Finally, Since whatsoever God hath appointed in his eternal counsel, must be fulfilled in time, and all things in the world attain to those ends for which he made them; and since he created our souls not to be alone, but to live in company and fellowship with the body; therefore this body, which falls down by death, must needs rise again at the resurrection, that the immortal soul might return to, and dwell with it, for ever.

To say that the resurrection of our bodies is impossible, is the greatest and most abominable atheism in the world. It is impudence to deny the infinite power of God, and the sacred history of the world's creation. For if things are in their beings as they are in workings, and if their operations are correspondent to their natures, we must of necessity conclude, that if there be a God of an infinite being, he must needs have a power answerable to his being; and by consequence, that this almighty God may without difficulty raise the dead. If thou believest, that God calls the things that are not as if they were, wherefore dost thou not also believe, that this same God will also call the things that have been already, to restore them to that being which they have formerly enjoyed e from his almighty hand? If thou believest, that God hath fashioned Eve out of one of her husband's ribs, that he made man of the dust, and created this dust out of nothing, canst thou not also believe, that God is able at the day of the resurrection to make again thy body of that dust into which it is reduced by death? If thou believest, that God hath breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life, that he hath created thy soul, and infused it into thy body, where it was never sbefore, how canst thou question his power of returning one day the same soul into the same body, where it formerly made its abode. In short, if thou believest, that the Holy Ghost, by moving upon the waters, hath caused so many beautiful and noble creatures to appear, and that he hath

made

made light to shine out of darkness, canst thou not be also persuaded, that this same Holy Ghost can shew his power amongst the graves, and fetch the body out of the dark shadows of death, to introduce it into the light of the living?

Thou seest by experience, that every day a new house is built up of old materials; and dost thou wonder how the wise Architect, who hath built the great world by his word alone, can gather up the old pieces and materials of this little world, to make up a new building, adorned with divine graces and beauty? Shall the statue-maker be able to restore again his bruised image reduced to ashes? and shall not God be able to restore man, created after his own image and likeness, to his primitive state and being? In a word, let the difficulties seem never so great, remember, christian soul, what the angel Ga briel told the blessed Virgin, " With God nothing shall be impossible." I know very well, that this is an old maxim in philosophy, "From privation of the habit there is now rew turning." That is to say, when once we are deprived of, and have lost a natural faculty, it is never to be recovered again. But the profane Atheists wrongfully abuse this maxim against the articles of our resurrection; for it is most true in respect of natural and secondary causes. It is not to be doubted, that when the faculties of nature are once lost, they are not to be restored by human art or skill; and when a man iss dead, it is not possible for all the creatures to bring him to life again. But nothing is able to limit the power of an infinite agent. He that hath formed the wonderful eye, and in whom we live, move, and have our being, cannot he open the eye of a man born blind, and restore life to a dead corpse? This same philosopher, whereof the maxims are brought against the resurrection, declares openly, "That God can do all things that imply no contradiction." Now there is no contradiction in believing that God can render life to him that had lost it; and that what is fallen down by death, 29. A du : artures bokalu a là tu Eu should.

should rise again by the resurrection. To the end that this resurrection of our bodies might seem less strange, God hath been pleased to give us in nature many images and resemblances. I am persuaded, believing souls, that you will not be displeased, if I mention here some of the chief.

First, As when the sun goeth down, and the earth is covered with the dark shadows of the night, man's declining, and the darkness of the grave, is represented; likewise, when this king of the stars rises, when he brings with him the day over our heads, there is a beautiful and perfect image of the resurrection.

Secondly, When the moon parts with all its light and splendour which it borrows from the sun, when it covers itself with a vail of darkness, it is the image of death, and a representation of that vail which it draws over our eyes; but when the sun begins to look upon it again, and by that means it recovers its former brightness and glory, it discovers before our eyes, in a manner, that which shall happen to our bodies, when the Sun of Righteousness shall rise and cast upon them his favourable aspect.

Thirdly, The spring, summer, and autumn, follow one another, and the winter shews us an image of death. But when the sun begins to return again over our heads, when it covers the earth with a beautiful green, and revives the sleeping virtue of nature, it expresseth to us the resurrec tion in lively colours.

Fourthly, The trees that are in winter without flowers, fruits, or leaves, discover to us the hideous aspect of death, that strips man's body, and deprives him of all that is beauti ful and pleasant to the eye. But when the same trees flourish again, and are loaden with fresh leaves and fruits, they pur us in mind of the blessed resurrection of our bodies.

Fifthly,

Fifthly, The seeds that corrupt and rot in the ground, represent our bodies rotting in the grave; but when the seeds appear above ground, and flourish, they express excellently well the blessed state of our bodies rising again to a new life, and recovering a perfect beauty. This similitude the Son of God himself recommends to us: "If a grain of wheat which falls to the earth does not die, it remains alone; but if it dies, it brings forth much fruit," John xii. And the apostle St. Paul insists at large upon this comparison; thereupon he exclaims against the stupid Atheists, who will not believe that a dead body can revive again, “ O fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die," 1 Cor. xv.

Sixthly, I find more wonderful what is said of certain herbs, which rise again out of their ashes; for example, if you burn mugwort, (in Latin, artemisia,) to ashes, and cast the ashes upon the earth, you shall see the same herb grow again. Many have tried and found this by experience. The same is reported of a kind of palm-tree; and because, in the Greek, a palm is called Phoenix, this experiment hath given occasion to the fable of the Phoenix, a bird that is said to revive again out of its own marrow and ashes. Who will offer to deny, that this is an excellent expression of the fesurrection of our bodies?

Seventhly, There are also several sorts of insects that re present to us death and the resurrection. As the silk-worms; for when these small creatures have finished their work, and spun out that silk with which the garments and stately attire of kings and princes are made, they bury themselves in a tomb which they build; afterwards they become like a little bean, which hides under its thin skin the formation of a white butterfly. The same is observed of the caterpillars; for when they seem to be stark-dead, they creep out of their little sepulchres in the form of butterflies, of so many rare and various

colours

colours that they deserve admiration; so that many curious persons keep them in their closets among their rarities.

Eighthly, Amongst the beasts also, some seem to be dead, for several months of the year, being without sense or motion; but afterwards they awake again, or rather they begin a new life to move about as they did before,

Ninthly, But we need go no farther than ourselves to find the image of death, and of the resurrection. For is there any thing that can express death more perfectly than our. dead sleep, that stupifies the senses, puts a stop to the spirits of our bodies, and binds up our most active faculties? So that we have then eyes without seeing, ears without hearing, a nose and cannot smell, and a living body, but we have no feeling. But as soon as such a person comes to awaken again, to open his eyes, and to stir and act, he represents a most perfect image of the resurrection,

I might also add, amongst the images of death and the resurrection, the several changes and alterations that happen to the states and empires of the world. For oft-times they appear as dead and buried; but afterwards they rise again from their falls, and march out of their obscurity, as in a glorious resurrection. But I shall wave these similitudes, and consider only such as the church of God, in several ages, hath recommended to us as types of the future resurrection of our bodies.

First, Noah and his family (in which all the church of God at that time was comprehended) remained in the ark as in a floating coffin, during the space of one hundred and fifty days. But, after the deluge, God caused them to march out of that ark. In the same manner, after our bodies shall have

been in their graves so many years or ages, as God has ap