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12. We do not consider as we should, with a serious and religious application of mind, how our Saviour Christ is not only risen from the sepulchre victorious over Death, but that he is also ascended up into the highest heavens, as our fore-runner, to prepare a place for us, and that, by departing out of our miserable bodies, we follow the path of our ever blessed Saviour, to reap with him the fruits of his most glorious victories.

13. We stoop too much to consider our frail, corruptible, and mortal nature; and we seldom enter into this most useful meditation, that by the Holy Ghost we are nearly and inseparably united to Jesus Christ, the Prince of life, and the source of light; and that we have already in us the seeds of blessedness, of glory, and immortality.

14. As the children of Israel murmured against Moses in the desart, and wished to be again in Egypt, forgetting their bitter slavery, under which they had groaned, their painful labouring among the bricks, and the heat of their furnaces, and minding only the pleasure which they had lost, they dreamed of nothing but the plenty of bread and flesh, of the cucumbers, onions, and of the meats, with which they had so often filled their bellies: thus we repine at Death, because we do not dream of the evils from which it delivers us; we think only upon the vain pleasures, and seeming advantages, of which it robs us.

15. We imagine that Death destroys and reduces us to nothing; and we do not consider, that it never meddles with the principal part of our being, but only pulls us from sin, and breaks the rest of the chains of our spiritual bondage; so that Death is rather the death of sin, than of the faithful.

16. Here is another great fault in us: We do not lift up

Our

our minds to consider the glory prepared for us at the egress of our souls out of our mortal bodies. However we may demean ourselves, and whatever we may pretend, we do not firmly, without doubting, believe the felicities which God promises to us in the contemplation of his face. Sometimes we may think upon the joys of paradise ; but it is a thought that passes through our souls with too much speed, and does not take any root. So that many, if they were not ashamed, would be ready to speak in the emperor Adrian's language, "My little soul, my dearest darling, O guest and companion of my body, whither art thou going?”

17. To these former causes of the fears of Death in us, we may add another: That we suffer our eyes to dwell too much upon the rottenness and corruption that threaten our body; whereas we should carry our eye-sight to behold its glorious resurrection, that shall soon follow. Pleasant abode, and delightful companion of my soul, must Death, this cruel Death, separate it from thee with so much violence? Must thou part with thy dear and sweet companion? Must my soul leave thee upon such grievous and lamentable terms, that of so many honours which have been heaped upon thee, thou shalt not carry so much as their shadow to the grave? that of so many rich moveables and treasures, thou shalt bear away nothing but a winding-sheet, a few boards, or, at the most, some pounds of lead? After thou hast lived in so much splendour and magnificence, must thy covering be at last the worms? After thou hast walked so proudly in palaces gilded with gold, and perfumed, must at last thy confinement be in a stinking and loathsome sepulchre ? Must these beautiful eyes be closed? these lips of coral become pale? this golden mouth be stoped? and must this dainty flesh. rot, and become odious to the eyes of the world?

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18. In the next place, we do not meditate as we ought

upon

upon that eternal bliss and glory that hath been prepared for us from the foundation of the world, and into which we shall enter when Christ Jesus shall come from heaven with his holy angels, to judge both the quick and the dead: when he shall re-unite our souls and bodies together for all eternity, that he may be glorified in his saints, and won

derful in all the faithful."

CHAP. VII.

The first Remedy against the Fears of Death is, to meditate

often upon it.

E become acquainted with the most dreadful things

WE

by custom and conversation. Fresh soldiers commonly quiver and shake at the sight of an enemy; they tremble at the vollies of shot, and, half-dead, fall to the ground at the terrible noise of the great ordnance. But when their courage hath been hardened by a long exercise, they can then without fear seek the enemy in his greatest advantages, and can go as merrily to the combat as to a feast or a triumph. The showers of small shot, the lightning and thunder of the cannon, cannot make them so much as shut their eyes or stoop their heads; they then laugh at their former apprehensions. Thus the first conceits of Death commonly terrify us: but when we seriously meditate upon it, and look it in the face, we shall not only contemn it, but we shall seek it boldly in its retreats, and with an undaunted countenance, we shall behold Death let fly all its arrows, and casting its thunderbolts, without the least apprehensions. As they who are not wont to see savage beasts dare not draw near to them, and can scarce look upon them without fear; but such as are familiarly acquainted with them can touch them without apprehension, and freely play with them: thus it is with them

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who never had any confidence to look Death in the face; they tremble, and are filled with astonishment, as soon as they see its approaches; but they who often behold Death are familiarly acquainted with it, and therefore they can with confidence thrust their fists into its jaws. Moses fled away from his rod, when it was first turned into a serpent; but when he began to take it in his hand, and saw that it returned to its former shape and being, he was far from running from it, or entertaining the least apprehension of it: he made a very happy use of it, and by God's command wrought many miracles. Thus it is with Death; it frights us at first, but if we can but take hold of it with hands of a true and lively faith, it will be so far from scaring or frightening us, that it will discover to us a world of delightful wonders.

Death therefore is so far from terrifying such as are accustomed to it, that it fills them with comfort and joy. As a child, that looks upon the father who hath a vizard on his face, is frighted and begins to cry; but if he hath but the confidence to pull off the vizard, and take but notice of the loving smiles of his parent hid under that deformity, he will not only cease from weeping, and settle his mind, but he will also leap for joy, and embrace him. Thus, if we look upon Death with a timorous countenance, and behold its hideous appearance, we shall be struck with a sudden horror; but if we can with any assurance lift up his vizard, we shall soon discover our heavenly Father, and with tears of joy we shall run to embrace him. As the apostles, when they espied Jesus Christ in the night walking upon the waves of the sea, cried out in a fright, thinking that it had been a spirit; but when he drew near to them, and they heard his voice, they perceived him to be their Saviour; when therefore they had received him into their ship, the storm ceased immediately. Thus, if we look upon Death at a distance, the blindness and ignorance with which we are possessed will represent to us a frightful

frightful spirit; but if we examine and behold it nearer, by the help of the gospel light, we shall find it to be our salvation, and the accomplishing of our redemption. All our fears will then be calmed, and our souls will return to their former temper. In a word, as he that runs from his enemy increases his couaage, and renders him more earnest and resolved to pursue him; thus, when Death sees us tremble, and decline its approaches, it becomes more proud and imperious over us. We must therefore think betimes of Death, represent it to ourselves continually, and enter into an acquaintance with it. It was holy Job's practice: for he "cried unto the pit, Thou art my father; and to corruption and worms, Ye are my mother and my sisters," Job xvii. And I imagine that this was the chief reason of Philip of Macedon's commanding a page every morning to rouse him out of his sleep with, "O king, remember thou art a mortal man." For by this often-repeated lesson he laboured to humble his lofty mind, and teach his frail nature not to glory so much in the splendour of his crown and sceptre, nor to abuse the power committed to his trust. By this means also he became ac quainted with Death, that it might not seem strange when it should come in earnest and snatch him away. This was also the design of the emperor Meruan, or Meruanes, who caused this motto to be engraved on his seal, "Remember that thou must die." These words minded him of that which his courtiers were afraid to mention to him. So that this great prince never confirmed with his seal the death of any man, but at the same time he represented to himself, that his own death was not to be avoided. For the same reason the noblemen of China are wont to have their coffins ready made in their chambers, that at every moment they might look Death in the face. And for that intent the Egyptians, in their most sumptuous feasts, commonly placed a dead man's skull in an eminent corner of the room. By this spectacle they intended not only to oblige their guests to moderate their

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joys,

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