5 5o `IhePatriarchal Funeral. Gcn. 50. 1. Gen.49. I. l Aß. E. s. Aá. y. 31. Phybtians embalmed Ifrael, and the Egyptians mournedfor bins threefcore and ten days:. They werenotas yet the apparentenemies of God; they had their tears for Jacob, who afterward wouldhave drowned all his Sons they preferved and pro- longed the dayesofhis life ; andwhen chore were cutoff, they continued the dayes of his weeping, But there is differencebetween a formal and a realforrow, be- tween afolemn and a ferious grief, between a popularand a filial fadnefs. Where- foreJofeph is not contented with theEgyptian mourning ; he hath a neerer relation than thofe ftrangers had,and therefore more ofaffection is expeftedfrom him ; his filial fympathy muff go beyond their accuftomed civility ; the Egyptiansmourned, and he madeamourningfor his Father. This is the Connexion in rcfpe& of the Perlon; that of the a&ion followeth. When Jacob was near the time ofhis diffolution, Jofeph put his hand underhis thigh, and (wareunto him that he would deal kindly and truly with him, that he would bury him in the burying place ofhis Fathers. When he gathered up his feet into thebed and died, Jofephfell on his Fathers face, and.wept upon him, and kled hem, and fo paid the firft fruits of a Funeral with his eyes and with his lips. After this he commanded the Phylitiansto follow with Spices and embalm him, delrous to prefervethat body to the utmoft poflibility fromcorruption, from which he had received his generation. Then he entreated andobtained leave ofPharaoh to per- form his Oath whichhe fware unto Jacob : he went up to the Land ofCanaan to take poffeflion vvith his Fathers body, and laid him in the field which Abraham bought. There they buried Abraham andSarah his wife, there theyburied lfaac and Rebekah his wife, there Jacob buried Leah, and there Jofeph buried Jacob. And having thus fulfilled all the duties belonging to a Son, there remaining butthis one, fitter to be performed than required, bemade a mourningfor his Father. Thisis the Connexion of the A&ion. ThePerlon or chief mourner then is Jofeph; he vvhich once was dead in the thoughts ofJacob and delires ofhis brethren, furvives his Father to attend hisFu- neral, and topreferve his Brethren alive. His coming into Egypt colt agedJacob many a tear and he muff pals into Canaan to demonftrate his gratitude, and pay that debt untohis Father there. Thiseminent Perron is propofed for an example unto all ages of theworld : vvhat he here performed, veas no legal Ceremony ; he vvas a Patriarch, and long before the Lavv : he vvas a (angular and frgnal type of,. Chrift, and hath done nothing vvhich maymisbecome the molt retired and fubli- J med Chriftian. And this will readily appear, ifvve joyn the A&ion to the Perron. Re muds's mourning. I call't anAftion,vvhich may as vvell be term'daPaffion : as amourning, fo a Paillon; as bemade it, fo anAEtion : apaflsonate Aftion,or an active Paillon. The internal grief of his mind and forrovv of his heart, as an inward pafllon of his Soul, vvas voluntarily rais'd vvithin him by refolved and continued thoughts of his Fathers death ; and at the fame time the expreflion of that grief vvas vvillingly poured forth , as what he underftood did vvell become him. We are not only tobevvail our fins, but all thofe miferies vvhich proceed from them: and therefore tears were not only lent us to declare Compun&ion, but allo to exprefs Commiferation. we read our bleffed Saviour tvvicedid weep, once for the fins of ferufalem,once for the deathofLazarus whom he loved. Twoeyes Nature beftow'duponus, though perfeftly anddiftin&ly we can fee but with oneat once, andboth are equally made the fountains oftears,as we are ruiners for Contrition,as we are Brethren for compaflion. When the firft Marlys blood was fhed for the Chriftian faith, devout mencarriedSteven to his burial, andmadegreat lamentation over him; fuch were the tears of the Infant Church. When 'Peter found Dorcas, a woman full ofgood worksand Almfdeeds, dead, all the a idows (food by him weep- ing. Thus the firft which died in Chriftianity; were followedwith f>lemn tears : and it was a wife obfervation madeby the Apoftate Julian, that one of the means to convert fo many Heathens to our Religion, vvas thecare ofthe bodies, and the folemnities always uteri at the Funerals of the dead. Thusfar of the Altinn, Re made amourning. The
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