 
 fied us, from our (ins, from the guilt and 
 terror of them, in his own blood, through the 
 merits of his own free oblation of himfelf on 
 the crofs — and hath made us Kings and priejh 
 unto God, and his Father j which is of the 
 fame import with the expreffion, clothed us in 
 white robes ; and both declare, that through 
 Chriji we are admitted to the honours and ho- 
 linefs, the glories and purity of the celeftial 
 kingdom. 
 
 I cannot omit to remark, that the whole 
 merit of the falvation of this innumerable mul- 
 titude is attributed to the blood of the Lamb : 
 not to their own blood. And as it is gene- 
 rally fuppofed, and very reafonably, that thefe 
 were chiefly the Martyrs of the firft centuries 
 to which St. John alludes, the argument holds 
 in its fulleft extent : fince, if we could con- 
 ceive any fervice or action more meritorious 
 than another, it is certainly martyrdom; and 
 
 yet 
 
from a future State thro Christ, y r 
 
 yet we are informed, that fo far, is Martyrdom 
 itfelf from being meritorious, fo far are the 
 bolicft Martyrs from deriving any merit to 
 themfelves from the medding of their own 
 biood, that all their purity, fanclity, honour 
 and happinefs is acknowledged to be derived 
 from and owing to the blood of the Lamb : for 
 it is fa id — they wafued and made their robes white 
 in his blood. — And indeed, when we confider 
 the high nature of his facrifice, the facrifice of 
 a God incarnate, and when we confider the 
 weaknefs and imperfections of our befr. efforts 
 and endeavours, we cannot wonder, that all 
 is due to, as all fhould be thankfully received 
 from Chrifty the author and the nnifher of 
 our falvation. 
 
 St. John proceeds, in the pafTage, of which 
 I have thus far given you a paraphrafe, there- 
 fore, being thus redeemed to God by the 
 blood of the Lamb, and having been enabled 
 to approve their fidelity to their divine Mafter, 
 in the midft of the greateft extremities, they 
 now receive a rich equivalent for all they 
 have fullered, for therefore are they before 
 the throne of God, and ferve him day and 
 night in his temple ; and He that ftteth on the 
 throne fhall dwell among them. Tjey fhall 
 hunger 720 more, nor thirjl any more; neither 
 fiall the fun light on them, nor any heat. For 
 the Lamb which is in the midft of the throne /hall 
 lead them unto living fountains of waters ; and 
 
 God 
 
y6 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 God Jhall wipe away all tears*from their eyes. 
 That is, they (hall no longer, no more be 
 fubject to any of the evils, or inconveniences 
 of mortality j to hunger or thirft, to cold or 
 heat, to wearinefs or pain ; to trouble of bo- 
 dy, or trouble of mind : forrow and fighing 
 fhall for ever be done away; the immortal Juf- 
 tre of their eyes fhall ever be dimmed with 
 a tear; the everlafling gladnefs of their coun- 
 tenances never more over-clouded with grief! 
 
 From thefe words, we may derive the 
 ftrongeft confolation, when it pleafes God ei- 
 ther to bring us or our friends into great tri- 
 bulation, here upon earth ; or when he thinks 
 fit to remove, either ourfelves or our friends 
 from the trial. 
 
 I. We may, in the firft place, derive hence 
 great confolation, amidft either the afflictions 
 of ourfelves or our friends. — For whenever 
 we are brought into tribulation, or fee others 
 exercifed with it, according to the good plea- 
 fure of God; it mult afford us ftrong fup- 
 port, to contemplate with the eye of faith, 
 that vafi: multitude, which no man can num- 
 ber, who ltand in perfect blifs, and higheft 
 honour before the throne of God, clothed 
 in white robes, and with palms in their hands 
 — robes made white with the blood of the 
 Lamb, palms bellowed in confequence of their 
 victory over the attacks of affliction and woe. 
 In them we difcern the triumphs of faith ; 
 
 for 
 
from a future State thro 1 Christ. jj 
 
 for thefe are they who came out of great tribu- 
 lation ! — and in them we fee, that tribulation 
 is no mark of divine difpleafure, but an hap- 
 p£- means to unite us to God, and to advance 
 us in the favour of the divine Redeemer. 
 
 But we mull obferve, that though affliction 
 is not a mark of God's difapprobation, nay 
 though full often it is the certain token of his 
 love (as many as 1 love, faith he, I rebuke and 
 chaften — and experience indeed fully proves it, 
 fince tribulation and diftrefs, as we have 
 fhewn, have generally been the lot of the bell: 
 and mod: chofen fervants of God) — yet it is 
 neceflary to remark, that affliction considered 
 merely in itfelf, is neither a good nor an evil : 
 It becomes fuch only, by our ufe of it. If 
 under the afflictive difpenfations of God's pro- 
 vidence, we regard neither the paternal hand 
 which inflicts the ftroke, nor the paternal 
 love which deligns our advantage in it 5 if 
 ungracious and uneafy we murmur forth our 
 complaints, and utter our morofe repiningsj 
 then, the affliction intended to profit, will be 
 difappointed of its aim, and the good we might 
 have derived from it, will be turned into 
 harm, and render us more obnoxious to the 
 Almighty's judgment. 
 
 On the other fide, if we fee and confefs the 
 hand of our Father, in all he thinks fit to 
 do to us, in every painful, as well as every 
 pleafing difpenfation, in every bitter, as 
 
 well 
 
78 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 well as in every fweet cup, if when he 
 thinks good to try us, wi:h troubles and 
 difficulties of whatever fort, we humbly 
 acknowledge the juttnefs and the gooV- 
 nefs of his dealings — acknowledge our own 
 unworthinefs, and defert of punimment j con- 
 fefs our fins and turn to him in ferious repen- 
 tance and amendment of life j confiding in 
 the grace of Chrijl for forgivenefs, and de- 
 pending on his all-fufficient merits for pardon 
 and acceptance ; if thus we receive and wel- 
 come the chaftifing hand of our Father, our 
 robes will then be warned and made white in 
 the blood of the Lamb, and purified, as in 
 the furnace on earth, we mail receive the 
 pai?n, and enter that blifsful region, where 
 God will wipe away all tears from our eyes. 
 
 We may therefore well contemplate thofe 
 who are in the fchool of trial and affliction, 
 as excerciling under the love of Cbrifi, the 
 great matter, for that ftate of confummate 
 bleflednefs and glory, to which they (hall be 
 afluredly admitted, who tread in their matter's 
 tteps, and like him, are perfected through 
 furferings; where they fhall be united with 
 that countlefs multitude, who are gone before 
 in the fuffering path, and who, having hap- 
 pily emerged from the ttormy fea of tribula- 
 tion, arelafely landed on the celeftial more; 
 and there, in glorious triumph, partake of all 
 the honours and pleafures of their Father's 
 houfe ! 
 
 Look 
 
from a future State thro' Christ. 79 
 Look up to them, ye children of affliction, 
 look to that innumerable throng, whofe robes 
 are white and fplendid, purified by the blood 
 of the immaculate Lamb ; whofe hands bear 
 the palms of victory, whofe voices re-echo 
 with the fongs of triumph : look to them, and 
 fee the reward of their faithful, their patient 
 indurance ! They fuffered here, it is true ; they 
 came out of great tribulation ; but their fuffer- 
 ings were of fhort continuance. For what is 
 the paffing hour, in which they fuffered here 
 below, to the endlefs day of eternity, in which 
 they are receiving, and are for ever to receive 
 the bound lefs bleffings flowing from the right 
 hand of God. 
 
 Thou, oh Chriftian, art now oppreffed 
 with grief; affliction preffeth hard upon thee 
 with ail its ftorms : happy Chriftian, be pa- 
 tient, be thankful ! See the robe of fplendid 
 white is preparing for thee ! Be thou faithful 
 unto death, and the crown of life is ready. 
 Thou malt make one of that triumphant mul- 
 titude, which came out of great tribulation. 
 Amidft that multitude thou (halt find, per- 
 haps, thy deareft friends, who are gone be- 
 fore thee. — There ftands in blifs the father, 
 or the mother, the brother, the filter, the 
 friend, the hufband, the wife, or the child, 
 whom heretofore the rueful hand of ficknefs, 
 and of pain, tore from thee : to whofe trou- 
 bles and trials thou waft a mournful witnefs ; 
 
 who 
 
8o Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 
 who endured long and much, as it then ap- 
 peared ; yet to leave whom, to have whom 
 then feparated from thee, was like tearing a- 
 way the neareft firing which holds thy heart. 
 . — Take comfort and rejoice : there they are 
 amidft that countlefs throng; he who fitteth on 
 the throne, dwells amongft them j they {hall 
 hunger no more, neither thiift any more : they 
 are blefled !— Improve thy own trials, that thou 
 alio may 'ft be bieffed with them." 
 
 The information which St. 'John here gives 
 us, of the happy ftate of thofe who came out 
 of great tribulation, will ferve alfo, to give us 
 much comfort, when God fhall fee fit to re- 
 move either ourfelves or our friends from this 
 place of trial. 
 
 II. It is no uncommon cafe to find perfons fo 
 truly worn and wearied out with the woes of 
 this world, as earneftly to wi(h for difTolution, 
 as anxioufly to long for the ftroke/ which 
 fhall fet them free from the fufferings of hu- 
 manity. And indeed, when we take an im- 
 partial eftimate of human life, we fhall find 
 but few cafes, in which a continuance in ex- 
 igence can be very defireable ; fo much for 
 the moft part do the furTerings and difficulties 
 over-balance the advantages and pleafures of 
 this world : and fo much is our prefent ftate 
 over-charged with evils unavoidable, and with 
 evils brought on us by our own inadvertence, 
 imprudence, and irregularity. And I believe 
 
 there 
 
from a future State thro Christ. 8i 
 there are but few inftances to be found of 
 men, who after having trod this weary ftage 
 of trial and pilgrimage for feveral years, would 
 wifli to meafure back their fleps anew, and 
 again plunge through the lame lea of difficul- 
 ties, on whom they have before been toft. 
 Now as human life is thus faturating in ail 
 cafes, and in many is burdenfome, afflictive, 
 and uneafy ; what exceeding confolation muft 
 the foul derive, from the pleafmg forefight 
 of that eternal llate of felicity, to which its 
 departure from this world will give it admit- 
 tance j when the burden of mortality fhall be 
 for ever removed ; when all the wants and 
 all the weaknefTes of human nature fhall be 
 fuppiied, or known no more; when latiety 
 of enjoyments mall no longer dilguft ; when 
 loffes, and difappointments, cares and anxie- 
 ties, pains and weaknefTes, anguifh of body, 
 and anguifh of mind ; the throbbing heart, 
 and the tearful eye j the tender forrows of 
 the parent ; the melancholy mourning of the 
 widow ; the defblate afflictions of the orphan, 
 and the friendlefs, fhall for ever be done away: 
 and the happy children of light and love, fa- 
 voured with their divine matter's continual 
 regard, fhall hunger no more, nor thirll any 
 more; neither fhall the fun light on them, 
 nor any heat ; for the Lamb, which is in the 
 midft of the throne, fhall feed them, — feed 
 them with the rich repaft of his love, and 
 fhall lead them unto living fountains of wa- 
 G tes 3 
 
82 Arguments of CONSOLATION, 
 ters, — the never-failing fupplies of grace ; and 
 God fhall wipe away all tears from their eyes ! 
 
 Unfpeakably bleifed ftate ! Can the know- 
 ledge of it fail to dirfufe the fweeteft comfort 
 over our fouls, when we contemplate that 
 day, that important day, on which the trem- 
 bling, fluttering foul, muff leave its clayey 
 habitation, leave this earthly tabernacle, a 
 prey to corruption and worms, and enter in- 
 to the prefence of its God !— -It cannot fail to 
 diiTufe the fweeteft comfort, if the foul, at 
 all prepared, hath rational grounds of ac- 
 ceptance with its God ! And we are now 
 fuppofing fuch a cafe j fuppofing this confo- 
 Iatory view before the eyes of thofe, who 
 having long been tried in the fchool of afflic- 
 tion, have warned their robes in the blood of 
 the Lamb, have purified their fouls by faith, 
 and put on the blefled robes of righteoufnefs 
 and true holinefs ! Are we of that number ? 
 Death hath no terrors to alarm us -, for be- 
 hold — in that multitude cloathed in white, 
 we fee the recompence, the blifs awaiting us ; 
 and cannot fail to rejoice in a deliverance from 
 a world of trouble, that we may enter on a 
 ftate of perfect, peace. 
 
 How much too will this pleafing profpect 
 ferve to reprefs the figh of tender for row, to 
 flop the tear of affectionate grief, when 
 the friends and relations, dear as our own 
 foul j yea, dearer often to us than ourfelves j 
 
 when 
 
from a future State thro Christ. 83 
 when thefe get the Ifart of us in our journey- 
 to immortality, and go before us from this 
 fcene of labour, to the land of reft and 
 peace! Humanity, perhaps, cannot, nor per- 
 haps is there any caufe that it fhould totally- 
 overcome the foft workings of paffion, to- 
 tally abftain from the language or woe, and 
 the heart-felt throbs of concern ; more gene- 
 rous and yielding natures too, often on fuch 
 occalions, feel the moil. But when reafon 
 and religion bring in their urgent perfualives, 
 when they offer the kindly balm of confola- 
 tion, and elevate our thoughts to that blifs- 
 ful change, which our beloved friends have 
 found ; our friends, tranflated from the evils 
 of earth, to the joys of heaven : we can no 
 longer mourn, but muft congratulate their 
 happinefs, who fecured from the dangers of 
 a corrupted and corrupting flate, are fafely 
 landed in a haven, where there are no ftorms 
 to tofs, no rocks to break, no fands to wreck 
 and ruin their frail barks; but an eternal, 
 an unalterable calm for ever breathes; 
 and bears on its precious breath immortal 
 health and uninterrupted felicity ! 
 
 G 2 C H A P. 
 
84 CONSOLATION S for 
 
 C H A P. II. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Confolations for the affltBed Mind. 
 
 TILLING to contribute fomething 
 \ towards the alleviation of thofe evils 
 and troubles, to which our prefent ftate of 
 trial, for wife and good reafons, is render'd 
 unavoidably fubjecl: - 3 and defirous to open 
 thofe fountains of confolation, of which, 
 amidfl the prefent fluctuating fcene of things, 
 all men may be glad, fooneror later, to drink: 
 I have endeavoured in the former chapter, 
 to point out, not only the ?jature and end 
 of afflictions in general, but alfo have fuggeft- 
 ed fomeofthe ftrongeft and moft prevalent 
 motives and arguments for comfort, which 
 the Chriftian religion fupplies ; a religion, 
 rich in confolation ; and one whofe mining 
 excellencies is, that it affords motives and 
 considerations to patience and fubmiflion under 
 all the changes and chances of this mortal 
 life, fuperior to what any other fyflem hath 
 to propofe, and as much more efficacious, as 
 the divine Author of this blefled religion is 
 more excellent than other teachers. 
 
 Having 
 
'The Afflicted in Mind. 85 
 
 Having thus confidered the fubjecr in the 
 general, I lhall now proceed, according to 
 my defign, to a more particular application, 
 and mall endeavour, by the affiftance of God, 
 to offer what confolation I am able to thofe 
 who are diftrened, either in mind, in body, 
 or in eftate. And in profecuting this fubject 
 I fhall follow the order laid down by our 
 church, (for I can follow no better) who, 
 as {he teaches us in her prayer for all 
 conditions of men, to commend to God's 
 fatherly goodnefs, all thofe who are afflic- 
 ted or difrxefTed in mind, body, or eftate — 
 fo you obferve fhe places firft the afflicted 
 in mind', as the troubles of a wounded fpirit 
 are more fevere, than thofe which fpring 
 from any other caufes. I (hall therefore firft 
 attempt to offer fome confolation to the 
 " Afflicteb in mind." 
 
 Under which denomination I rank only 
 thofe whofe fouls are uneafy within them, 
 and whofe fpirits are caftdown, and difquieted, 
 through religious fears and fcruples j through 
 the weight of confeious guilt ; the appre- 
 henfions of their diftance from God, of 
 the weaknefs or deficiency of their faith ; 
 their repentance j their love, or other graces. 
 Or, thofe who labour under diftrefs, and 
 fluctuate in melancholy doubt, through an 
 attention to fome particular tenet, which 
 ihey may chance to have heard ftongly in- 
 G 3 lifted 
 
86 CONSOLATIONS for 
 
 filled on, fuch as the doctrines of Election ; 
 of inftantaneous Converlioh ; of the New- 
 birth -, of AfTurance, and the like ; which be- 
 come a heavy burden to the minds of fome, 
 and deprive them of all the peace and quiet 
 which iprings from pure, rational, and un- 
 dented religion. 
 
 Thefe are the diftreifes of the mind, which, 
 as it is our duty to attempt to remove, fo are 
 there good hopes that feafonable comfort and 
 proper council will avail to remove them. 
 As for thofe oppreilions of foul, which arife 
 from worldly caufes, they do not properly 
 concern our prefent topic j they may be 
 confidered under our third head, troubles of 
 ejlate or condition : and for the unhappy ter- 
 rors of real melancholy, (though perhaps they 
 fometimes have their rife from a want of fe- 
 rious attention to the great truths of religion,) 
 yet do they require more medical, than fpi- 
 ritual afiiftance ; and therefore neither are 
 they the proper objects of our regard. — We 
 would wifh to apply ourfelves to thofe, 
 who, folicitous for the eternal welfare of 
 their fouls, — (for to fuch only can the con- 
 folations of Chriftianity be applied ; they, 
 who feel no folicitude on that account, 
 cannot certainly want the fatisfactions of the 
 Gofpel, as they have neither any apprehenfion 
 of the torments of a troubled fpirit, nor any 
 defire for the alleviation of that greatefi 
 
 diftrefs. 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. 87 
 
 diftrefs.) — Here then we can only apply to 
 thofe, who follicitous for their falvation, are 
 yet far from that ferenity of mind, which it 
 might be fuppofed a good confcience would 
 fupply : nay, rather, who are wounded in fpi- 
 rit, and who go heavily under the burden of 
 their diftrefs all the day long. 
 
 Some of whom tell us, " Alas how mould 
 it be otherwife r my fins are continually be- 
 fore me, many in number, deep in their guilt, 
 aggravated in their perpetration : the very re- 
 membrance of them is horrible, what then, 
 oh what will be the punifhment of them ! 
 Can God forgive fuch a wretch as I am, who 
 have nothing but guilt to offer him; who 
 have nothing but fhame and confulion to re- 
 commend me before him."— To fuch let us re- 
 ply, and happy for us that the divine revelation 
 authorizes us comfortably to reply, " Though 
 your fins be as fear let, they fall be white as /how, 
 though they be red like crimfon, they fall be as 
 wool" God hath provided full and free par- 
 don for the penitent, for the humble and 
 contrite in heart ! Very bitter things indeed 
 are they which you witnefs againft, your- 
 felf. It is happy for you that no adverfary, 
 however fevere, could plead much worfe *:-- 
 but we admit your plea j we grant you as 
 finful and as unworthy as your own diitreffed 
 mind reprefents you. Yet be as defiled as fin 
 can make you, there is a fountain opened to 
 
 * Sec Bp. Hall's Balm tfGihad, to which I refer once for al! 
 
 G 4 
 
88 CONSOLATIONS fior 
 
 the houfe of David, for all fin and for all un- 
 cleannefs. Be you as leprous as that Syrian 
 was of old, if you can but warn in the water 
 of this Jordan, you will be clean : Be you 
 flung unto death by the fiery fcrpents of this 
 wildernefs, yet if you can but raife your eye 
 of faith to that brazen ferpent, which is 
 erected there, you cannot fail of a cure ! 
 Wherefore came the blefied fon of God into 
 the world ? was it not to fave finners ? you 
 may add if you pleafe, whereof 1 am chief-, 
 you can fay no worfe of yourfelf than a bet- 
 ter man did before you ; who in the right of 
 a finner, claimeth the benefit of a Saviour. 
 Were it not for our fin, what ufe were there 
 of a Redeemer ? — .Were not our fin heinous, 
 how fhould it have required fuch an expia- 
 tion, as the blood of God's eternal fon ? Take 
 comfort then to yourfelf: the greatnefs of 
 your fin will ferve to magnify the mercy of 
 the forgiver : It is greater bounty to remit 
 ten thoufand talents than an hundred pence: 
 God will (hew you that greater bounty. It is 
 an unhappinefs indeed, much to be deplored, 
 that you have fo much offended the good 
 father of mercy : but now that you are fenfi- 
 ble of it, now that your confeious heart pro- 
 claims you a bankrupt, utterly unable to pay, 
 he will glorify his own mercy in freely forgiv- 
 ing you all this debt. All fums are equally 
 difchargeable to the munificence of our great 
 creditor in heaven 5 as it is the act of his 
 
 juftice 
 
'The Afflicted in Mint-. 89 
 
 juflice to call for the leaft, fo of his mercy 
 to forgive the greateft. Had we to do with 
 a finite power, we fhould have reafbn to link 
 under the burden of our fins. But there is 
 neither more nor lefs to that which is infinite. 
 Only let your care be to lay hold of that infi- 
 nite mercy which lies open to you ; and as 
 you are^ a lit object for mercy, in that you 
 are in yourfelf linful and miierable enough , 
 fo endeavour to find and to think yourfelf (as 
 I trull: you are) a fubject fit to receive this 
 mercy j as a penitent believer, open and enlarge 
 your heart to take in this free grace, and to 
 clofe with that blefied Saviour, who came, 
 good (hepherd, to feek and to fave, nay and to 
 lay down his life, for thofe who were loft: — 
 Humbly receive his bleffings of forgivenefs, 
 falvation and peace, offer 'd to penitence and 
 faith — for hear his comfortable declaration ? — 
 He that comet h to me, I will in no wife caft out — 
 God fo loved the world, that he J'ent his only 
 begotten fori, that whofo believeth in him, fhould 
 not perifi, but have ever la fling life, — Repent 
 and turn to God, that your fins may be blotted 
 cut, 
 
 <c Comfortable words indeed, will the af- 
 flicted in mind reply -, comfortable to thofe 
 that can receive them : but alas ! what are 
 they to me, who am neither a penitent nor a 
 believer : who have not grace either to repent 
 or to believe as I ought?" — Nay but, my 
 Fellow-Chriftian, why will you be fo unwife 
 
 and 
 
oo CONSOLATIONS >- 
 
 and fo unjufl as to take part with fatan againft 
 your own foul ? Why will you be fo un- 
 thankfuliy injurious to the father of mercies, 
 as to difpute and deny thofe graces which his 
 good fpirit hath fo freely beftowed upon you ? 
 If you were not penitent for your fins, where- 
 fore thefe fears, thefe anxieties, thefe fearch- 
 ings of heart for them ? Wherefore thefe 
 iighs and thefe tears, which fo conftantly 
 exprefs your difquietude ? It is no worldly 
 lofs which thus afflicts you 3 it is no bodily 
 dilfemper which thus difturbs you. Doubt - 
 lefs then, you are nek in foul 3 your fpirit is 
 deeply wounded within you 3 and what can 
 thus wound your fpirit, what affect your foul 
 but fin, unealinefs becaufe of fin 3 and what 
 can this concern of your foul for fin, thisunea- 
 fmefs of your mind for paft guilt be, but real 
 and fin cere repentance ? — a godly for row which 
 worketh repentance unto Jalvation, not to be re- 
 pented of? 
 
 Ingenious to find out arguments for felf- 
 torment, and prone to view things in the 
 worft and moft gloomy light 3 — the certain 
 unhappinefs of a diftreffed mind, — fuch a 
 mind will reply to what we have offered — 
 «' True, I am forrowful for my fin, but I 
 fear, not upon the right foundation : I grieve 
 for the mifery which my fin hath brought 
 upon me j not for the evil of my fin : for the 
 punifhment, not for the offence j for my 
 own danger, not for the difpleafure of my 
 good God."— 
 S We 
 
Tbe Afflicted in Mind. 91 
 
 We muft beware, left an undue, and. 
 improper humility caufe us 'to doubt or 
 deny the graces of God's fpirit. While you 
 are under temptations, you are not a proper or 
 adaquate judge of yourfelf. Had not your 
 forrow a reference to God, why would you 
 figh thus towards heaven — Why would your 
 heart challenge you for unkindnefs in offend- 
 ing r Why do ycu lament the foulnefs, as 
 well as peril of your fin ? What is it that 
 makes the act of fin to be {infill, but the 
 offence of the divine Ma jerry ? How then is 
 it poffible that you can be forry that you 
 have finned, and not be forry that you have 
 offended ? Tell me what is it that conference 
 firft and chiefly fuggeft to ycu in this deep 
 impreffion of your forrow ? — Is it that you 
 mail be punifhed: or is it not rather, that 
 you have finned ? And were it put to your 
 choice, whether you would enjoy the favour 
 of God with the extremeft fmart; or be in 
 his difpleafure with eafe - 3 which would you 
 choofe ? Or if liberty were tendered to you, 
 that you might freely fin without the danger 
 of punifhment; would not your heart rife at 
 the condition, as the higheft indignity to your 
 foul ? Befide fear and terror, do you not 
 perceive a kind of fecret indignation, at your 
 mifconduct, and fuch an hatred of your fin, 
 that were it to be done again, — if it were 
 poflible to be hid from God and men, and if 
 there were not an hell to avenge it — yet this 
 
 notwith- 
 
92 C O N S O L A T I O N S for 
 
 notwithstanding you would abhor to commit 
 it ? — All thefe are ftrong convictions of the 
 fureft grounds of your repentance, and of the 
 wrong which you do your own foul in the un- 
 juft fcruples which you raife againft it. 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Confolations focr the Affliffed in Min d, 
 continued. 
 
 iUT if the grounds of my repentance be 
 right, fays the afflicted Chriftian, yet 
 the meafure is infuflicient. I am forrowful for 
 my fins, but not fufficiently forrowful. An ef- 
 fectual grief for fin mould be ferious, deep, 
 hearty, intenfe : Mine is flight and fuperficial: 
 I figh, it is true, but my fighs come not from 
 the bottom of an humble and broken heart : I 
 can fometimes weep, but I cannot pour out my- 
 felf into tears j I mourn, but I do not dwell up- 
 on my forrow. I want that deep fenfe of guilt, 
 which may humble all my foul before God." 
 — Comfort too may be given to this mournful 
 complaint. For confider, (oh child of anxiety!) 
 that you have to do with a God, who in all 
 the difpofitions of our fouls, regards truth, not 
 quantity. If he find your contrition real, he 
 ftands not upon meafure. He doth not mete out 
 our repentance by inches or by hours j nor efti- 
 
 mate 
 
The Afficted in Mind. 93 
 
 mate our forrow by the number of tears, as 
 fome do their devotions by the number of 
 their beads. But where he finds fincerity of 
 penitence, he is gracioufly indulgent. — Confi- 
 der David, and acknowledge that his fin was 
 formidably heinous : no lefs than adultery 
 aggravated by deliberate murder. Yet no 
 fooner did he, with a true contrition of heart 
 cry, I have finned, then he hears from the 
 mouth of the fame prophet who accufed him, 
 " The Lord hath put away thy fin , thou fhalt 
 not die" — You do not read of any extravagant 
 and external figns of diftrefs, but only of a 
 fincere and penitent confeffion availing for 
 the pardon of fo grievous crimes. You are 
 much deceived, if you think that God delights 
 in the mifery and affliction of his creatures ; 
 fb far only is the grief in his peoples hearts 
 pleafing to him, as it may tend to the falva- 
 tion of their fouls, in the due fenlibility of their 
 fin 5 and in their meet capacity of mercy. 
 
 But miftake me not, I do not by any 
 means pretend, with the falfe cafuifls of a 
 certain church, to flatter you with an opinion 
 of the fuffioiency of any light attrition, (as 
 they term it) and of empty wifhes, that you 
 had not finned. Without all manner of 
 doubt, a true contrition of fpirit, and com- 
 punction of heart are neceffarily required to 
 a faving repentance. And thefe, (were you, 
 oh afflicted Chriftian ! but an indifferent, an 
 unprejudiced cenfurer of your own ways) you 
 
 could 
 
94 CONSOLATIONS for 
 
 could not chufe but find, within yourfelf. 
 Why elfe, thefe melancholy fears, thefe ear- 
 ned; longings after God ? 
 
 But after all, fuppofing you to be fuch 
 as you accufe yourielf, defective in the 
 meafure of your repentance ; yet fay, do 
 you reft contented in this condition ? Nay 
 rather do you not complain of it as your 
 greater!: miiery ? Are you not heartily lorry 
 that you can be no more forry for your 
 fin? Comfort yourfelf then; even this, this 
 alone is an acceptable degree of repent- 
 ance : our God, whofe will is his deed, ac- 
 counts ours fo: What is repentance but a 
 change of ?nind from evil to good ? And how 
 fenfible is this change, that you, who formerly 
 delighted in your fin, now deteft it, and your- 
 felf for it j would not for the world commit 
 it again, and are defirous of more grief, more 
 forrow to exprefs your thorough deteftation ! 
 Let nothing then fo influence your mind, as 
 to render you unfatisfied with the meafure of 
 your penitence, which is accepted of your 
 God : rather turn your eyes from your fins, 
 and fix them upon that all-fufficient Mediator 
 at the right hand of the Majefty on High, 
 and fee his face fmiling upon the humbled 
 foul, and his arms of mercy ever extended to 
 receive the lowly penitent to pardon and re- 
 conciliation — for we are afTured, that being 
 juftified by faith we have peace with God, 
 through our Lord fefus Chri/i ; by whom alfo 
 we have accefs by faith into this grace t wherein 
 
 we 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. 95 
 
 wfjiatid' t and rejoice in the hope of the glory of 
 God. 
 
 <{ There you fay, even there is the very 
 bitternefs of my complaint; I want that 
 faith which mould give me an intereft in 
 my Saviour ; and afford true comfort to my 
 foul: I can lament, but I cannot believe; 
 my grief is not fo great as my infidelity ; I 
 fee others full of joy and peace in believing; 
 but my earthy, ftony heart cannot raife me up 
 to any comfortable apprehenlion of my Saviour. 
 Neither have I any of that blefTed afjiirance^ 
 whereof fome fpeak fuch high and excellent 
 things." 
 
 With refpect to this affurance we will fpeak 
 more at large hereafter. — For the reft of 
 your complaint let me advife you to take 
 care, left while you 'are too querulous, you 
 prove unthankful : and left while your hu- 
 mility difparages yourfelf, you make God a 
 lofer. Many a man may have a rich mine 
 lying deep in his ground which he knows not 
 of; there are fhells which are furnifhed with 
 pearls of great price, and are not fenfible of 
 their worth. This is your condition, you 
 have that grace of which you lament the 
 want ; there is no judging of yourfelf by fenfe, 
 and external comforts, efpecially in the time 
 of trial; you could not fo feelingly bemoan 
 the want of faith, if you had it not. You 
 cannot deny that you aftent to the truth of 
 all the gracious promifes of God ; you ac- 
 knowledge 
 
96 CONSOLATIONS/^ 
 knowledge that he could not be himfelf, if htf 
 were not a /r«f God, yea Truth itfelf. You 
 cannot doubt (for you hear thefe promifes 
 conftantly) that he hath made divine and 
 comfortable promifes to all penitent iinners. 
 You cannot but grant, you do grant that you 
 are finful enough to need, that you are ibr- 
 rowful enough to deiire, and to receive, mer- 
 cy : And furely you cannot but love yourielf 
 fo well, as, when you fee a pardon reached 
 forth to raife your foul from death, to ftretch 
 forth your hand to accept and embrace it r 
 Lo, this hand frretched forth is your faith, 
 which fo takes fpiritual hold of your Saviour, 
 that it calls not for fenfe and external comforts 
 to witnefs. For Faith is an aflent to, and a 
 glad embracing of the precious promifes of 
 God in Jefus Chrift. 
 
 Regard not then what fome may tell you 
 of fenfible evidences, and afTurances ; can you 
 but in a fenfe of your mifery and want of his 
 mercy, accept your Saviour's grace ; can you 
 but throw yourfelf into the arms of his good- 
 nefs, can you but truft him with your foul, 
 and repofe yourielf upon him for forgive- 
 nefs and falvation ; can you but lay your- 
 felf before him as a miferable finner, as a 
 iit object of his mercy j and when the prof- 
 fers of that mercy are made to you, can 
 you but lay fome, though weak, hold upon 
 them : can vou do this — then labour all 
 you may for further degrees of ftrength 
 
 daily 5 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. 97 
 
 daily fet up your reft in the attainment, but 
 proceed to improve, while your heart is chear- 
 ed with the certain information, that even thus 
 much faith will lave your foul : You believe -, — 
 and he, who is truth itfelf, whofe word is 
 firmer than the pillars of earth, and more un- 
 ihaken than the foundation of the heavens, he 
 hath faid, whofo believeth on the Son of God, 
 ■hath everlajling life. 
 
 " True, you reply, I know that Jefus 
 Chrift came into the world to fave finners j 
 and that whofoever believeth on him (hall 
 not perifh, but have everlafting life : neither 
 can I deny, but that in a fenfe of my own 
 finful condition, I do caft myfelf in fome 
 meafure upon my Saviour, and lay fome hold 
 upon his all-fuffkient redemption. But my 
 apprehenfions of him are io feeble ; fo weak 
 and faint is my faith, that it can afford no 
 found comfort to my foul."— Be of good cou- 
 rage, faint not, nor be difmayed ! However 
 weak your faith, it may yet be fincere and 
 true. Did you expect to bejumfied and faved 
 by the ftrength, and power of the very act of 
 your faith — you would have good reafon to 
 be difheartened with the confcioufnefs of its 
 weaknefs : But now that the virtue and effi- 
 cacy of this happy work is in the object, 
 which your faith apprehends, not in your 
 faith itfelf — is in the infinite merits and 
 mercy of your God and Saviour, (which can- 
 not be diminifhed by any infirmities of yours) 
 
 H you 
 
98 CONSOLATIONS, a 
 
 you have, on this account, good caufe to take 
 heart, and chearfully to expect his falvation. 
 — Underftand your cafe aright -, here is a 
 double hand which helps us towards heaven ; 
 our hand of faith lays hold upon our Saviour; 
 his hand of mercy and plenteous redemption 
 lays hold of us : our hold of him is feeble 
 and eafily loofed : his hold of us is ftrong and 
 irrefiftible. Nothing can feparate us from 
 the love of Chriil. He loves us with an ever- 
 lafting love! — Comfort yourfelf therefore in 
 this, with the blefTed apoftle, when I<im weak 
 then I am firong — when weak in myfelf, 
 ftrong in my Redeemer.— Should you boaft 
 of your ftrength and fay, Tujh, Ijhall never be 
 moved j I mould fefpect the truth and fafety 
 of your condition : now you perceive and be- 
 wail your weaknefs, none that underftand the 
 falvation of Chrift, will fail to encourage and 
 congratulate the happy ftate of your foul. — 
 Be not therefore dejecled with the want of 
 your own power ; but comfort yourfelf rather 
 in the rich mercies of your blefled Redeemer, 
 whofe name is Jehovah Al-Jhadi — the Lord 
 God All-Sufficient, 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
[ 99 ] 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Confolations for the afiified in Mind, continued. 
 
 TN the laft fection I endeavoured to remove 
 the burden of diftrefs, and to obviate the 
 uneaiy fcruples of thofe difquieted minds, 
 which are unhappily deprived of all the com- 
 forts of religion ; either through the afflictive 
 fenfe of the heinoulnefs and aggravated guilt 
 of their fins 5 the melancholy apprehenfion 
 of their want of repentance, of fincere and 
 fufficient repentance ; or through the dread of 
 the total deficiency, or at leafr. the difTatisfac- 
 tory weaknefs of their faith. To perfons 
 under each or all of thefe oppreffive cir- 
 cumftances, we found that the Gofpel can 
 minifter folid and fufricient confolation. Let 
 us now proceed to confider farther, the com- 
 plaints of thofe, who from other caufes, are 
 diftreft in mind ; who either from wrong con- 
 ceptions of the true religion, or from the 
 buly innovations of the falfe, are led far away 
 from that peace and pleafantnefs, which at- 
 tend their Heps, who follow that wifdom 
 which is from above. 
 
 " Little indeed, fays the mournful chrif- 
 tian, do I experience of this pleafantnefs and 
 peace; fomctimes, I confefs, I find my 
 heart tolerably at eafe, in a comfortable re- 
 liance on my Redeemer. Then I promife 
 H 2 myfelf 
 
ioo CONSOLATIONS for 
 myfelf better days, and am happy in the ba- 
 niihment of my former fears ! But, alas i 
 How foon is this fcene changed ? How fud- 
 denly is this clear fky over-clouded ? How 
 quickly doth the dreary gloom of my former 
 apprehenfions, my dejection and hopeleffnefs 
 return ?" 
 
 Neither is this to be admired. For you 
 did not imagine furely, that grace would put 
 you into a conftant and invariable condition of 
 foul, while you are engaged in .this fpiritua! 
 warfare upon earth r Ours is a warfare; and 
 fo long as we live we mall have enemies, both 
 within and without, to encounter and com- 
 bat. For we wreftle not only with fefi and 
 blood, but with principalities and powers y 
 not only with inward propenfities, but out- 
 ward temptations to evil. Did you ever hear 
 or read of any, the befl and mod: chofen 
 faints and fervants of God, who were un- 
 changeable in their holy difpofitions, while 
 they remained in this region of mutability ? 
 Confider the man after God's own heart ; the 
 man of whom it is witnefled in the oracles of 
 infallible truth, that fave only in the matter 
 of Uriah, he turned not afide from any thing 
 that the Lord commanded him all the days 
 of his life. Confider him, and you will find 
 him fometimes fo devoutly elevated and cou- 
 ragious, as if the fpirit of all his worthies 
 were met in his one bofom. Another time 
 you will perceive him fo dejected and caft 
 
 down, 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. ioi 
 
 down, that no one would imagine it was the 
 King of J/rael. Now he can fay, The Lord 
 is my Jhepherdj then fore Jhall 1 want nothing ; 
 and then, Why art thou cajl down, oh, my foul! 
 and why art thou Jo difquieted within me, &c. 
 Now he can fey, I will' not be afraid of ten 
 thoufands of the people that have Jet themfehes 
 againjl me round about. While at another 
 time he iighs forth, Lord, where are thy loving 
 kindnejfes which have been ever of old? How 
 lo72g wilt thou forget me, O Lord ! how long 
 wilt thou hide thy face from me ! Confider again 
 the great Apoftle of the Gentiles ; one while 
 you fee him creeling trophies, in himfelf, of 
 victory to his God ; In all thefe things we are 
 more than conquerors ^through him that loved us ! 
 At another time, you find him bewailing his 
 own fin ml condition ; Oh wretched man that 
 lam, &c. One while you find him caught 
 up into the third heaven, and in the paradife 
 of God : Another you hear him complain of 
 the thorn in the flem, the meffenger of Satan, 
 and lamenting the afTault to God. — And thus 
 will it be with you, oh ChrifKan, more or 
 lefs, fo long as you continue in the frail taber- 
 nacle of the flefh. The temper of your foul, 
 like that of your body, will be fubject to 
 viciffitudes. Should you continue always in 
 the fame ftate, your fituation would be more 
 fufpicious. When therefore the inclinations 
 of your foul are happily raifed to God, be 
 thankful to the munificence of that blefled 
 II 3 Ipirit 
 
102 C N S O L AT I N S for 
 fpirit, from whom proceed all good deiires, and 
 who is the fountain of all grace and confola- 
 tion. But when you find a more dark and 
 dejected gloomover whelm you, be not too 
 much caft down with an unguarded opinion, 
 that you are left deftitute, that you are forfaken 
 of God ! Repine not at the feafons or meafures 
 of his bounty. That moil free and bsnefi- 
 cient agent will not be confined to our terms, 
 but will give what, and when, and how he 
 pleafes. Only do you humbly wait upon his 
 goodnefs, in the bed: performance of duty you 
 can, and "be confident , that he who hath begun 
 his good work in yoit, will perform it even to the 
 day of J ejus Chri/l." 
 
 <* True, fays one, I could gladly thus 
 wait j and mould have no doubt, that he 
 would flnifh his work, if that work were inr. 
 deed begun in me. But this I am led abfo- 
 lutely to difqelieve, and on that account am 
 on the brink of defpair ; for I am pofitively 
 told, that every true convert, every real Chrif- 
 tian and child of God, can evidently let forth, 
 can plainly tell the time, the place, the means, 
 the manner of his converfion j can {hew bow 
 near he was brought to the gates of death j 
 how clofe to the yery verge of the bottomlefs 
 pit, when God, as it we^e, with a violent and 
 outflretched arm, fuddenly refcued him from 
 that damnation; and put him into a new 
 ftate of spiritual and undoubted life. Now as 
 I am a ftranger to all this, can neither note 
 
 the 
 
ffc Afflicted in Mind. 103 
 
 the time, place, means, nor manner of my 
 converfion, as I know not of any fuch forci- 
 ble and irrefiftable operation of God's fpirit 
 upon me, nor have felt fuch fudden and vehe- 
 ment concuilions of heart and fpirit ; I fear 
 that I am yet no Chriftian ; no true convert; 
 not born again, and confequently in no hopes 
 of eternal life." 
 
 This do&ine, for its abfurdity, falftiood, 
 and danger, might deferve the roughed treat* 
 ment ; but as we are propodng comfort 
 to the troubled mind, we will handle it 
 with all mildnefs. To the Chriftian then, 
 under this oppreflion, we obferve that it is 
 not fafe for any man, (how holy or ex- 
 cellent foever) to take upon him to fet li- 
 mits to the ways of the Almighty, or to 
 prefcribe certain rules to the proceedings 
 of infinite wifdom. That moft free and all- 
 wife Being will not be obliged always to walk 
 in one path, but will vary his courfe accord- 
 ing to the good pleafure of his own will. 
 One man he calls fuddenly ; another leifurely ; 
 and as if it were by degrees. One by a kind 
 of holy violence, as he did St Paul; another 
 by gentle and fweet follicitations, as Philip, 
 Nathaniel, Andrew, Peter, Matthew, and the 
 reft of the Apoftles. One man he draws to 
 heaven with gracious invitations, with cords 
 of love j another he drives thither by a ftrong 
 hand, and with all the terrors of affliction. 
 We have known thofe who have mifperat 
 
 their 
 
104 CONSOLATIONS for 
 their younger times in notorioufly lewd and 
 debauched courfes, who have been Angularly 
 wicked, being not only without God in this 
 world (as the Apoftle fpeaksj but even againffc 
 him 5— who yet by the power of God have 
 been awakened to a fenfe of their guilt; their 
 convictions for which have been fearfully op- 
 preflive, before they have experienced any 
 comforts from the glad tidings of mercy in 
 Chrift. But this is not every man's cafe: 
 Thole who from their infancy have been 
 brought up in the fear and nurture of the 
 Lord, who continually have heard precept 
 upon precept, and reaped all the advantages 
 of reiterated inftru&ion ; who have, by an in- 
 fenfible conveyance, received the operations 
 of the fpirit of God, and have endeavoured 
 to obey his laws, with their bed and lincereft 
 efforts, (though not without much inward 
 ftrife, not without many temptations, and 
 much humiliation for their many particular 
 failings) Perfons like thcfe cannot expect to 
 find fo fenfible alterations in themfelves. As 
 well may the child know when he was na- 
 turally born, as thefe may know the inftant 
 of their fpiritual regeneration. As well may 
 they perceive the growth of the herbage of 
 the field, as expect to perceive the infenfible 
 encreafe of Grace. It is enough that the 
 child attaining to the ufe of reafon, now 
 knows that he was born ; it is enough, that 
 when we fee the grafs higher than when we 
 
 left 
 
Tbe Afficted in Mind. 105 
 
 left it, we know, that it is grown. Let it 
 then iuffice you, oh Chriitian, to be fatisfied, 
 that the thing is really done, though you can- 
 not, by any means, define the time and man- 
 ner of doing it. Be not curious in the matter 
 of particular perceptions, while you may be 
 afTured of the reality and truth of the grace, 
 wrought in you. Truft God with yourfelf, 
 and let him alone with his own work j what 
 is it to you, which way he thinks belt to 
 bring about and perfect your falvation ! 
 
 " Yes, fay you, I could well be content to 
 do fo, but I am told, that ajjiirance is ellen- 
 tial to true faith, and that there can be no 
 faving faith without it, without a certain and 
 internal perfuafion, that I am in favour with 
 God. Now, tho' through a reliance on the in- 
 fallible truth of God, I have no doubt that he 
 will, for Chrift's fake, be merciful to me a pe- 
 nitent finner, — yet I cannot fay certainly that I 
 know, and am ajjured my lins are forgiven : — 
 I have not this happinefs, and therefore I am 
 taught to efteem myfelf no better than a repro- 
 bate." What we faid in the former fection, in 
 anfwer to the complaint of want of faith, may 
 properly be applied here ; and it is a fufficient 
 anfwer to this uneafy fcruple j as it appears 
 abundantly from thence, that there are degrees 
 in faith, which, however weak and feeble, may 
 yet be tt\x6 and acceptable before God. — But 
 frequently and earnestly as this falfe doctrine 
 is preached by fome, it requires rather more 
 
 attention 
 
106 CONSOLATIONS for 
 
 attention from us to offer an antidote. And for 
 this purpofe I mall ufe the words of Bifliop 
 Rally who, it is well known, was not ill in- 
 clined to this tenet, qualified in feme degree. 
 " Yet, fays he, It is an uneafy and perilous 
 path, which thofe men have walked in, who 
 have defined all faith by ailurance. Should I 
 lead you that way, it might cofl you a fall. 
 So fure a certainty of our constant and re- 
 flected apprehenfion of eternal life, is both 
 hard to get, and not eafyto hold immoveably ; 
 confidering the many and ftrong temptations 
 which we are fu ejected to in this vale of mifery 
 and death. Should faith be reduced to this trial, 
 it would yet be more rare than our Saviour 
 hath foretold it. For as many a one boafts of 
 fuch an affurance, who is yet deficient in a 
 true faith, (embracing a vain prefumption in- 
 flead of it) fo many a one alio hath true faith 
 in the Lord Jefus, who yet complains to want 
 this Jflurance? — Thus far the Biihop. — But 
 we may go yet farther, and fay, that it is 
 impoffible faith can confift with this Affurance, 
 For Faiths in its very higheft actings, is not 
 fenfe and certainty : k.§ foon as it is, it ceafes 
 to be Faith. The moment I am undoubtedly 
 afTured of a thing, I no longer believe it ; for 
 then I am certain of it. Faith and certainty 
 or ailurance thereof can never fubfift toge- 
 ther. We may apply to faith, what the 
 Apoftle faith of Hope, Hope that isfeen is not 
 hope: for what a tnanfeeth why doth he yet hope 
 
 for? 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. ioy 
 
 fir ? So what a man is certainly aflured of, 
 why need he, how can he hclieve it ? I am 
 afjured that the fun (Tunes : then I do not be- 
 lieve the Sun mines. Under this confedera- 
 tion, the opinion is deftroyed root and branch : 
 for when the propagators of this doctrine tell 
 us, that affurance is effential to all true faith, 
 we may reply, that two contraries can never 
 fubfift together. Faith is an afcent of the 
 mind, given upon evidence to any propo- 
 rtion. Affurance is the clear and undoubted 
 knowledge of the thing by whatever means 
 attained : if then we believe, we cannot be 
 certain at the fame time. Let me moreover 
 obferve, (that we may give all poflible fatis- 
 faction to the mind, in this cafe,) that the 
 mod fanguine efpoufers of this tenet, will 
 not, cannot deny, that the fruits of faith, are 
 inconfiitibie evidences of the truth of faith. 
 If therefore you find in yourfelf the bleiTed 
 fruits of living faith; be not folicitous about 
 that affurance, which is fuppofed by fome to 
 be the firft ffep in vital Chriitianity : in 
 the works of humility, love, devotion, obe- 
 dience, wrought upon your foul , and ex- 
 emplified in your life, you have indeed an 
 affurance ) which is infallible ; for it is found- 
 ed upon that truth of God, which is more 
 immoveable than the everlafring hills. 
 
 The fame reply may be oifered to the 
 foul diifreiTed and difquicsed by the notions, 
 which fome vent refpecting the doctrine 
 
 of 
 
io8 CONSOLATIONS/cr 
 
 of Regeneration, or the new birth.— — Not 
 long fince a perfon came to me, with a 
 face of agony and defpair, utterly diitreft in 
 mind, and hopelefs of his fpiritual ftate — for 
 he had heard a fermon from a celebrated di- 
 vine, in which he had infifted much upon the 
 neceffity of the new birth, but moft of all 
 upon the pangs and agonies which every 
 Chriftian muft fufferin their new creation. 
 
 To fuch a perfon, it was in vain to offer the 
 diftinctions, as commonly, as juftly made, 
 refpeeting regeneration ; or to endeavour to 
 prove, according to the doctrine of our own 
 and of the primitive church, that baptifm is 
 regeneration. — It was therefore {hewn, that 
 this opinion had no foundation in fcripture ; 
 that there are no texts, which either inculcate 
 orfuppcrtit; that it is at ben; but a meta- 
 phorical expreffion, for repentance to new- 
 nefsoflife; and that metaphors mould never 
 be itretched beyond certain bounds ; for if 
 they are, the greateft abfurdities might be 
 deduced from them j but that if they are 
 purfued, their analogy mould be preferved ; 
 the contrary of which is obfervable, in the 
 prefent cafe ; for if the metaphor were duly 
 preferved, certainly it is not the child, but the 
 parent which feels the pangs at the birth. The 
 Chriftian, therefore, the new-born Chriftian, 
 according to this, mould experience no for^ 
 rows or pains. — St. Paul feems to counte- 
 nance this expreffion, when he faith of him- 
 
 felf, 
 
The Afflicted in Mind 109 
 
 felf, my little children ', of whom I travel in 
 
 birth. Eut moft fatisfaclory to remove all 
 
 diftrefs of mind , which this opinion may 
 caufe, is it to remark, that the efpoufers of it 
 always lay down certain marks of true rege- 
 neration, nor can they deny, that where 
 thefe marks are found, the foul is certainly 
 new born, and a partaker of Chrift's redemp- 
 tion. And thefe marks are generally no 
 other, when diverted of their obfcurity, and 
 reduced to order, than the ordinary work- 
 ings of the fpiritual life, than the graces and 
 fruits of the gofpel, than fincere obedience to 
 the commands of Chrift - y Where that obe- 
 dience, and thefe fruits are fecured, that foul 
 may take comfort to itfelf, as being certainly 
 arlured of the reality of its new birth : yea, 
 much more certainly, and I am fure more 
 rationally, than if it had felt greater ago- 
 nies and pangs, than the fancy of the wildeft 
 Enthufiaft could fuggeft. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 Co7ifolatio?is for the Afflitted in Mind, concluded. 
 With a Letter. 
 
 " A kk this may be very true, fays an af- 
 
 X~\ flicted foul, and I could be well fatis- 
 
 fied with it, were I only afcertained of one great 
 
 particular, of my election to eternal life 1 
 
 could 
 
no CONSOLATIONS for 
 could be patient, fo I might be fure. But 
 wretched man, that I am, here, here I (tick ! 
 I fee others walk confidently and comfortably, 
 as if they were in heaven already : whereas I 
 droop under a continual diffidence, railing 
 unto myfelf daily new argument of my dil- 
 truft. Could my heart be fettled in this cer- 
 tainty, — were I affured, that I am one of 
 thoie whom God hath elected to life, nothing 
 could ever make me other than happy." 
 
 As for thofe you mention, who walk 
 fo confidently and comfortably, perhaps, 
 their falfe confidence may be the ground of 
 as falfe a comfort ; for depend upon it, there 
 is no path in Ghriftianity wherein there is 
 more need of treading warily than this.— You 
 believe the doctrine of particular election and 
 reprobation, that is, you believe that God 
 from eternity hath infallibly decreed fome to 
 falvation, and fome to deftruction. I will 
 not at prefent difpute this doctrine with you. 
 You are firmly perfuaded of its truth, and 
 only with to be afcertained of the certainty of 
 your own election. — Now tell me, in what 
 method you would be afcertained ? There are 
 but three fuppofable ones — The firji, by get- 
 ting a fight of that book of decrees, in which 
 you imagineGod to have entered yours and 
 the names of all mortals that ever have or 
 fhall exift. This would be a very fure, but, 
 unhappily, it is an impoffible method. The 
 fecond way to be afcertained of this fact, is by 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. hi 
 a bold prefumption, a ftrong confidence in 
 your own mind. Imagine but yourfelf, if you 
 can, one of God's fervantsj work up your 
 ielf-love to a proper pitch, and you may 
 then prevail upon yourfelf perhaps to enter- 
 tain this belief with fome degree of affurance. 
 This is a method, which it is to be feared is 
 not very uncommon, but it will be found 
 very little fatisfaclory , to an humble and 
 reafonable mind, defirous of avoiding all felf- 
 deceit. 
 
 The third then is the only method, by 
 which folid fatisfaction can be attained, and 
 that is, by impartially confulting that word of 
 God, which is the fair tranfcript of his mind, 
 and confequently the immediate counterpart 
 of that book of decrees, which fome tell us, 
 (though upon what grounds, I know not) he 
 hath in heaven. Now we learn, without the 
 leaft, cloud of doubt, with the higheft certain- 
 ty, that they who have true faith, and fincere 
 love, are the children of God, and confe- 
 quently of the number of the elect j for we 
 read, He who believeth on him that fent me> hath 
 everlafting life : and again, we know that we 
 are faffed from death unto life, becaufe we love 
 the brethren. He that hath the Son of God, 
 hath life. — Now then, as you can be afcertain- 
 ed of your eleftion no other way, than by the 
 word of God j furely you cannot hefitate to 
 take comfort, if you perceive in yourfelf, thofe 
 fure evidences of election, which that word 
 
 pro- 
 
ii2 CONSOLATIONS/^ 
 
 propofeth. Indeed the mod ftrenuous fa* 
 vourers of this doctrine, when you come to 
 the proof, refer you to that chain ofcaufes 
 and effects, whereof effectual calling is the firft 
 link, according to them, as faith is the grand 
 connecting one, and love the final. They refer 
 you to what other Divines would call the fruits 
 of the fpirit j and in fliort, direct you to that 
 which is the alone certain criterion in this and 
 every other doubt, the book of God, and the 
 book of your own confcience. A very emi- 
 nent writer amongft them, hath thefe words 
 immediately directed to our prefent fubject. — 
 " I doubt not you find in yourfelf thefe un- 
 failing evidences of your election : for are you 
 not effectually though not perfectly (fuch is 
 their diflin&ion) called out of the world, and 
 corrupt nature ; do you not inwardly abhor 
 your former finful ways ; do you not think 
 of what you were, with deteftation ? Do you 
 not heartily defire and endeavour to be in all 
 things approved of God, and conformed to 
 your Saviour ? Do you not gladly cart yourfelf 
 upon the Lord Jefus, and depend upon his 
 free all-fufficiency for pardon and falvation ? 
 Do you not love that infinite goodnefs, who 
 hath been fo rich in mercies to you ? Do you 
 not love and blefs that goodnefs, which ap- 
 pears in his faints upon earth ? In plain terms, 
 do you not love a good man, becaufe he is 
 good? Comfort yourfelf then in the Lord ; 
 let no fits of fear or diftruft poffefs your foul ; 
 
 faithful 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. 113 
 
 faithful is he who hath called you, who will 
 alfo preferve your body, foul, and fpirit blame- 
 lefs unto the coming of our Lord Jems Chrift." 
 
 Thus you fee, without entering at all into 
 controverfy , or particularly examining the 
 doctrine, you may eafily be exempted from 
 the lead uneafinefs on this head ; and 
 may, with the moft comfortable fatisfaction, 
 reply to every doubt refpecting election, 
 which the fbfpicious of an anxious or oppref- 
 fed mind may fuggeft. And take it for your 
 comfort, that as God is holy, jufl and good, 
 fo no man, who endeavours to be holy, juft, 
 and good, and repofes himfelf with an hum- 
 ble confidence on his Redeemer, can ever 
 fail to attain the favour, and to fee the face of 
 that God in glory. 
 
 " But alas, continues the humble afflicted 
 Chriftian, my graces are fo weak and defi- 
 cient, that I am led almoft to doubt, whether 
 I mall ever fee that face of God, as I am fb 
 unworthy his mercies." — This complaining, 
 be affured, is no unfavourable fign. Think 
 you, that thofe, whom you efteem more emi- 
 nent in grace, make not the fame complaint 
 with you? Certainly they never had any 
 grace, who did not complain of too little. 
 The very complaint of weaknefs argues not 
 only reality but ftrength : as on the contrary, 
 on opinion of fufficient grace, is an evident 
 conviction of meer emptinefs. But fuppofe 
 you was even as poor, and deficient, as your 
 
 I worfl 
 
ii4 CONSOLATIONS for 
 worft fears reprefent you, — you mull remem- 
 ber, that it is not fo much what we have, as 
 what we improve. Had that fervant in the 
 Gofpei, who received but one talent, improv- 
 ed it to the gain of a fecond, he had been pro- 
 portionally as well rewarded, as he who with 
 five gained ten. Befides, fmall though your 
 grace, yet it may be true ; and as all we have 
 proceeds from God, he knows we can have 
 nothing, but what he gives us, and enables 
 os to improve ; and where he fees our wills 
 and endeavours are not wanting, he is ready 
 to accept and to crown his own gifts in us. 
 He will not break the bruifed reed, nor quench 
 the fmoking flax. 
 
 " But you are uneafy, that you make fo 
 flow a progrefs in grace, and fpiritual im- 
 provements." — Why this indeed, is an happy 
 ambition, which thus carries you on to the 
 way of blelTednefs. Qmcken yourfelf all you 
 may in that happy path j but know, that the 
 moil fpeedy is not always the fureil: courfe. 
 BleiTed is the man, we are told, who doth but 
 walk in the law of the Lord. While you 
 move forwards, though with the Howell: pace, 
 you are every flep nearer to glory, — fo long as 
 you advance and gain ground, though never 
 fo little, you are fafe. — For though you gain 
 but little, though your improvements are but 
 fmall, yet you wim and labour for more. 
 This is a good beginning, of your heavenly 
 wealth, which no one can mifs, who with ear- 
 
 neftnefs 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. 115* 
 neftn.efs of defire, and fincerity of endeavour, 
 labours to attain it. If any one want wifdom, 
 heavenly grace, we are told by an apoftle, He 
 tnuji ajk of God, who givetb t) all men liberally, 
 and upbraideih not, and in confequence of fuch 
 iinccre requeft, that wifdom (hall be given bim; 
 fhall be given more efpecially to fuch a foul, as 
 is fenfible of its want, poor in fpirit, and low- 
 ly in its own eyes. — For know, that in a fpiri^- 
 tual as well as temporal view, an humble po- 
 verty is better than an haughty fulnefs ; were 
 you poor and proud, there were no hopes of 
 your proficiency : but when you are meaner in 
 your opinion, than in your eftate, who can 
 more juftly appropriate our Saviour's bleffing; 
 Blejfed are the poor in fpirit, for theirs is the 
 kingdom of God. — You are weak in grace, but 
 you may gain more ftrength; wherefore ferves 
 that heavenly food of the word and Sacrament, 
 but to nourim your foul to eternal life? Do 
 but hear and receive in faith, and you cannot 
 but grow ftronger. God will not be wanting 
 to you in an increafe of grace, if you will not 
 be wanting to yourfelf. He offers his fpirit to 
 you with the means ; it is your (in ml neglect 
 if you attempt to feparate them : you know in 
 whofe hands is the benediction : pray that he 
 whofe loving-kind nefs is over all his works, 
 would not forget you, while you entreat in the 
 pathetic (tyle of Efau, — Haft thou but one blef- 
 fing, my Father f Blefs me, even me, alfo, my 
 Father r 
 
 I 2 It 
 
n6 CONSOLATIONS^ 
 
 It is our unfpeakable comfort, that we have 
 to do with a God, who is not circumfcribed 
 
 in his bounty, or limited in his bleffings 
 
 who hath enough for all, and from whofe 
 boundlefs ftore, no fupplicating foul fhall 
 ever be fent empty away. In this and the for- 
 mer Sections, we have feen, how abundant 
 confolation is miniftred to us, through the 
 rich mercies of our father in Chrift Jefus -, in-* 
 fomuch, that if we can but bring the humbled 
 heart, the ardent defire, the fincere endeavour, 
 paft offences (hall be no bar to our admiffion, 
 weaknefs and imperfection fhall not cut us off 
 from the mercy of our God : — as a father 
 pitieth his own children, fo will he have com- 
 panion upon us -, and upon our filial acknow- 
 ledgements and penitential return to him, far 
 as the eaft is from the weft, high as the hea- 
 ven is from the earth, will he gracioufly put 
 away our fins from us ! What a comfortable 
 declaration to imperfect finfui creatures like 
 us ! Let it influence our minds to every wor- 
 thy and grateful fentiment, and let us not by 
 any means proceed to offend that infinite, that 
 amiable love, which condefcended to die for 
 us, rather than we mould die in our fins ! 
 
 Thus then, have I endeavoured, in as fa- 
 miliar a manner as I am able, to remove thofe 
 fcruples, and to obviate thofe difficulties, which 
 arife either from wrong conceptions of the 
 true, or dangerous doctrines of falfe religion. 
 
 There 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. 117 
 
 There are two conclufions which are natural- 
 ly to be drawn from what hath been faid — 
 
 1ft. Thefirft, refpects the neceffity there is of 
 gaining the molt clear and perfect knowledge 
 we are able of the Christian religion, leail: 
 we be led aftray by every glare of falfe doc- 
 trine, and have our minds continually harraffed 
 with perplexing principles, calculated to de- 
 ceive and enfnare unwary and unftable fouls. 
 I do not pretend to aflert that the Church 
 of England is either infallible or free from 
 errors, — but thus much may be advanced, 
 without the leaft hazard of truth, that 
 therein are held and taught all the eftentials 
 of Salvation ; and it will be our bed and 
 wifeft method confcientioully to adhere to 
 this Church, as (he adheres to the word of 
 God, and to receive no doctrines, which are 
 not evidently and undeniably proved to be 
 hers. If we thus act, (I fpeak only of thofe 
 who are of this Church, and have neither 
 leifure nor education fuflicient to examine 
 minutely into things,) we mall be preferved 
 in a much fafer courfe, than by following the 
 found of every tinkling cymbal, whichproclaims 
 fome new thing to our ears : and we mail 
 find in the end, that we are much more ad- 
 vanced in Chriftianity, than thofe, of whom it 
 may be laid, as of Reuben , unftable as water, 
 ye flail not excel. — Indeed, were it not for 
 this, yet the peace and calm of our minds 
 mould certainly lead us to prefer that fteady 
 and uniform piety, which the true religion, 
 I 3 as 
 
uS CONSOLATIONS for 
 
 as held by the Church of England, recom- 
 mends j rather than to hazard our prefent 
 tranquility, and our future hopes, by efpouf- 
 ing the tenets of uncertainty and difquie- 
 tude. 
 
 lid. And as the fubjects which we have 
 been coniidering, ftrongly enforce the necef- 
 fuy of right knowledge and of liability in our 
 fentiments; fo do they particularly difplay the 
 importance of a good life, and the unfpeak^- 
 able comforts flowing from an exemplary de- 
 meanour, and an approving confcience. In-?. 
 deed, without thefe, or an endeavour to attain 
 thefe, the Christian religion hath no con fil- 
 iations to offer. And it is pleaflng to remark, 
 that the abettors of every doctrine, however 
 falfe, or abiurd, have generally, if not uni- 
 verfally recourfe to the fruits of an holy life, 
 as the uncontefted mark of the real influence 
 of their principles upon the foul. If you 
 have this, you have an evidence of your Son- 
 fhip and adoption into the family of God, 
 which will avail you, under every temptation. 
 And if you want this, though you can talk 
 Vviii all the confidence of a faint, concern- 
 ing your afTi ranee, new-birth, or election, 
 depend upon it, your confidence is preemp- 
 tion, your hope is delufion, your end will be 
 defpair. 
 
 Labour therefore toat tain this great refolver 
 of doubts, " a confcience approving the recti- 
 tude of your conduct." Labour to excel in 
 
 virtue 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. ' iiq 
 virtue and godlinefs of living, and you have, as 
 it were, the broad ieal of Heaven to allure you, 
 that grace is begun in your fouls, and that you 
 are in the path, which leads directly to unend- 
 ing glory ! Firm in your faith, zealous in your 
 obedience, univerfal and fmcere in your love, 
 you may ftand and brave all the tempefls of 
 iin, the world, and the devil, whofe attacks 
 will prove fruitlefs as the vain dam of the an- 
 gry billows againft the immoveable rocks. 
 
 Let parents then early inftruct their child- 
 ren, and feafon their minds with a right know- 
 ledge of religion : let mailers carefully edify 
 their families, by every means in their power : 
 let minifters diligently, plainly, and faithfully 
 preach the lincere word of God, and thus dif- 
 perfe the pure doctrines of the Gofpel ; and we 
 fhall fee that delirable fruit produced in abun- 
 dance, the fruit of holy and exemplary living, 
 which will prove, through the faith of Chrift, 
 an effectual barrier againft the inroads of infi- 
 delity, fuperltition, or enthufiafm ; which will 
 tend above all things to filence or wholly re- 
 move the uneafy follicitude of a diftreiTed 
 mind ; which will introduce all the foft har- 
 mony of celeltial peace, and all the chearful 
 vivacity of holy hope, into the happy and 
 heaven-directed heart. 
 
 We fubjoin at the end of this bead ZTi&fe£ticn 
 a letter, written to a perfon uneafy in mind, 
 and which perhaps may be acceptable to others 
 in the fame fituation. 
 
 To 
 
120 CONSOLATIONS for 
 
 "To Mr. ***. 
 
 * A SSURE yourfelf, dear Sir, it would give 
 
 * XA. me the highert fatisfaction, if I could 
 
 * by any means contribute to the restoration of 
 f your peace of mind. But as yours is un- 
 
 * doubtedly a bodiiy, as well as a mental 
 c complaint, phylical methods are to be pur- 
 1 fued ; and it is hoped, by the bleffing of 
 
 * God, and by proper patience, they may 
 c at length prove efficacious. — In the mean 
 ( time I moft fincerely fympathize with you 
 ' in your diftrefs, which, we truft, by ferious 
 
 * reflection and rational converfation, may in a 
 c degree be alleviated, if not perfectly removed. 
 
 ' You are no ftranger to that great, that 
 e bleffed defign, which brought the Son of 
 c God into our wretched world ; it was folely 
 c to fave and to rejlore loft and ruined finners. 
 f Accordingly you find, that this beneficent 
 ' Saviour breaths nothing but mercy and 
 4 love, fvveet promifes of grace and of pardon, 
 
 * to all who will come, in faith to him, and 
 
 * accept his gracious offers. All manner of 
 1 fin Mid blafphemy, he hath allured us, shall 
 ' be fir given unto men. — He declares, that he 
 
 * came to call not the right eons ^ but //^Sinners 
 
 * to r'pentance— and to the weary and heavy 
 
 * laden> under the burden of guilt and diftrcfs 
 
 * he offers his invaluable reft. 
 
 c Upon this view you fee, (and furely it 
 c muft give you comfort to fee) that you are 
 { in the proper ftate to come to this merciful 
 f Lord of love. You are heavy-laden and 
 
 e weary •, 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. 121 
 
 weary ; you are oppreffed with the fad re- 
 membrance of fins. — Why then, you are 
 the very perfon Chrifr. came to fave : you 
 want his falvation. And in return let me 
 afk — Hath he not abundantly mewn, by 
 his marvellous doings, that he wants you ? 
 or, in other words, that he earneftly de- 
 fireth, and will joyfully receive the return- 
 ing (inner ! There is joy in heaven over one 
 Jinner that repent eth ! 
 c Nay but fay you, <e I am fo grievous a 
 firmer — a finner againft light and con- 
 viction — guilty beyond all the guilty upon 
 earth." Admit all this 3 it is no bar to 
 your forgivenefs. <c All manner of Jin and 
 blafphemy" — Note the expreffion — -All man- 
 ner Jh all be -forgiven, &c. — what fays God by 
 his prophet lj'aiab? Though your [fins be as 
 fcarlet — deep in their dye as crimfon ; nu- 
 merous as the ftarsj they mail be all 
 blotted out, and become white as the pureft: 
 fnow, through the grace procured for us by 
 him, who hath loved us, and wajhed us in his 
 own blood. David's fins were aggravated 
 by every condemning circumftance, yet he 
 found mercy -, there is the fame mercy for 
 you 
 
 " True, you will tell me, I know that God 
 is cquiily merciful now, and willing to fave 
 thofe, who can perform the neceflary condi- 
 tions. — Bur I cannot perform them." No; 
 why, what are tnefe conditions, but faith and 
 
 ' repent- 
 
122 CONSOLATIONS/^ 
 
 s repentance? now I know you believe; you 
 
 * told me, you had no doubt that Chrift really 
 
 * came into the world, lived and died at Jeru- 
 < falem, to fave tinners. — " But you have no 
 c repentance." — What then is repentance, but 
 
 * the mind's fincere ibrrow for, its utter detef- 
 
 * tation of pall fin j its refolution and actual en- 
 
 * deavour to amend. That you are fincerely 
 ■ forry for part tranfgreffions, I am ready to an- 
 
 * fwer ; I wifh, my good Sir, I had not feen fo 
 « melancholy a proof, as your afflicted mind 
 
 * has given me. That you deteft fin, is no lefs 
 5 obvious ; that you have both reiolved and 
 
 * forfaken it, (that efpecially which feems to 
 
 * wound you nearer!) is a matter that will ad- 
 
 * mit of no doubt. What then can be want- 
 
 * ing to perfect your repentance ? 
 
 " Oh much, very much, you tell me; you 
 i have many paffions rifing up, and diftrerting 
 ■* you: you are impatient, and hafty, worldly- 
 s minded, and dirtatisfied — far, very far from 
 
 * the true chriftian temper." Remember 
 
 r what I obferved at the firit, that your com- 
 
 * plaint is in part bodily : this very complaint 
 c occafions a degree of impatience, for which 
 : you are no more accountable, than a man 
 f in the delirium of a fever is accountable ibr 
 c his words or actions. Befides, thefe tern- 
 
 * pers have not the concurrence of your will \ 
 : you difapprove and detefl them, and would 
 ' rejoice to be free from them — would re- 
 1 joice more than the captive in delivery from 
 
 • ( the 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. 123 
 the dungeon. Be not then difcouraged : in 
 fuch a cafe they are no more your actions 
 than mine. Only do your heft againft them: 
 and doubt not, your redemption from them 
 will draw nigh. Befides, let me obferve to 
 yen, that if you fancy you (hall never be 
 happy, till you are entirely delivered from 
 theic corrupt inclinations, you greatly de- 
 ceive yourfelf ; fince, it is to be feared, they 
 remain in a degree even in the very belt of 
 chrillians; and as ours is a continual warfare, 
 we rnuft have enemies to encounter, till that 
 happy day, when we (hall reft from all our 
 labours, and never more be familiar with fin 
 and with forrow. 
 
 * But how can you expecl to make any to- 
 lerable progrefs in grace, (you fay) or ever. 
 to gain any advantage over your fpiritua! 
 enemies ; when you cannot ufc any of the 
 means ; when you have no power to pray- 
 when you are all deadnefs and woe !" 
 c Your unhappy diforder makes you fee 
 all things in a black light, as men in the 
 jaundice fee things yellow : you do pray ; 
 I have heard you pray -, pray fervently, 
 fincerely, effectually. For what is prayer 
 but the foul's defire elevated to God ! And 
 how anxioufly is the defire of your foul 
 raifed to him. — Oh ! how do you long and 
 wim, that he would have mercy upon you, 
 a finner j reftore you to his favour ; and 
 lift up once again the light of his heavenly 
 
 • coun- 
 
124 CONSOLATIONS for 
 
 * countenance upon you. Be fatisfied, this is 
 
 * prayer, and fuch as will be heard, for Chrift s 
 
 * fake. Do not therefore make yourfelf un- 
 
 * eafy, if when upon your knees, or when 
 
 * applying yourfelf more formally to the im- 
 
 * mediate act of devotion, you find your mind 
 
 * unfettled and troubled , compofe it as well 
 ' as you can - 3 but never doubt, that the man 
 e prays truly, who defires earneftly, and en- 
 
 * deavours fincerely. 
 
 <{ I do indeed defire, you confefs - y and 
 
 * would give the univerfe to be reflored to 
 s my former peace and repofe of confcience , 
 
 * and I would hope that God will hear my 
 
 * prayer.— -But why, (tormenting reflection) 
 6 why does he leave me fo long in this bitter 
 
 * diftrefs? Surely he has utterly abandoned 
 
 * and caft me off) I am rejected for ever." 
 
 ' Dear Sir, I was grieved at my heart to 
 
 * hear you make fuch reflections. Do not, 
 ' I intreat you do not indulge them j for they 
 
 * are wrong and injurious both to God and 
 I yourfelf. His ways, though frequently too 
 " myfterious for our narrow dilcernment, are 
 
 * always of perfect wifdom : be allured, he 
 
 * has good reafons for this fevere chaftife- 
 J ment, which you will hereafter fee and 
 
 * adore. He never punifheth for his pleafure, 
 1 but always for our profit. — You feem de- 
 s ferted by him : tell me, Do you think he 
 
 * deferted the forerunner of his fon, the vir- 
 c tuous Baptijl — do you think he deferted the 
 - laborious Paul— 'the divine St. John ? — No 
 
 < furely; 
 
The Afflicted in Mind. 125 
 
 c furely ; yet reflect, how thefe were left to 
 
 * ftruggle with the feverefr, difficulties, in long 
 
 * and wearifome banifhment and imprifon- 
 ■ ment ? Nay, and confider that his only 
 
 * begotten and dearly beloved Son was left 
 c to the rage of murderers, and transfixed to 
 s a crofs — where — wonderful to think— he 
 c uttered the aftoniflhing cry, My God, my God, 
 c why haft thou forfaken me I — Think of thefe, 
 c and you will find that the heavieft trials, 
 « and apparent neglect, are no proofs that 
 € God hath given us up. Think of thefe, and 
 4 you will fubmit with more chearfulnefs to 
 c the hard and painful affliction, wherewith 
 i you are tried, as gold is tried in the fire. 
 ( May you come out perfectly purified ! 
 
 c Under every difponding thought, I always 
 
 * find that a reflection on God's inexhaufted 
 
 * love gives me the moft comfort. I cannot 
 c think of his mercies, free, unmerited, and 
 ' unbounded; without the mod animating 
 c hope. If you would only endeavour con- 
 ' ftantly to turn your thoughts on this hea- 
 1 venly fubject, I perfuade myfelf, it would 
 ' give you confolation, The Lord is loving 
 
 * unto every man, we are told, and his tender 
 c mercies are over all his works.— To every man) 
 1 — note— over all his work, — confequently 
 c he is loving and his tender mercies are over 
 ' you. — As a father pitieth his own children, fo 
 
 * is he merciful to them that fear him. Can 
 c you then conceive that this companionate 
 
 * Father will reject you his child, this afflicted 
 
 * child. 
 
126 CONSOLATIO N S fir 
 child, who therefore claim his peculiar care ? 
 for parents are always mod attentive to thoie 
 of their children, v/ho are in any fcrrow or 
 trouble 3 we leave the ninety and nine to 
 feek the one that was loft. — Can you con- 
 ceive, that this infinitely gracious God can 
 take any pleafure in the death or mifery of 
 his creatures ? No; furelyno; he is love: 
 he is goodnefs itfelf. As 1 live, ton the 
 Lord, / have no pleafure in the death of a 
 Jinner — turn ye, turn and live I And have 
 not his actions towards us verified his words ! 
 He hath not only fpoken, but fworn (As I 
 live) not only fworn, but fealed the cove- 
 nant with blood t even the blood of his own 
 eternal Son, whom, (fo doth he love us 
 miferable creatures) he fent into the world 
 to die for us, that we might live through 
 him! 
 
 * Thus, dear Sir, I have offered a few ar- 
 guments of comfort to you: God of his infi- 
 nite mercy make them effectual, and by his 
 bleiTed fpirit fanctify them to the ufe and be- 
 nefit of your foul. This will be an unfpeak- 
 able pleafure to me ; and if I have omitted any 
 thing, or you would wifh me to fpeak on 
 any other head, freely communicate your 
 thoughts, and you mail as freely receive my 
 belt and well-meant endeavours. 
 c I mult jult add, that in running over 
 your letter, I find many of my obfervations 
 much confirmed : you tell me, that you cry 
 
 to 
 
The Afflicted in Min£j. 127 
 to God for mercy, and mod earneftly im- 
 plore his afliftance, &c. ^—and you con- 
 clude it with a fervent petition. Reft 
 
 happy then j God never yet rejected the 
 prayer of any fmcere foul. Your prayers 
 will arife acceptable before him. He who 
 prays earneftly, is certainly in the right way. 
 It is faid of Paul, as the moll favourable 
 circumftance, Behold he prayeth. — The pa£- 
 fage you ipeak of in the Liturgy are ex- 
 tremely comfortable, and you do well to 
 apply them to yourfelf. The introductory 
 texts of Scripture ; the confeffion and ab- 
 folution ; and thofe alfo in the Communion 
 fervice, are moft confolatory to the foul, 
 and cannot be too carefully treafured up. 
 You confefs " yourfelf extremely forry and 
 troubled at your many fins ;" this is a fure 
 mark of real penitence. " Black defpair 
 has feized you, you fay, and you fear God 
 has given you up to the fury of your un- 
 ruly pailions." This fear is the confe- 
 quence of that defpair j which defpair pro- 
 ceeds from your bodily diforder affecting 
 your mind. God never gives up any man, 
 who does not finally and totally give up 
 him. He has no pleafure, he defireth 
 not the death of a finner; if he had given 
 you up, you would not have thefe earnefi 
 defires, thef; infallible marks of living grace. 
 . dened finners are never uneafy at fin ; 
 illous confcience never feels. I doubt 
 
 < not 
 
j 2 8 CONSOLATIONS>r 
 
 1 not you are in a ftate of favour with God ; 
 1 and mould not hefitate to pronounce you 
 1 happy, if it were to pleafe him to take you 
 f hence, in your prefent flate. May his good 
 1 fpirit be your comforter, for his dear Son's 
 1 fake! lam, dear Sir, 
 
 * Very lincerely yours, &c/ 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 Conflations for Perfons under Temptation — — 
 The Right Notion of 'Temptations fated. 
 
 AFTER having offered relief and com- 
 fort to the troubled mind^ in various 
 particulars; I come now to confider the cafe 
 of thofe, who lament the prevalence and de- 
 plore the almoft irrefiftible importunity of 
 temptations. By means of which many minds 
 are oppreft. with continual difquietude ; and 
 being constantly incited to fin, are conftantly 
 harrafs'd with perplexing fears and fcruples. 
 It may be neceffary to be obferved here again, 
 that thefe confolations can only be applied by 
 the true Chriftian, by the fincere penitent -, 
 lince neither the caufe of complaint, nor the 
 fource of comfort belong to them who live 
 without God in the world, and have neither 
 his terrors nor his mercies in their thoughts. 
 
 Temptations, 
 
Per tons under Temptations. 129 
 
 ^temptations, properly fpeaking, are Trials of 
 t>ur virtue ; are fomething propofed to us, 
 either from within or without ; , which if re- 
 flated, will redound to our advantage and hap- 
 pinefs ; which if complied with, will work 
 our mifery and woe. As things inanimate, 
 are incapable of action, therefore thofe tempta- 
 tions, which arife from worldly objects, are 
 generally afcribed to the agency of that evil 
 fpirit, who goeth about ieeking whom he 
 may devour, and who makes thefe worldly 
 things the internments of his temptation : as 
 well as thofe evil htfts and propensities which 
 he finds in us, and which ferve as fuel to his 
 purpofes. 
 
 No man, who believes the Gofpel, can 
 doubt the reality of fpiritual agency, both 
 good and bad. We mud be worfe than 
 Sadducees to doubt or deny it. — We are aflur'd, 
 not only that there is a good and holy fpirit, 
 whofe divine and gracious influences operate 
 upon the human mind ; but alfo that there is a 
 wicked fpirit, limited in power, and fubordi- 
 nate to the Almighty's controul, who is allowed 
 to act, in a manner directly contrary to that 
 of the good one. His bufinefs and delight it 
 is, tofeduce into fin, as it is the bufinefs and de- 
 light of the former to lead into all truth and 
 goodnefs. — But to fuppofe with fome, that ei- 
 ther the one or the other fo act upon the human 
 mind, as abfolutely to produce all its good or 
 all its evil 5 is utterly to deftroy the freedom 
 
 K of 
 
130 CONSOLATIONS/cr 
 
 of human action, and wholly to incapacitate 
 men, from receiving either rewards or punifh- 
 ments : fot if all the good done in and by me, 
 proceed from the irrefiftable operation of 
 God's Holy Spirit ; certainly I am wholly 
 unconcern'd in the action, and of confequence 
 can have no right to reward; As on the 
 other hand, if all the evil I do, and all the 
 crimes I commit, are to be laid to the wicked 
 fpirit's charge, and are to be coniider'd as the 
 unavoidable confequence of his temptations ; 
 certainly I am here acquitted, myfelf, from all 
 blame, and can never with juftice be punifh'd 
 for that, which I could not by any means 
 avoid. — It was the more necelfary to obviate 
 this abfurdity, as there are many pious and 
 well-meaning perfons, who are apt ta afcribe 
 all fin and tranfsreiTion to the Devil, and to 
 lay upon him the blame of all their iniquities, 
 which is at once a falfe, and a dangerous 
 poiition. Falfe-, for nothing is more certain 
 than that every man's fin lies at his own door : 
 dangerous, becaufe, if this could be true, no 
 man need be concerned for his actions : fince 
 a juft and good God will never punifh any 
 being, for that which he could not poflibly 
 avoid. 
 
 When therefore we fpeak of temptations, 
 and the power of the Tempter, we mull re- 
 member, that as all temptations arife either 
 from within or without, either from our own 
 lufls or worldly objects j fo it is by means of 
 
 thefe, 
 
Per/cms under Temptations. 131 
 
 thefe only that the Tempter hath accefs to us : 
 whofe power is circumscribed : he can only 
 lugger!, he cannot force. And as we have 
 furficient power given us to re lift him ; not 
 to him, but to ourfelves muffc we attribute 
 the guilt of our fins, when we comply with 
 his temptations. We are the authors, tho' 
 he may be an accefibryj and though pro- 
 bably the violence of his temptations may 
 in fome meafure extenuate our fault be- 
 fore God, yet can it never wholly excufe 
 it; fince before commiiiion, there mufl 
 have been our own confent; 
 
 Thefe things premifed, we may go on to 
 offer relief to thofe, who are alfaulted by the 
 attacks of this evil fpirit, through the medium 
 of whatever inward or outward object. And 
 nothing is more common than to hear 
 Christians complain of the importunity of 
 temptations, " and of the uneafmefs they 
 fuffer, thro' the affaults of Satan." — Now to 
 fuch complainants we might fay, can this 
 feem ftrange to you that you are tempted ? 
 when you remember, that the Son of God 
 was forty days and forty nights in the wil- 
 dernefs tempted of the Devil! Suppofe you 
 that he who durft attack the captain of our ial- 
 vation, God bleffed for ever, will fpare you, 
 who are but frail flem and blood ! Why 
 fhould that Saviour fuffer himfelf to be 
 tempted, (do you imagine) if not to fuccour 
 K. 2 vou. 
 
132 C O N S O L A T I O N S for 
 
 you in your temptations : In that he kimfelf 
 hath fujfercdy being tempted, (fays the apoltle) 
 he is able to fuccour them, that are tempted. 
 
 The keys of the bottomlefs pit are in his 
 hands ; he could have fhut up that prefump- 
 tuous fpirit under chains of darknels, had he 
 thought good : but he chofe rather, for wife 
 purpofes, to permit him to tempt, that he 
 might fubdue and triumph over him. 
 
 Can you think, that He who now fits at 
 the right hand of Majefty, commanding all 
 the powers of heaven and earth and hell, could 
 not eafily prevent the affaults of that malign 
 nant fpirit upon .you ? Can you think him 
 lefs merciful than mighty ? Would he die to 
 fave you ; and will he let loofe that roaring 
 lion upon you to devour you? It is his plea- 
 fure, by his permhTion, and for your good, 
 .that you are tempted, Yet let no man, when 
 he is tempted, fay, I am tempted of God -> for 
 God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth 
 he any man. God tempteth you not, — but 
 know, that being his, you could not be 
 tempted without his permiffion ; fullering 
 this temptation for his own glory and your 
 advantage. That grace which he hath given 
 you, he will have thus exercifed, thus mani- 
 i e ded. How had we known the admirable 
 i I J°feph> i£ ne h' a ^ never endur'd fo 
 
 ilrong a temptation ? How had we known 
 David's Valour, if the Philifiines had not lent 
 iorth their proud champion ? How had we 
 
 known 
 
Perjbns under Temptations. 133 
 
 known the invincible piety of the three chil- 
 dren, it* there had not been a furnace to try 
 them -, or of Daniel, if there had not been 
 fearful and hungry lions re:;dy to devour him ? 
 Reft iatisfied, and endure to the end ; how- 
 •ever long your trial, how importunate foever 
 your temptation?, truft in God, who knoweth 
 your necerlities, and will not fuller you to be 
 tempted above that you are able : abide 
 faithfwl s and your glory (hall be according to 
 your difficulties ; the greater, in proportion 
 to the greatnefs of the temptations which you 
 have (o happily overcome. 
 
 " But alas, fays the ChrifHan, I fear I mall 
 never overcome ? For how frequently have I 
 beaten off the wicked fuggeflions and temp- 
 tations of the evil fpirit, and yet ftill they 
 return to me again, as if they meant to tire 
 me with their continual follicitations : as if I 
 mufl yield to them, if not from their force, 
 yet from their frequency ?" 
 
 We fhould remember, that in our prefent 
 warfare we have to do with Spiritual wicked-* 
 neJJ'es* as St. Pad terms them. — Whofe nature 
 is therefore as incapable of wearinefs, as their 
 malice of fatisfadlion. But you have a fpirit 
 of your own, endowed with reafon and the 
 power of choice, and beiides, God hath and 
 will give you of his divine fpirit to aid and 
 ftrengthen* : and therefore he expecls that 
 you ihould be alfo indefatigable in refinance. 
 
 K 3 & 
 
134 CONSOLATIONS/**- 
 
 " Be ftrong therefore in the Lord, and in 
 the power of his might. Put on the whole 
 armour of God, that you may be able to 
 withftand in the evil day, and having done 
 all to ftand/' — Look upon a much ftronger 
 champion than yourfelf, the blefled Apoftle: 
 you will find him in your^own condition ; 
 the mefTenger of Satan was fent to buffet 
 him. Thrice he befought the Lord, that 
 his temptation might be removed from him, 
 but the Lord thought good to order it 
 other wife -, he continued the temptation, 
 but gave him a comfortable promife to coun- 
 tervail it. «' My grace is fufficient for thee: 
 for my ftrength is made perfect in weak- 
 nefs." It is not fo much to be confidered, 
 how heavily we are burden 'd, as how ftrongly 
 we are upheld. While therefore the good- 
 nefs of God fufhins and fupplies you with 
 abundance of fpi ritual vigour and refresh- 
 ment, anfwerable to the woril afTaults and 
 trials ; what caufe have you to complain of 
 fuffering ? Very elevated and heroical is the 
 advice of St. James to his fellow-fufferers, 
 " My brethren, count it all joy when you fall 
 into diverfe temptations or trials"- " Beloved, 
 lays St. Peter, think -it not ftrange, concern* 
 ing the fiery trial, which is to try you, as 
 though fome ilrange thing happened unto, 
 you : But rejoice inafmuch as ye are made 
 partakers of Chrift's fufferings." — The trial of 
 yur faith worketh patience ; and the perfect 
 
 work. 
 
Verfons under Temptations. 13 £ 
 
 work of patience is the crown of glory. 
 The number of enemies adds to the praife of 
 a victory. To overcome lingle temptations is 
 commendable, but to fubdue troops of tempta- 
 tions is glorious. " Be thou faithful unto 
 death", continue frill refolutely to fight the 
 good fight, — " and I will give thee a crown 
 of life," faith the faithful promifing God; 
 
 " But not frequency only, fuperiority of 
 power in temptation, terrifies me, fays the 
 diftrefs'd mind. — I am a weak and defencelefs 
 creature, my enemies are mighty — <c we 
 wreftle not againft. flefh and blood, but againft 
 principalities and powers, againft the rulers 
 of the darknefs of this world, againft fpiritual 
 wickednefs in high places." — Alas, who can 
 ftand agamft thefe children of Anak: — what 
 mortal flrength is fufficient to combat fuch 
 unequal force?" 
 
 True, who is fufficient, ifwe were ftrong only 
 in ourfelves ? But we are advifed to be ftrong 
 in the Lord, and to put on the whole armour of 
 God, whofe loweft angel is able to fubdue a 
 whole legion of thefe infernal fpirits, though 
 they be infinitely fuperior in power to men, 
 Sad indeed would be our fituation, if we were 
 left utterly defencelefs of God, and a prey to 
 the teeth of thefe malicious fpoilers. But our 
 help is in the name of the Lord, who made 
 heaven and earth. The Lord is our flrength 
 and our lliield y he k our rock and our fal- 
 
 vatior. ; 
 
136 CONSOLATIONS for 
 
 vation ; fo that we fhall not be moved. It is 
 he that girdeth us with ftrength to the battle, 
 and fubdueth thofe that rile up againft us. — 
 In this confidence reft your foul : there can- 
 not be fo much difference betwixt you and 
 the infernal powers, as there is betwixt thofe 
 powers, and the Lord God Almighty : their 
 force is finite, and limited by his omni- 
 potence. He faith to them as he faith to the 
 waves cf the fea, " Hitherto (halt thou go, 
 and no farther, and here mail thy proud 
 waves be flayed." You have a full proof of 
 this in the miracle of the herd of fwine, into 
 which thefe haughty fpirits could not enter 
 without the immediate permifiion of him, 
 who is Lord over them, and over all. How 
 ftrong then foever they may feem to you, yet 
 to him they are. fuch abfolute weaknefs, that 
 they cannot fo much as move, unallowed by 
 him. Look not upon yourfelf then, as weak 
 and unable to refift j look not upon them as 
 ftrong and formidable ; but look to that over- 
 ruling hand of the Almighty, who directs 
 even all their motions to his cwn holy pur- 
 pofes, and out of their wonted malice, and 
 moft pernicious effort?, raifeth glory to him- 
 felf, and advantage to his fervants. 
 
 " It is a woful advantage indeed, fays the 
 
 mournful Chriftian, which I have made of 
 
 imptations ; for alas I have been lhamelully 
 
 foiled by them ; and what by their iubtlety, 
 
 and what by their violence, have been carried 
 
 into. 
 
Pcrjons under Temptations. 137 
 
 into a grievous offence againft my God, and 
 with juft confulion of face I acknowledge my 
 guilt, in being thus miferably vanquished." 
 
 It is, in truth, a melancholy cafe, that you 
 have given your deadly enemy this caufe to 
 triumph over you, and have thus provoked 
 your heavenly Father. There is need, that 
 you mould be thoroughly humbled in heart, 
 under the confeience of your fin, there is need 
 that by a ferious repentance you mould recon- 
 cile yourfelf to God. After which, be not 
 too much disheartened with the remembrance 
 of your pail failings, but by your future 
 conduct and zeal, teitify your iincerity, and 
 advance in virtue Thus your temptations 
 themfelyes may be made, in fome refpects, 
 advantageous. For are you not a gainer, if 
 having bzen beaten down to your knees you 
 have, in a juft refentment of your fall, rifcn 
 up, and fought fo much the more valiantly? 
 A wound receive doth but whet the edge of 
 true fortitude. Many a one had never been 
 victorious, if he had not firft met with a flight 
 repulfe. Look where you will upon all the 
 beft fervants of God, and mark if you can 
 fee any of them without his fears. Their 
 courage, perhaps, had never been raifed fo 
 high, if it had not been from the fenfe of 
 fome former difcomfitures. As fome well-; 
 fpirited wreftler therefore, be not fo much 
 troubled with your fall, ('tis paft, and cannot 
 be recovered) as zealous to repay it with a 
 
 more. 
 
ijS CONSOLATIONS/^ 
 
 more fuccefsful ftruggle. We know, fays: 
 the blefied apoflle, that all things work toge- 
 ther for good to them that love God. Happy 
 will it be, if vour former offences and fins 
 produce this effect. Happy will it be, if the 
 great mercy, you experience in God's for- 
 givenefs of the paft, works in you in a more 
 fervent and active love for the future. Happy 
 will it be, if the flips in your goings hereto- 
 fore, caufe you to walk more warily here- 
 after. Give glory to God while you take 
 ihame to yourfelf, and blefs him, whofe 
 Goodnefs is fo great, as even to caufe offences 
 to become benefits to that foul, which is fin- 
 cerely defirous to atone for the paft, and to 
 approve itfelf before him for the future. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 Confolations for Perfons under Temptation,. 
 continued : Proper Methods of rejijiing 
 Temptations. 
 
 >UT alas, you reply, my cafe is far 
 worfe than is conceived. I have been 
 feduced more than once, by the power of 
 temptation into the fame fin : nay, even after 
 I have made profefiion of my repentance, I 
 have been tranfported into my former wick- 
 ednefs. Having warned off my fin, as I 
 
 thought, 
 
Perfons under Temptations. 139 
 
 thought, with many tears, yet I have fuffered 
 my foul to be defiled with it again — what 
 £hull I do, to efcape the condemnation due to 
 fo great guilt ? " 
 
 We mud not by any means flatter you : 
 this condition is truly dangerous. Thofe 
 diieafes, which upon their jirjl attacks, have 
 received cures without any great peril of the, 
 patient, upon a return have threaten'd death. 
 Look upon the fervants of God, who have 
 £one before you, they have carefully kept at 
 a diftanee from the fire, wherewith they 
 were firit. burnt. You do not find Noah a 
 fecond time uncovcr'd in his tent ; nor Judafi 
 climbiing up again to Tamars bed : you do 
 not obferve Peter again in the High Priefts hall 
 denying his mailer, or after Paul's reproof, 
 walking again in ditlimulation. — But while 
 we (ei forth the fearful danger and hazard of 
 this ftate, that we may be the more careful in 
 our watchfulnefs ; more vigilant to avoid it, 
 if hitherto free from its condemnation : more 
 ferious in our remorfe, if under its guilt: Yet 
 we nwft not by any means give it up as 
 defperate, or preclude fuch offenders from 
 hope: efpecially, if you, who complain of 
 hy upon examining your heart, find, that 
 you are truly ferious with God — that you 
 have doubled your humiliation for the re- 
 duplication of your offence — that you have 
 fought God fo much the more inceffantly 
 with an unfeigned contrition of heart ; that 
 
 vou 
 
?4° CONSOLATIONS for 
 
 you find your foul brought to fo much greater 
 deteftaticn of fin, as your acquaintance with 
 it hath been more : that you have taken this 
 ©ccafion to apply with greater earndtneis 
 and fervour to the Redeemer, and to reinforce 
 vour vows of more careful and itricl: obedi- 
 eiice. If you can lay your hand upon vour 
 fee-art, and, as in the prelcr.ee of God, declare, 
 that fiich arc your refclutions^ and fuch your 
 defiresj if you can fay, €i Lord thou knoweft 
 all things — I cannot pretend to deceive thee^ 
 thou knoweii all things — thou knoweft that 
 my foul, in the bitternefs of felf-condemnation, 
 earneitly deikeih pardon and forgivenefs." — 
 Thus can you fay, then may you take com- 
 fort to yosufelf ---Tins unpurpofed repetition 
 of your lin, v 1 i no prejudice to yourfalva- 
 tion, in cafe of your future obedience. It is 
 one thing for a man txj walk on willingly in a 
 beaten path of (in ; another to be turned aiide 
 as it were, cut of the way of righteouiheis, 
 by the violence of a temptation, which lie 
 loon recovers again by a (bund repentance. 
 The belt cannot expect to be wholly free from 
 fin : but let us remember itisfaid, *' He that 
 is born of God doth not commit fin," — i.e. 
 doth not live in the conftant wilful practice 
 of it : he may be accidentally (educed into an 
 ■ ; ; he can never continue in the habit of Jim 
 his heart is againit that unto which Ins hand 
 is drawn : and if in this inward itrife, he be 
 ©verpQwer'd., he doth not willingly yield, but 
 
 in 
 
Perfons under Temptations, 141 
 
 in a refumed courage and indignation, train-*, 
 pies on that which formerly fupplanted him, 
 Did you give yourfelf over to a refolvedi 
 courfe of finning, and in fuch a date, fhoulci 
 you very gravely and formally, now and then, 
 upon a ding of conference, point to your 
 bread and fay, " Well, God forgive me!' 3 
 I fhould then have no comfort in dore for 
 you ; for the Gofpel would not afford me any 
 fupplies whence to draw — there could be no 
 balm in Gilead for fuch a helplefs date. But 
 when your foul truly and earneitly deplores its 
 pad mifdoings, there is mercy for fuch a 
 one, and to fuch a one it may be faid, " God,, 
 hath put away thy fin, thou fhalt not die." 
 That God who hath charged our weak 
 charity, not to be overcome of evil, but to 
 overcome evil with good, juftly fcorneth, that 
 we mould think, his infinite and incompre- 
 hennble Goodnefs can be checked with our 
 evil. It was not without a particular provi - 
 denee, that Peter came to our Saviour, with 
 that queftion in his mouth : " Lord how 
 often mall my brother fin againft me, and I 
 forgive him ; till feven times ? " a quedion 
 propofed, that it might have that gracious 
 anfwer from the Son of God: " I fay unto 
 thee, not until C^vqii times, but until feventy 
 times feven!" And if this good and hea- 
 venly teacher would direel: us, finful men, to 
 be thus indulgent to one another, in the cafe 
 of our mutual offences, what limits can he 
 
142 CONSOLATIONS for 
 
 fet to his mercies towards us miferable of* 
 fenders ! And alas, if limits were fet to his 
 mercy, whither mould we fly, who fo grievi- 
 oufly and continually offend him in thought, 
 word and deed ! But happy for us, we are 
 allured, (and certainly it muft be an informa- 
 tion refreshing to our fouls as the cooling 
 rain to the thirfty ground) we are allured 
 that if we are but penitent, he cannot but be 
 gracious. He delireth not the death of a 
 tinner : but readily, for his dear Son's fake, 
 admits that finner to pardon, when the 
 bended knee, the uplifted hand, the tearful 
 eye, the broken and contrite heart, exprefs 
 their forrow by the trembling voice; and in 
 humble fupplication entreat, *' O Lord, hear, 
 O Lord, forgive, O Lord hearken and do : de- 
 fer not for thine own fake, oh my God ! I 
 have finned, O Lord, I have finned, and I 
 acknowledge my iniquities, wherefore I 
 humbly befeech thee, forgive me ; O Lord 
 forgive me, and deilroy me not." 
 
 Hence then we learn, that under all 
 temptations we may derive comfort to our- 
 felves, from the recollection, that the Son of 
 God alfo himfelf, the captain of our falvation, 
 hath furfer'd being tempted, and therefore as 
 conicious of the evil, is more able and ready to 
 fuccour, and allift us. Though our enemies are 
 many, and our trials great, yet our help is 
 greater, and our God invincible; w r ho knoweth 
 all our difficulties ; without whole permiffion 
 
 the 
 
Perfons under Temptations. 143 
 
 the enemy cannot even attack us ; and who 
 hath allured all thofe who trull him, that he 
 will not furFer them to be tempted above that 
 they are able, but will with the temptation 
 alfo make a way to efcape, that they may be 
 able to bear it. Nay, and we learn, that 
 through the goodnefs of this God, even our 
 temptations may be made fubfervient to our 
 glory, and our fall minifter to our felicity, by 
 rendering us more active, cautious and 
 humble : while we are allured to our com- 
 fort, that even relapfes into fin, though they 
 are fearful and dangerous in the highelt de- 
 gree, lhall not exclude us from falvation, if 
 they do not prevent the exercife of fmcere 
 and undhTembled repentance. 
 
 But while we conlider how exceeding pe- 
 rilous fuch relapfes are, how dilingenuous 
 towards God, how dilhonourable to our profef- 
 iion, how painful to our own confciences — let 
 it be a lelfon to us, diligently to watch againll 
 all temptations, and to follow the advice of 
 St. Peter, " Be fiber, be vigilant ; becaufe 
 your adverfary the Devil, as a roaring lion, 
 walketh about, feeking whom he may de- 
 vour. Whom refill Iteadfalt in the faith" — . 
 and whom if we refill, we are allured, " that 
 he will flee from us." 
 
 But then the queftion is, how we are to 
 refill: him? He is an invisible ipirit, and 
 operates inviiibly : in what manner are we to 
 guard againft his ftibtle attacks? Recollect 
 
 what 
 
i 4 4 CONSOLATIONS//- 
 
 what was faid at the beginning of the hii 
 iection, and you will be fatisfied as to this mat- 
 ter. We obferved that our own inward lujh i and 
 the outward allurements of the world, are the 
 grand inftruments of Satan in his temptations. 
 He hath no accefs to our minds but by thefe. 
 The " beft, nay the only way then to difarm 
 temptations, is by mortifying our lulls, and 
 fubduing our vicious inclinations. When 
 this is done (which by the grace of God may 
 be done) the Devil hath loft his greateft ad- 
 vantage over us. 'Tis the confpiracy of our 
 lufts within, with the temptations offer'd 
 from without, that betrays us into their 
 power. The true reafon, why men fall into 
 iin, is not becaufe they are tempted, but be- 
 caufe there is fomething within them, which 
 inclines and difpofes them to comply with 
 the temptation, and to yield to it. It is faid, 
 when Satan came to cur Saviour to tempt 
 him, that he found nothing in him, nothing 
 of his in him ; no guilt which could give 
 him power over him, no corruption which 
 might take part with his temptation ■> and 
 therefore his temptations had no force upon 
 him." The more we mortify our lufts, and 
 fubdue our evil affections, the lefs will the 
 tempter find in us for his temptations to work 
 upon. Every fpark is dangerous when it falls 
 upon combuftible matter ; but though fparks 
 fly ever fo thick, there is no danger, fo long 
 as there is nothing about to catch fire. If 
 
 wc 
 
Perjfbns under Temptations." 14^ 
 
 we do not thus mortify our evil affections, let 
 us not complain of the violence of tempta- 
 tions : the more we indulge in habits of iin, 
 the greater power we give the evil fpirit over 
 us, who leadeth thofe captive at his will, 
 who voluntarily fubmit themfelves to his in- 
 fluence, by giving place to the dominion of 
 thofe lujls which eflablifh the kingdom of 
 the prince of darknefs. 
 
 But let us be careful, that neither in this 
 cafe, nor any other we charge God foolifhJy, 
 and abfurdly call: the blame of our fins upon 
 the irrefiflible temptations of the wucked 
 fpirit. To be tempted, tempted even to the 
 vileil actions, is no fault of ours -. this may 
 be involuntary : but to comply or refill, is 
 certainly in our own power, and our com- 
 pliance only can render us criminal. But this 
 compliance will certainly render us criminal : 
 fince the Devil could have no power over us, 
 if we were not enticed and led afide by our 
 own lulls, which fupply him with the means of 
 accefs to us; and which, if we ufed our rea- 
 fon, and applied for God's aili fiance, we might 
 certainly conquer if we would, for greater is he 
 that is for us, than he that is againft us. It 
 can never be fuppofed, that God hath enjoined 
 any thing upon us, as our bounden duty, and 
 upon the peril of our fouls, which it is im- 
 pofiible for us to perform. This is the 
 greater! abfurdity to fuppofe : we may cer- 
 tainly then mortifv our evil lulls and afTectioris, 
 
 L and 
 
146 CONSOLATIONS/^- 
 
 and if we do this, we need not fear the aflaults 
 of the tempter. 
 
 Yet as our Enemy is fo unwearied in his 
 folicitations, and fo infatiable in his malice to 
 God and the fouls of men, deceitful as are 
 our own hearts, and as our lufts and evil in- 
 clinations are fo prevalent, infomuch that it is 
 difficult to withftand the force of temptations; 
 great, very great need there is, that we mould 
 be continually on the watch againft the at- 
 tacks and infinuations of thefe fpiritual wick- 
 edneffes j that we mould keep a Uriel: and 
 regular guard over ourfelves, left we give the 
 enemy an advantage, and our fouls an over- 
 throw. 
 
 Be fober, be vigilant-— fober, fedate, fe- 
 nous : keep your minds in fuch an even 
 frame, that you may never be furprifed thro" 
 levity and diffipation : be vigilant, watchful 
 againft the infidious endeavours of your reft- 
 lefs adverfary — watchful in the regular and 
 uniform difcharge of thofe holy duties, which 
 will procure for you the continued watchful- 
 nefs of him, who keepeth Jfrael and neither 
 flumbereth nor fleepeth. If you neglect this 
 [obriety and vigilance, if like the carelefs cen- 
 tinel, you either fly from, or fleep upon, duty; 
 — you muft not marvel if your enemy take 
 the advantage, and enter in and fpoil your 
 city; you muft not marvel if you fall a prey 
 to his devouring rage, of which furely they 
 are little fenfible, who live continually expofed 
 
 to 
 
Virions under Temptations* 147 
 
 to his fnares, and who by lives of repeated 
 and continual folly and vice, invite him to rule 
 over them, and to hold uncontrouled domi- 
 nion in their breafts. Far different are the 
 proceedings of the (incere chrifKan — prepared 
 for, and expectant of, temptations -, he nei- 
 ther dreads them with an unmanly fear, nor 
 defpifes them with an unwife confidence. 
 ArTured, that God is able with the temptation 
 to make a way for him to efcape, he relies on 
 the power of the Almighty, and truits in him 
 with an unfhaken courage ; yet convinced, 
 that even the prayers of faith, and the humi- 
 lity of dependance are not fufficient, without 
 his own endeavours, which God requires 
 from us in every inftance ; he reiblutely com- 
 bats thole inward lulls and vicious propensities, 
 which all men derive from the original cor- 
 ruption of their nature ; and to this end arms 
 himfelf with every piece of fpiritual armour, 
 provided for him againft the attacks of his in- 
 fernal foe. — Thus he flands in a reiblved pre- 
 paration, and confeious of his enemy's power, 
 fubtlety and malice, relaxes not his guard, 
 but continues fleadfaft on duty. The word 
 of God is the two-edged fword which he ever 
 weilds lliccefsfully : it was that with which 
 the great captain of our falvation fo effectually 
 conquer'd the tempter upon his firfl and grand 
 affault : the chrifHan foldier therefore endea- 
 vours to be expert in the ufe of this im- 
 portant weapon. Truth, invariable truth, is 
 the girdle of his loins : righteoufnefs, univerfal 
 
 L 2 righte- 
 
CONSOLATIONS, &c. 
 
 righteoufnefs, the fplendid breaft-plate which 
 fecures his upright heart : Faith is the in- 
 vincible ihield which he receives, and on 
 which he extinguishes all the fiery darts of 
 his enemy: The glorious hope of eternal fal- 
 vation is an helmet for his head : and his feet 
 are (hot with that gofpel of peace, which will 
 always guide him in the right path, and pre- 
 ferve him from the ways of error. — Thus 
 provided, and " praying, always with all 
 prayer and Amplication in the fpirit, and 
 watching thereunto with all perseverance," 
 he mall at length be more than conqueror* 
 through him that loved us ; 'and laying afide 
 at once this divine panoply,, and all the oc- 
 caiions for its ufe, freed for, ever from his- 
 enemies, for ever freed from the conflict, he 
 mail enter thole regions w r here temptations 
 are never known, for there is no tempter; — 
 where temptations can never be known, for 
 there are no corruptions — and where he mail 
 receive the reward of his fidelity, even a crown 
 or glory, from his gracious hands, who fuf- 
 fer'd himfelf, being tempted, " that he might 
 be a merciful high-prieft, touched with the, 
 feeling of our infirmities, and no lefs willing 
 than able to fave them to the uttermofl who 
 come unto God by him." 
 
 C H A P. 
 
( H9 ) . 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Consolations for the Afflicted in Body. 
 
 SECT. I. 
 
 Confolations in Sicknefs. 
 
 Fflicted in mind, diflrefs'd in e- 
 ftate, languishing with difeafe, the 
 melancholy fob thus poured forth his 
 complaints to Heaven : Oh that my grief were 
 throughly weighed, and my calamity laid in the 
 balance together! for now it would be heavier 
 than the find of the fea, therefore my words are 
 f wallowed up, (therefore I want words to ex- 
 prefs my grief ; — pain and angiafli and difeafe, 
 with every aggravating circumftance, opprefs 
 me !) For the arrows of the Almighty are with- 
 in me, the poifon whereof drinketh up my fpirit ; 
 the tei rors of God do jet themfehes in array a- 
 gainji me I — To feel and to complain, with 
 the 'humility of refignation, are compatible 
 with the greatefh degree of patience. Indeed, 
 under the rod of fevere chaitifement, human 
 nature cannot but feel > and when the arrows 
 of the Almighty, the pangs of deepeft forrow 
 adrink up the fpirit, how can the foul retrain 
 from the pathetic cries of lamentation and 
 in treaty ! 
 
 L 3 And 
 
150 CONSOLATIONS 
 
 And who can promife themfelves any fecu- 
 rity from theie evils ! Doom'd to death, there 
 are a thoufand gloomy and painful avenues 
 which lead us to it. Doom'd to trial and to 
 filtering, there are a thoufand fearful difor- 
 ders which itand in horrid readinefs to put 
 our patience and reiignation on the procf ! 
 Many diforders, of which the feeds are fown 
 in our original frame and constitution, and 
 which therefore the flrictefl temperance and 
 the utmoft vigilance cannct prevent: cr-d dif- 
 orders of a nature ftill more dreadful, which 
 are the fatal confequences of our intempe- 
 rance and excels, our debauchery and vice I 
 we cannot but tremble for our danger, and 
 commiferate the ftate of mortality, when we 
 contemplate the long and melancholy muflcr- 
 roll of difeafes - x — when we view r pale and 
 wan conflimption, burning fever, half-dead 
 palfy, full-gorg'd apoplexy, panting afthma, 
 joint-torturing gout, wild convuliion, fwoln 
 dropfy, moping melancholy; and all the 
 other racking and heart-fick minifters of 
 death, too numerous to count, and too horrid 
 even to mention ! Yet how many of our fel- 
 low-creatures, even at this moment, are tofs- 
 ing beneath the heavy hand of one or other 
 of thefc, deeply groaning on the bed of an- 
 guifh, and fuffering all the extremities of fick- 
 nefs and of pain; while death triumphant mak- 
 eth over them that dart with which he foon 
 fnaU ilrike, but ftill delays to ftrike the fatal 
 
 ftroke, 
 
in Sickness. 151 
 
 stroke; though fo oft invoked by them with 
 «arneft vows, as their chief good in this dif- 
 itrefsj as their final hope in this mortal con- 
 
 And, alas ! who of us can tell how foon 
 we may ceafe to enjoy an exemption from 
 thefe meffengers of death ; how foon we may 
 ceafe to bear our brows aloft in all the viva- 
 city of health ; while we languifh, ftretched 
 on the bed of iicknefs, and tofs our reftlefs 
 heads on the pillow of dif quietude and dif- 
 eafe! As this event is probable, it is well to 
 be prepared ; for it is our great happinefs that 
 the Chriftian religion fuppiies us with fuch 
 powerful cordials, fuch exquiiite comforts, as 
 are capable of rendering the bed of iicknefs 
 not only inftructive but advantageous; as are. 
 capable of difarming pain of its ieverity, and 
 introducing the foftdt peace and compofure 
 
 amidit the anguifh of afflicting difeafe. 
 
 As therefore this is a matter of common con- 
 cern, I will proceed, after having offered all 
 proper confolation to the afflicted in Mind, to 
 propofe fuch arguments of comfort as are 
 fuitable to the afflicted in Body, and fuch as 
 cannot fail to have an happy effect, if duly 
 applied 
 
 1. The -firft confideration then which in 
 
 ilcknefs ought to awaken our patience and 
 
 fubmifiion, is the recollection of the hand that 
 
 fmiteth us. AjfliBion, we are affured, comet h 
 
 out of the duji-, and could we hear the 
 
 L 4 " voice* 
 
152 CONSOLATIONS 
 
 voice, as well as feel the {broke of our afflic- 
 tion, it would fay, Am I come up, without the 
 Lord, to try thee ? the Lord has J aid to ?ne, Go 
 up againfi this man and afflict him. Did we 
 thus remember whofe hand is upon us, we 
 could not forbear, in ref gnation, to km the 
 rod that correcteth us; for this evil is com- 
 miflioned by no other than him who is cur 
 gracious Father and our protecting God! who ' 
 created us, of his own free gcodnefs and mercy, 
 who redeemed us by his own mofl pure and 
 precious blood! And can we then conceive 
 that he means us evil in this correction, that 
 he intends our harm, and punifhes merely to 
 pain! far from us be the thought!- — You are a 
 father (fuppofe) and feel the tender yearnings 
 of parental affection ! oh tell me then, did you 
 ever take the rod into your hand out of apiea- 
 fure which you took in tormenting the flefh 
 which is derived from your own bowels ! was 
 5t any eafe or fatisfaction to you to make your 
 child fmart or bleed! nay, did you not fuffer 
 yourfelf more than you inflicted! yet you faw 
 good reafon not to fpare; nay, you were con- 
 vinced that you had not loved your child fo 
 well, if you had been wanting in this kindly 
 feverityf — And if we, who are evil, know 
 how to give loving and beneficial correc- 
 tion to our children, how much more, how 
 much better {hall our Father who is in hea- 
 ven know how to give us correction, as lov- 
 ing and beneficial ! wherefore we may fay re- 
 
 jokingly, 
 
hi Sickness. 153 
 
 jokingly, amidft the fmart, I know, Lord, 
 that thy judgme?its are right, and that thou of 
 very faithfulnefs hafi caujcd me to be troubled! 
 
 Thus, from the confideration of the hand 
 from whence all trouble comes, we may well 
 derive the bed: confolation: " It is the Lord, 
 " it is the God of my life, it is the Father 
 " who made, who preferved, who redeemed 
 '* me: — I receive it therefore with chearful- 
 " nefs, — let him do what feemeth him good." 
 
 2. A confideration of the author doth al- 
 moft neceflarily involve that of the end for 
 which troubles are fent. A good father, we 
 are affured, cannot correct us for his pleafure, 
 but our profit. This confideration therefore 
 mould infpire us with patience. On the bed 
 of languiming we may afk ourfelves, why is 
 this ficknefs lent unto me ? and we may eafily 
 anfwer, that the only ends which the good 
 God can propofe are, either the trial of our 
 faith and patience, or the correction of our 
 vices and offences. And if we attain either 
 of. thefe ends by means of our ficknefs, we 
 certainly are indebted to God, and have much 
 caufe to rejoice. If we attain them not, we 
 ourfelves are to blame, and we have fruftrated 
 the kind purpofes of our heavenly Father to- 
 wards us. Our Church in her excellent and 
 comfortable exhortation to the fick, takes 
 care to inform them, with all propriety, of 
 thefe two firft grounds of confolation, "the 
 author and the eiid of ficknefs. " Dearly be- 
 
 " loved, 
 
154 CONSOLATIONS 
 
 ** loved, know this, that Almighty God is the 
 ce Lord of life and death, and of all things 
 *' to them pertaining, as youth, flrengtiu 
 * c health, age, weaknefs and ficknefs Where- 
 " fore whatibever your ficknefs is, know you 
 *< certainly that it is God's viiitation. And 
 *' for what caufe foever this ficknefs is fent 
 tff unto you, whether it be ijl, to try your 
 " patience for the example of others, and 
 *' that your, faith may be found in the day 
 tc of the Lord laudable, glorious and honou- 
 " rable to the increafe of your endlefs felici- 
 <( ty:— -or elfe it be ient unto you zdfy, to 
 " correct and amend in you whatibever doth 
 iC offend the eyes of your heavenly Father; — 
 *' know you certainly, that if you truly re- 
 ** pent you of your fins, and bear your iick- 
 ** nefs patiently, trufting in God's mercy for 
 * c his dear Son Jefus Chrift's fake, and ren- 
 *' der up to him humble thanks for his 
 11 fatherly vifitation, fubmitting yourfelf 
 *' wholly to his will: — -it mall turn out to 
 *' vour profit, and help you forward in the 
 *' right way to life everlalting." 
 
 3. A third argument of comfort on the 
 fick bed may be drawn from the greater fuf- 
 ferings of much more excellent and exempla- 
 ry fervants of God than ourfelves, as well as 
 from the refolution even of heathens. — Hear 
 how Job, that perfect pattern of patience, 
 pours forth his complaint in the words pro- 
 duced at the beginning of this fection, Oh 
 
 that, 
 
in Sickness. i$$ 
 
 that, Sec. Hear the man after God's own 
 heart uttering his mournful jries, Oh, my God, 
 I cry unto thee in the day -time, but thou hear eft 
 not -, and in the night -jeajon and am not Jiknt I 
 Hear the plaintive Jere miah fighing forth, I am 
 the man who havejeen affliction by the rod of his 
 wrath : — -furely again ft me is he turned ; he turn- 
 eth his hand agar/ ft me all i he day. Why mould 
 I mention the propnets and apoftles, the mar- 
 tyrs and confeflbrSj thofe holy favourites of 
 heaven, expiring amidd fuffe rings which are 
 mocking to relate, and breathing out their 
 thankful fouls in the midtl of tortures, in 
 comparifon whereof the fevered: pains of dif- 
 eafe are light and inconiiderable ! — I do not 
 dwell upon this topic, as it was handled at 
 large heretofore, when we offered confolation 
 to the afflicted in general ; but certainly the 
 review of fo many and fuch exemplary fuffer- 
 ers, men fo chofen and beloved of God, yet 
 tried fo feverely in the furnace of affliction ; 
 but, efpecially, the review of his bright ex- 
 ample, Jefus the prince of furf erers, muff, en- 
 able you to fupport your trial, and to bear 
 your licknefs with chearful refignation ! 
 
 4. But if we may learn refignation from 
 the mining pattern of the ChrifHan fufferers 
 before us, certainly the heroic patience and 
 refolution of many in the heathen world, who 
 had neither our motives to incline, nor our 
 hopes to encourage muff, influence us, who 
 jprofefs the religion of Chrifl, into fubmiffion 
 
 and 
 
t 5 & CONSOLATIONS 
 
 and patience. Who are we ufcd to efleem 
 more contemptible than Epicurus, that great 
 advocate for voluptuoufnefs and joy ! yet, even 
 he, v/hen in the dying hour he lay in acute 
 anguifh from other diieafes, and extremely tor- 
 mented, with the ifone in particular, and gaf- 
 ping, as it were, for life ; even he could then 
 write, out of the ftrength of his refolution, 
 to his beft-lov'd friend, affure him of his per- 
 fect chearfulnefs, and flyle the day of fuch fe- 
 vere pain, " hlefTed and pleafing to him!" 
 What mail we fay of that famous Mutius 
 Sctevola, who, in a glorious revenge, like our 
 Cranmer, voluntarily burn'd off his own right 
 hand, no lefs envied, than pitied, even by his 
 enemies ! or of Reguhis, fo well known in 
 ftory, who rather than forfeit his faith, and 
 violate his honour, willingly gave himfelf up 
 to the cruel hands and tortures of merciiefs 
 barbarians ! " Why mould you think it flrange, 
 (fays Seneca) that fome men mould be well 
 iatisfied to be burnt, to be wounded, to be 
 racked or otherwife tortured to death ! Con- 
 iider, that frugality is a pain to the riotous; 
 labour is a punifhm-ent to the idle ; continence 
 is a mifery to the luftful ; ftudy is a torture to 
 the flotliful ; yet all thefe things are not in 
 their own nature difficult. They may be 
 conquered; why then may not the fear of all 
 pain whatever: — doubtlefs it may; but we 
 .nre faint and falfe-hearted!" — And mall thefe 
 •;aihens attain to fuch an height of magna- 
 nimity, 
 
in Sickness. 157 
 
 nim'ty, from the mere ftrength of their own 
 manly refolutions, while we Chriftians droop 
 and link under far lefs fufferings, though 
 we profefs to have the fuperlative advantages 
 of divine faith to uphold and chear us ! They 
 never heard of any gracious engagements 
 from a- merciful, from a redeeming God, to 
 fland by and to comfort them ; they never 
 had heard thefe chearing and coniblatory mef-- 
 fages from heaven, '* Call upon me in the day 
 of trouble, fo will I hear thee, and thou malt 
 praife me.- — Come unto me, all ye that travel 
 and are heavy laden, and I w T ill give you reft. 
 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm 
 the feeble knees; Say to them, that are of a 
 fearful heart, Be flrong, fear not; behold your 
 God will come with vengeance, even God 
 with a recompsnee : he will come and fave 
 
 you." They had not the faith of a Job to 
 
 fay, / know that my Redeemer livethj they had 
 not the eyes of a Stephen to pierce into the 
 heavens, and to fee the beloved Saviour of 
 mankind {landing on the right hand of glo- 
 ry; they had not the knowledge of a Father 
 of mercies to footh their forrows ; of a Re- 
 deemer to deliver and reward their patient 
 endurance ; of a Comforter to flrengthen and 
 refrem them ; they had not great and precious 
 promifes to fuftain them here, and an eternal 
 weight of glory to recompence them at lafr I 
 A ferious reflection on thefe tilings, on the 
 patience they mewed under advantages fo in- 
 ferior 
 
158 CONSOLATIONS 
 
 ferior to ours, muft teach us patience in the 
 day of trial. 
 
 $: And here I might properly urge the ex- 
 ample of our Saviour as the ftrongeft argu- 
 ment of confolation on the bed of ficknefs 
 and fufferings $ but I chufe to offer this as 
 the larr. and mofl prevailing confideration of 
 all. — While I go on to obferve, that from the 
 viciffitudes of health we may and ought to 
 derive comfort in ficknefs. You are now 
 flck, but were you not before a long time 
 healthful ? you furely can have no caufe to re - 
 pine who have had, for the mofr. part, more 
 days of health than hours of ficknefs. Had 
 the Divine Wifdom thought fit to mitigate 
 your many days pains with one hour's eafe, it 
 had been well worthy your thanks ; but now 
 that he hath beforehand requited your few 
 painful hours with years of perfect health, 
 how ungrateful would it be to murmur at 
 the condition! all earthly things are in per- 
 petual vieiflitiide 5 if you did not expect this 
 univerfal change, obferved throughout nature, 
 to affect yourfelf, in how grofs a miflake have 
 you been ! as well may day be without a fuc- 
 ceffion of night, and life without death, as a 
 mortal perifhing frame without the warnings 
 and admonitions of difeafe! and how much 
 better are thefe warnings, are the loudeft 
 'Warnings of fevereii ficknefs, than a final 
 change to mifery unutterable, without fuch 
 folemn cautions. It was a word of deepen: 
 
 woe, 
 
on a Sick-bed. 159 
 
 -woe, which fell from the lips of Abraham* 
 when he faid, Son, remember that thou in thy 
 life- time, received.fi thy good things, and Laza- 
 rus evil things, but now he is comforted and thou 
 art tormented! Oh, happy ftripes wherewith we 
 are chaftened of the Lord, fo that we may 
 not be condemned with the world! happy 
 lofs of health which introduces to perfect 
 foundnefs and fafety of foul ! welcome pains 
 which teach us ourfelves ; welcome evils 
 which lead us to our God; thrice welcome 
 fevers, and every other calamitous ficknefs,, 
 which preferve us from burnings unquench- 
 able, and miferies which can never be cured t 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Confolations on a Sick-bed. 
 
 6. ANOTHER confideration from whence 
 ■^ we may derive comfort on the fick- 
 bed is, the incomparable preference of fuch a 
 mite to full health and forgetfulnefs of God. 
 There is no man that can hefitate to preler 
 virtue and foundnefs of foul to mere health of 
 body ; who would not rather chufe to be good, 
 than healthful! But why not both together, 
 you may afk ? — doubtlefs they are not incon- 
 iiflent; but, in many cafes, they are unhap- 
 pily, though very improperly, feparated: and 
 therefore when that great God, who looketh 
 
 much 
 
i6o CONSOLATIONS 
 
 much further into us than our own light can 
 pierce, when he fees that our health is run- 
 ning riot, and that if our body be not, our 
 foul will infallibly be fick : furely we can 
 have no caufe to complain, nay, certainly, we 
 fhall have great caufe to be thankful, if he af- 
 flict and take down our inferior and corrup- 
 tible part a little, that he may deliver our no- 
 bler and incorruptible part from mortal dan- 
 ger. Nature, it is true, delights in it; but a 
 fecure and uninterrupted health frequently 
 proves the moil dangerous indifpolition of the 
 foul. How unfpeikable the advantage, if it 
 can be remedied, by a few bodily pangs ! 
 Look upon the man, w r ho, in the height of 
 his fpirits, and the heat of his blood, eagerly 
 purfues his luftful and fenfual delights, as 
 thinking of no heaven but the indulgence of 
 his depraved appetites; — and then look upon 
 the lick-bed, where lies the Chriftian afflict- 
 ed, it is true, with grievous pains, and unable 
 to clofe his reftlefs eyes ; yet fixed in depend- 
 ance upon God, and humbly religned to his 
 will ; — and fay, which of the two you think 
 to be in the moil happy and eligible condi- 
 tion ! If we be not fhrunk into nothing but 
 mere fen fe, if we have not call oft all thoughts 
 of another world, we cannot but pity his mi- 
 fery, whofe health affords him all the means 
 of gratifying his unlawful paffions ; we can- 
 not but congratulate the happinefs of the 
 humble and faithful fufferer, convinced of the 
 
 advantage 
 
on a Sick-bed.- i6i 
 
 advantage of Suffering, as being that which 
 now preferves from the guilt, and hereafter 
 mail preferve from the wages of fin. 
 
 We complain of iicknefs, and yet there 
 have been many who have bellowed tears 
 on their too much health, apprehending, on 
 that account, God's neglect of them, and, 
 confequently, his disfavour; for as he cha- 
 i^ifeth thofe whom he loves, fo he threatens 
 that affliBion fliall rife up no more to awaken 
 thofe who have proved incorrigible, and are 
 therefore left by him to the darknefs and dis- 
 orders of their own unhappy minds ! 
 
 It may, perhaps, be carrying the matter too 
 far to bewail the continuance of health, and 
 to lament the want of ficknefs, fince health 
 is certainly a diftinguifhed bleffing from God, 
 and, as fuch, to be ufed and efteemed. We 
 are bound continually to pray for it if we have 
 it not, to thank and to praife him for it when 
 vouchfafed to us. And there feems little rea- 
 fon to flippofe that any one can be an objed: 
 of the divine difpleafure, that any one can want 
 God's favour, who hath fo quick a fenfe of h, 
 and is fo defirous of it and falvation, as even to 
 wifh for adverfity, for iicknefs and forrows to 
 qualify and refine him. 
 
 However, in the time of ficknefs, and when 
 God is pleafed to try us feverely therewith, 
 we certainly ought to believe, that the con- 
 tinuance of health, in our own particular cafe, 
 would have been to the prejudice of our fouls, 
 
 M . that 
 
i6a CONSOLATIONS 
 
 that this ficknefs, as being God's vifitation,- 
 is fent for our good; and that humble ficknefs 
 is better than full and thanklefs health. — 
 Nay, we may go frill further, and chear our- 
 felves with the many and important advanta- 
 ges which ficknefs affords for our improve- 
 ment in grace, and every Chriflian temper. 
 The celebrated Mr. Pafckal was,, from his 
 youth, tried in the fchool of ficknefs and af- 
 fliction, and no man, perhaps, ever arofe to 
 a greater height of piety. During his ficknefs 
 he ufed eenitantly to fay to his friends, who 
 commiferated his fufferings, and beheld his 
 pahis with tender concern,- ** Do not be con- 
 " cerned, my friends, I know the dangers ot 
 " health, and the advantages of ficknefs. Do 
 " not lament for my fufferings; ficknefs is, as 
 " it were, the natural element of a Chriflian,. 
 " becaufe a man becomes^ by that means, 
 *' what he always ought to be, fuffering in 
 " the midft of evils and adverfity, and defli- 
 <c tute of all the good things of profperity ; 
 " deprived of all that adminifters pleafure and 
 iC gratification to the fenfes; exempt from all 
 <c the paffions, which are apt to accompany 
 " one, through the road of life; void of am- 
 " bition, free from avarice, and placing his 
 *' fixed attention conflantly upon death. And 
 *' is it not thus that Chriflians ought to pafs 
 <e their lives? Is it not a Angular happiness, 
 <c when a man finds himfelf, forced by ne- 
 *' ceifj ty, into that ilate of life which he 
 
 '* would 
 
ton a Sick-bed. 163 
 
 * c would otherwise be obliged, in ccnfcience, 
 " to chufe of his own accord? When he finds 
 " that he has nothing more to do, than 
 " humbly and peaceably to fubmit ! — For 
 <e this reafon I have only to requeft of you, 
 " my friends, that you would prefer your 
 ** prayers to Almighty God, — not for my 
 cc health, not for my recovery, but — for his 
 " grace and good Spirit to fupport and fullain 
 " me with ail proper refignation. * " 
 
 In this manner did he endure all his fiiftcr- 
 ings, and thus did he improve his iicknefs, 
 upon the benefits of which he fo finely ex- 
 patiates, as almoit. to make one defirous of the 
 itate ! however, thefe reflections cannot fail 
 to afford us flrong confolations, when God 
 fhall think fit to lay his hand upon us, and to 
 ftretch our faint and feeble limbs along the 
 bed of laneruifliinsr and difeafe ! 
 
 For then, alas, far different will be our con- 
 ceptions and ideas of things, than they too 
 often are found in the full flow of uninter- 
 rupted health! then thefe confolations will 
 come with new efficacy, and it will be cheer- 
 ing to us when we recollect, that God is 
 the author — and our <rood the end of all lick- 
 
 o 
 
 nefs, and all divine chaftifementj that the 
 holieft men, lingular favourites of Heaven, 
 have not been exempt from the iTroke of af- 
 fliction. — That heathens themfelves have iup- 
 M 2 ported 
 
 * See PafihaPs Thoughts ; and his Life, in the Chrijlian r t 
 Magazine, vol. i. p. -;;:, 
 
i6| CONSOLATIONS 
 
 ported it with resolution and intrepidity, that 
 the viciflitudes of health mould reconcile us" 
 to the patient endurance of ficknefs j that 
 the incomparable preference, and all the ad- 
 vantages of f .ibmifiive ficknefs above thofe 
 of thanklefs, thoughtlefs health, fhould caufe 
 us to bow our heads with fubnriflive cheer- 
 fulnefs, while we fay with job, Shall we re- 
 ceive good at the hands of the Lord* andfliall we 
 not receive eviU 
 
 Other Arguments of Confolation foi; the 
 Sick-bed will be offered in the next Section : let 
 me only obferve, that nothing will be fouiri 
 more effectual to afiiiage the torments of dif- 
 eafe, to ibften the pain, and refrefh the lan- 
 puiihment of ficknefs j nothing will be found 
 more effectual to introduce the happy calm 
 of resignation, to fmooth the refllefs paflions 
 into patience and peace; nay, nothing will be 
 found more effectual to remove all the im- 
 Dortunate anxieties and the natural fears of 
 death, than the fvveet, the blifsful retrofpedt 
 of a faithful life, led in obedience to the laws, 
 and under the guidance of the Spirit of Chrift. 
 Thus to live is to prepare in the beft manner 
 pofiible, not only lor the day of ficknefs, but 
 .tor evcry r day of gloominefs and diflrefs. — We 
 may then left under an happy confidence, 
 that the God, whom we have humbly fought 
 and ferved, will not forfake us in our greateit 
 need; nay, we may be allured, that he will be 
 more near to us, the more v/e want his help, 
 
 aad 
 
on a Sick-bed. 165 
 
 and that our fbength mail indubitably be in 
 proportion to our neceflities. 
 
 But what if we are brought to the bed of 
 ficknefs by difeafes, the fatal confequences of 
 pur own deviations,, the imie of our vice, in- 
 temperance and irregularity?^ — What can 
 footh us in fuch ficknefs, what can alleviate 
 the feverity of our tortures, when, in fuch 
 cafes, the arrows of pain rankle in our bo- 
 dies, when our joints tremble, and there is 
 none to affuage our anguifh!- — When the re- 
 view of pad life adds to the terrors of the dif- 
 eafe, and we can behold nothing in ourfelves 
 but guilt and fhame on one hand, pain and 
 weaknefs and forrow on the other ! 
 
 Such a fituation, though, aias, too common, 
 is deplorable enough to draw tears from the eyes 
 of a barbarian * ! Oh that men were wife, that 
 they would confider thefe things, and look to 
 the tremendous probability of fuch fad ef- 
 fects of their vices ! But moil marvellous it is 
 to find, that in many fuch cafes, when God 
 hath been pleafed to withhold his hand, as it 
 were, from punifhment, and to reftore the 
 fufferer to -health, again to try the fincerity 
 of Ills vows j that the fufferer hath for- 
 gotten all his vows, all his anguilh, and 
 all his former refolutions ; and, with aggra- 
 vated guilt, returned to the evils whofe con- 
 fequences he fo lately and fo ieverely felt and 
 ileplor'd! 
 
 M 3 This 
 
 * See Sofhoclis GeJipus Tjrar.. 1. 1318, 
 
166 CONSOLATIONS 
 
 This is the extremity of folly ; on the other 
 hand, when God arreils the finner in his 
 courfe, and fummons him to reflection by the 
 hand of fatherly chafiifement, it is the wif- 
 dom, which becomes a rational creature, to 
 receive the correction with fubmiflion ; to 
 improve it by ferious felf-examination ; to 
 perfect it by fincere repentance, humble faith, 
 and weU-grounded resolutions of amendment. 
 And wherever ficknefs or afflictions, of what- 
 ever kind, produce this happy effect, we may 
 fay, with the flrictefl truth, that they are fa- 
 therly and loving viiitations from God .- and, 
 whatever our pait conduct may have been, 
 however unhappy, however diftant from the 
 Chriflian purity, we are allured, that, through 
 the blood of Chrift, our lins will be totally 
 blotted out : and we (hall have the juiteit oc- 
 cafion to blefs the hour, when the hand of 
 forrow and difeafe itopt us in our career of 
 vice, and laid us on the bed of languishing 
 and pain ; when the lofs of health procured 
 the gain of heaven ; when our kind Father, 
 unwilling that we mould perifh, and be for 
 ever loft, fmote us in love, and chaftened us 
 in mercy; fhewed us ourfelves, and our dan- 
 ger; (hewed us at once our difeafe and our 
 cure: — Sin our difeafe; the blood of Chrift 
 Our never-failing cure! 
 
 SECT. 
 
in Sickness. 167 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Confolations in Sicknefs. 
 
 'ANY arguments have been offered in 
 the former lections to teach us iub- 
 inilTion, and give us comfort on the bed of 
 iicknefs. They were derived efpecially from 
 a confideration of the author of all chaftife- 
 rnent, God our Father -, and of the end, our 
 good ; from the .example of the belt, and moll 
 exemplary men in all ages, who have not 
 been exempt from the feverity of trial ; — from 
 the heroic patience and relignation which 
 many in the heathen world have difplayed; — 
 from the viciffitude of health which we have 
 enjoyed; — and from the fuperlative preference 
 of fubmiffive Iicknefs to full and thariklefs 
 health. 
 
 7. I now go on to obfervc, as a farther ar- 
 gument of confolation, and as a powerful mo- 
 tive to fubmiilion, that our fickneffes and fuf- 
 ferings are far lefs than our deferts; and 
 therefore we mould rather reflect upon what 
 we deferve to feel, than upon what we do 
 feel ! Wherefore doth a living man complain or 
 murmur, lays the prophet, a man for the pu- 
 nifhment of his fns? [We are told affuredly, 
 that the wages of fin, of every lin, is death j 
 a double death, temporal and eternal, of bo- 
 dy and foul. Every thing therefore fhort of 
 ; this, is mercy to tinners. For there is not 
 ihc leaft of our many thoufand trarifgreffions 
 M 4 but 
 
?68 CONSOLATIONS 
 
 but hath merited the wrath of a juft God, 
 and, confequently, mere torments than we 
 are able to undergo. Can we then com- 
 plain when light afflictions, — for all temporal 
 afflictions are light, compared with eternal; — 
 when thefe befal us to correct us for our future 
 welfare, and to preferve us from everlafling 
 buffering ? Where we owe a thoufand talents, 
 we are ordered to take our bill and lit down 
 and write nhy : can we fail to magnify the 
 clemency of fo favourable a creditor ! how in- 
 finite is the goodnefs of our indulgent Father, 
 who chaiteneth us with fo gentle a correction! 
 Nay, and let the nice and murmuring child 
 of affliction, toiling diffatisfkd on the bed of 
 iicknefs, let him reflect, if he cannot bear 
 thefe ftripes, thefe light pains, how will he 
 be able to endure thofe that are infinitely 
 more afflictive ? For what are thefe to the 
 unutterable miferies referved for the impatient 
 and repining finner? Miferies and pains ex- 
 quifite, and without mitigation, pains eternal 
 without intermimon, miferies which can nei- 
 ther be avoided nor endured! Let us think 
 upon thefe, amidrt the evils of prefent fick- 
 nefs, and we Oiall lay ourfelves low under the 
 hand of a eood God, thankful for that pre- 
 sent tolerable mifery, which will prevent our 
 future and intolerable. — Befides, let us recol- 
 lect that the wifdom of God hath gracioufiy 
 thought fit, in the general, fo to temper our 
 gij$i$:ionSj that if they are fharp they are not 
 
 Ion 2:; 
 
in Sicknfss.' 169 
 
 long; if they are long they are not intenfely 
 fharp ; that thus our ftrength might not be 
 exceeded either way by our trials. — Be con- 
 tent then, either your languiihment mall be 
 made eafy, or your fevere pain lliall foon be 
 over. Extreme and everlafting are terrible 
 words referved only for the enemies of God 
 in. the future world. That is truly long wmich 
 hath no end; that is truly painful which is 
 not capable of ny relaxation j that is truly 
 infuppor table which is refrelhed by no hope. 
 What a mort moment is it that we can fuller 
 here ? mort, nay let us fay, nothing, in refpect 
 of that eternity which we muff all either hope 
 for, or fear. There is no medium. The 
 fenie of this will make the fufferings of our 
 prefent fickneffes and trials, light and eafy to 
 be borne. 
 
 8. Another motive for chearful fubmlf- 
 iion in iicknefs may be drawn from the ad- 
 vantages which arife from the exercife c f this 
 virtue. Without pain and trouble there could 
 be no ilich virtue; and God never gives vir- 
 tues without an intent to exercife them. To 
 what purpofe were our Chriftian valour if we 
 had no enemies to encounter ? God is pleafed 
 to lay his hand upon you, and to CdMyon forth 
 to trial, who have hitherto been iecure and un- 
 moleffed. Where is yourfortituc ieif you ihrink 
 back and refufe the combat ? you who profefs, 
 who early prof lied, to fight under his banner, 
 V. ho is the great Conqueror of death andheli ! Is 
 
 this 
 
*7© CONSOLATIONS 
 
 this the way to that happy victory which flialjf 
 be rewarded with a crown of glory ! — If you 
 faint, oh Chriftian, in the day of your adver- 
 fity, your ftrength is but fmall ; adverfity is 
 the feafon wherein the graces of Chriftianity 
 nouiiiTi moil ; and patience is that virtue which 
 can only then be manifefted, and which will 
 not fail of God's particular favour and fup- 
 port ; — the trying of your faith worketh patience , 
 mid patience experience, and experience hope, 
 which {hall not be aihamed : for after we 
 have patiently endured like Abraham, like 
 him we ihall obtain the promiie. 
 
 9. Let me obfcrve too ? that the common 
 condition of mortality unavoidably fubject to 
 chanp-es and chances, to iickneis and forrows, 
 ihould reconcile us to thefe whenever we meet 
 with them ! Sicknefs ihould never be looked 
 upon as an unexpected guefl. If we ccnfider 
 our frame, made up of fo many nice and deli- 
 cate parts, we ihall rather wonder that we en- 
 ]oy fo much health, than that we endure fo 
 much Iickneis.-— And while we meet difeafe 
 with this juir. and reconciling thought, we 
 fhall find the bed of iickneis made comfort- 
 able by the recollection, that God is at no 
 time more near to us, or more tenderly in- 
 dulgent. The whole, faith our Saviour, need 
 not a phvjician, but they that are fic/z. The 
 phyfician, ordained for the hour of neceiTity, 
 cometh not but where there is need ; where 
 peed is,, he will not fail to come. Our need 
 
 is 
 
in Sickness. i^r 
 
 is motive enough to him who himfelf, of his 
 own free will, took our infirmities and bare 
 our ficknefles : while we are his patients he 
 will not be kept from us. — The Lord, fays 
 David, will jtrengthen thee upon the bed of lan- 
 guijking : he will make all thy bed in thy Jicknefs. 
 Lo, the fincere Chrifiian is told, that the. hea- 
 venly Comforter will not only vifit, but attend 
 him ; he will alTuage the feverity of his pains, 
 make his pillow eafy, and his bed foft. 
 
 Indeed we may be allowed, from our own 
 difpoiition, to collect fomething of God's gra- 
 cious indulgence towards his fuffering chil- 
 dren. You are a parent of children, and, 
 perhaps, though they are all truly dear to 
 you, yet you fee, or think you fee, fome rea- 
 fon to regard one more than another; but if 
 any of them is feized with a dangerous dif- 
 temper, how much more careful and anxious 
 are you about this than the reft; how your 
 bowels yearn for him, and all the tendernefs 
 of your affection is called into act ? With what 
 filent anxiety do you watch by his bed, atten- 
 tive of every breath, jealous of every whifper 
 that might difturb his Dumber, anfwering e- 
 very one of his groans with fo many lighs ; 
 and, in fhort, making fo much of him for the 
 time, that even your greateft darling and fa- 
 vourite feems neglected in companion of this 
 more necelfary charge. — How much more 
 then mall the Father of mercies, and the God 
 of all comforts, be compaffionately intent up- 
 on 
 
tfz CONSOLATIONS 
 
 en the fuiferings of his dear children, accord- 
 ing to the proportion of their afflictions ! La- 
 bour only to lecure his favour, to love him 
 and ferve him as an obedient child, and in 
 the day of hcknefe, in the day of every dif- 
 t-refs, he will be prefent with peculiar confo- 
 lation ; for as a j either pitieth his own children, 
 even Jo is the Lord merciful to them that fear 
 him. 
 
 10. Another argument of comfort in fick- 
 nefs may and ought to be derived from a 
 comparative view of the evils of others ; from 
 the freedom of our minds, the attendance of 
 our friends, and the feveral advantages which 
 we enjoy in alleviation of our miferies. 
 
 Our pains may be great and our bodies 
 feeble, but it is a blefiing for which we can- 
 not be too thankful, when our minds are free 
 and our fenfes perfect. The foul cannot be 
 chained down by the fetters of the body; but,, 
 amidfr. the confinement of it, can foar into the 
 heaven of heavens, and, on the wings of me- 
 ditation, prayer and love, dedicate itfelf to the 
 God of all events. If the better part of us is 
 thus employed, no pains of the inferior part 
 can make us miferable. That better part, 
 by God's grace, ere long mdl be in blifs, 
 while this earthy tabernacle mall moulder in 
 tiurr, and be fo* r gotten in the grave. We 
 mould therefore, before this feparation, im- 
 prove all the powers of the foul to our pre- 
 |ent advantage; we ihould let that, with the eye 
 
 of 
 
in Sickness. 173 
 
 of faith, fleadily behold the face of God in 
 glory, Vv'hilft our bodily eyes, with tender 
 concern, behold the weeping friends at our 
 bed-fide, who may mourn for and pity us^ 
 but who, alas, cannot help us in that lait fo- 
 lemn conflict! 
 
 But be it remembered, that the kind tend- 
 ance and gentle fympathy of fuch friends, as 
 it is a real comfort in itfelf, fo it is a reafon. 
 for great thankfulnefs in us ! How many tofs 
 on the bed of ficknefs without one friendly 
 hand to afiiit, one friendly eye to drop the 
 companionate tear ! — How many feel the mi- 
 feries of ficknefs ao-<?ravated exceedingly by 
 the total neglect, or unkind treatment of thole 
 from whom they might have expected the le- 
 nient balm of confolation ! — how many breathe 
 out their departing lives without one loving: 
 hand to do the laft fad office, and to dole 
 their mournful eyes ! 
 
 Again, the benefits 'of all neceilary medical 
 help 5 of all proper care, fupport and noiirifh- 
 ment mould endue us on "the lick-bed, nor 
 only with patience, but with great thankful- 
 nefs to God who fo bountifully provideth for 
 us in our ficknefs, while many of our fellow- 
 creatures languifh not only under the miseries 
 of difeafe, but of fevere poverty; have ueithot 
 the benefits of medicinal help, nor the fup- 
 port of proper nouriihment, nor the vvatclx- 
 riilnefs of feafonable care! bat left to the 
 woes, to folitude and farrow, they • 
 
 JpjlS 
 
Further CONSOLATIONS 
 
 ne diftrefs, and heave the broken-hearted 
 figh, forfaken by all, (ah what is human life!) 
 forfaken and deprived of every earthly com- 
 fort ! 
 
 Yet, rich in confolation, as is our di- 
 vine religion: Thefe, even thefe, thus poor, 
 neglected and forfaken have arguments for 
 comfort, fuperior to all that have yet been of- 
 fered, which indeed equally concern the high 
 and the low, but which, if wanting to the 
 high, will render every other fource of con- 
 fblation dry and infufricient, and which, if 
 found with the poor, will well compenfate 
 for the want of every other. Thefe are the 
 example of Chriit, and the future recompence 
 awaiting the patient fufferer, after his ex- 
 ample. Of thefe in the next fedtion. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 'Further Conjolations for the Sick-bed. 
 
 E arc next to fhew what a fource of 
 comfort arifes to the Chriirian from 
 the example of Chriit, and the happy profpecl 
 of a future Reward. 
 
 ii. It is enough for the difciple, that he be 
 as his Mailer; our Matter was a man of for- 
 rows and acquainted with grief; grief not his 
 own, forrows not the confequence of his own 
 mifdoings ; he fuffered for us, and for us- be- 
 came 
 
for the Sick-bed. jy§ 
 
 came acquainted with all the extremity of 
 human tribulation. Whatever we endure, 
 we may juftly fay with the penitent malefac- 
 tor, We receive the due reward of our deeds, 
 but this Man, though dying on a crofs, amidft 
 fhamc, reviling and agony, deferted, forfak- 
 en, forfaken even by his God, this Man hath 
 done nothing amifs. As it was for our falva- 
 tion that he came into the world, fo was it to 
 expiate our fins, and atone for our guilt that 
 he vouch fafed to lead a life of fuch funering, 
 and to die a death of fuch" anguifh. And 
 therefore in whatever diftreiTes we are plung- 
 ed, as we have his all-fufficient facrince to 
 atone for our fins, fo we have his inilruclive 
 example to direct and fupport us. Are we 
 
 poor? the Son of man had not where to lay 
 x • i 
 
 his head -, are we in pains and forrows ? be- 
 hold and fee if ever agony was like his in the 
 garden and on the crofs ; if ever forrow was 
 like his forrow wherewith the Lord amicl:cd 
 him in the day of his fierce anger? A re we ne- 
 glected on our bed of ficknefs and of death by 
 our neareit friends; are we reviled by our e- 
 nemies? lo, Chrift hath tailed of that bitter 
 cup for us alfo ; all his difciples forfook him 
 and iled ; they who palled by cafl their un- 
 hallowed and impious feoffs at the patient and 
 bleffed fufferer. In fhort, a reflection upen the 
 iorrows which our divine Mailer endured, up- 
 on the motive of his enduring them, namely, 
 his love to men; upon the manner in which 
 
i 7 6 CONSOLATIONS 
 
 he endured them, humble, patient and re- 
 iigned ; upon the glorious end of them, his 
 triumphant refurrection and exaltation; and 
 upon the divine and comfortable promifes 
 which are given to thofe who furTer with 
 him, that with him they may be glorified ; 
 thefe cannot fail to infpire us at once with 
 chearfulnefs, refio-nation and comfort, not on- 
 ly on the fick-bed, but under every trial. 
 cc For there mould be no greater comfort to 
 Chriftian perfons, (to ufe the words of our 
 Church,) than to be made like unto Chrift by 
 iiiffering patiently adverfiries, troubles and 
 fickneftes ; for he himfelf went not up to 
 joy, but firft he fuffered pain; he entered not 
 into his glory before he was crucified. So 
 truly our way to eternal joy is to furTer here 
 with Chrift, and our door to enter into eter- 
 nal life is gladly to die with Chrift, that we 
 may rife again from death, and dwell with 
 him in life everlafting." — In this view, we 
 may well fay with St. Paul, I glory in tribu- 
 lations, as by them I am enabled to take up 
 my crofs and to follow the fleps of my blefied 
 Mailer; for without a crofs there is.no crown. 
 12. But for thofe who follow their Ma- 
 iler, for thofe who patiently endure, the re- 
 ception of that crown, the eternal crown of glo- 
 ry mail more than overbalance all their mife- 
 ries, as the joyful and pleafing expectation of it 
 will ferve abundantly to alleviate the prefent 
 weight of them, and to render them eafy to 
 
 be 
 
for the Sick-bed. iyj 
 
 be borne.- — This is a fource of the ampler! 
 comfort to the iick and oppreifed foul, and 
 the laft which I lhall offer. 
 
 Our light affliction, which is but for a moment j 
 workcth for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory: he feems to labour for words 
 to exprefs the greatnefs of the future felicity, 
 Kos#' V7TtpQoXvjv it; U7T£o(3o\",iv ctiuviov /3acu,; ?o£y$, 
 a fir, &c. While we look not at the things, that 
 are fen, but at the things which are not feen $ 
 for the things which are feen are : temporal, but 
 the things which are not feen are eternal. — And 
 again ; / reckon that the fujferings of this pre- 
 fent time are not worthy to be compared with the 
 glory which fliall be revealed in us. Rejoice, fays 
 Peter, inafmuch as ye are made partakers of 
 Chrift's ftfferings ; that when his glory fliall 
 be revealed, ye may be glad alfo with exceeding 
 
 I have heretofore ilrongly inforced the pre- 
 fent argument of confolation, and therefore 
 have the lefs need to infift upon it; only let 
 us remember, that our afflictions here are 
 well and emphatically called light by the A- 
 poftle, in comparifon of the forrows which 
 await the unchaftifed and unawakened fmner. 
 Happy afflictions they, which occaiion a light 
 temporal diftrefs, while they ranfom from e- 
 ternal anguifh. But St. Paul calls them not 
 only light, but alfo momentary ; of a moment's- 
 Continuance; and fuch they are, truly fpeak- 
 ing, when the fhort fpan of this life is com- 
 N pared 
 
tf% Forfar CONSOLATIONS 
 
 based to eternity! Eternity, ever awfal word! 
 fcowiliould it arcufe us into ferrous thinking! 
 for can we, {hall we live only for the (hadows 
 of this world, when, behold, everlafting glory 
 may be obtained by our proper ufe of this 
 fhort hour, and, by our abufe of it, everlast- 
 ing mifery! Mure not this reflection teach 
 us patience and resignation on the bed of iick- 
 nefs r Beiides, our affections are not only light 
 and momentary i when compared to the great 
 things of eternity, but they are not even war-* 
 thy to be compared with the glory which the fuf- 
 fering Chriflian ihall receive; they are not 
 worth v even to be mentioned. Let us then, 
 
 • '■ ■ ■ A 
 
 On the bed of ficknefs, not contemplate our 
 wretched eftate, — not confider our pains and 
 our fufreringp, — but let us elevate, through 
 the prefent gloom, the eye of faith to that 
 blefled that important hour, when the im- 
 prifoned foul fhall burn: the bars of its con- 
 finement; and enter triumphant into the 
 realms of perfect blifs ; fhall receive the crown 
 of glory unfading, from the hands of its ap- 
 plauding Saviour; be welcomed by thoufands 
 and ten thoufands of immortal and bleffed 
 fpirits ; be admitted to his preferice, where 
 is the fulnefs of joy; be for ever releafed from 
 the allurements of iin, the oppreffions of for- 
 row, the fears of death. — Farewel then, for 
 ever farewel the .tearful eye and the bleed- 
 ing heart I farewel the tender anxious dread 
 of reparation ! farewel the melancholy fcenes 
 
 of 
 
for the Sick-bed. 179 
 
 ef parting and the beloved-friend's laft weep- 
 ing adieu ! Immortality, glory, peace, heaven, 
 and eternity are for ever fecured to, us ! 
 
 Thefe confederations mufl be fufHcient to 
 fill the Chriilian on the bed of ficknefs with 
 perfect refignation, nay with more than re- 
 signation, with chearful comfort, holy hope, 
 and grateful joy; nor can we too feriouily 
 reflect upon them, fince our ftate is fo fear- 
 fully precarious, fince fo many difeafes and 
 cafualties throng the paths of life, and mi- 
 nifter to the all-devouring tyrant 3 and fince 
 none of us can tell how foon we may (land 
 in need of thefe confolations to foften the ri- 
 gours of ficknefs, and to footh our fouls on 
 the bed of languishing. Then it will be ad- 
 vantageous for us to recollect, over and above 
 what was before fuggefted, that our afflic- 
 tions being far lefs than our deferts, we ought 
 to receive them fuhmimVely ; that patience 
 can only be exercifed under afflictions, and 
 that the exercife of it is highly beneficial to 
 our fouls ; that ficknefs is ever to be expected, 
 as being the common and natural lot of mor- 
 tals; that God is never nearer to us, or hath, 
 a greater regard for us, than when we are 
 under affliction ; that a comparative view of 
 our fufTering with that of others, and a con- 
 fideration of the particular bleflings we enjoy, 
 ought to reach us fubmiiiion and thankful - 
 nefs ; while, above all, the example of Chrift, 
 And the future recompencs of glory, fhoull 
 N 2 comfort 
 
i8o Further CONSOLATIONS 
 
 comfort us under every trial, and make us 
 under every trial grateful, -thankful, and 
 happy. 
 
 Permit me juft to cbferve, in conclufion, 
 that the religion of Chrift is peculiarly the 
 religion of the afflicted. One great proof of 
 its excellence is drawn from the vaflly fupe- 
 rior comfort which it affords, above any other 
 fyflem ever propofed to mankind; and this 
 certainly mult, greatly recommend it to us. 
 For this life is a flate of trial and trouble; no 
 one is exempt from it ; man is born to trou- 
 ble, we are told by the facred writer, as in- 
 variably and furely, as the fparks fly upwards. 
 The religion therefore which affords us the 
 llrongeif. and moil effectual fupport under thefe, 
 muft be the moft welcome to us, and mould 
 be cultivated with the moil watchful care; 
 for, let us remember, that the confolations of 
 Chriflianity can never be offered, with any 
 propriety, nor ever received with any inward 
 fatisfaction, where the heart is confcious of 
 its depravity, and the life is ftain'd with im- 
 pure and unholy practices. To enjoy the- 
 comforts, we muff lead the lives of Christians* 
 It is in vain to cry Lord, Lord, and expect the 
 fmiles of our divine Mailer, while we have 
 continually lb acted as to deferve only his 
 frowns. Would we meet iicknefs with a 
 chearfu! hope, would we meet death with 
 a well-grounded confidence, let us now pre- 
 pare. — Perform the duties, and your's are the 
 
 promifes 
 
for the Sicic-be.d. 1 8 1 
 
 promifes of (Thrift. But if you depend upon 
 the latter, in neglect of the former, who mall 
 comfort you on the bed of ficknefs ? your con- 
 science will be your word accufer ; and when 
 confcience accuies, who can confole ! 
 
 Happy they who can fay with St. Paul on 
 the bed of ficknefs, 'This is our rejoicing, even 
 the tejlimony of our confcience, that i?ifmplicity 
 and godly Jincerity, not with fleflily wijdom but 
 by the grace of God, we have had our converfa- 
 tion in tlie world. Therefore I am not afraid or 
 afhamed of fuffering, fox I know in whom I have 
 believed, and I am perfuaded that he is able to 
 keep that which I have committed unto him a- 
 gainjl that day. 
 
 " But what if our lives have been evil; what; 
 if our pail; conduct teftiries againfl us r" why 
 then -the ChriiUan religion, in this refpect, 
 again peculiarly commends itfelf to you : for 
 that religion alone opens to you the never- 
 failing fountains of divine comfort, (hews you 
 afluredly (what no other religion can do) the 
 grounds of reconciliation with Goci ; and, to 
 your unfpeakable comfort, declares, that 
 through the merits of the Saviour, pardon 
 and grace is freely granted to the earned and 
 fincere cry of unduTembled repentance and 
 living faith. 
 
 Bring but thefe to God, and let your fu- 
 ture life teiHfy your finceritv, and then adop- 
 ted into his family, and reconciled to his fa- 
 vour, when you call upon him in trouble he 
 N 3 will 
 
1 32 Further CONSO LAT IONS, &a 
 
 will hear you ; he will ftrengthen you upon 
 the bed of languifhing - y he will make all your 
 bed in your ficknefs ; and though he caufe 
 grief, yet will he have compafTion according 
 to the multitude of his mercies ; for he doth 
 not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children 
 of men ; he corredteth us not for his plea- 
 flire, but for our profit, that we may be par- 
 takers of his holinefs, and confequently of his 
 happinefs, through Chrift our Lord 1 
 
 CHAP. 
 
( i»3 ) 
 
 C H A R IV. 
 
 Consolations for the Afflicted in 
 Estate. 
 
 SECT, I, 
 
 Confolathns under the Lofs of Friends^ dra^sm, 
 from Conjidtratvms rcjpecling God, 
 
 H A T a fcene of trial and trouble 
 is the prefent! from what various 
 quarters do the arrows of affliction 
 £y to the human heart ! doubts and cares and 
 fears opprefs our minds! difeafes and pain 
 torment our bodies \— friends die, — our dear- 
 eft friends die, — and a fad breach is thus 
 made in our happinefs! — This is a fource of 
 deep diftrefs ; it calls for all our pity and for 
 all our aid ; and, bleffed be God, fuch is our 
 divine religion, that it prefents comfort to e- 
 very care, and hath balm to bellow on every 
 wound ! As therefore we have endeavoured 
 to fuggeft the proper arguments of comfort 
 to the diilrefl in Mind and Body, let us now 
 proceed to offer all poflible relief to fuch as are 
 diitreft in Estate or Condition; andfirft to 
 thofe who mourn the lofs of beloved and de- 
 *ceafed Friends. 
 
 The great Author of our being hath, for 
 
 wife and good ends, fo constituted our nature, 
 
 N 4 that 
 
T 84 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 that the focial affections operate with pecu^ 
 liar force upon our minds, and fway us aimeft 
 irreliflibly. It cannot therefore be fuppofed, 
 when the juft and proper objects of iuch af- 
 flictions are taken from us, that grief is crir 
 minal, that forrovv is wholly forbidden us ? 
 Jmpoffibles can never be criminal, can never 
 be forbidden ; and it is impoilible to with- 
 hold the gufhing tear, to flop the deep and 
 melancholy f gh, to be void of tender and af? 
 feclionate feeling, when the friend, dear as 
 our own foul, when the beloved parent, when 
 the valuable hufband or wife, when the child" 
 of. our bofom, and of our hopes, are taken, 
 for ever taken from pur embraces, and lodg- 
 ed in the cold bowels of the comfortlels 
 grave. — The difpoiitipns pf men are alfo fo 
 various, that the fame affliction will prcduce 
 very different effects on different minds; 
 that whicn {hall melt down one ,perfon 
 will hardly warm another. Where there is 
 a predominance of the fofter paffions, every 
 bowel (hall move within them, and like the 
 fenfitive plant, they (brink in, and are affect- 
 ed with the fmalleft touch. Some natures 
 are even painfully tender; to fuch therefore 
 we mult allow a larger liberty in forrow, as 
 they have a more feeling fenfe of grief. — The 
 pccafions of forrow too may jqftify a greater 
 degree of it; feme loffes are fo tiuly diflrefs- 
 ful, fome cafes fo extremely pitiable, that one 
 g&nnpf deny to the fufferer fome indulgence in 
 
 grief. 
 
the Lofs 2/* Friends. 185 
 
 grief. Who can blame the widow, — nay, 
 who can fail to weep with her, - when me 
 Jaments, in all the bitternefs of anguifh, that 
 fatal jftroke which feparates from her and her 
 little orphans, the hufband of her heart, the 
 father, the friend, the fupport! 
 
 Grief therefore, tender grief, is by no means 
 forbidden or blameable; thus far we plead in 
 its behalf. St. Paul, when he advifss us not 
 to forrow, as others wlp have ?io hope, plainly 
 allows us to forrow. He does not fay, I would 
 have you not forrow at all,— but not as thofe, 
 &c. Christianity would regulate, not totally 
 fupprefs our grief. But though grace doth 
 not deftroy, it refines nature; though it doth 
 not extinguish the affedtions and parlions, yet 
 it reclines and moderates them. To be alto- 
 gether unconcerned is unnatural, for the moil 
 part is impomble ; to be too much con- 
 cerned is unchriitian: they are both hurtful 
 extremes to any foil, to have no water at all, 
 or to have it overflow and drown the whole 
 country*. 
 
 While then we plead for moderate, we 
 would offer arguments againit immoderate 
 forrow ; and forrow may then truly be faid to 
 be immoderate, when it makes us peevifh and 
 pafiionate, irreconcileable to, and out of hu- 
 mour with all our other ble flings, becaufe 
 God hath been pleafed to take away one ; — 
 
 when 
 
 * See Grofvenor's Holy Mourner, from which we have takei| 
 yery liberally, as we know no book more worthy on the !u ; 
 
CONSOLATIONS md - 
 
 when it Unfits as for the duties of religion, 
 and the bufinefs of life. '• He is a miferas 
 ble man indeed, fays one-% who is r.fHicted 
 and cannot or will not pray;"- — when we are 
 fo much taken up with our own as to attend 
 to the forrows of no- body tlk; - when we are 
 regardlefs of God's defgn in our affliction, 
 of the leilbn's we mould learn from his cor- 
 recting ftroke;-— when we refufe i.o be com- 
 forted, and exceed both in time and meafure ; 
 — when our fpirits are loured, and we mur- 
 mur and entertain hard thoughts of God; — 
 and laftly, it is immoderate when we furfer if 
 to prey upon our health. Sometimes, indeed, 
 ibrrow kills entirely, and as effectually, as if 
 a man were ihot through the heart; fome- 
 times it operates more gradually, but then it 
 does its buiinefs as furely as a flow and eating 
 poiibn. For the food feldom nouriihes which 
 is mingled with tears ; the air refrelheth not, 
 the faculties of nature perform not their func- 
 tions amidfr. immoderate and indulged grief; 
 — and the end is a broken heart ! By for row 
 ff heart the fpirk is broken* fays the wife man; 
 and we fometlmes read in the bills of morta- 
 lity, this affecting article,— D led of grief ; — 
 an article which would be much larger and 
 ■oftner inferted, if all who died of grief were 
 to be diilinguifhed : for very many are the 
 tjifeafes which are the natural iffue of immo- 
 derate forrow! How ofreniive in the iiojit of 
 
 God 
 
 * ,0"d Mr. Dxld's layings* 
 
the Lofs 2/* Friends. 187 
 
 God fuch forrow mufl be, we fiiall clearly 
 difcern from the motives to iubmimon and 
 comfort, which I now proceed to offer, and 
 which may be derived from confiderations 
 that either refpect, i.Godj 2. Our deceafed 
 friends ; 3. Our ownfelvesj or 4. Others about us. 
 
 It In the firft place then immoderate grief 
 for the lofs of friends is highly unreafonable, 
 if we confider who it ii that taketh away. It 
 was fiifficient to flop the torrent of old Eli's 
 grief, amidft the lofs of his children and the 
 total extinction of his houfe, when he recol- 
 lected the hand inflicting the heavy blow, It is 
 the Lord, faid the refigned old man, let him 
 do what feemeth him good. 
 
 Confider only, that God is our great and 
 uncontroulable Sovereign, who hath an abfo- 
 lute right and propriety in us and all that we 
 have; and the thought muft teach fubiriifiion. 
 Again, confider his f.iperlative Majefly and 
 unfpeakable excellence, and it muft ftnke us 
 dumb with the profoundeft humility ! Shall not 
 his excellency make thee afraid, fays the facred 
 writer? his excellency who dwells in light un- 
 approachable, before whom angels veil their 
 faces. — Wilt thou lift up thy bold front a- 
 gainft him, and charge that glory with fhame, 
 that brightnefs with a fpot, that wifdom with 
 folly, and that juflice of his with any iniqui- 
 ty? If fuch poor children of the duft, as we, 
 would contemplate the unutterable greatnefs 
 and glory of the Lord of life and death, we 
 
 mould 
 
m CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 ■;fhould receive, with greater fubmiflion, any 
 chafcening difpenfations from him. 
 
 Confider again his infinite perfections; he 
 is infinitely wife and cannot err; infinitely 
 powerful and cannot be refuted; infinitely 
 holy and cannot behold iniquity without ab- 
 horrence; infinitely good and can do no evil; 
 and he is infallible truth itielf, fo that he can- 
 not failify his word.— -If it were pomble to 
 take the management of matters out of his 
 hands into our own, it would be the belt, way 
 for us to replace them -again in the hands of 
 God. It is he to whofe will all the courfe of 
 nature befides uniformly complies ; — why 
 then mould not we ? And when we read that 
 Chriil himfelf laid, / km come to do thy will, 
 O God; and, Father ', mt as I will but as thou 
 <wilt ; who are we that vve mould pretend to 
 ipeak any other language ? 
 
 After the perfections of God confider the 
 relations in which he Hands to us; he made 
 the human will ! Shall he not give laws to 
 his own creature ? Did he form this hand to 
 ftrike at himfelf? this breath, this tongue, to 
 fpeak agamfi him ; — did he make us and 
 freely give us all things, that we mould blaf- 
 pheme him, when he is pleafed to withdraw 
 fome of them ! oh, fl range impiety ! — but, as 
 dependant creatures, do we not live, and move, 
 And have our being in him ? as we are ex- 
 pectant creatures, is it the way to obtain our 
 ^,'ill of him, to deny -him the homage and 
 
 fubmimon 
 
the Lofs of F r i e n d s . i £9 
 
 fubmiflion of our own wills? — as wc are ful- 
 fill creatures, have we not guilt enough upon 
 us already ? lhall we fwell the account and in- 
 creafe our mifery ? - As we are accountable 
 creatures, he is our Judge; as we are reco- 
 verable creatures, he is our Saviour; and can 
 We be difpleafed with any of his methods to- 
 wards making all thefe ideas concur to our 
 falvation ? To be redeemed from the tyranny 
 of our own wills and irregular appetites, is no 
 fmall part of the redemption by Jefus Chrift. 
 Did he give himfelf up to death for us, and 
 fhall we think it too much to give up our 
 wills to him ? — Shall the redeemed difoute 
 the orders of the Redeemer? fhall fervants dif- 
 pute the will of tfieir mafterj or fubje&s fay 
 to fuch a king, What docjt thou? — We are 
 his friends only upon the term of doing what- 
 foever he commands us; — and if, under the 
 relation of children, we go to him as our Fa- 
 ther who is in heaven, certainly we ought, as 
 dutiful children, ever to add, Father, thy will 
 be done. 
 
 To the consideration of the relations which 
 God bears to us, we may add, that whether 
 we fubmit or not, his will mull and (hall be 
 done ; and therefore it is far better and wifer 
 for us to have the bleffing and comfort of a 
 dutiful fubmiilion, . than to murmur under 
 a fretful and unprofitable compuliion to it. 
 Nay, and in every lofs, we may and ought to 
 reflect how much further God might have 
 
 gone 
 
ioo CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 gone with us, depriving us of all our comforts 
 as well as of part of them ; he might have 
 given up our fouls to terror, our bodies to dif- 
 eafe, our affairs to confufion. It behoves us 
 therefore to be thankful, that he hath only 
 afflicted thus far, and that with our friends 
 he hath not taken away all things befide. 
 David, in his pathetic repry on the death of 
 his child, mews us the abiurdity of unreafon- 
 able grief, and the folly of not fubmitting to 
 the wili of God which is irreverfible; While the 
 child was yet alive, faia he, I fajled and wept -, 
 for Ijaid, Who can tell whether God will be gra- 
 cious to me that the child may live f the moft 
 humble fubmilTion allows the ufe of all pro- 
 per means, and of the mod fervent application 
 to God in prayer; But, lie goes on, now that 
 he is dead, wherefore Jhculd Ifaft f can I bring 
 him back again f I Jhall go to him, but he Jhall 
 not return to me. 
 
 Moreover, a well-grounded permafion of 
 God's exact and particular providence is a 
 flrong confolation amidfl the lois of our 
 friends. If there were no providence we mould 
 want one of the befl antidotes againfl the fears 
 of what is to come, and the forrows for what 
 is pail; for, (asBifhop P^/r/^obferves,) all the 
 care would then lie upon ourfelves, and that 
 would be far too much for i»j but when a 
 man thinks of Infinite Wifdom and Power 
 governing all things he cannot fail to be fub- 
 miffive; for God diipofes of all things, not 
 
 only 
 
the Lofi ef Friewds. N$rt 
 
 osly as ab folate Lord, but as a loving Fa- 
 ther, that we might he ienfible bo Ith of his 
 goodnels than of his power. It is diftruft of 
 God, to be too much troubled about what rs 
 to com^j it is impatience againfi God to fret 
 at what is preient; and it is anger at him to he 
 too much concerned for what is pair.— Such a 
 frame ef fpirit finds fault with his wiiektrn, 
 blames, his goodnels, deprefies his power , re- 
 prehends his faithful nefs; and therefore Is 
 highly finful and ipeedily to be amend 
 
 The wife and great ends he is advancing to 
 his own glory and our good, is another motive 
 to iubmiflion. God hath as much right to uih 
 us to the purpofes of his own glory, whether 
 perceived by us or not, as we have to ufe any 
 instrument in our houfe, or to employ any of 
 our fervants without acquainting them with 
 our purpofes. Had not Abraham* J°f c p>iy y°b* 
 and others been ufed by God much other- 
 wife than according to their natural will, we 
 had loft the benefit of the fineft inftances of 
 fubmifTion, and they the bletting of the lulleft 
 reward. " I fee God will have a/I my heart, 
 " and he mail have it," was a fine reflection 
 made by a lady* when news was brought of 
 two children drowned, whom the tenderly 
 loved — O Lord, we are the clay and thou 
 the potter j behold, as the clay is in the pot- 
 ter's hand, fo are we in thing! 
 
 But be it remembetedj that whatsoever 
 you lofe you cannot be miler-able, while 
 
 you 
 
t£2 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 you have this God to be your God and por- 
 tion i the God who made the creatures wtf 
 are fo fond of, who gave them all the love- 
 linefs and perfections we fo much admire, 
 and hath, without doubt, in himfelf all that* 
 which he gave and infinitely more. How 
 does it found to fay, " I am undone, for I 
 " have nothing but God left!" Surely God 
 can fill up the room of any departed crea- 
 ture, though the whole world cannot fill 
 up the room of a departed God! to lofe a 
 creature and find a God, has been an happy 
 exchange to fome, whole loffes have brought 
 them to know God and themfelves ; God 
 who will eternally be more to us than he cari 
 ever take from us! 
 
 Let us alfo obferve, that as fubmiflion to 
 the will of an All- wife Father is the moli 
 reafonable duty of dependant creatures, fo is 
 it the mod acceptable facriflce to God, and 
 the higheif. duty of Chriftianity 3 and one 
 whofe deficiency can be atoned by no re- 
 ligious fervices whatever : though we offer 
 ten thoufand facrifices, or give the fruit of 
 cur body for the fin of our foul 5 all this 
 would be vain without refignation to the Di- 
 vine Will: all the practices of religion with- 
 it, are mere formality, hypocrify and pretence. 
 " Do you fee how that perfon employs him- 
 felf in the offices of devotion ? can any one be 
 more afliduous in hearing and reading, in pray- 
 er and facraments ? — you ihall foon perceive of 
 
 how 
 
the Lofs of Friends. 193 
 
 how little worth all this external fervice is* 
 lo! God puts forth his hand and takes away 
 the delight of his eyes with a flroke; and 
 prefently the God, which he feemed to adore 
 with fo much refignation, can hardly have a 
 good word or a good thought, can hardly be 
 allowed to be wife and good and juft, or any 
 thing but a fevere and hard mafter. He not 
 only mourns, but he pines and confumes, and 
 rages againft God; God and his heaven are 
 cyphers now in companion of the creature, 
 to which yet that God hath done no harm, 
 but only removed for purpofes in which this 
 man himfelf will rejoice, when he comes to 
 know them. 
 
 Vainly indeed do you call God Moft High, 
 and. quickly fomething elfe appears higher in 
 your erteem; your hufband, your child, your 
 wife, your friend; — you call him Moft Glo- 
 rious, and yet glory more in fomething elfe j 
 you compliment him with the title of Faith- 
 ful and True, but while he fees that you. 
 will not truft him in the way of your du- 
 ty, that you will not take his word in a 
 promife for a work of piety to God, or cha- 
 rity to man, he efteems himfelf flattered. And 
 be ilire, that all pretences to ferve and honour 
 him are vain and fruitlefs, can neither be ac- 
 ceptable to him nor profitable to you, if your 
 heart deny him the tribute of humble refig- 
 nation; if you retain the pride of felf-will, 
 kand are not ready cheerfully to receive what- 
 O ever 
 
i 9 4 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 ever he iliall think fit to ordain. The con- 
 trary behaviour impugns his wifdom, good- 
 neis, power and truth. 
 
 From thefe then and the like considera- 
 tions, which refpect God, we may learn the 
 great duty of fubrnifiion, as well as derive 
 arguments of comfort, when he is pleafed 
 to take away any of our friends from us> 
 he, who is the abfolute Lord and Sovereign 
 of all his creatures, whofe greatnefs and ma- 
 jefty are uncontroulable, whofe perfections, 
 his truth, wifdom, goodnefs are infinite, and 
 who, from the relations which he bears to 
 us, neceflarily requires perfect fubrnifiion to 
 his will; which muff, and fhall be done, 
 whether we fubmit to it or not. The re- 
 flection, — that his particular providence n:!ct!i 
 and direcleth all eycMf ; that all events are 
 defigned by him to promote our good and his 
 glory ; that no events, however melancholy,, 
 can deprive us of him and his mercies, if we 
 be not wanting in our duty; — mufr. give 
 us confolation under the lofs of our dearefr. 
 friends ; while a remembrance of the great 
 importance of fubmiiBon and refignation muft 
 render every fincere foul defirous of attaining 
 this temper, which is no lefs happy in itfelf, 
 than it is plealing to God ; no lefs condu- 
 cive to our prefent tranquillity, than to our 
 
 future glory ! 
 
 SECT. 
 
the Lfs i?/* Friends. 195 
 
 SECT. II. 
 
 Confolations under the Lofs of Friends, drawn 
 from Confiderations refpeBing tliofe Friends 
 themfelves. 
 
 HROM thefe confiderations refpecling 
 \f God, we proceed to fuch as regard our 
 departed friends themfelves. God who gave 
 them to us, hath been pleafed to re-demand 
 his own gift, and to take them away from 
 us! why mould we not fay, Blejj'ed be the 
 name of the Lord! blefTed be his name for 
 vouchfafing them to us fo long. He had a 
 property in them before we had any; they 
 were his before they were our's; now they 
 tre his eternally. — And, oh ! fay, would you 
 have your beloved friends immortal here, on- 
 ly to pleafe you ? Would you have them live, 
 though weary of life, and flay below, though 
 longing to be gone? would you have them in 
 mifery, though fit for happinefs ? would you 
 have them kept amidft the troubles of life, 
 the pains of licknefs, the infirmities of age ; 
 or, at the very beft, in the vain infipid repe- 
 tition of the fame round of things, only to 
 prevent a vacancy in your amufements and de- 
 lights ? Is this thy kindnefs to thy friend? oh, 
 furely, thou lovefl thyfelf more than thy 
 friend, or thou would rejoice that he is de- 
 livered from all the evils of mortality! 
 
 "Beiides, we know the irreverfible condition 
 
 of humanity. A parting time mutt come; why 
 
 O 2 then 
 
196 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 then not this ? If the time of parting with our 
 friends were left to our choice, it would great- 
 ly increafe our confufion ! We know that we 
 enjoy our friends only upon a very frail and 
 uncertain tenure ; why then mould we not en- 
 deavour to reconcile ourfelves to that necefTa- 
 ry feparation, which, indeed, is not the total 
 lofs, is not the utter extinction of our friends. 
 Bleffed be God, Chrifl hath brought life and 
 immortality to light; and we are amired, that 
 our dear friends do not ceafe from exifting, 
 they only exift in a different itate and man- 
 ner; a different and a far more happy; — for, 
 though abfent from us, they are prefent with 
 the Lord; entered into joy unfpeakable and 
 full of glory ! why then any immoderate grief? 
 it can neither be profitable to us nor to them ; 
 it may do us much hurt, it can do them no 
 good; it may weaken our bodies and preju- 
 dice our health; it may fadden our fpirits, 
 deprive us of the comforts, and indifpofe us 
 for the duties of life ! — and what advantage 
 can there be to the departed from fo coftly a 
 facrifice to their memory! do they need, can 
 they be pleafed with our tears, who have for 
 ever taken leave of weeping themfelves, and 
 have fuch infinite caufe for joy! could your 
 cries call back the departed fpirit, and awak- 
 en the clay-cold body into life; could you 
 water the plant with tears till it revived, there 
 might be fome excufe for the abundance of your 
 ibrrow; but there are no Elijahs now who may 
 
 ftretck 
 
the Lofs ^Friends. 197 
 
 ilretch themfelves upon the breathlefs corpfc 
 and bring back its departed foul. Wherefore 
 fhould we weep f can we bring them back again, 
 —wejha/lgo to them, but tiieyjhallnot return to us. 
 And, can it be, would you have them re- 
 turn? do you lament their felicity? are you 
 grieved for their happinefs ? would you wifh 
 to bring them back again? would you wifh to 
 Eave your dear child, your affectionate parent, 
 your faith ul confbrt, your valuable relation, 
 bow fafely landed in the haven of eternal reft. 
 would you wiih 10 have them again placed oh 
 the uncertain (here of this life, and fubjected 
 to all its temptations and difficulties ? would 
 you have them w r alk over the precipice once 
 more, light the dangerous battle over again, 
 again run the arduous race, be tempted, fin, 
 and fiifrer again ? would you have them in* 
 •deed return for your gratification, from that 
 holy place to this place of fin, from joy to 
 trouble, from reii; and peace to new vexa- 
 tions ? their fentiments are different, their af- 
 fections raifed and ennobled, and, as well as 
 they loved us, they would not come back to 
 us for all the univerfe; and yet, as well as we 
 ioved them, we cannot, for our unreafonable 
 grief, w.\fh them joy of their new elevation 
 and dignity! — Oh! letus druggie againif thefe 
 unworthy apprehennons, and congratulate our- 
 felves, that we have already friends, friends 
 dear as our own fouls, friends for whom we 
 .could well have been content to die, that we 
 O 3 have 
 
198 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 have fiich already in the kingdom of God, 
 and waiting to welcome us to that bleiled and 
 better country ! 
 
 There is the joy, there is the grand fource 
 of coniblation under the lofs of friends, — we 
 ill all meet again ! They are delivered from 
 their trial, while we are left behind a few 
 weary years, longer; and behold, the time of 
 ou: departure alfo cometh, when we mall fol- 
 low our friends, and be for ever with them 
 and with the Lord ! For ever ! comfortable 
 truth* never more to part ; never more to 
 hang over the dying-bed, to catch the laft 
 mournful farewel, to hear the fad agonizing, 
 heart-rending groan ! We fhall meet, meet 
 with an inexpremble reciprocation of endear- 
 ing love and multiplied joy, to find ourfelves 
 all thus together, after our parting forrows,— 
 together; not in the world of trial, trouble 
 and lin, — but in a place where all things and 
 perfons, that are any ways offenfive, mail be 
 totally removed! No falfenefs or rancour, no 
 partiality or miflake, no prejudice or infirmity, 
 no malice or envy, no pafhon or pride fhall ever 
 difcompofe us there, nor ought be found to 
 . molefc or hinder the heavenly pleafure circu- 
 lating through every happy heart, and dwell- 
 ing upon every joyful face and thankful 
 tongue ! 
 
 Let us elevate our fouls to that blifsful 
 meeting, let us reflect upon its unfpeakable 
 comforts, and we mall iilence all our com- 
 plaints, 
 
the Lofs of F R i £ U i i j 9 g 
 
 plaints, and have only one anxious concern, 
 
 how to improve our own ibuls and to fecurc 
 the Redeemer's favour, that we may not fail 
 to meet, — to meet, and enjoy for ever, thofe 
 whofe lofs we fo fenfibly feel, and lb tenderly 
 regret. — And let us obferve, that this is a 
 moil awakening motive to the cultivation of 
 iincere and unduTembled friendihip, to activi- 
 ty in all its kind and endearing offices, to the 
 valuing our beloved and Chriftian minds; name- 
 ly, to look beyond the narrow limits of this 
 world, and the ihort fatisfactioiir of the pre- 
 sent tranfitory fcene, to that future, that glo- 
 rious meeting, the exquilite raptures of which 
 the good heart may faintly conceive, but can 
 never fully exprefs. If we have any love 
 for our friends, any tender deiire to meet 
 them again, this is one of the ffrongeft argu- 
 ments poflible to incite Us to a diligence in all 
 the duties of our holy religion ; for what an- 
 guiih can be conceived lo great as to meet 
 thofe friends again, only to be condemned by 
 the Judge which hath blcic them, and to be 
 hurried, for ever hurried from them into rni- 
 fery eternal ! — Surely, if we confider this, we 
 ihall be anxious to ferve and honour our God, 
 and fo will the joy of our future meeting be 
 certain and inexpredibly great. 
 
 Look not then, oh afflicted mourner, to the 
 
 breath! efs body and the devouring grave - 3 
 
 hang not over the melancholy contemplation, 
 
 r eiceem thy valued friend as for ever loll 
 
 O 4 to 
 
2oo CONSOLATIONS wider 
 
 to thee 5 a day is coming, thrice happy glo- 
 rious day, — oh fpeed it, God of infinite Jove 
 and goodnefs ; make us fit, and haften that 
 joyiui day I — a day is coming when thou malt 
 be fet free from all the anguilh of diftrefsful 
 forrow; when thy eyes., to weep no more, 
 ihal he clofed on this worid, and thy foul 
 mall afcend to the Paradife of God! There 
 fhall the enraptured parents receive again their 
 much-lov'd child -, there fhall the child, with 
 tranfport, meet again thofe parents in joy, 
 over whole graves, with filial duty, he dropt 
 the affectionate tears ; there fhall the difcon- 
 foiate widos'. ceafe her complaints, and her 
 orphans, orphans no more, {hail tell the Ld 
 tale of their diftrefs to the hufbana, the fa- 
 ther i diffrefs even pieafing to recollect:, now 
 that h ppinefs is its reiuit, and heaven its 
 end!— There fhall the foft fympathies of en- 
 dearing friendship be renewed; the affection- 
 ate fitters mall congratulate each other, and 
 faithful friends again fhaii mingle converfe,in- 
 terefts, amities, and wa'k high in blifs with 
 God himfelfj while all fhall join in one tri- 
 umphant acknowledgment of his wife and fa- 
 therly goodnefs, who from afflictions dedu- 
 ceth good, who bringeth men to glory, through 
 much tribulation, and purifieth them for his 
 kingdom in the blood of the fuffering Lamb I 
 
 SECT. 
 
the Lofs ^Friends. 201 
 
 SECT. III. 
 
 Confolations under the Lofs of Friends, drawn 
 from confulerations rtjfieEtmg QurfeJves. 
 
 MOTIVES for lubmifTion and comfort, 
 under the lofs of our friends, may be 
 derived from confiderations which refpect ei- 
 ther God, our departed Friends, Ourfelves, or 
 Others about us. We enlarged upon the argu- 
 ments drawn from the two former topics, God 
 and our departed Friends; it remains that we 
 confider ilich as regard Ourfhes and Others. 
 In order to moderate grief we mould 
 remember,- with reipect to Ourfelves, that 
 the lofs of friends is no ftrange or un- 
 common accident -, that ilill we have many 
 blefiings remaining ; that felf-love is too 
 much concerned, very often, in our grief ; 
 that God means our good, and that all afflic- 
 tion is profitable, if duly improved. 
 
 We mould remember, 1 . That no ftrange 
 or uncommon thing hath happened to us ; 
 nothing but what is ufual amongft men, no- 
 thing but what we well know is the univer- 
 sal condition of our nature. It is no more 
 ftrange that a man fhould die than that he 
 mould be born : art thou better than thy fa- 
 thers who are dead and gone ? what makeit 
 thou thyfelf ! 
 
 We come into a family and fee one fitting 
 
 lonely, 
 
202 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 lonely, in all the lilence of diflrefs; another 
 is overwhelmed with tears and flghs ; ano- 
 ther is gone up to his clofet like David to 
 weep and cry out, O/i, Abfalom, my Jon, ?ny 
 Jon J— -And what is the caufe of all this? why 
 one that was born to die is dead ! v/as it the 
 fifjft child, the firft hufband, the fiiTt friend 
 that ever died ? had you a patent from hea- 
 ven againfl the common lot ? would you have 
 had God made this perfon immortal to pleafe 
 you? He tea ret h himjelj in his- anger \ faith Job-, 
 — mall the earth be foriaken for thee, and 
 fhall the rock be removed out of its place? 
 Reconcile ehyfelf to the ordinary lot of thy 
 being; no f Irange thing, but what thou fhouldil 
 every day expect, hath happened to thee! 
 
 2. But conlider again, that in this friend all 
 your blefiings are not gone ; how many mer- 
 cies and comforts are continued to you, and 
 how many troubles kept off which might 
 have befallen you. You have loilfome chil- 
 dren: it might have been all. You have loft 
 all ; it might have been your hufband or wife 
 at the fame time. You have loft hufband or 
 wife-: it might have been alio eibate and all 
 the means of fubfiftence: or fuppofe that 
 gone too, you have liberty and health and 
 peace and friends; or fuppofe they are alio 
 gone, yet, yet, hold dp your heart in this 
 extreme difirefs, you are yet within reach or 
 heaven, you yet have God to apply to, which 
 is a greater Rood than any you have loir, or 
 
 than 
 
the Lofs of Friends. 203 
 
 than all put together. Pardon of fin and peace 
 with God may ftill be yours; and if in the 
 fhipwreck of every earthly comfort you find 
 thefe and embrace them, you will have no 
 need to lament the feverity of your afrlictionl 
 There are indeed fome cafes of refs 
 
 which are particularly mournful, but then 
 they have peculiar comforts, Th the 
 
 ividoiv, for ihflance, left with man) e 
 
 helplefs orphans weeping around her, and 
 wanting fupport -, deprived not only of the 
 Hulband and the father, but the means of 
 living and the fupplie , of broad ; to fuch an 
 haplefs woman, thus feyerely exercifed, what 
 comfort can you offer, what bleffings has me 
 left ? — She has the greater! of bleffings ; the im- 
 mediate and efpecial care of providence ; of that 
 God who, throughout his gracious word, hath 
 mown himfelf tendei icerned for the in- 
 
 terests of the widow, and the orphan, whofe 
 caufe he hath promifed not only to plead, but 
 to avenee, ana whofe caufe he hath recom- 
 mended to his people by the frrongefl argu- 
 ments! Leave thyfdthe) lefs children to me, faith 
 he, and I will preferve them alive, and let thy 
 widdws truft in me* . Let them but truft in 
 God, and lead fuch holy and exemplary lives 
 as may give them reafonable grounds for fuch 
 a truft, and they will experience the protect- 
 ing mercy of his fatherly hand ! their children, 
 
 duly 
 
 * See my Sermon on the Widow's Sons, — Miiacles, vo!. i. 
 p. 219. and the Reflections on Death, c.4. p. 51. 
 
204 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 duly and carefully inftrucled by them, fhall be- 
 come pleating comforts to their age, and hap- 
 py toothers of all their forrows. Friends, 
 unexpected friends mall arife, — providenjial 
 friends ; for pure religion and undefiled is to vifit f 
 to v-fit with comfort and afTiftance the father- 
 lefs and widows in their affiiBion ; and bleffed of 
 the Lord is the man who j udgeth their caufe, 
 and helpeth them in their difnefs. 
 
 3. Another motive to moderate our grief 
 for the lofs of friends mould be a ferious in- 
 fpection into the caufe of that grief; and in 
 iitch a cafe we mail often find, that feif-iove 
 is at the bottom of our forrow, We have 
 lofl a pleafure and an advantage; we are 
 mourning over the living rather than the 
 dead; if one, every way the fame, would make 
 11s eafy, the forrow is not for the departed, 
 but for ourfelves who furvive, Cicero, fpeak- 
 ing of the death of a friend, faith, " No 
 evil hath happened to him ; whatever it be, it 
 concerns only myfdf-, and to be feverely af- 
 flicted at one's own misfortunes is a proof not 
 of love to our friends but ourfelves." As felf- 
 love therefore predominates fo much, we 
 ought to moderate our paflion, and turn the 
 ftream of our grief another way, lamenting 
 that our hearts are {o felflih, and that we can 
 with fo much difficulty relign a prefent fatis- 
 fadtion, and make afacrificeof our wills to God. 
 
 4. We are bound, moreover, to confider the 
 end and deiign of affliction, and in confe- 
 
 quenee 
 
the Lofs of Friends. 205 
 
 quence to improve it properly. But I infift 
 not upon this, nor upon the due defert of our 
 offences, which certainly merit punifhment fe- 
 verer than we uiually meet with ; we, who out 
 of fo many pofTible miferies, have generally fo 
 few fall to our lot, when we are born to all 
 by defcent, fubject to all by nature, and deferv- 
 ing of all by lin. But thefe topics I have en- 
 larged upon in the former lections. 
 
 Let me only obferve, that as the great end 
 of Chriftianity is to draw our affections from 
 this world, and to fix them upon a better; fo 
 nothing is more calculated to produce that 
 end, than the lofs of our deareit friends, and, 
 their removal to that world, where we hope 
 fhortly to meet them. What is life without 
 the bleffings of fincere friendihip? What do 
 we live for but our friends? The only ties> 
 that hold us here, and make us willing to 
 ftay, are the tender, the affectionate ties of 
 endearing relationfhip. But when the rela- 
 tions, the friends for whom only we lived, 
 are no longer allowed to continue with us % 
 when thofe, who were dearer to us than our- 
 felves, are for ever taken from our mortal 
 light; furely we lhall leave this pilgrim's ftate 
 with lefs regret ; furely it will make death 
 more welcome, to have fent before thofe be- 
 loved ones, with whom we have the bleffed 
 hope of meeting in a better world, eternally 
 to enjoy each other, and never more to be 
 pain'd with the anguilh of parting. — So cm 
 
 of 
 
2o6 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 off the fibres, and loofen the root, and the 
 tree fad fixed in the earth but now, eafily falls, 
 and fheds its leafy honours on the ground. 
 
 SECT. IV. 
 
 Confutations under the Lofs of Friends, drawn 
 jrom Confederations refpeffing Others. 
 
 ' | ^O thefe confiderations which refpect 
 Ourfeives, let us next add thofe, which 
 may be drawn from a regard to Others, to the 
 world about us. I obferved in the Confolations 
 which were offered to thofe on the Sick-bed, 
 that a comparative view of ourfeives with 
 others, and of our many fuperior advantages, 
 was a ftrong motive to fubmiflion and thank- 
 ful nefs; the fame may be applied in the pre- 
 fent cafe. Compare your lofs and your cir- 
 cumstances with that of others, and you will 
 foon fee r.:any more mournful and miferable 
 than your fe If. There are a thoufand perfons 
 with whom you would not change conditi- 
 ons, nor be willing to lay down your own, up- 
 on an allowance to take up their burden. By 
 what law is it that you mull only gaze at 
 thofe above you, and take no notice of thofe 
 below ; that you rnuff look on him only 
 who is carried on mens moulders, and never 
 think of the poor men thai carry him! — 
 
 Look 
 
the Lofs of Friends. 207 
 
 Lock down, look down, oh child of forrow, 
 look to the many fuiTerers beneath thee, ant 
 thou wilt learn, at once, acquiefcence and 
 content. For, be allured, that as the moft 
 certain method to feed an envious and diicon- 
 tented fpirit, is to look up to thofe above 
 you, fo the fureft method to learn fubmirTioru 
 under the influence of God's grace, is to cait 
 your eyes on thofe in the inferior ftations of 
 life. 
 
 Confider, moreover, that while you mourn 
 the lofs of one friend, you owe the tribute of 
 duty and regard to others whofurvive-, for their 
 fakes, you mould learn to moderate your 
 grief and compofe your mind. Becaufe you 
 have loft a child will you forget that you have 
 a hufband? becaufe you have loft a hufband 
 will you forget you have children ? Let not 
 a concern for the dead totally obliterate a 
 regard for the living. 
 
 AgaiiT, you owe a duty as a Chriftian to- 
 your fellow-chriftians. What will they think. 
 of your hncerity, when they fee you over- 
 whelmed with for row for the lofs of a friend 
 who is removed to Godj for an affiicti' in 
 which your religion hath led you constantly 
 to expect, and hath allured you is one mark 
 of your adoption into the family of God, and. 
 a proof of his parental gcodnefs: For wl 
 the Lord lovet/i he chafteneth, even as a father 
 the Jon in whom he deligfiteth. Nay, and per- 
 haps God is pleafed to propofe you as an ex- 
 
2 o8 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 ample; this lofs may be fent not for the try» 
 ing of your own faith folely, but for the ex- 
 ample of others. And will you defeat the 
 purpofe of God, and be fo far wanting in 
 humble refignation, that others will have no 
 advantage from your example ; nay, that your 
 profefTion will be reproached through you, 
 who, upon trial, do not exercife that virtue, 
 which is the firft in Chriltianity, and with- 
 out which, (as we have before obferved) all 
 pretences to religion are vain, vain without 
 an humble and filial fubmiiTion of our will 
 to God. 
 
 Let us alfo confider, as in a former cafe, 
 that if we are wholly wanting in this virtue 
 under afflictions and lolfes, v/e are not only 
 unworthy the name of his difciples, who 
 through fuifering entered into glory, but we 
 fall mort of many heathens. A Spartan 
 woman had five fbns in the army upon the 
 day of battle; when a foldier came running 
 from the camp to bring tidings to the city, 
 me was waiting at the gzte; and enquiring 
 what news* " Thy five fons are {lain," faid 
 the meifenger. " I did not enquire after 
 them, replied me ; how goes it in the field 
 of battle ?" " We have gained the victory, 
 laid he, Sparta is fafe." " Then, faid me, let 
 lis be thankful to the gods for our deliver- 
 ance and our country's freedom." r Zeno i the 
 philofopher, loft all he had in a fhipwreck; 
 " he protected It was the bed: voyage he ever 
 
 made 
 
the Lofs 0/* Friends. 209 
 
 made in his life, becaufc it proved the occa- 
 iion of his betaking himfeif to the ftudy of 
 virtue and wifdom." Seneca fays, " I enjoy 
 my friends and relations, as one who is to loie 
 them ; and I lofe them, as one who have them 
 ftill in poileffion." And to the gods he fpeaks 
 thus: " I only want to know your will; as 
 foon as I know what that is, I am always of 
 the fame mind. I don't fay you have taken 
 [rem me, but that you have accepted from my 
 hands what I was ready to offer!" 
 
 Surely thefe noble fentiments mould in- 
 fpire us with a generous er. .>! tipjg to excel 
 thofe who were fo inferior to us in every ad- 
 vantage. And while we profefs curfelves 
 difcipies of a M after, who hath fet us fuch an 
 example of fuffering and of patience, and who 
 hath given us fo many and great promifes, 
 we mall cheerfully acquiefce in all his graci- 
 ous difpoials, receive good as well as evil with 
 a thankful fefigned heart; -that it may be faid 
 of us, as the Chriftians ufed to fay of old, 
 ? We do not talk, but we live great things." 
 
 Such are the arguments for fubmiffion and 
 comfort under the lofs of friends, which may 
 he derived from a coniideration of Ourfehes 
 and OiheW. Arguments which are fo excel- 
 lently applied' by Sir William ^Temple, in his 
 ■famous letter 3 to the Gounfcefs of E[fey: t on her 
 .immoderate grief occasioned by tne lofs of Her 
 oftly d .-, that, inuead of recapitulating 
 
 hat hatn been advanced, I will mbjrjiri in 
 P the 
 
2!o Sir WiLLiAM TempleV Letter 
 
 the next fection that letter, which well de- 
 fences the moil careful perufal. 
 
 SECT. V. 
 
 Sir William Temple's Letter of Confla- 
 tion to Lady Essex, on the Lojs cf her only 
 Daughter* 
 
 Know no duty in religion more generally 
 agreed on, nor more judly required by 
 God Almighty, than a perkc~t fubmifiion to 
 his will in all things ; nor do I think any 
 diipoftion of mind can either pleafe him 
 more, or become us better, than that of be- 
 ing fatlsfie'd with all he gives, and contented 
 with all he takes away. None, I am lure, 
 can be of more honour to God, nor of more 
 eafe to ourfelves ; for if we confider him as 
 our Maker, we cannot contend with him; if 
 as our Father, we ought not to diftruit him : 
 fo that we may be confident whatever he does 
 is intended for our good, and whatever hap- 
 pens, that we interpret ctherwiie, yet we can 
 gtt nothing by repining, nor fave any thing 
 by refifling. 
 
 But if it were fit for us to reafon with Gcd 
 Abnighty, and your Ladyfhip's lois be ac- 
 knowledged 
 
to Lady Essex. 211 
 
 knowledged as great as it could have been to 
 any one alive, yet, I doubt, you would have 
 but ill grace to complain at the rate you have 
 done, or rather as you do ; for the firft motions 
 or parlions, how violent foever, may be par- 
 doned; and it is only the courfe of them which 
 makes them inexcufable. In this world, Ma- 
 dam, there is nothing perfectly good, and what- 
 ever is called fo, is but either comparatively 
 with other things of its kind, or eife with the 
 evil that is mingled in its compofition; fo he is 
 a good man that is better than men com- 
 monly are, or in whom the good qualities are 
 more than the bad : fo, in the courfe of life, 
 his condition is efteemed good which is bet- 
 ter than that of mod: other men, or wherein 
 the o-ood circumftances are more than the 
 
 o 
 
 ill. By this meafure, I doubt, Madam, your 
 comolaints ou^ht to be turned into ac- 
 knowled^ments, and vour friends would have 
 caufe to rejoice rather than condole with you; 
 for the goods or blernngs of life are ufually 
 efteemed to be birth, health, beauty, friends, 
 children, honour, riches. Now when your 
 Ladyfhip has fairly ccnlidered how God Al- 
 mighty has dealt with you in what he has 
 given you of all thefe, you may be left to 
 judge yourfelf how you have dealt with him 
 in your complaints for what he has taken a- 
 way. But if you look about you, and con- 
 sider other lives as well as your own, and 
 what your lot is in companion with thofe 
 P 2 that 
 
212 Sir William Temple^ Letter 
 
 that have been drawn in the circle of your 
 knowledge; if you think how few are born 
 with honour, how many die without name 
 or children, how little beauty we fee, how 
 few friends we hear of, how many difeafes 3 
 and how much poverty there is in the world, 
 you will fall down upon your knees, and, in- 
 ftead of repining at one affliction, will admire 
 fo many blefiings as ycu have received at the 
 hand of God. 
 
 To put your Ladyihip in mind of what 
 you are, and the advantages you have in all 
 thefe points, would look like a defign to Hat- 
 ter you; but this I may fay, That we will 
 pity you as much as you pleafe, if you tell us 
 who they are that you think, upon all circum- 
 ftanee§, you have reafon to envy. Now if I 
 had a i iafter that gave me all I could alk, but 
 thought; nf to take one thing from me again, 
 cither becaufc I ufed it ill, or gave myfeif fo 
 much oyer to it, as to- negled: what I owed 
 either to him or the reft of the world, or per- 
 haps becauie yould mew his power, and 
 . put me in mn d from whom I held all the reft, 
 would you think I had much reafon to com- 
 plain or' hard ufage, and never to remember any 
 more what was left me, never to forpet what 
 was taken away. 
 
 It is true you have loft a child, and therein 
 all that could be loft in a child of that age ; 
 but you have kept one child, and are likely 
 to do fo lone: you ha\e the ailurance of arm- 
 
 ther, 
 
to Lady Essex. 213 
 
 ther, and the hopes of many more. You have 
 kept a hufband great in employment and in 
 fortune, and, which 19 \ in the efleem of 
 
 good men. You have kept your beauty and 
 your health, unlefs ^ou have deftrdyed thern 
 yourfelf, or dilceuraged them to ftiry with 
 you by tiling them ill. You have friends 
 that are as kind to you as you can wifh or as 
 you can give them leave to be by their fears 
 of loiing you, and being thereby to much the 
 unhappier, the kinder they are to you. But 
 you' have honour and efteefti from all that 
 know you ; or, if ever it fails in any degree, 
 it is only upon that point of your feeming to 
 be fallen out with God and the whole world, 
 and neither to care for yourlelf, or any thing 
 clfe, after what you have loft. 
 
 You will fay, perhaps, That one thing was 
 all to you, and your fondnefs of it made ycu 
 indifferent to every thing elfej but this, I 
 doubt, will be fo far from juftifying you, 
 that it will prove to be your fault as well 
 as your misfortune. God Almighty gave you • 
 all the bleilings of life, and you let your 
 heart wholly upon one, and defpife or under- 
 value all the reft-; is this his fault or yours? 
 Nay, is it not to be very unthankful to Hea- 
 ven, as well as very febrnful to the reft of 
 the world ! is it not to fay, Becaufe you 
 have loft one thing God hath given you, ) 
 thank hum for nothing he has left, and tare 
 not what he takes away ? Is it not to fay, 
 P 2 Since 
 
2i4 & r William TempleV Letter- 
 
 Since that one thing is gone out of the world,, 
 there is nothing left in it which you think can 
 deferve your kindnefs or efteem? A friend 
 makes me a feaft, and fets all before me that his 
 care or kindneft could provide ; but I fet my 
 heart upon one di£h alone, and if that happen 
 to be thrown down, I fcorn all the reft; and 
 though he fends for another of the fame, yet I 
 rife from the table in a rage, and fay my friend 
 is my enemy,, and has done me the greater!: 
 wrong in the world; have I reafon, Madam,, 
 or good grace in what I do? Or would it be- 
 come me better to eat of the reft that is before 
 me, and think no more of what had happen- 
 ed, and could not be remedied ? 
 
 All the precepts of Chriftiamty agree to- 
 teach and command us to moderate our paf- 
 fions, to temper our affections towards all 
 things below ; to be thankful for the pofTef- 
 fion, and patient under the lofs, whenever he 
 that gave it mail fee fit to take away. Your 
 extreme fondnefs was, perhaps, as difpleafing 
 to God before, as now your extreme affliction ; 
 and your lofs may have been a punifhment for 
 your faults in the manner of enjoying what 
 you had. It is, at leaft, pious to afcribe all 
 the ill that befalls us to our own demerits 
 rather than to injuftice in God ; and it 
 becomes us better to adore all the ifiues of his. 
 providence in the effects, than enquire in- 
 to the caufes : for fubmiilion is the only way 
 of reafonjog between, a creature, and its Ma- 
 ker ; 
 
to Lady Essex. 215 
 
 ker; and contentment in his will is fhe great- 
 eft duty we can pretend to, and the belt re* 
 medy we can apply to all our misfortunes. 
 
 But, Madam, though religion were no 
 party in your cafe, and that for lb violent and 
 injurious a grief you had nothing to anfwer 
 to God, but only to the world and yourjelfi 
 yet I very much doubt how you would be ac- 
 quitted. We bring into the world with us a 
 poor needy uncertain life, fhort at the longed, 
 and unquiet at the beft; all the imaginations 
 of the witty and the wife have been perpe- 
 tually bulied to find out the ways how to re- 
 vive it with pleafures, or relieve it with di- 
 versions ; how to compofe it with eafe, and 
 fettle it with fafety. To fome of thefe ends 
 have been employed the inftitutibns of law- 
 givers, the reafonings of philofophers, the in- 
 ventions of poets, the pains of labouring, and 
 the extravagancies of voluptuous men. All 
 the world is perpetually at work about no- 
 thing elfe, but only that our poor mortal lives 
 fhould pafs the eafier and happier for that 
 little time v/e porTefs them, or elfe end the 
 better when we lofe them. Upon this occa- 
 fion riches came to be coveted, honours to be 
 eileemed, friendship and love to be purfued, 
 and virtues themfelves to be admired in the 
 world. Now, Madam, is it not to bid de- 
 fiance to all mankind to condemn their uni- 
 verfal opinions and defigns, if, inflead of paf- 
 fing your life as well and eafily, you refolve to 
 P 4 pais 
 
2:6 Sir William Templl'j- Letter 
 
 pafs it as ill and as miferably as yen can? 
 Yuu grow infenfiblc to the conveniences of 
 riches, the delights 'of honour and praife, the 
 charms of kindnefs or friendfhip, nay, to the 
 obfervarice or applaufe of virtues themfelves; 
 for who can you expect, in thefe excefles of 
 'ion, will allow you to fhew either tem- 
 e or fortitude, to be either prudent or 
 ::i:l for your friends, I fuppofe, you 
 upon loling their kindnefs, when you 
 have iufriciently convinced them they can ne- 
 ver hope for any of yours, fince you have none 
 left for yourfelf or any thing elfe. You de- 
 clare, upon all occaMons, you are incapable of 
 receiving any comfort or pleafure in any thing 
 that is left in this worlds and I allure you,. 
 Madam, none can ever love you, that can have 
 no hopes ever to pleafe you. 
 
 Among the feveral inquiries an'! endeavours 
 after the happinefs of life, the fenfual men a- 
 gree in purfuit of every pleafure they can ftart, 
 without regarding the pains of the chafe, the 
 wearinefs when it ends, or how little the 
 quarry is worth. The bufy and ambitious 
 fall into the more lading puriuits of power 
 afro* riches j the fpeculative men prefer tran- 
 quillity of mind before the different motions 
 or paflion and appetite, or the common fuc- 
 cefiions of defire and fatiety, of pleafure and 
 pain ; but this may feem too dull a principle 
 for the happinefs of life, which is ever in mo- 
 tion j and paiiions are perhaps the flings,, 
 
 without 
 
to Lady Essex. a ij 
 
 without which they fay no honey is made ; yet 
 I think all forts of men have over agreed, 
 they ought to be our fervants and not our 
 mailers ; to give us fome agitation for enter- 
 tainment or exercife, but never to throw our 
 reafon out of its feat. Perhaps I would not 
 always fit 'ft ill, or would be fometimes on 
 horfe-back ; but I would never ride a horfe 
 that galls my flefh, or makes my bones, or 
 that runs away with me as he pleafes, fo as I 
 can neither ftoj) at a river or precipice. Bet- 
 ter no pafhons at all, than have them too vio- 
 lent; or fuch alone, as inllead of heightning 
 our pleafures, afford us nothing but vexation 
 and pain. 
 
 In all fuch loffes as your Ladymip's has 
 been, there is fomething that common nature 
 cannot be denied ; there is a great deal that 
 good nature may be allowed : but all excef- 
 iive and outrageous grief or lamentation for 
 the dead, was accounted among the ancient 
 Chriftians, to have fomething of heathenifh ; 
 and, among the civil nations of old, to have 
 fomething of barbarous; and therefore it has 
 been the care of the firft to moderate it by 
 their precepts, and the latter to reftrain it 
 by their law. The longeft time that has been 
 allowed to the forms of mourning by the cu- 
 ftom of any country, and in any relation, has. 
 been but that -of a year, in which fpace the 
 body is commonly fuppofed to be mouldered 
 away to earth, and to retain no more figure 
 
 of 
 
218 Sir William Temple V Letter 
 
 of what it was; but this has been given only 
 to the lofs of p xents, of huiband or wife. On 
 the other fide, to children under age, nothing 
 has been allowed; and I fuppofe, with parti- 
 cular reafon, the common ground of all gene- 
 ral cuftoms, perhaps becauie they die in inno^ 
 cence, and without having taRed the miferies^ 
 of life ; fo as we are fure they are well when 
 they leave us, and efcape much ill, which would, 
 in all appearance, have befallen them if they 
 had fbayed longer with us. Befides a pa- 
 rent may have twenty children, and fo his 
 mourning may run through all the beft of his 
 life, if his lories are frequent of that kir*d ; 
 and our kindnefs to children fo young, is tak- 
 en to proceed from common opinions, or fond 
 imaginations, not friendfhip or efteem; and to 
 be grounded upon entertainment, rather than 
 ufe in the many offices of life: nor would it 
 pafs from any perfon befides your Ladyfhip, 
 to fay you loft a companion and a friend at 
 nine years old; though you loft one indeed, 
 who gave the fairefl hopes that could be of 
 being both in time, and every thing elfe that 
 was efteemable and good: but yet, that itfelf, 
 God only knows, confidering the changes of 
 humour and difpoiltion, which are as great 
 as thole of feature and mape the nrfr. fixteen 
 years of our lives, confidering the chances of 
 time, the infection of company, the mares 
 of the world, and the pamons of youth; {o 
 that the moft excellent and agreeable crea- 
 ture 
 
to Lady Essex-. zig 
 
 ture of that tender age, and that feemed 
 born under the happiefl itars, might, by the 
 courie of years and accidents, come to be 
 the moil miferable herfelf, and more trou- 
 ble to her friends by living long, than ihe- 
 could have been by dying young. 
 
 Yet after all, Madam, I think your lofs fo 
 great, and fome meafure of your grief fo de~ 
 fervea, that would all your paffionate com- 
 plaints, all the anguiili of your heart do any- 
 thing to retrieve it ; could tears water the 
 lovely plant, fo as to make it grow again af- 
 ter once it is cut down 5 would fighs furnifh 
 new breath, or could it craw life and fpirit& 
 from the wafting of yours; I am fure your 
 friends would be fo far from accufing your 
 • pafnon, that they would encourage it as much 
 and fhare it as aeep as they could. But, alas! 
 the eternal laws or the creation extinguish all 
 fuch hopes, forbid all fuch defigns : nature 
 gives us many children and friends to take 
 them away, hut takes none away to give thcxii 
 us again. And this makes the excc-iTes of 
 grief to have been fo univerially condemned 
 as a thing unnatural, becaufe fo much in 
 vain; whereas nature, they fay, does nothing; 
 in vain: as a thing fo unreasonable, becaufe 
 fo contrary to our own deiigns; for we ail de- 
 lign to be well, and at eafe, and bv grief wc 
 make ourfelves ill of imaginary wounds, aixl 
 raife ourielves troubles mofr. properly out of" 
 the dull, whilft our ravines and complaii 
 
 &ra 
 
220 Sir William Templ£'j- Letter 
 
 are but like arrows fhot up into the air at no 
 mark, and fo to no purpofe, but only to fall 
 back upon our heads, and deftroy ourfelves, 
 iriftead of recovering or revenging our friends. 
 Perhaps, Madam, you will fay, this is your 
 deiign, or if not, your defire; but I hope you 
 are not yet fo far gone, or fo defperately bent : 
 your Ladymip knows very well your life is 
 not your own, but his that lent it you to ma- 
 nage, and preferve the beftyou could, and not 
 to throw it away, as if it came from fome com- 
 mon hand. It belongs, in a great meafure to 
 your country, and your family; and therefore 
 by all human laws, as well as divine, felf- 
 murder has ever been agreed on as the great- 
 
 o o 
 
 eft crime, and is punifhed here with the ut- 
 moft fhame, which is all that can be inflicted 
 upon the dead. But is the crime much lefs 
 to kill ourfelves by a flow poifon, than by a 
 fudden wound ? Now if we do it, and know 
 we do it by a long and a continual grief, can 
 we think ourfelves innocent ? What great dif- 
 ference is there if we break our hearts or con- 
 fume them; if we pierce them, cr bruife 
 them; fince all determines in the fame death, 
 as all arifes from the fame defpair ? But what 
 if it goes not fo far? It is not indeed fo bad as 
 might be, but that does not excufe it from 
 being very ill : though I do not kill my neigh- 
 bour, is it no hurt to wound him, or to ipoi! 
 him of the conveniences of life ? The greateft 
 crime is for a man to kill himfelf; is it a fmall 
 
 one 
 
to Lady Essex. 221 
 
 one to wound himfelf by anguifli of heart, by 
 grief or defpair to ruin his health, to ihorten 
 his age, to deprive himfelf of all the pleafures, 
 or eafes, or enjoyments of life ? 
 
 Next to the mifchiefs v/e do ourfelves, are 
 thofe we do our children and our friends, as 
 thofe who deferve heft of us, or at leaft de- 
 ferve no ill. The child you carry about you, 
 what has that done, that you mould endea- 
 vour to deprive it of life, almoftas foon as you 
 beftow it? Or if at the beft you naffer it to 
 live to be born, yet, by your ill ufage of your- 
 felf, mould lb much impair the ftrength of 
 its body and health, and perhaps the very 
 temper of its mind, by giving it fuch an in- 
 fufion of melancholy, as may ferve to difco- 
 lour the objects, and difrelilh the accidents it 
 may meet with in the common train of life ? 
 But this is one you are not yet acquainted 
 with ; what will you fay to another you are ? 
 Were it a fmall injury to my Lord Cape/, to 
 deprive him of a mother, from whofe pru- 
 dence and kindnefs he may juftly expect the 
 cares of his health and education, the forming 
 of his body, and the cultivating of his mind; 
 the feeds of honour and virtue, and thereby 
 the true principles of a happy life ? I low has 
 my Lord of Ejffex deferved that you mould go 
 about to lofe him a wife he loves with fo 
 much paffion, and which is more, with fo 
 much reafonj fo great an honour and fupport 
 to his family, fo great a hope to his fortune, 
 
 and 
 
222 Sir WiIXiam TempleV Letter 
 
 ^nd comfort to his life ? Are there fo many 
 left of your own great family, that you mould 
 flelire in a manner wholly tc reduce it, by fuf- 
 fering thegreatefl and almoft laft branch of it 
 to wither away before its time? or is your 
 country in this age (o ftored with great per- 
 fons, that ycu mould envy it thole we may 
 juftly expe& from fo noble a race ? 
 
 Whillfc I had any hopes your tears would 
 ■cafe you, or that your grief would confume it- 
 felf by liberty and time, your Lady {Lip knows 
 very well I never once accufed it, nor ever 
 increafed it, like many others, by the com- 
 mon formal ways of alfuaging it; and this I 
 am fure is the firft office of this kind I ever 
 went about to perform otherwife than in the 
 molt ordinary forms, I was in hope what 
 was fo violent could not be fo Ion? ; but when 
 I obferved it to grow ilronger with age, and 
 increafe like a flream the further it run; when 
 I faw it draw out to fo much unhappy confe- 
 quences, and threaten no lefs than your child, 
 your health, and your life; I could no longer 
 forbear this endeavour, nor end it without 
 begging of your Ladyfhip for God's fake, and 
 for your own, for your childrens and your 
 friends, for your country's and your families, 
 that you would no longer abandon yourfelf to 
 fo difconfohte a paffion, but that you would 
 at length awaken your piety, give wa/ to your 
 prudence, or at leaft roufe up the invincible 
 fpirii of the Piera'es, that never yet fhrunk at 
 
 any 
 
to Lady Essex. 223 
 
 any difafter; that you would fomctimes re- 
 member the great honours and fortunes of 
 your family, not always the lories j cheriflt 
 thofe veins of good humour that are fome- 
 times fo natural to you, and fear up thofe of 
 ill that would make you fb unnatural to your 
 children, and to yourfelf; but, above all, that 
 you would enter upon the cares of your health, 
 and your life, for your friends fake at leaft, 
 if not for youf own. For my part, I know 
 nothing could be to me fo great an honour 
 and fatisfaction, as if your Ladymip would 
 own me to have contributed towards this 
 cure; but, hov/ever, none can perhaps more 
 juitly pretend to your pardon for the attempt, 
 fince there is none, I am fure, that has always 
 had at heart a greater honour for your Lady- 
 mip's family, nor can have for your perfon 
 more devotion and efleem." 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 Conclujion of Confolatvons under the Lofs of 
 Friends. 
 
 UCH is the advice which this great mari 
 gives to inforce the duty of fubmimon to 
 God's will ; a duty, as he well observes, moil 
 acceptable to God, and molt becoming us. 
 And, I truft, that a ferious reffe&ion on thefe 
 arguments on what hath been offered in this 
 
 and 
 
22 4 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 and the former feclions to inftrud: and com- 
 fort, will not fail of its deiired effect; but 
 that, whenever we are tried with the lofs of 
 friends, the confidera-tions drawn from a re- 
 gard to God, to our deceafed friends, to our 
 ownielves, and to others that furvive, will 
 render us patient and refigned, and enable us 
 to fay, in the words of the moft eminent Pat- 
 tern of rengnatiun, Father, thy will be done! 
 
 How bleffed js iuch a temper ! what a 
 iource of everiafting comforts ! Surely we 
 ihall be anxious to obtain it, efpecialiv as 
 there is fo great need of it amongft fuch a 
 variety of changes and chances as human na- 
 ture is heir to; and, to obtain it, permit me 
 to obferve, in conclufion, one way will be to 
 know and. to remove the great obftacles and 
 impediments to it. Thefe are unbelief, which, 
 in whatever degree it prevails, lerTens the in- 
 fluence of inviiible things. Did we believe 
 the fmcere word of God, did we firmly and 
 undoubtedly rely on the promifes of Chrift, 
 how could we forrow, as men without hope, 
 fior thofe that fleep in him, for thofe that 
 fleep the happy flumber of death to awaken 
 to immortality and glory! the ftrcnger our 
 faith, the greater will be our reiignation anil 
 comfort. 
 
 Impatience, and an indulgence of jklf-wil}, 
 is another great impediment to reiignation ; 
 this is, in all refpects, an unhappinefs. Pa- 
 rents fhould early look to this evil in their 
 
 offspring ; 
 
tie Ldjs of Friends. 225 
 
 offspring; from an indulgence of felf-will in 
 childhood what miferies are often treafured 
 Up for our growing years ! Indeed, no people 
 have their will lefs than they who are for hav- 
 ing it always; they draw more troubles upon 
 themfclves, and feci them deeper. Take a- 
 way felf-will, and you take away a thouland 
 forrows which felf-will creates to itfelf, and 
 from which refignation totally delivers. 
 
 Too great expectations from the world and 
 the things of it, is another impediment to this 
 heavenly temper; the higher we rife in our 
 expectations and opinions of things, the low- 
 er we fall in the vexations of difappointment; 
 We cannot expect too little from a vain, de- 
 lufive, and tranfitory fcene like the prefent. 
 Very ftrong affections alio make way for great 
 forrows, and render ftibmifiion to providence 
 more difficult. We Ihould he careful, iri all 
 our affections for temporal blelhngs, to re- 
 member, that they are mortal and mutable. 
 
 An unwillingnefs to reflect on fcehes of 
 parting makes parting mere painful, and 
 refignation more uneafyj he that will die 
 Well, mufl die daily : fo he who will refign 
 well, rritift practice upon refignation, and fre- 
 quently fearch into his own mind. — What if 
 I ihould return home this evening and find 
 my houfe in flames? That fair eflate, which 
 is now the fupply of my wants, what if it 
 ihould take wings and fly away ? what if the 
 defire of my eyes fhould be taken oft with a , 
 Q^ ftrpke, 
 
226 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 flroke ; or that pretty and beloved child, I 
 fhculd fee it lie a dead corpfe? that which 
 I now lay in my bofom, I ihouid then not be 
 able to bear in my fight ? What ihouid I then 
 do? how mould I then behave? am I pre- 
 pared for fuch a cafe ? If not, I have the more 
 reafon to think of it beforehand. If I am 
 prepared for it, then I can the better bear to 
 think of it now j or elfe how {hall I bear the 
 thing itfelf, when, by refilling to think of it 
 at all beforehand, I have continued to make 
 it more intolerably afflictive. Sudden and 
 unexpected evils always affect us moft; the 
 mind bears with fortitude what it forefees, 
 and is prepared to encounter. 
 
 Laltly, another impediment to refigna- 
 tion is an over- weening opinion of our own 
 deferfs. This leads us to think that God 
 hath dealt hardly with us ; whereas, alas* 
 would we but remember that ail we have is 
 his free gift, thai; we neither have nor can 
 deferve any thing from him; nay, rather that 
 we deferve ptmiihment only; — we fhall bow 
 our heads with true fubmifllon. Humility is 
 the ground work of almoit. every virtue, but 
 efpecially of refignation; and when we reflect 
 ferioufly on ourfelves, furely we can never be 
 deficient in humility ! 
 
 On ourfelves, who fhortly muft follow the 
 beloved friends whom we lament; — muft 
 fhortly mingle, like them, v/ith the duft of 
 the earth, and enter into the unknown world! 
 
 or 
 
the Lofs ^Friends. 227 
 
 of the bleflings of which we are fatisfied, 
 want of refignation will certainly deprive us > 
 and therefore as the hope of once more meet- 
 ing our dear departed friends in glory is one 
 of the ftrongeft motives for comfort, io ought 
 it to be the ftrongeft motive for refignation , if 
 we wifh that hope to be rationally founded! 
 Let us therefore confider ourfelves and our 
 friends only as fo many pilgrims and fojourn- 
 ers, travelling forward to our father's houfe; 
 let us confider thofe who are departed only as 
 arrived there fomething before us; and though 
 we may tenderly lament the lofs of their 
 fweet fociety, the endearments of their friend- 
 fhip, the kindnefs and fupport of their aid ; 
 though all we love and all we efteem is with- 
 drawn, when they are withdrawn from us -, 
 yet let us confole our hearts with this pleaf- 
 ing remembrance, that we too ftiall fhortly 
 nnifh our journey, that we too mall fhortly 
 lay afide our palmer's weeds, thefe robes of 
 mortality; and mall fhortly quit thefe houfesof 
 clay: which furely we may quit more content- 
 edly, when all, who are valuable to us, have 
 already forfaken them, and are waiting to re- 
 ceive us in a place, where arguments of confo- 
 lation (hall no more be needful, where the tear 
 mail for ever be wiped from our eyes, and the 
 bitternefs of forrovv for ever removed from 
 our hearts ! 
 
 There, oh there may we meet all our Chri - 
 
 ftian friends, with whom we have travelled 
 
 0^2 peacefully 
 
223 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 peacefully together through the bad roads of 
 this life; there may we meet all our deceafed 
 friends whom we loved here below ; and there 
 may we for ever enjoy the happy fruits, of 
 our own conftant endeavours to obey the com- 
 mands, and to reiign, as dutiful children, to 
 the better will of our Father and our God in 
 Jefus Chrift our only Lord and Saviour. 
 Amen. 
 
 SECT. VI. 
 
 Confolations under the Lofs of Eilate or For- 
 tune. 
 
 ' | ^ H O U G H there is nothing fo certain 
 J[ as our departure from this world, when 
 we mull relinquii.il every acquifition, and 
 leave behind us all we hold dear ; and though 
 in this view the love of wealth, and the purfuits 
 of avarice are vainer than vanity, and abiurd 
 beyond contempt; yet we may obferve, with 
 pity and aftonifhmcnt, that this pernicious 
 vice cleaves to the foul with the moil tena- 
 cious adherence ; nay. and often cleaves more 
 
 - 
 
 clofely the nearer men are to their end ; who, 
 forrowful to think, frequently are found more 
 attached to this world, as the time of their 
 continuance in ft grows fhorter, and the power 
 of their enjoying it grows lefs. — To preferve 
 men from an evil fo dangerous in itfelf, and 
 
 fo 
 
the Lofs ^"Estate cr Fortune. 229 
 
 lo hateful to the God of Bounty, that God, in 
 his wife providence, often fees fit to deprive 
 men of their beaded idol, to give wings to 
 their riches, and to reduce them to a more 
 humble ftate, that they may learn a better re- 
 liance, and entertain a more rational hope. 
 While, from others, he is pleafed wholly to 
 withhold thde great means of falfe depend- 
 ence, and to preferve them from the tempta- 
 tions of riches, by keeping them always in 
 the fchool of poverty. Poverty has its evils 
 many and great; the lofs of wealth and for- 
 tune is feverely afflictive, much more diffi- 
 cult perhaps to be borne than native and 
 continued poverty; yet many are the com- 
 forts which religion hath to offer to thofe 
 who wring beneath the burden of either of 
 thefe diflreffes. And as we have offered ar- 
 guments of confolation under the lofs of 
 health and of friends, we will now endeavour to 
 fuggeft fuch arguments of comfort to thofe 
 who lament the lofs of their fortunes, and to - 
 thofe who feel the afflictions of poverty, as * 
 reafon and the religion of Chriff will fupply. 
 And though fuch arguments may appear cold 
 and unperfuaiive to thofe, who favoured of 
 providence, enjoy all thofe bleffings which 
 wealth and independence bellow ; yet let 
 them not object, that the unfortunate and the 
 poor, who have none of thefe diitinguifhed 
 felicities to cheer and to confole them, that 
 they claim a part in our attention, that they 
 Q_3 have 
 
230 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 have a large mare in the confutations of 
 Chrift j for furely poverty and diftrefs, furely 
 want and neceffity, amidfl their complicated 
 woes, call for the foothing tendernefs of hu- 
 manity, and demand all the fympathetic 
 kindnefs which happier and more favoured 
 brethren and fellow-chriftians can beftow. 
 
 In the firil place then, let us endeavour 
 to fugpeft. fome arguments of confolation to 
 thofe who have known the misfortune of 
 change; who feel the difficulties of want ag- 
 gravated by the knowledge and enjoyment of 
 former plenty. Thofe evils that we have been 
 inured to, as being bred with us from our 
 cradle, become fo familiar, that we are little 
 moved with their prefence; but thofe into 
 which we fall fuddenly, from an outward and 
 fburifhing felicity of eftate, are almoft ready 
 to overwhelm us. But if our care be not to 
 want thofe better riches which can make, 
 and which alone can make the foul happy, 
 we mall not be too much or too deeply con- 
 cerned for the lofs of thefe trivial and perifh- 
 ing pciTefficns, which prove, by their lofs, 
 that they are not real goods: for real goods 
 could not have been loft, iince that good, 
 which is capable of lofs, as it is unfatisfying 
 in the time of an imperfect and uncertain en- 
 joyment, fo in lofmg it becomes evil, and is 
 therefore unworthy our mind's attachment. 
 Riches in their very nature are fluctuating 
 and unfure; JVilt thou Jet thine eyes upon that 
 
 ivliicli 
 
the Loft ^Estate or Fortune. 23 t 
 
 which is not ? wilt thou place thy affections 
 upon that which hath no folid and certain 
 continuance ? For riches certainly make them- 
 felves wings, they jiy away as an eagle towards 
 heaven! Who then would be fo unwife as to 
 fix his heart upon that which can never fatis- 
 fy his heart's defires ; which is fo likely to 
 forfake and deceive him, and which he him- 
 felf muft one day necefTarily forfake, though 
 it mould remain conftant to him all the days 
 of his life ? How much wifer to fet our heart 
 upon that excellent and enduring wealth 
 which will fatisfy all our wifhes, and can never 
 be taken from us, which mail never leave us, 
 and which we mall never leave ! — Covetouf- 
 nefs of this wealth is honourable and will be ' 
 blefTed; and he, who earneflly covets this, will 
 never lament the lofs of earthly riches immo- 
 derately. 
 
 And as earthly riches are not goods in 
 themfelves, properly fpeaking, fo neither can 
 we, with propriety, call them our's. Here we 
 found them; and what is a melancholy confi- 
 deration to the covetous heart, though to the 
 wife man an argument of comfort, here we 
 muft leave whatever we ponefs ! What have 
 we of them, at the beft, but their ufe; avarice 
 indeed, unmerciful to itfelf, hath not even the 
 ufe of them, and yet all it can leave of them, 
 even to its heirs, is only this ufe : We brought 
 nothing into this world, and it is certain we can 
 carry nothing out! We may blufh to hear a 
 Q^4 heathen 
 
232 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 heathen philofopher fay, " All that is mine 
 I carry about me;'' when many of us Chri- 
 stians, profehing a religion whole ible hope is 
 in heaven, are ready to embrace thole things 
 molt clofely to us, and to elleem them as 
 molt our own, which are not only without us, 
 but are earthly and periihing ! It is an unan- 
 fwerable queftion which God puts to the rich 
 man in the parable, when his foul was fum- 
 moned to leave its promifed felicity, T/ieg 
 ivhofe Jhall thefe things be which thou hafi pro- 
 vided! perhaps a ftranger's, perhaps a falfe 
 executor's, perhaps an enemy's! Thofe very 
 riches and pofTeflions which have engrorTed 
 the heart, and, poffibly, ruined the foul for 
 ever, maybe the fubject pf litigation amongfl 
 nsareft relations j may fall to their (hare whom 
 you never valued in life, who will never re- 
 member you with gratitude in death, and 
 who, if they did, could avail nothing to the 
 future welfare of the foul. Then let us not 
 call fuch things our own ; but call we that 
 ours which we mail be fure to carry away 
 with us, which will be lure to accompany our 
 fouls in the lafl pafTage, or to follow them; 
 call we our own, (for thefe are flncUy fuch,) 
 our heavenly and Chrifrian graces, our chari- 
 table works, our virtuous actions, our holy 
 difpofilions; thefe. thefe are the never- failing 
 treafures which we mould Jay up there, w/:ere 
 neither moth nor ruji doth corrupt, where thieves 
 d? not break through nor Jleal. 
 
 Consider 
 
tl i Lofs of E s t a t £ or V ortuke. 233 
 
 Coniidcr again that your poileffions are not 
 {o properly left as reftored. He parted with 
 more than many men have to part with, who 
 laid, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken 
 gway, for whether it were the gift of patri- 
 mony, or the acquisition of providence and 
 induilry, The Lord gave-, he is the fovereign 
 difpenfer of all earthly goods, — and whether it 
 were by the hands of Chaldeans or Sabeans, 
 by the violence of winds, or waves, or fire; 
 the Lord hath taken away. For his hand is h\ 
 all, his providence over all; he did but give, 
 and he doth but take away his own. Mine 
 are the cattle, faith he, upon a thoufwd hills ; 
 yea the whole earth is mine, and the fidnejs 
 thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein. 
 And he may well fay fo, for his Almighty word 
 created all; he hath founded it 'upon the Jea<, 
 and eftablified it upon the foods. Shall we not 
 then fubmjt to the difpoials of this uneon- 
 troulable Sovereign ? what reafcn can we have 
 to com] lain when he takes away any of thofe 
 gifts, which are io peculiarly his own r— Nay, 
 and might we not more juiliy fay, that thefe 
 things are not given but lent to us ; they are 
 put into our hands a while, till the great 
 Owner mail think fit to re-demand them! 
 And can we repine and be dhTatisfied when 
 we are called to reitore what we had borrow- 
 ed ?-— Nay, that we may lay yet lets claim to 
 ihefe traniitory things of earth, let us conii- 
 <: r I henx as not given or lent, but left in our 
 
234 CONSOLATIONS wider 
 
 our hands by the owner to employ for his 
 ufe, till he mall require them again with 
 proper increafe. What then have we to do 
 but to improve them all we can ? if it pleafes 
 God to take off this charge, by whatever 
 means, we cannot fay we have been fpoiled, 
 but we have been eafed ; To whom much is 
 given, of him much will be required. It is of 
 great confequence to confi der the gifts of pro- 
 vidence in this view : while we appropriate 
 them to ourfeives and embrace them as our 
 own, we {hail neither improve them proper- 
 ly, nor give them up fubmirTively. 
 
 But polTibly this change of fortune may be 
 intended greatly for your good. Kow many 
 examples have we had of thofe who have been 
 cumbered with plenty, with the many things 
 of this world, fo that they could not raife their 
 thoyghts to fpiritual concerns ? who yet, when 
 this weight has been taken off, have elevated 
 their fouls to heaven! Plow many have we 
 known who had loft their lives, if, (with the 
 philofopher,) they had not foregone their 
 ijoldj yea, how many that had loft their 
 fouls ! the whole veffel had funk in this boi- 
 flerous fea., if the burden of this earthly freight 
 had not been cad overboard. Why then mould 
 we be much troubled to lpfe that which 
 might have undone us in the keeping? How 
 hardly, fays our bleffed Saviour, jhall they that 
 have riches enter into the kingdom of God; fhall 
 they that truft in their richest as he explains it 
 
 in 
 
the Lofs o/Estate or Fortune. 235 
 
 in another place. Riches are not in them- 
 felves pernicious, they do not necefTarily and 
 naturally exclude from the kingdom of hea- 
 ven, but only as they lead to iuch tempers and 
 difpoikions, and, eipecially, to fucfa a truft in 
 them, as alienates the heart from God. When 
 this is the cafe, it is indeed ealier for a camel 
 to go through a needle's eye, than for fuch a 
 rich man to enter into the kingdom of hea- 
 ven. And we may reafonably and pioufly con- 
 clude, when it happens, that we are delivered 
 from them, that they would have had this un- 
 happy effect upon us, if God had not been 
 pleafed to take them from us. We mould 
 thank him therefore, inftead of murmuring at 
 him, and be well iatisfied. to exchange the 
 prefent gratification of fome defires for the 
 hope of an eternal inheritance, where all our 
 juff defires will be more than gratified. 
 
 But indeed the lofs of wealth is not the lofs 
 of a perfect good, ccnfidered in any view; for 
 wealth hath its cares and great ones too. He 
 that multiplies riches, multiplies troubles, is 
 the faying of a very wife man, which every 
 man's experience verifies. And our bleffed 
 Saviour hath joined together the cares of the 
 world, and the dcccitfulnefs of riches; nay, he 
 hath told us, what every day we fee the truth 
 of, That a ?na?fs life, neither the happinefs 
 nor continuance of it, confjleth in the multi- 
 tude of the things which he pofefjetlu We have 
 heard of one who was glad to be rid of his 
 
 lately- 
 
236 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 lately- found bag that he might fleep again ; 
 and the man was noted and envied at home 
 for his wealth, who could experimentally fay, 
 " The poor man laughs more hearth 
 more frequently than the rich." Riches, faith 
 he again , are thorns with which men ne . er 
 to vex themfelvesj when thefe thorns are tak- 
 en from us, 'why mould we murmur at our 
 own eafe ? why mould we refufe to flumber 
 quietly on our homely pallet, when we re no 
 longer kept awake by thofe many anxk 
 which often drive number from the rich 
 'man's eyes on the fofteft bed of dovt n ! 
 
 And as the lofs of wealth delivers from many 
 cares, fo doth it from much il very ! men are 
 often not fo much poffeiTed or riches as pof- 
 fefTed by them: their wealth is their mafter, 
 "and a hard mailer too it frequently proves, 
 not allowing to its poor Have furficient diet, 
 competent reft, or any the leaft indulgence. 
 If you were fo miferable as to be fuch a drudge 
 to what you have loft, you may well rejoice 
 in the lofs > for the lofs is liberty; and you 
 are delivered from a ilavery, worfe and more 
 dangerous far, than any bodily captivity ; for 
 it enflaved your foul, and would have eiiflav* 
 fid it eternally. 
 
 E CT. 
 
the Lofs of Estate. 237 
 
 SECT. VII. 
 
 Co:- \ons under the Lofs of Estate; — ■ 
 Exhortation to the Poor. 
 
 I' 7 KILE you reflect, on the danger from 
 which lofs of wealth may deliver, 
 conlider again how this lofs came upon you. 
 If from your own improper conduct, you have 
 the more reafon to bear with patience the 
 burden which you have pulled upon your own 
 moulders ; if from the oppremon and injury 
 of others, you will endure this crqfs more 
 comfortably, becaufe your Gwn hand hath not 
 been guilty of impofing it. And if God think 
 fit to fend poverty to your door by the 
 meffage of men, for the fake of him that fent 
 it, you mould bid it welcome; and for its own 
 fake fliould entertain it without complaint, as 
 being that which will repay you, if properly ufed, 
 with many bletlings, bleilings of reft, (for thefe 
 are the virtues and the bieffings of poverty;) 
 quiet reft and iecurily, humble patience, con- 
 tented humility, and a low eitimation of all 
 earthly things. No one of which virtues per- 
 haps had ever approached your dwelling in 
 a profperous condition; and of confequence 
 left you no hope of future glory. And while 
 you reflect, upon thefe advantages, the lofs of 
 temporal things will appear inconiiderable ; 
 much more fo, when you turn your thoughts 
 
 upon 
 
2 3 3 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 upon that miferable rich voluptuary in the 
 gofpel, who, in torment, could not procure a 
 drop of water to cool his tongue ! how happy 
 had the lols of his fortune in this world 
 proved to him, if, with that lofs, he had 
 learned humility, and the virtues of poverty, 
 and fo acquired heaven ! 
 
 But, moreover, conilder what it is that 
 you lofe. You enjoy not your former conveni- 
 ences for lodging, diet, attendance — And is 
 this all ? why numbers both Heathens and 
 Chriftians have done that out of choice which 
 you complain of as a grievous misfortune. 
 Attains the philofopher might have lain upon 
 down, yet he calls for and praifes the bed and 
 the pillow which would not yield to his bo- 
 dy. Seneca fpeaks of his ufual dining without 
 a table. The aufterities of the Chriftians in the 
 firft centuries were fuch as would fcarcely be 
 credited in our days, they were fo fevere. The 
 worft condition amongft us is eafy and delicate 
 in companion with that of thofe men, who vo- 
 luntarily impofed upon themfelves fuch feveri- 
 ties, as we lhould be loth to undergo even 
 from others cruelty. And, at the worft, what- 
 ever accommodations we may want, a little 
 time will deliver us from ail fuch neceflities; 
 and the difcipline of the body will ferve to 
 the exaltation of the foul. 
 
 Befides, the wants, the real wants of hu- 
 man nature are few; — we have loft fuperflui- 
 ties; — have we necefTaries left, jet us be 
 
 thankful 
 
the Lofs of Est ate. 239 
 
 thankful for what we have, and forget what 
 we had. Do but lay alide the thoughts of 
 fuperfluities, (which many good men have 
 judged nectiiary in the midft of afPiuence,) 
 and what are you the worfe for the lofs of 
 what lay by to look at, but could not be ufed; 
 and though your condition be worfe, yet if 
 your mind be Satisfied, all is well. Content- 
 ment ftands not in quantities nor qualities, 
 but in the inward difpofition of the heart; 
 that alone can multiply numbers and enhance 
 values y that alone can turn the honeft home- 
 fpun into rich velvet ; the meaneft fare into 
 delicacies, and can make one attendant many 
 officers. Having food and raiment, fays the 
 Apoflle, let us be therewith content, for if we 
 have no more, we mail, at the end, only be 
 as we once were, and as we rnufr. afiuredly 
 once be; — <c For we brought nothing into 
 this world, and it is certain we can carry no- 
 thing cut." 
 
 The mm of the matter is this; wealth and 
 an abundance of the things of this world by 
 no means constitute or procure human happi- 
 nefs. The deiire of them is infatiable, z.nd 
 when the thirft once pciTerTes the foul, there 
 is no poflibility of all waging it. The dc re 
 leads to innumerable evils, andtoocommq 
 withdraws the heart wholly fromGod; — " F 
 they that will be rich, per fas etnefas, right of 
 wrong, who are refolved toamafs wealth, 
 to temptation, fays the apoilkj, and afnare, and 
 
 into 
 
24< 
 
 CONSOLATIONS mi& 
 
 into many foolijli and hurtful iujls which drown 
 men in dejlruclion and perdition-, jor the love 
 of money is the root of all evil ', which while 
 fome coveted after, they have been feduced from 
 the faith, and pierced themfelvts through with 
 many forrows. — Every wile man, and much 
 more every fmcere Chriftian will therefore 
 put bounds to his deiires, as well convin- 
 ced, that there is no end of defiring; that the 
 more a man hath, the more he will flill 
 wifli to have, if he indulges fuch willi- 
 es ; and that the lhouefl way to be rich 
 is not by enlarging our eflates, but by con- 
 tracting our defixes, While he is fatisfled 
 that the largefb pciTedions can neither ar- 
 reft the nroke of death, nor procure him hap- 
 pinefs here or hereafter ; which is only to be 
 had from a quiet and contented mind, refign- 
 ed to the will of God, thankful for all he 
 gives, well pleafed with all he takes away; 
 ftedfaft in duty mean time, and fixed in 
 happy hope of thofe riches which can ne- 
 ver fade nor ever fail. And whenever the 
 lofs of wealth brings the mind to thefe re- 
 flections, draws us off from a love of the 
 world, mews us the true value of earthly 
 things, and the true value of eternal ones, 
 and enables us to take up our crofs and fol- 
 low our Mailer; that iois is lo far from a 
 misfortune, that we have the higheil reafon 
 to blefs God for it now, and (hall have eter- 
 nal 
 
ilfe Lofs "of Est AT£. iJ^i 
 
 *xial reafon, we may juftly prefume, to blefs 
 him for it hereafter. 
 
 Let me obferve, in conclusion, that while, 
 amidft poverty, men have many advantages 
 •as to their future concerns over the rich, are 
 liable to fewer temptations-, mufl be fuppofed 
 lefs attached to the earth, and are in lei's danger 
 of being enervated by vanity j fo are they un- 
 der the peculiar protection of Providence; nay, 
 they have many and efpecial promifes given 
 them of their Saviour's regard, if they be- 
 have in a manner fuitable to their ftation, 
 demean themfelves with becoming humility 
 to their fuperiors, and with proper refigna- 
 tion to their heavenly Father's will. Other- 
 wife a Hate of poverty, lingly confidered, is no 
 more acceptable to God than a Hate cf plen- 
 ty ; he decreed both, and placed his creatures 
 equally dear to him in each. 1 1 is the ufe of 
 thefe ftations, it is exerting the graces and 
 virtues peculiar to them, which alone renders 
 them acceptable to God, and well-pleating in 
 his fight ; and there is no doubt but the poor 
 man, who acts confiftently in his ftation, and 
 humbly Walks in the paths of the gofpel, will. 
 meet with a reward no lets excellent than 
 the molt wealthy and noble. Indeed, the 
 poor have one peculiar comfort attending 
 them, which is, that the Son of God himfelf, 
 when he came into this world, defpifed its 
 pomp and chofe its poverty ; though he were 
 Lord of all, yet he became fen- ant to all ; 
 
 R though 
 
2'42 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 though he were rich, yet for our fakes he be- 
 came poor, that we through his poverty might 
 be made rich ! Through him, you, in that 
 ftation, may attain thofe riches which will- 
 well compenfate ail your prefent evils : what 
 though you ftruggle under many difficulties ; 
 what though you enjoy not what are called 
 the pomps and pleafures of a tranfitory world * 
 what though yon labour with unwearied toil,, 
 and are often not unacquainted with the 
 hardships of hunger and cold, and the moft 
 preffing wants of nature, yet let not theie. 
 things deprefs your fouls,, or weaken your de- 
 pendence upon God. He is your Father, and^ 
 he thought good to place you in this fituation, 
 rich and poor, bond and free, are all one. 
 in his right; he offers his precious gofpei 
 and his dear Son to you a? well as to the. 
 mighty of the earth, and if you patiently en- 
 dure, through this fhort trial, behold for the 
 raiment of meannefs and of fhame, you mail 
 be cloathed with the robes of immortality 
 and honour. 
 
 Suffer thefe words of confolation, you who 
 have received marks of fuperior kindnefs from 
 heaven^ — confolation to thofe for whom our. 
 bowels, as men, cannot but be moved, and 
 whofe difficulties in life what Chriftian can 
 contemplate unconcerned; C9.n contemplate 
 unrelieving, if in their power to relieve? It 
 is a mark given by Chrift himfelf of the 
 divinity of his rnitiicr?, that the go/pel is 
 
 j> readied' 
 
the L'tfi of Estate. 243 
 
 fr cached to the, poor: they frand mod in need 
 of it ; they mod want indruclion and com- 
 fort. You who have had the blefiings of 
 -education cannot be ignorant of, and I 
 would earnedly wifh, will never be found 
 deficient in duty. For there is a duty to our 
 poorer brethren, a duty of charity and aiiid- 
 ance which you will never be backward to 
 ihevv, and which, blerled be God, is a vir- 
 tue, even characteridic of the prefent humane 
 age. — Gh! may we go on to excel in it, to 
 -excel in god-like benevolence and a tender 
 love to thofe who are redeemed with us by 
 Jefus Chrid the common Saviour of rich and 
 poor : So mail the riches, which God hath 
 committed to your trud, be duly improved, 
 and redound to your exceeding felicity and 
 comfort; fo will you have caufe of particular 
 thankfgiving to God who hath vouchfafed 
 unto you the means of comfortable living 
 here, of diffufing blefledneis, and imparting 
 good to others, and of reaping a glorious har- 
 ved hereafter : {o mall no fear of change of 
 fortune moled you; for while you ufe your 
 w r ealth, as God ordains, you need not fear lofs, 
 as a correction for the abufe of it. So (hall you 
 deliver your patrimonies down to your lateft 
 poderity with the bleiling of heaven annexed 
 to them: to which end, you will never forget • 
 the folemn counfel of the Apodle, '* Charge 
 them, who are rich in this world, that they 
 be not high-minded, nor trud in uncertain 
 ■- R 2 . riches, 
 
*44 Consolations under 
 
 riches, but in the living God, who giveth W 
 all things richly to enjoy ; that they do good, 
 that they be rich in good works, ready to 
 diftribute, willing to communicate ; laying up 
 in ftore for themfelves a good foundation a- 
 gainft the time to come, that they may lay 
 hold on eternal life.'* 
 
 SECT. VIII. 
 
 Ccnfoldtions under ike Lofs of Reputation, 
 
 F T E R having offered what argu- 
 ments I am able, to teach us fubmif- 
 fion, to give us comfort under the lofs of 
 Health, the lofs of Friends, and the lofs of 
 Fortune ; we are next to confider the cafe of 
 Reputation, and to fee what is the proper con- 
 duct and proper confolation, either when it is 
 tainted by malicious (lander, or forfeited by 
 our own improper behaviour. 
 
 The value of reputation^ and the high 
 price men are ufed to fet upon it, is evidently 
 iten by that care and caution, by that difre- 
 gard to toil, and voluntary endurance of the 
 greatefc labours and perils, which is frequent- 
 ly fubmitted to with chearfulnefr, to obtain 
 and fecure it. — We have many inflances to 
 fnew, that health and life and friends and 
 fortune have not been deemed fo valuable; 
 have been readily given up £cH*;the preferva- 
 
 tion 
 
the Lofs of Reputation. 245 
 
 lion of that good name, which is rather to be 
 chofen tl\an great riches, and which is better 
 than precious oint?nent. And, indeed, as reputa- 
 tion is the grand cement of all worldly trans- 
 actions, one cannot wonder at a regard fo- it 
 the moft high and venerable ; fince it is this 
 which gives us credit and efteemin the gene- 
 ral, and particularly endears us to thofe with 
 whom we are more intimately connected. It 
 is valuable too on another account, as it is for 
 the moft part the genuine fruit of our good 
 and proper conduct., and therefore the fource 
 of true joy to our confcience, witnefFing to the 
 Sincerity and uprightnefs of our converfation 
 in this world : in which view it is a kind of 
 earned:, a pledge of that future applaufe, 
 which the truly virtuous and pious may one 
 day expect from the mouth of him who is un- 
 erring in his judgment, and decifive in his 
 Sentence. But, as a regard for this good re- 
 putation fometimes may lead us into error, by 
 miftaking the great end of it, or expecting it 
 from the wrong object, it may be proper to 
 {hew what a good reputation truly is ; how 
 far a regard to it is uieful and neeefTary, and 
 what is the proper behaviour when it is falfly 
 and injuriously treated: while we fhcw, on the 
 ■other fide, what dreadful confequences follow 
 from a difregard to it, and from a lofs of it, 
 through ill behaviour; and what, in fuch a 
 cafe, is the proper conduct. 
 
 Firft then, let us .confider what a good re- 
 II 3 putatioa 
 
2J.6 CONSOLATIONS tu;dcr 
 
 <t 
 
 putation is. Now a good reputation is for 
 the nioft part the coniequence of a good and 
 proper behaviour in life. There are, it is 
 certain, fome exempt cafes 5 actions may be 
 mifreprefented or mifunderftood, efpecially 
 the actions of thofe who are in higher ipheres, r 
 and whofe motives- for acting can neither ea- 
 fily be difcovered nor made known with fafe- 
 ty. But, in the general, men are juft to each- 
 other, and an unblameable conduct will, for 
 for the moll: part, produce a good name. But 
 then let us remember, that a good name or re* 
 'putation which hath refpect only to men, is not 
 that which the fcripture means. God is the 
 judge of our conduct as well as the author of 
 our being, and the preferver of our exigence. 
 Men cannot difcern the formes of our actions 
 or the motives of our undertakings, and there- 
 fore may be much miftaken in their judgment 
 of the goodneis or badnefs of an action which 
 they may denominate according to its exter- 
 nal tendency; while God, who judgeth ac- 
 cording to the intention, may, perhaps, de- 
 termine it far differently. 
 
 The great rule of fecurin-g a good reputa-* 
 tian therefore is, " A iincere view to the glory 
 of God in all we do;" and a good reputation, 
 flrietly fpeaking, and with refpect to God, is 
 that only which arifeth from a conduct di- 
 rected by this rule, is that which arifeth from 
 a life of religion, jobriety and jyfiice, in con- 
 formity to the law and love of God. 
 
 How 
 
the Lo/s of Reputation. 247 
 
 How valuable fuch a reputation is, it is eafy 
 to difcern, as well as how far a regard to it is 
 ufeful and neceflary; it is as ufeful and necef- 
 .fary as a regard to our eternal falvation: for, 
 unlefs we direct our lives by this rule, we 
 can neither have the one nor the other. — And 
 agreeable hereto, v/e may foon be fatisfied, 
 that whenever any mere worldly reipects 
 run oppofite to this true reputation and true 
 intereit, we are certainly rather to give up a 
 regard to the world, and to mens opinions of 
 us, than to our virtuous estimation in the 
 light of God. Our obligations to him are 
 prior to all others, and therefore our nrft duty 
 muit be paid to him. And if any actions are 
 -contrary to that duty, they mull be forborn, 
 though at the hazard of the good efleem of 
 all the world - y or if any actions are agreeable 
 to our duty to him, huwever oppofite to our 
 worldly interefls, they mufl be performed, and 
 the confequence left to the great Searcher of 
 hearts. This may draw upon us various cen- 
 fures from various quarters and on various ac- 
 counts, as all diflinguifhed virtue, in whatever 
 fphere of life, will be calumnized. But while 
 we act agreeably to the dictates of religion and 
 a good conference, we need not be concerned, 
 but may leave our good name in the hands of 
 God; for we can never trufl our reputation in 
 better hands ; and though, perhaps, it may be 
 overfhadowed a while by fuch a conduct, yet 
 it will, at length, emerge with greater luftre, 
 R 4. Uk 
 
248 CONSOLATIONS *ndir*> 
 
 like the fun from a darkening cloud. The 
 P&lmift therefore advifes well, Commit thy way 
 unto the Lord, truji in him, and he Jhall bring 
 it to pafs ; and he fnall bring forth thy righte- 
 cufnefs as the light, and thy judgment as the 
 noon- day* 
 
 Now as a good reputation, is of fo high va- 
 lue, as being that- which, recommends us to 
 God, and endears us to ©ur fellow-creatures; 
 as it affords an exalted joy to the 'confcience, 
 and renders the prefent life pleaiing and com- 
 fortable , it is evident, that we mould not by 
 any means be indkterent to it, nor be lefs care- 
 ful to preferve, than to obtain it. Solomon de- 
 clares, that it is rather to be chofen than great 
 riches ; and very wifely; for what are great 
 riches without it ? fplendid evils and defpica- 
 ble trifles b — Riches and poverty are alike mi- 
 ferable under the lofs of it; the one can afford 
 no folid joy, the latter is diffracted with a 
 thoufand cares, and led into a thoufand fins 
 and fufferings. — The beft rule therefore to 
 preferve, as well as gain a good name, is al- 
 ways to do well ; is to perievere in piety and 
 virtue; is to go on in an even difcharge of 
 duty; and then, without anxious folicitude, 
 to leave the iffue to God. 
 
 " But what if our good name be injured, 
 what if our reputation be harmed; fhall we 
 then fit by un regarding, and fuffer the fhafts 
 pf malevolence and the arrows of cenfure to 
 fall all around us, without feeking fome de- 
 fence, 
 
the Lofs-cf Reputation. 249 
 
 fence, and holding up fome fhield againft 
 them ?" — In fuch a cafe, if you are truly inno- 
 cent, you have a great Avenger and an impar- 
 tial Judge; and fecure in the integrity of your 
 confcience and the uprightnefs of your in- 
 tentions, will commit your caufe to him with 
 pleafure, and fpeedily await the deciiion here 
 or hereafter. And it will be a great conibla- 
 tion to recollect, that this is , an evil againft 
 which there is no prefervative ; innocence it- 
 felf is no antidote againft evil tongues : neither 
 greatnefs nor goodnefs can fecure any man 
 from unjuft calumny which ftrikes the whiteft 
 virtue. Look at the greateft kings and the 
 moft holy faints, they have experienced this 
 evil, they have complained of it, but were not 
 able to help themfelves: you have the com- 
 pany of the belt, men the earth ever bore to 
 mitigate any unealinefs that may arife on this 
 account. 
 
 But why do I fpeak of imperfect men, 
 whofe higheft purity might be fpotted with 
 fome defilements ? look upon the Lord of 
 life, the eternal Son of the ever-living God, 
 and fee whether he fhared any other lot while 
 he fojourned in the region of mortality? Do. 
 you not hear him, for his amiable conde- 
 fcenfion, branded as a gluttonous man, a wine- 
 bibber, a friend of publicans and finners ? do 
 you not hear him, for his powerful and won- 
 derful cure of demoniacs, abufed as one that 
 cails out devils through Beelzebub the prince 
 
 Of 
 
25© CONS OL AT IONS wtSer 
 
 of devils? do you not hear him flandered to 
 death for treafon againfl Ccffar, arid blafphe- 
 my againft God ? do you not hear the multi- 
 tude fay, He is mad, and hath a dmiW — while 
 to give us a tine picture of diftinguifhed vir- 
 tue ftruggling with an evil world, we read 
 feme faid, Hs is a good man ; others Jdid 9 Nayi 
 Sui he deceheth the people! — do you not hear 
 him, after his death, charged -with impojiure? 
 and can there be any worfe names than glutton* 
 drunkard.^ magician, traitor, hhijphe?ner, mad- 
 man, demoniac, impojiorf What Chriflian can 
 "henceforth think much to be Pandered with 
 meaner crimes,, when he hears the moil holy 
 Son of God, in whofe mouth was no guile, 
 in whom the prince of this world could find 
 nothing, who lived and died only to do good, 
 and to difpenfe blefiings, — when he hears him 
 •loaden with fuch black and infamous calum- 
 nies! — ie What is a little mifreprefentation 
 or a few lames from tattling tongues, com- 
 pared with thofe cruel mockings which that 
 divine Redeemer bare for us." 
 
 Again, coniider on what account and for 
 what caufe it is that your reputation is cen- 
 fured ; if it is for a good caufe, you are fo far 
 from deferving pity that you might jintly be 
 envied. Truth itfclf hath told us, that, in 
 fuch a cafe, we are in the road to bleflednefsj 
 who then can be uneafy or difTatisfied at what 
 we have the juften: reafon to rejoice! Blejjed 
 mrs you when mm Jhall revile you, and per- 
 
 ficute 
 
the Lofs of Reputation. 251 
 
 fecute you, and JJiall fay all ?nanner of evil againf 
 you faljly fir my Jake ! charging you boldly, 
 with the vileft crimes and the worft inten- 
 tions, Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is 
 your reward in heaven. Surely this declaration, 
 from the mouth of infinite Truth, mult cheer 
 our fpirits, amidft all the malice of traducing 
 calumny, amidft every falfe reproach which 
 falls upon us for our fincere attachment to 
 the cauie of Chrift, of truth and goodnefs, 
 and enable us to take up the refolution of yob, 
 If mine adversary had written a book againjl me, 
 a book fraught with falfhood, bitternefs, and 
 vileft sbu&ffurely I would take it upon my Jlioul- 
 tiers, as a mark of virtue, and bind it as a crown 
 cf honour to my head. 
 
 Confider again, under calumnies, not only 
 for what, but by whom you are reproached. If 
 it is by certain lewd fellows of the baferfort, (as 
 the facred writer terms thofe, who, moved by 
 envy, oppofed Paulzxid Silas,) why then, thank 
 your own virtue that you are thus envied and 
 abufed ! Were you as bad as your detractors, 
 you might fit quiet enough; If ye were of the 
 world, faith our Saviour, the world would love its 
 own, but becaufeye are not of the world, but I have 
 chofenyouout cf tlie world, therefore the world hat - 
 el h you. While the moon fits, andisfhroudedirt 
 darknefs, no dogs bark at her; it is her min- 
 ing that opens their mouths. Were you either 
 obfeure or wicked you might be fafe; but if 
 you will be eminently good, in any depart- 
 ment 
 
25* CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 merit of human life, be not furprifed that you. . 
 feel the lain of ill tongues. So long as there 
 are men and merit there will be envy; for envy 
 as the ihadow of merit. Dean Swift fays well, 
 *' That cenfure is a tax which merit pays to, 
 the public." Ycu mould not therefore -be 
 ^iilTatisfied when you are called upon to pay 
 this teftimony of your merit; for the payment 
 of the tax proves the reality of pofTeition; — you 
 ihould not be diffatisfied when the Jhadow of 
 that merit mews itfejf ; — the madow proves 
 the reality of the fubftance. ** They think k 
 ir/range that you run not with them into the 
 fame excefs of riot, fpeaking evil of you," 
 faith the chief of the Apoilles ; and what more 
 excellent inftruments had God ever in his 
 church than the bielfed Apoflles ? But what 
 acceptation found they in the earth ? Beifjg de- 
 famed, they tell us, we hit rat, we are made a* 
 the filth of the ivsrld; n&e are made afpeffacle to 
 the worlds and to angels and to men. Complain 
 if you can of a worfe condition than that of 
 thefe great ambaiTadors of God ! otherwife 
 refolve with the chofen veiFel, to pafs through 
 honour and dimonour, through evil report 
 and good report, toward the Gcd of immor- 
 tality, and the feat of unerring Judgment. 
 
 Confider again, what cenfure is in itfelf ; 
 mere air, idle breath; which, if we difregard, 
 can never make one hair of our head white 
 or black. Let thofe whofe hearts are as foul 
 •- their names, be troubled with the cenfures 
 
 y- have juftly deferved; but do not you, 
 
 whq 
 
the Lofs of Reputation. 2£J 
 
 who are falfly calumniated, give fo much way 
 to malice, as to pay any regard to its falie 
 and iniquitous fuggeflions; you cannot devife 
 a method more certain to vex a detractor than 
 contempt. Thus you will force malevolence, 
 as a wife heathen faid, " to drink off the 
 greater!: part of her own poifon." 
 
 Again, confider the extent of cenfure, 
 what a poor matter it is. How far do you think 
 the found of this flander reacheth? perhaps 
 through your own village, perhaps to the 
 next, perhaps further, through the whole 
 county in which you live ? why it is very 
 likely the next county never fo much as 
 heard your name; and, if you look fur- 
 ther off, as foon may you fuppofe yourfelf 
 talked of amongff. the antipodes, as in the 
 neighbouring kingdom or province. Nay, but 
 fuppofe all countries heard that flander, and 
 your name flood rubric upon the column of 
 unmerited infamy -, what a fmail fpot of 
 earth is this to which that fhame is confined ■! 
 did you know the vaft extent of this un- 
 bounded univerfe, you would eaiily fee ia 
 how narrow a corner, either our glory or our 
 dishonour can be pent up, and muff, oonfefs 
 how little reafon we can have to affect the 
 one, or to be difheartened at the other. 
 
 And as the limits of flander are narrow, fo 
 is the life of it fhort. Truth is the child of 
 time, ere long me will appear and vindicate 
 the injured and the innojejrit. Wait upon 
 
254 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 the God of truth, and he will caufe your light 
 to break forth as the morning, and your righ- 
 teoufnefs to go before you. But if otherwife, we 
 fhall do well not to be too anxious ; for our 
 name here is not only local and momentary > 
 but foon palled over in filence and oblivion. 
 Look at the heft, of the patriarchs in the word 
 of God ; of them only it is remembred, that 
 they were born, lived, begat children and 
 died. Though they trod the earth for {o 
 many hundred years, what of their memory 
 remaineth ! while, in this view, we lefs fear 
 the reproach of men, let us confider that 
 there is a Jhame and a reproach which is well 
 worthy our fear; a mame which will be 
 univerfal, through all the world of angels and 
 of men, and which will be beyond the reach 
 of time; it will be eternal! It is wife to fear 
 this, and to contemn the other in comparifon 
 of it. On the contrary, if fame mould be- 
 friend us lb much as to {train her cheeks in 
 founding our praifes, and mould extol us for 
 virtuous and eminent every way; alas, how 
 few /hall hear her! and how foon is that noife 
 itilled and forgotten! — In fhort, while our 
 chief care is to demean ourfelves holily, un- 
 blameably, and confcientioufly in the fight of 
 God and men, we may well leave the reft to 
 God, who will be fure to make his word good 
 in fpight of men or devils. The memory of the 
 jufi jhall he hie fed, but the name of the wicked 
 Jhall rot. 
 
 Such 
 
the Lofs of Reputation. z$ $ 
 
 Such are the arguments of confolation 
 which we may well apply to ourfelves, when 
 under the lafh of falfe and reproachful lips. 
 But though, in many cafes, it may be proper 
 and quite fufficient for a man to trull his 
 eaufe with God,, to fupport himfelf with fuel* 
 arguments as thefe, and to repofe himfelf in. 
 the happy teflimony of his confeience ; yet let 
 us obferve, that in. feme circumffances, a dif- 
 ferent conduct is abfolutely neceilary : nor 
 are we commanded, either bv religion or rea- 
 fon, tamely to lit down under manifeft ca- 
 lumnies, especially if they be fiich as afTect. us- 
 in a public nature, and tend to prejudice 
 our utility and immediate intereft. We are 
 bound, in defence of ourfelves, calmly to ex- 
 poftulate, mildly to reprove,, gently to mr'z 
 the injury, and to confute it in a manner the 
 moil difpaffionate we are able. This done. 
 we are to fubmit and to go on in our ufual 
 blamelefs manner; and. there is no doubt but 
 the force of truth will, at length; prevail; for 
 rnofc ahuredly, an uniform practice of religion,, 
 juftice and fobriety, a confeientious obedience; 
 to the laws of Chrifr., is the beft method, at: 
 once, to procure and to guard our ^gocd 
 name. 
 
 An indifference to whicji is certainly blame- 
 worthy, and the fource of many evils; as cu 
 perfon can fcarcely be indifferent to it, and,, 
 at the fame time, diligent to maintain that 
 proper benaviour, which is the- onlv fecuritv: 
 
 of 
 
£56 CONSOLATIONS -under 
 
 of it : and therefore when we hear, as is feme- 
 times the cafe, the lefs difcerning fay, " That 
 they care not fcr the world, let people talk as 
 they pleafe, it matters not to them •" we may 
 receive it as a bad omen ; it is an ill fign ; and> 
 it is too much to be feared, fuch a difregard 
 to the opinion of the world arifeth from a 
 conduct, which thefe people are fenfible the 
 world cannot approve; and therefore they 
 will be beforehand, and condemn and difap- 
 prove the world. This is weak, and an in- 
 let to much evil j for, though upon a re- 
 ligious principle, under the righteous dif- 
 chai'ge of our duty, and amidfl the teflimony 
 of a good and applauding confeience, it may 
 be very well to hold the opinion of the world 
 not in too high efieem, left, through fear of 
 worldly cenfure, we mould be apt to fall into 
 worldly and criminal compliances, yet, for 
 thofe to defpife reputation, who have no juft 
 title to it, and who cannot refer to God the 
 Judge of all, for the integrity of their hearts 
 and lives, is only to deceive thernfelves with a 
 falfe notion, and to fall into a fnare of the 
 devil, which may be likely to entangle their 
 ibuls for ever. 
 
 For it is certain that a regard to reputation, 
 confidered only in a moral view, is and may 
 be a great dzitnc?: of virtue, and a good means 
 to preferve us from the practices of vice j and 
 if this be given up by thofe who have no 
 liiahsr pri to act by, unhappy mull: be 
 
 the 
 
the Lofs of Reputation. 257 
 
 the confequences. A headlong plunge is made 
 into the foul pit of fin, and when perfons have' 
 made themfelves fo odious and abominable 
 thereby, that the befl part of their fellow- 
 creatures are compelled to avoid and contemn 
 them; then, as the only remedy, they are rea- 
 dy to defy the world and not to care what 
 people fay. But, alas, how fadly do they foon 
 difcern their miflake! For what is there fo 
 grievous to the human mind, what fo afflict- 
 ing and fo hard to be borne, as the contempt, 
 neglect, and abhorrence of the virtuous and 
 the good; of all thofe whom we know to be 
 the only valuable, and would wifh to be the 
 only dear to us? And fuch is the fatal iffue 
 of lofl reputation : When your good name is 
 gone, it is impoffible that the virtuous can 
 any longer hold communication with you; 
 cut off from them, you muff be obliged to 
 feek focietv amidff thofe abandoned as vour- 
 felves : Evil communications foon cornipt all 
 good manners; you grow more and mere fa- 
 miliar with the foul-face of vice. Stun^, per- 
 haps, with the reflection of that jui't disre- 
 gard, which is the relult of fuch conduct and 
 fuch loh: reputation, men fly to intoxicating 
 draughts, the common refource of uneafy 
 minds; and thus they are often plunged in 
 the pit of vice, of infamy, and ruin ; from 
 which it is difficult to be reclaimed: for 
 fuch wjjr not converfc with the virtuous ; — - 
 indeed tke virtuous, for their own fakes, can- 
 
 S not 
 
258 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 not converfe with them j for it is an apofto- 
 lical injunction, " Not to keep company, not 
 to have any familiar intercourfe with men 
 proferTing Chriitianity, yet notoriouily guilty 
 of fcandalous vices." And I know not how any 
 good man, defirous to approve himfelf to 
 God, can do fo, iince he not only oppofes 
 the divine word, hut becomes, by that means* 
 a partaker and an encourager of other mens 
 fins. And when good men act in conformity 
 to this precept, is it any marvel that thofe, whom 
 they are obliged thustofiigmatize,. revile them 
 with the gro-iieft fcandai? Thismuft be expect- 
 ed ; the drunkards made fongs upon me, fays the 
 KingofJ/raeJ : thofe who are loft to reputation, 
 herding with others equally abandoned, have 
 no greater alleviation of their diffatisfacYion* 
 than an' abuie of thofe whofe lives reprove 
 them ; and whofe virtuous conduct is a con- 
 tinual cenfure of their iniquity. 
 
 Such are the ill consequences ofalofsof 
 reputation, which the following account of 
 Arctims conduct may ierve to icrengthen : 
 Francis Aretini, Profeffor of Law at Ferraxa, 
 took a very extraordinary method to con- 
 vince his pupils of the advantages which a good 
 Same procures us in life, when all his argu- 
 ments to that purpofe failed. The butchers 
 of Ferrara having a cuftom to leave their 
 meat in the market all nignt, he went thither 
 with his ieivantonc morning before day, and 
 breaking open t&eir (bops* toc>k all their meat. 
 
 r r x 
 
the Lofs of Reputation. 259 
 
 Two of his pupils, who had bad characters. 
 were accufed of the fact and imprifened ; up- 
 on which Aretini went to the prince, and de- 
 fired their enlargement, confeffing that he 
 himfelf had committed the crime of which 
 Ihey were charged ; but the tenour of his 
 former life, and his well-known good cha- 
 racter, made this fo improbable, that he was 
 not believed, being: thought to make fuch a 
 confefiion only to exculpate his pupils. This 
 fully anAvered his defign of demonfirating 
 the happy confequence of a good, and the 
 danger of a bad character : wherefore he pro- 
 duced proper witnefTes, both of the tranfac- 
 ■tion and of his declared motive for perform- 
 ing it : and, making compensation to the per- 
 ions who had loft their -meat, he obtained the 
 liberty of his friends, and confirmed them in 
 the principles he defired to inculcate, by a me- 
 thod which could not fail of convincing them. 
 Since then the lofs of reputation neceilarily 
 involves us in fuch evils, we may learn from 
 hence how highly to value, and how cau- 
 tioully to preserve this precious jewel, more 
 to be defired than gold, and preferable to 
 rubies; and how (eniibly to be affected, if 
 by any means we have been {o unhappy a: 
 to forfeit it, as to lofe, juftly to lofe .the good 
 efieem of God and of man. 
 
 But I am aware upon how tender a point I 
 have fallen, and am ready to anfwer a quef- 
 
 n, wh'*ch may naturally be ajked, and to 
 
 S 3 vSst 
 
260 CONSOLATIONS, under 
 
 offer that balm of comfort which may be. 
 wanted in fuch a cafe. 
 
 " What is to be clone, you may reafonably 
 enquire, mould a perfon have been fo unfor- 
 tunate as to deviate from the fair and pleafant 
 paths of virtue and piety, as to have forfeited 
 that richer): jewel in the Christian's crown, a 
 good reputation and due efleem both in the 
 light of God and man ? — Is there no hope 
 left for fuch an one ? Is there no way by 
 which they can return and retrieve, or mull 
 they be abandoned to all the extremity of 
 diftrefs, and loft in the wide howling wilder- 
 nefs of infamy and defpair ?"' Bleffed be God 
 we can anfwer to this important enquiry with, 
 latisf action; can, with pleafure, acquaint the 
 unhappy wanderer, that neither is the God 
 we ferve fo auftere, as utterly to carl: off the 
 offending, if they are willing to return and 
 amend; nor are our fellow-creatures fo inex- 
 orable as to be unmoved by that change of 
 conduct and regular demeanour, which wit- 
 nefs a change of principles, and a change cf 
 heart. God,, whole favour it is moll import- 
 ant for us to recover, if we have forfeited it, 
 is a mild and gracious Being, willing and 
 ready to receive returning prodigals,, and 
 offering them pardon and peace through the 
 Sacrifice of his dear Son, if they will be wife 
 and live to his laws. Our fellow-creatures, 
 — -though in fome cafes rigid virtue may put 
 on too great auflcrity,. and having been fre- 
 quently 
 
She Lofs of Reputation. 261 
 
 quently deceived, by faife pretences to amend- 
 ment, may be more backward to credit any 
 .pretences; — yet our fellow-creatures, in the 
 general, will be jufl and humane enough ; 
 •fome of the more malevolent can 1 excepted; 
 fuch as tliefc will never be fatisfied: but, 
 in general, men are ready, with fufficient cha- 
 rity and tendernefs, to receive again into their 
 efteem, when the proof of our deferving it is 
 obvious to their notice : and till then we can 
 •neither expect nor defire it. 
 
 So that in order to regain loft reputation 
 •our one {ingle buiinefs is to change our life, 
 .and to amend thofe evils which have caufed 
 the lofs. And, as you have heard, true repu- 
 tation refpects.our conduct both to God and to 
 man, our £ri\ and prime endeavour muft be 
 to reconcile ourf elves to God, to repent of our 
 evil doings, to apply for pardon through faith 
 m Chriit, and to enter upon a new life; a 
 perfeverance in which, and in an habitual 
 courfe of virtue, will not fail to xeftore us to 
 that good opinion of our fellow-creatures, 
 which is fo juftly eitimable, and fo highly to 
 l)e valued by every reafonable and facial be- 
 ing. 
 
 Thus -then having fliewn the nature and 
 importance of reputation, and fuggelled fome 
 arguments of con isolation when it is falily a- 
 fperied or really loll ; let me obferve, that it 
 greatly behoves us as Chriftians and as men, 
 •Xo be very careful of each others reputation ; 
 S 3 this 
 
262 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 this is a jewel of the firfr. importance; and 
 though it be but too true that men think 
 themielves licenfed to treat the good name of 
 tethers without much refpeclj yet there is a 
 cruelty, which our religion aflures us, is high- 
 ly criminal, in paiTmg rafh and hafty cenfures 
 to the prejudice of our brethren and fellow 
 Chriitians, The great duty of Chriftianity 
 is love; and this love mould teach us to value 
 the reputation of others, which, in many 
 cafes, is their life, and to be cautious and ten- 
 der of it as we are of our own. How can the 
 malevolent cenfurer, who fits in morofe judg- 
 ment upon all about him, acquit himfelf in 
 the light of God; or imagine he hath any part 
 or portion in the redemption of that Saviour, 
 who gave his life— fuch was his love — for 
 mankind? 
 
 But when We comlder further, that all of 
 us partake of the fame common nature, a na- 
 ture fadly depraved and very imperfect 3 that 
 the very beft of us are confcious of a thoufand 
 and ten thoufand offences, and that every one 
 of us ittuil lay, " Enter not into judgment 
 with thy fervant, O Lord: for in thy light 
 fliall no man living be juftined :" When we 
 Confide* this, as well as the different natu- 
 ral difpofitions of men, fome more rcfervcd, 
 •fome more open, fome more cheerful, fome 
 more melancholy; diipofitions which muft 
 often give a different colour and appearance 
 |p" actions : furely humanity will teach us be- 
 nevolence,, 
 
the Lofs of Reputation. 263 
 
 nevolence, the law of kindnefs will be on 
 cur tongues, we mall be forward to excul- 
 pate our neighbours, to affign the belt (and 
 not bafely to fuggeft and infinuate the worft) 
 motives for their actions ; to excufe the una- 
 voidable infirmities of nature, and, with a 
 iweet and -gentle complacency, which will 
 infallibly endear us to our fellow-creatures, 
 continually defend the good name, and point 
 out to view the amiable part of mens charac- 
 ters. This is Chriftian, god-like, humane; — 
 it alTimilates us to angels and tp God: while 
 malevolence, cenfure, ill-nature, and envy 
 render us hateful and deviliih in the fight of 
 •men, andfeparate us as far as poffible fr«m that 
 heaven, whofe God,, and whofe law, is love. 
 
 And while, for others, we are thus careful 
 to difcharge the part of fellow- creatures, and 
 fellow-chriftians, of good and of good-natur- 
 ed men ; it will be our care to preferve, no 
 lefs exactly our own reputation., which, in va- 
 rious cafes, is of fo great importance as to me- 
 -rit the utmofr attention. It will -not therefore 
 foe enough for us to abfraln from evil, we mufr. 
 srbftain from all appearance of it, and pre- 
 ferve our good name as white and unblemiffor 
 ed as we may. But if, notv/ithflanding our 
 beib and moll: confcionable effortc, reproach 
 and calumny mould itill be our lot, we are 
 to reft eafy under the approving tefcimony of 
 a fncere conference, and to perfevere in the 
 jtuabiafled practice of unduTembled religion and 
 S 4 virtue. 
 
264 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 virtue. This will be a bulwark to us amidir. 
 the thunder of the loudeft reproach; and 
 while we can look up, arnidfl the iincere and 
 beft difcharge of our duty, to an affifting God 
 and an approving Saviour, while we can con- 
 fole ourfelves with the teftimony of a good 
 confcience, we may contemn, with joyfulnefs, 
 the voice of every reviier ! and need not fear, 
 but, when we have weathered out the tem- 
 ped, we mall anchor fecurely in that haven 
 of eternal reft, which no florms of malice 
 ever vex, which no billows of paiiion ever dif- 
 quiet : where the injured reputation mall be 
 cleared from every difhonerl afperfion, and 
 our good name and righteoufnefs be made 
 bright as the light, and unclouded as the 
 noon- day. 
 
 SECT. I 
 
 -v- 
 
 Confolations wider the Lofs of Outward 
 Senses, Sight, Hearing, &c-. 
 
 IN the following Sections we will endea- 
 vour to offer fome confolations to thole 
 who lament the Lofs of Outward Sertfh ; who 
 are unhappy under the Want of Children-, and 
 who feel the Inconveniencies of Old Age. Firil: 
 then, let us apply to thofe who lament the 
 Lofs of Outward Senfes. 
 
 " Thou 
 
the Lofs ^Outward Senses, csV. 265 
 
 " Thou haft loft thine eyes*, a lofs which 
 all the world is unable to repair 3 thou art 
 hereby condemned to a perpetual darknefs; 
 For, the light of the body is th: eye, and if the 
 light that is in thee be darknefs, how great is 
 that darknefs? Couldft thou hive forefeen this 
 evil, thou hadft, perhaps, anticipated the lofs, 
 by weeping out thofe eyes for grief, which thou 
 muft forgo. There are but tw r o ways by w T hich 
 any outward comfort can have accefs to the 
 foul, the eye and the ear; ope of them is now 
 fore-clofedfor ever; yet, know, thou haft two 
 other inward eyes which can abundantly fup- 
 plv the want of thefe of thy body, the eye of 
 reafon and the eye of faith; the one as a man, 
 the other as a Chriftian -f. Anfwerable where- 
 
 unto 
 
 * From Bifhop Ball 
 f Milton pathetically laments his lofs of fight, and finely re- 
 fers to this fource of comfort under it: 
 
 -Thee [Light] I revifit fafe. 
 
 And feel thy fov'reign vital lamp : but thou 
 Revifit'lt not, thefe eyes, that rovvl in vain 
 To find thy piercing ray, and fip,d no dawn ! 
 So thick a drop ferene hath quench'd their orbs, 
 Or dim fuffufion veil'd. Yet not the more 
 Cea'e I to wander, where the mufes haunt, 
 Clear fpring, or fhady grove, or funny hill, 
 Smit with '.he love of iacred fong : but chief 
 Thee Sion s an J the flow'ry brooks beneath, 
 That wafli thy haliow'd feet, and warbling flow, 
 Nightly I vifit: nor fometimes forget 
 Thofe other two equal'd with me in fate, 
 (O ! where I equal'd with them in renown !) 
 Iilind Tbamyris, and blind Macnides. 
 Then feed on thoughts, that vojuntary move 
 Harmonious numbers; as the wakeful bird 
 Sings darkling, a.id in fhadiei! cover; hid 
 
 Taws 
 
266 C O N S O L AT IONS under 
 
 unto there is a double light apprehended by 
 
 them, rational and divine ; Solomon tells thee 
 
 of the one, T'he fpirit of man is the candle <f 
 
 the Lord, fear chin g all the inward parts of the 
 
 belly ; the beloved Difciple tells thee of the 
 
 other, God is light ; and we walk in the lights 
 
 as he is in the light. Now thefe two lights 
 
 are as much above that outward and vifible 
 
 light, 
 Tunes her nofturnal note. Thus with the year 
 Senfons return, hut not to me returns 
 Day, or the fweet approach of ev'n or morn, 
 Or fight of vernal bloom, or fummer's rofe, 
 Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine : 
 But cloud inftead, and ever-during dark 
 Puriounds me ; from the chearful ways of men 
 Cut off; and for the book of knowledge fair, 
 Prefented wsth an univerfal blank 
 Of nature's works, to me expung'd and r^d, 
 /\nd wifdom at one entrance quite fhut out ! 
 80 much the rather thou, cxlefiial light. 
 Shine inward, and the mind through all her pow'rs 
 .Irradiate; there plant eyes; al! mift from thence 
 Purge and difperfe ; that I may fee and tell 
 Of things invifibie to mortal fight. 
 
 ',' here is alfo a fine pafiage on this fobjec~l in Sir John D^n- 
 • s Scf>Sy. 
 
 O happinefs of blind nefs ! now no beauty 
 Inflames my luft; no other's good, my envy; 
 Or misery, my pity ; no man's wealth 
 Draws my re 'peel ; nor poverty my fcorn: 
 Yet ilill I fee enough ! man to himlelf 
 -Is a large profpeft, rais'd above the level 
 Of his low creeping thoughts; if then I have 
 A world within myfelf, that world fhould be 
 3vly empire; there I'll reign, commanding freely 
 And willingly obey'd. fecure from fear 
 Of foreign forces, or domeilick treafons, 
 And hold a monarchy more free, more abfolute 
 Than in my father's feat ; and looking down 
 With fcorn, or pity, on the fiipp'ry flats 
 Of kings, will tread upon the neck c*f fa^« 
 
the Lofs 0/* Outward Senses, &c. 267 
 
 light, whereof thou art bereaved, as that: 
 light is above darknefs; if therefore, by the 
 eye of reafon, thou malt attain to the clear 
 fight of intelligible things, and by the eye of 
 faith to the fight of things fupernatural and 
 divine, the improvement of thefe better eyes 
 mall make a large amends for the want of thy 
 bodily fight. 
 
 Thy fight is loft ; let me tell thee what 
 Antony the hermit faid> though blind, to Di~ 
 dymns of Alexandria \ " Let it not trouble thee, 
 O Didy?nus > that thou art bereft of carnal 
 eyes, for thou lackefl only thofe eyes which 
 mice and flies and lizards have; but rejoice 
 that thou hail thofe eyes which the angels 
 have, whereby they fee God, and by which 
 thou art enlightened with a <reat meafure of 
 knowledge." Make this good of thyfelf, and 
 thou wilt not be too much difcomforted with 
 the ab fence of thy bodily eyes, 
 
 Thine eyes are loft 3 the chief comfort of 
 thy life is gone with them; The light isjweet, 
 faith Solomon, and a pie af ant thing it is for the 
 eyes to behold the fun. Hath not God done this 
 purpofely, that he might fhut thee out from 
 all earthly objects, that thou mighteil fo much 
 the more intentively fix thyfelf upon him, 
 and feek after thofe fpiritual comforts which 
 are to be found in a better light. Behold, the 
 fun is the moft glorious thing that the bodily 
 eyes can pofiibly fee; thy fpiritual eyes may 
 fee him, who made that goodly and glorious 
 
 creature, 
 
268 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 creature, and therefore mull: needs be infinite- 
 ly more glorious than what he made. If 
 thou canft now fee him the more, how haft 
 thou but gained by thy lofs? 
 
 Thou art become blind; certainly, it is a 
 fore affliction. The men of Jabefli-Gilead 
 offered to comply with the tyrant of the 
 Amonkcs fo far as to ferve him; but when hs 
 required the lofs of their right eyes, as a con- 
 dition of their peace, they rather chofe to ha- 
 zard their lives in an unequal war; as if fervi- 
 tude and death were a lefs mifchief than one 
 eye's lofs; how much more of both ? For tho' 
 one eye be but tejlis fmgularis, a fingle wit- 
 nefs, yet the evidence of that is as true as that 
 of both ; yea, in fome cafes more : for when 
 we would take a perfect aim we fhut one 
 eye, as rather an hinderance to an accurate 
 information; yet, for ordinary ufe, fo do we 
 efteem each of thefe lights, that there is no 
 wife man but would rather lofe a limb than 
 an eye. ' Although I could tell thee of a cer- 
 tain man, not lefs religious than cheerful, who 
 when his friends bewailed the lofs of one of 
 his eyes, aiked them, " Whether they wept for 
 the eye which he had loft or the eye which 
 remained? weep rather faid he, for the ene- 
 my which ftays behind than for the enemy 
 that is gone." Lo„ this man looked upon 
 his eyes differently from other men ; he faw 
 them as enemies, which others fee as of- 
 
 lous iervants, as good friends, as dear fa- 
 vourites ; 
 
the Lofs of Outward Senses, &c. 269 
 
 vourites : indeed, they are any or all of thefe 
 according as they are ufed; good fervants, it 
 they go faithfully on the errands we fend 
 them, and return us true intelligence ; good 
 friends, if they advile and invite us to holy 
 thoughts ; enemies, if they fuggeft and allure 
 us to evil. If thine eyes have been employed 
 in thefe evil offices to thy foul, God hath 
 done that for thee, which he hath, in a figu- 
 rative fenfe, enjoined thee to do to thyfelf ; If 
 thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and c 'I 
 it from thee ; for it is better for thee that one of 
 thy members Jllould perijh, and not that thy whole. 
 body Jliould be cajl into hell. 
 
 Thou haft loft thine eyes, and together 
 with them much earthly contentment; but 
 withal, thou art hereby freed from many temp- 
 tation's. Thofe eyes were the inlets of fin, 
 yea, not only the mere paiTages by which it 
 entered, but buiv agents in the admiflion of 
 it, the very pandars of lull for the debauch- 
 ing of the foul. How many thpufands are 
 there, who, on their death-beds, upon the 
 fad recalling of their guilty thoughts, have 
 wiihed they had been born blind? fo that if 
 thou haft lefs joy thou {halt fin lefs, neither 
 ihall any vain objects call away thy thoughts 
 from the ferious meditation of fprkual things-. 
 Before, it was no otherwife with thee than 
 the prophet feremiah reports it to have t^een 
 with the Jews, That death is come up by the 
 wjndows,. So it was with Eve; Jhe faw 
 
 i- 
 
2jo CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 the tree was pleafant to the eyes, and there- 
 upon took of the fruit. So it hath been e- 
 ver fince with all the fruit of her womb, 
 both in the old and latter world; The Jons of 
 God Jaw the daughters of men that they were 
 fair, and they took them wives of all which 
 they chofe -, infomueh, as not filthy lufts only, 
 but even adulteries take up their lodgings in 
 the eye; there the bleffed Apoftle finds them, 
 Having eyes, faith he, foil of adultery , and that 
 cannot ceafe from Jin. While therefore thine 
 heart walked after thine eyes, as Job fpeaks, it 
 could do no other but carry thee down to the 
 chambers of death ; thou art now delivered 
 from that danger of lb deadly a mifguidance. 
 
 Hath not the lofs of thine eyes, withal, 
 freed thee of a world of forrows ? The old 
 word is, What the eye beholds not, the heart 
 does not regard; hadft thou but feen what 
 others were forced to behold, thofe fearful 
 conflagrations, thofe piles of murdered car- 
 cafes, thofe ftreams of Chriftian blood, thofe 
 fa\ r age violences, thofe mercilefs rapines, thofe 
 ftcniegious outrages, thine heart cculd not 
 chufe but bleed within thee ; now thou art 
 jffected with them only at a diftance, as re- 
 ceiving them by the perfect intelligence of 
 
 ine ear from the unfeeling relation of o- 
 thers. 
 
 Thine eyes arc loft, what need thy heart 
 to go along with them ? I have known a blind 
 E&n more cheerful than I could be with both 
 
 XPlU.9 
 
the Lofs of Ovtwakd Senses, &c* 27 1 
 
 mine eyes. Old J face was dark-lighted when 
 he gave the blemng, contrary to his own in- 
 tentions, to his fon Jacob, yet it feems he 
 lived forty years after, and could be pleafed 
 then to have o-ood cheer made him with wine 
 and venifon; our life doth not lie in our eyes ; 
 the Jpirit of a man is that which upholds Ids in- 
 firmities : labour to raife that to a thankful 
 difpofition, and even in thy bodily darknefs, 
 there Jhall be light and joy to thy foul. 
 
 Hath God taken away thine eyes ? but hath 
 he not given thee an abundant fupply in o- 
 ther faculties ? are not thine inward fenfes 
 the more quick, thy memory ftronger, thy 
 imagination more active, thy underftanding; 
 more appreheniive ? The wonders that we 
 have heard and read of blind mens memories 
 were not eafy to believe, if it were not obvi- 
 ous to conceive, that the removal of all dif- 
 fractions gives them an opportunity both of a. 
 careful repofition of ail delired objects, and of 
 a fure fixednefs on them where- they are laid j 
 hence have we {ten it come to pafs, that fame 
 blind men have attained to thofe perfections 
 which their eyes could never have poifeiie4 
 them of. It is very memorable which our ec~ 
 clefiaftical ilory reports of Didynms of Alex- 
 andria^ who, being blind from his infancy, 
 through his prayers 2nd diligent endeavours, 
 reached unto fuch an high pitch of know- 
 ledge in logic, geometry, arithmetic, aftrono,- 
 my, as was admired by the learned mailer - 
 
272 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 of thole arts j and for his rare infight into di- 
 vinity, was, by Athancifins, approved to be the 
 doctor of the chair in that famous church. 
 As for the other outward fenfes, they are 
 commonly more exquifite in the blind: we 
 read of fome who have been of fo accurate a 
 touch, that, by their very feeling, they could 
 difringuilh betwixt black and white j and for 
 the ear, our philofopher obferves *, that as 
 founds are fweeter to the blind than to the 
 fighted ; fo alio are they more curioufly 
 judged of by them ; the virtue of both thole 
 fenfes being now contracted into one. But 
 the moil perfect recompence of thefe bodily 
 eyes is in the exaltation of our fpi ritual, fo 
 much more enlightened towards the beatifi- 
 
 o 
 
 cal viiion of God, as they apprehend more 
 darknefs in all earthly objects. Certainly, 
 thou malt not mifs thefe material eyes, if 
 thou mayeil find thy foul thus happily en- 
 lightened. 
 
 Thine eyes are lofl ; it is a blefling that 
 once thou hadil them : hadil thou been born 
 blind, what a ilranger hadil thou, in all like- 
 lihood, been to God and the world ? Hadil 
 thou not once feen the face of this heaven, 
 and this earth, and this fea, what exprefiions 
 could have made thee fufficiently apprehen- 
 five of the wonderful works of thy Creator; 
 what difcourfe could have made thee to un- 
 derstand what light is? what the fun the 
 
 fountain 
 * The Lord Ftrtt!am,§v French Barn in his Natural Hiftory, 
 
the Lofi c/Outward Senses, &c. 27s 
 
 fountain of it, what the heavens the glorious 
 region of it, and what the moon and ftars il- 
 luminated by it ? How couldfl thou have had 
 thy thoughts raifed fo high, as to give glory 
 to that great God whofe infinite power hath 
 wrought all thefe marvellous things ? No 
 doubt God hath his own ways of mercy, 
 even for thofe that are born dark, not requir- 
 ing what he hath not given, graciouily fup- 
 plying, by his Spirit, what is wanting in the 
 'outward man ; fo as even thofe that couJd 
 never fee the face of the world, mail fee the 
 face of the God that made it. But, in an or- 
 dinary courfe of proceeding, thofe which have 
 been blind from their birth, muff, needs want 
 thofe helps of knowing and glorifying God, 
 in his mighty works, which lie open to the 
 feeing ; thefe once filled thine eyes^ and ftay 
 with thee fhli after thine eyes have forfaken 
 thee.: what fhouldft thou do but walk on iri 
 the ftrength of thofe fixed thoughts, and be 
 always adoring the Majefty of the God 
 whom that fight hath represented unto thee 
 fo glorious ; and, in an humble fubmimon to 
 his good pleafure, if rive againff all the dif- 
 comforts of thy fufTerings. Ourvftory tells 
 us of a valiant foldier, anfwerahle to the name 
 ii-e bore, Pofyzetus p who, after his .eyes were 
 {truck out in the battle,. covering his face with 
 tiis target, fought ftiil, laying about him as 
 vehemently as if he had {ten. whom to fmite. 
 60 do thou, my fon, with no lefs courage^ 
 
 ? H 
 
274 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 let not the lofs of thine eyes hinder thee from- 
 a cheerful refiftance of thofe fpi ritual ene- 
 mies, which labour to draw thee into an im- 
 patient murmuring againft the hand of thy 
 God : wait humbly upon that God who hath 
 better eyes in ftore for thee, than thofe which 
 thou hail loft. 
 
 Thou haft loft thy Hearing ; it is not eafy 
 to determine which lofs is the greater, of the 
 eye or of the ear ; both are grievous. Now 
 all the world is to thee as dumb fmce thou art 
 deaf to it; how fmall a matter hath made 
 thee a mere cypher amongft men ! Thefe two 
 are the fenfes of inftruction -, there is no way 
 for intelligence to be conveyed to the foul, 
 whether in fecular or in fpiritual affairs. The 
 eye is the window, the ear is the door by 
 which all knowledge enters; in matters of 
 obfervation by the eye, in matters of faith by 
 the ear. Had it pleafed God to fhut up both 
 thefe fenfes, from thy birth, thy eftate had 
 been utterly difconfolate, neither had there 
 been any poflible accefs for comfort to thy 
 foul ; and if he had fo done to thee in thy 
 riper age, there had been no way for thee but 
 to live on thy former ftore : but now, that he 
 hath vouchfafed to leave thee one pafTage open, 
 it behoves thee to fupply the one fenfe by the 
 other, and to let in thofe helps by the win- 
 dow which are denied entrance at the door. 
 And fmce that Infinite Goodnefs hath been 
 
 pleafed 
 
the Lo/s of Outwaxd Senses, &c. 27$ 
 
 pleafed to lend thee thine ear fo long, as till 
 thou halt laid the fare grounds of faith in thy 
 heart ; now thou mayeit work upon them, in 
 this filent opportunity, with heavenly medi- 
 tations, and raife them up to no lefs height 
 than thou mighteft have done by the help of 
 the quickeft ear. 
 
 It is well for thee, that, in the fulnefs of 
 thy fenfes, thou wert careful to improve thy 
 bofom as a magazine of heavenly thoughts, 
 providing, with the wife patriarch, for the 
 ieven years of dearth; otherwife, now that 
 the pafTages are thus blocked up, thou couldfl 
 not but have been in danger of famifhing. 
 Thou haft now abundant leifure to recal and 
 ruminate upon thofe holy counfels, which 
 thy better times laid up in thy heart, and, to 
 thy happy advantage, nndeft the difference be- 
 twixt a wife Providence and a carelefs neo-lect. 
 
 Thine outward hearing is gone ; but thou 
 haft an inward and better ear, whereby thou 
 heareft the fecret motions of God's Spirit 
 which mall never be loft. How many thou- 
 fands, whom thou envieft, are in a worfe con- 
 dition ? they have an outward and bodily ear, 
 whereby they hear the voice of men, but they 
 want that fpiritual ear which perceives the 
 leaft whifperings of the Holy Ghoft; ears 
 they have, but not hearing ears ; for fafhion 
 more than ufe. Solomon makes and obferves 
 the diftinction, The hearing ear y and the feeing 
 ejtfj the Lord hath made even both of them-, and 
 
 T z a 
 
276 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 a greater than Solomon can fay of his formal 
 auditors, Hearing they hear not. If thou have, 
 an ear for God, though deaf to men, how 
 much happier art thou than thofe millions 
 of men that have an ear for men and are deaf 
 to God ? 
 
 Thcu hall: loft thy hearing-, and therewith 
 no fmall deal of forrow ; how would it grieve 
 thy foul to hear thofe woful ejaculations, thofe 
 pitiful complaints, thofe hideous blafphemies, 
 thofe mad paradoxes, thofe hellifh herefies 
 wherewith thine ear would have been 
 wounded, if it had not been barred againft 
 their entrance ? it is thy juft grief that thou 
 miiTeft. of the hearing of many good words ; 
 it is thy happinefs that thou art freed from 
 the hearing of many evil. It is an even 
 chance betwixt the benefit of hearing good, 
 and the torment of hearing evil. 
 
 SECT. X. 
 
 Confolations under the Want of Children. 
 
 E come next to comfort thofe who 
 complain of the want of children, of 
 a beloved offspring denied to them. 
 
 Confider then, your cafe is not fingular ; a 
 better man before you, even the father of the 
 faithful, made the lame complaint -, What wilt 
 thou give me y feeing I go childlefs? fo did the wife 
 
 of 
 
the Want of Children. 277 
 
 X$ faithful I/rael, Give me children or I die. So 
 -defirous hath nature been, even in the holieft, 
 to propagate itfelf, and fo impatient of a de- 
 Jiial ; Lo, children and the fruit of the womb are 
 an heritage and gift that comet h from the Lord, 
 Happy is -he that hath his quiver full of fuch 
 Oiatts. It is the .Welling that David grudged 
 -to wicked ones, They have children at their 
 Jefre. It was the curfe which God inflicted 
 ,upon the family of Abimekch king of Gerar, 
 That he clofed up all the wo?nbs in his houfe for 
 ^Sarah's fake 3 and the judgment threatened to 
 .Ephrami, is, a mi) carrying womb and dry breajls; 
 •and Jeconia/is fad doom ia, Write this pan 
 .childlefs: as, on the contrary, it is a fpecial 
 favour of God, that the barren hath borne Jeven ; 
 and it is noted by the Pfalmiil, as a wonder 
 of God's -mercy., That he maketh the barren 
 woman to keep houfe, and to be a joyful mother of 
 children. It is pity he was ever i)orn, that 
 holds not children a blerTing -, yet not iimple 
 and abfolute, but according as it may prove. 
 She hath a double favour from God who is a 
 joyful mother of children..; many a : one breeds 
 her forrow, breeds her death. There issfcarce 
 any other blelling from God feaibned with fo 
 much acrimony both of mifery and danger. 
 Do but lay together the fiek fits of breeding, 
 the painful throws of travel, the weary attend- 
 ances of nuriing, the anxious cares of educa-* 
 tion, the fears and doubts of miieuidance, the 
 .perpetual folicitude for their provision, the 
 T 3 heart- 
 
878 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 heart-breaking grief for their mifcarriage, and 
 tell me whether thy bemoaned fterility have 
 not more eafe, lefs forrow. 
 
 But, it is thy forrow that thou art not fruit- 
 ful; confiderthat thou art herein freed from a 
 greater forrow; In forrow Jhalt thou bring forth 
 children. Do but think upon the fhrieks and 
 torments that thou hall ieen and heard in the 
 
 Eainful travels of thy neighbours ; one thou 
 aft feen wearying the days and nights in 
 reftlefs pangs, and calling for death in a de- 
 fpair of delivery ; one hath her dead burden 
 torn from her by piece-meal, another is de- 
 livered of her lite and birth together; one 
 languifheth to death after the hand of an un- 
 fkilful midwife, another is weary of her life 
 through the forenefs of her breafts ; all thefe 
 forrows thou haft efcaped by this one; in thefe 
 regards, how many whom thou envieft have 
 thought thee happier than themfelves ? 
 
 Thou art afflicted that thou art not a mo- 
 ther; many a one is fo, that wiihes ihe had 
 been barren, if either the child prove de- 
 formed and misfhapen, or, upon further 
 growth, unnatural and wicked ; what a cor- 
 rofive is this to her that bore him ? Rebecca 
 thought it long to be, after her marriage, 
 twenty years childlefs; her holy hufband, at 
 fixty years of age, prays to God for ifiue by 
 her; his devotion, as the Jewifh doctors fey, 
 carried him to Mount Moriah for this pur- 
 pofc. that in the fame place where his life 
 
 was 
 
the Want ^Children. 279 
 
 was miraculoufly preferved from the knife of 
 his father, it might, by the like miracle, be 
 . renewed in his posterity. God hears him ; 
 Rebecca conceives -, but when me felt that 
 early combat of her ftruggling twins in her 
 Womb, fhe can fay, If it be Jo, why am I thus? 
 And when fhe faw a child come forth, all clad 
 in hair, and after faw his conditions no lefs 
 rough than his hide, do we not think me 
 wifhed that part of her burden unborn ? Cer- 
 tainly children are, according to their proof, 
 either blefllngs or crofles. Haft thou a child 
 well-difpofed, well-governed ? A wife fon 
 jmaketh a glad father : Haft thou a child disor- 
 derly and debauched ? Afoolijhfon is the hea- 
 yinefs of his mother ; and the calamity of his far- 
 ther: haft thou a fon that is unruly, ftubborn, 
 unnatural ? He that wafeth his father, and 
 chafcth away his mother, is a fon that caufeth 
 JJiame and bringeth reproach. And if fuch a fon 
 mould live and die impenitent, v/hat can be an- 
 iwerable to the difcomfort of that parent who 
 .mall think that a part of himfelf is in hell. 
 
 Thou haft no children ; as thou haft lefs 
 joy, fo thou haft lefs trouble ; it is an immenfe 
 deal of work and thoughts that belong tp 
 thefe living pofTemons. Artemidorus obferves, 
 that to dream of children imports cares to fol- 
 low : Surely, as they are our greateft cares, 
 -fo they bring many lefTer cares with them; 
 tbefore thou hadft but one mouth to feed, now 
 many. And upon whom doth this charge 
 
 X ,4 lay, 
 
i3o CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 lay, but upon the parent ? not nature only, but 
 religion cads it upon him; For if any provide 
 not for his own, efpecial'y for thoje of his own 
 honfey he hath denied the faith and is worfe than 
 an infidel. Don: thou not fee that many fuck- 
 ers, growing up from the root of the tree, 
 draw away the lap from the flock ? and many 
 rivulets, let out from the main channel, leave 
 the ftream mallow ? So it muft be with thee 
 and thine; but this expence is not more ne- 
 eeflan/ than comfortable. 
 
 I remember agreatman, coming to my houfe 
 at JValtham*, and feeing all my children Hand- 
 ing in the order of their age and ftature, faid, 
 Thefe are they that make rich men poor; but 
 he ftraight received this anfwer; Nay, my Lord, . 
 thefe are they that make a poor man rich, for 
 there is not one of thefe whom we would part 
 with for all your wealth." Indeed, whereiorc 
 do we receive but to diftribute ? and what are 
 we but the farmers of thofe we leave behind 
 us ? and, if we do freely lay out our fubftance 
 beforehand for their good, fo much of our 
 rent is happily cleared. It is eafy to obferve a 
 that none are fo griping and hard-fifted as the 
 childlefs ; whereas thofe who, for the main- 
 tenance of large families, are inured to fre- 
 quent diiburfments, find fuch experience of 
 divine Providence in the faithful managing of 
 their affairs, as that they lay out with more 
 cheerfulnefs than they receive ; wherein their 
 
 care 
 
 * Biihop Halh. 
 
tie Want of Children. 281 
 
 care muft be abated, when God takes it off 
 from them to himfelf : and, if they be not 
 wanting to themfelves, their faith gives them 
 eafe, in cafting their burden upon him who 
 hath both more power and more right to it, 
 fince our children are more his than our own. 
 He that feedeth the young ravens, can he fail 
 the beft of his creatures ? 
 
 Greenham tells us of a gentlewoman, who, 
 coming into the cottage of a poor neighbour^ 
 and feeing it furnifhed with ftore of children, 
 could fay, Here are the mouths, but where is the 
 meat ? but not long after me was paid in her 
 own coin* for the poor woman coming to her 
 after the burial of her lalt, and now only child; 
 inverted the queftion upon her* " Here is the 
 meat, but where are the mouths ?" Surely, the 
 great Houfe-keeper of the world, whofe 
 charge we are, will never leave any 6f his 
 menials without the bread of fufficiency ; and 
 who are fo fit to be his purveyors as the pa- 
 rents for their own brood ? Nature hath taught 
 the very birds to pick out the beft of the 
 grains for their young ? Nature fends that 
 moifture out of the root which gives life to 
 the branches and bloflbms. Sometimes it 
 meets with a kind retaliation; fome * ftork- 
 like difpofition repays the loving offices done 
 by the parents in a dutiful retribution to their 
 age or neceffity ; but how often have we iem 
 the contrary ? Here, an unfatiable importunity 
 
 of 
 
 * See Cbnflitnfs Magazine, vol' iii. p. 63. 
 
2%i CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 of drawing from the parent that maintenance 
 which is but neceiTary for his own fubfift- 
 •ence : -there an undutiful and unnatural ne- 
 glect, whether in not owning the meannefs 
 of thofe that begot them 3 or in not fupport- 
 ing the weakneis of their decayed- eftate by 
 due maintenance. Ingratitude is odious in 
 any man, but in a child monftrous *. 
 
 It is thy grief that thou never hadft a child; 
 believe him who hath tried it, there is not fo 
 much comfort in the having of children, as 
 there is forrow in parting with them, efpe- 
 cially, when they are come to their proof; 
 when their parts and difpoiition have raifed 
 our hopes of them, and doubled our affection 
 towards them. And as, according to the French 
 proverb, he that hath not, cannot lofe ; fo con- 
 trarily, he that hath, muft lofe; our meeting 
 is not more certain than our parting ; either 
 we mud leave them, and fo their grief for us 
 muff double ours; or they muft leave us, and 
 fo our grief for them mull be no lefs than our 
 love was of them. If then thou wilt be truly 
 wife, fet thy heart upon that only abfolute 
 good which is not capable of lofmg : divided 
 affections muft needs abate of their force.; now 
 lince there are no objects of darknefs which 
 might diftract thy love, be fure to place it 
 wholly upon that Infinite Goodnefs which 
 shall entertain it with mercy, and reward it 
 
 with 
 
 * Mv young readers are here referred to a fermon, cal'ed, 
 •' Youth difiuaded from vice/' 
 
the Inconveniencies c/ Old Age. 283 
 
 with blefTednefs. If Elkanah therefore could 
 fay to his barren wife Hannah, Why weepeji 
 thou? and why is thy heart heavy? am not I 
 better to thee than ten Jons? How much more 
 comfortably mayefl thou hear the Father of 
 mercies fay to thy foul, Why is thy heart 
 heavy ? am not I better to thee than ten thou^ 
 fand fons? 
 
 SECT. XI. 
 Confolations under the Inconveniencies of Old 
 Age. 
 
 OLD Age is that which we all defire to 
 afpire unto -, and when we have attain- 
 ed, are as ready to complain of as our greateft 
 mifery; verifying, in part, that ©Id obferva- 
 tion, That wedlock and age are things which 
 we deure and repent of. Is this our ingra- 
 titude or inconftaney, that we are weary of 
 what we wifhed ? perhaps this accufation may 
 not be univerfal ; there is much difference in 
 conflitutions, and much latitude in old age; 
 infancy and youth have their limits, age ad- 
 mits of no certain determination : at feventy 
 years David was old and ftricken in years, 
 and they covered him with cloaths, but he gat 
 no heat ; whereas Caleb can profefs, Now to, I 
 am four/core and five years old-, as yet I am as 
 jirong this day as I was in the day that Mofes 
 Cent me to fpy out the land: as my Jirength was 
 then, even jo is my jirength now for war, both to 
 go out and come in. And, beyond him, Mo- 
 fa 
 
£84 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 fes was an hundred and twenty years old, wheri 
 his eye was not dim, nor his natural ftrength 
 abated. Methufelah was but old when he. was 
 nine hundred fixty-five. But as for the .ge- 
 nerality of mankind, the fame Mofes> who 
 lived to fee an hundred and twenty years, 
 hath fct man's ordinary period at half his own 
 term ; The days of our years are three/care years 
 and ten ; and if , by reafon of flrength, they be 
 four/core years, yet is their Jirength labour and 
 Jorrow: lo, fourfcore years alosac are load e- 
 iiough for -the flrength, much more for the 
 weaknefs, of age; but when labour and for- 
 row are added to the weight, how can wfc 
 but double under the burthen ? He was both 
 old and wife, that faid out of experience, 
 " That our laft days are the -dregs of our life; 
 the clearer part is 'gone, and all drawn out,, 
 "the lees fink down to the bottom." Who can 
 exprefs the miferable inconveniencies that at- 
 tend old age ! wherein out cares mufl needs 
 be multiplied according to the manifold oc- 
 •caiions of our affairs : for the world is a net, 
 wherein the more we flir, the more we are 
 entangled. And, for our bodily grievances, 
 what varieties do we here meet withal ? As 
 age is no other than the common fewer into 
 which all difeafes of our life are wont to emp- 
 ty themfelves. Well therefore might Sarali 
 lay, After I am waxed eld fall I have pie afire? 
 And good Barzillas miViy excufes fcimfelf for 
 aot accepting the gracious invitation of Da- 
 
 vid' s 
 
the Inconveftienctes of Old Age. 28 ^ 
 
 vid; I am this day fourf core years old, and can I 
 difcern between good and evil ? Can thy fervant 
 tajle what I eat, or what I drink £ Can I hear 
 any ?nore the voice of Jinging-men and finging- 
 women ? Wherefore then jhoidd thy fervant be 
 yet a burden unto my lord the king f Lo, thefe 
 are they which the preacher calls the evil 
 days, and the years wherein a man mall lay, 
 I have no plcajitre ; wherein the fun, or the light , 
 er the ptoon, or the Jiars are darkened, and the 
 clouds return after the rain : when the keepers of 
 the houfe fliall tremble, and the flrong men fljall 
 bow themfelves, and the grinders ceafe, becaufe 
 they are few, and thofe that look out of the win- 
 dows be darkened*. Shortly, what is our old 
 age but the winter of our life ? how can we 
 then expect any other than gloomy weather, 
 chilling frofts, ftorms and tempefts. 
 
 But while we do thus queruloufly aggravate 
 the incommodities of age, we mult beware 
 left we derogate from the bounty of our 
 Maker, and difparage thofe bleffings which 
 he accounts precious, amongfr. which old age 
 is none of the meaneft : had he not put that 
 value upon it, would he have honoured it with 
 his own flile, calling himfelf, The Ancient of 
 days? Would he elfe have propofed this mercy 
 as a reward of obedience to himfelf, / will ful- 
 fil the number of thy days, and of obedience to 
 our parents, To live long in the land? Would 
 
 ha 
 
 * For an excellent comment, on this pitlurc of old aoe, fee 
 CtjriJ}iav\ Magazine, vol. ii. p. 175, 
 
286 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 he have promifed it as a marvellous favour to' 
 reftore Jerufalem, now become a city of truth,* 
 fo that there Jhall yet old men and old women dwell 
 in the Jlreets of Jerulalemy and every man with 
 his faff' in his hand for very age? Would he elfe 
 have denounced it as a judgment to over- in- 
 dulgent Eli, There Jliall not be an old man in 
 thine hoife for ever? Far be it from us to de- 
 fpife that which God doth honour, and to 
 turn his bleiling into a curfe. Yea, the fame 
 God who knows beft the price of his own fa- 
 vours, as he makes no fmal) eftimation of age 
 himfelf, fo he hath thought fit to call for an 
 high refpeel to be given to it by himfelf, out 
 of an holy awe to himfelf; Thou /halt rife up 
 before the hoary head, and honour the face of the 
 old man, and fear thy God. I am the Lord; 
 Hence it is that he hath pleafed to put toge- 
 ther the Ancient and the Honourable; and hath 
 told us, That an hoary head is a crown of glory, 
 if it be found in a way of right eoufnefs: and lafb- 
 iy, he makes it an argument of the deplored e- 
 fcate of Jerufalem, that they favoured not the 
 elders. As therefore we too fenfibly feel 
 what to complain of, fo we well know w T hat 
 privileges we may challenge as due to our 
 age; even fuch as nature itfelf hath taught 
 thofe heathens which have been, in the next 
 degree, to favage : if pride and fkill have 
 made the Athenians uncivil, yet a young Lace- 
 daemonian will rife up, and yield his place in 
 the theatre to neglected age. 
 
 It 
 
the Inconvemep.cies of Old Age. 287 
 
 It is not a little injurious fo to fallen our 
 eyes upon the difcommodities of any condi- 
 tion, as not to take in the advantages that 
 belong to it, which, carefully laid together, 
 may perhaps fway the balance to an equal 
 poife. Let it be true, that old age is oppreffed 
 with many bodily griefs ; but what if it yield 
 other immunities which may keep the fcales 
 even ? whereof it is not the leafr, that it gives 
 us firm refolution, and bold fecurity againfl 
 dangers and death itfelf; for the old man 
 knows how little of his clew is left in the 
 winding, and therefore, when juft occafion is 
 offered, flicks not fo much upon fo inconfi- 
 derable a remainder. Old age and orbity, as 
 Cefellius profelfed, were thofe two things that 
 emboldened him. And when Cafiritius re- 
 fufed to deliver the hoilages of PIace?n l ia to 
 Car bo the conful, and was threatened with 
 many fwords, he anfwered thofe menaces- 
 with his many years. And that we may not 
 difdain home-bred inflances, and may fee that 
 brave fpirits may lodge in cottages : In my 
 time a plain villager in the Rude Peak, when 
 thieves, taking advantage of the abfence of 
 his family, breaking in:o his folitary dwell- 
 ing, and finding him fitting alone by his fire- 
 fide, fell violently upon him 5 and one of them 
 fetting his dagger to his heart, fwore that he 
 would prefently lull him, if he did not in- 
 ftantly deliver to them that money, which 
 they knew he had lately received'; the old 
 
 man 
 
288 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 man looks boldly in the face of that flout 
 villain, and, with an undaunted courage, re- 
 turns him this anfwer, " Nay, fon, kill me if 
 thou wilt, I have lived Ions; enoueh : but I tell 
 thee, unlefs thou mend thy manners, thou wilt 
 never live to fee half my days." What young 
 man would have been fo eafily induced to 
 part with his life, and have been fo ready to 
 give entertainment to an unexpected death ? 
 Surely, the hope and love of life commonly 
 foftens the fpirits of vigorous youth, and difr 
 iwades it from thofe enterprifes which are 
 attended with manifeir. peril; whereas ex^ 
 treme age teacheth us to contemn dangers. 
 
 Yet a greater priviledge of age is a freedom 
 from thofe impetuous paflions wherewith 
 youth is commonly overfwayed ; for altoge- 
 ther, with our natural heat, is alfo abated the 
 heat of our inordinate lufts, fo as now our 
 weaker appetite may eafily be fubdued to rea- 
 fon: The temperate old man, in the liory, 
 when one mewed him a beautiful face, could 
 anfwer, I have long lince ceafed to be eye- 
 lick. And another could fay, of pleafure, 1 
 have gladly withdrawn myfelf from the fer- 
 vice of that imperious mifrrefs. What an un- 
 reafonable vaflalage our youthful lufts fubjecj 
 us unto, we need no other inftance than in 
 the ftrongeft and wifeft man ; how was Samp- 
 fon effeminated by his impotent paffion, and 
 weakened in his intellectuals fo far, as wilfully 
 -to betray his own life to a mercenary 'harlot ? 
 
 and 
 
t/ie I?2Convcnie?icies of Old Age. 289 
 
 and to endure to hear her fay, Tell rne where* 
 with thou may eft be bound to do thee hurt: how 
 eafily might he have anfwered thee, " O De- 
 lib, even with thofe cords of brutifh fenfuality 
 wherewith thou hail: already bound me to the 
 lofs of my liberty, mine eyes, my life." How 
 was Solomon befotted with his ftxange wives, 
 fo as to be drawn away to the worfhip of 
 ftrange gods ! and how may the fir-trees howl, 
 when the cedars fall! who can hope to be 
 free from being tranfported with irregular 
 affections, when we fee fuch great precedents 
 of frailty before our eyes? From the danger 
 of thefe miferable mifcarriages, our age hap- 
 pily fecures us, putting us into that quiet 
 harbour whence we may fee young men pe~ 
 riloufly toffed with thofe tempefts of unruly 
 paffions, from which our cooler age hath 
 freed us. 
 
 Add hereunto the benefit of experimental 
 knowledge, wherewith age is wont to enrich 
 us, every dram whereof is worth many pounds 
 of the befl youthly contentments; in com- 
 parifoil whereof fpeculative knowledge is 
 weak and imperfect -, this may come cheap, 
 perhaps colt us nothing; that commonly 
 we pay dear for, and therefore it is juftly 
 efteemed the more precious : If experience 
 be the miftrefs of fools* I am fure it is the 
 mother of wifdom; neither can it be* except 
 we be much wanting to ourfelves, but the 
 long obfervation of fuch variety of actions 
 
 U and 
 
290 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 and events, as meet with us in the whole 
 courfe of our life, muft needs leave with us 
 fuch fure rules of judgment, as may be un- 
 failing directions for ourfelves and others : 
 In vain mall this be expected from our 
 younger years, which the wife philofopher 
 excludes from being meet auditors, much 
 lefs judges of true morality ; in regard where- 
 of, well might the old man fay, " Ye young 
 men think us old men fools, but we old men 
 know you young men to be fools." Certainly,, 
 what value foever ignorance may put upon it,, 
 this fruit of age is fuch, as that the earth 
 hath nothing equally precious. It was a pro- 
 fane word, and fit for the mouth of an hea- 
 then poet, t* That prudence is above deftinys" 
 but furely a Chriftian may modefllv and jufl- 
 ly fay, That, next to divine Providence, hu- 
 man prudence may challenge the fupreme 
 place in the adminiftration of thefe earthly 
 affairs , and that age may claim the greatcil 
 intereft in that prudence : Young Elihu could 
 fay, Multitude of years Jhould teach wifdom : 
 And the wife man, O how comely a thing is 
 judgment for gray hairs, and for ancient men to 
 know counfell O how comely is the wifdom oj old 
 men, and underfanding and counfel to men of ho- 
 nour I In regard whereof the Grecians were 
 wont to fay, " That young men are for ac- 
 tion, old men for advice ;" and among the 
 Romans we know that the fenators take their 
 name from age. That therefore which is the 
 
 weaknefs- 
 
the Incomcniencies /Old Age.' 291 
 
 weaknefs of old mens eyes, that they better 
 diicern things further off (their vifual fpirits 
 not uniting till fome diftance) is the praife 
 and ftrength of their mental eyes ; they fee 
 either judgments or advantages afar off, and 
 accordingly frame their determinations. It is 
 obferved that old lutes found better than new ; 
 and it was Rehoboams folly and undoing, that 
 he would rather follow the counfel of his 
 green heads that flood before him, than of 
 thofe grave fenators that flood before his 
 wifer father. Not that mere age is of itfelf 
 thus rich in wifdom and knowledge, but age 
 well cultured, well improved : There are old 
 men that do but live, or rather have a being 
 upon earth, (fo have ftocks and flones as well 
 as they) who can have no proof of their many 
 years but their gray hairs and infirmities. 
 There are thofe* who, like Hermogenes, are 
 old men while they are boys, and children 
 when they are old men : thefe the elder they 
 grow are {0 much more flupid. Time is an 
 ill meafure of ape, which ihould rather be 
 meted by proficiency, by ripenefs of judg- 
 ment, by the monuments of our commend- 
 able and ufeful labours. If we have thus be- 
 flowed ourfelves, our autumn will mew what 
 our fpring was; and the colour of our hair 
 will yield us more caufe to fear our pride than 
 our dejection. 
 
 We accufe our age of many weakneffes and 
 
 indifpofitions j but thefe imputations muft 
 
 U 2 nut 
 
tgz CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 not be universal : Many of thefe are the faults; 
 of the perfon, not of the age. He faid well,. 
 that as all wine doth not turn four with age, no 
 more doth every nature. Old oil is noted to 
 be clearer and hotter ia a medicinal ufe than 
 new. There are thole who are pettilh and 
 crabbed in youth ; there are contrarily thofe 
 who are mild, gentle, fociable in their de- 
 cayed years ; there are thofe who are crazy in. 
 their prime, and there are thofe who in their 
 wane are vigorous -, there are thofe who, ere 
 the fulnefs of their age,, have loft their me- 
 mory ;. there are thofe whofe intellectuals have 
 fo happily held out, that they have been hell 
 at the laft: Plato x in his laft year, which was 
 fourfcore and one, died, as it were, with his 
 pen in his hand : Ifocrafes wrote his belt, piece 
 at ninety- four years ; and, it is faid of Demojl- 
 kenes y that when death fummoned him at an 
 hundred years, and fomewhat more,, he be- 
 moaned himfelf that he muft now die when 
 he began to get fome knowledge. And, as 
 for fpiritual graces and improvements, Such m 
 be planted in the houfe of the Lord, fliall four ifli 
 in the courts of our God : they alfo fliall bring 
 forth more fruit in their age, and /hall, be jat 
 and id ell-liking. 
 
 But the chief benefit of our age is,, our near 
 approach to our journey's end; for the end 
 of all motion is reft •> which when we have 
 once attained, there remains nothing but 
 fruition : Now our age brings us, after a weary 
 
 race, 
 
the InconV£7iiencks 5/ Old Age. 293 
 
 race, within fome breathings of our goal ; for, 
 if young men die, old men muft. A condi- 
 tion which a mere carnal heart bewails and 
 abhors, complaining of nature as niggardly 
 in her difpenfations of the ihortell: time to 
 her nobleil creature, and envying the oaks, 
 which many generations of men mull: leave 
 {landing and growing. No marvel ; for the 
 worldling thinks himfelf here at home, and 
 looks upon death as a banifhment : he hath 
 placed his heaven here below, and can fee 
 nothing, in his remove, but either annihila- 
 tion or torment. But for us Chriltians, who 
 know, that while we are preje?tt in the body, 
 we are abfent from the Lord-, and do jufily 
 account ourfelves foreigners, our life a pil- 
 grimage, heaven our home; how can we but 
 rejoice, that, after a tedious and painful tra- 
 vel, we do now draw near to the threfhold of 
 our Fathef s houfe ; wherein we know there 
 are many manfians, and all glorious. I could 
 blufh to hear an heathen fay, " If God would 
 offer me the choice of renewing my age, and 
 returning to my firil childhood, I fhouid hear- 
 tily refufe it; for I mould be loth, after I 
 have paused fo much of my race, to be called 
 back from the goal to the bars of my firft fel- 
 ting out :" and to hear a Chriftian whininc- 
 and puling at the thought of his duTolution- 
 Where is our faith of an haven, if, having 
 been fo long fea-beaten, we are loth to think 
 of putting into the fafe and blelTed harbour of 
 immortality ?" 
 
 U3 We 
 
294 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 We conclude thefe Confolations with Dr. 
 Youngs Thoughts for Age * : 
 
 " On the brink of that ftate we, now, Hand : 
 that poll: of wifdom ? if ever men are wife : 
 which is the reafon why they wifh it may be 
 long before they arrive at it : for folly is the 
 favourite of mankind : and is it not our own ? 
 Though there we ifand, we fcarce believe it$ 
 fo much our willies obftruft our belief: or, 
 believing, fcarce know what being there 
 means ; fo much familiarity takes away our 
 attention -, and robs things pf their power ta 
 itrike ftrong on our minds. Eternity has fo 
 often pafTed our lips, that it has forgot its way 
 to our hearts. Did . it enter there, would it 
 not extinguish every earth-born paffion in it ? 
 Yes ; as the fun, the fmalleil fpark of fire. 
 
 Though we fiand on its awful brink, fuch, 
 our leaden biafs to the world, we turn our 
 faces the wrong way; we are ftil! looking on 
 our old acquaintance, 'Time-, though, now, fo 
 wailed and reduced, that we can fee little 
 more of him than, his wings and his fcythe: 
 our age enlarges his wings to our imagina- 
 tion ; and our fear of d.eath, his fcythe j as 
 time himfelf grows lefs. His confumption is 
 deep : his annihilation is at hand. 
 
 Should we not then turn us round, and 
 look on eternity ? that glorious home of all 
 that furyives, and outfhines the fun -, that 
 
 kingdom, 
 
 * See Centaur, p. 266* 
 
the Jnconvemcncies of Old Age. 295 
 
 kingdom of fouls immortal ! of immortal 
 fouls, time is only the maturing womb; from 
 eternity they wait their real birth. Are we, 
 my friend! matured? or fhall we prove a- 
 bortive to the world of glory ? if we were 
 mature, why tarry here fo long ? by protract- 
 ing life, heaven fhews not its favour to thofe 
 that are fit to die. Is not the bufinefs of our 
 .day undone the caufe why v/e are fuffered to 
 fit up fo late? to be fo long on our weary legs, 
 after the common hour" of human reft ? I 
 fear it is. I much fear we are permitted to 
 live, purely becaufe — w:e .do not deferve it. 
 
 Is it not, (my languid fellow-traveller in 
 the deep •yale of years!) high time to be 
 wifer ? left the greateft of curies fhould fall 
 on. us, that of being wife too late : which is 
 the moil emphatical definition of a fool. 
 The world is worn out to us; and we are 
 worn out to the world. The world, which 
 knows its o\Vn intereft, quits us, as rats a 
 ruined houfe; if we knew ours, fhould we 
 not quit the world, as bees an exhaufted 
 .flower ? We can make no more honey of it •„ 
 its fweets are gone. Where are its formerly 
 fweet delufioris, its airy c-aftles, and glittering 
 fpires ? Are we not left .on a loney, barren, 
 'briery heath, to grope out our weary way, 
 through the dufk of life, to our final home ? 
 Shall not the difTolyed enchantment fet the 
 captive free ? Are we Torrifmond 's or Sud- 
 iburfs? Shall our dotage rivet our chains, 
 
 U 4 when 
 
j 9 6 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 when kind nature would knock them of?? 
 To fpeak a language even Centaurs may un- 
 derftand, " A laft card, well played, may 
 yet win the game." 
 
 Confider ; are we fcheming ftill ? ftretch- 
 ing out a trembling hand, which wants to be 
 fupported, to grafp at the nothing that comes 
 next ? Any thing now gained would rather 
 mock, than enrich us; can any thing enrich, 
 that cannot be enjcved? Grafp at new facul- 
 ties, and new powers, if thou canft find them, 
 or new objects will only laugh us to fcorn. 
 But hadft thou even thofe, if the value of 
 things is in proportion to our term in them, 
 their price at our market ihould fall very low. 
 
 It is a good thing to know when we have 
 all, and to laugh at that cheat more, which i$ 
 ever Healing our hearts. But it is as uncom- 
 mon, as good. Hence, feniors are milking 
 the world after it is dry. Is it not a fhame 
 that we fhoukl be gleanning iublumvy Jiraws, 
 when our harvefl of life is over ? hoping an 
 after-crop in our fhibble ? Though called to 
 diadems, where harveft is perpetual -, where 
 an harvefl, more than golden, profufely 
 crowns an eternal year ? 
 
 As to the pafs which is fo much feared y 
 the dark, fubterranean entry to future life; 
 into which our weak imagination peeps, and 
 ftarts back, as a child at a fhadGW; all thanks 
 to the blerled Gofpel, we know what will 
 light us up a lamp in it, and leiTen its formi- 
 dable 
 
the Inccnvenlencies of Old Age. zqj 
 
 dable gloom. I have feen a death-bed, the 
 reverfe of poor Altamonfs *, where the by- 
 standers were the greatefl fuffererc ; and the 
 king of terrors, by Christian patience, was 
 pver-matched. The power of religion {hone 
 out without a veil ; nor could any rifing fuf- 
 picions of hypocrify dim its luftre. In fuch 
 fcenes as thefe the human heart is no longer 
 invifible to man ; and a glimpfe of heaven is 
 difcovered in fuch a light. 
 
 We [inow what can make us fleep fweetly 
 in the dull: : what can fmooth the rough 
 tranfition ; foften death into a fort of tranila- 
 tion, which interrupts not (blefled be God!) 
 our exiflence ; nor our peace. In peace have 
 many died -, and, therefore, it is certain, all 
 may. The whole fecret for obtaining that 
 peace is an abfolute refgnadon to the Mod 
 High ; which (as hard a talk as it feems to 
 fome) at the bottom is no more than owning 
 him to be God. And a contrary conduct (as 
 little as it is confidered) has atheifm, partial 
 atheifm, in it. It is queftioning fome of his 
 attributes, though not denying a God. May 
 that peace be thine ! My heart beats with 
 ardour for thy prefent peace, and future blifs. 
 May I fhare it with thee! What a poor 
 broken embrace, what a fad fragment of 
 friendfhip, is that which ends at the grave ? 
 Such a tranfitory tie gives a fecond dart to, 
 death -, and a double dillblution to departing 
 man. That of foul and body fcarce more fevere. 
 
 Would 
 
 * See Centaur, p, ijj, 
 
stgt CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 V/ould to Heaven ! that all friendiliips 
 were, evidently, friendiliips of immortal men. 
 .Such, I mean, as gave proof of their having 
 each others eternal interefts at heart. Mo- 
 dern, at leaft, fafhionable friendship flows 
 from a polluted fource; it taftes too Strong 
 >of earth ; without the leaft tincture of man (as 
 above defcribed;) without the leaft fpirit of 
 immortality in it. Nay, worfe j it often fprings 
 from caufes that will not bear the light ; and 
 refembles the dark ftreams of Alphens> and 
 Arethufa, that mingle under ground: it 
 ihould rather refemble Eridanus t which is 
 faid to flow from heaven. 
 
 How many have we of thefe Subterranean 
 attachments? What is it ties our Centaurs 
 together in fo long a firing?- — Leaping toge- 
 ther the fame barriers of the decent, and the 
 iuft,- ranging the fame forbidden grounds; 
 gorging at the fame manger; neighing 1 the 
 lame inflammatory tune ; or being daily rid, 
 and forely galled, by the domineering info- 
 lence of the fame inflamed miftrefs. 
 
 Since fuch their accomplishments,, I hope 
 to lew a I.apitkean infantry Sufficient fuccefs- 
 fuily to carry on the war now opened againft 
 them. — As Chiron blew the trumpet which 
 called the Greeks- to the liege of Troy ; I hear 
 there is a modern Chiron, who founds as many 
 inftruments, as Nehuchadnezar did to Summon 
 his idolaters ; and that he raifes forces, and 
 ceaies net to carry on the war at a vajl ex- 
 fence., 
 
the Inconvenienties o/'OldAge. 299 
 
 pence. Doubtlefs he was typefied of old by 
 Jiim who is faid in Virgil ; 
 
 JErc ciere viros, martemque accendere cantu. 
 
 For my own part, my friend \ I fancy my 
 campaign will foon be over. I have frequent 
 pains . and, I think, I hear the Mailer call. 
 If io, mould we not leave this world, though 
 not yet admitted of the next ? Have we not 
 been, through life, anxioufly providing one 
 year for the next ? and mail we grudge to 
 pay half that pains for an eternity ? 
 
 Confider, my immortal friend ! mould we 
 not leave the world-, before the world leaves 
 us ? it is difmal to be left. There is a noble 
 abfence from earth, while we are yet on it : 
 and there is a nobler intimacy with heaven, 
 while we are yet beneath it. If our affection 
 flies thither, we ihall be welcomed by fupe- 
 rior Beings, and not be miffed by men, who 
 dejight in novelties ; or, if milled, admired 
 the more for being once in the right. They 
 mult be fomewhat out of this world, who 
 would be deep in the concerns of the next : 
 and is it not time we fbtfuld be fo ? Till the 
 bufmefs of life (as it is called) is over, its real 
 bufinefs is rarely begun: nor always then. 
 Age is apt to carry its allowed title to repofe 
 too far : age is the moil bufy period of hu- 
 man life. But its tranfaclions are not with 
 men. Therefore that abfence above men- 
 tioned is moil fit for us. It is a fort of third 
 
 ilate 
 
3 oo CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 iftate between this world and the next. How 
 proper then for the reception of thofe, whofe 
 term is out, here, according to the common 
 age of man ? 
 
 And can it be hard for us to lay this world 
 afide, finee they that have fared beft in the 
 world, have only the fewefr. objections againft 
 it. Is it not an old tragi-comedy read over 
 and over, which by no means, 
 
 — Decks repetita placgbit f J u v . 
 
 To fpeak in the licentious ftyle of comedy r 
 man is a mule, of mixed origin, of heaven and 
 earth : earth has had more than its mare of 
 us - y give heaven the reft : and that for a double 
 reafon. All know that hope is life's cordial : 
 it works miracles ; without happinefs it 
 makes men happy. What have been all the 
 pleafures of our former years, but joyous pro- 
 phecies, and bold promifes in the name of 
 to-morrow ? Worldly hope in age expires. If 
 he provides not another hope, a man of years, 
 and a man of mifery, mean the fame thing. 
 Therefore the fame fteps are to be taken 
 whether we would fweeten the remaining 
 dreg of life, or provide a triumph for eter- 
 nity. 
 
 The worldly wifhes, which an old man 
 fends out, 'are like Noah's dove ; they cannot 
 find whereon to light, and mull: return to his 
 own heart again for reft. His natural, and, 
 perhaps, moil allowable and proper wifh is 
 
 for 
 
the Inconveniencies of Old- Age* 301 
 
 for refpect. But refpect for age is a virtue. 
 I need fay no more to convince him how 
 little of it he muft expect : and, indeed, he 
 but ill dtferves it from others, who, by doat- 
 ing on the world, denies it to himfelf. 
 
 When infirmity drives the world from us, 
 or difeafe confines us to our chamber, mall 
 we not be all alone with the great Father of 
 fpirits, and Searcher of hearts ? Is it not worth 
 while a little beforehand to practife our lef- 
 fon, that we may be the better prepared to 
 fuflain fuch an interview ? Our wifdom can- 
 not add to the days, but it can lighten the 
 burden of life j, and leffen the terrors of death. 
 Death forgot in youth is folly > in age, mad* 
 nefs. With regard to that king of terrors, 
 how many in years borrow the fecurity of 
 youth ; for it is impofiible it mould belong 
 to them. Happy they ! whom death, when 
 he comes, mail find at home ; his vifit will 
 have lefs of terror in it. Out of pure decency 
 to the dignity of human nature, of which the 
 decays and imperfections mould not be ex-- 
 pofed, men in years, by recefs, mould fling a 
 veil over, them, and to the world be a little 
 buried, before they are interred. An old- 
 man's too great familiarity with the public is 
 an indignity to the human nature, and a ne- 
 glect of the Divine. A greater intercourse 
 with it than the calls of duty and virtue de- 
 mand, is indecent, irreligious, and contempti- 
 ble ; fpeaking acquiefcence in contempt, 
 
 dota£e 
 
 a 
 
3 o2 CONSOLATIONS under 
 
 dotage on the world, and oblivion of eternity'.- 
 His fancying himfelf to be ft ill properly one 
 of this world, and on a common foot with 
 the reft of mankind, is, as if a man getting 
 drunk in the morning, after a long nap, lift- 
 ing his drowfy lids at funfet, lhould take it 
 for break of day. 
 
 But grant him to be ftill of this world % 
 grant him all it can give , what is this world, 
 but a machine played on us by our great enemy 
 for the diffipation of human thought, whofe 
 fcattered rays muft be collected* as it were, 
 to a focal point, in order duly to warm our 
 devotion, and fet a pious heart on fire ? And 
 can any happinefs fubiift in age without piety ? 
 Impofiible ! its intimacy with the world, is 
 not for the pleafures it can give ; they are 
 paftj it is purely to diflodge the thoughts of 
 death, which intrude at that feafon; that is* 
 it is purely to decline the pleafures of heaven. 
 Why, my friend ! is our day of trial ex- 
 tended beyond the expiration of the common 
 term ? Is it not indulged to the great need cur 
 pail: conduct has of it ? and mail our folly re- 
 verfe the kind intention of that Divine indul- 
 gence to us ? Shall it fet us farther from our 
 God ? I am never fo ftrongly ftruck with the 
 weaknefs and depravity of man, as when I fee 
 grey hairs playing the fool. Hope, which in 
 other evil appearances fupports our fpirits, 
 fails us there. What can mock common 
 fenfe, what can create amazement, if not the 
 
 failings 
 
the IncQnvenkncits ^Old Age. 303 
 
 failings that would dishonour youth, in thofe 
 that are miraculoufly alive after the ftatedL 
 period of human life ? This is an outrage to 
 reafon beyond the boldnefs of the defperado 
 that confounds us moil: tliis outdares the fe- 
 lon repeating his crime,, not only under the 
 2 allows, but with the cord about his neck, 
 "Where is that world into which you and I 
 were born? It is under-ground; and a eene- 
 ration of ilrangers are dancing over our coe- 
 vals Ions; fmce in the duff. Where is that 
 world into which we fhall be born ? Far, 
 far above the fun, if, while we aye beneath- 
 it, we behave ourfeives like men. But if this 
 life was our only concern, confider, that no- 
 thing but being wifer, that is better than 
 thofe born after us,, can poiTibly refcue the 
 decays of age from averfion and contempt. 
 
 Fain would I have my pen of fome fervice- 
 to the aged,, now my neareft relations,: thofe 
 ©f blood are no more. To the former am I 
 related by like date, duty, intereft, concern^ 
 and above all 
 
 — Nunc ipfa ferictda jzngimt. Ov. 
 Now dangers themfclves unite. 
 
 o 
 
 Still eager in worldly purfuits, warm in tne 
 chace of madov/s, (hall we rum, as down z 
 precipice, and leap plumb into the jaws bi 
 extempore death ? 
 
 No, let us halt in our career; paufe on the 
 srink ; and provide for our eternal peace. 
 
 can 
 
304 The Good CHRISTIAN 
 
 Can I better exprefs my love than by prefs- 
 Ing it on thee ? I prefs it ftrongly. And 
 know, my friend ! that heaven, and (as I have 
 mewed thee) a moll indulgent Heaven, joins 
 my pathetic wifTi j and angels, ardent angelsj 
 fay Amen. And what want they ? (mark it 
 well,) they want nothing but thy own con- 
 currence to crown their wifhes for thy wel- 
 fare r 
 
 sect. xn. 
 
 The Good C H Pv I S T I A N Courted in 
 Death* 
 
 E ATH being the lafi and greater!: of 
 evils, we propofe, as drawing near the 
 end of our Conizations, to mew what com- 
 fort the good Chriflian may derive from the 
 consideration of this fure, this folemn event. 
 
 After the moil awful vifion of the happy 
 Hate into which the Saints of God are admit- 
 ted;, of the miferabie fbate to which the fer- 
 vants of fin are condemned, the fmoke of 
 whofe torment afcendeth up for ever and 
 ever, and who have no reft day nor night ; — 
 St. John informs us, That he heard a folemn 
 voice from heaven, faying unto him, Write, 
 note it down as a thing worthy to be had in 
 perpetual remembrance, That bleffed are' the 
 dead who die in the Lor d : from henceforth .-—But 
 
 why 
 
Cp?nfo? 'ted in Death. 30$ 
 
 ay from henceforth, why from that per. 
 only ? were not all thole who died in the 
 Lord, blefled in all , and from every 
 
 period ? Without doubt they were. What 
 then doth this henceforth imply ? Commenta- 
 tors and critics are much divided. It feems 
 to me that the original word, octtc&oti, might 
 more properly have been rendered, according 
 to its exacted fignification, immediately, direcliy? 
 from the infant : and, I fuppofe, it is defigned 
 to inform us of a very important truth, name- 
 ly, That thofe who die in the Lord, " enter 
 into an immediate (late of blefiedncis." I would 
 therefore read it : " Write, Immediately 
 bkiied are the dead who die in the Lord; or, 
 the dead who die in the Lord are bleiTed im- 
 mediately : yea, faith the Spirit, confirming 
 the great truth, That they may reft from 
 their labours > that they may enter into that 
 ft ate of glorious reft which God hath pro- 
 vided, and which remaineth for his peo- 
 ple : and he adds, Their works do follow 
 with them." 
 
 So that in thefe words* (the fignificatich 
 
 of which is fo important and confolatory, 
 
 that our Church hath appointed them for 
 
 perpetual ufe in her Burial-Service*) we are 
 
 taught, that Death, lb fir from an evil, is to 
 
 believer in Chrift, is to thofe who die in 
 
 h faith and! fear, the greater! happinefs ccn- 
 
 ■■: ; iince it ! imediately conveys iuch 
 
 X fruoi 
 
306 The Good CHRISTIAN 
 
 from a (late of trial, labour, and mifery, to 
 a ftate of bieiledneis, reft, and rewards. 
 
 And in this view I prcpofe to ccjifider it; 
 not only as this view may tend to remove 
 Ibme of thofe anxious fears under which moic 
 men labour j but may reconcile us more to 
 the approach of that dreadful conqueror, to 
 whom we mufl all, one day, fubmit : whofe 
 approach, therefore, it is, of all things, moff. 
 jaeceflary to contemplate, iince the contempla- 
 tion will ferve, above ail things, to lead us to 
 ferioufnefs of thought, and holinefs of life. A 
 contemplation of univerfal concern, to which 
 no reafonable being can be indifferent, as it 
 refpecls all his beft and deareft interefts. 
 
 In this view "then, we obferve, that Dea??*, 
 considered in every notion of it, mufl be blefs- 
 ed to thofe who die in the Lord Now, I 
 knew not of any other notions of Death than 
 thefe three : i . That it is a feparation from 
 the body ; 2. That it is a departure from this 
 ivorld; and, 3. That it is an entrance, an 
 admiffion, everlafdng and unchangeable, into 
 another world. Thefe, it rnuft be allowed, 
 are very affecting and awakening views ot it; 
 fuch as make the children of this world mud- 
 der and look pale; but let us not be. terrified, 
 let us boldly approach and draw the ghaftly 
 veil from this univerfally abhorred tyrant, end 
 we mail fee- hup, with the eye of faith, dis- 
 robed 
 
Comforted k Death, 307 
 
 robed of his terrors, and cloathed with com- 
 forts *. For, 
 
 I. Is death a feparation from th.G body? — 
 alas, human nature mudders at the thought ! 
 What, muit this fair frame, with which we 
 have been fo long familiar, fhared all its pains, 
 fhared all its pleafures, muft this be inactive, 
 and cold as the clay; muft thefe eyes, fpark- 
 ling with life, be clofed in darknefs and death ; 
 muft this vigorous pulfe no longer beat vivid 
 and f]rong ; thefe hands no longer perform 
 their office, thefe feet no more bear us with 
 pleafing activity along ? But more affecling 
 itill ; mufl this jifelefs corpfe be conveyed to 
 the damp, the dark, the filent tomb, deferted 
 and forfiken by its deareft friends, and left a 
 fad prey to corruption and worms ? Yes, 
 all this muft inevitably be. And here you 
 behold the evil in its worfe appearance. But 
 change the view, and consider that the body 
 is but the prifon of the foul; theprifon of the 
 divine and nobler part, which once emanci- 
 pated and let free, fhall enter on a life of 
 nobler pleafure; nay, and that this very body 
 is relinquifhed but for a feafon ; delivered as a 
 precious depofit to the grave, fovvn as a iacred 
 feed of a new, a more lovely and uncorrupted 
 frame, hereafter to be raifed and united ap^in 
 by the Lord of life to the rejoicing foul : — 
 Coniider it in this view, and you will lay 
 X 2 down 
 
 * Th n fe who would fee rfiore on this fuhjefi, we icfsx to 
 " ftcfte&ipns on Dc3th." Printed for Nswbery, 
 
3 o8 The Good CHRISTIAN 
 
 down the load of fleih without reluctance or 
 complaint; you will put it off, as a cumbrous 
 garment, with joy, and be pleafed to reflect, 
 that for the fpotted and tattered robes of mor- 
 tality, you mail fpeedily be clad with eternal 
 and incorruptible robes of glory and life. 
 
 But, in truth, the good man, the fmcere 
 believer, finds little caufe to regret the fepa- 
 Vation from his body; however dreadful and 
 tmeafy it may be to the fmner, and how loth 
 foever they may he to part with it, with whom 
 it is the favoured inffrument of their wicked 
 gratifications. With the good man it is far 
 otherwife ; he lives in the daily mortification 
 of thofe fenfual lufts and appetites, to which 
 a fallen and corruptible frame is continually 
 prompting. He cannot, therefore, be griev- 
 ed to feparate from a foe, with which he is 
 in continual war; to be fet free from the 
 body, fince he is thereby fet free from all 
 temptations, to lufl and to iin. And not with 
 refpecl to iin only, — ficknefs and pain, difeafe 
 and anguifh, may render the good man's difTo- 
 lution deiirable, and remove every caufe of 
 complaint when death cuts the thread ; nay, 
 cauie the ftroke of death, mod devoutly to be 
 wimed : " For, oh death, faith the wife fon 
 of Siracb, acceptable is thy fentence unto him 
 whofe ih'ength faileth, who is now in the laft 
 ate, and is difquieted with every thing !•" 
 
 So that, whether we coniider the bedy as the 
 prifon of the foul, as the great inftrument of 
 
 concupifccnce 
 
Comforted « Death. 3 9 
 
 concupifcence and fin, or as the fubject of 
 difeafes and pains ; certain it is, that a repara- 
 tion from it is and mult be, at once, defirable 
 and bleffed to thofe who die in the Lord; 
 fines thereby they are admitted into a glorious 
 liberty, into reft, eternal reft from fin, from 
 forrow, and from death. 
 
 Look we then no more at chapels, at 
 vaults, or at church- yards, the gloom of the 
 grave, or the folemn fadnefs of the tomb ; but 
 raife we our eyes to the blifsful deliverance of 
 an immortal fpirit from the prifon of frail, 
 corrupted, afrliding rlefh, into all the freedom 
 and all the glories of the fons of Gcd; and we 
 ihall join with St. John, and fay, Blejfed arc the 
 dead which die in the Lord, from henceforth : yea, 
 faith the Spirit, that they may reft from their la- 
 bours, and their works do follow them. 
 
 2. But death is not only a fcparation from 
 the body, but, by neceiiary confequence, a 
 departure from this world; this is the fecond 
 notion of it; and one in which, it mull be 
 confeffed, it is a formidable evil to the chil- 
 dren of this world, to thofe who lay land to 
 land, and field to field, and call the places 
 after their own names ; to thofe who, in 
 the language of the wife man, crown them- 
 felves with rofe-buds, who enjoy the good 
 things that are prefent, who fill themfelves with 
 coftly wine, and let no flower of the fpring 
 pafs by ; to thofe whofe hearts and purfuits 
 are taken up by the glories, the pleafures, the 
 X 3 vanities 
 
3i© "The Good CHRISTIAN 
 
 vanities of earth; to fuch, it muft be owned, 
 a departure from this life is fearfully horrible; 
 to leave a fcene, in which is all their joy and 
 all their hcpe ; to enter upon one where they 
 can have no hope, for they have no treafure, 
 no defire; to die, and go they know not 
 where; — only this they know, that they dread 
 a miferable fomething, that they have neither 
 friend nor expectation in the realms beyond 
 the grave. 
 
 Better indeed, far better it were to endure 
 all the evils of this world for ever, than, in 
 fuch a flate, to meet the ghaftly tyrant. ' But, 
 alas, he muft be met ! power, pomp, or plea- 
 fare, luxury, luft, ambition, all the world, 
 and all its efforts, cannot flay his pace, or 
 arreft his dart ; cannot even obtain one mo- 
 ment's refpite from the inexorable king ! — The 
 good man neither wifhes nor defires it ; hav- 
 ing been long accuftomcd to the ferious re- 
 view of him. elf, his prefent flate, and future 
 expectancies ; he estimates the world accord- 
 ing to its real value ; and therefore not fet- 
 ting an undue and improper price upon it, 
 he is ready to leave it at the great Matter's 
 call. Himfelf he is taught to confider as a 
 ftranger, as a pilgrim and fojourner, as a pro- 
 . bationer on earth, for an everlafting and un- 
 alterable ftate. Keeping his eye therefore on 
 that, the prefent tranfitory fpan appears ■ but 
 as an inn, a place of temporary ftay, which 
 demands neither great hopes nor great fears ; 
 
 and 
 
Comforted in Death. 311 
 
 and in which he is concerned only to con duel: 
 bJmfelf wifely and religioufly, afmred, that, in 
 
 fuch a cafe, the event will ftiortly be bleflecL 
 
 And when the awful fummoiis comes to 
 fuch a man, found, as he is, with his loins 
 girt, and his lamp ready trimmed and burn- 
 ing, he obeys the Mailer's call with chearful- 
 nefs and peace; refigns the body and the 
 world with equal faith, and haftes to enter, 
 good and faithful fervant, into the joy of his 
 Lord. 
 
 A departure from the world cannot but be 
 
 bleifed to fuch a one ; for coniider only, one 
 
 moment, what he gains for what he foregoes,. 
 
 and you will foon perceive his happy lot. 
 
 Blejfed are the dcjd, faith St. John, who die in 
 
 the Lord, for they reft from their labours ; . and 
 
 what a gain is that to poor mortals like us, 
 
 toil as we are, upon the dorms and billows of 
 
 tempeduous life, and exercifed according to 
 
 our different dates with different labours and 
 
 toils, perplexities, difficulties, and evils. For 
 
 no condition in life is exempt from thefe; the 
 
 crown of the monarch has its thorns ; the 
 
 down of the noble .will not always invite the 
 
 foftnefs of ilumber and the placidnefs of health, 
 
 no more than the pallet of the peafuV:, or the 
 
 cottage of the laborious hind. All dates in 
 
 life have their fufrerings; to red thcivfore, 
 
 ever to reft from thefe, is one great gain of 
 
 thofe who die in Chfift. Do Rich forego a 
 
 plentiful fortune and a large eiiate ? they gain,: — 
 
 X 4 and 
 
3 i2 The Good CHRISTIAN 
 
 and there is no comparifon in the gain, — a 
 crown of glory, and an inheritance among 
 the faints of God. What then is the gain to 
 thbfe who leave only poverty and diflreis for 
 riches and peace, temporal want for eternal 
 wealth? Do they forego dear and beloved re- 
 lations, the affectionate wife, or the tender 
 hufband, the much-loved children, and. the 
 friends, dear as their own fouls ? — Here it mull 
 be owned is the bitternefs of death; to part 
 with thefe indeed, is dying! yet, let me be 
 pardoned, if the foftnefs of humanity hath 
 led me to fay too much : they do not part : the 
 Chriftian leaves them only for a while, in 
 full and allured faith to meet, to meet a- 
 gain to part no more ; leaves them with 
 perfect resignation in the hands of a good and 
 gracious Providence ; leaves them in hope : 
 and, oh, may thofe, who fo leave their heart's 
 beft attachments, oh, may fuch not be difap- 
 pointed of that pleafing hope! 
 
 But let me obferve, that here too, in this 
 particular, which looks moil like a lofs of any 
 other, the believer hath infinite gain ; for, in- 
 ftead of mortal, he gains immortal friends ; he 
 is admitted into the kingdom, and to the fight 
 of God and of Chrift, to the happy commu- 
 nion of all the bleffed ; to that realm where 
 every inhabitant is a friend each to the other; 
 for each is the friend of God and the fervant 
 of Chriit, and where fuch are, true friend- 
 ship and harmony, the foul of concord, and 
 
 the 
 
Comforted in Death. 31 j 
 
 the riches of love/ mini: reign for ever and 
 ever. 
 
 Thus then death, confidered in this fecond 
 notion of it, as a departure from this prefent 
 tranlitory world, is fo far from an evil to thole 
 who die in the Lord, that it is a lingular 
 bleffing and the greater! gain : though it mull 
 be allowed the mcft terrible of all terrible 
 things to the lover of this world, to the fer- 
 vants of fin and of fenfe ; to thofe whole lives 
 are earthly, fenfual, devifilh ; and whole end 
 mult therefore be "hopelefs, helplefs, horrible. 
 
 3. But there is one notion more of death, 
 in which we are to conlider it ; namely, as it 
 is an entrance and million into another world, 
 into a ftate unalterable and ever^during ; into 
 a Irate, where St. John informs us, out works 
 will follow with us ; Bleffed are th dea . hick 
 die in the Lord-, yea, faith the Spirit, the they 
 may rejifrom their labours and their Works do 
 follow them\ our works of faith, and labours 
 of love to bear witnefs for us, and t© tellify 
 our lincerity. 
 
 Almoft every nation and every people linger 
 the fun have had fome notions of a future 
 flare, of a ftate of rewards and punilhments ; 
 and they have thus far too been agreed in 
 their fentiments, that virtue would introduce 
 to the happinefs of it; vice inevitably exclude 
 therefrom. The Chriftian revelation hath 
 fettled this great fundamental of our faith 
 upon the llrongeil balls, and given us unde- 
 niable 
 
3H T/ie Good CHRISTIAN 
 
 niabie teftimony to the important truth, That 
 a life of holinefs, through Jefus Chrift, will 
 infallibly be crowned With the rewards of 
 blefTednefs ; that a life of difobedience to the 
 laws, of difregard to the revelation of God, 
 will undoubtedly end in fcrrow and anguifli 
 unutterable. 
 
 Upon this view then can we ever weep, 
 unlcis indeed the gentle tears of fympathizing 
 humanity, tears of forrow for our own great 
 lofs ; otherwife, I fay, mould we ever weep, 
 when we clofe the eyes, and pay the laft 
 honours to the remains of thofe friends, of 
 whofe faith we are aflured, of whofe blefTed- 
 nefs we cannot doubt, becaufe we know that 
 they have died in the Lord ; died in the faith 
 and fear of Chrift their Saviour, as they have 
 lived in his faith and fear, in humble fubmif- 
 lion to his will, and dutiful fubjeclion to his 
 laws ? For, indeed, there is but little hope 
 that they mould die in the Lord, who have 
 never lived in the Lord ; that they mould die 
 happy who have never lived holy. 
 
 But they who fo live, bleiTed mail they 
 die ; they mall reft from their labours, and 
 their works mail follow them ; they {hall reft 
 a happy, glorious, everlafting reft, from fin, 
 from forrow, and from death ; they fhall reft 
 in everlafting peace with God ; he himfelf 
 will be their God, will wipe away all tears 
 from their eyes ; and never more fhall they 
 know, or forrow, or crying, or pain. Their 
 
 works 
 
Cowfzrtcd in Death. 315 
 
 ivorks flail follow with them ; and, however im- 
 perfect, yet through the love and grace of their 
 Saviour, (hall find an exceeding reward, and 
 be had in eternal remembrance; they mall 
 hear the joyful found, Come ye bleffed ; I was 
 an hungred, and ye fed me ; they mall hear, 
 Iwfmuch as ye did it to the leaf of my brethren* 
 ye did it unto me; they mail hear, and not on- 
 ly hear, but, while the celeitial harpers are 
 harping on their harps glad melody and fongs 
 of joy ; they mall be admitted, admitted with- 
 out fear of ever being caft out thence ; ad- 
 mitted into the glorious kingdom prepared 
 for them, into the joy of their Father, their 
 Saviour, and their Lord ! 
 
 Thus happy mall the admirlion of the 
 Chriflian be into the future world ; and death, 
 under this notion of it, is again, we fee, io 
 far from an evil, that it is our greatefr good, 
 as fetting us free from earth an3. from lin, 
 and opening the door for the delighted foul to 
 mount on the wings of love, and to four into 
 eternity. 
 
 It were eafy to mew the excellence of the 
 Chriftian's choice, and the bleffednefs of piety 
 and virtue, by confidering, on the other hand, 
 the wretched condition of thofe to whom 
 death is indeed, in this view alfo a fearful 
 evil, as hurrying their affrighted fouls from 
 all the practice of lin, and the guilt of ne- 
 glected truth and holinefs, to the tribunal of 
 impartial juftice, and to the dreadful realm 
 
 where 
 
316 The Good CHRISTIAN 
 
 where reft and peace can never enter ; hope 
 never comes that comes to all, but the fmoke 
 of their torment afcendeth for ever and ever. 
 
 But I forbear, as my deiign leads me prin- 
 cipally to confider the more happy and the 
 more pleafing view; namely, the blerTednefs 
 of death to thofe who die in the Lord; whe- 
 ther death be contemplated as t. A fepara- 
 tion from the body, or 2. A departure from 
 this world, or 3. An entrance into another. 
 And I hope and truft, that what hath been 
 faid will not only tend to the confolation of 
 thofe whofe faith and life are witneifes that 
 they delire to die in the Lord ; but alfo awak- 
 en thofe, to whom death is yet terrible, to a 
 fericus fenfe of themfelves, and an earneft. la- 
 bour fo to live, that they may die in peace, 
 and enter immediately into the joy of their 
 Lord. Foiyleath will come -, ye cannot avert 
 the ftroke ?■■ and who would with to die hope- 
 lefs, and plunge into eternity, worfe than un- 
 prepared ? 
 
 I will clofe the fubjecl: with a fhort appli- 
 cation. Death is judged the greatefc of all 
 evils, but we have feen that our judgment is 
 wrong, if death be confidered with reference 
 to the believer and the pious. It is not 
 death that is an evil, but it is ourfelves that 
 make it fo -, nor is it death, merely confider- 
 ed in itfelf, that is an evil, it is the confe- 
 quence which is of fo much dread, the 
 things that follow after. Thefe, it mult be 
 
 owned, 
 
Comforted w Death. 317 
 
 owned, are of the laft importance, and to be 
 infenfible of their awful nature, and difregard- 
 ful of their folemn obligations, is folly, is 
 madnefs, is the worft delufion and the higheft 
 guilt. 
 
 Far be fuch unfeeling disregard from any 
 of us j God give us wifdom to confider, and 
 grace to purfue the things that belong to our 
 peace before they are hid from our eyes ! Pre- 
 paration for death is a common duty, becaufe 
 death is a common concern. All of us are a- 
 like interefted in it. All of us muft one day 
 tread the gloomy path ; all of us muft one 
 day vifit the filent grave ; our eyes muft all be 
 doled; our throbbing hearts muft all be at 
 reft, and every fpark of life forfake the fenfelefs 
 clay. But a few years hence, and not one of 
 us, buoyant though we are with life, high in 
 hope, elevated with delight, not one fha'll be 
 found upon earth : and yet to fhew us our own 
 littlenefs and insignificancy, we mall icon be 
 no more remembered or regarded. A filent 
 and tender tear, perhaps, may now and then 
 drop from the affectionate eye of fome dear 
 remembring friend ; but for the reft, others 
 will occupy our places, and the bufinefs of the 
 world will proceed with its ufual vivacity ; 
 the fun will mine as brightly, the earth will 
 be cloathed as gaily, nothing in nature but 
 will fhew the utmoft infenfibility of our 
 departure. But though there is an end of us 
 iipen earth, and though the proudeft maufo- 
 
 leunx 
 
3iB <T/ie Good CHRISTIAN 
 
 leu; ;■:: cannot long preferve our fame or me- 
 mory, yet there is no end with us in that fu- 
 ture world ; we die only to live ; we die only 
 to enter on a ftate the mod interefting, becaufe 
 it is unalterable. The day of our death is 
 properly but our birth-day to life; life truly 
 fb called, becaufe it is eternal. Bend we 
 therefore all our care to provide an happy en- 
 trance into this unalterable ftate, then death, 
 as we have feen, will be far from an evil, if, 
 while it fets us free from a corrupted and af- 
 flicting body and an alluring world, it opens 
 for us an happy door into the peace and glo- 
 ries of eternal reft. And fuch it will never fail 
 to do, if we live the life we {hall wifh to have 
 lived, when our anxious head is laid upon the 
 dying pillow ; for this is certain, that the on- 
 ly way to die peaceful and bleffed, is to live 
 well ; is to live like thofe who know they 
 muft give an account, and muft appear one 
 day, for that end, before the awful tribunal of 
 Chrift ; is to familiarize this folemn event to 
 our fouls, by frequent meditation upon it ; is 
 to eftablifh ourfelves in the faith and in the 
 love of Chrift Jefus, who hath endured the 
 bitternefs of it for us, and who hath taught 
 us the way to victory. " This will be the only 
 method to fecure to us that peace and ferenity 
 of foul, which they fcek for in vain, arriidft 
 the circle of every earthly good, who forget 
 that they are to die, or who refufe to prepare 
 for it : nay, indeed, the higher cur reliili for 
 
 ■ mere 
 
Comforted //.'Death. 319 
 
 mere fubl unary enjoyments, and the greater 
 our opportunity to gratify them, the in re 
 formidable and fearful mufr. that itroke be 
 which cuts us off from all, and which prefents 
 us with an univerfal blank." You therefore 
 to whom Providence hath given an abundance 
 of earthly bleffings, oh i remember the Giv- 
 er; remember that they cannot refcue from 
 the grave; remember that an account of 
 your improvements mufr one d-\y be ren- 
 dered up. You who are blooming in youth 
 and elegance of form, oh ! remember, that 
 the faireft of flowers are fboneit, blighted; 
 remember that external grace difcinguifheth 
 not in the houfe of death ; and that beauty, 
 unadorned by virtue, lofeth more than half 
 its charms : oh ! remember, amidft the diffi- 
 pating gaieties of this lively fcene*, that you 
 are the fervants of God, that you are bound 
 by every motive of duty, of gratitude, of love, 
 to pay him your heft and conftant fervices ; 
 remember, that the talents, wherewith he 
 hath entrufted you, mull one day be anfwered 
 for : and that a ftate eternal and unalterable is 
 the iflue of your prefent conduct. And let 
 me repeat, That in vain, perfectly in vain 
 will you feek for true happinefs in the round 
 of worldly iatisfaclions ; Ihe refes not there; 
 the ftedfail faith, the virtuous life, the ap- 
 proving eonfeience, the pure, ferene, content- 
 ed 
 
 * This conclufion was delivered at Bath, 
 
320 PRAYE R, ite 
 
 ed mind is her only dwelling; feek her there* 
 and (he will attend you through all the inno- 
 cent paths of focial life, and enable you to 
 meet death with a triumphant hope, a hope 
 which mall not be difappointed ; for BleJJ'ed 
 are the dead who die in the Lord-, they reft J rem 
 their labours and their works follow them. They 
 Jhall hunger no more, nor thirft any more, neither 
 Jhall the fun light on them, nor any heat; God 
 Jhall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and 
 they Jhall dwell with him for ever and ever. 
 
 SECT. XIII. 
 
 PRAYER, the Grand Source ^/"Comfort, 
 recommended and enforced. 
 
 S no true comfort can be had without 
 Prayer, and as ail true comfort may 
 be derived from the right exercife of this 
 important duty, nothing can more properly 
 cioie our Coniblations ' than a recommenda- 
 tion of Prayer, " that univerfal remedy for all 
 the maladies of the foul.-" 
 
 To this end we will firft conilder the true 
 nature of Prayer; 2> The right method cf 
 performing it; and 3. The high oblige 
 we are all under duly to perform it. 
 
 1. Whether it arjfe from tradition, from 
 the light of reafon, or from a natural inilinct 
 
 implanted 
 
Grand Source ^Comfort. 321 
 
 implanted in the foul, or from the concur- 
 rence of all thefe caufes, certain it i% that 
 there is and ever hath been a natural pro- 
 penlity in the mind of man to religious wor* 
 fftip, to acknowledge a dependence, and pay 
 a veneration to forne fuperior and celeiiial 
 Power. And this hath been fo univerfal, 
 that many writers have remarked, that man 
 is more diflinguifhed from the animal world 
 by devotion than by reafonj as feveral brute- 
 creatures difcover, in their actions, fome thing 
 like a faint glimmering of reafon, though 
 they betray, in no Jingle cifeumftarice of 
 their behaviour, any thing which bears the 
 lead affinity to devotion. 
 
 It is much rather to be w r ondered that any 
 man mould be undevout, much more any 
 one, who bears the name of Chriftian, than 
 that all men mould be naturally propenfe to 
 devotion. Since the flighted knowledge, of 
 (rod, and of ourfelves, the moll: general re- 
 flections upon our prefent date and circum- 
 ftances, mull be fufricient to awaken, in every 
 reafonable mind, that awe and veneration, 
 that humility and fubmuTion which are ei- 
 fential to prayer. For prayer, properly fpeak- 
 ing, is no other than an expreffion of our de- 
 pendance upon, and great obligations to God, 
 as well as our perfect fiibmiffion of all our 
 neceflities and defires to him. 
 
 It is not to be imagined that we lay our 
 
 wants before God, or put up our petitions to 
 
 Y him, 
 
pi PRAYER, the 
 
 i 
 hinij in order to inform him of thofe wants, 
 
 or to make known to him our ftate and de- 
 iires ; omnifeient as he is, and confcious even 
 of the thoughts of our heart, we cannot fup- 
 pofe that he needs fuch information. Nor a- 
 gain are we to conceive, that the multiplicity 
 of our words,, or the weight of our arguments* 
 will prevail with htm,, as if he were frail and 
 mutable like one of us. — Such notions of God 
 and of prayer are falfe and blameable ; and 
 let us remark^ that upon thefe falfe notions 
 are founded the objections of thofe who urge 
 that prayer is unneceffary and unprofitable. 
 Doubtlefs, it is unneceffary if nothing more 
 was intended by it than informing of God, or 
 nothing more aimed at than gaining our fuit 
 of him by our much fpeaking. But the truth- 
 is, neither of thefe are the true ends of prayer. 
 For prayer is the foul's fincere exprefiion 
 of its dependence upon God, and its humble 
 acknowledgment, that all it hath„ or can re- 
 ceive, proceeds from the free bounty of the 
 all-wife Father of the world. And, as a right 
 fenfe of this dependence, and this humble fuh- 
 mifiion is the foundation of all religion, fo 
 prayer, as the moil proper and expreihve me- 
 thod to keep up and manifefl that depend- 
 ence, becomes a duty of the firft and greatefr, 
 eonfequence. And therefore we find, that, 
 upon the right performance of this duty of 
 prayer, God hath fufpended all his prcmiles 
 both of fpiritual and temporal comforts. He 
 
 hath 
 
Grand Source ^Comfort. 323 
 
 nath given us the ftrongeir. affurances in his 
 Word, that prayers offered up, in a right fpirit, 
 mall never return ineffectual, but ihall cer- 
 tainly prove availing at his throne for fuch 
 good things as he, in his unerring wifdorn, 
 lees neceliary for thofe who offer them up. 
 
 You fee then, that prayer is the foul's 
 iincere acknowledgment of its abfolute de- 
 pendence upon God; and that it is juff as 
 neceffary to pray to God, as it is to keep 
 up a right fenfe of this dependence; with- 
 out which we cannot be religious in the 
 lowed: degree. And becaufe our good Father 
 knows the abfolute neceility of this* therefore 
 he hath made prayer ffill more indifpenfible to 
 all Chriftians, by many pofitive precepts for 
 the performance of it, and efpecially by mak- 
 ing it the condition upon which he grants his 
 fpiritual and temporal bleffings. 
 
 So that when free-thinkers object to you, 
 that prayer is an ufelefs and an abfurd pro- 
 ceeding, ufelefs becaufe God knows what you 
 want, without your informing him; abjnrd> 
 becaufe you can never imagine that your weak 
 arguments can move him to change his pur- 
 pofes ; you may tell them, that they miftake 
 the nature of prayer ; that you neither pray 
 to inform God, nor to alter his purpofes ; 
 but you pray to exprefs your total and hum- 
 ble dependence upon him for every thing ; and 
 that you pray becaufe he hath commanded 
 you; becaufe it is the higheft indar.ee of 
 Y 2 your 
 
324 PRAYE R, tie 
 
 yoi r duty, and becaufe, upon that condition,, 
 Gcd hath promifed to grant what is neceffary 
 for your prefent and future felicity. 
 
 " But foine may fay, doth not the Gofpel 
 in many places, give us reafon to believe that 
 importunity and frequency in prayer will avail 
 betore God; and doth it not feem from hence, 
 as if he were influenced by human motives 
 and arguments ?" — Certainly the gofpel affures 
 us, that importunity and frequency in prayer 
 Will avail before God; Men ought always to 
 fray, and not to faint. But when you have 
 coniidered the reafon why God promifes to 
 hear prayer at all, you will find that reafon 
 holds in all its ftrength, with refpecl: to im- 
 portunity in prayer. God promifes to blefs us 
 in the ufe of prayer, becaufe prayer is the 
 beft expremon of that which is moft becom- 
 ing us, our abfolute dependence upon God. 
 Therefore the more frequently, constantly, 
 and perfeveringly we pray, the more do we 
 ingraft upon our fouls that fenfe of depend- 
 ence, that humility and fubmiffion, which, 
 above all things, recommend us to God. And, 
 unfit as we often are to receive his favours, 
 he frequently withholds them, till, by a long 
 trial of our faith and dependence upon him, 
 expreffed by our perfeverance in prayer, we 
 become proper objecls of his regard; nay, and 
 fometimes he withholds them awhile for the 
 brighter difplay of our Christian virtues; thus 
 Chriit rejected ibr fome time the fuit of the 
 
 Qanmnipjjk 
 
Grand Source of Comfort. 32; 
 
 'Canaanitifi woman, only for the difpl/.y of 
 her fuperlative humility and faith. 
 
 2. Now from thefe general obfervations on 
 the nature of prayer, you may eafly learn the 
 proper method of performing this neceffary 
 duty : It is eafy to fee from hence how much 
 they miftake the matter, who conceive, that 
 either public or private devotion confifts in 
 the repetition of a certain number of words, 
 ©r in continuing a certain fpace of time on 
 their knees. It is very poffibie, and I fear very 
 common, for perfons to repeat forms of pray- 
 er morning and evening, and to attend every 
 fabbath-day en the fervice of the church, and 
 yet never to pray ; at leaft, we cannot but 
 judge fo from the deficiency of thofe graces 
 on one hand, in public life, which are infe- 
 parably connected v/ith the right performance 
 of prayer in the clofet; and, on the other 
 hand, from the evident inattention of many 
 in public congregations; for, where there is 
 inattention, there can be no prayer. 
 
 It is eafy to count beads, to fay Ave 
 Marys, to repeat forms ; but it is no eafy 
 matter to collect the mind's whole attention, 
 and to elevate the foul in humble adoration 
 to its Father and its God. This is a work 
 which requires much felf-recpileclion ; more 
 efpecially with thofe, whofe circumftances 
 and iituations in life oblige them to give much 
 of their thoughts to the things of this world, 
 and who are not fo happy as to have frequent 
 Y 3 opportunities 
 
326 PRAYER, the 
 
 opportunities for ferious meditation. In fueh 
 cafes, however, it becomes the more necef-^ 
 fary, that the times and occaiions for retire- 
 ment and for prayer, public or private, be well 
 and properly improved, iince, by that means, 
 an habit of devotion may be acquired, and the 
 foul obtain that fpirit of prayer, which, at all 
 times and in all places, will be carrying forth 
 its defires towards God, and exprefiing, in 
 fhort and fervent ejaculations, its inmofr. 
 thoughts and wiihes to him. 
 
 Now that your opportunities for prayer, of 
 whatever fort, may be duly improved, take 
 care that you fet about this fervice (the moil 
 important as well as the moft honourable, in 
 which human creatures can be engaged,) 
 in the propereft manner. And in order to 
 do fo, endeavour before you addrefs the God 
 and Father of our Lord Jefus Chrift, to im-^ 
 prefs your mind with a right and moft aw^ 
 Jul fenfe of this eternal and almighty God ! 
 confider a few moments how dread a Ma-r 
 jefty, how wonderful a Being you are a^ 
 bout to adore ! confider what great things he 
 hath done for you, what great things he hath 
 promifed to you, and what duties he expects 
 from you. And when the fenfe of his unut- 
 terable greathefs naturally oppreiTes your fee- 
 ble mind, efpecially under the reflection of 
 your own meannefs and manifold finfulnefs, 
 then to raife the proper feelings of gratitude 
 and love, carry your reflections to that ador- 
 able 
 
Grand Source ^Comfort. 327 
 
 able inftance of Almighty goodnefs, the facri- 
 fice of Jefus for the fins of the world ! and un- 
 der the awful impreflions, which muil arife 
 from reflections like thefe, fall down on your 
 knees before his fcotflool and perform your 
 devotions to him! 
 
 I fuppofe that you have a form of prayer 
 before you -, this certainly is much beft for 
 the far greater part of Chriftians; few are 
 able to exprefs themfelves as they ought be- 
 fore the God of Infinite Wifdom, without a 
 form ; yet it doth not by any means iollow, 
 that you mould lb frri&ly confine yourfelf in 
 private devotion to your ufual form as never 
 10 depart from its if you find your heart 
 warm within you, and your foul earneft. to 
 exprefs its wants, or to offer up its praifes, 
 by no means check the celeftial ardour, but 
 pour out your holy raptures to the God of 
 love ! In the general, however, you will find 
 it beft to retain the ufe of a form; but in the 
 ufe you muft be as careful as may be to keep 
 up your attention, and to collect your thoughts, 
 which, alas ! weak and imperfect as we are, 
 will ftill be found vain and wandering j will 
 give us fufficient caufe to feel and exprefs our 
 own weaknefs ; and will find us fufficient em- 
 ployment to keep in tolerable decorum. 
 
 The prayer which our Saviour himfelf hath 
 
 taught us, is fhort and general; and we may 
 
 learn from hence, that many words are not 
 
 acceptable to God, and that we mould not be 
 
 Y 4 too 
 
3*3 P R A Y E R, the 
 
 too particular, especially in our requefts ibr 
 temporal things. As prayer is an acknow- 
 ledgment of our dependence upon Gcd, we 
 fhouid remember, in all our prayers, that fub- 
 miflion to his will, and abfolute refignation to 
 all his good pleafure, can never be feparated 
 from prayer. Thy -will be done, is a petition never 
 to be forgotten ; for we often know not what 
 we afk ; we fee only the prefent, but God fees 
 through all times and events, and knows 
 thofe confequences of things to which we are 
 abfolute {transfers. 
 
 With refpecl to public prayer, it would be 
 well that we endeavoured, as in private, to 
 imprefs our minds with the mofl awful fenfe 
 of ihe gfeatnefs of that God, whom we are 
 about io addrefs, as well as with the know- 
 ledge of our own {late, wants, and imper- 
 fections. We mould then come with difpo- 
 fitions better fitted to a right performance of 
 the duty, and we mould perform that duty in 
 a manner much more acceptable to God and 
 advantageous to ourfelves. It cculd not fail 
 to have a good erfedt upon every mind which 
 defires not to offer up to God the facrince 
 of folly ; if, as we prepared for the public du- 
 ties of religion, we were each one ferioufly to 
 afk our own confcienccs, " For what end 
 and with what defign am I about to attend 
 the public fervice of the church of Chrift ? 
 If with any other purpofe than to exprefs my 
 duty and dependence upon God, I am heap- 
 ing 
 
Grand Source o/" Comfort; 329 
 
 lag up to myfelf future mifery." — A ferious 
 attention to iome fuch oueition as this, wouid 
 make us more careful of cur lives ; for a good 
 life is the bed preparation for prayer ; wouid 
 make us more careful or our behaviour in the 
 Jloufe of God, where he is peculiarly pre- 
 fect, where the eye of Omnipotence is full 
 upon us; and where trifling compliments to 
 each other mould be omitted for folid devo- 
 tion to our God ; where our roving eyes 
 mould be fixed in humble regard to our duty: 
 one good means of which would be to attend 
 the fervices regularly in our Book of Common 
 Prayer; and where it would contribute abun- 
 dantly to the beauty and harmony of the fer- 
 vice, if we complied with all the injunctions 
 of the rubrics as we were able; and by our 
 hearty union, in all parts of the fervice, kept 
 up the warmth of devotion, and the cxadtncls 
 of thofe refponfes, which mew us to be at- 
 tentive at leaft; which, doubtlefs, may be 
 noifily made without any devotion; yet pro- 
 perly made, are beautiful, enlivening, and spi- 
 rited. 
 
 In fhort, prayer, private or public, is the 
 moil folemn duty in which we can engage; a 
 duty which is attended with the greateii blefT- 
 ings and comforts, if properly performed; 
 but if improperly performed, we eafily may 
 conceive how odious our pretences to it muffc 
 be to God, and how hazardous it muft be to 
 affront ib great and terrible a Deity by an hy- 
 pocritical 
 
330 - P R A Y E R, the 
 
 pocritical, indolent, and lifllefs repetitions of 
 words to him. Corfider God, and yo\? will 
 tremble to do fo ; while in public you ihould 
 coniider, beiides this, of what pernicious con- 
 ference to others unfeemly behaviour is in 
 the houfe of God ; how derogatory to the ho- 
 nour of the Lord moft High ; how danger- 
 ous to yourfelf, and how offeniive and hurt- 
 ful to your fellow-creatures ; a mark, an in- 
 variable mark of the want of good fenfe, good 
 education, and of all religion. 
 
 3. Carefully then, avoiding all improprie- 
 ty, let us be conftant, fervent, frequent in the 
 difcharge of the duty of prayer; great and 
 many are the obligations which we lie under 
 to the difcharge of it. But this is chief, that 
 Chrift hath not only fet us the example of it 
 in his own perfon, fpending whole nights in 
 the delightful exercife, and in an happy 
 fpiritual intercourfe with his Father ; but 
 hath enjoined it upon us, as the channel by 
 which he conveys all fpiritual bleiTmgs to us. 
 So that we are under the fr.ric~t.eil: obligations 
 both of obedience to him, and of duty to our- 
 felves, to be exact in this blefTed office, with- 
 out which we can have no communication 
 with God, we can partake of no fpiritual 
 bleffings through Jems Chrift. 
 
 See then, that without prayer, prayer in 
 faith and humility, no man can be a Chri- 
 iiian, or enjoy the comforts of a Chrifti- 
 an; no man can be good and virtuous ; for 
 
 without 
 
Grand Source of. Comfort. 331 
 
 without it no man can have the help of God 
 and the grace of Chrift, and without thele no 
 man can perform works acceptable to the 
 Supreme. 
 
 On the other hand, no man can pray in true 
 faith and humility, and continue a bad man; 
 (either his prayers will prevent him from fin- 
 ning, or his finning will prevent him from 
 prayer,) for it is impofiible to conceive any 
 human being fo deliberately and daringly- 
 wicked, as to kneel down folemnly before 
 God, and implore his grace and affiance, 
 while, at the fame time, every moment of his 
 life gives the lie to his prayer. We fpeak 
 here not of formal lip-fervice, muttering of 
 words; this may be confident enough with a 
 life of fin ; but of fuch prayer as we have 
 been above defcribing; with refpedt to which 
 we may ufe the words of a ferious writer 
 of our Church, " Leave not off praying, 
 for either praying will make you leave off 
 finning, or finning will make you leave off 
 praying." 
 
 Let us moreover obferve, that as no man 
 can be good without praying, or bad with it ; 
 fo whoever is good at prefent may be cer- 
 tainly aiTured, that he will not long continue 
 fo, if he leave off this neceffary duty, by 
 which alone God's grace is derived to the 
 foul. Look to the parched meadow, burnt 
 up and withering for want of the rain and 
 the dew of heaven ! fuch is the foul of man 
 
 without 
 
332 PRAYER, the 
 
 without the enlivening Spirit 5 and that Spirit 
 is not only given, but is always given, to them 
 that fmcerely afk ; How much more will my 
 heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them 
 who ajk hi?n? 
 
 I infift not on our many other obligations 
 to prayer, nor on the fitneis, reafonablenefs, 
 pieaiure and honour of the duty ; its advan- 
 tages fufiiciently appear from hence, that 
 without it we can neither be Chriftians, nor 
 have any fhare in the exceeding confolations 
 and blelhngs of Chrift's religion and of God's 
 paternal goodnefs : all religion Hands or falls 
 with the due performance of it, for religion 
 eonfifts in a proper and conftant exprellion 
 of our abfolute dependence upon God, and 
 fuch an expreffion constitutes prayer; which 
 duly performed fills the heart with joy and 
 comfort, unites us to God, and is a fund of 
 perpetual chearfulnefs and delight : — nay, as a 
 proper concluhon, let us obferve, that no 
 greater comfort can be enjoyed, in any fort of 
 affliction, than fervent faithful prayer. 
 
 " Doll thou then labour under a load of 
 guilt, come unto Chriit by humble faith and 
 earneft prayer, and he will give thee reft. 
 Doft thou feel the preffure of ibrrow, or the 
 blaft of cenfure, inilead of loathing thy be- 
 ing, inftead of breaking out into Hidden burfts 
 of paflion againft thy foes, or contracting a 
 fettled gloom of malice; unbofom thy fecrets 
 and diiburthen thy cares to him, who is both 
 
 able 
 
Grand Source ^Comfort. 333 
 
 able and willing to refettle thy difcompofed 
 mind. All that invenomed rancour, which 
 is apt to embitter our fpirits againll mankind 
 in general, and our enemies in particular, 
 when we lufFer, or think we fuffer undefer- 
 vedly, will abate and die away, as we lift up 
 our hearts to God in prater, and, confe- 
 quently, fet our atfe£tions on the things above, 
 referved with that Father of mercy for us. 
 Our thoughts, like the waters of the fea, 
 when exhaled by the clouds towards heaven, 
 will lofe their otfeniive bitternefs and faltnefs, 
 leave behind them each diflafteful quality, 
 and fweeten into an amiable humility and 
 candour; till they defcend in gentle mowers of 
 love and kindnefs upon our fellow-creatures/' 
 Happy effect of prayer which divefls af- 
 flictions of their fling, and even can change 
 malevolence into love ! Pray therefore one for 
 another; for what bleffing cannot prayer ob- 
 tain ? It can diiTolve the very flints into floods 
 of water ; it can fhut heaven and open it a- 
 gain ; it can make the fun and the moon 
 ftand {till j it can raife the dead to life; it can 
 flop the mouths of lions ; it can fufpend the 
 fury of the mod raging furnace; it can ob- 
 tain children for the barren ; it can concili- 
 ate the favour of princes : If we lack wifdom, 
 by prayer we may gain it ; if our fins be many 
 and great, by prayer we may obtain pardon $ 
 if our luits be itrong and prevalent, by pray- 
 er we may have them weakened; if our 6 va- 
 
 cea 
 
PRAYER, the 
 
 ces be infirm, by prayer we may have theni 
 itrengthened. There is no evil which we' 
 feel or fear, but by prayer it may be remov- 
 ed ; no good, which we either want or defirej 
 but by prayer it may be procured. In fhort, 
 prayer, faithful perfevering prayer, can do all 
 things upon the iTrength of the promife, AJk 
 and ye Jhall have! - ■ 
 
 I need not ufe any arguments further to 
 perfuade you to the conftant and fmcere per- 
 formance of this duty; you will not live in 
 the neglect of it, fo advantageous as it is to 
 yourfelves, fo acceptable as it is to God. 
 
 " This is the univerfal remedy ; to firiim 
 with Bifhop Hall's words* which a fkilful 
 phylician hath ordained for all your grievan ■ 
 ces ; Is any among you ajfiicled? let him pray, 
 Lo here the great and fovereign Panpharma- 
 cum of the diitreiTed foul, which is able to give 
 eafe to all the forementioned complaints. 
 
 Art thou cafl down upon thy iick-bed ? call 
 for the elders of the church, and let them 
 pray. This was Hezekialis receipt, when he 
 was iick unto death , He turned his face to the 
 wall and prayed. This was David's receipt ; 
 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am .weak -, O 
 Lord heal me, for my bones are vexed. Take 
 therefore the counfel of the wifeman, My Jon t 
 in thy f chiefs be not negligent, but pray unto the 
 Lord, and he will make thee whole. 
 
 Art thou foul-lick ? pray ; fo did holy Da- 
 vid, 
 
Grand Source ^Comfort. 33 £ 
 
 tyi4 9 The forrows of hell compared me about, and 
 the jhares of death prevented me: In my diftrefs 
 I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God. 
 
 Art thou infefted with importunate temp- 
 tations ? pray ; fo did Saint Paul, when the 
 meffenger of Satan was fent to buffet him ; 
 Thrice I befought the Lord that it might depart 
 from me. So did David, While I fuffer thy 
 terrors I am difraBed; thy ferce wrath goeth 
 over me: but unto thee have I cried, O Lord, and 
 in the morning fliall my prayer come before thee. 
 
 Art thou di (heartened with the weaknefs of 
 grace ? pray ; fo did David, I am feeble and 
 fore broken, I have roared by reafon of the dif 
 quietnefs of my heart : Lord, all my defire is be- 
 fore thee. 
 
 Art thou afflicted with the flanders of evil 
 tongues? pray; fo did David, The mouth of 
 the wicked, and the mouth of the deceitful are- 
 opened againfi me : they have fpokeji againfi me 
 with a lying tongue : hold not thy peace, O God 
 ofmypraife-. 
 
 Art thou afRicled with the lofs of friends ? 
 pray, and have recourfe to thy God, as £2^- 
 kiel, when Peletiah the fon of Benaiah died; 
 Then fell I down upon my face and cried with a. 
 loud voice, and f aid, Ah, Lord God I wilt thou 
 make a full end of the remnant of ' Ifraelf 
 
 Art thou diftreffed with poverty ? pray ; fo 
 did David, I am poor and needy, and my heart- 
 is wounded within me: I became alfo a reproach 
 to them, when they that looked upon me, jhaked 
 
 their 
 
336 P R A Y E R, the 
 
 their heads: help me, O Lord my God-, O five 
 me according to thy mercy. 
 
 Art thou bereaved of thy bodily fenfes ? 
 Make thy addrefs to him that laid, Who hath 
 made mans mouthy or who maketh the dumb a?id 
 the deaf, or the Jeeing or the blind <? have not I 
 the Lord? Cry aloud to him with Bartimeus, 
 Lord that I may receive my Jight : and if thou 
 be hopelefs of thine outward fight, yet pray 
 with the Pfalmiff, O Lord, open thou mine eyes 
 that I may fee the wondrous things of thy law. 
 
 Art thou afflicted with fterility ■?, pray, fo 
 did IJaac, fo did Hannah-, (he was in bitter- 
 nefs of foul, and prayed unto the Lord, and 
 wept fore, and received a gi~acious anfwer. 
 
 Doft thou droop under the grievances of old 
 age ? pray ; fo did David, Oh caft me not off in 
 the time of old age, forfake me not when my 
 ftrengthjaileth, O God thou haft taught me from 
 my youth ; now alfo when I am old and gray- 
 headed, God forfake me net. 
 
 Art thou troubled and difm'ayed with the 
 fears of death ? pray ; fo did David, My foul 
 is full of troubles, and my life draweth nigh unto 
 the Q-rave ? I am counted w th them that go d*wn 
 into the pit, I am as a man that hath no ftrength. 
 Free among the dead, tlicu haft laid me in the 
 loweft pit, in darknefs, in the deep : but unto 
 thee have I cried, O Lord, and in the morning 
 JJiall my prayer prevent thee, 
 
 Doft thou tremble at the thought of lucfe- 
 ment ? fo aid the man after Goci't, own heart ; 
 
 My 
 
Grand Source of Comfort .' 337 
 
 My fieJJi trembleth for fear of thee, and I am a- 
 fraid of thy judgments : Look up with J ere* 
 miah, and fay to thy Saviour, O Lord, thou haft 
 -pleaded the caufe of my foul, thou haft redeemed 
 my life, O Lord judge thou my caufe. 
 
 Laftly, art thou afraid of the power, ma- 
 lice, fubtilty of thy fpiritual enemies ? pray ; 
 fo did David; Deliver me from mine ene?nies, 
 O my God, defend ?ne from them that rife up a~ 
 gainft me; hide me from the fecret council of 
 the wicked; Confder mine enemies for they are 
 many, and they hate me with cruel hatred; O 
 keep my foul, and deliver me: So did Saint Paul 
 pray, that he might be freed from the meffen- 
 ger of Satan whofe buffets he felt, and was 
 anfwered with, My grace is fufficient for thee ; 
 fo he fues for all God's faints, May the God 
 of peace tread down Satan under your feet 
 Jhortly. 
 
 Shortly, whatever evil it be that prefTeth 
 thy foul, have fpeedy recourfe to the throne 
 of grace ; pour out thy heart into the ears 
 of the Father of all mercies, and God of all 
 comfort, and be fure, if not of redrefs, yet of 
 eafe : we have his word for it that cannot 
 fail us ; Call upon me in the day of trouble,, and 
 I will deliver thee, and thou jhalt glorify me : 
 Famionable fuppliants may talk to God : but 
 be confident, he that can truly pray, can never 
 be truly miferable ; of ourfelves we lie open to 
 all evils ; our refcue is from above ; and what 
 intercourfs have we with heaven but by our 
 Z prayers ? 
 
33 S PRAYER, &c. 
 
 prayers ? our prayers are they that can deliver 
 us from dangers, avert judgments, prevent 
 mifchiefs, procure bleffings ; that can obtain 
 pardon for our fins, furnifh us with ltrength 
 againft temptations, mitigate the extremity of 
 our fufferings, fuftain our infirmities, raife up 
 our dejectednefs, increafe our graces, abate 
 our corruptions, fanctify all good things to us, 
 fweeten this bitternefs of our afflictions, open 
 the windows of heaven, fhut up the bars of 
 death, vanquifh the power of hell. Pray 
 therefore, and be both fafe and happy. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 i. 
 
 Serious Advice to a P erf on recovered fro?n 
 Sickness. 
 
 By the late Bifhop Gibson. 
 
 SINCE it hath pleafed God to recover 
 you from your late ficknefs, and to grant 
 you a longer continuance in the world ; I hope 
 one of the nrft things in your thoughts, is to 
 reflect upon the condition you have been in ; 
 which you could not be fo well able to do, 
 under the pains and dlforders of a lick-bed. 
 And as I doubt not but you are feriouily dif- 
 pofed to confideration, efpecially after fuch a 
 warning of mortality as you have had ; fo I 
 affure myfelf that you will efteem it an act of 
 true friendfhip in me, that I offer you my af- 
 firmance therein ; having no other intention in 
 doing it, but to confirm the good difpofitions 
 which the light of the grave hath raifed and 
 improved, but which a new profpect of life 
 will be apt to deflroy again, unlefs they be re- 
 newed upon the mind by ferious confideration 
 on your part; 
 
 Z 2 I. TV 
 
340 APPENDIX. 
 
 I. The firfl ftep then towards our reaping 
 the benefits which God, defigns in vifiting 
 us, is to coniider ficknefs, not fo much in 
 the natural, as the religious fenfe , not as it 
 takes away our natural flrength and fpirits, 
 and fo difables us for the bufmefs of this 
 world ; but as it is a nearer view of death, 
 and a fennble proof of the frailty of our na- 
 ture, and thereupon a feafonable warning to 
 be in a conftant preparation for our end. In 
 like manner, the pains and agonies that we 
 feel in the time of iicknefs, are not to be con- 
 fidered barely as an uneafinefs to the body; 
 but more efpecially as a lefTon to the foul, to 
 make it lefs fond of continuing in this painful 
 flate, and more willing to be removed, when- 
 ever it mail pleafe God to call. Nor is the 
 time or continuance of ficknefs to be reflected 
 on as fo much loft from the bulinefs or plea- 
 fures of life, but rather as a check that God 
 gives to our worldly purfuits, in order to make 
 way for thoughts and coniiderations of a hea- 
 venly nature. 
 
 II. For, as in all the other difpenfations of 
 life, fo particularly in this of ficknefs, you 
 mull have your eye chiefly upon God, or elfe 
 you will never make a right judgment nor a 
 right ufe of it. If you look no further than 
 the body, or to what caufe or accident the in- 
 difpofition was immediately owing, the effects 
 will reach no further than the body ; nor will 
 your ficknefs work any other care or concern 
 
 in 
 
APPENDIX. 341 
 
 in you, than how to remove the caufe, and 
 avoid the accident for the time to come. But 
 certainly, as God can do nothing but for wife 
 and good ends -, fo when he viilts us with 
 iicknefs, it cannot be the only or chief end he 
 aims at, to afrlicl: and punim the body ; be- 
 caufe this life is not the proper feafon of pu- 
 niihment for iin >, and to think that God 
 grieves and afflicts his creatures for no other 
 reafon but becaufe it is in his power to do it, 
 or becaufe he chufes it and delights in it, is 
 by no means confiftent with the Divine Good- 
 nefs. He himfelf affures us, Lam. iii. 3. That 
 he doth not ajjlitl willingly, nor grieve the chil- 
 dren of men ; and if he fends Iicknefs unwil- 
 lingly, this implies that he would not fend it 
 at all, if fomething in our condition did not 
 require it, and fome benefits were not to be 
 conveyed to us by it. Eut now it is certain, 
 that no temporal benefits accrue to us by fick- 
 nefs, which is a manifeft prejudice to the bo- 
 dy and eftate; and therefore the benefit that 
 God defigns us by it, muft be of a fpiritual 
 nature, for the good of the foul -, and fo when 
 the Scripture fpeaks of God's unwillingnefs to 
 afflict the body, the meaning muft be, that 
 he would not do it, if it were not the ordina- 
 ry means of conveying good to the foul. And 
 fmce the firft foundation of the good that 
 ficknefs works, is the bringing us t#a ferious 
 confideration of our future ftate ; this (hews 
 us, that the bed of ficknefs muft not be for- 
 Z 3 gotten, 
 
342 APPENDIX. 
 
 gotten, nor the thoughts of it laid afide, as 
 loon as we are reftored to our bodily health 
 and flrength. That is rather the proper time 
 of letting ourfelves to think regularly and ef- 
 fectually ; when our bodily pains are removed 
 or abated, and God hath fet the terrors of 
 death at a greater diflance from us, and fo our 
 minds are at liberty to reflect with due atten- 
 tion and deliberation. 
 
 III. When you have confidered the true 
 end of God's viiiting mankind in general ; go 
 on, and apply this to your own condition in 
 particular, by fatisfying yourfelf of the need 
 and occafion you had to be thus vifited by the 
 hand of God. Do but look back upon your 
 former life, and you will probably find, that 
 till then you had been fupine and lukewarm 
 in religion, and did want to be awakened out 
 of that fpiritual fleep, into a fenfe of your du- 
 ty : that you encouraged yourfelf in fin, by 
 fetting death and a future itate far from you, 
 and therefore needed to be rouzed from your 
 iecurity, by a nearer view and apprehenfion of 
 them : that you had long forgotten and ne- 
 glected God, and had need to be thus fmitten. 
 with his hand, : to bring you to a fenfe of his 
 power and jufrice : that eafe and health had 
 betrayed you into too great a fondnefs for the 
 delights and iaterefts of this world,, and fo il 
 Was necefiary for God to interrupt your enjoy- 
 ment, and teach you the folly of letting your 
 
 hearfe. 
 
APPENDIX. 343 
 
 heart on this world, by reminding you of the 
 uncertainty of your continuance in it. 
 
 Thefe and the like reflections upon the fol- 
 lies and failings of your former ftate, will (hew 
 you the goodnefs and mercy of God in vifit- 
 ing yon with ficknefs : you will fee, that there 
 was a great deal of corruption in your heart, 
 which could not be difcovcred and let out, but 
 by putting you to fome pain ; and that what- 
 ever you have endured, is not to be compared 
 to the mifery you had been in, if a courie of 
 eafe and health had ftill gone on to hide that 
 fpiritual corruption from you. And the fenfe 
 of God's goodnefs herein, will convince you, 
 that the {tripes you have received were the 
 chaftifements of a tender Father; to whofe 
 hand you therefore liften and fubmit with all 
 humility and thankfulnefs, faying as David 
 did in the like cafe, PJal. cxix. y $, I know, O 
 Lord, that thou of very faithfulnefs haft caufed 
 me to be troubled; and ver. 71. It is good for 
 me that I have been affliBed, that I might learn 
 thy Jlatutes. 
 
 IV. When you have duly reflected, what 
 the ftate of your foul was before the time of 
 ficknefs, and have made yourfelf fenlible of 
 the goodnefs of God in fending it ; go on, 
 and confider ferioufly, what your condition 
 would have been, if this ficknefs had proved 
 your laft ; how your accounts ftood with God, 
 and what preparation you had been in to meet 
 death ; whether it would not have found you 
 Z 4 going 
 
344 APPENDIX. 
 
 going on in fome known fin, or indulging 
 yourfelf overmuch in the pleafures and enjoy- 
 ments of life -, whether you had in any mea- 
 fure applied yourfelf to the ftudy and practice 
 of God's laws, and lived in a due regard to 
 the holy ordinances of prayer, preaching, and 
 the blerTed facrament : in fhort, confider fe- 
 rioufly, whether before ficknefs came, you had 
 not thought too little of another life, and 
 whether death, if it had then come, would 
 not have been a very great furprife to you. 
 And if, upon this enquiiy into the frame of 
 your foul before ficknefs, you fee that it had 
 found you in a finful or lukewarm, that is, in 
 an unprepared ftate ; you then know, that if 
 it had not pleafed God to fpare you, you had 
 been doomed, ere this, to irrecoverable de- 
 flruclion. And the fenfe of this fhould ob- 
 lige you to employ all the powers of body and 
 foul, in prailing and bleffing God for his un- 
 fpeakable mercy and goodnefs, and mould 
 alio be a warning never to run fuch a defpe- 
 rate hazard again, but to fet yourfelf ferioufly 
 to think of death, and not to be at eafe in 
 your mind, till you find you are prepared for 
 it ; that fo, as our Saviour fpeaks, whenever 
 your Lord comes , you may be fure to be found 
 watching. 
 
 V. Next to the Divine Goodnefs, nrft in 
 vifiting you with ficknefs, and then in deliver- 
 ing you from death ; remember what your 
 
 own 
 
APPENDIX. 345 
 
 own thoughts and refolutions were, while ycu 
 lay upon your fick-bed. 
 
 Did you not think it great folly to have let 
 fo much time pafs away, with fo little prepa- 
 ration for your future ffcate ? Now God hath 
 given you more time, let it be your care to 
 employ it more wifely. 
 
 Did you not wifh, over and over, that hea- 
 ven and the happinefs thereof had been your 
 chief care ? why then, make amends for for- 
 mer neglects, by your future diligence in the 
 work of your falvation. 
 
 Could you not have been content to give all 
 the world, if it had been yours, for a little 
 fpace to confider better, and to make your 
 peace with God ? now a longer fpace is grant- 
 ed you, forget not how valuable you thought 
 it, but make it a real blerling to you, by im- 
 proving it to the ends for which you fo ear- 
 neftly wifhed and prayed for it. 
 
 Did you not make repeated promifes and 
 refolutions, that if it mould pleafe God to pro-, 
 long your life, you would live to him, and 
 ferve him faithfully and fincerely all your 
 days ? You fee, God hath granted what you 
 defired, and now he expects that you perform 
 what you promifed : he vouchfafcs you longer 
 life, to prove whether your refolutions were 
 fincere and in earned; and if you forget 
 them, you provoke him either to bring upon 
 you fome heavier judgment, to try how far 
 that will work ; or, which is far more ter- 
 rible, 
 
346 APPENDIX. 
 
 rible, to give you up to final deftruction, when 
 he fees that neither his judgments can awaken 
 you, nor your own promifes and refoiutions 
 bind you. When thou voweji a vow unto God, 
 faith the wifeman, Eccl. v. 4. defer not to pay 
 it. Every promife and refoiution you made 
 in your ficknefs, was in the nature of a folemn 
 vow to God ; and the lincerity of that vow 
 depends not fo much upon your intentions 
 while you were lick, as upon your performan- 
 ces now you are well. If you had died, none 
 but God could have judged of your fincerity ; 
 but now you live, if you forget your vow, this 
 will be a plain and open declaration that it 
 was not fincere, but was only the effect of the 
 fears and terrors of death ; it will mow, that 
 you have profited nothing by the chaftifements 
 of your heavenly Father, but are one of thofe 
 perverfe and untraceable children, who will 
 be no longer good than they fee the rod hang- 
 ing over them. But I am perfuaded better 
 things of you, and do heartily hope that your 
 late promifes and refoiutions are frefh in your 
 memory, and that you are making hafle to eafe 
 your mind of whatever burden you found up- 
 • on it, in the time of your ficknefs ; that is, in 
 few words, that you are now doing whatever 
 you then wifhed had been done. 
 
 VI. Particularly, If your confeience did 
 then charge you with any act of injuftice, de- 
 lay not to make reflitution to the utmoft of 
 your power : if your ficknefs found you in a 
 
 itate 
 
APPENDIX. 347 
 
 ftete of enmity with any perfon, do your part 
 towards a fpeedy reconciliation : if you had 
 not then fettled your worldly concerns, defer 
 not to fettle them now in fuch manner as may 
 befl: preferve peace among thofe you leave be- 
 hind, whenever it {hall pleafe God to take you 
 away : if you found great comfort of mind, 
 in being joined by the minifter and other good 
 Chriftians, in prayer to God ; now you are re- 
 leafed from your confinement, feek and enjoy 
 the fame comfort in a ferious and diligent at- 
 tendance on the worfhip of the Church : if in 
 that weak condition of body and mind, you 
 defired to be partaker of the blerTed facrament* 
 and found yourfelf grieved that you had not 
 frequented it more in the time of your health; 
 you fee, it has pleafed God to reflore your 
 health, and therewith an ability of consider- 
 ing and preparing yourfelf; fail not therefore 
 to come frequently to the Lord's table, dur- 
 ing the remainder of your life. In fhort, re- 
 collect diligently,, what were the fins, fail- 
 ings, and neglects, that you then found your- 
 felf moft fenfibly grieved and concerned at* 
 and let it be your firft and immediate care to 
 fet thefe right; aiTuring yourfelf, that the 
 condition of your foul is really fuch as you 
 faw it in the time of your ficknefs, and e- 
 fteeming it the greater! blefiing of your reco- 
 very, that it gives you time and opportunity 
 to clear the guilt of your former life, and to 
 
 prepare 
 
3 4§ A P P E N D I X. 
 
 prepare for your future account, by a fleady 
 courfe of repentance and amendment. 
 
 VII. There are many things concur, in 
 the time of ficknefs, to raife good refolutions 
 in the hearts of men ; as, the thoughts of 
 prefent death, the immediate profpecl of a 
 future ftate, and an unfitnefs of body and 
 mind to attend the cares or relifli the plea- 
 fures of this world; But when health re- 
 turns, thefe motives to ferioufnefs do not only 
 ceafe, but are fucceeded by motives to luke- 
 warmnefs and forgetfulnefs, as, the hopes of 
 long life, the diitance of a future account, 
 and a delight in the bufmefs and entertain- 
 ments of the world. It is therefore neceffary, 
 now you are reftored to health, to be warned 
 of thefe temptations, in order to be prepared 
 againfl them; confidering yourfelf not as dis- 
 charged, but only reprieved from death, and 
 that as God granted the reprieve, fo none but 
 God can tell how long or how fhort it is to 
 be : that the preparation for your future ac- 
 count is not the work of a dying-bed, but 
 the bufinefs of your whole life 3 and the more 
 of life is fpent, the more diligently are you 
 concerned to attend this work : that as God 
 lent ficknefs, to turn your thoughts upon 
 your fpiritual flate, and to fhew you the ma- 
 ny imperfections in it; fo he has given you 
 health, that you may have fpace and oppor- 
 tunity to fupply and amend thele imperiec- 
 tions : that Gcd, who is training you up for 
 
 a 
 
APPENDIX. 349 
 
 a future ftate, cannot be fuppofed to have 
 prolonged your life, only that you may have 
 the pleafure to eat and drink fo many days, 
 and ileep fo many nights longer in this world, 
 but as in all his other difpenfations, fo parti- 
 cularly in thefe of ficknefs and health, his 
 great defign is to engage us in a diligent pur- 
 fuit of our future happinefs ; by ficknefs to 
 moderate our defires after this world, and 
 mind us of our condition in the next ; and 
 by health, to give us the opportunity of ap- 
 proving ourfelves to him, and preparing us 
 for heaven, by a ftedfaft courfe of obedience 
 and devotion. 
 
 VIII. Take therefore this merciful warn- 
 ing that God has given you, and improve it 
 diligently to the purpofes he intended; re- 
 membring that it will be a proportionable 
 aggravation of your guilt, if you refift thefe 
 gracious endeavours for the falvation of your 
 foul, and give no proofs of your growing 
 better under his hand. Conlider alfo, that 
 this may porTibly be the laft warning, with 
 time for repentance and amendment, that he 
 will give, and that your next ficknefs may 
 end in death, or, which is worfe, death may 
 feize you on a fudden, without any warning 
 at all. And if you now defpife his chaften- 
 ing, and thereby provoke him to give you up 
 to fudden deftruction (as nothing is more like 
 to provoke him to it,) you will have nothing 
 to blame but your own perverfenefs, in not 
 
 corr^.vincr 
 
350 APPENDIX. 
 
 complying with the methods which he had 
 taken for your falvation. 
 
 Do not then trifle with God -, but while 
 he gives you opportunity, be wife unto falva- 
 tion. He has been adminiftering fjcknefs in 
 the nature of a remedy to your foul, and, now 
 that is over, he is waiting to fee what good 
 effects it has had ; what changes it has 
 wrought in the thoughts and refolutions of 
 your heart ; how much it has taken off your 
 mind from the delights of this world, and 
 turned your defires upon heaven and the 
 things of the next life ; how much more fe- 
 rious and careful of your ways you will be for 
 the time to come, than you have hitherto 
 been ; how heartily you will fet yourfelf, on 
 one hand, to root out all evil habits, and, on 
 the other hand, to attain the Chriftian gra- 
 ces and virtues which are wanting in you. In 
 ihort, God has, in great mercy, given you new 
 life, and he is now waiting to fee whether you 
 will become a new man. 
 
 And while he is thus waiting for you, how 
 can you forget and neglect him f Is God fo 
 greatly concerned for you, and will you have 
 no concern for yourfelf? When you fee him 
 thus labouring, both in the way of mercy 
 and judgment, for the falvation of your foul, 
 how can you refift fo much goodnefs ? how 
 •dare you provoke fo much power ? You have 
 already been under the hand of God in your 
 late iicknefs, and what you have hitherto felt 
 
 has 
 
APPENDIX. 351 
 
 has been the chaftifement of a tender Father ; 
 and, if you will be wife, it may be improved, 
 into the greater!: bleffing he could have fent ; 
 but if you will not liflen to his correction, 
 you do, in effect, defy him, and call him off, 
 and you may find the next return of his hand, 
 to be changed from the chaftifement of a ten- 
 der Father, into the vengeance of an angry- 
 God. 
 
 IX. I write not this, as if I thought you 
 had forgot your late ficknefs, or had been cha- 
 ftifed and vifited in vain ; but being fmcerely 
 defirous of your fpiritual welfare, I omit no 
 argument either of love or fear, mercy or 
 judgment, that may help to cherifh and keep 
 alive the good thoughts and refolutions which 
 your late ficknefs hath raifed in you. Thefe, 
 for ought you can yet tell, were only the ef- 
 fects of the fears and terrors you were under, 
 and now is the time to make it appear that 
 you meant them in earneft, and that they are 
 your fettled choice and judgment; which, I 
 hope, is what you have not only refolved to 
 do, but what you are now doing, in a juft 
 fenfe of the uncertainty of life, and of the 
 happinefs of being always in a preparation for 
 death. And that God will be pleafed to give 
 you grace and ftrength to perfevere in your 
 good refolutions, and to continue ftedfaft in 
 the way that leads to eternal life -, you ought, 
 at all times, to be particularly fervent at the 
 throne of grace. 
 
 On 
 
352 APPENDIX. 
 
 II. 
 
 On a Mother's Grief for the Lofs of her 
 Infant Daughter f t 
 
 iE AUT Y in diftrefs commands our com- 
 panion j and when that dhlrefs is ra- 
 tional, affects the heart with the tendered 
 iympathy. There is a natural benevolence 
 in every mind, inciting to wipe away the 
 tears and reprefs- the anguifh of affliction in 
 general ; but, in the cafe of fair female for- 
 row, we are irrefiftibly carried on to every 
 attempt that may adminifter comfort to the 
 lovely fufferer. How much more, when the 
 ties of friendship bind to a more anxious con- 
 cern, and permit us not to be indifferent to 
 any thing refpecting the felicity of our 
 friend ! 
 
 I fenfibly felt the truth of this yefterday, 
 when I called at the houfe of my worthy ac- 
 quaintance Mr. Good vile ; where I found 
 gloomy forrow had taken her abode. The 
 countenance of the fervant who introduced 
 .me, gave me immediate notice of fome un- 
 happy cataflirophe; and, upon enquiry, I 
 found it to be the death of my friend's little 
 and only daughter, who had not ftayed one 
 year with her affectionate parents, but in her 
 eleventh month was removed from this fcene 
 of trouble. 
 
 • From the Vifitsr. 
 
 My 
 
APPENDIX. 353 
 
 My familiarity in the family gave me ad- 
 miiiion to Mrs, Goodviles mournful apart- 
 ment ; and I have not beheld a fcene ofmuch 
 deeper diflrefs-. Mrs. Goodvik is in her nine- 
 teenth year, completely handfome, amiable, 
 and virtuous. Happy in the huiband of her 
 wifhes, as he in the wife of his foul, no idea 
 can be formed of greater conjugal felicity. 
 The little infant, fource of their prefent for- 
 row, was heretofore the great object of their 
 higheft joy and pleafure : the child of their 
 firft love, and tenderer! affection. When I 
 entered the room, my gentle friend raifed up 
 her languid head, looked with an afpect the 
 niofl exprefTively afflicting, — fighed, and burft 
 into a flood of tears. Dumb as a ftatue by 
 her fide fate her huiband, no lefs diitreft : he 
 fpoke not — he could not fpeak; he only waved 
 his hand, and wimed me to take my feat. 
 In this dumb forrow we remained fo'me mo - 
 ments, doubtful who mould break the folemn 
 iilence ; while my heart was touched with a 
 fenfation which I never felt in that degree be- 
 fore ; as indeed I never had feen fuch an ob- 
 ject as Mrs. Goodvile, whofe negligence of 
 drefs heightened her ufual beauty, and whofe 
 tears, glittering in her eyes, added frem charms 
 to them — charms I mean of attractive grace 
 and innocence. — " Oh, Mr. Wilfon, at length, 
 faid fhe, our poor babe." — She could proceed 
 no further, — nor could I reply. My friend 
 endeavoured next to interrupt the filence ; but 
 he had little better fuccefs. 
 
 A a How- 
 
354 A P P E N fi 1 1 
 
 However, as reafon and friendfhip both 
 feemed to call upon me, I reiblved to 
 raife my fpirits, and endeavour to exert 
 
 both. " It grieves me, my dear friends., 
 
 laid I, to find you thus totally immers'd 
 in forrow ; and only becaufe God who gave, 
 has been pleafed to recal his gift; to recal 
 it from a ftate of trouble and trial to a realm 
 
 of undoubted happinefs." '« But how 
 
 hard is it, faid fhe; how hard to part with 
 the fweet creature, whofe little endear- 
 ments have fo fattened it to the heart,, that to 
 tear it thence is worfe, far worfe than dying. 
 Oh that I had died with thee, my Nancy^ 
 my Nancy ! my fweeteft babe, would God I 
 had died with thee." — ci My foul's beft com- 
 feet, laid my friend, that's the moft unkind 
 and cruel word I have heard from thofe dear 
 lips fince we have mutually mourned together. 
 Do not I partake of my charmer's forrow ? 
 Was not my babe dear to me? Dearer than 
 all things on earth, except its tender mother : 
 but would fhe not judge me moft unkind, if 
 I mould abandon all comfort with its lofs-; 
 nay, and even wifh to attend my pretty one to 
 the grave !" — " Good madam,, faid I, permit 
 me in all the tendernefs of friendfhip, to re- 
 
 J. 
 
 queft that you would ufe that reafon which 
 you fb happily poffefs, upon this occafion ; 
 that you would put into practice the precepts 
 of that amiable religion which you have ni* 
 therto fo much adorned. I grant your lofs 
 
 gn&t 
 
APPENDIX. 355 
 
 great and afFc&ing j but confider that as your 
 little angel knew but few pleafures here upon 
 earth, on that account its departure is Jefs to 
 be lamented; it hath no great lofs. Then 
 recollect on the other fide, what immenfe gain 
 it receiveth, admitted to divine happinefs ; and 
 lafely lodged in the kingdom of that Saviour 
 who careth for his little ones. Befides, re- 
 flect', that amidft the various temptations of 
 the prefent world, a perfeverance in virtue is 
 difficult and precarious; And what a fhock 
 would it have been, if God had fpared it, 
 to have feen it deviating from right, and for- 
 saking its duty? Rather, I am perfuaded, a 
 thoufand times rather would you attend it to 
 the grave."- — " Oh, but I would have watch- 
 ed its little mind, laid me with a ftream of 
 tears, — I would have planted every feed of 
 virtue there: I would have wearied Heaven 
 With prayers for the good of my tweet babe ! 
 And there was room for every hope ! It mew- 
 ed, already (hewed every promiiing temper." 
 — And cannot the gracious Providence, re- 
 plied Ij who bleft you with fo engaging an 
 infant, to make you the mother of an angel in 
 his courts; — cannot he blefs you with one as 
 engaging ? Confider your own and your huf- 
 band's youth ; and do not, by an unreafonahle 
 and ungrateful forrow, raife the indignation 
 of God againft you ; and thereby prevent the 
 hopes of future blefiing. At the fame time, 
 for God's fake, confider how much worfi 
 A a 2 thi 3 
 
35$ A P P E N D I X. 
 
 this ftroke might have been, and how much 
 more fevere you would have acknowledged 
 the blow, if it had alio cut off the hufband 
 of your love ; who now partakes your for- 
 rows, and lives to adminifter the moil tender 
 confolation." — " Indeed, my deareft wife, laid 
 he, in this gloom that reflection hath given 
 me much relief; and, if with me, I doubt not 
 but it will equally prevail with you. Had 
 Heaven deprived me of my beft-beioved, my 
 affectionate companion, the lofs had been hea- 
 vy indeed !" — " Your tendernefs, my love, 
 laid me, mufc ever relieve my diftrefs : oh 
 may I flrive continually to deierve it. But, 
 my fweet babe, — oh I cannot forget her, — 
 fuch innocence, fuch pretty aifeclion. Good 
 God, pity and forgive me, if I am too much 
 concerned !" — It was difficult to adminifter 
 confolation to fo foft, fo lovely a complainer. 
 However, I was enabled to obferve, that me 
 herfelf granted refignaticn to God's will to ba 
 one of the principal of all Chriftian duties ; 
 the wifefc and moft reafonable ; fmce God 
 knows what is wood for his creatures, far bet- 
 ter than they can be fuppofed to know them- 
 felves ; and is no lets gracious than powerful 
 to bellow what he knows to be fuch ; for he 
 is our Father : that he frequently withdraws 
 earthly bleffings, when our hearts are too 
 much attached to them, to lead us to him- 
 felf ; and to wean us from the world to hea- 
 ven and eternal regards : that in all afflictions, 
 
 we 
 
APPENDIX. 357 
 
 we mould thus reafon, looking to the came 
 and the end : and that as bliis undoubtedly 
 attends a babe, fecured in the haven of reft, 
 from all the ftorms and tempeils of this life, 
 there is more oifclf-loroe than rational concern 
 in immoderate grief for fuch, whole end we 
 ihould rather congratulate, and for whole de- 
 parture we mould rather be thankful than 
 uneafy. 
 
 III. 
 
 Archbiftiop Tillotson'j- Letter to a Friend 
 of Jiis, who lay very ill of a langniJJiing dif- 
 temper> whereof he died. 
 
 S I R„ 
 
 I Am forry to underftand by Mr. f 's 
 letter to my fon, that your diftemper grows 
 upon you, and that you feem to decline fo 
 fail: : 1 am very fenilble how much eafier it 
 is to give advice againil trouble, in the cafe 
 of another, than to take it in our own. It 
 hath pleafed God to exercife me of late with 
 a very fore trial, in the lofs of my dear and 
 only child ; in which I do perfectly fubmit 
 to his good pleafure,, firmly believing that he 
 always does what is bell: : and yet, though 
 reafon be fatisfied, our pafllon is not fo foon 
 appeafed ; and when nature has received a 
 wound, time muft be allowed for the healing 
 of it. Since that, God hath thought fit to 
 A a 3 give 
 
3# APPENDI X. 
 
 give me a nearer fummons, and a clofer 
 warning of my mortality, in the danger of an 
 apoplexy ; which yet, I thank God for it, 
 hath occafioned no very melancholy reflec-- 
 tions j but this perhaps is more owing to na-« 
 tural temper, than philofophy and wife con- 
 fiderations. Your cafe, I know, is very diffe- 
 rent, who are of a temper naturally melan- 
 choly, and under a diftemper apt to encreafe 
 it x for both which great allowances are tx> 
 be made. 
 
 And yet, methinks, both reafon and reli- 
 gion do offer to us confiderations of that foli- 
 dity and itrength, as may very well fupport 
 our fpirits under all the frailties and infirmities 
 of the fiefh; fuch as thefe, that God is perfect 
 love and goodnefs ; that we are not only his 
 creatures, hut his children, and as dear to him 
 as to ourfelves ; redeemed by that precious 
 Son, who is the Prince and Pattern of fuffer- 
 ers : that he does not afilicT: willingly or grieve 
 the children of men ; and that all evils and 
 afflictions which befal us, are intended for the 
 cure and prevention of greater evils, of fin 
 and punifhment ; and therefore we ought 
 not only to fubrnit to them with patience, as 
 being deferved by us, but to receive them 
 with thankfulnefs, as being defigned by him 
 to do us that good, and to bring us to that 
 ienfe of him and ourfelves, which perhaps 
 nothing elfe would have done : that the fuf- 
 ferings of this prefent life are but fhort and 
 
 flight 
 
APPENDIX. 359 
 
 flight, compared with that extreme and end- 
 lefs mifery which we have deferved, and with 
 that exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 
 which we hope for in the other world ; that 
 if we be careful to make the bell: preparation 
 we can for death and eternity, whatever 
 brings us nearer to our end, brings us nearer 
 to our happinefs : and how rugged foever the 
 way be, the comfort is, that it leads us to our 
 Father's houfe, where we mall want nothing 
 that we can wifli. When we labour under a 
 dangerous diftemper that threatens our life, 
 what would we not be content to bear, in or- 
 der to a perfect recovery, could we be_ allured 
 of it ? And Ihould we not be willing to en- 
 dure much more in order to happinefs, and 
 that eternal life, which God, who cannot. 
 lye, hath promifed ? Nature, I know, is fond 
 of life,, and apt to be Hill lingering after a 
 longer continuance here °, and yet a long life, 
 with the ufual burdens and infirmities of it, is 
 feldom deferable ; it is but the fame thing over 
 again, or worfe ; lb many more days and 
 nights, fummers and winters; a repetition of 
 Me fame pleafures, but with lefs pleafure and 
 relifh every day ; a return of the fame or 
 greater pains and troubles, but with lefs pa- 
 tience and ftreneth to bear them. 
 
 Thefe and the like confiderations, I ufe'to 
 entertain myfelf withal, and not only with 
 contentment, but comfort : though with great 
 inequality of temper at ieveral times, and with 
 much mixture of human frailty, which will 
 A a 4 always 
 
3 fo A P P E N D I X. 
 
 always flick to us, while we are in this world. 
 However, by thefe kind of thoughts death 
 becomes more familiar to us, and we mall be 
 able, by degrees, to bring our minds clofe up 
 to it, without ftarting at it. The greateft 
 tendernefs I find in myfelf, is with regard to 
 fome near relations, efpecially the dear and 
 conftant companion of my life, which, I muft 
 confefs, doth very fenhbly touch me ; but 
 when I confider, and fo I hope will they al- 
 fo, that this feparation will be but for a little 
 while ; and that though I fhall leave them in 
 a bad world, yet under the care and protec- 
 tion of a good God, who can be more and 
 better to them than all other relations, and 
 will certainly be fo to them that love him, 
 and hope in his mercy, I receive comfort. 
 
 I fhall not need to advife you what to do, 
 and what ufe to make of this time of your 
 visitation. I have rcafon to believe that you 
 have been careful, in the time of your health, 
 to prepare for this evil day, and have been 
 converfant in thofe books which give the belt 
 directions to this purpofe, and have not, as 
 too many do, put off the great work of your 
 life to the end of it : and then you have no- 
 thing now to do, but as well as you can, un- 
 der your prefent weaknefs and pain, to renew 
 your repentance, for all the errors and mis- 
 carriages of your life, and earneftly to beg 
 God's pardon and forgivenefs of them, for 
 his fake who is the propitiation for our fins ; 
 to comfort yourfelf in the goodnefs and pro- 
 mi fes 
 
APPENDIX. 361 
 
 mifes of God, and the hopes of that happinefs 
 you are ready to enter into ; and, in the mean 
 time, to exercife faith and patience for a lit- 
 tle while. And be of good courage fince you 
 fee land ; the ftorrn you are in will quickly 
 be over, and then it will be as if it never had 
 been, or rather the remembrance of it will be 
 a pleafure. 
 
 I do not ufe to write fuch lone letters, but 
 I do heartily companionate your cafe, and 
 mould be glad if I could fuggeft any thing 
 that might help to mitigate your trouble ; and 
 make that fharp and rough way, through 
 which you are to pafs into a better world, a 
 little more fmooth and eafy. I pray God to 
 fit us both for that great change, which we 
 muft once undergo ; and if we be but in any 
 good meafure fit for it, fooner or later makes 
 no great difference. I commend you to the 
 Father of mercies, and God of all confola- 
 tion, through the merits of his dear Son ; be- 
 iecching him to encreafe your faith and pa- 
 tience, and to fcand by you in your laft and 
 great conflict ; and that when you walk 
 through the valley of the ihadow of death, 
 you may fear no evil ; and when your heart 
 faints, and your ftrength fails, you may find 
 him the ftrength of your heart and your por- 
 tion for ever. Farewel, my good friend, and 
 while we are here let us pray for one another, 
 that we may have a joyful meeting in another 
 world. I reft Sir, your truly affectionate 
 Friend and Servant, John Tillotson. 
 
 Devq- 
 
d 
 
 62 D E V O T IONS 
 
 Devotions fuited to the foregoin; 
 
 Consolations. 
 
 C H A P. I. 
 
 For the Afflicted in General. 
 
 For a Person under the Prejfure of heavy Affliction- 
 
 OThou moil holy and righteous God, who or- 
 dered all things in heaven and in earth, and 
 with the greatelr. tendernefs doft hear the cries of 
 all who put their truft in thee through Jefus Chrijl •, 
 I believe, Lord, help my unbelief, that in wifdom, 
 mercy and holinefs thou doft appoint unto me 
 every circumftance of my condition. I defirc to 
 look through all Jecond caufes to thee, O Lord 
 God, who makeft them merely instruments to do 
 thy will, and execute thy purpofe refpecting the 
 children of men. O thou infinitely wife and gra- 
 cious Governor of the world, often have I faid, 
 Thy will be done. But now thou art pleafed to af- 
 flict me, I find my nature ready to ftirink back, and 
 to be clamorous or fretful under the facred but 
 painful crofs. What I have often fo folemnly re- 
 peated, I am ftrongly tempted to unfay •, and to 
 wifli my own will, not thine, was to take place. 
 Make fpeed, O God of my falvation, and help 
 me to deny myfelf, to bow down in free and full 
 fubmiffion to thy appointment of my condition* 
 B'ing powerfully to my remembrance, I befeech 
 thee, what my mouth hath fo often declared in thy 
 prefence, that I have deferved all the plagues 
 written in the book of thy law : and that it is 
 
 mere 
 
fulled to the CONSOLATIONS. 363 
 
 mere mercy and rich grace which have kept me 
 from the wages due to my fin, from weeping, 
 end wailing, and gnafhing of teeth in torment, 
 YVhillt thou art therefore fmiting me, O thou 
 righteous Judge of all the earth, give me an heart 
 unfeigned ly to adore thy mercy, that, inftead of 
 the fcourge with which I am now corrected for my 
 profit, thou haft not long fince given a comir.if- 
 fion to the fword of vengeance to do all its dread- 
 ful work upon me. O fill my foul with a perfect 
 acquiefcence under this affliction, by convincing 
 me that thou and thou alone, O God, knoweft 
 what manner of correction I need. Thy eye dis- 
 covers the folly, the perverfenefs, and many finful 
 diibrders of my foul, and can alone adapt a re- 
 medy to the difeafe. O that I might obtain grace, 
 therefore, to remain in meek fubjection to the Fa- 
 ther of fpirits, and to bear the ftroke of thy hand, 
 not merely becaufe none can oppole thy. will, bun 
 becaufe the ftroke is given to heal and blefs. 
 
 Take away from me all thoughts that are with- 
 out understanding, and fo buly to prefs into my 
 mind, raifing objections againft this particular 
 way in which I am tried. Make me to believe it 
 is the very affliction proper for the particular ft ate 
 of my foul. And, in the midft of my troubles, 
 let thy comforts, O Lord, refrefh my heart, and 
 relieve the wearinefs and pains of nature, by the 
 fupernatural fupports of thy grace and fpirit. Thy 
 mercies are not reftrained, neither is thy hand wax- 
 ed fhort ; what thou haft done for thoufands of the 
 fons and daughters of affliction, do for me, even 
 for me, O my God. If my heart be lei's tender, 
 lefs fenfible, thou canfl cure that evil, and make 
 my prefent affliction the means of curing it. 
 
 Thus, 
 
364 DEVOTIONS 
 
 Thus, O Lord, let it be; and at length in thy due 
 time, and in the way which thou fhalt chufe, fend 
 forth deliverance for me, and mew me thy mar- 
 vellous loving-kindnefs ; for I well know how 
 dark foever this night of affliction feem, if thou 
 fayed, Let there be light, there fhall be light. O 
 let me patiently wait and quietly hope, till that 
 time of mercy come. Let me be much more con- 
 cerned to have my affliction fanctified than removed. 
 Number me, O Lord, amongftthe happy perfons r 
 whom whilft thou chafteneft, thou teacheft out of 
 thy law. Shew me, I befeech thee, wherefore thou 
 contended with me ; and whilft I am palling thro' 
 the furnace of affliction, O let it purge away my 
 drofs, and takeaway all my iniquity. In thy pre- 
 fence, and under the fupports of thy Grace, L can 
 bear any thing, and am willing to bear, if I may- 
 grow more conformable to thy will, and more 
 largely partake of thy holinefs. 
 
 As my fooliih heart is ready to grow fond 
 of this earth, O let the difappointments and 
 afflictions I meet with in it, loofen my affec- 
 tions, and put an end to all my finfui attach- 
 ments to any thing below. O teach my foul 
 to receive every trouble as a call to ceafe from 
 expecting any thing of the creature, and to be pre- 
 paring for that hour which mall put an end to all 
 the furrows and trials of the righteous, and give 
 them an entrance into the everlafting kingdom 
 thro' the blood of the Lamb, in which they wafh 
 their robes white. O Lord, hear •, O Lord, per- 
 form and do ; defer not, I befeech thee, left my 
 fpirit faint before thee, and the fleih which thou 
 hail made. Amen. 
 
 CHAP. 
 
fulled to the CONSOLATIONS. 565 
 
 C H A P. II. 
 
 For the Affiicled in Mind. 
 
 A Prayer which a Soul may ufe, that is full of doubt s^ 
 and troubled in mind. 
 
 OLord, the Father of mercies ', and the God of 
 all comfort, I acknowledge and adore thy 
 ct rnal power, wifdom and goodneis. I render 
 thee my rnoft hearty thanks for all the benefits 
 thou haft freely bellowed on me, from my firit 
 coming into the world until this time. Many* 
 O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works, which 
 thou haft done, and thy thoughts, which are to us- 
 ward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee : 
 if I would declare and /peak of them, they are mere 
 than can be numbered. Above all I blefs thee for 
 that great demonstration of thy love and good- 
 will to mankind in Chrift Jefus, whom thou haft 
 lent into the world to fave finners : and for bring- 
 ing me to the clear knowledge of him, faith in 
 him, and fome love, I hope towards him, and 
 unfeigned affection to thy holy will, declared to 
 its in his bleffed Gofpel. 
 
 O God, thou haft taught me from my youth up, 
 and hitherto been marvelloufly gracious to me. 
 Hide not, I befeech thee, thy face now from me ; 
 and put not thy fervant away in difpleafuts. Thou 
 haft been my help, leave me not ; neither forfake 
 me, O God of my falvation. But for Jefus Chrift 
 his fake 1 humbly intreat thee to pardon and pais 
 by all my neglects of thee, and unthankfulnefs to 
 thee, and offences againft thee. And as I here 
 
 fmcerely 
 
366 DEVOTIONS 
 
 fincerely devote and dedicate my whole felf, foul 
 and body, to thy fervice •> fo help me, O my God, 
 and further me in the performance of my duty* 
 by the grace of thy holy fpirit. To thee all hearts 
 are open, and from thee no fecrets are hid : deal 
 with me according to the earned defire and full 
 purpofe of my foulj to conform my felf in all things 
 to thy holy will. 
 
 Settle in me an immovable faith in thy infinite 
 mercies, a conftant love and chearful affection to 
 my duty, and a readinefs of heart to obey thee* 
 and to fubmit to thy wife appointments in every 
 condition. The whole earth is full of thy mercy : 
 thou openeft thy hand, and fatisfiefb the defire of 
 every. living thing : O refufe not the humble de- 
 fires of my poor foul, which gafpeth after thee, 
 even as the thirfty knd. Thou who giveft to the 
 beafts their food, and to the young ravens when 
 they cry ; O fatisfy me early with thy mercies, that 
 J may rejoice and be glad all my days. Compol'e 
 my broken and difturbed thoughts, quiet my trou- 
 bled and difordered fpirit ; and appeafe all the 
 ragings and tumults there, by a fweet knic of thy 
 mod tender mercies, which have been ever of old, 
 and endure continually. 
 
 Baniih from me all caufelefs fears andjealoufiesj 
 deliver me from all unprofitable fadnefs and dejec- 
 tions of fpirit j keep me from rafh judging of my 
 felf, and much more from charging thee foolifhly. 
 Bellow upon me a chearful fpirit, by an humble 
 hope in thee ; and by referring myfelf wholly to 
 thee. Endue me with fuch wifdom and upright- 
 ness, that I may neither neglect my ducy, norfuf- 
 pect thy gracious acceptance of me. Give me an 
 hearty zeal to do the belt that I am able ; and a 
 
 fettled 
 
failed to the CONSOLATIONS. 2 6j 
 
 fettled perfuafion, that thou requireft no more of 
 me. 
 
 Defend me, O my gracious God, from difho- 
 nouring thee, and my religion ; by diftrufting thy 
 goodnefs, and calling thy loving kindnefs in ques- 
 tion towards thofe that are fincerely bent to pleafe 
 thee. Remove ali troublefome imaginations from 
 me, and give me a clear underftanding of thee, and 
 of myfelf. Or when I am in darkneis and confu- 
 fion of thoughts, grant me fo much light and judg- 
 ment, as not to conclude myfelf forfaken by thee, 
 but to refiecl: upon thy long-continued favours to 
 me, and many deliverances of me •, that fo I may 
 refolve Mill to hope in thee, to bear my prefent 
 trouble patiently, and to refign my will absolutely 
 to thy good pleafure. And, good Lord, enable 
 me to look beyond thefe clouds, to that blefTed 
 ftate whither my Saviour is gone ; in which there 
 is no darknefs at all; and in an humble hope of 
 coming to the fame place where he is, to content 
 myfelf with any condition whilft I am here, fo far 
 remote from that region of light and glory. 
 
 Hear me, moft loving and merciful Father, I 
 moft humbly befeech thee. Pity my great dulnefs 
 and deadnefs of heart. Strengthen my weak and 
 feeble endeavours. Support my fainting fpirit* 
 and caufe it humbly to hope in thee for ever. Con- 
 firm and eftablifh every good thought, defire, and 
 purpofe which thou had wrought in me. Perfect 
 that which thou haft begun. Make me to grow 
 in wifdom, faith, love, and willing obedience. 
 Conduct me hereafter fo evenly and fteadily, fo 
 peaceably and quietly, fo chearfuliy and fecurely 
 in thy ways ; that I may glorify thee whilft I live, 
 by encouraging others to accompany me in thy 
 
 fervice. 
 
g68 DEVOTIONS 
 
 fervice. And when I come to die, may refigp my 
 foul unto thee with an undifturbed mind ; in an 
 holy hope alfo of a joyful refurrection of the body* 
 at the great day of the Lord J'efus ;, to whom be 
 glory and dominion for ever. Amen. 
 
 Another for the fame, or for one under deep melancholy 
 and dejection of fpirit. 
 Mod good and gracious Lord, thou knowefl 
 our frame, and art a God full of companion 
 to pity and relieve thy fervants, under their trou- 
 ble and oppreffion. Look down, we humbly be- 
 feech thee, with thy wonted pity, and remember 
 in tender mercy the work of thy hands^ our dif- 
 confolate friend, this troubled foul, that is even 
 diftracted in fuffering thy terrors : thy wrath lies 
 hard upon him, and all thy waves are gone over 
 him ; they dil'turb his peace, opprefs his mind, and 
 make him unfit rightly to ufe his reafon, or difcharge 
 his duty. O thou that fp iked the winds and waves 
 into obedience and calmnefs, fettle and quiet his 
 difcompofed thoughts ; fpeak peace and fatisfa&ion 
 to his troubled mind, and give him comfort and fare 
 confidence in the fenfe of thy pardon and love. 
 Lord, help his unbelief, and increafe his faith. 
 Though he now walks in the valley and fhadcw of 
 death, let thy rod and thy faff comfort him. Let him 
 truft in the name of the Lord, and ftay upon his 
 God. In the multitude of the thoughts and forrows 
 that lis hath in his heart, O let thy comfort come in 
 to refrefh his foul. Be thou pleafed, Lord, to deliver 
 and eafe him of the load that lies upon his fpirit : and 
 }et in a beam of thy heavenly light to fcatter and 
 difpel all the clouds and darknefs, in which his mind 
 js wrapt up. O direct to the means molt proper 
 
 for 
 
fuitedtothe CONSOLATIONS. 3 6 9 
 
 for his help, and blefs and profper them To, that 
 they may be effectual to promote his recovery out 
 of this fid and doleful eftate. Incline his ears to 
 wholefomecounfels, and fafhion his heart to receive 
 due imprefllons : O gracious Father, pity his frail- 
 ty, and forgive his fin : heal him, O Lord, both 
 in foul and body, and rebuke his diflemper fo, that 
 his diiquieted foul may return to its reft. O raife 
 him up, and make him whole ; yea, make hafte, 
 O Lord, to fhew fuch mercy upon him t even for 
 thine own mercies fake, in Jefus Chrift our blefied 
 Saviour and Redeemer. Amm* 
 
 A Prayer for one convinced of fin, 
 
 GO D, be merciful to me a finner : a firmer be- 
 yond expreffion ! How fliall I lift up mine 
 eyes towards thee, O thou mod holy, or take thy 
 name within my polluted lips ! O Lord, thou 
 needeft not my confeflion to inform thee, for 
 thine eye hath been ever upon my path •, and the 
 things that have come into my mind, thou haft 
 known every one of them. The vanity of my 
 childhood, the folly of my youth, the obftinacy 
 and rebellion of my riper years, are ali written in 
 thy book. Alas! thou knoweft I was conceived 
 in fin, and have lived in fin ever fince I was born : 
 all thy commandments have I broken, all thy mer- 
 cies have I abufed, trifled with thy patience, re- 
 filled thy fpirit, and rejected thy gofpel, times 
 without number. 
 
 So foolifh and ignorant, fo ftupid and harden- 
 ed, unthankful and unfaithful have I been ; a tranf- 
 greftbr from the womb : fuch has been my life. 
 What then muft my heart be, the fountain from 
 whence all thefe ftreams of bitternefs have flowed ? 
 O Lord, thou haft faid it, and 1 cannot deny it, 
 B b my 
 
y:o DEVOTIONS 
 
 my heart is deceitful above all things, and defpe- 
 rately wicked : I am wholly defiled. There is no 
 found part in me. I am full of pride and igno- 
 rance, unbelief and felf-will •, my boafted ftrength 
 is weaknefs, and my beft gRtec jfnels as an un- 
 clean thing before thee. I owe thee ten thoufand 
 talents, but have nothing :o pay. I an bound to 
 a perfect obedience, but I cannot perform. O 
 wrccci:ed man, who mail deliver me? Where- . 
 withal mail 1 come before the moft high God ? 
 Will fighs, or tears, or promifes anfwer the de- 
 mands of thy law, fatisfy thy juftice, and avert 
 thy righteous anger ? or where mall I hide my 
 guilty head ? O Lord, my fielh trembleth, my 
 heart faileth before thee. I am afraid of thy judg- 
 ments. I have deferved them all ; and mouldit 
 thou now pour forth thy wrath upon me unto the 
 uttermoft, even in the midft of my fufferings I 
 muft own thy j.uftice. Shouldft thou fhut out my 
 prayers, and fay, Depart, thou curfed, into ever- 
 iafting fi re ; I muft be dumb. But, O Lord, tho' 
 I have thus deftroyed myfelf, is there no help, no 
 hope in thee ? Raft thou not revealed thyfelf in thy 
 word, as " the Lord God, merciful and gracious, 
 long-fuffering, and abundant in goodnefs and truth, 
 forgiving iniquity, tranfgreffion and fin ?" and 
 haft thou not commended thy love to poor loft 
 finners, in giving thine only Son to be the propi- 
 tiation for fin? hath not thy kind providence put 
 thy gofpel into my hands, to prevent my finking 
 into defpair ? Thou haft been pjeafed to inform 
 me of the finlefs life and meritorious death of thy 
 only begotten Son, of the grace of his heart to the 
 chief of finners, and the interceflion he ever lives 
 to make for the v '. come to thee by him : 
 
 and though it is amongft my mod abominable fins, 
 
 and 
 
- ' 
 
 Jutted to the CONSOLATIONS. 371 
 
 and 'die caufe of them, that I fo long flighted this 
 record of thy Son, I now fee and reel, that except 
 he faves me, I mud undoubtedly perifh for ever. 
 All, that believe in him, he will lave ; and I am 
 taught in thy word, that faith is thy gift, and of 
 thy operation in the foul. O bellow and work in 
 me the work of faith with power, I befeech thee, 
 unworthy as I am. Enable me to behold the fuf- 
 fering wounded Lamb of God, who poured forth 
 his foul an offering for tranfgreiTors. O help me 
 to believe that he has his own felf bore my fins in 
 his own body on the tree ; that he has delivered me 
 from the curfe of the law, being made a curfe lor 
 me. O let me feel the powerful efficacy of that 
 blood which cleanfeth from all fin: O let that fpi- 
 rit which Jefus is exalted to bellow, teftify of him 
 to me, and glorify him in my eyes, that my trou- 
 bled confcience may enjoy peace, and my foul find 
 reft in Chrift. Gird me with flrength for thy blef- 
 fed fervice, and redeem me by thy mighty grace 
 from the power of all iniquity, from the hands of 
 all my enemies, that I may live devoted to thee for 
 ever. O fpare me, good Lord, that I may be a 
 monument of the riches of thy mercy, and an in- 
 flrument of fpreading thy praife, who art juft, and 
 yet the Juftiner of the finner and the ungodly, 
 through him whom thou haft held forth to be a 
 propitiation for fin through faith in his blood. 
 Amen. 
 
 A Prayer for the increafe of faith in Chrift. 
 
 ENlarge, I befeech thee, O Lord my God, my 
 f narrow heart to receive thy precious promifes 
 in all their power and fulnefs. If the faint hope I 
 already have that thou art my reconciled Father, 
 was not founded upon thy own faithful word, it 
 
 B b 2 would 
 
372 DEVOTIONS 
 
 would indeed be prefumption to afk of thee to 
 confirm it. But iince thou haft given to them 
 that believe exceeding great and precious pro- 
 mifes, that they might be partakers of a divine 
 nature -, and by thy immutable word and oath, 
 haft provided that ail who fly to Jeft.s Chrift for 
 refuge, fhould have ftrong confolation, O give 
 me to enjoy the ineftimable benefit. Lord, I do 
 believe, help thou mine unbelief. Adored be thy 
 free grace, for what thou haft already done ; but 
 O perfect thy work in me : make me ftrong in 
 faith, that on all occafions I may give glory to 
 God. Thou haft fhewn me fomething of my own 
 mifery. I fee, I feel myfelf a loft creature with- 
 out thy falvation. Thou haft alio given me fomc 
 underftanding to know him that is true, even the 
 almighty Saviour j and every hope of mercy not 
 founded upon him, I renounce. I have caft my- 
 felf at his feet, and laid, Lord, fave me, or I pe- 
 rifti. I cannot doubt his power, but O forgive 
 me, that I fo often doubt his love and willingnefs 
 to lave fuch as I am, though I know for this pur- 
 pofe he appeared in the form of a fervant, and 
 gave up the ghoft in groans and agonies, and bled 
 upon the crofs. 
 
 O let me know in whom I have believed, fo as 
 no more to doubt, nor be in darknefs. Perfuade 
 me fully of my own fincerity in intruding my 
 deareft concerns into the hands of Chrift, and of 
 his willingnefs and ability to keep that which I 
 have committed to him againft the great day ; 
 to preferve me from falling, to fupport me under 
 all my trials, to defend me againft all my enemies 
 through this ftate of warfare, and at length to 
 prefent me faultlefs before thy glorious prefence 
 with exceeding joy. 
 
 Fain 
 
fitted to the CONSOLATIONS. 3n 
 
 Fain would I rely upon thy faithful promifes - t 
 fain would I rejoice in hope j but, alas ! an evil 
 heart of unbelief deprives me of thofe comforts 
 and privileges provided in the gofpel for returning 
 finners. Let the Sun of righteoulnefs fhine forth 
 with healing in his beams, fcattering the mills 
 and clouds which hang upon my mind. Give me 
 grace to feek this blefting, by diligently reading 
 thy holy word, by being initant in prayer, con- 
 usant in the ufe of all ordinances, and circumfpecfc 
 in all my converfation. Let me not remain igno- 
 rant of the devices of Satan, that he may neither 
 terrify me by his malicious fuggeflions, nor fe- 
 duce me under the appearances of an angel of 
 light, to depart one ilep from the rule of thy 
 word, either to do what thou haft not com- 
 manded, or to expect what thou haft not pro- 
 -rnifed. But having my heart, my hope, my eye 
 fixed upon thee alone, may I chearfully wait 
 for the accomplifhment of all the good, both in 
 time and in eternity, promifed to them that aie 
 in Chrift Jefus. I afk this in his name. Amen. 
 
 A Prayer for Repentance. 
 
 GLory be to thee, O Lord God almighty and 
 everlafting, for exalting thine only begotten 
 Son to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repent- 
 ance and remiffion of fins to us miferable offend- 
 ers, who have no power of oui -felves truly to repent. 
 Make us, we befeech thee, O God, duly fenii- 
 ble of this thy great mercy, and of our abfolute 
 need of it, that neither the confcioufneis of our 
 guilt may deter us from imploring thy pardon, nor 
 the love of fin delude us to fancy we can caft away 
 our tranfgreffions and repent whenever we will. O 
 convince us that we cannot turn and prepare our- 
 
 B b 3 felves 
 
374 DEVOTIONS 
 
 felves by our natural {trength to call upon God. 
 Save us irom flattering ourfelves, as we are prone 
 to do, that ficknefs or pain, adverfity or the ap- 
 proach of death, can of themfelves difpofe us to 
 a repentance not to be repented of. Give us an 
 understanding to know, that if we are no longer 
 hardened in fin, it is becaufe the Lord maketh our 
 hearts foft ; if we are brought to God and accepted 
 of him, may we mod thankfully acknowledge, 
 that it is becaufe the Lord hath granted us repent- 
 ance unto life. And never, O God ! let the pride 
 of our own hearts, or the erroneous judgment of 
 the world, lead us to deny or to forget, that every 
 good and every perfect, gift is from above, and 
 cometh down from the Father of lights, in whom 
 is no variablenefs, neither fliadow of turning; who 
 of his own will begets fons and daughters to him- 
 felf with the word of truth. 
 
 And as thou, O Lord God ! haft commanded 
 all men every where to repent, and declared, that 
 except we repent we mull perifh, O fuffer not, we 
 befeech thee, our pride to lead us to juftify our- 
 felves, as the Scribes and Pharifees did of old, re- 
 fufing to be baptifed with the baptifm of repent- 
 ance. O let not any benefits we may have en- 
 joyed from education, through thy preventing or 
 retraining grace, puff us up to think we need no 
 repentance. Let not the commendations of men, 
 nor any excellencies we poffefs in their opinion, 
 feduce us to imagine we need not feel all the 
 workings of a truly contrite heart, or prompt us to 
 fay, becaufe we are innocent, therefore mall wrath 
 be turned away from us : from fuch blindnefs and 
 hardnefs of heart, good Lord, deliver us ; fupprefs 
 it in its firfi: rifings •, convince us there is no greater 
 provocation in thy fight than for man, that is born 
 
 of 
 
Jailed to. the CONSOLATIONS. 375 
 
 of a woman, to exalt himfelf than to fay, I ; 
 
 •clean without tranfgrerEoq -, I am innocent, neither 
 
 is there iniquity in me, for which I ought to mourn 
 and repent before God. 
 
 And do thou, who art a God of pity, inftrucl: 
 us by thy fpirit, that we may perfectly diftinguifh 
 between true repentance and every falie appearance 
 of this precious grace. Give us to know, that 
 freedom from grofs iniquities is not fufficient 
 proof that we are palled from death unto life, and 
 numbered by thee, our God, amongft repenting 
 finners. Let no other evidence fatisfy us that we 
 are ourfelves of that happy number, than the in- 
 ward experience of our vileneis and condemnation 
 for fin •, nothing but the loathing cf curfdves fcr 
 the evil of our ways and of our doings ; nothing 
 but the foriaking of every fin, and feeling within 
 ourfelves a heart humbled for our tranigreuions, 
 and depending wholly for remKTion of fins on : 
 blood of thy Son. O may all thefe infeparable 
 properties of true repentance be found in us; may 
 they always appear to have influence on our tem- 
 pers and practice, proclaiming to all about us, that 
 we are univerfally changed and made new creatures 
 in Chrift Jefus. 
 
 And as we pray thus, O Lord ! for the bleffing 
 and gift of true repentance for ourfelves, fo do we 
 intreat thee to have mercy upon ail who are in the 
 mifery and under the anguifh of a wounded fpirit. 
 Lead them to a compleat repentance ; give them 
 beauty for alius, and the garment of praife for 
 the fpirit of heavinefs, that they may fioiViih as 
 trees of the Lord's planting, that he may bo : 
 rified. Pity thofe who are putting off their re- 
 pentance to a fick. bed, and a dying hour ; who, 
 whitft they are acknowledging they cannot but pe- 
 
 B b 4 rifli 
 
37 6 DEVOTIONS 
 
 rifh without they repent, love their fin fo defperate- 
 Jy as to put oft calling upon their God to an hour 
 that they cannot be fure of. O convince them of 
 their madnefs, and bring them to the right ufe of 
 their reafon and the calls of thy word ; that they 
 may make hafte to fly for refuge, whilft it is the 
 accepted time and the day of falvation. 
 
 Finally we befeech thee, O God, for thy own 
 name's fake, and for thy truth's fake, lift up by 
 thy fpirit a ftandard againft the horrible profane- 
 ne'fs, which is come in upon our land like a flood : 
 take away from the wicked the lye in their right 
 hand, who imagine that il lhall be well with them 
 in eternity, even though they die without true and 
 faithful repentance. 
 
 Pull down, O God ! even to the ground, this 
 ftrong hold of thine enemies •, may none cry to 
 themfelves, Peace and fafety, till they are alive 
 from the dead, and till their iniquity is purged ; 
 till they walk as dear obedient children by faith in 
 Chrift Jefus. 
 
 Thefe fpiritual and everlafling mercies we im- 
 plore from thee, O God of all grace ! in depend- 
 ance upon his all-fufficient merits and never-ceafing 
 interceflion, who has commanded repentance and 
 remiflion of fins to be preached in his name to 
 every creature, even Jefus Chrift the Righteous. 
 Amen. 
 
 A Prayer in time of Temptation. 
 
 ALmighty God, and mod merciful Father, 
 who art greater than all things, fend down 
 thy help from above and deliver me from the 
 temptations that now attack me •, and as I put my 
 truft in thee, O let me never be put to contuficn, 
 nor furTer me to be tempted above that I am able 
 
 to 
 
Suited to the CONSOLATIONS. 377 
 
 to bear - 3 but make me a way to efcape, that I may 
 not fin againlt thy divine Majefty. Make me fe- 
 rioufly to confider the great folly and danger of 
 fin ; that its pleaiures are fhort, but that its pu- 
 nifhments are endlefs and intolerable j that no fa- 
 tisfaction can compare with the joys of a good 
 confcience, nor* is any trouble like that of a 
 wounded fpirit. Give me a clear idea of the ter- 
 rible rtate ol thofe who fall under the rod of thy 
 difpleafure. Convince my confcience of the fin- 
 fulnefs of what I am now tempted unto, and fhew 
 me its contradiction to thy will and my baptifmal 
 vows. Give me, I pray thee, the light of thy 
 word, that i may not be deceived by this wicked 
 woild, but certainly know, that how pleafant lb- 
 ever it may now appear, there will come a time, 
 when this and all other enticements of this world 
 will appear vain and contemptible : a time when 
 all workers of iniquity ihall b'* deftroyed, and 
 when a crown of righteoufnefs mail be given to 
 them who have fought the good fight, and kept 
 rhe faith unto the end. Grant therefore that the 
 mighty power of thy grace may fo raife my cou- 
 rage, and ftrengthen my faith, that nothing may 
 flop me in my chriftian warfare ; but that fighting 
 manfully under Chrift's banner, againft the world, 
 the tiefh, and the devil, I may at laft triumph with 
 him in his heavenly kingdom •, to whom, with 
 thee, O Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all ho- 
 nour and glory, world without end. Amen. 
 
 A Prayer for one under Fears and Doubts, as to the 
 gocdnefs of his fpiritual condition : or under perplex- 
 ing thoughts andfcruples about his duty. 
 
 OLord our God, we come unto thee in behalf 
 of this thy fervant, whofe foul is call: down 
 
 and 
 
37 8 DEVOTIONS 
 
 and difquieted v Ithin him t by reafon of the fear he 
 has of not being in thy favour, and not accepted 
 by thee. He queftions whether he has not all along 
 prefumed on the goodnefs and fafety of his condi- 
 tion, without having any reafon for it. And for 
 this the forrows of his heart are enlarged, and he 
 is brought very low. To thee therefore vve cry on 
 his account, that thou wouldeft be pieafed to hear 
 him fpeedily, and bring Aw foul out of prifon. Re- 
 move from him, vve entreat thee, all frightful appre- 
 henfions, all perplexing doubts and fcruples about 
 his duty, which will either hinder him from doing 
 it at all, or make him do it heavily and with a trou- 
 bled mind. Let him not indulge his fears as a 
 fign of tendernefs of fpirit, and the fruits of thy 
 grace, but rather let him labour againft 'em, as 
 his fpiritual difeafe, or as Satan's temptations. 
 
 O make him fatisfied and fettled in a right un- 
 derstanding of all good things, and careful in the 
 obfervance of them, and do thou expel, by the 
 light of thy countenance, all thefe mifts of dark- 
 nefs which cloud and obfeure his foul, that he may 
 not unneceffarily be dejected and diftruftful of him- 
 felf, or difhonourably jealous of thee. Deliver 
 him from all his offences that may provoke thee to 
 hide thy face from him and make him fo much a 
 ftranger to peace and comfort : and caufe him to be 
 delighted with doing thy will, and to place his 
 chief fatisfaflion in acting fo as is moft agreeable 
 to thee, thro' Jefus Chriit our Lord. 
 
 A Prayer for one who is hurried with wicked and 
 blafphemous thoughts. 
 
 OLord God, who art the Father of our fpirits, 
 and to whom all thoughts are open, and all 
 deiires known ; we humbly entreat thy fatherly 
 
 good- 
 
fuited to //^CONSOLATIONS. 379 
 
 goodnefs to fuccour and relieve this thy fervant, who 
 labours under the burthen of wicked thoughts and 
 blafphemous fuggeftions. Thou knoweft, O Lord, 
 how painful arid uncafy fuch thoughts are to him, 
 how contrary to the fenfe he has of thy excellen- 
 cies and perfections, and how earneftly he defines 
 to be freed from them. Thou feed how much his 
 foul is caft down, and how difquieted his fpirit is 
 within him. That at thefe hellifli fuggeftions his 
 heart trembleth, and is moved as it were out of 
 its place. And though the troubles of his heart are 
 thus enlarged, he finds no way to be brought out of 
 his diftrefs. To thee, therefore, we humbly pre- 
 fume to apply curfelves, and to entreat that thou 
 wilt look upon his affliction and his pain, and for- 
 give him all his fin. We know, O Lord, that no- 
 thing is impo&ble with thee,« that thou ftoppefi 
 the raging of the feas, and canfc as eafily rectify 
 the tumultuous thoughts of a difordered mind. 
 O let thy power ancTgreatnefs be fhewn in healing 
 the mind of this thy fervant. Cleanfe the thoughts 
 of His heart by the infpi ration of thy Holy Spirit. 
 Suffer them nor to be defiled by any wicked, pro- 
 fane, or blafphemous fuggeftiqris mixing with 
 them. But heal the foul of thy fervant, by en- 
 abling him to ltifie and Tup pre fs all fuch thoughts 
 as tend to vex and torment it, to rob it of its 
 peace, and deprive it of its innocence. To this 
 end, enable thy fervant to keep all his pafiions 
 within due bounds, to be of an equal and fteady 
 temper, to be mild and gentle in his behaviour, 
 and neither to fet his hopes- nor his fears too high. 
 Make him to abide in the calling wherein he is 
 called, and not forfake the ftation wherein thy 
 providence has placed him, but to do his duty in 
 that itate of life to which thou haft called him. 
 
 Let 
 
380 DEVOTIONS 
 
 Let him not think the worfe of thee, or accufe thy 
 providence of want of care of him ; fince if thou 
 pleafedlt thou mighteft have permitted fuch 
 thoughts to have continued perpetually without any 
 intermifiion, or at lead to have vifited him much 
 oftener, and in a more frightful manner, without 
 the leaft diminution of thy juftice. Make him 
 fenfible, therefore, of the wife and kind reafons 
 of thefe afflictions •, that if they are duly improved, 
 they may be powerful prefervatives of his foul 
 againft the prevailing fins of a loofe age •, may 
 leflen his inclinations to the enjoyments of this life, 
 and deaden his appetite to fenfual pleafure and the 
 perifhing goods of this world ; that by thefe af- 
 flictions he may be difpofed to companionate the 
 fufferings of others, and lefs to envy their height 
 and proiperity •, that they tend to make him more 
 to feel his own infirmities, and to perceive the 
 want of divine afliftance, and to carry his thoughts 
 to heaven : all which advantages fhew that it is in 
 faithfulnefs that thou afflicted mankind ; and that 
 although for the prefent all affliction is grievous, 
 yet it is our own fault if it does not work out for 
 us a more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 
 But in vain, O God ! are all thefe confiderations, 
 unlefs thou pleafeft to fet them home on our minds. 
 To thee, therefore, we addrefs ourfelves, that 
 thou wouldefl open the eyes of this thy fervant, 
 that he may fee and know the wife and gracious 
 difpenfations of thy providence, and by humbling 
 himfelf under them, may be at laft lifted up and 
 made a partaker of that peace and joy which thou 
 beftoweit on all thy faithful fervants. Grant this 
 for Jefus Chrift his fake our only Mediator and 
 Advocate. 
 
 A Prayer 
 
 
Jutted to the CONSOLATIONS. 381 
 
 A Prayer for one who is afflified with a profane mif- 
 truft of divine truths, and blafphemous thoughts. 
 
 OMoft gracious God, who by the power of 
 thy fpirit, art only able to cure our ficknefs, 
 and oveicome the unrulinefs of our minds-, pro- 
 ceed this thy fervant, we humbly and earneftly 
 entreat thee, againft all profane doubts and mif- 
 trufts of thy truths, and againft all blafphemous 
 thoughts and fuggeftions about divine things, 
 which either his own melancholy and diforder'd 
 fancy, or the bufy and wicked adverfary, are rea- 
 dy to reprefent and fugged to him. 
 
 Never fuffer them, O God, to flagger and 
 weaken his faith, nor to hinder or clog bis prac- 
 tice; nor, if thou pleafeft, by their wearifome 
 conflicts, to be a pain and burthen to his life. 
 Preferve him, not only from the fin, but if it may 
 feem good to thy fatherly wifdom, from the temp- 
 tation too, and from the trouble and forrow of 
 them. 
 
 But if it be thy blefTed will, to continue thefe 
 profane and terrifying thoughts for his trial and 
 humiliation ; Lord, make him fenfible, and comfort 
 his difturbed heart with the fenfe thereof, that it will 
 not be imputed as a fin to him, to be tempted 
 therewith, but to yield to the temptation ; con- 
 vince him, that in thy fight he is not guilty of the 
 lame, whilft he neither believes nor gives place to 
 them i not altering or abating either his faith or 
 his practice thereupon. Let him know, that thefe 
 diftruftful and blafphemous thoughts are th ene- 
 my's fin, who, to try and tempt him, ftudioufly 
 and wickedly fuggefts them •, not his, who inftead 
 of hearkening thereto, and complying therewith, 
 immediately refills them as foon as he perceives 
 
 them. 
 
q 2 DEVOTIONS 
 
 them, and cads them out with horror and indig- 
 nation. 
 
 Oh that during this trial he may learn to de- 
 pend intirely upon thee, without whom he can do 
 nothing, that as often as thefe profane thoughts 
 are thrown into his mind, he may find grace to 
 overcome them, and without the leaft allowance 
 ©r delay, to throw them out again, and that he 
 may learn to bear with lumfelf, and to (hew pa- 
 tience under them, as under every other affliction 
 and trial of thyordeiing, fruiting to thy grace to 
 aflift kinr, and to thy mercy to accept htm, whilft 
 he is humbly labouring under the fame; and to 
 thy goodnefs, to deliver him from them in thy due 
 time, for our dear Lord and only Saviour Jefus 
 Chriil's fake. Amen. 
 
 A Prayer for cne tinder the dread of God's wrath, 
 and everlqfting damnation. 
 
 O Almighty God, the aid of all that need, 
 and the helper of them that flee to thee for 
 fuccour ; accept, we befeech thee, the prayers that 
 we now put up for this thy fervant, labouring un- 
 der the difmal apprehenfions of thy wrath. Oh, who 
 may ftand in thy fight when once thou art angry ! 
 Jits Bern trembles for fear of thee, and he is afraid 
 of thy judgments. He is not able to bear up 
 under the thoughts, that thy mercy is clean gone, 
 and that thou wilt (hew him favour no more. 
 
 But do not thou, O God, enter into judgment 
 with him; make him fenfible, that though the 
 wages of fin be death, yet the gift of God is eter- 
 nal life : that thou hateft the death of a finner, 
 and art not willing that any mould perifli : that 
 thou always punilnef! lefs than we delerve, and 
 
 in 
 
fuited to the CONSOLATIONS. $4 
 
 in the midfi: of judgment remembereft mercy : 
 Oh do thou fet this home on his mind, that fo he 
 may be brought off from his diftruft of thy mer- 
 cy, and from thinking bis fins unpardonable by 
 thee. For his fake who fu fife red on the crofs, and 
 made there a full, perfect and fufncient facrifice, 
 oblation and fatisfaction for the fins of the whole 
 world, deliver him from thy wrath, and from 
 everlafting damnation. Hide not thy face 'from 
 him, but revive his foul with a fenfe of thy love, 
 and the hopes of thy pardon, and of obtaining the 
 joy of thy falvation ■ that fo he may be raifed 
 again from this dejection, and may fhew with glad- 
 nefs what thou haft done for his foul ; all which we 
 humbly beg for Jefus Chrift's fake. Amen. 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 For the affliBed in Body, 
 
 A Prayer to he /aid by the family or friends, when a 
 Jicknefs continues long. 
 
 Ehold, O Lord, thy poor unworthy fervants, 
 who here mod humbly bow themfelves unto 
 thee ; acknowledging that we deferve not to live, 
 nor to have the leaft regard for thee in our diftrefs, 
 whom we fo much neglected when we enjoyed our 
 hearts defire. Be merciful unto us, O Lord, be 
 merciful unto us, for the fake of him, who fned 
 his own mod precious blood for the falvation of 
 returning finners. "We come unto thee with for- 
 rowful hearts, bewailing our foolifh wanderings 
 from, thee-, and with fincere love, vowing more 
 faithful obedience hereafter to thee. 
 
 Blefled 
 
3$4 DEVOTIONS 
 
 BlefTed be thy goodnefs that we have fuch good 
 hope thou wilt not caft us off, but reftore us again 
 into thy grace and favour. It encourages us to 
 hope in thee alio for this thy fick fervant, here 
 lying' under thy hand in great weaknefs of body. 
 Look gracioufly upon him {ox her) O Lord, and 
 now that his outward man is much decayed, 
 ftrengthen him, we befeech thee, fo much the 
 more by the grace of thy Holy Spirit in his in- 
 ward man. Give him unfeigned repentance for 
 all the errors of his life paft ; a ftedfaft faith in 
 thy Son Jefus; a comfortable arTurance of the 
 truth of all his precious promifes ; a lively hope 
 of that immortal blifs, in which he reigns for ever- 
 more ; and a ftrong fenfe of thy fatherly love to 
 him, and care over him, under this fore and griev- 
 ous affliction ; which may make him heartily love 
 thee, and entirely confide in thee, and abfolutely 
 refign both foul and body to thy wife difpofal. 
 
 We know there is nothing too hard for thee ; 
 but that, if thou wilt, thou canft bring him up 
 even from the gates of death, and grant him a 
 longer continuance among us. May it be thy 
 good pleafure, O mod gracious God, ftill to con- 
 tinue him! Spare him, O Lord, and deliver him 
 alfo fpeedily from this mifery, under which he hath 
 fo long groaned. Blefs all the means that are 
 ufed for his recovery, and for the fupport of his 
 fpirits ; and give him refreshment during this tedi- 
 ous ficknefs. Releafe him from his pain, or grant 
 him fome eafe ; or elfe increafe and ftrengthen his 
 patience. Help him, in remembrance of thy paft 
 loving kindnefs, to truft in thy goodnefs, and fub- 
 mit to thy wifdom, and bear with an equal mind, 
 what thou thinkeft fit to lay upon him -, that he 
 approving him/elf to thee., in thefe and all other 
 
 virtues 
 
fuitsd to the CONSOLATIONS. 385 
 
 virtues, while thou tried him by fo fore an afflic- 
 tion, may fay at the laft, it was good for me that 
 1 was in trouble. 
 
 Unto thy infinite mercies we recommend him ; 
 and to the companionate kindnefs of our Lord 
 Jefus : who we hope will hear all the prayers of 
 his friends for him every where ; and fend his 
 good fpirit to be his comforter, and his good 
 angels to be his guardians -, and direct thofe who 
 are to advife and prefcribe the means of his re- 
 itoration ; and bring him to praife thee again in the 
 aflemblies of "thy faints on earth ; or if thou haft 
 ctherwife difpofed in thy wife counfels, to praife 
 thee in the great afiembly of faints and angels in 
 heaven •, thro' Jefus Chrift our Lord and only Sa- 
 viour •, to whom with thee and thy Holy Spirit, be 
 all praife, love, and obedience, world without end. 
 Amen. 
 
 A Prayer for a Jick penitent. 
 Ighteous art thou, O God, in all the pains and 
 forrows which punifh our fins, and try our pa- 
 tience, and we have none to accufe or complain of 
 for the fame but ourfelves. This is the acknowledg- 
 ment which thy fervant makes, whom thou haft 
 now afflicted. He receives it as the chaftiiement 
 of a finner, and is willing to bear chaftilement for 
 his fins, that he may thereby be reclaimed from 
 them. Correct him, O Lord, that thou mayeft 
 not condemn him, and let him be judged by thee 
 for his fins, and iudge himjelf for them here, that 
 he may have nothing but mercy, without judg- 
 ment, to receive at thine hands hereafter. 
 
 But judge him, O God, with mercy, and not in 
 thine anger. Judge him not according as his fins 
 have deferved, but according as his weaknefs can 
 bear, and according as thy companions are wont 
 
 C c to 
 
3S6* DEVOTIONS 
 
 to mitigate thy judgments •, and let his afflictions 
 work in him a true repentance, not to be repented 
 of, and prove an happy means, in the hand of 
 thy mercy, to expiate his guilt, not to encreafe it, 
 and to reclaim him perfectly from all the evils 
 which he hath committed formerly, not to occafion 
 his committing more, and to confer that reft and 
 peace upon his foul, which is denied to his body, 
 for our dear Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift his 
 fake. Amen. 
 
 A Prayer when a per/on is giving up the Ghoji. 
 
 IRefign my fpirit, O God, mod chearfully into 
 thy hands, hoping to find mercy with thee thro' 
 Chrift Jefus. I know no other name under hea- 
 ven whereby I may be faved, but thine alone, O 
 blefled Jefus •, who waft dead, and art alive again, 
 and liveft for evermore. I come unto thee, O 
 Lord, confiding in thy moft precious promifes, 
 (which I believe are faithful and true as thou art) 
 for pardon and for immortal life. 
 
 Accept, I befeech thee, of my moft hearty 
 thanks, for all thy mercies to me, from the be- 
 ginning of my life to this moment. Pafs by all 
 my ingratitude and difobedience. Receive me into 
 the company of the fpirits of juft men made per- 
 fect, to give thee thanks for ever. 
 
 And as I defire to find mercy with thee, fo I 
 forgive all my enemies ; befeeching thee likewifc 
 to forgive them •, to blefs and comfort all my 
 friends •, to make thy whole church glorious ; 
 and to bring us all at laft to live together in ever- 
 lifting love and joy, through Jefus Chrift. Amen. 
 
 CHAR 
 
fuited to the CONSOLATIONS; 3 8 7 
 
 A Thankfgiving after recovery from fickmfs. 
 
 MOST gracious and merciful God, to whom 
 alone belong the iflues of life and death ; I 
 thy, Lin worthy fervant, who have been under thy af- 
 flicting hand, and am raifed again from the bed 
 of ficknefs, do here prefent myfelf before thee, in 
 a thankful fenfe of thy great mercy and goodnefs 
 towards me. Thou haft chaftened and corrected 
 me, but thou haft not given me over unto death. 
 Thou haft favcd my life from deftruction, and 
 crowned me with mercy and loving kindnefs. 
 Bleffed be thy holy name, for fupporting me under 
 the pain and anguifh of my fick bed, for the fea* 
 fonable fupplies of patience and comfort which 
 thou didft gracioufly afford me, and for reftoring 
 me in thy good time to the blefiings of health and 
 ftrength *. 
 
 But I know, O Lord, that the pain and weak- 
 nefs wherewith thou haft vifited me, were not for 
 the punifhment of my body, but for the improve- 
 ment of my foul ; to let me fee the frailty of my 
 nature, and the uncertainty of my life ; to wean 
 me from the delights of this world, and to engage 
 me in a ferious preparation for the next : in all 
 which I thankfully acknowledge thy fatherly care 
 over 'me, and that thou of very faithfulnefs haft 
 caufed me to be afflicted. 
 
 I adore the riches of thy goodnefs, in giving 
 me a right knowledge of thee and thy ways in 
 thefe thy difpenfations to me, and in making them 
 the happy means to bring me to a fenfe of the evil 
 of my doing, and to a ferious consideration of my 
 C c 2 future 
 
 * When any per/on, during the time of fickne r s, hath been light- 
 healed, he or /he may add, [and to the perfect ufe of my reafoa 
 and understanding.] 
 
3 S3 DEVOTIONS 
 
 future ftate. Before I was afflicted, I went aft ray j 
 I forgot my duty to thee, and followed the ima- 
 ginations of my own heart ; my thoughts were 
 taken up with the bufmefs and entertainments of 
 this world, and the care of my foul was neglected 
 and forgotten. But thy chaftifements have brought 
 me back into the right way •, and now, to my un- 
 fpeakable comfort and happinefs, my affections 
 are placed upon the things above, and the things 
 that concern my everlaiting falvation. To thee, 
 therefore, O my God, who haft not cut me off" 
 in the midft of my fins, but haft in great mercy 
 given me fpace for repentance and amendment -, 
 to thee will I live, in holinefs and righteoufnefs, 
 all my days •, forfaking every evil way, and ftudy- 
 ing above all things to do that which is well pleaf- 
 ing in thy fight. I am heartily grieved at the fins 
 and vanities of my former life, and do here fo- 
 leinnly renounce them all j more efpecially thofe 
 which I have been hitherto moft guilty of, and t© 
 which my own corrupt inclinations, or the fnares 
 and temptations of the world are moft like to 
 betray me for the time to come*. And, in a fenfe 
 of my own weaknefs and frailty, 1 earneftly im- 
 plore the afiiftance of thy Holy Spirit, to lubdue 
 my inordinate defires, and break the power of 
 all evil habits, and to keep me ftedfaft in every 
 promife and refolution that I made before thee, 
 in the day of my diftreis ; all which I do now, 
 in thy preience, moft fincerely and heartily renew. 
 And I befeech thee, let me never be drawn to 
 forget or neglect them, either by the cares and 
 pleafures of this world, or by the hopes of a long 
 continuance in it •, but give me grace always to 
 
 make 
 
 * Here eotfefs the fins you have been mofi guilty of, and egainji 
 •vihichyoudo therefore particular!) refofoe* 
 
fulled to the CONSOLATIONS. 3S9 
 
 make eternity my chief care and an.d concern ; 
 and let thy late gracious warning of mortality 
 teach me the uncertainty of my abode upon earth, 
 and oblige me to live in a daily preparation to die. 
 That fo, having duly profited by thy fatherly cha- 
 ftifement, and employing the remainder of my 
 davs to thy glory and the falvation of my own 
 foul, I may be found watching whenever my ap- 
 pointed time fhall come, and may change this 
 frail (late of mortality for an immortal crown of 
 glory. All which I humbly beg of thee, thro' 
 the merits and mediation of Jefus Chrift, my blef- 
 fed Saviour and Redeemer. Amen. 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 For the Afflicted in Eft ate. 
 
 An aft of refignation when a friend is dead. 
 
 I Adore thee, O Lord, I bow my very will, with 
 my whole foul, to thee •, whole judgments are 
 unfearchable, and whofe ways are pail finding out. 
 I believe thou intended to do me good, even by 
 denying my earned:, and fo often repeated defires. 
 I will blefs the Lord, therefore, at all times. The 
 Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away : blcf- 
 fed be the name of the Lord. 
 
 I have received innumerable good things from 
 thy hands, O Father of mercies, why mould I 
 not receive thofe that are evil ? The cup which my 
 Father hath given me,'mall I not drink it? I humbly 
 take it from thy hands, O my God, and fubmit to 
 thy wife difpenfation. I return to thee back again, 
 that which thou fo lovingly beftowedft upon me* 
 with my molt hearty thanks for lending me the 
 
 C 3 enjoy- 
 
39 o DEVOTIONS 
 
 enjoyment of it fo long. Do but pardon all my 
 ingratitude, all the omifiions of my duty, and 
 whatfoever I have don^ contrary to it ; and I (hall 
 endeavour to rejoice in. thee always, and ftill to 
 be praifing thee under the fharpeft chaftilements, 
 which are lefs than I derive. 
 
 BlefTed be thy goodnefs, that I am not without 
 hope of this gracious pardon. BlefTed be thy 
 goodnefs, that thou hail not taken away thy Holy 
 Spirit from me. Yea, blefTed be that goodnefs, 
 that hath left me ftill fo many worldly blefTings, 
 which many want, and have loft their deareft re- 
 lations too. It is of the Lord's mercy, that lovers, 
 fjiends and acquaintance, together with all other 
 comforts of this life, are not quite gone away 
 from me, and removed into darknefs. BlefTed be 
 God, that I am not groaning on a fick bed; and 
 that I langfuih not under the moft tedious pains 
 \blejjed be Gcd> that I want not my daily breads that 
 I am net opprejfed with debt> that I lie not inprijon, or 
 em not turned cut efdeors, having no certain dwelling- 
 place]. Yea, blefTed be God, that all my days 
 have not been fo miferable, as fome few have been. 
 BlerTed be God, that the days which I and he [or 
 JJ:e] (who hath now left me) fpent together, were 
 not all bitternefs and forrow •, but were fweetened 
 by the enjoyment of many, very many good 
 things. 
 
 O my foul, never ceafe to blefs the Lord •, for- 
 get not all his benefits : efpecially his great love, 
 his exceeding great love in Chrift Jems, by whom 
 he hath provided a remedy for all our griefs, and 
 comforted us with the hope of another and better 
 life ; where there is no death, nor any] pain or 
 forrow, but all tears mail be wiped away from 
 cur eyes. 
 
 T» 
 
failed to the CONSOLATIONS. 39 1 
 
 To thee I flee, O blefled Jefus, who art my beft 
 and my eternil friend. To thee, who knowefl 
 our frame, and canft have companion on our infir- 
 mities : moil humbly befeeching thee, to bear mc 
 up under this fere affliction, in a thankful remem- 
 brance or all thy mercies. Yea, draw up my 
 heart thereby, more towards heaven ; where thou, 
 my Life art -, [where I hope m} hufband, wife, or 
 friend is] where I hope to be when thou fhalt call 
 me. away from hence: there to fing thy praifes 
 with inceflant joy, in the company ot all thy faints, 
 and of the holy angels. Amen. Amen. 
 
 A Prayer for the life of a child that hath loft its 
 "parents. 
 
 OLord, who never failed thofe that feek thee, 
 but giveft his food to the bead, and to the 
 young ravens which cry ; I cad myfelf upon thy 
 infinite gocdnefs, with whom the fatherlefs have 
 been wont to find mercy : be thou, O Lord, Fa- 
 ther and God of my life, a mod merciful and gra- 
 cious Father unto me; and provide what thou feed, 
 in thy wifdom, to be neceffary for me. 
 
 Efpecially, bellow upon me fome faithful friend 
 that will admoniih me, and take care of my foul, 
 to bring me up religicrufiy in the fear of thee my 
 God. Prtlerve me from all diftruft of thy good 
 providence. Give me favour in the eyes of ethers, 
 by an humble, fubmifiive, and good behaviour 
 towards them. Make me diligent and inaudri- 
 ous in fome honed calling. And blefs my labours 
 and endeavours, that I may not b'.i a burthen unto 
 others. But whatfoever my portion be in this 
 world, give me grace to live fo pioufly, juftly, and 
 foberly, that I may not mils of that incorruptible 
 
 C c 4 inhcri- 
 
392 DEVOTIONS 
 
 inheritance, which fadeth not away, refervcd j.i 
 the heavens for us ; through Chrift Jeius. Amen. 
 
 A Prayer to be ufed by a Widow. 
 
 OGod, by v/hofe wife providence, which I 
 humbly adore and reverence, I am left with- 
 out my deareft companion and guidein this cur pil- 
 grimage -, and thereby deprived of the fweeteft 
 comfort of life : behold the defolate and forrowful 
 eftate of thy poor handmaid, who fupplicates thy 
 tender mercy and companion towards her. Com- 
 fort me, good Lord, with a delightful fenfe of thy 
 divine prefence with me ; and draw my heart the 
 nearer to thee, in holy love and devout affection, 
 and a lively hope, that thou wilt never leave me 
 nor forfakeme. 
 
 I ought to thank thee at all times, for the many 
 tokens of thy love towards me ; and particularly 
 for lending me this blefling fo long, the value of 
 which I now feel, by the want I am in of its fup- 
 port. Pardon me, I befeech thee, that I have not 
 been fo thankful for it, and the reft of thy mer- 
 cies, as I ought •, nor fo carefully improved them 
 as I might have done. O take not away thy loving 
 kindnefs from me in difpleafure : but vouchfafe 
 ftill the continuance of thy favour towards me ; 
 efpecially the fupport of thy divine grace, by the 
 Power of the Holy Ghoft, to enable me to bear 
 this affliction with an humble, meek, and patient 
 fpirit. 
 
 Moderate all my paflions : free me from all 
 difcontented and diltruftful thoughts : help me to 
 caft all my care on thee, who relieveft the father- 
 lefs and widow, and careft even for the ftrangers. 
 Fix my mind upon thy love in the Lord Jefus •, in 
 
 whom 
 
fitted to the CONSOLATIONS. 39 - 
 
 whom thou vvouldeft have us to rejoice always. 
 Lift up my thoughts to thofe heavenly enjoyments 
 in that blefTed place where he is, [to which I hope my 
 hujband is departed]. And help me to follow aft£r 
 him with all diligence, in a pure, grave and godly 
 converfarion •, and, by a careful education of my 
 children, to endeavour that they may be alfo with 
 us in that glory. 
 
 Let thy bleffing ever reft upon thern. And 
 now, that they are left to me alone, give me fo 
 much the more wifdom to inftruct and govern 
 them aright > and fo much the more love to them* 
 and tender affection to their good and welfare. 
 Make them to be a comfort for me in my widow- 
 hood, by their increafe in godlinefs, that we may 
 chearfully ferve thee together, in prayers and 
 thankfgivings and reading of thy holy word, and 
 communion with our blefTed Saviour, and all 
 other actions of a Chriftian life. Prepare us for 
 whatever condition, into which thoufhaltbe pleafed 
 to bring us ; that neither fulnefs nor poverty, ho- 
 nour nor reproaches, health nor ficknefs, may 
 ever feparate us from thy love in Chrift Jefus ; buE 
 we may perfevere in patient obedience to thee, 
 till we receive that crown of life, which he hath 
 promifed to them that love thee. Amen. 
 
 A Prayer under lojjes and damages in our goods and 
 ejlates. 
 
 ALmighty God ! the Creator and Preferver of 
 all mankind, the world is thine and the ful- 
 nefs thereof. Teach me to be content as well 
 when I am abafed and fuffer need, as when I 
 abound : for, as it will profit a man nothing to 
 gain the whole world and to lofe his foul ; fo all 
 the lofTes in the world cannot undo him, whofe 
 
 foul 
 
394 DEVOTIONS 
 
 foul is fafe in thy hands. Let me not grieve there- 
 fore, as if I were undone, for what I have loft ; 
 but incline my heart to. commit myfelf chearfully 
 unto thee, as knowing- that I have in heaven a 
 better and an enduring fubftance of good things 
 to come. And feeing how little any thing is to 
 be confided in here on earth, grant that I may 
 look lefs on temporal things •, and fo provide for 
 the good of my foul, and be fo' rich towards 
 God, that when all here fhall fail me, thou mayeft 
 be the ftrength of my heart, and my portion for 
 ever ; all which I humbly pray for, through Je- 
 fus Chrift. Amen. 
 
 A Prayer to befaid by fuck as are poor and low in the 
 world. 
 
 OGod, I believe that for juft and wife reafons 
 thou haft allotted to mankind very different 
 ftates and circumftances of life ; and that all the 
 temporal evils, .which have at any time happened 
 unto me, are defigned by thee for my benefit. 
 Therefore, though thou haft thought fit to place 
 me in a mean condition, to deprive me of many 
 conveniences of life, and to exercife me in a ftate 
 of poverty ; yet thou haft hitherto prelerved and 
 fupported me be thy good providence, and bleifed 
 me with advantages* above many others, who labour 
 under great troubles. And, O merciful Father, if 
 thou feeft fit, blefs me with fuch a portion of the 
 comforts and conveniences of life, that thereby I 
 may be enabled to go on more chearfully in my 
 ftation, to ferve thee better, to love thee more 
 and more, and to admire more thy wonderful 
 bounty and loving- kindnefs j grant me health and 
 
 ftrength, 
 
 * Here rscolleS tbt tyjfmgs j>ou tnjoj > as health, afliftance of 
 
fitted to the CONSOLATIONS. 3g $ 
 
 flrength, and abilities fuited to my circum (lances, 
 that I may honcftly provide for myielf 5 iupporc 
 me, that I fall not into extreme want ; lay not 
 more upon me, than thou malt enable me to 
 bear with patience ; and ftipply the want of world- 
 ly bleflings, by the comfort and fupport of thy 
 good fpirit, whereby I may be made perfect in 
 every good work, become rich in faith, and an 
 heir of thy kingdom. Grant, O Lord, that I may 
 exercife all thofe chriftian graces and duties, which 
 my prefcnt circum fiances call for from me -, let the 
 fharpnefs of temporal wants put me upon confi- 
 dering what mifery muft attend the lofs of my 
 foul : let a fenfe of my poverty ftir up eager de- 
 fires after the true riches ; and the lefs I have of 
 this world, the more careful let me be to provide 
 for the next. 
 
 Infpire me with diligence and induflry in 
 my calling, and when I have done my endea- 
 vour, make me to call all my care upon thee ; 
 that neither the contempt, which vain perfons 
 wrongfully cafl upon poverty, nor any evil which 
 I may endure, may tempt me to any difhoneft 
 ways of living •, but let me chuie rather to be poor 
 than wicked, and to want any thing rather than 
 thy blefiing. For which end, cloath me with a 
 meek, and quiet, and humble fpirit, and a tho- 
 rough contentednefs in my prefcnt circumflances ; 
 that I may neither dare to repine at my own con- 
 dition, nor envy the profperity of others. Raife up 
 my heart to look unto Jefus, who, to reconcile 
 man to a ftate of poverty, chofe to be born and 
 Jive in a mean condition, enduring hunger, and 
 thirfl, and cold, and not having where to Jay his 
 head : that by his example I may be encouraged 
 to contemn the workl - 3 and through faith and pa- 
 tience 
 
39 6 DEVOTIONS 
 
 tience having finifhed the race which thou hall fes 
 before me, I may be received into the joy of my 
 Lord, for the fake of my Redeemer, thy ever- 
 bleffed Son, Jefus Chrift my Lord and Saviour. 
 Amen, 
 
 A Prayer under any injuries^ abufes^ or provocations. 
 God, whofe beloved Son was evil treated,, 
 tempted, reviled, fpit upon, mocked, and 
 perfecuted even unto death ; and whofe bleffed dif- 
 ciples had alfo trials of cruel mockings and fcourg- 
 ings, and of fevere bonds and imprifonments : 
 what then am I that I mould expect to efcape the 
 injuries, abufes and provocations of this world ? 
 therefore, Lord, fuch as my folly and mifcarriage 
 have made my enemies, enable me to appeafe, and 
 to gain them to my friend fhip ; and fuch as hate 
 me wrongfully, pardon their fin, open their eyes, 
 purify their minds, and convert their hearts unto 
 thee ; that they may fee their fault, be reconciled 
 to thee, O God ! and then live, as much as in them 
 lieth, in peace with all men, that we may at laft 
 live together in heaven. And for this end mortify, 
 I befeechthee, in all of us, the carnal mind, which 
 is at enmity againft thee, and all thofe lulls, which 
 war in our members, from whence wars and 
 fightings arife ; unite us all againft the common 
 enemy of our fouls ; and join all our hearts to 
 thee, in thy true fear and love, that we may not 
 meditate revenge, but ftudy to be quiet j and this 
 we humbly pray in the name of that great pattern 
 of meeknefs, thy Son, our Lord and Saviour 
 Jefus Chrift. Amen. 
 
 A Frayir 
 
fulled to the CONSOLATIONS. 397 
 
 A Prayer for the ufe of one that is aged. 
 
 I Adore thee, O Lord of life and glory ; who art 
 from everlafting to everlafting, and changeft 
 not •, befeeching thee to look gracioufly upon thy 
 unworthy fervant, whofe hope is only in thine infi- 
 nite mercy •, by which my life hath been prolonged. 
 to old age, and which is able to make me eternally 
 bleffed. I thank thee for thy inconceivable love 
 in the Lord Jefus, who hath given me fuch a folid 
 and ftedfaft ground of hope, to fupport and 
 ftrengthen my heart, when all the comforts of 
 this life fail me : and I praife and magnify 
 thy bounteous goodnefs for thofe innumerable 
 blefiings, which time after time thou haft bellow- 
 ed upon me, from the beginning of my life till 
 this prefent. 
 
 O my God, help me always to folace myfelf, 
 now that the days are come wherein I have no 
 pleafure, with a perpetual remembrance of thy 
 pad loving; kindneflfes to me, and with thofe hopes 
 which I have of thy endlefs love in the other 
 world. And the more my outward fenfes decay, 
 vouchfafe me the quicker and more lively fenfe in 
 my heart of thofe good things which thou haft 
 laid up there, for thofe that fear thee. 
 
 Preferve me from all difcontented thoughts, 
 and peevilh paftions. Make me an example unto 
 others of holinefs, difcretion, temperance, gravi- 
 ty, peaceablenefs and patience, that fo I may with 
 the more authority be a teacher of good things, 
 and my hoary head may be a crown of glory, be- 
 ing found in the ways of righteoufnefs. O how 
 comely a thing is judgment for grey hairs, and for 
 ancient men to knowcounfel! Pardon me, good 
 Lord, that I have made no better improvement of 
 
 my 
 
39 S DEVOTIONS. 
 
 my time and experience, for the furnifhing of my 
 mind with wifdom, and with thofe virtues. Par- 
 don all my negligences, and all my offences : 
 and fill my heart with a comfortable fenfe of thy 
 pardoning mercy in Chrift Jefus ; that having no 
 other burthen but that of age, to opprefs my fpi- 
 rit, I may rejoice in thee as long as I live ; and at 
 laft lay myfelf down to reft in peace, and return my 
 foul back unto thee chearfully, whenfoever thou 
 called for it ; in fure and certain hope of the re- 
 furreftion of the dead, and of that glory, ho- 
 nour, and immortality, which thou haft graci- 
 oufly promifed us by thy dear Son, my moft 
 bleffed Lord and Saviour, Chrift Jefus, with 
 whom I defire to live to give thee eternal praifes. 
 Amen. 
 
 A Prayer agaiv.fi the fear of death. 
 
 MOST gracious God, fince I am hafting on 
 to the end of my life, let all my fins be 
 done away by thy mercy and my faith and re- 
 pentance, through the merits of Chrift. Take 
 from me all guilt, remove all fear, and give me 
 patience during the reft of my life, that I may 
 always ftand ready to give a good account of my 
 life unto thee -, and that I may fight the good 
 fight of faith with conftancy and perfeverance, 
 and finifli my courfe with joy, and never fieep in 
 fin, nor lie down in forrow and mifery. Since 
 the fentence of death is paffed upon me, ftrip 
 my foul of all flefhly affections, before it leaves 
 my body ; and difpofe it to be of like mind and 
 difpofition with the holy angels, and beatified 
 fpirits ; neither let me forget, that this is like 
 to be- the laft trial, which thou wilt afford me, 
 
 of 
 
fitted to the CONSOLATIONS. 399 
 
 of renouncing my own will and refigning my- 
 felf to thine, of mewing forth devotion of fpirit, 
 and all holy obedience, patience, faith, and 
 humble confidence in thee ; make me there- 
 fore watch for all opportunities of exercifing the 
 fame, doing them diligently, as my laft labour 
 for immortality, and forfecuring thy everlafting 
 mercy, through the merits of Jefus Chrift, who 
 died for me and all mankind. Amen. 
 
 A Prayer for ajjtjlance at the hour of death. 
 
 O Father of mercies, and God of all comfort, 
 my only help in time of need -, look gra- 
 cioufly upon me, O Lord, and the more the out- 
 ward man decayeth, ftrengthen me, I befeech 
 thee, fo much the more continually with thy 
 grace and Holy Spirit in the inner man. Give 
 me unfeigned repentance for all the errors of my 
 life pah:, and ftedfaft faith in thy fon Jefus, that 
 my fins may be done away by thy mercy, and 
 my pardon fealed in heaven, before I go hence 
 and be no more feen. I know, O Lord, that 
 there is no word impoffible with thee, and that 
 if thou wilt, thou canft even yet raife me up, and 
 grant me a longer continuance in this life. Yet, 
 forafmuch as in all appearance the time of my 
 departure drawetiaj|a ga r, fo lit and prepare me, I 
 befeech thee, aglrmrthe hour of death, that after 
 my departure hence irV peace, and in thy favour, 
 my foul may be received into thine everlafting 
 kingdom, through the merits and mediation 
 of Jefus Chrift, thine only Son, my Lord and 
 Saviour. Amen. 
 
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