The mourner directory, guiding him to the middle way betwixt the two extreams, defect, excess of sorrow for his dead to which is added, The mourners soliloquy / by Thomas Doolittle ...

THE Mourners Soliloquy.

CHAP. XIX. Containing the Mourners Soliloquy, or Rea∣soning with himself concerning his Sor∣row for his Dead, for the moderating of it.

DEad! Alas! wo is me! my Father, Mo∣ther dead! my Wife, or Husband, or Child dead! can I with Comfort live? are not my comfortable days past and gone, when he or she is dead and gone? Gone! no more to return to live with me on Earth! Let me look upon the Body in the Coffin, before it be lodged in the Grave, for after that I shall look upon it no more: mine Eyes shall see it no more. Look! behold its pale Face, its clo∣sed Eyes, its Jaws tyed and muffled up; these Eyes did see me, but now Death bath shut

them, that they cannot: This Tongue did use to talk with me to my great delight, but now Death hath tied it, and my Ears shall hear the sound thereof no more: These Feet did often walk with me, yea, we went to the Ordinances of God together, but now Death hath fettered them, that they can move no more; and must I follow it to the Grave, and see it covered with Earth, and there leave it? and when returned home, look for it at my Table, but it is not there; or in my Cham∣ber, but it is not there? The Cloaths the Body was often dressed with are there, but the Body is not there. Now it is so many Weeks since it was buried, she is gone, but my Sorrow doth remain: Remain! it comes more and more, and doth increase: My Soul is grieved, my Heart is loaded, and my Spi∣rit fails within me, the more I muse, the more I Mourn; the more I think of mine thus captivated by Death, and buried out of my sight, the more my Sorrow is renewed. Alas! I can contradict that Old Proverb, Out of Sight, out of Mind; for he, or she hath been so long out of my sight, but hath not been a a Day, or Night out of my mind; and the more and longer I remember, the more and longer I do sorrow.

Sayest thou thus, O my Soul? is it God or a Creature, the loss of whom thou mourn∣est for? If of God, weep on, and Sorrow and

seek him till thou findest him, for he is a li∣ving and Gracious God, and may be found: But if of a Creature, forbear thy Tears, and moderate thy Sorrow, for if thou shouldest weep thy self blind, and break thine heart with grief, being dead and gone, cannot be any more found, wherever upon Earth thou seekest for it: Wilt thou then examine thy Sorrow, whether it be pleasing unto God, or whether it be turbulent Passion, and meer fruitless Self-vexation? whether thou Mourn∣est like a Christian, or an Heathen? whether thy sorrow be not sinful, and excessive, and therefore sinful because excessive? Dost not thou know, hast not thou read and learned, that thou shouldst not sorrow as those do that have no Hope? are thy tears more boundless than the Ocean? for that hath bounds, and shall thy Tears have none? The Waves thereof go so far, and then are stay'd; and shall thy Tears continually drop, and have no limits set unto them? or wilt thou suf∣fer them to run waste, and shed enough to wash thy Dead, when thou shouldst keep them to pour out before God upon thy bend∣ed Knees, that by the Blood of Christ thy Sins might be wash'd away? Have thy Tears so blear'd thine Eyes, or thy Sorrow so di∣sturb'd thy Reason, that thou canst not see thy Sorrow to be Excessive Sorrow? and thy Grief to pass all bounds of Christian Mode∣ration?

Measure it by Reason and Religi∣on.

And then tell me, O my Soul, if that Sor∣row be not Excessive for thy Dead, whereby thou hastenest the death of thy own Body, and invitest Death to lay it dead? Tho God by Death hath taken away the Life of thy Relation, yet hath he not commanded thee to use all means lawful, and to abstain from all those things (amongst which Immoderate grief is one) that doth endanger thine own Life? and wilt thou thereby become guilty of thy own Death? Besides, is not that Sor∣row too much, that must be sorrowed for? and those Tears too many, that must be wept for? and more follow them, because they are so many? Hast thou Sorrow too much al∣ready, and must thou still have more, be∣cause thou hast too much? Dost thou not see what straits thou bringest thy self into, that while thou dost abound in Sorrow, thou wantest Sorrow, because as yet thou hast not sorrowed for this too much abundant Sor∣row?

For give me an answer, O my Soul, if that be not too much abundant Sorrow, that doth more hurt than good? and would be too much if it were for thy Sin, which for Sin, tho the greatest Evil, would be too much, when it doth more hurt than good? and doth it not do so, when it driveth to despair, keeps

off the Soul from Christ, and from hoping in his Merits, or God's Mercy: and is it not too much, when it is more for thy Dead than for thy Sin, for when thy Sorrow should bear its proportion to the Evil thou sorrow∣est for, and Sin is a greater Evil than the Death of thy nearest Relation, be thou thy self the Judge, if sorrow for the lesser evil be not too much, when it is more than that which thou hast for the greatest Evil?

Moreover, O my Soul, wilt thou not grant, that Sorrow is excessive, which causeth thy Thoughts to run into the Grave, and hinders them from ascending into Heaven? and to have many self-piercing and self-tormenting Thoughts of thy dead, for one serious and Heart-affecting Thought thou hast of the Li∣ving and Eternal God? and which makes thy Heart as cold in all thy Duties unto God, as the Body of thy dead Relation is in its Grave?

Besides, is not thy Sorrow too much, when it hinders thee from Spiritually rejoycing in God, and giving Thanks to him for all the Mercies, which in thy Sorrow thou dost over∣look? Especially when let thy Condition be what it will as to Temporals, thou hast much more cause to bless God for Spiritual and Eternal Mercies, than to grieve for the loss of Temporals.

Add to this, O my Soul, and then judge, that thou grievest so much for thy Dead,

that thou hast left off sorrowing for the Mi∣series of the Church of God; and losest much of thy little remaining Time, where∣in thou hast many Duties to perform, many Graces to get, and more degrees thereof, many sins to mortifie and subdue, many Temptations to resist, a deceitful Heart to watch and search, Children and Servants to instruct and teach, and holy preparations to be made for Death, and another Eternal World, and while thou sorrowest, all these are neglected. Is it not too much?

By this time, and from these Evidences, O my Soul, art thou not convinced that thy sorrow for thy dead hath been, and still is excessive sorrow? that thou hast and dost transgress the bounds of Christian Modera∣tion, and thereby offend thy holy Lord, wrong thy self, discredit that Religion thou dost profess, discourage the good, and cast a stumbling-block in the way of the ungodly, and wilt thou still proceed herein? Canst not thou sensibly feel the stroke of his hand, and yet patiently submit unto his will? How long wilt thou thus be cast down, how long wilt thou thus be disquieted within me? Is thy Relation fallen asleep, and are thy Graces slumbering? Is thy Faith as dead in thy Heart, as thy Relation is in the Grave? Shall Nature wôrk thus strongly in thee, and Graces so feebly? If natural Affections be

exorbitant, hath not God implanted Grace in thee, that it may correct, moderate and govern them? Art thou only a Rational, and not a Believing Soul? Yea dost thou thus Immoderately grieve, as if thou wast neither believing, nor rational in thy sorrow? If there be nothing in the common Book of corrupted Nature that thou canst read, but what doth add grief unto thy grief, yet is there not enough in that special Book of sacred Scripture that might turn thy sorrow into Joy for those of thine that sleep in Je∣sus? Or hast thou thrown it by, and neg∣lected to look and search into it? Or if thou readest, dost thou understand what thou readest, or dost thou consider what thou dost understand, or believe with an unsha∣ken Faith what thou dost consider, whilest thy sorrow doth continue so excessive? Hath not God revealed therein such certain Truths concerning the Bodies of those that dye in the Lord, such glorious things concerning their separated Souls for the present, such wonderful work that he will hereafter do, in reuniting the same Souls with the same Bo∣dies, in raising them from the dead, and Re∣deeming them from the Grave, such desirable Glory that their Souls and Bodies thus reuni∣ted shall be joyntly partakers of, and be made perfectly and eternally holy and hap∣py in the enjoyment of the Father, Son, and

eternal Spirit, in the innumerable Company of glorious Angels, and the vast multitudes of such as with them were chosen, redeem∣ed, sanctified, and shall be for ever saved, singing triumphant Hallelujahs, when they shall all be gathered together in the Imme∣diate presence of their Lord and Saviour, and be possessed of those Mansions in their Fathers House, which were prepared for them? Hath he made known such things as these, and are they sure, and infallibly cer∣tain, and yet for want of Faith, and Hope, and Love, dost thou sit here and sigh and sob, and grieve and groan, as thô those thou mournest for, were for ever lost, as if they were so dead, that they should live no more? or as if they were so fast bound in their Graves, that they never should come forth, nor be taken from that dark place, to the Palace of glorious Light above?

Attend then, O my Soul, unto the Expres∣sion, wherewith thy Lord doth represent the death of thy holy Relation now deceased, as a sleeping in Jesus. And if thou mournest because she is dead, yet try if thou canst mourn because she sleepeth in the Lord. For this doth Sorrow fill thine Heart? or mayest thou not rejoyce, that being dead she so sleepeth? for if she sleep in Jesus, shall she not do well? and if she shall do well, shouldest thou not rather rejoyce, than thus lament

and grieve? When didst thou sorrow, when she went to bed, and slept and took her natural Rest? And now she sleeps in Jesus, is she not at rest in her Grave, as in her bed, from all troubles from men, from Sick∣ness and Pain, and from all Sense thereof? from all worldly cares, and piercing Sorrows that did usually accompany those cares? and if her Death be but a Sleep, how easie is it for Almighty Power to awaken her out of her Sleep? And if she sleep, she shall awake; for if in the usual Course of Nature, waking followeth after sleeping, wherefore dost thou doubt, or sear that Death being but a Sleep, that it will be a perpetual Sleep? And if she went sick, and weary, and weak to sleep, when she shall awake, shall she not be more refreshed, and revived in the Morning of the Resurrection? If the time of her sleep∣ing seemeth long to thee now waking, and not to her now sleeping, why dost thou trou∣ble thy self with that, with which she is not at all concerned about? If in the time of her Life, thou sawest her sick, and could not sleep, this was a grief and trouble to thee, would it not much more have added to thy sorrow to see her languish, filled with pain, hear her sigh, and sob, and groan upon a sick bed, and could neither recover, nor yet fall asleep, and yet dost thou take on that when by all means used, and learned, carefull, and

pious Physicians consulted, she could not be recovered, that now she is fallen asleep? Why dost thou molest and trouble thy self at the thoughts of the Length of her Sleep, when it is no more trouble nor disquiet to her, than the Length of time is to one that is fast sleeping in his Bed, tho it may be tedi∣ous to one that sitteth by, and waketh while he sleepeth. Remember, O my Soul, and let the remembrance thereof asswage thy sorrow, that it is her last, but not an everlasting sleep; tho it be long it shall not alwayes last, and because it is a sleep that is called Death, it shall be the last that she shall sleep, for when awaked she shall sleep no more for ever: And yet is this the Body that thou thus bewailest? and for this dost thou thus Night after Night break thy sleep? and when she sleepeth qui∣etly in the Lord, and dreameth not of any of the things that are done in this World, canst not thou rest nor sleep in thy Bed, with∣out dreaming of her that is so unconcernedly sleeping in the Bed of the Grave? Let her quiet and resting Body rebuke, O my Soul, thy unquiet and restless thoughts.

Moreover, consider, O my Soul, whose State thou hast more reason to lament and bewail, thine own, or the state of the Soul of thy Relation that was converted and sanctified, that did repent and believe, be∣fore Death made the separation betwixt thee

and her, or betwixt her Body and her Soul? Dost thou not believe that her Soul being absent from her Body, is now present with the Lord? and being so, is perfectly freed from all sin, sorrow, Temptation, Inclina∣tion to sin, and from a possibility of sinning? and is possessed of all good, filled with all Joy, perfect in the Knowledge of God and Christ, and in Love to, and Delight in all the Persons in the (to us) unsearchable Tri∣nity? Whilest thou thy self art grieving, groaning under the Burden of remaining sins, conflicting with Satan and the Powers of Darkness, clogged with the Flesh, and ensna∣red with the Allurements and Affrightments of this evil and deluding World? Thou in a state imperfect and Militant, the Soul of thy Relation in a state perfect and Trium∣phant? Is it not thy frequent Doubts and Fears whether thou lovest God, and whe∣ther God loveth thee, with a differencing, special and peculiar Love? Are they not thy often Complaints, that thou hast but little Enjoyment of God and Communion with him in his Ordinances, and sometimes none at all? That thou seekest God but canst not see him, and searchest for him but c••nst not find him? That thou goest from Me∣ditation to Prayer, from Praying to Hear∣ing, from Hearing to attending upon ••im at his Table, and after all, thy sorro••ful

saying is, I sought him whom my Soul loveth and longeth for, I sought him, but I could not find him? That thy Sin had interposed betwixt thy God and thee, and caused him to hide his Face from thee? Were not these the Complaints also of thy Relation, while with thee, and didst not thou endeavour to satisfie her grieved and disconsolate Spirit, by reason of Gods fre∣quent withdrawings from her Soul, and la∣bouredst to resolve her Doubts, to remove her Fears, and to answer all the Objections she did make about the Sincerity of her Love to Christ? And is her separated, saved, glo∣rified Soul now above all these Doubts, and Fears, and Jealousies? Is it now above Hope, and Desire, because possessed of what it hoped for, and desired after? Is it now perfectly Loving, and delightfully Praising of its Lord and Saviour? Is it now con∣stantly beholding of Him, and rejoycing in Him, and can doubt no more, and question his Love to it, and its Love to Him no more for ever, because it feels, and is filled with the lively sense of both? And dost thou sit here Mourning, whilest it is eternally Rejoycing? Cease sorrowing for her whose Soul is perfectly happy and triumphant, and save thy Tears to bewail thine own Hazards, Dangers, and Sins in this Imperfect state, and to pour them out before God in fer∣vent

Prayer, that thou when separated from this Body, mightest be received into that place of Light, and Life, and Love, into that glorious Kingdom of the Ever-living God, and all-sufficient Saviour, to which her Soul is gone before, and is now singing, re∣joycing, and triumphing in.

But above all, O my Soul, why art thou troubled and disquieted most of all, for what hath befallen the Body of thy dear Relation? Why dost thou sit in thy Cham∣ber, where thou sawest her breathe her last Breath, and give up the Ghost, and ••use how thou sawest her pale, and didst handle her cold Face, when layd in her Coffin? And while thou sittest here, thy thoughts so often run unto the Grave, and co••sider∣est how the Body is mouldring and consu∣ming, and turning into Rottenness and dust? And while thou say••st, For this here is my sorrow, let me ask the••, in the mean time where is thy Faith? Hast thou an Eye to see how the Body lyeth in the Grave, and hast thou not another Eye to see how it shall be raised up? Canst thou not look beyond the Coffin and the Grave, to a joyful, glo∣rious Resurrection?

Wake, O my Faith, awake, that I may firmly and steadfastly believe this great and comfortable Article of the Resurrection to Life Everlasting, and joy more that it shall rise

again, than be cast down because it is cast into the Grave, and for a while is lodged there? Hast thou not, O my Soul, solid Foundation for thy Faith in this particular? Doth not thy Lord, that is infinite in Wis∣dom know where every one is buried, or where the Body doth consume? Doth not he know, which Bones, and Skull, and Dust belong to this Body, and which to that? If this be knowable, doth not he know it? Or else is not his Knowledge limited and finite Knowledge, because not extended to every thing that may be known? And hath he not Almighty Power, and so can do all acts of Power, all things possible to be done? Cannot he that made this great World, and yonder larger Heavens out of Nothing, out of something make these dry Bones to live? Cannot he that formed the Body of Man at first of the Dust of the Ground, and caused it to live, New-make these Bodies, tho turn∣ed into Dust? Or doth this seem incredible to thee, that God should raise the Dead? Cannot he do what he hath done? Did not he raise Lazarus, and the Son of the Wi∣dow of Naim? and Jairus his Daughter? and himself, when he had layn for a time in the Grave? And as he can, so hath he not declared that he will? How often hath he spoken it? How frequently hath he pro∣mised it? Is not this the Fathers Will that

sent his Son, that of all that he had given him, he should not lose any one, but raise them up at the last Day? And, O my Soul, dost thou not believe that the Son hath and will do the will of his Father in every point, and particularly in this, when he so often hath said, he will raise them up at the last Day? O be not Faithless but Believing, and so cease thy excessive sorrowing. Blessed Lord! increase my Faith, that my immode∣rate sorrow may decrease. I have shewn my Unbelief by my excessive sorrow: Now help me, Lord, to shew my Faith by my abating of my grief for my Dead, because tho Dead, yet shall certainly Live again.

Lord, confirm my Faith in this, That as sure as Christ is risen from the dead, so sure∣ly shall my dead, and all others be also raised: because I read in thy holy Word, that if Christ be raised, then those that sl••ep in Jesus shall also rise, and if these shall not, then Christ is not risen, and if Christ be not ri∣sen, we are all in our sins, and all Preach∣ing, Praying, Believing, and all Religion is in vain; which being absurd and false, the other must be certain and sure: And by the belief of this (thanks be to my God) I find, I feel, my Sorrow is turned into lively Hope, earnest Desire, and comforting Joy.

Besides this, O my Soul, be further satis∣fied and quieted within me, forasmuch as

thy Lord hath not only said that those that sleep in Jesus shall rise again, but hath also foretold what Bodies they shall then be, tho the same for substance, yet their Properties, Qualities, and Endowments far more excel∣lent, than when they lived or died. Dost thou sorrow because her Body was Mortal and did die? why dost thou not rejoyce, be∣cause it shall be raised Immortal, and then shall die no more? Art thou grieved at the remembrance of its weakness, sickness and pains, why art thou not comforted at the believing Foresight that it shall be raised a Powerful and Impassible Body, and shall be sick and pained no more for ever? Or art thou cast down because that Natural Body by Food and Physick could no longer be sup∣ported, nor maintained in Life? Why doth not this raise thy Comfort, that it shall be raised a Spiritual Body, and need Food, and Physick, and Sleep, no more than the An∣gels in Heaven? Is it matter of thy trouble to co••sider how vile and loathsom Death hath made it; why doth it not delight thee to believe, it shall be raised in such Glory, that it shall shine as a glittering Star, yea as the Sun in the Kingdom of God; and that Beauty shall be its Cloathing all over? Why doth so••row daily fill thy Heart, be∣cause the Soul is gone, and left the Body a lifeless piece of Earth, a mass of breathless

Mould, and dost not rejoyce, that the Soul already is made like to Christs Glorious Soul; and the day is coming, and it hastens when the Body shall be fashioned like to Christs glorious Body? Like to Christs Glorious Bo∣dy! Lord, who that doth believe these words of thine, may not cease to sorrow in excess, because now the Body is so like the dust in which it lodgeth, and begin to joy, that in thine appointed time it shall be like the Glo∣rious Body of an exalted Jesus.

Holy Lord! how great is the difference betwixt the same Man, as if he were not the same, when he looks upon his Dead with an Eye of Sense, and Carnal Reason, and when with an Eye of Faith, according to thy Word? For when I sit and muse, and say, Methinks I see how the Body of my dead lyeth in the Grave, and how it mouldreth and consumeth, I am a sad and sorrowful Man, and my Heart is grieved within me; but when I sit and consider, and believe, and say, Methinks I see it Redeemed from the Grave, methinks I see it raised an Immortal, Powerful, Spiritual, Beautiful, Glorious Body, shining as the Sun, and like to Christs Glorious Body, I am a chearful, joyful Man, and Comfort flows a∣bundantly into my Soul.

Moreover, O my Soul, thy Sorrow might be turned into Joy, when thou dost believing∣ly consider, that rather than the Dead should

always be captivated by Death, and ever held by the bonds thereof, the Lord HIM∣SELF will come down from Heaven, and fetch them forth: Rejoyce, and be exceed∣ing glad, that when the appointed day is come, the Lord Jesus will not stay, nor rest in Heaven, till he hath opened their Graves, and delivered them from the Power of death. Blessed Jesus! Help me to rejoyce in thy Mighty Power, and abundant Love, in that because the raising of the Dead is a work too great for all the Angels in Heaven, thou wilt come thy self, and cause them to live again. Methinks I hear thy Voice, Ye Dead arise; Methinks I hear the mighty Shout, and the Trumpet sounding; methinks I see the Lord in his Glory coming down from Hea∣ven, and calling to the Dead, and methinks I see them in great numbers coming up out of their Graves: He calls, they tho dead do hear, and tho dead, at his Command do Live. Lord at thy pleasure they fell into the Grave, and at thy Voice they do come forth. O powerful Voice! Oh joyful glori∣ous sight! Oh the difference betwixt a Fune∣ral, and the Resurrection day! the one was a sorrowful, the other will be a joyful day.

Especially, O my Soul, when the day of Death was a parting day, the day of the Re∣surrection will be a meeting day. Thou and thine at Death did part, and that did fill

thy Heart with sorrow, but then thou and thine shall meet again, and never part. Thou and thine! that's not all, thou and thine shall meet the Lord in the Air. Wond••rful! Bodi••s but now in the bottom of the Grave, anon the same mounting up into the Air; there to be owned, acknowledged, and open∣ly acquitted, and from thence to go along with their Lord Redeemer into the highest Heavens, to be for ever with the Lord. Once in the Grave, and after that with the Lord! A long time in the Grave, and after that long time is out, and over, be with the Lord for ever, which never will be out, and over! O blessed Day! O desirable Day! Lord when shall it be? When shall it come? Dear Jesus! gather in the chosen of the Fa∣ther effectually, all the number that is or∣dained to be with thee for ever, and then come, yea come quickly, that those of thine that are sleeping in their Graves may awake, and meet thee, and be with the Lord for ever.

Thus, O my Soul, hast thou followed thy Dead unto the Grave, and dost know and believe that this Body shall rise again, and be an happy and glorious Body, prepare to follow, cease excessively to sorrow, rejoyce in Hope that the Lord will come, when his shall be with him for ever.

Be with with him for ever! Are they now

dead amongst the Dead, and shall live with him for ever that doth live for ever? Is not this it that Christ did bleed, and sweat, and suffer and die for? Is not this it that Christ did rise from the dead for, that those that sleep in him might also rise? Is not this it for which he ascended to Heaven, to pre∣pare a place for them? Is not this it for which he intercedes, that all those that the Father hath given him might be where he is, that they may behold his Glory? Is not this it for which he will come again, and take (the Quick and Dead in him) all of them unto himself, that where he is, there they might be also? Lord, hast thou said it, and shall I not believe it? Lord I believe, help thou my Unbelief.

And dost thou indeed believe these sayings of thy Lord, O my Soul, and yet sit sor∣rowing with excessive sorrow for thy Dead, that shall so surely live, and be with him? Doth not some other Frame and Temper more become thee? Dost thou believe the future happy State of their Bodies, whose present death thou dost bewail, yet canst thou not abate thy sorrow? nor turn it yet into the actings of some other Affections, nor into the exercises of some Grace? which if thou dost, will it not more tend to the Glory of God, to thine own Comfort, and to the Encouragement of thine own Relati∣ons,

which yet do live with thee, and to the setting off the Power of the Christian Reli∣gion, when thou shalt believe the Promises and Principles thereof, and behave thy self as one that is endued with such Faith, and hast such firm Foundation for thy Faith?

Blessed Lord, by thine assistance now I can, and by thy helping Spirit now I will endeavour that I might no longer sorrow as if I had no hope, when the sincere dying Christian hath hope in his Death, and after he or she is dead, the Living have such grounds of hope that the Dead by Christ shall conquer Death, and that the day will come, when if they be looked for in the Grave, there they shall not be found, but may be said, they are not here, but are ri∣sen, come see the place where they did lye, but are not here, but gone to meet the Lord, and to be for ever with him in the highest Heavens.

Then Lord, I will no longer droop, but hope. Awake my Hope, and let my Sorrow give place to thee. Hope! Oh how sweet is this, how pleasant and delightful? If my Sorrow was as bitter as Gall, this Hope is as sweet as Honey: And this I do begin to feel, the more lively is my Hope of their joyful glorious Resurrection, the more my Sorrow doth abate, tho now for the pre∣sent

they be the captives of Death. Indeed had it not been that I had got this Hope, my Heart would break with Grief, but through Grace I have obtained this good hope, and by it my Spirit is revived, my Sorrow is more moderate.

And having this Hope, my Sorrow is turn∣ed into desire, and longing for the Day and Coming of my Lord, that all that sleep in Jesus might awake, and their Immortal Souls be cloathed with Immortal, glorious Bodies: Oh how much better do I find it, to groan with desires that they might live, and come up out of their Graves, than to groan thro grief that they are dead, and cast into them? O Time, make haste and flye with greater speed, that this day of the Coming of the Lord, and rising of the Dead may come! It is approaching, it is approaching, it is nearer by every Day, by every Night, by every Hour that comes and passeth away. As time doth wear away, so let my Sorrow, as to its excess wear off, and that by my desiring in∣stead of sorrowing.

Yet thou must wait patiently, O my Soul, tho thou dost so earnestly desire it; and tho this Morning might not dawn before the night of Death doth overtake thy Body, yet wait while thy Life doth last, and leave thy Body, in hope that thine and theirs that be already

dead, shall surely live again in a Glorious, Blessed and Eternal Life: For doth the Hus∣bandman cast his Seed into the Ground, and know that it shall rot, yet patiently wait till it rise out of the Ground, and grow un∣till the Harvest, when it shall be gathered in with great advantage; and canst not thou, O my Soul, be patient, and wait for the Re∣demption of those Bodies, that are rotting in the Grave, till the Harvest-day shall come, and they be gathered with so great Advantage into the Kingdom of their God?

And while thou dost desire and wait, thou mightest also, O my Soul, rejoyce and be exceeding glad, because that what thou wait∣est for, and dost desire, thou hast such well-grounded Hopes, that it will surely be: And tho the Object of Desire and Hope is good, as absent, and the Object of Joy is good as present and enjoyed, yet let thy Faith make that as present which is yet to come, that thou mayest rejoyce therein, as if it were al∣ready present.

O Lord, notwithstanding all my Sorrow, while my Faith and Hope were sleeping, yet now by thy good Spirit of Grace they are awake: my Sorrow is turned into Joy; thou hast put off my Sackcloth, thou hast turned my Weeping into Hoping, Desiring and

Rejoycing in the firm Belief that my Dead shall rise to Glorious Life; and being not ignorant of this, Lord pardon my Sin that hath been in my Sorrow, and let me sorrow no more as one that hath no hope.

FINIS.