joys, and to restrain their unruly lusts, but also to bring them acquainted with, and to accustom them to behold Death, amongst all their delights. They treated it as if their design had been to invite it to their most delicious feast, that they might rejoice together with it, John xvi. I conceive that the Jews for the same cause built their sepulchres in their gardens of pleasure, that they also might have the image of Death continually before them, and that in the midst of all their divertisements, it might be their most pleasant and ordinary entertainment. For us Christians, to oblige us to think upon Death, there is no need that a page should remember us every day that we are mortal, nor that the motto of a ring should call to our mind that we must die; there is no need of a coffin to be placed in our chambers; in such things there is many times more ostentation than piety: nor is it needful that a dead man's skull be put before our eyes, or a sepulchre be built or hewn in our gardens and places of recreation and delight: for as Alexander the Great understood that he was a mortal by the blood that ran out of his wounds; thus the diseases unto which we are subject,. and the daily infirmities that we feel, sufficiently instruct and assure us that we are mortals: and as a famous philosopher, when he received the unhappy news of his son's untimely death, answered the messenger with a settled countenance, "I knew," said he, " that I begat him a mortal man." Zenoph. Thus will the faithful say, without change of countenance, or appearance of fear, when his death is declared to him, I knew that my mother had conceived me a mortal man; I knew very well that death is the tribute that we must pay to nature, and that upon this condition I am entered into the world.

If we will make use of any exterior help to imprint this lesson into our fancy, we must practise with care the advice of the wise man; " It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to that of feasting," Eccles. vii. " for that is the end of

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all

'all men, and the living will lay it to his heart." Never look upon a diseased body stretched upon a bed, or upon a dead corpse in a coffin, but remember that this is an universal law, unto which all mankind must pay obedience; that it is the broad road of all the earth, and that there thou mayest behold the lively image of thy future state. I conceive this may be a good expedient, and very successful, to entertain in our minds the continual thoughts of death, to make our last will betimes, and frequently to peruse it: for as, when we meditate upon a farewell that we are to take of our friends, we feel in our souls the same affections and motions as are in us at the moment of our separation; thus will it be with us when we seriously meditate upon the last farewell that we are to bid to the world. Death will seem to appear upon our lips, or rather we shall think ourselves already in the sweet embraces of the divine Jesus, our glorious Redeemer.

Besides those things that are extraordinary, I find nothing in or out of us, nothing that we feel, taste, or relish; in short, nothing that passeth either in our private or public conversation, but is able to recal to our minds the serious consideration of death. The flesh that thou dost eat, the wool that clothes thy nakedness, the silk that adorns thy body, in general all thy garments and ornaments, are but the spoils of the dead creatures. The sight therefore ofall these things must call to remembrance thy frail and mortal state, and cause thee to meditate upon the Preacher's saying; "The same accident that happens to the beast, the same happens to mankind; as is the the death of the one, so is the death of the other. They have all the same breath, and man hath no advantage over a beast for all is vanity, all go to the same place, all proceed from dust, and shall return to dust again."

Never pull off thy clothes, but remember that thou must shortly quit this miserable body, and lay it down in the

grave. When thou art entering into thy bed, think upon the sepulchre where thou must one day be stretched. If thou dost awake in the night, consider that Death will shortly come, and put out the taper of thy life. Let thy sleep be the image of thy death, and let it call to thy mind how thou must, within a few days, sleep in a bed of dust. When thou awakest, think upon the delightful sound of the archangel's trumpet, that shall rouse thee out of Death's long sleep.Say within thyself, when thou arisest, It may be, that I shall never rise again till the Son of God shall come from heaven to lift me out of the grave with his almighty hand. When we cast our eyes upon the rising sun, let us say within our selves, It may be, I shall never behold any other sun arise again, but the Sun of Righteousness, that carrieth healing under his wings. Consider when thou puttest on thy garments, that the time is coming when thou must be clothed with a more magnificent and glorious robe, a robe of light and immortality, When thou sittest down to eat, think upon the hour that is drawing near, in which Death will feed upon thy carcase; imagine that it may be, that this is the last time that thou shalt sit at the table; that next thou mayest sit with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with all the blessed mar tyrs, who have washed and whitened their robes in the blood of the Lamb; and that it may be, that thou shalt never taste, any more, but of the food of angels, and of the fruit of the tree of life; and that thou shalt never drink, but of the new wine in the kingdom of heaven, and of the rivers of eternal pleasures that run from the throne of God.

Every night that thou goest out of thy dwelling, or changest thy abode, fancy to thyself, that in a little time thou must depart out of this mortal tabernacle. Art thou alone, and separated from human society? Remember that within a few days Death will separate and divide thee. Art thou going to any meeting, or entering into any company, or marching

marching to the holy assemblies? Discourse with thyself in ́

never go

into any

other

this manner: It may be, that I shall company, until I come to the church and congregation of the first-born, whose names are written in heaven. Art thou invited to the marriage of a friend? Say unto thy soul, It may be, I shall never go to any other feast, but to the marriage of the Lamb offered from the foundation of the world. Dost thou see a rich and glorious palace, or a pleasant garden? Say to thyself, It may be I shall never see any other palace, but that where the living God dwells; and that it may be, I shall never behold any other place of pleasure, but the celestial paradise.

If thou castest down thine eyes to look upon the earth upon which thou treadest, consider at the same time, that this earth, or something like to it, shall afford thee a grave, and that thou shalt sleep there the sleep of death. Remember what God told Adam, "Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return," Gen. iii. Or say with the holy man Job, "Remember, I pray thee, that thou hast formed me of clay, and that thou shalt reduce me to dust; I shall sleep in the dust, and if thou seekest for me in the morning, Ishall be no more," Job vii.

If thou takest a view of the plants, of the herbs, and flowers, do not forget what the word of God speaks concerning our life, in the xcth Psalm, that, "man is like the grass which groweth up; in the morning it flourisheth, and is green; in the evening it is cut down and withered." And in the ciiid Psalm, " As for man, his days are as grass; as the flower of the field, so he flourisheth; for the wind passeth over it, and it is gone, and the place thereof shall know it no more." And elsewhere, "All flesh is like grass, and the glory of man like the flower of the field," Isa. xl. 1 Pet. i.

If thou takest notice of the shadow of the needle in a dial, that follows the swift motion of the sun, or of the sha

dows

dows which solid bodies cast upon the earth; in the evening they stretch a great way, and a little after vanish: consider seriously, and engrave in thy mind this excellent sentence; "Man is like vanity, his days are as a shadow that passeth away," Psa. cxliv. and say, as David, "I am gone as a shadow when it declineth," Psa. cix.

If thou hearest the whistling of the winds, which God taketh out of the storehouses, lift up thy soul unto God thy Creator, and say with Job, chap. vii. "Remember that my life is but a wind, mine eye shall see no more good;" that is, the imaginary good of this miserable world. And elsewhere, "Thou liftest me up to the wind, thou causest me to ride upon it, and dissolvest my substance," chap. xxx.

If thou lookest upon the glory and beauty of the heavens, and beholdest the ravishing sight of the stars, consider that thy gracious God hath formed thee after his image: not to continue always among this slimy and miserable earth, but to dwell with him for ever in the heavens; and that at the end of the race he will raise and carry thee into the palace of his glory, where thou shalt shine as the sun in the greatest splendour.

If thou dost meditate upon the changeableness of the seasons, remember that the spring of thy infancy, the hot summer of thy youth, the autumn of thy maturity, and sadcountenanced winter of thy cold and decrepit age, shall succeed one another in the same order.

Let him who travels by land, think upon Job's complaint, "My days have been swifter than a post, they flee away, they see no good," Job ix. Let him call to mind the apostle's excellent saying, "This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto

those