And agen, The day of one's Death is better than the day of one's Birth; i. e. the day of the Death of fuch an one, as poffeffes and deserves a Good Name; of fuch an one, as hath liv'd well, and dy'd well; is preferable by far to the day of his Birth: for it gives him admittance into a State of perfect reft and tranquillity, of undisturb'd joy and happiness; whereas the Day of his Birth was only an Inlet into a troublefome World, and the beginning of forrows.

And then it follows, very naturally, in the words of the Text, that It is better also to go to the Houfe of Mourning, than to go to the House of Feafting. As Death to a Good man is more advantageous than Life; fo to a Wife man the Contemplation of the Firft is more defirable than all the Enjoyments of the Latter: He had much rather be prefent at the fad Solemnities of a Funeral, than partake of thofe Festival Rejoycings, which are usual in all Nations, but efpecially among the Jews, at the Birth of a Child.

Hard Doctrine this, to the Men of Liberty and Pleafure! who have faid to themselves, Come on, let us enjoy the things that are prefent, let us fill our felves with

coftly,

coftly Wine and Ointments, and let no Flower of the Spring pafs by us; let us crown our Jelves with Rofe-buds before they be wither'd : Hard Doctrine, I fay, it is to fuch men as Thefe; and which will run the hazard of not being entertain'd by them. The Wife man therefore hath condescended to prove, as well as affert it, and to back the fevere Rule, he hath lay'd down, with very convincing Reafons: for that, fays he, is the End of all men, and the Living will lay it to heart. As if he had faid, This Dark and Melancholy State it will one day certainly come to Our fhare to try; and what muft fome time or other be undergone, ought to be confider'd beforehand: this is the End of all men, and all men therefore fhould have their Eye and their Thoughts upon it. And then farther We are most of us fo immers'd in the Pleasures, and fo taken up with the Follies of Life, that we need all methods of reducing our ftragling Thoughts and Defires, and of giving our felves a ferious Frame and Compofure of Mind: and of all Methods, this of repairing to the House of Mourning is beft adapted to that Good End, and will fooneft and most effectually bring it about; The Living will lay it to heart.

I have largely explain'd the Connexion and Meaning of the Words, which have been pitch'd upon to employ Your Thoughts on this mournful Occafion. The next thing fhould be, to excite You to a compliance with the Direction there given, by the particular Arguments fuggefted in the Text, and by several other powerful and moving Confiderations : to prove to You the Folly and Emptiness of a Life led all in Mirth, and Jollity, and Pleasure; the Wifdom and Reafonablenefs of fhifting the Scene fometimes, of turning the Gloomy fide of things towards our felves, of exchanging the Houfe of Feasting for the Houfe of Mourning, and of making a difcreet and decent ufe of thofe fad Opportunities of Reflection, which God, mercifully fevere, is pleas'd to put into our hands.

But I am prevented in this part of my Difcourfe by the Pious Defign of this prefent Affembly: You are already doing that which I fhould recommend to You from the Text; paying the Tribute of Your Tears to the Memory of One, whofe Worth You knew, and whote Lofs You fenfibly feel; and bewailing Her, under the different Characters She bore of a Wife, a Daughter, a Relation, a Miftrefs, a Friend.

N

All2

All, therefore, I have to do, on this occafion, is, to fall in with Your Pious Grief, already rais'd, and to bear a part in it, by dwelling together with You a while on the Character of that Incomparable Lady, whofe Death we lament; by uniting, as well as I am able, the featter'd parts of it, and recalling to Your Thoughts at once the feveral Excellencies and Perfections of which it was compos'd which made her belov'd and reverenc'd by You while Living, and will make her Memory ever Dear and Defirable to You, now fhe is Dead; and which rais'd her above the greatest part of her Sex, much more than any Outward Marks of Rank and Distinction.

It is now, after her Decease, a fit time to fpeak of her in thofe Terms of Refpect which the deferv'd: for in her Life-time fhe would not fuffer it, and took fome pains to avoid it; hiding as many of her Vertues as he could from Publick Obfervation, and fo behaving her felf in the practice of thofe fhe could not hide, as thew'd, fhe had no mind to be told of them: difcountenancing, as far as lay in her power, that odious and defigning Flattery, which, through the wicked Fashion of an Infincere World, is now

thought

thought to be a kind of Cuftomary Debt due to her Sex, and almost a neceffary part of good Breeding.

But, tho' the Living can feldom be prais'd with Decency, yet the Dead certainly often may; efpecially fuch of the Dead, as had a very unusual Degree of indifference and unconcernedness for what was faid to their advantage, while they were Living.

There is a Publick Homage due to Defert, if we take a proper Season of paying it; and the Minifters of the Gofpel, who are entrusted with fo many Methods of promoting Piety in the World, are, among the reft, entrusted with This, of giving Honour where Honour is due; and of truly reprefenting to the Minds of men fuch fhining Patterns of Vertue, as are moft likely to engage their Attention, and provoke their Imitation: It is Our immediate and particular Employment to Praise God; and it doth, no doubt, in fome measure alfo belong to us, to praise those that are Like him.

And now how fhall I enter upon this fruitful Argument? What Particular of her comprehensive Character fhall I first chufe to infift on? Let us determine our