sickness, whose distraction took not away thy means of preparation, it were an easy calamity; were it a sickness, whose contagion dissolved not the comfortable bands of sweet society, it were but half a misery! But, as it is, sudden, solitary, incurable-what so terrible? what so comfort

less?

Sink not beneath thy fears, my soul; thy deliverance is God's royalty, and under his wings is thy salvation; in the midst of danger no danger shall befal thee:

Neither shall the plague come nigh thy dwelling. Psal. xci. 10.

Whoso dwelleth in the secret of the Most High, shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty: surely he will deliver thee from the snare of the hunter, and from the noisome pestilence; he will cover thee under his wings, and thou shalt be sure under his feathers: his truth shall be thy shield and thy buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid of the arrow that flieth by day, nor of the plague that destroyed at noon-day. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come near thee. Psal. xci. 1, 3, 4, 5.

HIS SOLILOQUY.

AND can the noise of death, O my soul, so fright thee in the street, and the cause of death not move thee in thy bosom? Shall passing-bells tolling for dying men afflict thee, and not the judgments of the living God affright thee? Shall the weekly bills of a silly parish-clerk, more move thee than the sacred oracles of a holy minister? Shall the plague, inflicted upon others, more

startle thee than many plagues denounced upor thyself? Be wise, my soul: avoid the cause, and thou shalt prevent the effect; be afraid of sin, and thou needest not fear the punishment. Fearest thou the infection? fly from it; but whither? under the wings of the Almighty but thy sins deny protection there? then nail them to thy Saviour's cross. Fearest thou yet? O my soul,

hast thou so long, hast thou so long subsisted under thine own protection, and darest thou not venture under his? Can there be a sanctuary more secure? a protection more safe? Fearest thou death under the wings of the God of life? - or danger under the shadow of the Almighty ? But the suddenness of that death denies preparation his wings continually prepare thee. It banishes all thy friends, and in them thy comfort. When thou hast God to thy friend, what comfort canst thou want that may not be found by prayer?

HIS PRAYER.

LORD, in whose hands are the keys of life and death, in whom I live, move, and have my being-graciously incline thy tender ear, and mercifully hear the supplications of thy servant, who hath no hope but in thy goodness, and no comfort but in thy promises. My heinous sins, O God, have provoked thy heavy indignation, and I am humbly sensible of thy sore displeasure. Thy judgments are come abroad amongst us, and the vials of thy consuming wrath are poured out upon us. The sins of our nation have cried to thee for vengeance, and thou hast visited

us with great mortality; thy people are poured out like water, and our land has become a land of mourning. Turn us, O Lord, that we may be turned, and magnify thy mercy in our deliverance: accept the sorrow and contrition of thy servants, and say unto thine angel, It is enough! Be thou my refuge and my fortress, O God, and give me confidence to repose under the shadow of the Almighty. Cover me, O Lord, with the feathers of thy wings, and let thy truth be my buckler and my shield. Defend me from the pestilence that walketh in darkness; deliver me from destruction that wasteth at noon-day. Give thy angels charge over me, to protect and guide me in all my ways. Prepare me, O Lord, against the hour of death, and strengthen my soul in the assurance of thy mercy: humble my heart with the true sense of my transgressions, and work in my soul an unfeigned repentance: enlarge mine eyes, that I may weep day and night, for grieving and offending so gracious a Father. Wean me from the trust of all transitory things, and let the world's vanity daily die in me. Take from me the immoderate fear of death, and train me, O God, for the day of my dissolution: instruct and rectify my vain desires, that all my wishes may stand with thy will. In life be thou my governor; in death, be thou my comfort; that living or dying I may be thine.

Teach

me by thy judgments to hate sin, and let thy mercies breed in me a filial love: be gracious to those whom thou hast marked for death, and seal in their hearts the assurance of thy favour, that, being members of one body, we may re

joice in one Head; that, having numbered our days in wisdom, we may be numbered with thy saints in glory everlasting.

THE PERSECUTED MAN.

HIS MISERY.

ARE these the gains of godliness? are these the wages of a holy life? Hath the ungrateful world no other thanks for him that honours his Creator, but scorn, contempt, and persecution? Whilst I prized the world, I wanted nothing that the world calls good; neglected honour followed me; unsought for pleasure coveted me; unpurchased fortunes fell upon me: I could not wish that happiness I had not; I could not want the happiness earth had nothing was too dear; nothing was too precious. Thus, whilst I prized the world, the world prized me: if I were sad, her mirthful smiles would cheer me; if sick, her mournful sons would visit me; if weary, her wanton lap would dandle me; where, rocked into a slumber, I dreamed all this was but a dream; and waking, found it so. Not willing to be fed with shadows, I changed my thoughts, and my affections altered; and finding earth too strait for my desires, I cast mine eye to Heaven, and after many conflicts betwixt my members and my mind, even there I fixed! The jealous Earth grew angry, frowned, and called me fool; withdrew her honours, withheld her pleasures, recalled her favours; and now I live despised, contemned, and poor. O sad condition of mankind! how plausi

ble are his ways to death! and how unpleasant are his paths to life! No sooner had I made a covenant with my God, but the world made a covenant against me, scandalled my name, slandered my actions, derided my simplicity, and despised my integrity. For my profession's sake I have been reproached, and the reproaches of the world have fallen upon me: if I chastened my soul with fasting, it styled me with the name of hypocrite; if I reproved the vanity of the times, it derided me with the style of Puritan. I am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to my mother's son; I go mourning all the day long, and my bosom friends are estranged from me: they afflict my body with open punishment, and make a pastime of my affliction. They that sit in the gate, speak evil of me, and drunkards made their songs against

me.

BUT be not thou dismayed, my soul; nor let the arm of flesh discourage thee: thy persecutions here, are nothing but the prophesies of a Paradise hereafter. He that is born of the flesh, inherits the pleasures of the world; but thou, that art born of the Spirit, hear what the Spirit saith:

Blessed are they that are persecuted for my name sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven. Matth. v. 10.

Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and separate themselves from you, and shall revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Luke, vi. 22.

If ye suffer for righteousness sake, happy are ye, and be not afraid of their terror, neither be ye troubled. 1 Pet. iii. 14.