Two Funeral SERMONS PREACHED IN St. SAVIOUR'S CHURCH IN DARTMOUTH.  
Together With a PREFACE, giving some account of the reasons, why they are now made public.  
By HUMPHREY SMITH, M. A. and VICAR there.  
LICENCED, Feb. 23. 1689/ 90. Z. ISHAM.  
LONDON, Printed for Charles Yeo, Bookseller in Exon. 1690.   

THE PREFACE, TO THE Inhabitants of Dartmouth in Devon, Grace, Truth, and Peace be multiplied.  
My Friends and Brethren,  
YOU, that know me, and the occasions of the two following Sermons, will, I doubt not, easily believe: that I was far, at first, from designing, they should ever become more public, than the Preaching of them made them. As the space, allowed for either can hardly be called Days; so I am very sensible, that performances of this kind, on which I have bestowed more time and labour, have little in them to recommend them in an Age, which (God be praised) abounds with Practical Discourses of the greatest Excellency. They do not therefore come abroad, on a conceit of any thing extraordinary in the Contrivance; but only to stand the Charges, which have been drawn up against them: That some, who could not, and others, who would not, hear them; may perceive at length, as I hope they will, that amongst the real imperfections to be found in them, there is, however, nothing at all of a spiteful humour.  
I am sure, I can truly say, that in those few Years I have lived amongst you, I have laboured, as to give no just offence to the Church established (of the Lawfulness of whose Constitutions I am hearty persuaded.) so neither to any of those who have been drawn to dislike her Communion, and separate from her. I do not remember, that the Regard I have, and the particular Obligations I am under to the former, have made me forgetful of a befiting Candour towards the latter: especially in the public discharge of that Holy Office, I am regularly called to. But, alas, you very well know, the cry hath been frequently otherwise: such representations having been made of me, as if I were guilty of malicious Reflections; and did not only, with those the Apostle speaks of, preach Christ 
Phil. 1. 15.  of envy and strife, but preach even Strife and Envy themselves.  
The discourses, which have been singled out as the chief Foundation of such Reports, are these two now printed: which I put into your Hands, without any material alteration from what they were in the Pulpit. Indeed some things, which were then omitted, I have here added; but whatever was spoken, you have, as near as may be, as it was spoken: and in those passages, which, I am told, have given occasion of offence, I am secure, I think, of exactness, even to the least word.  
And now let me beseech those, who have been pleased to censure me, to consider: whether the things are so faulty, as they have represented them? Or rather, whether they did not seek for cause of displeasure, where none was given? whether some have not thought fit to make reports, not so much of what they heard, as of what they expected; and others supplied the defect of Intelligence by a fruitful imagination?  
The first of these Sermons was preached Octob. 24. 1687. at the Funeral of an aged Gentleman, to whom I was obliged for much civility: and whom, by reason of his coming sometimes to the Public Worship (his absence at other times being easily accounted for, from much sickness and infirmity) I thought no nonconformist to the Orders of the Church of England. Indeed a little after his Death, I was informed that the Preacher in a separate Congregation had put in a claim to him, and withal, that at the same time he was pleased, at least plainly to insi●●●te, that this discourse of mine (preached but two or three days before) was envious and reflecting.  
The Crimes which soon after I was commonly censured for, not only in this, but several other places, you may remember, were principally these two: Reflection on the Person interred, in what I said about Riches, in the middle of my Sermon: and a spiteful Character of him, at the latter end of it.  
From both these faults, I hope, the discourse itself will now sufficiently purge me: For as to the first, can it be with the least show of reason concluded, that what was said of the Worldling (in compliance with a subject which the Church herself hath recommended on such occasions) should be mean by me as a description of the deceased? I sp●ke likewise of the Voluptuous, the Ambitious, the Learned, etc. And why should it be thought I aimed at him in one, more than in any of the other? Yea, is it possible for any reasonable Person to think, that when I considered the vanity of Riches, and an immoderate love of them; I designed to brand him for a M●s●r, whom, in the very same Discourse, I expressly commended, for a Just, an Upright, and a very Charitable Conversation?  
This account of him was a part, you will find, of that other thing I am censured for, The Character at the latter end, which (being too sensible of the inconvenience, and sometimes mischief of Rhetorical Harangues in such cases) according to my custom, I did not intent should be long; or contain any thing in it, which had not the support of manifest truth. But as it is, I dare de●ie my veriest Enemies to show any thing in it, in the least measure reflecting: For my part I think it might have been applied, without offence, to any Man that ever was, at least, beneath the Eminence of a Martyr, or an Apostle.  
I declared that on his death bed he was frequent in the acts of a Duty, which as it is extremely unsafe to begin on it, it is neither safe to give over on it, Repentance: at which passage some, I know, have been displeased. As if a penitent frame were not proper, at such a time as that is: or it were a reproach to the memory of a Christian, to say, he waited for the coming of his Lord, with an humble sense of his own unworthiness. I know not what Rules may be given by some, for conducting the Devotions of a deathbed; but sure I am, that very excellent directors, advise Repentance at that season, even to Persons of the highest attainments, as a Duty still agreeable: Repentance for sins which have been committed through error and inadvertency; for sins which are the constant attendants of Mortality; as also for those which were long before considered and lamented. St. Augustine was a Person, (who, for above Twenty years before his death, shone as one of the brightest Stars in the Christian Church; and his Scholar and dear Friend that wrote his Life, did not surely design to lessen his Praise, in the place where he tell us; That 
Possidius de vitâ August. c. 31.  the Good man more than a week before his departure, would not have his Eyes or Thoughts diverted from David's Penitential Psalms, but only now and then, when his Physicians came to visit him, or his Friends to bring him Refreshment: That ●e read them as they were placed by his order on the Wall near his Bed; that he meditated continually upon them, prayed, and often wept, and so died.  
But I advised my hearers at last to avoid the failings and defects of him I interred, as well as to imitate those things in him that were virtuous and holy; and this was another ground of Offence. Such advice, it is true, I then gave, as I have on such occasions several times before and since. For is not what, you will find, I added, a very great truth, viz. That the best of us are infirm and fallible? And does not St. John tell us plainly, if we make any different Pretences, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is 
1 John. 1. 8.  not in us? It is the peculiar Glory of the Holy Jesus, to have given a Pattern to the World free from all blemish and imperfection: wherefore when one of the greatest of his Servants recommended the following 
1 Cor. 11. 1.  of himself, he limited the Counsel to those Instances only, wherein he followed Christ.  
Having met with such usage on the score of this harmless Discourse: The regard that I had for my own injured Reputation drew from me three Letters to him, who, as I had reason to believe, gave some occasion to these Reports. But though I could get only some doubtful Answers to the two first, and none at all to the last; I should not have attempted this public Justification of my own Innocence, had I not found it call●d in question again, because of the Second Sermon here printed.  
This was preached on Nou. 21, 1689. at the Funeral of a Person, whom I look● upon as honest and peaceable; one who several times expressed much Friendship towards me, and to whom, as I am not consetous to myself, that I ever offered any injury whilst alive; so I am sure I intended none being dead.  
But it was not long after his burial, that I was surprised with the news of no small clamour about this Sermon also, being told, that several had declared themselves offended at it, that at least some Passages of it had been put in writing, sent away as far as London, and there spoken against with much wrath and violence.  
You, that will be pleased calmly to read it over, will, I believe, find it some difficulty to discover, where the Grievance lies. And indeed the charge against it, though very heavy, hath been so sparing of Particulars: that I hardly know which are the Places I am to vindicate.  
Besides the Text (which hath been disliked, but for which, I hope, you do not expect, I should go about to make an Apology) the only thing insisted on, that I can hear of, hath been a few words in the Conclusion: Words, which are thought to bear hard, if not on the Person gone down into the Grave; yet on some he hath left behind him. To clear myself fully from this Accusation, would be to mention some late Transactions, which have already made a noise not only in this Place, but in some sort through the Nation. I shall therefore attempt it no further than by this Appeal, which I make to every reasonable and intelligent Person, acquainted with our Circumstances, of what Persuasion soever, viz. Whether the things I spoke were not plain and notorious Truth? and whether they were not such Truth, as was fit to be spoken by me on the occasion I then had for it?  
These things, Brethren, are what I thought proper to say to you by way of Introduction to the ensuing Discourses: which, being thus drawn into the World, may they be in some degree or other useful to all that read them: May they contribute something towards an Holy neglect of the present things, and a due provision and regard for those that are to come; The great ends, for which both of them were sincerely designed, and to which it is now hearty prayed, they may be successful, by  
Yours in all the Offices of Christian Love and Duty, H. S.   

The First SERMON.  PSALM 39 6. 
Surely every man walketh in a vain show.—  
ADversity is one of the best Instructers, Wisdom being not so easily learned in any other School, as in that of Affliction.  
Prosperity, like some overstrong Light, dazzles the Eyes, that they can take in but imperfect and confused notices of things: but Calamity sets all right again, as it prepares the Mind for a due Estimate or Judgement; so it removes all the false Colours which are apt to cousin us.  
David, according to the Opinion of several 
Vide Theodoret. Oper. tom. 1. p. 544  Commentators, laboured under some extraordinary pressure; as when the foregoing, so when this Psalm was penned. And hereupon we have him mounted up a degree higher than ordinary above Earthly things, freed from the false Notions and Opinions of the World, stripped of all the prejudices of sensuality, and passing a right judgement on this mortal life. Verily, says he, in the foregoing Verse, every man at his best state is altogether vanity: and his words in my Text seem to be yet more comprehensive. Surely every man walketh in a vain show.  
Not to say any thing of a different reading 
In imagine Dei— Ita legêrunt S. Ambrose, S. Hieronymus, & ●lii non pauci.  made use of by some of the Ancients, the words, as here rendered agreeably to the manifest design of the Psalmist in this place, give us an account of humane life, the condition of Mankind in this present World. Short indeed the Sentence is, but very expressive, as you will soon perceive by viewing a little the several particulars we find in it: Namely these four,  

1. The Persons concerned.  
2. Their Business, or constant Employment.  
3. The Scene of their Travel.  
4. The Assurance with which the Psalmist thus represents them.   
First, We find in the Words, the Persons concerned in this Sentence of David: Every man: 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Sept. v. 5.  every one that lives and breathes. All the whole Race of whatsoever Sex, or Age, or Condition. There is not the least exception, either of the highest, or else the lowest. All are concluded, from him that's clothed in Purple, to him that's covered with Rags: from the Prince on the Throne, to the Slave that grindeth at the Mill.  
Secondly, Their Business, or Employment: They walk. They are constantly going onward; they are in perpetual motion, always Travellers whilst on Earth. The journeying they are engaged in, towards their long home, is not to be interrupted by an hours stay, or so much as one minutes rest.  
Thirdly, We have the Scene of this travel or motion, a Scene proportioned to the thing that moves in it: A vain show. About the meaning of which word there is some difference amongst Expositors.  
Some there are, who take it for a Shadow; and with these agrees that Translation our Church makes use of in the office of Burial. For man walketh in a vain shadow. A Shadow which is a thing gloomy, but yet empty, having nothing more in it, but only to cover us with darkness. Man, whilst here below, is in a Region of obscurity, 
●ona, R. 〈◊〉 & Da● per 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exp. ●enebris ●ulat. 〈◊〉 Cl. Ca●i Lexic. ●taglot. in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  wanders in a dark uncertainty, a place infected with the mists of Ignorance and Error. He cannot look into the nature and events of things: he stumbles up and down without any knowledge of his way, unless guided and directed by an extraordinary Light sent down from above.  
By others the word is thought to signify an 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. 〈◊〉.  Image, accordingly that rendering is added in the Margins of some Bibles: Verily every man walketh in an image. He goes on in a life which seems 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. ●doret. ●cum.  indeed to be something to him; but he is cheated all the while: such degrees of death are blended with it, that it may justly be called only a Picture or faint resemblance of Life. And then he converses with things that seem to be very shining, but yet they are a kind of Phantômes, like the Colours of the Rainbow, which are only the Image of the Sun broken, and returned back by the drops of a Cloud; or like that representation of ourselves appearing in the Glass; which, however delighted in, is nothing else but emptiness.  
Another variety is to be found amongst Interpreters (occasioned by a different reading) 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  ●ot unfit perhaps to be mentioned. For as some ●ead, Man walketh in a vain show, so others have it, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  ●s a vain show: according to the usage of Scripture in some places, applying this Shadow not ●o the Scene of his motion, but to the Man himself. Man passeth on as a Shadow, as a sha●ow 
Psalm 102. 11. Job. 14. 2.  that declineth or fleeth away. Or, understanding the word to signify an Image, it agrees to ●im also, to wit, a thing that (according to ●hat seems the meaning of an Ancient Writer 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Apollinar. Metaphras.  ●n this place) is acted, for the most part, like ●e Figures in a Pageant, which look as tho' ●ey moved and spoke: whereas the whole is ●ue to the Skill and Management of an invisible artist. But,  
Fourthly, and lastly, We have in the words the confirmation of this Sentence of David, Surely. ●e declares it with great assurance, having doubt●ss considered the reasons which support it, and ●en it ratified by much experience. 'Tis the ●sult of a very diligent Enquiry, and exact observation.  
The things we find in the Text being thus particularly noted, the sum of what it aims at appears to be this, That this mortal life is a very empty thing: That our condition here in this present World is great vanity. This Truth, with the Divine assistance, I shall briefly illustrate, and so go on to the uses of it.  
Whatever Opinions, my Brethren, we are ap● to take up about our present abode, it will certainly be found, upon a due examination, a● Condition very unsatisfactory, void of every thing, that is a solid Foundation of Happiness or Contentment. The greatest Pleasures of i● are but Delusion: the greatest Advantages bu● Show and Appearance.  
You are to observe however, that this is asserted concerning humane life as humane, ab●stracted from those Spiritual things, which giv● it something of Being; without the Improvements of Grace, which add some solidity eve● to the most fleeting things, and bring in som● imperfect Felicity, where was nothing else bu● Misery.  
Origen, 'tis true, in one of his Homilies o● 
Orig. Hom. 1. in Ps. 38.  this Psalm, makes no doubt of applying th● Sentence of the Royal Prophet, even in som● sort, to things Spiritual. That is, as com●paring their present imperfection with what promised, and shall be revealed. If Moses hi● self, says he, were alive again, he would kno● in part, and prophesy in part; he would see but darkly through a Glass, and teach us Figures: so that tho' he must be said to live, it would be only a life of vanity. And would you know the reason, continues he, why we ought to call it Vanity? It is, because such things are to have an end: For when that which is Perfect is come, then that which is in 
1 Cor. 13. 10.  part shall be done away.  
Indeed it must be granted, that this present ●ife, tho' it may yield some real Happiness to ●hem, that seek it in the ways of God, cannot yet afford a perfect Happiness. Something of substantial good such Persons will be able to find, very low however in the degree, and having in its composition a large portion of different things to lessen or allay it. But then as this mortal life is divided from the considerations of Religion, as it commonly pretends highest, and is so apt to draw the Eyes and the Hearts of Mankind, it is nothing at all, but an empty and deluding appearance. To it in this sense (the sense I shall only consider it in) the Verdict of David is universally applicable: 'tis vain without reserve or exception. Declarations of this kind are frequently to be met with in Holy Writ. As St. Paul endeavoured to take off the Corinthians from too great a concern fo● worldly things, he added this reason of his advice: for the fashion of this world passeth away. 
1 Cor. 7. 31.  The Fashion of this World, saith the Apostle, making use of an expression borrowed (as som● learned Men have observed) from the Theatre; to the Scenes of which he compares the several states or changes of our life. Things that may please, surprise or amaze, according to the different Designs of the Contriver: but in the mean time are only show or representation.  
The things which are seen, saith the same Apostle to the same People, are temporal. They are measured by Time, and partake of the Affections or Properties of it: and 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Haec S Basil & plura ejusmodi homi●. 1. in Hexaemeron. vol 1. Oper. Bas p. 7. Edit. Paris. 1618.  that is such a thing as you cannot grasp or discern the least substance in. That part of it which is gone is already become nothing, that part which is to come is as yet nothing; and the present Minute, ere you perceive it to be, vanisheth away. Of this nature is Time and of the same are all Temporary things: They are either growing or else perishing, having nothing at all in them which may be depended upon as stable and certain.  
We need instance in no other places of Scripture, but that which purposely treats of this argument, the Book of Ecclesiastes. Solomon, the Author of it, was the Person who made the most diligent search into the things of this life; he proved them by very curious, too curious, experiment: He saw all the works that are done under 
Eccl. 1. 13, 14.  the Sun, he gave his heart to know wisdom; yea, to know madness and folly. Solomon also was the Person 
Eccl. 2. 3.  in the World; who could best judge of the things of this life, being endued with Wisdom beyond all that came before him, or that should 
2 Chron. 1. 12.  come after him. And now what says he? having made a large induction of the severals that may pretend to worth, he declares the Sentence: Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, all is 
Eccl. 12. 8.  vanity.  
And as such Notions of humane life have been entertained by wife Men within the Church: so they have been likewise by some without it. Thou hast tried, saith the Emperor Marcus Antoni●us to himself, 〈◊〉 hast tried to ●●●d Felicity in the things of this World, having wandered through so 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. M. An●●p. de seipso, & ad seipsum,  great a part of them: but what ●hou ●●s● sought for, thou hast not found: not in the arts of Reasoning or Discourse, not in Riches, not in Glory, not in Pleasure, not any where. This was the judgement of a Prince inferior to Solomon indeed in Wisdom; but, as a learned Man hath noted, exceeding him 
M. Casaubon in his Preface to his English Version of that Emperor's Meditations.  much in Wealth and Greatness. He, who was Lord of more Kingdoms, than that King of Israel was of great Towns, declares, That he could not discover in them all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, the means or ingredients of living Happily.  
Many of the wiser Heathens had such low Sentiments of these transitory things, that they would not so much as allow them to be called Being's, ascribing that name to the Divine Essence alone. Hence the distinction of Plato, of 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Plat. Tim. p. 526. Edit. Lugdun. 1590.  That which is, but is not generated: and that which is generated, but is not. The God infinitely existing of and from himself deserves the name of Being; but the corruptible things, we convers● with, are too empty and vain to claim tha● Title.  
This it is probable enough he took from tha● Inscription in an Egyptian Temple, giving som● account of the nature of the Divinity suppose● 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉— Plutarch. de Iside & Osi●ide Oper. Tom. 2. p. 394. 〈◊〉. 16●●.  to dwell in it: I am all that was, is, or shall be; which is so like that in Exod. 3. 14. that we can hardly doubt of its Original. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, say the Septuagint, I am that I am.  
For a more distinct view of the vanity of this present Life, it will be convenient a little to consider these three things:  

The Enjoyments of it.  
The Designs of it.  
The Continuance of it.   
1. The Enjoyments of it: The things in the World, as the Apostle calls them, that is, such as 
1 Joh. 2. 15.  are held to be valuable in it, and are commonly the Objects of Desire. And now, certainly, a little Enquiry into the Nature of them, a few serious Reflections on the Experience we have already had of them, will abundantly discover their Emptiness.  
A Christian Writer long since compared them all to a Dream, wherein the Mind is sometimes employed indeed about things, which are very taking; but then the Morning 
Aurum, voluptas, gaudium, Opens, honores, prospera, Quaecunque nosinstant mala, Fi● ma●…e, Nil sunt omnia, Prudent. Cathem. Hymn. 1.  comes on, the delightful slumber passeth away, and presently we perceive all the Being they had was only in the imagination.  
St. John gives us a short Catalogue of the most considerable Enjoyments, which this World can boast of: namely: The lust of the flesh, the 
1 John 2. 16.  lust of the eyes, and the pride of life; that is, Pleasure, and Profit, and Honour. These are all, saith he, which are in the world: And can these, any, or all of these contrive an Happiness, or purchase for us any real Contentment? Should you make a trial of all the Pleasures that are under the Sun (those Pleasures which chain the Senses, and bring a kind of Enchantment upon the Mind) and then review them a little after coolly and deliberately: you would certainly find, they were not at all answerable to the expectation was raised of them. Yea the show, they make at a distance, gins to vanish common●y as soon as you come near them: and when you think to take hold of them, like some fantastical appearances, they pass away between your Fingers.  
I said in my heart, Go to now, I will prove thee 
Eccl. 2. 1, 2.  with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure; says Solomon. Thus he sets out with a strong resolution to be Happy; but see, alas! the wretched disappointment in the very next words: Behold this also is vanity. I said of laughter, it is mad; and of m●rth, what doth it?  
If there 〈◊〉 any relish in the Delights of sensuality, it is by a kind of violence to ourselves, that we are capable of it. How many degrees down must a Reasonable and Immortal Spirit be sunk, before it can begin to perceive any taste in them? It's nobler Faculties must be all bound 〈◊〉, and laid asleep: it must become an unthinking inconsiderate thing, like the Soul of a Beast. And whensoever it recovers its own Liberty, and the use of its proper Powers: How doth the joy● turn presently into bitterness? It torment's i● self with Anguish, Indignation, and Remorse: The pleasure ends in loathing and detestation.  
These a●e the Enjoyments of the voluptuous; and no greater sure are those of the worldling. Fellow him to his Treasure, and there see him with a mighty diligence endeavouring to secure a sort of things so transitory, that they even make to themselves wings, and fly away: a sort of things, 
Prov. 23. 5.  which moth and rust corrupt, and thiefs break through 
Mat 6. 19  and steal. See him there, laying up his heaps of Cares, making to himself a Thorny Pillow, which will disturb his rest, and interrupt his sleep. Yea behold him there, admiring and even adoring what will not afford him in a day of distress a minute of Ease, or a drop of Refreshment. That darling of his Soul his Gold, notwithstanding the value he puts on it, is only a little shining Earth; and notwithstanding it pretends to a kind of Eternity, is yet a thing that perisheth. The Gold that perisheth, saith the Apostle, 〈◊〉 Pet. 1. 7.  
As for greatness and honour, they who have had the largest share of them, have sufficiently shown that they were far from being contented. Some further thing hath been still in their Thoughts and their Wishes to render them unquiet. He, that, from being the King of a little Country, carried his Dominion over the greatest part of the then known World, could not yet find enough to satisfy his thirst of Glory. And now the Reason of this is evident: for the things, which Ambition pursues, being indeed without substance; the mind, that is infected with it, meeting with disappointment in every purchase, is forced to seek relief from some new hope or imagination.  
What is there in Grandeur or Eminence, to repay the labour and difficulties with which it was obtained? What is there to sweeten the hurry, and noise, and slavery, it unavoidably engageth in? What is there to balance all the danger and fatal issues of it? What is there, I say, to do all these things; but only a little popular Air, an insignificant Title, the wonder of the Crowd, things light and empty as the breath of Fools?  
Having food and raiment, saith St. Paul, let us be 
1 Tim. 6. 8.  therewith content: And the advice hath this strong Reason to back it, viz. That in having these two things, we have all that is really useful. A little Food you may have, a corruptible thing: So our Saviour calls it in that Command of his, Labour 
Joh. 6. 27.  not for the meat that perisheth. A little Raiment you may have too; but such, as when Art hath done all it can do for it, is outdone by the Lilies of the Field: So our Saviour tells us in that Declaration of his, I say unto you, that Solomon 
Mat. 6. 29.  in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. The greatest industry in the World will afford you no other advantages, but such mean things: Things which serve indeed, at present, the Necessities of a mortal Condition; but which you are not to carry hence, as being utterly useless in that state hereafter, wherein Shame, and Hunger, and Thirst shall have no Place, and Men shall be as Angels.  
2. The Vanity of this Life will also appear from the Consideration of the designs of it; the nature of 〈◊〉 Purposes, which are ordinarily taken up, and followed by the greatest part of Mankind.  
Supposing something of real good in these Temporal things; yet the pursuit of that good is so difficult in itself, and often meets with so many cross Accidents, that to be busy in it, is altogether vain and foolish: Because to every 
Eccl. 8. 6, 7.  purpose, saith Solomon, there is time and judgement; therefore the misery of Man is great upon him: For he knoweth not that which shall be; for who can test him when it shall be? Much skill, and observation, and weighing of things are necessary to a regular Conduct; the right Season, and proper Circumstances of Actions being hard to be found out. And after these matters are fitly disposed; the Event is still covered with a Veil of darkness, which time alone is capable of removing.  
He that contrives to gratify a Carnal Appetite, that is, to be as happy as a Swine, frequently misseth his end by ill management. Some unexpected Accident interrupts the design, o● some Disease falls upon him, which quite overthrows it. He that is resolved to be Rich, and therefore riseth early, and sits up late, and eats the Bread of Carefulness; finds often to his Grief, that the Purpose will not prosper in his Hands: The toil and diligence will not succeed, nor yet the injustice and rapine; having with Pharaoh's lean Kine devoured the fat ones, he is still lean as before. The Man who plods and flatters, undertakes the vilest Employments, and sets himself out to the basest drudgery, complys with every Interest, is made a Property at pleasure, and becomes the Tool of every Party, to arrive at length at the height he proposeth to himself; finds at last his labour in vain, after so much endeavour, the fine Projection miscarries, the thing aimed at proves to him inaccessible, or else only a Precipice whence he tumbles down. But these, you will say, are the Counsels of wicked Men; and no wonder therefore that they are so frequently blasted; there may be yet other designs, which as they are more just, so likewise more successful; as, the Designs of a Family, of knowledge and wisdom. True it is indeed that these designs appear somewhat more considerable, being suited to the innocent Inclinations of Mankind; and therefore such as we may more justly expect should prosper; but yet we cannot put them out of the number of Vanities.  
He, whose desire and labour is for his Posterity, those Children which he hopes to leave behind him, is often disappointed; disappointed even when he thought he was entered on the Possession of his Wishes. His Sons and his Daughters, o● whom his Love was placed, either dye to his sorrow, or live to his greater sorrow; are either snatched away and thrown into the Grave, o● else are left to consume his Eyes, and to grieve hi● Heart.  
He that is eager too in the pursuit of knowledge, pursues a thing, which, without a divin● Stamp upon it to set it above the World, is nothing else but vanity. Solomon reckons it last indeed; but yet he reckons it amongst Impertine●cies, amongst Vexations. Of making many Boo● 
Eccl. 12. 12.  there is no end, and much study is a weariness to th● flesh. Justin Martyr, being a Heathen, was carried 
Haec de se fusius narrat B. Justinus Mar. in dialogo suo cum Tryphone Judaeo paulo post principium.  with a great deal of earnestness to the stud● of the Grecian Learning, passed through the several Schools of Aristotle, Pythagoras, and Pla● sought very curiously for something satisfaction amongst all their Precepts and Discoveries; bu● nothing of that kind was it possible for him 〈◊〉 meet with, till he encountered a plain aged Christian, who talked of Revelation and a Messiah● who reasoned of Bliss and Immortality, Redemption and eternal Glory.  
3. Our Life is vain in respect of the continual of it. Did this World afford such things, as ca● make us happy, and were the method of co● passing them described unto us in plain and une●ring Rules; yet after all, the frailty of the Creature, to whom the fruition belongs, is so very great, as to give the whole the name of Vanity.  
The man, our Saviour speaks of, thought, no doubt, he had made an ample Provision for felicity. The materials, he chose for it, were already at his command; and he caressed himself with the sure expectation of the happy issue. This 
Luke 12. 19  will I do, saith he, and then say unto my soul, take thine ease. But, alas! all the while he forgets the very thing, which will destroy the Project, and Heaven puts him in mind of it. God said unto him, thou fool, this night thy Soul shall be required of thee.  
●alia agentem, atque medi●antem mors praev●nit, 
Sueton. vit. Jul. Caes. c. 44.  says the Historian, concerning one of the greatest of Men; as he was now designing the greatest things. He that by an uninterrupted course of study, and diligence, and valour, and success, had raised himself to a height, that no man ever arrived at before. And he that was now forming the designs of being yet higher and more glorious, tumbles in his Blood, and is forsaken by all, till at length three of his Servants have so much regard for the Emperor of th● World, as to take him up, and carry him home.  
The Meditations are very good, though found in a Book which is very bad, that were occasioned by the view of a Mariner Shipwrackt, and cast dead upon the Shore Go now, ye Mortals, says 
Petron. Arb. Satyric. cap. ●5.  one who escaped the danger, go, and fill your Minds with vast Purposes: Go now ye Provident, that are settling the Succession of your Wealth for a thousand years. See here the Person, who but yesterday took an account of his Riches, and appointed the day in his thoughts when he should be at home. Alas, how far short is he fallen of the designs he had imagined! B●t this is not the Lot, continueth he, of those alone who commit themselves to the Faith of the Seas. One Man miscarries through the defects of his Armour, another by the fall of his Chariot, and a third is buried in the Ruins of the Place he came to worship in. Sometimes Meat destroys him that eats it, and sometimes the want of it him that eats it not. If therefore we reckon aright, Shipwreck is every where.  
Indeed the continuance of Man is so short, so transitory, that the Sacred Writers themselves seem, as it were, at a loss for words sufficiently to express the Vanity of it. Sometimes this mighty thing Life (which we have so high an esteem for, for the sake of which we blow the Seas, and rip up the Earth, yea, are ready to turn the World upside down) sometimes it is called! What I pray? Not a Julian Period, or a Platonic Year, not a Sum to be reckoned by Centuries or Ages; but a Duration to be measured by the Continuance of a Flower, or a Leaf of Grass: All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the 
1 P●t. 1. 24.  flower of grass: the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. And at other times an Emblem is made use of, that may express a greater uncertainty: a Vapour is chosen, something exhaled out of the Earth on a sudden, and tossed away with the Wind. What is your life? it is 
Jam. 4. 14.  even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and ●hen vanisheth away.  
And not to search into the Ages past, and so ●ick out here and there some extraordinary in●tances of humane Frailty: consider but what you have seen with your own Eyes, think upon the speed of some, and the infancy of others, which have gone before you; yea lay the three●core years and ten (which a few, amongst many Thousands, come up to) into the Balance against Eternity: And then all these expressions will appear proper and natural, being but suited to that haste and uncertainty they would describe.  
Indeed, Brethren, let us but look into our own frame: let us examine the Materials out of which we are form, the sineness of those Threads with which we are woven; let us consider a little how many Thousand very tende● Parts are necessary to keep on the work of Life and withal what variety of disorders all these parts are constantly liable to: And then it wi● appear unto us one of the greatest wonders th● whole Creation presents us with, that such things as we are, should be able to continue, not fo● twenty, or thirty, or forty years; but only f●● two or three days, or two or three hours together.  
Having thus shown you a little the vanity 〈◊〉 humane Life: I now come to make use of t● Consideration of it: and the things I would 〈◊〉 commend, as plainly following from it, are th● three:  

Not to be in love with it.  
To endeavour for a better.  
To account the possession of that better, 〈◊〉 evil.   
1. Our condition in this present World, being so vain a thing, let us manifest our belief of this by not being in love with it. Wilt thou (says 
Prov. 23. 5.  Solomon, speaking of some Temporary Enjoyments) set thine eyes upon that which is not? Wilt thou be fond of what has no real Being,  upon Show, and court a Shadow? I Let not reasonable Creatures, I beseech you my Brethren, be guilty of any such extravagance. Let us not please ourselves with Emptiness, and be zealous ●n the pursuit of Trifles. Let us not place our Desires and our Hopes upon what will miserably deceive us. In short, let us not seek for satisfaction there, where nothing is to be found but only Vanity.  
The truth is, we have been so accustomed to mistakes, that such Doctrine, as this, is for the most part somewhat ●a●d of digestion. We ●ave many of us been so long used to a good opinion of the World, that we know not how ●o begin to think meanly of it: Yea if we open ●ur Eyes a little at any time, and see somewhat ●nto the fallacy; some shining Appearance da●es our sight: If we awake a little, some soft ●ir fans us again into our former slumber, where●n we are pleased with fantastic Ideas, with a ●ream of Felicity. The Gentleman in Arrianius returning from Banishment, seemed to himself abundantly satisfied of the Follies of Ambition, and the Vanity of the World; declaimed earnestly against his former course of Life, and resolved now for a Philosophical Retirement, to spend all the little time should be further allowed him, in a happy Ease and Tranquillity. With these 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Arrian. Epictet. l. 1. cap. 10.  Thoughts and Designs he addresseth himself to his Journey; but he meets as he goes on with Letters from Caesar: and the force, alas! of such a Charm is not to be resisted, his Stoicism melteth presently away, and all the late Purposes are now quite forgotten.  
Be sure therefore to use your utmost Industry not to be imposed on: cast off the prejudice of unreasonable Lusts, all that Favour and Affection which blind the Eyes, and warp the Judgement, that so at length you may be able to make a due estimate in this matter. For ou● Thoughts about these things are not mere speculation, where tho' Truth be , we ru● no hazard in erring: But they are the very bottom on which we build our Happiness, according to the firmness of which it will either stan● or fall.  
Indeed there is a certain Light, through whic● if ye look on this mortal Life, you cannot b● mistaken in it. There is a certain temper of the Mind, wherewith if you consider the World, you will see through the f●cus or disguise, which usually covers it, and perceive truly what it is, and what regard it deserves. I shall give you a little direction in this matter.  
(1.) Consider this Life, as it appears in the day of Affliction: Consider it as the Warmth and Sunshine cease, as the Clouds gather over your Heads, and a Storm approacheth. Consider it as the Body is set upon the rack of a Disease, or the Mind afflicted. What taste have ye, O all ye Earthly things, what Relish, what Sweetness is there in you at such a time as this is? What Refreshment has the Man, who lies scorching upon his Bed, who is tortured with Pain, or whose Soul is pierced by the Arrows of the Almighty? What comfort has he then in thinking he is the Master of so many Acres, or so many Bags; that his Table is loaden with Delicacies, and his House bedecked with no common Art; that he is a Person of Name, and hath been the talk of the World?  
(2.) Consider this Life as it appears on the Day of Death. Imagine that, a Summons being sent you for a speedy Removal, an Hour or two were all the time you could further expect in this World: and then consider what thoughts you must needs have of this present Life, as you thus looked back upon it from the brink of Eternity.  
Certainly, Brethren, tho' we are now apt to put so great a value upon it, it will then appear a wretched impertinence, when all the Treasures of the East and West will not bribe us to a Smile; When Ceremony and Attendance become nauseous: When there shall be no Taste in Meat o● Drink, neither will the Ear hear the Voice of Singing Men or Singing Women: When the Soul is preparing for its everlasting Flight, and the Body to go down to that Earth out of which it was taken.  
But, that you may know, how the World looks to a Person on the Day of his Death: I will give you the Thoughts of two dying Men, 
D●ing and Dead men's Words, by Dr. Lloyd. ●ond. 1673.  both of our own Nation, as we have them amongst other very good things in a late Collection. One as great a State's Man almost as ever was, 
Sir John Mason.  Privy Councillor to four Princes: whose Declaration on his Death bed was this: I have seen the most Remarkable things in Foreign Parts, been present for thirty Years together at most Transactions of State, and have learned this after so many Years Experience, That Seriousness is the greatest Wisdom, Temperance the best Physic, and a good Conscience the best Estate: And were I to live again, I would change the Court for a Cloister; the bustles of State for an obscure Retirement; and the whole Life I lived in the Palace, for one Hours enjoyment of God in the Chapel: All things else forsake me besides my God, my Duty, and my Prayer.  
The other, a Man of as much Reading, as 
Mr. Selden.  any our latter Ages have afforded, who, when he came to die, amongst all the Learning of the Sons of Men, which he had surveyed, amongst all the numerous Books and Manuscripts he had perused and was Master of, could not meet with any thing that gave the satisfaction to his Soul, which he found in these words of St. Paul: The 
Tit. 2. 11, 12.  grace of God, which bringeth salvation, hath appeared ●o all men; teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and ●odly in this present world.  
(3.) Consider too what this Life will appear ●t the Day of Judgement. That is the time, when ●ll Disguises shall utterly vanish, and every thing ●e seen in its proper Colours. Think therefore ●hat you now stood before the Tribunal of the ●ord Christ, and there it were required of you to judge of that, for your esteem, and use, and abuse of which, you yourselves shall then be judged. In such Circumstances as these, doubtless your Opinions of things would be very different from what they too commonly have been.  
What will Greatness, and Honour, and Fame signify, when there shall be no respect of Persons; when the obscure Slave will be upon the same Level with the Crowned Head; when there shall be no distinction known, but that of the sheep on the right hand, and the goats on the left? 
Mat. 25. 33.   
What will the having been the Possessor of a great deal of Gold and Silver, many Houses and much Land be then accounted of, when the whole Frame of the World is cracking and dissolving; the earth burning up, and the elements melting 
2 Pet. 3. 10.  with fervent heat?  
Finally, What will the Memory of past Pleasures amount to, the Deliciousness of this Fare, o● the Sumptuousness of that Clothing, or the Sweetness of the other Enjoyment? Yea, how glad would many be, if no such things had eve● been, then, when a strict account is to be given of every thing that hath been done in the flesh? But, 
2 Cor. 5. 10.   
2. If our Condition is so vain a thing, then hence also let us be stirred up to vigorous and hearty endeavours after a better. Tho' our present Habitation, or rather Place of our Pilgrimage be nothing else but Vanity; yet there is a Country, which we have heard of, abounding with substantial things.  
Those that have seen it, and known it, and came from it, have made relations of what it is: They have spoken much of the Joys and the Glories of it, have told us, that nothing there is Dark, or Frail, or Transitory; but all things Pure, Clear, and Admirable, of a Goodness more extensive than our very Desires, Brighter than ten thousand Suns, and as Lasting as Eternity: yea, they have assured us that the things of it are unspeakable, beyond the power of Words or Description.  
We have too sufficient ground to believe, that this blessed Condition is not such as cannot belong to us; but that we are capable of it, and were even Originally designed for it, that, as the Author of the Book of Wisdom speaks, God created man to be immortal, 
Wisd. 2. 23.  and made him to be an Image of his own eternity.  
Yea more than all this, Solemn Overtures have been made, Messages have been sent to us: We have been directed, enabled, invited, persuaded with the greatest earnestness to come, and to secure to ourselves this blessed Habitation.  
And Oh, my Brethren, shall we not now think it worthy of our thoughts and our care? Shall we any of us neglect any longer to comply with those methods, which Heaven hath found out for transplanting of us from Vanity and Trouble into Bliss and Immortality?  
It is not indeed any light performance, which will fit us for that better state; not a little Outside Service, or a little Lip-devotion; no, nor now and then a pious Warmth, or a melting Temper; not a listing ourselves in this or that Party, or being reckoned under such a Denomination. The passage through the straight Gate is not so easy as these things. But it is a faith that worketh by love, a due conformity to all the Evangelical Proposals, a working continually with fear and trembling, a having our Minds above the World, using it so as if we used it not. In short, a being Religious, Sober, Just and Charitable in our Conversation.  
These are the Terms which the Angel of the Covenant requires; and shall we stand at the difficulty of them, since they lead to real and lasting Good? Shall we be discouraged in an undertaking, that will advance us above the Vanity of this present Life, add some solidity even to these fleeting things, converting our perishing Riches into an Heavenly Treasure, and at length bring us to a glorious Eternity?  
Thirdly and Lastly, our Estate at present being vain, let us account the possession of that better one, we have been speaking of no evil. Let us not be unwilling to enter, when God's time shall come, upon these never fading Enjoyments ourselves; or seem to envy the fruition of them to our departed Friends.  
Indeed for those, who are without the Pale of the Church, or for the negligent within it, to be amazed at the Apprehensions of death, is but what is natural, is but what is too reasonable. But for Christians to be so affected, shows that something is yet amiss with them; that though they are Israelites travelling for Ca●●aan, they have not quite forgot the things of Egypt; that some remains are still in them of the Love of this present World, or else some Tincture of Infidelity.  
Certainly, Brethren, if we are as we ought to be; if the Sacred Truths of the Gospel are throughly assented to in our Minds; and the Power of Religion has new formed o●● Hearts, we shall be ready to say under the expectation of our own deaths, with an humble Confidence in the Merits of our Redeemer, Come Lord Jesus, come quickly; and at the departure of our Christian Friends, The Lord hath taken away, blessed be the ●ame of the Lord.  
As for our Neighbour and Friend whom we have now committed to the Grave, as I am not fond of such a Task in this Place, so I am not sufficiently qualified to give you the perfect Character of him. Our Christian hope is, that he hath exchanged a Scene of Vanity for eternal Glory. He hath long been exercised with a troublesome, a painful Disease, a Sacred Discipline sufficient to instruct him in the Vanity of the World, and, we hope, he was not unfruitful under it: Yea, he manifested that he was not, by an upright, and just, and, as I am informed, a very charitable Conversation. His Deathbed showed him Devout and Pious; and he was frequent in the Acts of a Duty, which as it is extremely unsafe to begin on it, it is neither safe to give over on it, Repentance.  
But I shall conclude all with that advice, which I have often given on such occasions; because it is some of the best I can give on such occasions. The Failings, the Defects, that you observed in him (for the best of us are infirm and fallible) learn to avoid. The things that were Virtuous, and Holy, Comely, and of good Report, resolve to transcribe and imitate.   

The Second SERMON.  ECCL. 4. 2. 
I praised the dead which are already dead, more than the living which are yet alive.  
PLato, in his Apology for Socrates, tells us, 
Plat. Oper. p. 360.  that That excellent Person made it his business for some time to find out a prudent Man: He diligently searched amongst the several Ranks of People to discover, if it were possible, one truly Wise.  
A Task somewhat like it is that, which a more excellent Person, by a much more excellent Spirit, is engaged in here in this Book of Ecclesiastes. He gave his heart to seek and to search out by 
Eccl. 1. 13.  wisdom, concerning all things that are done under heaven; he made a very strict enquiry, and the thing he looked for was Felicity: what sort of People are in the Condition most desirable and blessed.  
He seeks for these amongst the Gay and the Pleasant, those who give themselves up to the gratification of all their irregular Appetites; but here he cannot find them. He continues his enquiry amongst the Industrious and the Careful, and with the same error and disappointment. He searcheth amongst the Knowing and the Great, the Plodding and the Active, the Men of Design and Business: yea he runs through the several Orders of the World; but his labour is still fruitless, all the discovery he is able to make being only this, VANITY AND VEXATION OF SPIRIT.  
His search being unsuccessful above Ground, he tries withal a little what can be met with under it, views the hollow Eye-pits, the shattered Bones, and mouldering Ashes in the Grave. And of this enquiry, behold the result, I praised the dead, says he, which are already dead, more than the living which are yet alive.  
The general Design of the Preacher in these words seems plain enough, they being a declaration, that in the accounts of Happiness, the Condition of the dead is to be preferred to that of the living.  
The former of these two states is what he lately examined; and tho' (as he thought fit to govern himself) he met with nothing in it but corruption and uncertainty; yet returning and considering the Calamities of Life, Death appeared desirable, and he began to praise it. Like one amazed with many grievances before his Eyes, he cries out, and seems to say such words as these: Death is the tying indeed, which humbleth the Pride of the highest Mortal, down to the level of the meanest Slave: yea some curious researches have afforded us but imperfect relations of the difference, it leaveth, between the Man and the Beast; however we cannot easily imagine it to be more ●ntolerable than the present Bondage. Tho' the House we must all go to at last be so dreadful to us, that we are apt to recoil, and shrink, and not ●ield, at any rate, to be willing to enter it; yet is ●t possible to conceive more unsufferable things ●n it, than the Labours and Sorrows, which now almost perpetually oppress the Sons of Men?  
A very ancient Commentator discovers a mystical Sense in this place, 
Si renunciâsti seculo, si abjecisti vitia, si jam non moveris ad peccatum, sed mortuus es ad peccatum, melior es illo qui vivit peccato, & ●rit in te mors ista laudabilis. Origin. in Num. 12. Homil. 7.  ●nd would understand by the dead, ●uch as are dead to sin; and by the ●ving, those that still go on in it. An interpretation, which contains a Truth, a very great Truth; but not, I think, what is agreeable here. I shall consider the words according to their literal meaning, which I take to be this, That the miseries mankind is exposed to in this present Life, are sufficient to make them consider Death as a thing of advantage.  
Man, saith Job, lieth down, and riseth not, till the heavens be no more: He goes into the Region of Death; but he does not return and make discoveries of the place. The evils of Life are things of Sense, we see them, we very often feel them; but of what shall be hereafter the only information we can receive is by Reason and Revelation. In the following discourse I shall therefore endeavour to show the advantages of th● dead above the living both these ways: as they are to be discerned,  

1. By mere Natural Eyes.  
2. By the Eye of Faith.   
1. The benefits of Death, as considered by natural Men, are but mean and low; yet something, we know, they have been able to perceiv●● in it preferable to the Evils of this miserabl● Life: and that with relation both to the Bod● and the Soul.  
(1.) As for the Body, they could see nothing in the dissolution of it, but what is common to Brutes: That which befalleth the Sons of Men, befalleth Beasts:— All go unto one place, all are of the Dust, and all turn to Dust again: so the Preacher seems to speak their Sentiments, Chap. 3. verse 
Vid. Notat. in vitam Dionysii per Petr. Halloix Dionys. Oper. Tom. 2. p. 269. & Grot. de verit. Relig. l. 2. c. 7.  19, 20. Some of the Greek Philosophers fell indeed upon the Opinion of a Resurrection; but the Tenet, we find, had but slender entertainment: for when St. Paul Preached at Athens, it was treated as an impossibility.  
But, tho' the wiser Heathen for the most part could not hope for a return of the Body from the Grave, they could however consider it there as silent and at rest, they could perceive an end of all the Labours, Pains, and Grievances of it.  
How often does a Man throughout the course of no long Life complain of Hunger, and Thirst, and Weariness? How often is he scorched with burning Heats? How often are his Sinews, his Bowels pierced through with unsufferable Pains, so that he roars like a distracted Person because of the violence of the torment? Now Death puts an end to all these disorders; Sighs, and Complaints, and Cries are not heard in the Pit: The fatal thing comes as an Universal Remedy for all kinds of Diseases and Miseries, and therefore the approach of it hath been sometimes desired with much impatience. Wherefore, says Job, is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto 
Job. 3. 20.—  the bitter in soul? Which long for death, and it cometh not, and dig for it more than for hid treasures: which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the grave.  
(2.) Concerning the condition of the Soul after Death, there has been much uncertainty in the Opinions of natural Men. Who knoweth, saith the Preacher, Chap. 3. verse 21. the spirit of a man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward? Who by the Light of Reason can be certain (for so some understand the place) of any such difference? Or, according to others, who is able to state the difference right, declaring the things of each? Some of the learned Heathen fancied that the Soul, immediately as 
Vid. Ciceron. Tuscul. Quaest. lib. 1. & Plutarch. de placitis Philos. lib. 4. cap. 7.  the Body becomes unfit for it, vanisheth into the soft Air: and the greater number, who were convinced of its Immortality, were yet full of doubt about its future Condition and Employment. However, amidst all this darkness, they were able to discern somewhat more valuable than the present Slavery. To be even nothing at all, they thought, was not to be miserable: and whatsoever abode the Soul, in case it survives, is to have after Death, it could not easily be believed more inconvenient than the Prison it now dwells in.  
It was observed by Eliphaz, that trouble is the 
Job 5. 7.  Birthright of Man: that it is as natural for him to undergo it, as for the Sparks to fly upward. The sense is somewhat different in the Septuagint; 
Haud absimile est istud Comici apud Athenaeum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Deipnosoph. l. 6. p. 223. Haec S. Chrysostomus, & similia ferè Olympiodorus in Catena in Job.  but it occasions the following Paraphrase of an excellent Father: Humane Nature, says he, is inferior to the Productions of the Earth, and the Mountains, which know no sorrow either in their beginnings or increase. Yea, the Birds are allowed to make their Motions without pain, and to gather their Meat without trouble, but Man in all these things is very miserable.  
And declarations of the same kind are often ●et with in the Books of the Gentiles. Seneca considering the wretched Circumstances of humane Life, wondered at 
Non videmus quam multa nos incommoda exagitant, quam malè nobis conveniat hoc corpus?— Hoc evenire solet in alieno habitantibus. Seneca Epist. 120.  ●he disproportion between the Inn and ●he Guest, thence concluding, that so Noble a Being could not be designed ●or so vile an Habitation.  
And Pliny writing the History of living Crea●ures, 
Plin. Nat. Hist. lib. 7.  gins it with a complaint, That Nature ●ath been more unkind to Man than to any ●ther Being's. He is, says he, at first the weakest, and always after the most sickly thing. Other Animals are acquainted with necessary Arts without the trouble of Instruction; but Man knows not any thing till he is taught, unless it be how to cry. To him alone, among all living things, belong Mourning, and Luxury, and Ambition, and Covetousness, and Superstition. As the Life of nothing else is more frail, so no other Appetites are more insatiable than his. None are so apt to be terrified and confounded. None more disposed to Rage and Fury. Other living Creatures of the same kind live Peaceably together, we see them join and oppose those that oppose them: The fierceness of Lions is not engaged against Lions, neither do Serpents by't one another; but Men, alas! are the greatest Enemies to Men, the Kind is perpetually at Wa● with itself, and one seeks the Mischief and Ruin of the other.  
Indeed, he that duly considers the Thraldom of an Intellectual Being, as it is now fettered i● this Prison of Earth, made liable to so many Impressions, discomposed and agitated by so many Passions, and enslaved to Corruption, mus● needs conclude that Man is the only thing, whic● something extraordinary hath befallen: that e●ther God, who made him, designed him at firs● for greater Misery than the rest of the Creature● or else (which is indeed the truth) that he is tumbled down from his Original Perfection, and become only the Ruins of what he was.  
And now it was the view of such disorders and perplexities of Life which gave the chief occasion to those Heathens themselves, to bestow so frequently their Commendations on Death. O how ignorant, says one of them, are those People of what they suffer, who do not magnify Death as the best of things! Some called it the 
O ignaros malorum suorum quibus non mors ut optimum naturae inventum laudatur! Senec. de Consolat. ad Marc. c. 20. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Aeschylus apud Plutarch. Tom. 2. 〈◊〉. 106. Multi extitêre, qui non nasci optimum censerent, aut quam ocyssimè aboleri. ●li●. Secundus Nat. Histor. in Praefat. ad lib. 7. ad ea, ut videtur, respiciens quae dicta sunt de Sileno, Alcidamo & pluribus aliis à Cicerone Tuscul. quaest. lib. 1. Haec ubi res fortuna malè divisit— exaequat omnia— Haec est, inquam, quae effecit ut nasci non sit supplici●m; quae efficit ut non concidam adversus minas casuum— Seneca ubi supra. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Haec de ●rausis populo Thraciae Herodotus lib. 5. §. 4.  Remedy of evils, the Desire of the afflicted; others considered it as a thing which rights all Wrongs, levels all Inequality, and inspires with generous Resolutions. And by the custom of a whole Nation the Funerals of the Dead were performed with Songs and other expressions of ●oy; whereas the newborn Infant was received by them into the World, with Sorrow and Lamentation.  
We have thus sufficiently seen how Solomon's declaration in the Text holds true, as the things it concerns are viewed by natural Men. And I have been the longer in showing it, because (as it is the Opinion of several Expositors, and as methinks is manifest from the foregoing and following words) by such Measures as those the wise Man was now conducting his Inquiries. To prove that the great pretenders of the World are mistaken in their thoughts of Felicity, h● walks along with them a little in their own Path, to search it out. He that spoke of trees, from th● 
1 Kings 4. 33.  cedar that is in Lebanon, even unto the byssop th● springeth out of the wall; that spoke also of beast's and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes seems here to take Man for the subject of hi● Philosophy, considering him and his Happiness as to be known by the help alone of m●er unenlightened Reason.  
2. The first thing proposed being finished, 〈◊〉 now come to the second, to show the advantage● of the Dead above the Living, as they are to be discerned by the Eye of Faith. A cloudy and corrupted Reason can afford but very doubtful accounts of what shall be hereafter; but the defects of that are abundantly supplied to th● Church by Revelation from above. The Grea● God, who is the Lord of Death, and whose Commands it always obeys, hath been pleased to acquaint us with the things which he himself hath appointed to succeed it.  
All the sorts of mankind come, you know, under one or other of these two denominations, Righteous and Wicked. Now the words of Solomon, in the Text, being indefinite, and the Seventy 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉— Sept.  Interpreters having rendered them by such as are expressly Universal: Some of the Fathers have applied them as to the former, so to the ●atter also; asserting that even to Re●robates themselves a speedy Death is 
Gravius est enim ad peccatum vivere quam in peccato mori; quia impius quam diu vivit peccatum auget: Si moriatur peccare desinit. S. Ambr. de bono Mortis, c. 7. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. S Chrysost. Tom. 1. p. 734. Edit. Savil. Simile quiddam habet divinus ille Philosophus Boetius lib 4. Pros. 4. Si nequitia miseros facit, miserior sit necesse est diuturnior nequam.  ●etter than a prolonged Life: For so ●heir Iniquity (which is the only cause of Infelicity) is cut off, and consequently the degree of their future sufferings somewhat lessened: He that ●inks under the transgressions of a ●ew Weeks or Months, being likely to ●nherit more easy torments, than they ●at have gone on in a course of Impenitency ●or many Years. And this Opinion is not without ground from other places of Scripture: The apostle tells us, that they who despise the riches of 
Rom. 2. 4, 5.  ●od's goodness, forbearance, and long suffering; that ●e hard and untractable a great while under the continued calls of unwearied Mercy, do treasure up wrath against the day of wrath, do increase the Measures of Vengeance according to the proportions of their Crimes. And saith our Saviour to Capernaum, It shall be more tolerable for the 
Matth. 11. 23.  land of Sodom in the day of judgement than for thee: that is the obstinacy of those, who contemned the preaching of Lot was not to such a height as theirs who rejected the many Overtures and Miracles of the Messiah himself, and as there was such a difference in the guilt, so there shall be hereafter in the punishment.  
In such a sense as this, Death to the impenitent is to be preferred before Life; but it is all the while a sad preference. A Sinner hastily snatch● away, 'tis true, inherits the lesser evil; yet that lesser evil is greater than can be conceived; it is still dreadful as the Flames, which the Breath of the Almighty hath kindled, and which are to burn for ever. Concerning such a Person as this the words following my Text may be fitly said, Better yet is he that hath not been; better is the condition of him that died from the Womb, and gave up the Ghost when he came out of 
Mortuus praefertur viventi quia peccare desivit. Mortuo praefertur qui natus non est; quia peccare nescivit. S. Ambros. Exposit. in Psal. 118. Serm. 18. vid S. Hieronym. in Ec cl. 4.  the Belly: or as our Saviour said of Judas, I● had been good for that man, if he had not been born.  
Without a miserable limitation or abatement, we see, these words of the Preacher are not to be applied to Sinners; but then to those that have been sincerely conformable to the Precepts of the Holy Jesus, and have secured an Interest in his Mediation, they fully agree. Happy, infinitely happy is the condition of such Persons being dead, beyond what they themselves, or any other were or are being alive. Death which is the product of Sin, by a Divine and Wonderful Skill, is changed to them into the greatest of Benefits. Blessed are the dead, that die in the Lord: 
Rev. 14. 13.  for they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them.  
To declare the Advantages of such as these, being dead above those of the living, is the great business of most of the Evangelical Promises. I shall put you in mind of some of them, these two ways, viz. by showing you a little,  

1. What Death delivers the righteous from.  
2. What it gives possession of.   
1. The Death of the Righteous is to be preferred to Life, because of the things it delivers from, namely much trouble and affliction. God hath not designed for his Servants while on Earth serene and Halcyon days; but leaves them even to more than the ordinary inconveniences of a mortal condition. When that strange Plague in the time of Gallus and Volusianus passing through Arabia and Egypt, and destroying mightily as it passed, came at length into Africa, some of the Christians there wondered, that it made no distinction between the Professors and the Enemies of the True Religion. 
At enim quosdam movet quod aequaliter cum gentilibus nostros morbi istius valetudo corripiat; quasi ad hoc crediderit Christianus, etc. Cyprian. de Mortalitate, p. 158. Edit. Oxon.  But their excellent Bishop in that admirable discourse he wrote on that occasion, earnestly reproved in them so gross an ignorance of the Nature and Designs of the Gospel they pretended to: as if, says he, a Christian did believe for no other purpose but a present security; and it were not appointed for such to enter through the greatest Adversity here into future Joy. Our Saviour seems indeed once to have given his Disciples 
Mark 10. 30.  a Promise of Temporal Felicity, that those Houses and Lands which were lost for the sake of him, and the Gospel, should be made up again by an extraordinary Providence. But if the things mentioned have not (as it is thought by some) a Spiritual meaning, the Promise however was attended with a bitter exception: it should be fulfilled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with a reserve of Trouble, with a certain mixture or alloy of Persecutions.  
As for this present Life, if Happiness is to be measured by the outward appearance, the followers of Jesus are ordinarily the greatest Wretches in the World: for so the Apostle in effect tells us. If, says he, in this life only we have hope in 
1 Cor. 15. 19  Christ; we are of all men most miserable. Besides those troubles which (as we have seen) are natural to Mankind, there are other labours and sorrows belonging to them that follow a Leader who conquered through Sufferings. Even the gracious expressions of his peculiar Love to them do as it were mark them out for a large portion of trouble: and he so engageth his Servants to difficulties, as if he this way designed to approve 
Invenitur, cui corona debetur: non invenitur, qui idoneus certamini non probatur. S. Ambros. Expos. in Ps. 118 Serm. 18.  their fitness for the Crown he promiseth. This will sufficiently appear from the view of some few of those particular evils, which are the Portion of Christians, and from the Bondage of which, Death is the only rescue.  
(1.) Death is the thing which delivers the Christian from the burden of his natural Corruption: utterly puts an end to that, which keeps him now almost perpetually restless and uneasy. The sense of much pollution, of a constant deficiency, which hath frequently too betrayed him into grosser sins, perplexeth the penitent and humble Soul, and fills him often with terrors and remorse: till at length Death brings him an happy quiet, dissolves his substance, and throughly purgeth out the inherent dross, gives his Soul the purity of an Angelical Nature, and prepares a corruptible Body to be raised hereafter in incorruption.  
Indeed pollution belongs to wicked Men in a degree vastly higher: However they have commonly little sense of this misery. A kind of Lethargy renders them stupid under a weight which is sinking them down into destruction: whilst the Servant of God perceives the pressure of much less guilt, and bitterly complains of it.  
His impurity and transgressions are the things which cost him so many Sighs and Tears; these employ him in much Grief and Lamentation. There is no rest in my bones, because of my sin. Mine 
Psal. 38. 3, 4.  iniquities are gone over my head: as a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me, says the Psalmist in his Repentance. And as the Prophet represents the condition of an humbled People, he cries out saying: Wo● unto us that we have sinned: for 
Lam. 5. 16, 17.  this our heart is faint, for these things our eyes are dim.  
(2.) Death is that which rescues the Christian from the constant importunity of temptations: 'Tis, as St. Cyprian calls it, his Peace, his only 
De Mortalit. p. 157.  Peace and Tranquillity; his sure, and firm, and perpetual Security.  
Here we are as a City continually besieged, exposed every Minute to the Battery and Assaults of Enemies: yea, there is treachery also within the Walls, we are liable still to the sudden Violences of untractable Passions and Lusts, and the wickedness of a deceitful Heart. No wonder therefore that so many of the Gospel-Precepts are delivered to us as to Soldiers and Combatants: by which we are commanded to all the difficulties of a Militant state, to stand fast, to watch, to strive, to fight, to put on the whole Armour of God, and use it with all the Skill and Courage we are able.  
O the sweetness of Peace after the hurry, and uncertainties, and fatigue of War; after the hunger, and thirst, and cold, the hazards, and sometimes wounds of such a state for many Years! O wretched man that I am, Who shall deliver me? said St. Paul under the sense, as some think, of such difficulties as these. The question employed the greatness of the Bondage, and the proper answer to it seems to be this one word, Death.  
(3.) Death is what delivers from the spitefulness of this present World: from the opposition it maintains to Innocence and Holiness. The Apostle recommending to the converted Jews the Example of our Lord, presents him under the following Character, A sufferer of the contradiction 
Heb. 12. 3.  of sinners, a Person set out as the common mark of Contempt and Obloquy. And the Lot of the master belongs to the Disciples: for so h● himself expressly told them: If ye were of th● world, the world would love his own; but because 
John 15. 19  ye are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you.  
Most of the ancient Apologists for Christianity observe, that tho' the Religion they defended, was of the meekest, most friendly, and obedient Temper, fitted, beyond all things that ever were, for the Peace and Advantage of Mankind: ye● it was the thing which the World was most enraged against, and pursued with the greatest Cruelty: All other People, said one of them to the 
Athenagor. Legat. pro Christianis. p. 2.  Emperors, Antoninus, and Commodus, enjoy and admire your Clemency and Lenity; but we christian's are those alone, whom you are pleased to cast out of Protection, and expose to Sufferings.  
And tho' a miraculous Providence over the Church put an end at length to the Heathen Persecutions of it; yet all its sufferings of this kind will not be concluded, whilst any of the Members of it are on this side the Grave: the World still declares its malice against the followers of the Lamb, true Religion being often treated with scorn and gainsaying, and sometimes worse usage by the Heretical and Hypocritical, by the Atheists and Profane. And then,  
(4.) Death is that which delivers from the malice of the Devil, secures for ever from that envious Spirit, which if he despairs of the final overthrow of the Righteous: yet will not fail at least to be active in contriving their present misery. Nothing is so grievous to him, as the Ease and Tranquillity of Mankind: and therefore when he is held from making a prey, he will yet run to the very end of the Chain to Plague and Torment.  
If thou come to serve the Lord, said the Son of Sirach, prepare thy soul for temptation: temptation 
Eccl. 2. 1.  seems to signify there (as it does sometimes in Scripture) a trial by Afflictions: and such a one as this, he that comes unto God, must expect from the Enemy of Mankind, so far forth as the execution of his Malice is not restrained by the Hand of Omnipotence.  
The most High, for reasons of Wisdom and Mercy, gave the Enjoyments of his Servant Job into the power of Satan: and so the next news we hear of that good Man is, that he is strip● of all things, and become as a Leper on 〈◊〉 Dunghill. The Dragon being cast into the Earth, persecuted the Woman, and made her fly into the Wilderness; and since he might not follow her, he sent a Flood after out of his Mouth to drown her.  
The Almighty indeed hath promised to defend his Chosen, to set an Hedge about them, and even a Guard of Angels to secure them from the power of the Devil. However the Protection we are thus assured of relates principally to Spiritual things: as for Temporal, we find Satan put in a Claim to them in his attempts against the Lord of Life, by whom too he was not directly contradicted; al● these things, said he, are delivered unto me. 
Luke 4. 6.   
Having thus particularly mentioned some of the evils which, being the Portion of the Christian whilst alive, he is only freed from in Death: I doubt not but you will easily grant this last state to be for his Interest above the former. Happier, certainly happier, is his condition then, when all these Labours are at an end, all these Cares, and Fears, and Sorrows are done away; and, as one of the Fathers speaks, no Tear at all darkens the Eyes of him, who now beholds the Beauty of the Glory of God. And yet these Negative Benefits are not all, or the chief part of what we are enabled to speak of. For, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. S. Basil. Homil. in Ps. 114.   
2. I am also to put you in mind of the Advantages of Death, with respect to the things it gives possession of. But on this head, being not so suitable to what was the Preacher's design in the Text, I shall say but very little, and so pass to the Application. Precious in the sight of the Lord: saith the Psalmist, is the death of his Saints; upon which place St. Basil (some of whose words I but now mentioned) has this following Comment. Those Stones amongst the 
Homil. in Psal. 115.  lovers of Riches are called Precious, which shin● with fresh and delightful Colours: How much more precious than is that thing, which adorns the Soul, being now purged from all its stains and spots, with a Luster beyond that of all the Jewels or Precious Stones in the World Indeed, Death is the thing which turns a poor imprisoned Spirit, wearied with the confinement, and sullied with the filthiness of an Earthly Tabernacle, into a thing Bright as the Firmament and the Stars, yea glorious as the Sun itself for ever and ever.  
Imagine a little what the Happiness must b● of a Soul received into Heaven, with the Applauses of ten thousand times ten thousand Angels and Saints; with the Embraces of an All-glorious Redeemer; and the Euge of the Great God. Think what the Joy must be of Seeing, and Praising, and Adoring, and Enjoying him that died for us; of sounding out perpetual Anthems and Hallelujahs; of dwelling in Eternal Light, and beholding the Face of that God, in whose Presence is fullness of Joy, and at whose right Hand there are Pleasures for evermore. Think upon these, and such things as these, which Death gives the Christian possession of, and then certainly in respect of such Persons, you will be ●eady to join with the Preacher, and praise the ●ead, which are already dead, more than the living, which are yet alive.  
And yet after we have thus filled our Minds with the most Glorious Ideas, and formed a Notion of the highest Happiness which can be imagined, we still know but in part, and see through 〈◊〉 Glass darkly. We cannot possibly reach the ●hings we aim at, or have any just conception of those ineffable Pleasures. As it doth not yet appear what we shall be; so Eye hath not seen, nor Ear heard, neither hath it entered into the Heart of Man to conceive the things which God hath prepared ●or them that love him.  
The preference which Solomon gives the dead ●efore the living, being to be allowed; that which 〈◊〉 have farther to do, Brethren, is, to persuade ●ou to a Practical as well as a Speculative belief of this, so to behave yourselves, and to act upon all occasions, as if you were in good earnest convinced of it. Particularly to manifest the Faith of those Advantages the true Christian ●inds in Death beyond those of Life (for that is ●he sense I shall chief have regard to now ●n the Application) in the three following In●tances.  

1. A contempt of this present Condition.  
2. A comfortable expectation of a Discharge from it.  
3. Contentment, on the Departure of our Christian Friends.   
1. A contempt of this present Life. We have great reason you see to think very meanly of it, since its Excellencies, which tempt and allure us, and that we are apt so passionately to court, cannot vie with the Grave. We have had a description of some of the troubles this state brings upon us, both as Men and as Christians. And consider I pray you now a little, whether any thing mixed with Ingredients of so much bitterness, can indeed please our Taste, or draw our Affection?  
Was ever the Prisoner in love with his Dungeon, or the Galleyslave with his Chain? Can Men long for Affliction, or desire to make Tears their Meat? No sure, one would think such things should not raise our Appetites, or become very Inviting. And can we then, Christians,  upon our present Condition, be so hugely solicitous, so full of Endeavour to prolong our Torment, and continue yet a little while more in that Life which is our Misery? Take the Wings of Meditation, and with the Dove, sent out of the Ark, fly through this Tempestuous World: See whether there be any Hillock to rest upon, any Spot which the Deluge hath not covered. Observe how all things are overflown with Cares, what a strange maze of Uncertainties and Disappointments we always walk in: how deceitful all Earthly Pleasures are, like the Apples growing on the Banks of the Lake of Sodom, only well-coloured Ashes. Think thus on the condition of things here below, and then tell me whether this be a state to be desired? Whether here it is that we should be willing to set up our rest?  
Cicero brings in the wise Cato, being now near his end, looking back on the Years he had lived, and thus declaring his Opinion of them. If 
Cato Major, sive de Senectute, sub finem.  the God above should make an offer to me to grow young again, and to be once more an Infant, I would with all earnestness refuse it. I would by no means be set back to the beginning of the Race I have run, and live the Years that are passed over again. For what has this Life of Benefit? What has it not of Labour, etc. Can a Heathen be thus sensible of the troubles of living, how much more must the true Christian? He whose Life hath not only been exposed to the common Lot of Humanity; but to the Labours, the Difficulties, the Watch, the Fast, the Strive, the Conflicts, the Groans, the Tears of a Condition of Temptations, of a Selfdenying Religion.  
If, according to the saying of an ancient Father, it be allowable for that Person to be desirous of Life, whom the World fawns 
Ejus est in mundo diu velle remanere, quem mundus oblectat, quem seculum blandiens atque decipiens illecebris terrenae voluptatis invitat. S. Cypri●●, de Mortalit. p. 165.  upon, whom a flattering and deceitful Age allures with the Baits of Earthly Pleasures, yet certainly the labouring, the panting Christian is under no such Temptation. A Person in his Circumstances, one would think, should be so far from being in love with this mortal Condition, that did he not know it to be his Duty not to deliver up this Fort of his Body, which the Great King hath entrusted him with, till a Summons comes from him, he would earnestly desire to be rid of it as soon as may be. Had he not learned with S. Paul in every state to be content, he would be even impatient in that request of his, to departed hence, and to be with Christ, which is far better.  
2. The next thing I am to persuade you to, from the Consideration of the Advantages of Death above Life, is, a comfortable expectation of a Discharge from it. To put off those Fears of an approaching Dissolution, which are apt to disquiet us, and to meet it with evenness of Temper, and a holy Cheerfulness.  
The Preacher's declaration being indeed not to be applied to some, but only with the sad Exceptions and Limitations already noted; I cannot direct what I now say to every one: Yea, I do advise you, my Brethren, not to be overhasty in arrogating to yourselves Comforts of such a nature as this is. Strong assurances of Infinite Happiness in another World are the rewards of strong Christians, and to obtain them, meddle not with the unsearchable Decrees of God Almighty; but inquire into your Lives past, and try whether you can find there that you are the Persons to whom the Promises are made. He alone hath ground for such a Comfortable dependence, whose Conscience witnesseth to the Truth of this, that his Faith hath been active, that he hath endeavoured, and doth still, with all his power, to be void of offence towards God, and towards Man.  
And now to you, all you that are thus Christians not in name or profession alone, but in deed and in truth: To you I say, be not discouraged when Death shall begin to look you in the Face; to use our Saviour's words which he spoke on a different occasion, look up, and lift up your heads, 
Luke 22. 28.  for your redemption draweth nigh.  
Socrates, who tho' a Heathen, suffered for a great Article of our Faith; and whom therefore Justin Martyr doubts not to call in part a Christian, 
Just. Mart. Apol. 1. pag. 48. it. Apol. 2. p. 83. Edit. nuperae Colon.  is said to have refreshed himself with such Meditations as these which follow, between his Condemnation and Execution. I would have you believe, said he to his Friends, that I hope to go to those good Men already departed. However, tho' this be not positively asserted by 
In Phaedone, p. 377.  me, yet that I am hastening to that Divine Being, who is the best Master in the World, is what I most steadfastly affirm. And hereupon it is that I am not afraid of Death, as otherwise I should be; but am prepared to meet it with a cheerful mind. And Cato, beforementioned, cried out, saying, O the happy day when I shall be admitted to the Assembly of departed Souls, being freed from the present hurry and corruption.  
To such a greatness of Mind have some few been raised by the dark and uncertain speculations of natural Reason; but the Triumphs of Christianity have been much beyond it, in answer to its greater Light, and Encouragements. S. Ignatius, as he was carried in Fetters to be Meat 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Epist. ad Ephesios'.  for wild Beasts at Rome, called the Bonds they put on him Chains of Pearl. And S. Cyprian, exhorting those under his Episcopal Care (in that Tract I have so often made use of) to a resolution 
De Mortalit. p. 161.  becoming them, whilst the Pestilence raged amongst them; reckons up the fatal Symptoms of that strange Disease, and tells them they were designed to manifest the Excellency of their Faith, to discover to the World a Constancy unshaken amidst those Ruins of Mankind. Indeed this was almost the ordinary Spirit or Temper of the Primitive and persecuted Church, tho'. Time, and Ease, and a prevailing Impiety have rendered it now in too great a measure degenerate and fearful. Christians then were not discomposed on the apprehensions of Death, when in despite of the greatest opposition, they made it their only business to fit and prepare for it. But,  
3. The last thing I am to recommend to you from what hath been now considered, is, contentment on the departure of our Christian Friends. If they better their Condition, let us not be impatient at it: let us not mourn and lament because of their happy Change from Misery and Trouble to Freedom and Glory.  
Something indeed is to be allowed to the sense of our own loss, and the tendency of our imperfect desires; but to be immoderate on such occasions is our grief, is to contradict our own Faith, and to make ourselves like those unaccountable Worshippers, whom Plutarch mentions, 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Quaest. Roman. Tom. 2. p. 277.  who, as they prayed to their Deity, bestowed a good name upon the Dead, but withal, desired that they might have none of them in their Houses. I would not have you ignorant, saith the Apostle, concerning them that are asleep; that you 
1. Thes. 4. 13.  sorrow not as others who have no hope. An extravagant sorrow might be reconcilable to the Opinions of some ignorant Heathen; but are a perfect contradiction to the knowledge and hope of a Christian.  
Accordingly the Office of Burial in our Church (in conformity to the Customs of the Primitive) contains not Lamentations; but is a kind of holy Triumph, a public declaration of Joy and Thankfulness for the Blessedness of the Dead.  
When we joined in it but now at the Interment of our departed Brother, we did in effect say such words as these: Now the time, the happy time of Release is come, when a Christian exposed to Griefs and Sorrows, Weariness and Temptations, enjoys his everlasting Freedom. At length he is delivered from all the hurry and noise of a troublesome World, from all the strive, and bustle, and contentions of it: particularly in the present case, from that part which it was the good Pleasure of Providence he should act, from that Office of Magistracy, which, I doubt not, he very unwillingly engaged in, and which he considered as his burden and unhappiness. He is taken away from all the evil to come, from all uncertainties of event, from all fears and fatal issues of things. To conclude, his Prayers are heard, his cry is come up into the Ears of the Lord of Hosts; all his Cares and Pains are at an end, and he hath found, as our hope is, Peace, Quiet, and Eternal Rest.  
THE END.