Returns to thee be so great as my necessities of thy Mercies are O Let thy Grace so strengthen my purposes of amendment that I may sin no more lest thy threatning return upon me in Anger and thy sore Displeasure break me in pieces IV. What am I O Lord what is the Life and what are the Capacities of thy Servant that thou shouldst do thus unto me Praised be the Lord daily even the Lord that helpeth us and poureth his Benefits upon us He is our God even the God from whom cometh Salvation God is the Lord by whom we escape Death V. In the midst of the Sorrows which were in my Heart thy Comforts O Lord have refreshed my Soul It is thou O Lord who hast made my Flesh and my Bones to rejoyce Behold happy is the Man whom God Correcteth therefore despise not the chastising of the Almighty VI. For he maketh sore and bindeth up he woundeth and his hands make whole In the midst of Judgment he remembreth Mercy Lord thou hast lifted up the light of thy Countenance upon me Yea Lord thou hast put gladness into my Heart O be thou pleased graciously to add Thankfulness to it VII I will lay me down in Peace and take my Rest for it is thou Lord only which makest me dwell in safety O Lord I give thee humble and hearty thanks for thy great and almost miraculous bringing me back from the bottom of my Grave what thou hast further for me to do or suffer thou alone knowest VIII Lord give me Patience and Courage and all Christian resolution to do thee Service replenish me evermore with thy Grace to submit to thy Holy Will and let me not live longer than to Honour thee through Jesus Christ Lord I have been sick and feeble and thou hast recovered my strength I am very aged and greatly stricken in years yet thou art still pleased to add unto my days sanctifie therefore good Lord the remainder of my Life and sweeten unto me the approaches of my Death A Prayer of Thanksgiving MOst Gracious God whose mercy is as high as the Heavens and whose truth reaches unto the Clouds thy Mercies are as great and many as the moments of Eternity thou hast opened wide thy hand of Providence to fill me with Blessings and the sweet Effects of thy loving kindness fill my Soul with great apprehensions and impresses of thy unspeakable Mercies that my Thankfulness may be as great as my necessity of Mercies are II. O Lord thou hast heard my Prayers and hast broken in sunder the Bonds of Sickness and hast delivered my Soul from trouble and heaviness thou hast snatched me from the snares of Death and saved me from the Pains of Hell O let my Soul rest in thee and be satisfied in the Pleasures of thy mercy that when thou shalt call all the whole Universe to judgment from the rising of the Sun to the going down thereof I may in thy Heavenly Kingdom sing Praises to thee for evermore Amen Meditation XXIV Comfortable refreshments at the hour of Death to be used by those who are present GOd so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting Life John 3.16 If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous and he is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole World 1 John 2.1 2. II. Verily verily I say unto you he that heareth my Word and believeth in him that sent me hath everlasting Life and shall not come into Condemnation but is passed from Death unto Life John 5.24 All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out John 6.37 III. Why art thou so full of heaviness O my Soul and why art thou so disquieted within me put thy trust in God for I will yet give him thanks for the help of his Countenance Psal 42.6 In my Fathers House are many Mansions John 14.2 What things were Gain to me those I counted loss for Christ Phil. 3.7 IV. For our Conversation is in Heaven from whence also we look for the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ Who shall Change our vile Body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious Body according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself Phil. 3.20 21. I press towards the Mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus Phil. 3.14 V. Set your Affections on things above not on things of the Earth For ye are dead and your Life is hid with Christ When Christ who is our Life shall appear then shall ye also appear with him in Glory Colos 3.2.3 In whom we have Redemption through his Blood even the forgiveness of our Sins Col. 1.14 VI. If in this Life only we have hope in Christ we are of all Men most miserable 1 Cor. 15.19 For we know that if our earthly House of this Tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God an House not made with hands eternal in the Heavens For in this we groan earnestly desiring to be cloathed upon with our House which is from Heaven 2 Cor. 5.1 2. For our light Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding eternal weight of Glory The things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal 1 Cor. 4.17 18. VII I am in a great Strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and to be with Christ which is far better For to me to live is Christ and to die is Gain Phil. 1.21 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus Phil. 2.5 None of us liveth to himself and no Man dieth to himself For whether we live we live unto the Lord and whether we die we die unto the Lord Whether we live therefore or die we are the Lord's Rom. 14.7 8. VIII I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me write from henceforth Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord even so saith the Spirit for they rest from their Labours Rev. 14.13 I am the Resurrection and the Life saith the Lord He that believeth in me though he were dead yet shall he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die John 11. I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the Earth And though after my Skin worms destroy this Body yet in my Flesh shall I see God whom I shall see for my self and my Eyes shall behold and not another Job 19.25 26 27. IX We brought nothing into this World and it is certain we can carry nothing out The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away Blessed be the Name of the Lord 1 Tim. 6.7 Job 1.21 O Death where is thy Sting O Grave where is thy Victory The Sting of Death is Sin
the Cursings and Howlings of Fiends and Furies shall entertain their melodious Ear deformed and hideous sights shall entertain their Lascivious eye loathsome Stenches their delicious Smell Sulphur and Brimstone their luscious Taste Graspings and Embracings of Snakes their amorous Touch and Anguish and Horror every Sense VI. Where those miserable damned Souls shall be tormented both in their Flesh and Spirit In their Flesh by Fire ever burning and never decaying and in their Spirit by the Worm of Conscience ever gnawing and never dying where there shall be Grief intolerable Fear horrible Filth incomparable Death both of Soul and Body without hope of Pardon or Mercy VII And now to close with the last the loss whereof exceeds our Sufferings in all the rest When we consider our unhappiness not only to get Hell the Lake of Horror and Misery but to lose Heaven the place of endless Joy and Felicity what Heart can ponder on it and not resolve it self into a Sea of Tears in Contemplation of it VIII What can the wretched Soul imagine when she lifteth up the light of her mind and beholds the Glory of those immortal Riches and withal considers how she has lost all for the petty Concerns of this Life O how can she be less than confounded with Anguish and cry out in the affliction of her Spirit when she shall cast her Eyes upon this worthless Earth and take a full Prospect of this uneasie World and perceive how her sight was intercepted by a foggy Mist Then presently looking up admiring the Beauty of that eternal Light she instantly concludes that it was nothing else but Night and Darkness she here embraced IX O how then she faints falters and fruitlesly desires that she might have some small Remnant of time allotted her what a sharp Remedy what a severe manner of Conversation would she enter upon What great Promises would she endeavour to perform and with what strict Bonds of Devotion would she seemingly bind her self but then all will be in vain for the Decree is gone forth and as she had her full swing of Pleasures here so she must have her just measure of Torments hereafter The Prayer MOst Gracious and dear Lord out of thy boundless Compassion look upon my grievous Affliction Keep not silence at my Tears for I am a Stranger with thee and a Sojourner as all my Fathers were I have none to fly unto but thee and so highly have I provoked thee that unless thou takest Pity and receivest me for his Blood which was shed for me I am lost eternally II. O thou good Shepherd call me thy lost sheep home for I am lost unless thou callest me Lost for ever unless thou savest me Meditation XVII With Comfort Faith applys her self to the sick Man's Conscience WOunds cannot be cured before they be opened Neither do we doubt but by ministring some fitting Prescriptions our endeavours will bring forth such good Effect as you shall find great ease in your Afflictions You tell me how the remembrance of your End is very terrible to you not so much in regard of your fear of Death as of that dreadful Day of Judgment which attends it II. For you find in your self such an infinite and unsupportable weight of sins pressing down your Soul even to the Gates of Hell as less than grieve you cannot else were you insensible of the loss of a Soul Trust me Sinner so far am I from condoling with you as I rejoyce in your sorrowing for this Sense of your Sins leads you to a Remedy which had you not been afflicted and brought even to the brink of the Pit you had still lived in supine Carelessness III. Now may you say with the Royal Psalmist It is good for me that I have been afflicted Else you might have gloried in your Sins and have perished for ever Be then of good Comfort and suffer not Cain's desperate Conclusion to take possession of your Spirits for I must tell you He sinned more in saying Greater is my Sin than can be pardoned than in murdering his Brother for as in the one he laid violent hands on the image of God so in the other he detracted from the highest and dearest Prerogative belonging to him IV. For there is no Attribute wherewith he is more delighted than to be styled a God of Mercy We may safely then conclude that Despair is of a more high and hainous Nature than any sin For tell me has not God himself with his own Mouth promised and is he not able and willing to perform what he hath promised That at what time soever a Sinner doth repent him of his Sin from the bottom of his Heart He will put away all his wickedness out of his remembrance Ezek. 18. though late Repentance then be seldom true yet true Repentance never comes too late V. The good Thief on the Cross had no sooner repented him of his Sin and Confessed Christ but he was even at the last hour received to Mercy which Example as it admits no Liberty to encourage any to presume so it is a Fortification to others against Despair VI. Indeed there is nothing that endangers Man's Salvation more than by giving way to delay yet when the sorrowful Soul heartily repents him of what is past and with a constant Religious resolve intends to redeem the time to come his pious Tears devout Prayers Holy Resolves will find ready Admittance to the Throne of Grace For as his Mercy is above all his Works so will he extend it in a large manner on that Work which stands in most need of his Mercy VII This your long Experience has observed and plenteously tasted else have your Sojourning years been ill bestowed that he is Gracious Merciful and of Long-suffering and it has been evermore the Property of this good and careful Shepherd to call home those that were wandring and to embrace those that were returning It has been ever the Condition of this valiant Joshua to exhort you to fight and then to assist you in the Conquest VIII Come then tell me are you weary and so heavy laden that you must faint by the way if you be not refreshed Go to him that has invited you and you will receive Comfort be not then wavering in your Faith but take fast hold of his Promises who will not fail you and rely on his Mercies who in your greatest straits will deliver you The Prayer BLessed Jesu how justly mightest thou have reproved me with O thou of little Faith O it is but a little one the least Seed in the Garden but O Lord I beseech thee increase it and pray unto thy Father that my Faith fail not So shall my Heart be purified I become justified and have access to thee by Faith and hereafter live with thee and thy faithful ones in the inheritance of the Just Meditation XVIII Hopes Address to the Sick Penitent A Froward Patient requires a rough hand and a resolute Heart I am not
Life is nothing but Vanity and Vexation of Spirit IV. And what can my Thoughts raise from this Or where shall I be comforted it is thy Mercy O Lord is the only expedient that can relieve me thou O Blessed Jesus art unto me Life eternal and by thy Sufferings Death is to me an advantage while my Body sleeps it shall rest secure and that Rest shall be perfectly Blessed I shall rest from Labour Sorrow and Sin my sleep shall be safe and my beatifical Vision happy while my Body sleeps in the Dust my Soul shall awake to Righteousness when my Soul is dismantled of Flesh and Flesh of fading Beauty my Spirit shall be adorned with the Robes of thy Glory V. While my Dust is driven with the wind upon the Surface of the Earth my Spirit shall fly to the highest Heavens then shall my Eyes be opened to behold my Soul with Purity and Perfection no dark Veil of Nature shall obscure me defect of Senses hinder me or foggy Clouds of sin hover over me my Understanding shall be transparent my Affections pure and my Memory perfect I shall there be fully satisfied in beholding the Spirits of just Men made perfect ravished in enjoying the Presence of Angels and Blessed in retaining the Divine Goodness VI. There can be nothing wanting where there is such Perfection where humane Happiness is eternally united to the Blessed Trinity where I am Christ's and Christ is God's and the Holy Comforter abides with us for ever O most splendid Condition of my sinful Body and blessed Change of my immortal Soul the one is sown in Corruption that it may rise immortal the other layeth down Corruption to inherit Glory VII But wretched Sinner even in this Happiness I am still miserable I found out my quiet but neglect to enjoy it Death reaches to me a Crown but I refuse to accept it I am so prone to affect my own unhappiness to delight in Labour and complain of Rest why do I dwell among these Objects of Vanity the World loves me not nor I it and why do I thus doat upon my Enemy with its frowns it afflicts me with its Smiles it betrays me and there is nothing in it but Vanity and Misery VIII Go then out cheerfully O my Soul from this dark Prison of thy Body to that bright Celestial Palace there God is thy Father and Heaven thy Country thou art here Forlorn Poor Wretched and Naked dispossessed of Graces and robbed of Goodness thou hast there large Treasure and of great Price a Heavenly Mansion and a goodly Heritage Christ hath long ago purchased it and is now gone before to prepare it IX Here in this Life thou longest much to behold what thou never sawest but in the other are great and glorious things prepared for thee such as no mortal Eye hath seen Ear heard neither can it enter into the Heart of Man to conceive how earnestly then shouldst thou long to behold them and much more earnestly to enjoy them how willingly should this make thee say with Holy David My Soul is a thirst for God yea even for the living God when shall I come and appear before the Presence of God X. Alas Thou art here my Soul but groping in the dark daily committing Errours and Mistakes every minute stumbling and falling into Sin Shame and Sorrow in great Dangers of the Miseries of humane Life but in greater Danger of eternal Torments XI All that thou canst pretend to know here is to Confess thy self ignorant Thou only knowest things here by their Events but there thou shalt know them in their primitive Causes thou art here tired out in gaining this imperfect feeble and empty Knowledge there thou shalt be delighted in knowing all that is desirable by knowing him in whom are laid up all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge these transitory drops of Joys are full of Bitterness but those Rivers of eternal Pleasures flow from the Fountain of eternal Sweetness Thou hast here the Pomps and Vanities of the wicked World to delight thee but thou hast there a far greater and more exceeding weight of Glory to surround thee thou art here inclosed by the Misery of Life but thou art there enlarged by the Blessedness of Death XII Blessed Lord all this by Grace I know and stedfastly believe and yet carnally I am still blind and ignorant unable to discuss and unwilling to desire those things which belong unto my Peace but when thou with thy precious Eye-Salve shalt once anoint my Eyes and open them to behold the Beauty of thy Heavenly Temple I shall then ardently affect it and unfeignedly long for it I shall then most readily forsake these brittle Walls of frail Mortality to dwell with thee in perfect Holiness and endless Happiness that Frailty may be swallowed up by Immortality and Immortality rewarded by Eternity The Prayer ALmighty God which wert and art to come who hast sweetned and taken away the Sting of Death by thy perfect obedience and hast perfumed the Grave by the Fragrancy of thy blessed Sufferings suffer me not in my last hour for any Pains of Death or Terrours of Hell to fall from thee let me seriously consider that this Life is miserable and that a happy Death is truly Blessed acquaint me every day with the remembrance of it and bless me every hour with an earnest Desire to it that I may with willingness cast off all Sin and Misery and joyfully put on the Robe of Immortality II. Prepare me O Lord for that Blessed hour and in my greatest Agonies and Extremities when all the Comforts of this mortal Life shall fail then Lord Jesus forsake me not neither be thou far from me Moreover give me then that inward Joy and blessed Comfort of thy Holy Spirit that may uphold and comfort me in all the Terrours and Amazements of this dark and obscure Passage in all the dreadful Temptations of the Devil and my own accusing Conscience Let thy Spirit witness to my Soul that I am thy Chosen purifie me and take away my Dross powerfully Protect me by thy saving Grace so shall I assuredly be made a Partaker of thy Heavenly Kingdom Meditation XXII In time of Sickness HEar my Prayer O Lord which I make unto thee upon my Bed of Sickness incline thine Ears unto me in this time of my trouble O hear me and that right soon Behold thou hast made my days as it were a Span long and my Age though it be great in respect of others yet it is nothing in respect of thee for verily every Man living is altogether Vanity II. My days are consumed away like Smoke and my Bones are burnt up as it were a Fire-brand There is no Health in my Flesh because of thy displeasure neither is there any Rest in my Bones by reason of my Sin My wickednesses are gone over my Head and are a sore burden too heavy for me to bear But I will confess my wickedness and be sorry for
received by the Holy Catholick Church and holds in Consent or Harmony with the Holy Scripture the Christians Armour by which and the constant Practice of Piety every faithful Soldier of Christ may be enabled to pull down those strong Holds of his spiritual Enemy and by Possessing his Soul in Patience obtain a glorious Victory VII With all due Reverence I esteem of those two Sacraments Baptism and the Lord's Supper the one to cleanse and purifie us at our entring the other to strengthen and sanctifie us Living and to glorifie our Souls at their departing As with my Heart I believe unto Righteousness so with my Mouth do I confess unto Salvation VIII Neither do I profess my self such a Solifidian asto hold Faith sufficient to Salvation without Works Neither such a Champion for good Works as to hold Works effectual without Faith As Faith is the Root so are Works the Fruit. These are ever to go hand in hand together otherwise that fearful Curse which our blessed Saviour sometimes pronounced upon the barren Fig-tree must be their Censure IX And now in this day of my Change as in this Confidence I have ever liv'd so my Trust is that in the same I shall dye that in the Resurrection of my Saviour Christ Jesus is my Hope And in his Ascension is my Glory For I believe that my Redeemer liveth and that with these Eyes I shall see him X. And having thus returned a due Account of my belief my next thing is to remember that Message returned by Isaiah the Son of Amos to Hezekiah set thine House in Order for thou shalt die 2 Kings 20.1 for it is a Maxim when the outward part is orderly disposed the inward cannot chuse but be better prepared XI To remove then from me the Cares of this present Life that I may take a more willing adieu of the World before I leave it weaning my desires from it by addressing my self to a better for live he cannot in the Land of the living who prepares not himself for it before his arriving XII And now my Worldly Cares are drawn near unto their Period Seeing then I am sailing towards my Harbour let me strike Anchor that taking the Wings of the Morning I may fly to the Bosome of my dear Redeemer go forth then my Soul what fearest thou Go forth why tremblest thou thou hast had enough of these Worldly Pleasures for what foundst thou there but Anguish turn then thy Face to the Wall and think of the I and of Promise XIII Thou hast now but a little time left thee the remainder whereof is justly exacted by him that made thee Sighs Sobs Prayers and Tears are all the Treasures that are left thee and precious Treasures shall these be to thee if presented by Faith to the Throne of mercy for the Enemy can never prevail where Christian Fear and constant hope possesseth the Soul XIV Let thy desire then be planted where thy Treasure is placed and as one ravished with a spiritual Fervour cry out and spare not with that devour Father St. Hierom Saying Should my Mother tear her Hair rent her Cloaths lay forth those Breasts which nursed me and hang about me should my Father lye in the way to stop me my Wife and Children weep about me I would throw off my Mother neglect my Father contemn the Lamentation of my Wife and Children to meet my Saviour XV. And less than this O my Soul thou canst not do if thou callest to mind what thou leavest to whom thou goest and what thou hast in Exchange for that thou losest For what dost thou leave here but a World of Misery to whom goest thou but to a God of Mercy and what haft thou in Exchange for a vile frail and corruptible Body but immortal Glory Whatsoever thou hadst here was got with Pain kept with Fear and lost with Grief whereas now thou art to possess eternal Riches without Labouring and to enjoy them without fear of losing The Prayer O God my Heart then is ready my Heart is ready too long have I sojourned here and made my self a Stranger to my Heavenly Countrey It is high time for me then to discamp and to leave these Tents of Kedar that I may rest without Labouring rejoyce without sorrowing and live without dying in the Celestial Tabor saying with that Vessel of Election I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ even so Lord Jesus come quickly A Prayer when we hear a Bell ring for a Person at the Point of Death OEternal God I humbly thank thee for speaking in this voice to my Soul and I humbly beseech thee also to accept my Prayers in his behalf by whose occasion this voice this sound is come to me For though he and all of us have highly offended thee yet do thou in mercy receive us and grant that now his Soul being ready to depart from hence to thy Kingdom it may quickly return to a joyful re-union to that Body which it hath left and that we with it may soon enjoy the full Consummation of all in Body and Soul II. I humbly beg at thy hand O merciful God for thy Son Christ Jesus sake That thy Blessed Son may have the Consummation of his Dignity by entring into his last Office the Office of a Judge and may have Society of humane Bodies in Heaven as well as he hath had ever of Souls and that as thou hatest Sin it self thy hate to sin may be exprest in the abolishing of all Instruments of Sin the Allurements of this World and the World it self and all the temporary Revenges of Sin the Stings of Sickness and of Death and all the Castles and Prisons and Monuments of Sin in the Grave III. Let time be swallowed up in Eternity and hope swallowed in Possession and ends swallowed in infiniteness and all Men ordained to Salvation in Body and Soul be one intire and everlasting Sacrifice to thee where thou mayst receive Delight from them and they Glory from thee for evermore Amen Meditation XXXII Of this Life compared with Eternity FOrasmuch as Man who is born of a Woman hath but a short time to live and is full of Trouble so Man as regenerate and born of God hath a long time to live and is full of Bliss A Life so long that it runs parallel with Eternity and therefore without an abuse we cannot use such an Expression as length of time II. It is not a long but an endless Life it is not Time but Eternity which now I speak of Nor is it a wretched Eternity of which a Man may have the Priviledge as he is born of a Woman but an Eternity of Bliss which is competent to him only as born of God III. And of this Bliss there is such a fulness that our Heads are too thick to understand it Or if we were able to understand it yet our Hearts are too narrow to give it Entrance Or if our Hearts could
hold it yet our Tongues are too stammering to express and utter it Or if we were able to do that yet our Lives are too short to Communicate and reveal it to other Creatures In a word it is such as not only Eye hath not seen nor Ear heard but it never hath entred into the Heart of Man to conceive Incomprehensible as it is 't is such as God hath prepared for them that love him 1 Cor. 2.9 IV. If we compare this Life with that of Job's which is full of Trouble it will several ways be useful to us for it will moderate our Joys whilst we possess our dear Friends and it will mitigate our Sorrows when we have lost them for it will mind us that they are freed from a Life of Misery and that they are happily translated to one of Bliss Nay if we are true Lovers indeed and look not only at our own Interest but at the Interest of the parties to whom we vow affection we even lose them to our advantage because to theirs V. Lastly it sweetens the solemn Farewel which our immortal Souls must take of our mortal Bodies we shall desire to be dissolved when we can groundedly hope we shall be with Christ we shall groan and groan earnestly to be uncloathed of our Bodies with which we are burden'd if we live by this Faith that we shall shortly be cloath'd upon with our House from Heaven 2 Cor. 5.7 23 24. We shall cheerfully lay down our Bodies in the Dust when 't is to rest in Peace who will certainly raise us by his Power that we may rest and Reign with him in Glory Amen The Prayer HOw hardly can we be perswaded O Lord to forsake the vanishing Pleasures of this Life for thy Glory and our own Happiness How unwillingly should we lay down our Lives for thy sake or the Gospels that can so hardly part with one Sin in obedience to thy Law II. Thy Yoke is easie and thy Service a perfect Freedom and yet we count thy Sanctuary a Prison thy Law a trouble and can scarce Sacrifice so much time to our Devotions as to pay unto thee the Honour due unto thy Name III. Pardon and Pity this Corruption of our Frames and teach us whether we live or die to delight in that for which thou madest us even to glorifie thee That so whensoever this earthly Tabernacle shall be dissolved we may receive our Change with Joy and be carried by Angels to an everlasting Inheritance there to remain to all Eternity Amen Meditation XXXIII COMFORTS against the Fears of DEATH and Consolations against immoderate Grief for the loss of Friends IF it be a Blessing of the vertuous to Mourn the reward which attends it is to be Comforted and he that pronounc'd the one promis'd the other I doubt not but that Spirit whose Nature is Love and whose Name Comforter as he knows the occasion of our Grief so hath he salved and season'd it with supplies of Grace pouring into our Wounds no less Oyl of mercy than wine of Justice II. Yet since affection oweth Compassion as a Duty to the afflicted and Nature hath ingrafted a desire to find it that which dieth to our Love is always alive to our Sorrow and we might have been kind to a less loving Friend but finding in him so many worths to be loved our Love wrought more earnestly upon so sweet a Subject which now being deprived of our Grief to our Love is not inferiour the one being ever the Balance of the other III. The Scripture moveth us to shed Tears for the dead a thing not offending Grace and a right to reason For to be without remorse at the Death of Friends is neither incident nor convenient to the Nature of Man having too much Affinity to a savage Temper and overthrowing the ground of all Piety which is mutual Sympathy in each others Miseries But as not to feel Sorrow in sorrowful Chances is to want Sense so not to bear it with Moderation is to want understanding The one brutish the other effeminate and he hath cast his Account best that hath brought his Sum to a proper Medium IV. It is no less Criminal to exceed in Sorrow than to pass the limits of Competent Mirth for excess in either is a disorder in Passion though that sorrow of Friendship be less blamed of Men because if it be a Crime it is also a Punishment at once causing and creating Torments It is no good Sign in the Sick to be Senseless in his Pains and as bad it is to be unusually sensitive being both either Harbingers or Attendants of Death V. Let our condoling since it is due to the Dead testifie a feelingof Pity not any pang of Passion and bewray rather a tender than a dejected mind Mourn so as your Friends may find you a living Example all Men a discreet Mourner making Sorrow a Signal not a Superior to Reason VI. Some are so obstinate in their own Will that even time the natural Remedy of the most violent Agonies cannot by any delays asswage their Grief they entertain their Sorrow with solitary Muses and feed their Sighs and Tears with doleful Accents they Pine their Bodies and draw all pensive Consideration to their minds nursing their Heaviness with a Melancholy humour as though they had dedicated themselves to sadness unwilling it should end till it had ended them wherein their Folly sometimes findeth a ready effect that being true which Solomon observed that as a Moth the Garment and a Worm the Wood so doth sadness perswade the Heart VII But this impotent softness fitteth not sober minds we must not make a Lives profession of a seven Nights Duty nor under Colour of kindness to others be unnatural to our selves if some in their Passions drive their Thoughts into such Labyrinths that neither Wit knoweth nor Will careth how long or how far they wander in them it discovereth their weakness but deserveth our Meditation VIII The Scripture warneth us not to give our Hearts up to heaviness yea rather to reject it as a thing not beneficial to the Dead but prejudicial to our selves Eccles 38. alloweth but seven days of Mourning judging Moderation in Grief to be a sufficient Testimony in Good-will and a necessary rule of Wisdom IX Much lamenting for the Dead is either the Child of Self-love or of rash Judgment if we should shed our Tears for the Death of others as a Mediocrity to our Contentment we expose but our own Wound even perfect Lovers of our selves If we lament their decease as their hard Determination we Tax them of ill deserving with too peremptory a Censure as though their Life had been an arise and their Death a leap into final Perdition for otherwise a good departure craveth small condoling being but a Harbour from Storms an entrance unto Felicity X. Our Life is a due Debt to a more certain Owner than our selves and therefore so long as we have it we receive a