more capable of overcoming the violence of distemper; and bless such remedies as may be applied for our recovery. Or if it seemeth good in his sight, he can give commission to disease to attack our bodies, and impair our health, so that we at last sink under it, and yield up the ghost. It is certain that the time and manner of our death are thus ordained by the divine counsels; "that our days are determined" by God; "the number of our months is with him; he hath appointed bounds for us, which we cannot pass." He is continually superintending us during our abode on earth; and when the purposes of his providence are accomplished with us here; he removes us by death to other mansions accommodated for our reception according to our respective characters.

And it is our wisdom to acquiesce in his unerring dispensations; since he knows at what period of our lives it is most suitable to quit this mortal state. He foresees that many calamities would befal the righteous, and therefore he takes them away from the evil to come; he foresees the pernicious consequences of the wicked's transgression, and shortens their days, lest they become tenfold more the children of wrath by longer impunity. "He is just and righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works;" and continues us in life, or removes us by death, according as either may best promote his glory and our good. Let us then learn to submit patiently to every affliction however severe; to be dumb and not open our mouths, because God hath done it. Let us say with Job, under the most distressful circumstances, "the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

We may not indeed be so ready to acknowledge that goodness and mercy have followed us, when we find the afflicting dispensations of divine providence. But even in this respect we shall perceive reasons sufficient for preventing immoderate sorrow at the death of our friends, When we reflect, that the world is a scene of trouble, vexation, and misery; that the longer we live our cares and perplexities increase upon us; and that by the cala mities of life our spirits are broken, and our hearts are

disconsolate; we may adopt the sentiments of the wise man, and exclaim, "when I returned and considered all the oppressions that are done under the sun, and beheld the tears of such as were oppressed, and they had no comforter; then I praised the dead which are already dead, more than the living which are yet alive." Our virtuous friends, whom death has translated to a better world, are now free from the endless train of those miseries which embitter our lives. Often were their minds bewildered when anticipating the impending misfortunes which might befal us; often with an anxious wish did they ruminate on the future prospects which awaited themselves and their families; and often in the bitterness of grief did they bewail the slightest indisposition of their infant children. These affections of our nature, though amiable and endearing, are frequently sources of the most penetrating anguish. But in that happier world, which those who sleep in Jesus are admitted to inhabit, "there is neither sorrow, nor crying, neither is there any more pain; for the former things are passed away."

While they lived on earth, the infirmities of nature were also constant causes of distress to their enfeebled frame. The weak, the sickly, and the aged, are daily groaning under the pressure of some inveterate disorder, or the gradual decay of the functions of life. How often do we see our fellow-creatures suffering either the most excruciating pain, or the most lingering sickness, without the capacity of enjoying any longer that cheerfulness and those pleasures which once afforded them the most exquisite delight. Now, they can no more engage in those active employments which promoted their health, and ministered to their comforts; now they can no more take a part in the labours and amusements which once gladdened their hearts; now they can no longer enjoy the society of their dearest friends, but have lost a relish for every thing under the sun. Perhaps their souls are pierced with anguish at the recollection of better days; perhaps they deplore the untimely death of those who might have contributed to their support; perhaps they ruminate on the hapless fate of those whom they shall leave behind

them. Such is often the state to which the aged and helpless are reduced; and were it not for the consolations of religion, and the joyful hope of entering into rest beyond the grave, they would be of all men the most miserable. But in that future world, where the righteous enter after their departure from the body, they are freed from the distresses of a weakly body, and the anxieties of a desponding mind. "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

Another cause, which to a considerate mind should check the indulgence of immoderate sorrow at the death of our friends, is, that they are now removed beyond the reach of those spiritual evils to which we are constantly exposed in the present world. As long as we tabernacle in the body, the corruptions of our own hearts, and the sins of others, never fail to create the most distressing perplexity. Every one who has any serious sense of religion upon his mind, feels that in many things he offends, and comes short of his duty; "that he has a law in his members, which warreth against the law of his mind, and bringeth him into captivity to the law of sin; that the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; and these two are contrary the one to the other, so that he cannot do the things which he would." Every one who is desirous to improve in holiness, experiences how much he fails in that conformity which the law of God requires; so that he is often ready to exclaim, "O! wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" And when he reflects also on the careless indifference, and profligate conduct of many with whom he is united in the bonds of friendship, his heart is torn with anguish; especially when all his remonstrances to reclaim them from the error of their ways is fruitless and unavailing. How often, in such moments, does the serious Christian wish with the prophet of old, "O that I had wings like a dove, that I might fly away, and be at rest?" When, then, our friends are entered into that rest which remaineth for the people of God, where sin and

sorrow shall no more be known, but where each one shall walk in his uprightness, shall we lament their fate, which is infinitely happier than it was on earth? nay, are we not persuaded, that they have made a blessed exchange, since they have been introduced into a state, where "that which is perfect is come; and that which is in part shall be done away."

But we may be much concerned about the uncertainty of that condition in which the souls of our friends are placed after their departure from the body. Yet let us not sorrow as those who have no hope; for the gospel has brought life and immortality to light. By it we are informed, that in our "father's house there are many mansions," suited for the residence of every class of intelligent beings. In some distant regions of the universe, there are doubtless places assigned them by the Eternal, where they enjoy pleasures far more refined, and happiness far more complete, than what we participate in the present state. This world is only the vestibule to another stage of existence in futurity, where our faculties will be enlarged, our natures refined, and our souls purified, till we gradually arrive at greater and greater degrees of perfection, and be more and more qualified to glorify and enjoy God through the ages of eternity. This is the destiny appointed for the faithful; this the glorious career which they begin and continue in those regions beyond the grave.

We know not indeed, what worlds they are sent to inhabit; but in whatever place they have taken up their abode, they are still under the protection of our Father in heaven, who provides for the comfort of his creatures, by affording them all things needful to enjoy. Our friends have already experienced his bounty in the present world, and therefore we may safely trust that he will supply them with such accommodations as they require in the world to come; and such enjoyments as may be necessary for their disembodied state. He hath guided them by his counsel while they lived, and hath now received them to glory.-What the blessedness of a future state consists in, we know not, farther than reason and revelation have discovered. By these we learn, that the souls

of men, when dislodged from the body, are capable of existing and acting as well as they do at present, and in a manner far more perfect than we can now conceive. But, as we may not be capable of forming a precise notion of their mode of operation, without some farther investigation, I proceed therefore to shew,

II. That we should rejoice in the death of our virtuous friends, since they sleep in Jesus in their intermediate state, and shall be brought to glory at the resurrection of the just.

It has been sometimes made a question, whether the spirits of men who have inhabited a body while on earth, can subsist in a separate state, without such a material organization as that to which they are here united. And it is even alleged, that the sleep of the soul is spoken of in the text and other passages of scripture. But whenever sleep is spoken of in reference to the soul, it signifies, that in a future state we rest from all the labours, and pains, and sorrows of life; in the same manner, as in sleep we are at ease for a while from the restless anxieties attending our earthly condition. But that it does not imply a state of insensibility and cessation of activity, appears from various considerations, derived both from reason and reve lation. By reason we know, that the soul and the body are altogether different in their nature and properties; so that the destruction of the one does not necessarily affect the existence of the other. That this is the case may be proved by a very simple argument. We may have lost, during our lives, various parts and organs of our body; yet our soul has remained the same in all its faculties, as if our bodies had been still entire. So that the changes which take place in our outward man, do not in the least degree produce any change in the powers of our minds. Nay, we have by a physical law, undergone a complete process of attrition, by which the component parts of our corporeal system have been frequently altered; yet our souls retain the same self-consciousness amidst the various decompositions of which our bodies are susceptible. If then our spirit has been unaffected by the loss of our