5 5 2. The Patriarchal Funeral. EcduLis, ti. Eccluf38 16. Fourthly, many perlons expiringgive tuo fadoccafions offurrow to their relati- ons left behind : they which depend upon theen,whofe fubflfance liveth and ditch, andwhole hopesare buried with them,may goto their graves with unfeigned tears, lamenting not fo much the departure of their friend, as their own lofs; fomething theymay weep forthem, andmore for themfelves. But the death ofJacob was not of any fuch condition ; there could no difadvantage arife from that toJofph, no interefl'of his could fuller by it. He had already blcffed all his Sons, and Jofeph principally ; there could benomoreofheavenly, favoursexpedcd from his pray ers_ or prophefjes. Had he died before he laid hishands upon Ephraim and Manafeth, had .Jofep'h and his Sonsbeen abfent when he bleffed the reft, hemight have fadly mourned for the lofs of his Father, and of the .Bcnediaion. If Efau lift up his voice and wept, becaufe hewas defeatedof the blefÌing while Ifac lived , Jofeph might well have made a mourning, had he been prevented of the Benedidion by an unexpededoradiffantdeath. But Jacob bleffed them, and withhis bleffing gave order for his burial, and with that blefing and that order died. And as his death was no way prejudicial to the fpiritual, fo was it not at all difadvantageous to the temporal condition of his Son. He fuffered lofs ofno enjoyments by. his Fathers death; Jacob had lived long by the favour and the'rareofJofeph, his filial gratitude alonepreferv'd his life ; but no fuchnarrow thoughts abated the freenefs ofJofpis forrow. And he madedmourningfor hú Father. If none of thefe confiderations, which work fo powerfully on otherperfons,did move this Mourner to exprefs fuch forrow , what were the Motives then which caus'd fo deepa fenfe, what meditations wrought fo powerfully on the heart of Jofeph? I anfwer,-they were but two,Mortality, andPaternity ; theone (impeded, the other expreffed in the text : Jacob was the Father of .Jofeph, and that Father deád, and therefore Jofeph mourned for him. Mortality is a proper object to invite our pity, and privation cf lifealone fuffi- dent to move compaffion in die living. x eepfor the dead, faith the SonofSi achy forbe barb loftthe light. Iffor no other reafon, yet becaufe a man is dead, and by death deprived of thofe comforts which thofe that live enjoy, theywhich furvive may providently bewail their future privation in his prefent lofs.Thus every Grave- ffone befpeaks or expels a tear, asif allthofeeyes whichhad notyet loft their light, were to pay the tribute of their waters to the dead Sea. This Fountain Nature was never made in vain, nor,o be always fealed up; that heart is rock which fufferi it never to break forth ; and be it fo, yet if the rodof ¡Wafts ffrike, an aflidioir Pent fromGod shall force it. Let us therefore be ready with our forrowful expref fons when we are invited by fad occafions; efpecially WhenaFather,who may cont. :nand them, calls for them, as that Wife man did, My Son, let tearsfalldounover the dead. And ifpaternal authority demands them at the death of others, it is no filial duty which denies them to attend upon a Fathers Funeral. Jofeph a man of a gracious and a tender heart, moved with common objects ofcompaffion, had a vulgar forrow arifing from the confideration of mortality ; Jofepb a Son full of high affedion andof filial duty andrefped,was touched with a far more lively fenfe by theacceffion ofpaternity : e4ndhe made amourningfor his Father : he made a mourning for his Father, which begat him; for his rather, which loved hint ; for his Father,whichbleffed him ; for his Father,which hadmourned for him ; for his Father,which came down to die with him. Firft, he made amourningfor hit Father who begat him : had there been no o- ther:but that naked relation, it had carried with it a fufficient obligation. There is fo great an union between the Parent and the Child, that it cannot break without a deep fenfation. He which hathany gratefulapprehenfion of his own life received, cannot chufe but fadly relent the lofs of that life which gave it. If the fear of the death of Crafue, by a natural miracle could unty the tongue ofhis Son who never fpake before ; that manmuff be miraculoufly unnatural, the flood -gatesofvvhofe eyes are not open'd at his Fathers Funerals, though he never vvept before. The gifts of. do not obliterate, but improve nature; and it is a falle perfvvafion ofA- doption, which teacheth us fo far to becomethe fonsofGod, as to forget that vvc are
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