i:4 drap. t o. :.t31t ExpÀfti:onupon tlte gao]of. J p,g, Ver,f, ì E dead Dog is better then the proud"elt Lyon alive ; yet, confider man only wlrhin the line and compafs of natural' life ; then he that lives in the worncondition, is better then he that once was in higheft dignity, but now is dead. It is ufual in Scripture bya Dog to let forth the vileft ellate of a man , , and the molt ei'tzellent by a Lyon.. When Mcphibojhe:bwould (hew how low he was in his own eyes,though the fon ofa noble Prince,he joyns thcfe two, Dead, anda Dag together, 2 Sam, 9. 8. What is thyfer- vant,ihat thou fhould(i look upon fetch a dead dog as tam ? He calls himfelf not only a dog,asÇh.rift did the woman of Canaan,andfhe acknowledged her felt to be, but to lay himfelfas low as lownefs it Pelf, he calls hïmfclf a deaddog, implying, that life giveth tome honour,and cafteth a luftre upon every fubjet, which it inhabits, though it be the rneaneff. When EJ4u was near perithing withhunger (Gen. 2 s 3 2.) he refolves thus, Tam at the point tia die, and what profit fhould this birth-right do to me? As ifhe had laid, Shall I keep my birth- right,and lofe my life ? my life is more precious. Thus he fpake, and he fpake profanely in it ; yet there is force truth in what he fpake ; for if we take birth-right precifely in the notion ofa civil priviledge ; fo life is better then a birth-right ; but he is called profane El-a:1,1; becanfe there wasa fpiritual priviledge in his birth- right,which he ought to have va- lued above his lite. Any fpiritual good thing is better then na- tural' life, but life is the bet' ofnaturall, and better then all ci- vil good things. When theProphet would exprefs howgreat a biding a King was to his people,he called him,The breath of their uofirils,Lam 4,29.and, livefor ever, was the higheft apprecation given the Babylonian Kings. The molt noble imitations of art are about this piece ofnature : It is the ambition of a painter to draw to the life, or to fhadow the motions and acáings of life. When we would commend a piaure, we fay, It is done to the life ; how precious a favour is reali life,the very (hadowof whicta is of fo great a price ? He that layeth down his life, payeth the greateft-debt, whether to ju(ticeor to nature. Chrift went to the higheft price for, and chewed the greateft favour to linnets, when he parted with, andpawned this Jewel for them, hisprecious life. This fhould minde parents, as to pray for quickning af- ter conceptions, fo togive thanks when the Embryon isquick- ned, Now
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