the most obstinate scornful wretches in my parish, but when they come to die, will humble themselves, confess their faults, and seem penitent, and promise, if they should recover, to reform their lives. Cyprian saith to those in health, Qui se quotidie recordatur moriturum esse, contemnit præsentia, et ad futura festinat: much more qui sentit se statim moriturum. Oh how resolvedly will the worst of sinners seem to cast away their sins and promise reformation, and cry out of their folly, and of the vanity of this world, when they see that death is in good earnest with them, and away they must without delay! Perhaps you will say, that these forced changes are not cordial, and that, therefore, we have no great hope of doing them any saving good. I confess it is very common for sinners to be frightened into ineffectual purposes, but not so common to be at such a season converted to the Saviour. It is a remark of Augustine, Non potest male mori, qui bene vixerit; et vix bene moritur, qui male vixit. Yet vix and nunquam are not all one. It should make both them and us the more diligent in the time of health, because it is vix; but yet we should bestir us at the last, in the use of the best remedies, because it is not nunquam.

But as I do not intend to furnish a directory for the whole ministerial work, I will not stop to tell you particularly what must be done for men in their last extremity; but shall notice only three or four things, as specially worthy of your attention.

1. Stay not till their strength and understanding

are gone, and the time so short that you scarcely know what to do; but go to them as soon as you hear they are sick, whether they send for you

or not.

2. When the time is so short, that there is no opportunity to instruct them in the principles of religion in order, be sure to ply the main points, and to dwell on those truths which are most calculated to promote their conversion, showing them the glory of the life to come, and the way by which it was purchased for us, and the great sin and folly of their having neglected it in time of health; but yet the possibility that remaineth of their still obtaining it, if they will believe in Christ, the only Saviour, and repent of their sins.

3. If they recover, be sure to remind them of their promises and resolutions in time of sickness. Go to them purposely to set these home to their consciences; and whenever, afterwards, you see them remiss, go to them, and put them in mind of what they said when they were stretched on a sick-bed. And because it is of such use to them who recover, and hath been the means of the conversion of many a soul, it is very necessary that you go to them whose sickness is not mortal, as well as to those who are dying, that so you may have some advantage to move them to repentance, and may afterward have this to plead against their sins; as a bishop of Colen is said to have answered the Emperor Sigismund, when he asked him what was the way to be saved, "He must be what he purposed, or promised to be, when he was last troubled with the stone and the gout."

VI. We must reprove and admonish those who live offensively or impenitently. Before we bring such matters before the church, or its rulers, it is ordinarily most fit for the minister to try himself what he can do in private, to bow the sinner to repentance, especially if it be not a public crime. Here there is required much skill, and a difference must be made, according to the various tempers of the offenders; but with the most it will be necessary to speak with the greatest plainness and power, to shake their careless hearts, and make them see what it is to dally with sin; to let them know the evil of it, and its sad effects as regards both God and themselves.

VII. The last part of our oversight, which I shall notice, consisteth in the exercise of church discipline. This consisteth, after the aforesaid private reproofs, in more public reproof, combined with exhortation to repentance-in prayer for the offender-in restoring the penitent-and in excluding and avoiding the impenitent.*

1. In the case of public offences, and even of those of a more private nature, when the offender remains impenitent, he must be reproved before all, and again invited to repentance. This is not the less our duty, because we have made so little conscience of the practice of it. It is not only

In the observations which follow, our Author proceeds on the principle that all persons in a parish are the subjects of church discipline; but to say nothing of the impossibility of carrying such a system into practice, it is enough to remark that the obvious principle of the New Testament is that only church members are the subjects of church discipline. "Them that are without," says Paul, "God judgeth." See 1 Cor. v. 3-13.-EDITOR.

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Christ's command to tell the church, but Paul's to "rebuke before all;" and the church did constantly practise it, till selfishness and formality caused them to be remiss in this and other duties. There is no room to doubt whether this be our duty, and as little is there any ground to doubt whether we have been unfaithful as to the performance of it. Many of us, who would be ashamed to omit preaching or praying half so much, have little considered what we are doing, while living in the wilful neglect of this duty, and other parts of discipline, so long as we have done. We little think how we have drawn the guilt of swearing, and drunkenness, and fornication, and other crimes upon our own heads, by neglecting to use the means which God has appointed for the cure of them.

If any shall say, There is little likelihood that public reproof will do them good, that they will rather be enraged by the shame of it; I answer—

(1.) It ill becomes a creature to implead the ordinances of God as useless, or to reproach his service instead of doing it, and set their wits in opposition to their Maker. God can render useful his own ordinances, or else he would never have appointed them.

(2.) The usefulness of discipline is apparent, in the shaming of sin, and humbling the sinner, and in manifesting the holiness of Christ, and of his doctrine and church, before all the world.

(3.) What will you do with such sinners ? Will you give them up as hopeless ? That would be more cruel than administering reproof to them.

Will you use other means? Why, it is supposed that all other means have been used without success; for this is the last remedy.

(4.) The principal use of this public discipline is not for the offender himself, but for the church. It tendeth exceedingly to deter others from the like crimes, and so to keep the congregation and their worship pure. Seneca could say, Vitia transmittit ad posteros, qui præsentibus culpis ignoscit. And elsewhere, Bonis nocet, qui malis parcit.

2. With reproof we must join exhortation of the offender to repentance, and to the public profession of it for the satisfaction of the church. As the church is bound to avoid communion with impenitent scandalous sinners, so, when they have had evidence of their sin, they must also have some evidence of their repentance; for we cannot know them to be penitent without evidence; and what evidence can the church have but their profession of repentance, and afterwards their actual reformation ?

Much prudence, I confess, is to be exercised in such proceedings, lest we do more hurt than good; but it must be such Christian prudence as ordereth duties, and suiteth them to their ends, not such carnal prudence as shall enervate or exclude them. In performing this duty, we should deal humbly, even when we deal most sharply, and make it appear that it is not from any ill will, nor any lordly disposition, nor from revenge for any injury, but a necessary duty which we cannot conscientiously neglect; and, therefore, it may be meet to show the people the commands of Go