and Abiram. He fends not always from Above great Hailftones, as when He knock'd down the Amorites. He deftroys not always by Flames that proceed from his Prefence, as He did Nadab and Abihu, who offer'd unhallow'd Fire upon his Altar. He commands not always the Lions and the Bears of the Foreft to iffue out and devour us, as He did when the rebellious Prophet was kill'd, and when the ill-tutor'd Children of Bethel mock'd Elisha. In fhort, GOD imploys not always the Plagues and Judgments of Peftilence, of War, and of Famine; the unpleafant fmell of a fuming Snuff, a flying Vapor of a malignant Smoak, is able to choak and kill us in a Moment, a Fly, the Kernel of an Apple, an Hair of the Head, or the Seed of a Grape, or Ashes, or Sand, or fome other Atom, may ftop the Breath of our Life. Therefore GOD adviseth us by the Prophet Ifaiah, Ceafe je from Man whofe Breath is in his Noftrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of? Ifa. 2.

'Tis to be confider'd that these Contingencies happen very frequently, and in every place Death lays for us its Snares, as well in the Bofom of our tender hearted Parents, and in the Imbraces of our dearest Friends, as amongst our moft mortal Enemies. Its invifible Darts fly every-where; and as the Pfalmist informs us, The Peftilence walketh in Darknefs, and Destruction wasteth at Noon-day, Pfal. 91. Death is as

bufy on the Solemn Feftivals, as well as in the Working-days; it drags us as eafily from the Table where we take our Delights, as from the Bed of Sorrow, where we figh and groan. There is no Sacred Retreat where we may find a Refuge; it hath no more regard of the Temples dedicated to GOD's Service, than of the common Houfes. All the Riches of America, and the Power of the greateft Monarchs, are not able to protect us from its Purfuit; it requires a prefent Payment of the Debts that we owe, and 'tis not poffible to appear by Deputy at the Summons that it fends to us.

Death

Death claps not his Summons on the posts of doors, it trufts them not into the hands of Meffengers or Lacquies; there is no Warning, but it may write down upon it these words, Speaking to him in Perfon. It furprifeth us at home and abroad, in our Closets and in the Streets, in our Beds, in our Sedans, in the midst of our Feafts, and all our Pomp. It offers Violence to the Sacred Perfon of the greatest Kings, in their most fumptuous Palaces, in their moft flourishing Cities, in their strongest Fortifications, in the midft of their most faithful Subjects, and moft victorious Armies, upon their Thrones, and in their Triumphant Chariots. As King Ahab when he was going to take poffeffion of Naboth's Vineyard, told the Prophet Elijab in a rage, Haft thou found me, mine Enemy? 1 Kings 21. Thus when the prophane Worldlings dream of nothing but of the pleasant Enjoyment of their unjuft Poffeffions, and of swimming in the Blood and Sweat of the meaner People, they meet unexpected Death, which they curfe in their Hearts, and if it did not stop their Mouths, they would fay alfo in a rage, Haft thou found me out mine Enemy?

This Holy Meditation caus'd the wisest King upon earth to tell us, Man knoweth not his time, as the fifhes that are taken in an evil Net, and as the Birds that are caught in a fnare, fo are the Sons of Men fnared in an evil time, when it falls fuddenly upon them,Ecl.9.12. This fame confideration caufed this excellent Sentence to be written in the Book of Job, In a moment shall they die, and the People fhall be troubled at midnight, and pass away, and the mighty fall be taken away without hand,. Job 34. That is, that to deftroy Kingdoms and whole Nations, and to carry away the moft lufty and mighty Men, Death has no need of any other Affiftance but its own Arm.

Do you defire, Chriftian Reader, to understand the

t of all this Difcourfe? let me tell you, that fince Death is certain, and not to be avoided, and that there is nothing fo uncertain as the hour of its Arrival, we ought fo to live as if we were to breath forth

F

the

the laft gafp at every Moment. We fhould behave our felves, as if we had always our Souls upon our Lips, ready to yield them into the Hands of our Great Creator, and to fpeak in fob's Language, Having our Flesh between our Teeth, and our Souls in our Hands, Job 13. In regard we know not at what time, nor in what place Death intends to come upon us; Let us expect it at every moment, and in every place. And as we lodge in this earthly Tabernacle, without any Term prefixt, lut us be ready to depart at the first Warning. For it will be far better for us to go out willingly, than to be drag'd out againft our Will. 'Tis not convenient that Death fhould carry us away in the fame manner as the Sea beats and toffeth a dead Corps upon its Waves. But we must on this Occafion imitate the difcreet Mariner, that trims his Sails, and helps by his Art the Winds and the Tide to carry him to his defir'd Haven. We fhould not follow Death as the Malefactor follows the Executioner who drags him to fuffer; but as the Child follows his Father who conducts him to a Feat. We fhould not ingage in a Combat with Death by constraint, as the ancient Slaves with the Wild Beafts in the Roman Amphitheatres; but we fhould imitate David's Courage, who, of his own accord, march'd out of the Camp of Ifrael, to fight with Goliab: 'Tis better for us to attack and feize upon Death, than to be furpriz'd and devour'd by it unawares.

Come when thou wilt, O Death! thou fhalt never furprize me; for I wait for thee every moment, with my Weapons ready in my Hand.Thou shalt never drag me forcibly, for I will follow thee willingly and joyfully. Tho' thou art my Enemy,yet I will speak to thee in the Language of the Spoufe in the Canticles, to her Beloved, Draw me, and I will run after thee. Nay, I will meet thee in the way, and receive thee with hearty Imbraces; for inftead of dreading thy coming,I defire it paffionately,and hope for it.For at thy firft arrival,as foon as I have feen thee,I fhall have overcome thee, O bleffed and happy Day,that promifeth me fuch a glorious Victory, and fuch an eternal Triumph.

A

A Prayer and Meditation upon the continual

Expectation of Death.

Gracious God, in whofe Power alone, and at whofe Pleafure are the Times and the Seafons; I know that tis appointed to all Men once to die, and that the Grace is the Dwelling which thou hast prepar'd to receive all Mankind. We understand fufficiently by the Experience of former Ages, that none is able to fay, I fhall live, and fhall not fee Death. Thou, O Almighty God,our fupreme Judge,baft pronounc'd our irrevocable Sentence in the Earthly Paradife, That we must die; fo that I should be guilty of the greatest Folly, if I did not firmly believe that I must die as others, and follow at my turn in the way of all Flesh. But, Lord, thou hast been pleas'd to hide from us the Iffues of thy Providences, and doft not fuffer us to fee the Hand that marks out the laft Hours of our Life. We can perceive no fhadow to difcover to us with certainty, when shall be the going down of our Sun; we know not at what Hour of the Day, or of the Night thou wilt call us to appear before thy great Tribunal. Give me therefore Grace, O Merciful God, to be always ready to answer to thy Call, and to obey thy holy Commands; that I may be as a Ship at Anchor, that stays only for a Wind to fet fail; or as a Soldier who waits only for the Signal to march to the Encounter. Give me Grace, O good Lord, that I may be like the good and faithful Servant, who expects his Master's coming, and bears his Voice as foon as he calls; or like the wife Virgins, who were ready to meet the Bridegroom, and to follow him into the MarriageChamber. Since I am not to know, either the Time or the Place when Death will come to me, O that I might expect and wait for it every Moment, and at every Place! O that Imight live in fuch a manner, as if I were always ready to die. That my Soul were always upon my Lips, prepar to fly away. That I were continually in readiness to commit it into thy Hands. O my God, my Faithful and Merciful Creator! by this means I shall receive Death with Joy, F 2

when

when it comes as thy Servant and Messenger; and I shall follow it willingly, being certainly perfuaded that it will lead me into Eternal Life, and tranfport me into thy glori ous and immortal Palace, Amen.

СНАР. IX.

The Third Remedy against the Fears of Death, is, to confider that GOD hath appointed the Time and Manner of our Death.

WE

E are either Hypocrites, who draw near unto God with our Lips, and honour him with our Tongue, while our Heart is far from him, Matth. 14. Or we muft defire the Accomplishment of the Will of GOD, and refign ourselves wholly to it; for every Day we say in our Prayers, Thy Will be done in Earth, as it is in Heaven. Therefore we cannot abhor nor fly from Death fo cowardly, if we be rightly perfuaded as we ought, That GOD hath limitted the Time, and appointed the Manner of our Death. That which caufes us to complain of this last Enemy, is, a continual Eye that we have fix'd upon the Power of the Flefh, and a too great Confidence upon Second Caufes. We are like the Dog that bites at the Stone that strikes him; for we commonly Curse the Means that GOD imploys to call and withdraw us out of the World.

It will easily appear that GOD hath numbred our Days, and that by his wonderful and eternal Wisdom, He hath decreed the hour and moment of every Man's Death. For befides what our Saviour CHRIST faith in general, That God hath referv'd the Times and the Seafons in his own power, Acts 1. Job tells us exprefly, The Days of Man are determin'd, the number of his Months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass, Job 14. The Royal Prophet speaks to the fame purpose in the 31 Pfalm, Itrufted in thee, O Lord, I