of the Age in some unlawful Practices that we might not be thought Morose and Uncivil yet those false Pretences will then appear very insufficient to support us under the Terrors and Apprehensions of a troubled Mind I should now come to consider the Miseries and Infirmities of Old Age. But these are so manifestly Great so universally Acknowledg'd and fall so commonly under every One's Observation that a Description of them would be only superfluous and unnecessary If to be Infirm Feeble and Helpless to be always in Wants and yet unable to administer to their own Necessities if to labour under a continual Conflux of Distempers without any prospect of Cure if to be always in Pain without any hopes of Remedy is to be Unhappy then certainly these Men above all Others must be confest to be so Yet they have this Advantage above any other part of Man's Life to comfort themselves with that being Free and at Liberty from the noise and hurry of Business and no way distracted with the tumultuous and troublesome Cares of Life their Minds are more at leisure to enjoy themselves with the happy Contemplations of their Future State The Pleasures of the Body are no longer a Snare to them and like Men depriv'd of Sight who have their Understanding more strong and vigorous by abstracting it from the Objects of Sense their Souls are no longer in Danger of being drawn away to the Gratification of the Sensual Appetite They have a clearer and more perspicuous Knowledge of Things and their long Experience of the World has taught them to prize every thing according to its Just Estimate There is no Age says Seneca better adapted to Vertue than that which comes by many Experiences and Long-sufferings to the knowledge of it for our Lusts are then weak and our Judgment strong and Wisdom is the Effect of Time They have learnt that to know themselves is the best Philosophy that an Intimate Acquaintance with their own Souls is the truest Happiness and as they have a nearer View of another Life so are they more ravisht with the Prospect of it and their Hopes and Expectations grow more lively and affecting It must be confest that where these Supports of a good Conscience are wanting there Men are more Miserable in this Age than in all others for in other parts of man's Life the Fear of Punishment is not so prevalent because it seems at a greater distance and therefore does not so much disturb and torment the mind in its Sensual Enjoyment with the thoughts of it but here the Soul is in continual Anguish the Body shaking and tottering ready every minute to crumble into Dust the Soul amazed stands upon a dreadful Precipice fearing the next moment to sink into the Bottomless Hell Now every Reflection that a Bad man makes is only a new Addition to his misery and every serious Thought is only a fresh Torment to him All the Outward Pleasures which he promised himself Support from begin to fail him and he has no Comfort within to flee to If he looks backward he can find nothing that can give him Satisfaction and if forward nothing but Despair All that he can expect is either to be for ever miserable or to become nothing The Fear of the One perswades him to hope for the Other not that he can convince himself by reason to believe it but only that he has Reason enough to wish it might be so For a Prospect of Misery will put a Man upon a thousand Shifts and Evasions whereby to escape it and he is apt to take up with the least shadow or appearance of Reason if he can thereby obtain any Interval of Ease For the Extremity of Fear as of all other Passions puts the Soul into such Disorder and Confusion that it endeavours by all means to be releas'd from the Torments of it and if it can procure one minute of Ease it takes not time to consider the Reasonableness of the means and measures that obtain'd But let us suppose a Man had some Rational grounds to believe that hereafter he should not Be yet that Belief could be no real Satisfaction to him For if he placed his Pleasures in the things of Sense and the Enjoyments of them and if every Reflection upon them was pleasing to him it must necessarily follow that the Thoughts and Fears of being depriv'd of them must be very uneasy to him For 't is natural for us to Grieve at the loss of what we love or if we are separated from what we Admire But if a Man takes no satisfaction in the things of Life and is grown weary of them the Hopes of Annihilation can be no great Pleasure to him because they are Out-balanced by the Miseries of Life For if they were not he would endeavour to live long in the Enjoyment of a Hope and Expectation which after Death he can no longer be sensible of It is certainly more Desirable not to be at all than to be for ever Miserable but 't is Rational also to ground my Belief of what shall be hereafter upon the most solid and certain Reasons to consider which is most likely to be true and which side its most dangerous to Err on and to take care lest Passion Prejudice or Interest should mislead or deceive me with a naked Appearance instead of Truth As the Thoughts upon what is past and to come are the Causes of Misery to the Bad so do they bring great Pleasure and Satisfaction to the Good Their Expectation of Happiness to come bears them up under all Afflictions here and a Reflection on their former Life gives them a full assurance that their Expectation is firm and certain Tho they have Imperfections to grieve at and many Troubles to encounter with yet they are fully perswaded that their Imperfect State here will be advanced to a full Completion of Happiness hereafter Had a good Man nothing to expect beyond the Grave his Condition would be certainly most Miserable Not but that there are more Pleasures and more lasting Satisfactions in the Practice of Vertue than that of Vice yet as they are greater so the Thoughts of being for ever deprived of them would be more insupportable The Imperfect State that we are now in shews that our Nature desires something more compleat And as a Good Man who gives himself more Liberty in the free Exercise of his Reason and conversing with the Nature of Things finds that Vertue considering the unavoidable Imperfections Hindrances and Infirmities that Life is ensnared with can never be here compleatly perfect and consequently not it s own Reward so should he be convinced that he should be frustrated of those Desires he finds in his Soul to Immortality the Remainder of his Life would be uncomfortable and the Pleasures of Vertue altogether unsatisfactory Had I no other Reasons to convince me that I shall Exist hereafter as I think I have innumerable yet that very Antipathy which I find
AN ESSAY ON GRIEF With The CAUSES and REMEDIES of It. Durum sed levius fit patientia Quicquid corrigere est nefas Hor. OXFORD Printed by Leon. Lichfield An. Dom. 1695. TO THE HONOURED Mrs M. LAKE Madam SINCE they who may justly challenge those admired Qualities which are become the common Forms of a Dedication are generally displeased with Addresses of that nature I shall omit that undisputed Title you have to such Excellencies and beg leave to inform the World how much it is indebted to you for a just Example of what Respect we ought to pay to the Memory of our Deceased Friends Especially when they were adorned with all those Endowments which were so conspicuous in Your Excellent Brother Who besides those Accomplishments which commanded an Universal Esteem join'd the Affection of a Friend to that of so near a Relation which makes it difficult to determine whether he deserv'd or you exprest the greater Sorrow It was my frequent Reflection upon this that first mov'd me to this Attempt which however mean in it self will have enough to recommend it if honour'd with your Protection Which I the more confidently presume upon since that Relation it bears to you as you have had the justest Cause of Grief have shewn the most tender Sense of it and yet none ever more religiously Conquer'd it makes it wholly yours I design not MADAM by this Discourse to Accuse you of any Neglect but only to shew what you have Practic'd and by Copying out your Behaviour teach others their Duty I am sensible by the Advantage of so Eminent a Pattern much more might be said upon the Subject and that too much better treated of But if this rude and unpolisht Essay may obtain the Happiness of being receiv'd as a Testimony of my Gratitude for the frequent Obligations both His and Your Favours have laid upon me all other Defects will be abundantly supply'd and I shall attain the chief End and Honour I propos'd by it of being Esteem'd MADAM Your most Oblig'd And humble Servant R. W. its Thoughts and Inclinations upon an Object then it exceeds the Bounds of Reason becomes an irregular Passion and falls into Extreams If it be long indulg'd it contracts a Habit in us and will with great Difficulty be remov'd and reduc'd to the Obedience of Reason From hence we may gather the true Notions of the chief of all our Passions Joy and Grief with the Excess and Irregularities of them For they are always Innocent when they are modcrated and are only blameable in their Excess For the same reason that permits us to tast and enjoy with Pleasure a Good that we desire does not forbid us sorrowing for the loss of it Provided we neither disorder our Reason nor transgress the Bounds of Religion I call these the Chief of our Passions because all the Pleasure or Pain which we find in the Soul upon any account whatsoever may be reduc'd to one of these Whether I Love or Hate Hope or Fear Envy or Admire it produces in me either some inward Satisfaction or Uneasiness and consequently I can't avoid in some measure either Rejoycing or Sorrowing at it Grief in General is an Uneasiness of the Mind arising from the Sense of a Good lost or a present Evil. The Seat of this passion is in the Soul for Reflection and Thought upon the Evil that we suffer which are the chief Action if not Essence of the Soul give Life and Being to it And here again we may distinguish the true Notion of this Passion from the Vices of it For to grieve at a present Evil which is really such so as to avoid it for the future is Commendable and Praise-Worthy but to Grieve at any thing which my Opinion only makes to be Evil which is not really so in itself carries the Nature of a great Imperfection if not of a Sin along with it As for Instance If I have done any thing either through Ignorance or against my Knowledge which my Conscience accuses me of it is my Duty to be Sincerely griev'd at the Remembrance of it and endeavour by all means possible to avoid incurring the same Guilt for the future But if the Occasion of my Grief be something that was without my self as the loss of Honours Riches or the like which are not in mine own Power but at the Disposal and Appointment of Providence then to Grieve is to exceed the Reason and Nature of it Because as the Enjoyment of them was never design'd to make us entirely Happy so neither can the Loss of them make us really Miserable But in this case also Grief may be so far allowable as it respects the Causes of my Misfortunes If my Extravagance and Prodigality have been the causes of my Poverty it is then my Duty to be griev'd at the thoughts of those ill Actions which have brought that upon me But I must then be very cautious lest I should think any thing disrespectfully of Providence and take care that my Sorrow be chiefly for my Sin and not for the Poverty of my Condition In short then is my Grief true and sincere when it proceeds from the Sence of my Guilt and not from that of my Sufferings When the Cause of my Unhappiness not the Unhappiness it self is the Object of it I would not be thought to say That we ought to abandon all our Passions as to External Objects so as to use all with the same Indifference For we can't help being delighted with Some more than Others but only that we should not discover so great a Concern for any of them as to suffer our Happiness or Misery to depend upon the Enjoyment or Loss of them And herein that Notion of Vertue 's consisting between two Extreams may be applied to the Passions For as they ought not to shew too great fondness of Sensible Objects so neither ought they to use them with Contempt A moderation towards all outward Enjoyments is very necessary to our Happiness If we are always careful not to be Excessive in our Pleasure and Delights we shall never be dejected with our Misfortune For he that keeps not his Passions within Bounds on the one Hand will upon any Disappointment fall into Extreams on the Other I speak now of Passions only as they are conversant about Objects of Sence For when they are fix'd on Divine Objects they can't properly be said to run into Excess for 't would be very absurd to say we could love GOD too much And although there are some mistaken ways and modes of Worship which carry Men into Superstition yet it is not the height of Love or Affection that is the Cause of it For Passion is no longer true and regular than it is guided by Reason and Revelation But not with standing all the Nice speculative Notions that we conceive of the Passions yet the Best of Men have been overtaken by Irregular Motions either carried away by a sudden Transport of Joy or
dejected with the Surprize of an unexpected Calamity Though this can't properly be said to be the Nature of the Passions but only the Imperfection of our present State because as they are acts of the Mind and have their chief Power from thence so they can have no separate Interest from it nor be really delighted with the Objects of Sense which can bring no true Satisfaction to the Mind yet so long as we are confin'd to this Mortal State and the Soul acts conjunctly with the Body it can never acquire such an Absolute Authority over it as not to comply and share with it in some of its Delights and Calamities But although we can't free our selves from the Objects of Sense yet however we ought by all means to endeavour to be as little subject to them as possible and to raise our Passions above the reach of their Temptations For as the Causes of Passions are generally from without so Nature has fortified us with sufficient Power within to resist the strongest Assault they can make upon us And here again we may observe that the true Use and Nature of this Passion of Grief as of all the rest consists in its Obedience to the Dictates and Prescription of Reason considered either in its Natural Light or assisted by the advantage of Revelation The first can convince us of our Errors but can't reform them the other not only discovers to us the Disorders and Imperfections of our Natural State but gives us Power and Strength to rectify them But besides that we may not be deceiv'd in Judging of our Passions whether they are agreeable to Reason or not it will be necessary to consider whether they are fix'd upon their due Object We must not look so much upon the Passions that we find in Good Men as the causes of them Anger Sorrow and Fear may proceed from just Occasions and may be designed to very great Ends. To be angry with a Sinner so as to correct and reform him To grieve with those in Misery and Affliction out of a Design to relieve and comfort them and to be afraid for those in danger so as to hinder them from perishing are all so far from being Crimes that they deserve to be number'd amongst the chiefest of Vertues In the next place we must consider whether our Passions are proportionable to the Object and whether we do not esteem things more or less than they deserve whether we do not pursue things indifferent with greater Ardency and Affection than we do those which are of greatest Concern and Importance to us By these Methods we may judge of the Conformity of our Passions to the true Nature and Designs of them And we may hence also observe what Progress we make in Vertue and Religion by considering of what Value and Esteem they are to us and whether They or the things of Sense have the First or chief place in our Affections Nature has disposed the Parts of Man in a due Subordination to each Other has subjected the Inferior as the Sensitive Appetite to the superior Faculty of the Vnderstanding And if this Harmony is not justly observed the Whole becomes disordered Thus when our Passions of Joy or Grief are carried away by outward Objects and rely only upon the Judgment of Sense without consulting the Precepts of Reason then is that Correspondence of the Faculties dissolved that Vnion which ought to be between them wholly destroyed Hence arises that Notion of dividing the Passions into Sensitive and Rational This depends upon Reason the other refuses its Conduct and denies its Authority Though our Passions are so far Regular as they are governed by Reasons yet herein also they may be disorderly unless we take care to inform our Reason aright Prejudice may have got the Ascendant over our Reason or else some wild extravagant Notions may have obscur'd it or led it Captive by an appearance of Truth And therefore we have a Rule to measure Reason by that it may not be disorder'd in it self or give occasion to the Inferior Faculties to run into Confusion And to this End as I before intimated Providence has took care of us and revealed to us the Will and Councel of Heaven it self to discover to us the difference of those things which ought to be the Objects of our Passions from those of our Indifference which we should not be much concerned for But to return This Passion of Grief depends in some upon the Constitution Frame or Habit of their Bodies And as these are disposed so is their Passion more or less strong and violent and the first Object it meets with produces some Alteration or Motion in them They are generally hurried on to the Aversion of an Object without any Thought or Deliberation and are often disturbed at Shadows and Trifles These are very Unhappy who are almost ever disquieted and therefore want the greatest Attention and Observance tomanage themselves rightly and have as much need of outward as inward Medicines to be applied to them Some are more apt to be passionate than Others and what will not move One is perhaps the cause of Misery to another Some again are more Thoughtful than Others and upon such Persons unless their Thoughts are fixt upon higher Objects that divert them Sorrow commonly falls more heavy and is more difficultly remov'd Their Spirits are generally low and consequently more easily opprest and where they have once fix'd their thoughts they become Obstinate and almost Immoveable For their Mind by long custome is reduc'd almost to the same habit with their Body and till this be cur'd and brought to the right use of the Senses it will be difficult to reduce the Mind to its power of Reason But of all the different kinds of Grief that is strongest and most violent which flatters it self with Reason to defend it For where the Mind thinks it may with Honour and Vertue engage its Affections to an Object as is apparent in Friendship it is apt to conclude that it may by the same reason lament the Loss of that which so happily cemented it and that it can't be too immoderate in lamenting its being depriv'd of that Happiness which Vertue and Religion so much approved of From this mistake it is that a great many People indulge themselves in Sorrow who have in all other Misfortunes of Life Reason and Religion enough to support them But how groundless this Opinion is may appear by considering that there are several Objects which we may highly esteem and admire while they are in our Possession which we ought patiently and submissively to resign when Providence thinks it convenient to require them of us For even Life it self which ought to be most Dear to us is to be no longer the subject of our Desires than Providence orders the Continuance and Preservation of it And if any End or Service of Religion commands our Resignment of it we ought to do it with the same
in my self to become Nothing seems to me a convincing Argument and gives me sufficient Assurance that I shall never fall into it But I shall pass on from this Digression to consider some other Causes of Grief which every Age of Man that can make use of its Faculty of Reason is particularly concerned in And which the more Thinking part of Mankind have always acknowledged as such And these are the loss of a Man's Reputation or the loss of Friends These of all other Afflictions except that of a wounded Conscience fall most heavy upon us and make the deepest Impressions upon our Minds Every Man has a Natural Love for himself and a Desire to be spoken well of by Others A good Name and a fair Reputation not only make a Man's Life pleasant in the World but are also so far necessary to our Converse here that whoever seems careless or prodigal of them justly forfeits his Pretensions either to Honour or Humanity When a Man has once lost his Credit he is no longer fit for Society he is shun'd and avoided by all as tho' his very Company was Infectious Hence it is that those who are not ashamed to do an Ill Action are yet unwilling it should be made Publick lest it should blast their Reputation which they are generally more concerned for than the viciousness of the Action For though they inwardly hate the Practice of Vertue yet they are asham'd the World should be made acquainted with it That Good Men may fall under ill Reports is too evident and the World has had too frequent Experiences of the truth of it which is more to be lamented than wonder'd at since there is so much envy and malice amongst Men. Ill Nature will always be finding Faults and where there are none will take an opportunity to make them and 't is hard if there are not those who are Ill-natur'd enough to believe them But though the slanders and reproaches of the Envious and Malicious can never make a Good man miserable yet'tis certain they are a great abatement to his Happiness As if Providence had permitted them on purpose to shew us how insecure and slippery our best Foundations are here as also to teach us Humility lest we should be too much in love with Life and set too high a Value upon our Selves and our present Enjoyments I come now to consider another great Cause of our Misery and Sorrow the Loss of Friends This of all Others falls heavy upon us and is so much the greater because for ever Irrecoverable All other Losses as of Health Reputation Honours Riches or the like may either by Prudence or Diligence be in some measure repair'd but this alone can never more be restor'd to us This is that Separation which makes this State so uneasy and burdensome to us because it deprives us of the truest Satisfaction and Relish of Life Nature has made us Sociable Creatures and all our Study and Endeavours are designed to qualify us for that End And this we are above all things delighted with because most agreeable to us But thought our Love of Society is natural to us yet the choice of our Particular Company is an Act of Prudence For Friendship is not to be number'd amongst the Goods of Chance and Fortune but amongst those of Vertue This is the most charming of all our Delights and which we are most fond of and for whose Sake we are willing to undergo all the other Troubles and Miseries of Life The Enjoyment of this great Blessing says Seneca sweetens all our Cares dispels our Sorrows counsels us in all Extremities and is a sovereign Antidote against all the Calamities of Life It gives Comfort to bear us up in all Adversities and supplies us with Joy and Happiness in the midst of the greatest Afflictions and so long as we can preserve the Enjoyment of it whatever else may befall us we are sure never to be Miserable But not with standing the great Benefit and Advantage of this Blessing to Mankind yet it has this Imperfection in it that it is uncertain there is no security against the Loss of it 'T is this we in vain lament and continually Grieve at tho' we know our Grief can give us no Remedy Friendship is so much the Interest of mankind that not to be sensible of the Loss of it is either to be more or less than Men. There are but few that are so much raised above the Sense of this Calamity as not to be affected with it For it is one of the greatest Tryals of our Nature and has need of the utmost Efforts of Vertue patiently to undergo it Notwithstanding all our care and caution our strongest and most vigorous Resolutions prove too weak to withstand it And we find it an easier matter at a distance to reason about it than to act Prudently when we come to the Tryal And though we frequently imagine we make vigorous Preparations against it yet when it falls upon us it commonly finds us Defenseless and Unarm'd We can never so far conquer our Love of Happiness here as to be separated from the Dearest part of it without any Concern or Reluctancy Nature so far prevails in us notwithstanding the severest Dictates of the most exalted Reason that as it can't possess its Enjoyments without a great deal of Satisfaction so neither can it bear the Losses of them without the greatest Regret and the most passionate Expressions of Sorrow And if it falls not into Excess I suppose there is none so much a Stoick as to condemn it But the Loss of Friends is still more affecting when we had almost promised our selves a lasting Enjoyment of them when the Health and Vigour of a Constitution joyn'd with a sweet and obliging Temper an affable and courteous Behaviour a concern and tenderness for the Good of Others an earnest study and endeavour to promote the Publick Happiness and Tranquillity of Mankind mixt with the most endearing Charms of Conversation gave us large Hopes of such a Happiness as might withstand all the Designs of Malice and Envy and overcome if possible all the Uncertainties of Chance and Fortune Such a Loss does certainly deserve our greatest Sense of it challenges the utmost Bounds of true Sorrow and if any thing can may excuse at least in some measure palliate the Excess of it But although even this may never justify such immoderate Grief which abstracts the Mind as well from the Duties of Humanity as those of Religion yet it may serve to Convince us how Vain a thing it is to put our Trust and Confidence in Man whose Days are few and uncertain and therefore to he but little accounted of Thus we see every Part and Condition of Life leads us only to a new Scene of Miseries Our first Entrance into Life is miserable and the longer Experience we have of the World the more Calamities we have still to complain of We begin with Tears and Sorrows
repelling an Evil that disturbs us by the Help and Mediation of what we account a Good And the greater the Evil is that oppresses us so is it necessary that the Good we depend upon for Relief should be able to deliver us from it But that nothing is able to do this but the Chief Good is evident because nothing besides is sufficient for our Happiness Therefore it appears that it is GOD alone that we ought to depend upon for Succour in all our Adversities who both can and will deliver us and be our Consolation and Support amidst all the Adversities of Life and the Terrors and Pangs of Death We are His Creatures whom He made not so much to shew His Power as His Goodness and whom He form'd out of the Dust only to advance to Happiness Every Day 's Experience gives us fresh assurance of His constant Preservation of us is only to give us larger Opportunities of qualifying our selves for a more Glorious State He is always waiting to be Gracious and all that He requires of us is that we should believe His Promises and shew our Reliance upon them by a chearful Obedience to all His Commands a pious Resignation to His Will and a certain Expectation of a happy Issue out of all our Afflictions through an entire Dependance on His Goodness For since the constant and wise Order of Nature gives us undeniable Proofs of a Providence and every Day 's Experience teaches us that our Preservation as well as our first Being is wholly owing to its All-wise Goodness and Bounty with what chearful Resignation and Submission of our selves and all that we have any Relation to ought we to acknowledge its Right and Sovereignty over us and commit our selves to Him who careth for us For in Him we live move and have our Being As it is He that made us and not we our selves so do all the Mercies and Blessings we enjoy proceed from Him But these generally slide away unregarded because common to us But when Afflictions or Miseries overtake us we are apt either to call His Being or His Justice in question We claim the First as our due and complain when we are opprest with Evil that His Ways are Vnequal Did we always think it our indispensable Duty to have a special Regard to GOD and Providence in all our Actions to consult what we find most agreeable to His Will and always measure our Actions by it we should find Him a GOD at Hand to us in all Conditions and our best Support under all Adversities We should then be always mindful that whatsoever we enjoy is not properly our Own but only lent us for a time And that the same Hand that bestowed all our Good things upon us may withdraw them from us when he thinks convenient without doing us the least Injury That they were granted us upon Conditions and not to continue Ours for ever And that if we set too high a Value upon them and forget Him that gave them we only take a Method that will some time or other assuredly make us Miserable For we are never in greater danger of being depriv'd of any Earthly Enjoyment than when we are too fond of it and set our Hearts so much upon it as to make it our Chief if not only Happiness For when the Affections are depraved by Sensual Enjoyments there is a necessity of meeting with Crosses and Troubles that the Miseries and Disappointments that befall us in the very same Instances may correct and chastise us for the Excess of Pleasure we formerly took in them And this Method Providence often makes use of as very necessary to convince us of our Errors in over-valuing the Objects of a misguided Passion If I am convinc'd that GOD Governs the World and that he has a Right and Sovereignty over all His Creatures and may order and dispose of them as He thinks best to answer the Great and Wise Ends of His Providence it is my Duty patiently to submit to His Appointment without questioning either His Wisdom or Justice For an Humble submission to all the Methods of Providence is a direct Inference from the Belief of it And to repine at any of its Dispensations is either to question the Principles of Religion or the Care of Providence over us We came into this World not to Command but to Obey And have these Bounds set us as well to be the guide of our Actions as the subject of our Petitions Not Our Will but His be done But besides how much better is it for us chearfully and submissively to resign our selves to all the Appointments of Providence than to do it by force or compulsion Obey we must whether we are willing or no. There is no Contending with God For who can say unto Him What doest Thou If He speaks the word we are Consumed If He taketh away our Breath we die and are turned again to our Dust But another great Consideration to perswade us to a willing and chearful Submission to all the Appointments of God's Providence is that whatsoever Troubles or Afflictions He lays upon us they are designed for our Good He that is All Goodness Himself does nothing but what tends to promote that Great End He is a Tender and Merciful Father as well as a just Judge and all the healing Methods of God's Providence are directed to no other purpose than to restore the Soul to its primitive Purity and to invite us to Obedience and perswade us to lay hold of his Mercy and Loving-kindness that we may escape the severe Effects of his Justice All the means that He makes use of by His Providence are for our Benefit though the manner of His dispensing of them may be different sometimes he invites us with Promises and if those can't awaken us then he pursues us with Threatnings sometimes he afflicts us that our Vertues may be confirm'd by the Use and Exercise of Patience and at other times he lays heavy Crosses upon us least a too long Course of Felicity should make us become Remiss and Luxuriant For did we make a right use of our Enjoyments we should never be terrified or dejected with Afflictions they would be only as gentle Chastisements to incite and quicken our Diligence but not abate our Courage or stop us in our way to Happiness But the case of most of us is far different we forget GOD in our Prosperity and in our Adversity complain of him Did we look back to the Causes of his Anger and not only consider the Effects of it we should see great Reason to acknowledge the Justice of his Providence and that we alone have done Wickedly and that all His Judgments are Righteous For if we have not been sufficiently Thankful for the Goodness of Providence to us why should we repine if it tries other Methods to reduce us to Obedience and an acknowledgment of God's Sovereignty over us How can we say that God hath forgotten to be
I confine my Hopes to the next Life I should be but little concern'd at what may happen to me in this Should I lose my Friends and Relations One of the greatest Supports and Comforts of this Life yet I should be fortified against it I know I must lose Them or they Me. What matters it who goes First We shall at length meet again and participate together of those boundless Pleasures which shall not end till Eternity if self shall cease to be But besides we can't say that they are hastily snatcht from us who by the Improvements of their Minds in all the Excellencies of Knowledge which they had also copied out in their Practice had answer'd all the Ends and Designs of Living and who if we consider them in relation to themselves had liv'd here long enough though for our own sakes and the Good of others we could have wisht them a much longer stay more to serve our own than which would be more generous to consult their Interest For since we must Die at last what does it signify if we leave this World something sooner than perhaps in the Course of Nature we might have done nay rather is it not much more preferable to be deliver'd out of this troublesome Passage to obtain an immortal Life How Happy then will that State be wherein we can only be said properly to live For what we call Life here says Tully is only Death nor does the Mind truly Live till releas'd from the Clogs and Fetters of the Body it enjoys Eternity We ought not therefore to think Death and Evil but rather the greatest of Benefits Because as it eases us of all those Miseries which Life brought upon us so it gives us a perfect and serene Prospect of Joy and Peace hereafter If therefore we are born and live Miserable and die Blessed who would not rather chuse to be made Happy by being disunited from this Body than to live under a constant Oppression of Miseries We are all of us weary of Life why should we be afraid to Die If Sufferings and Afflictions are uneasy and burthensome to us why should we be un willing to welcome that which is the best Remedy for them And that it is design'd as a Token of God's Favour and Kindness to us seems plain by His frequent calling away the Best soonest from this to a better State thereby to free them from all the Evils and Calamities which this Life is liable to And also to teach us that stay behind to be neither too fond of this Life nor afraid of Death which Heaven has bestowed as a Blessing upon those who were best prepared for it And this shews us that God is not only Just in appointing Death to all Men but that his Wisdome and Goodness eminently appear in it since it is so much for the Advantage of Mankind to exchange this Imperfect and Troublesome Condition for that most Durable and Perfect prepared for us in the Heavens Hence we may learn the vast Disproportion between this Life and the other For was not the next Life infinitely better than this God would not so soon remove those to that other State who have used their best Endeavours to live in Conformity to all the Divine Precepts in this From hence it appears if we have any love for Happiness how desireable Death ought to be to us and if we think it our Interest to desire it as best for our selves we ought to esteem it as such for our Friends too For can we wish better to our selves than to those we have the most tender affection for Or would we have our selves only Happy and them Miserable Or are we displeas'd that they are blessed by Death while we are incumbred and troubled with Life If we are not what is it that makes us Impatient at their being deliver'd from all those Dangers and Adversities those Sorrows and Vexations which they had here every moment experience of If the Story which is told us of some of the Heathens weeping at the Birth of their Children and rejoyceing at their Death as looking upon one the Beginning and the other the End of their Miseries may find any Credit with us methinks it should give us a far different Idea of Humane Nature than we seem to have been yet acquainted with or make us a sham'd of our Practice in a Religion which lays before us the greatest Motives and Advantages to invite us to our Duty and not only gives us the best Rules to direct us but also encourages us with the most certain Promises of far greater and more durable Rewards than any other Religion can pretend to It is a great disgrace and scandal to our Profession that notwithstanding we have greater Expectations and larger Assistances in all our Necessities yet to be out-done by Heathens in a principal Part of our Duty They saw the defects of our Nature and the certainty of our Miseries and though they could not search into the hidden Causes of them and know from whence to derive a Remedy for them yet they were sensible to be expected in Death than in the mean and imperfect Satisfaction of Life Of the one they had already sufficient Experience and since they found in themselves a natural Desire after Happiness they concluded that either that Desire was implanted in them in vain or else it must be expected in the other Life This at least they were certain of that this Life was a Burthen to them and therefore those were to be accounted most happy who were soonest releast from the Miseries of it If Reason could go so far by its own Strength what may not we expect from it when 't is improved by the Advantages of Revelation which not only leads us to the Causes and Original of our Miseries and shews us from whence they sprung but also teaches us how to subdue our inordinate Passions which still foment them in us by laying before us the great Helps and Assistances we shall find if we use our best Endeavours to overcome them and that if we patiently submit our selves to the Hand of Providence it will order all things for our Good and make even Death it self the beginning of an immortal Life to us and translate us to those happy Mansions which we shall inhabit for ever with these whom we so Dearly Esteem'd and who made even this troublesome Life while here almost pleasant and desireable to us What Joy will it be to meet embrace and converse with our Friends and Realtions who will be then Ours for Ever What great Motives have we then patiently to bear our Troubles and Sufferings considering the Recompence of the Reward hereafter But some perhaps may say they could bear with the Loss of their Friends were they satisfied of their Happiness in the Other World To this we may answer that it does not belong to us to search into the Hidden Counsels of God We are taught to have Charity for all Men