I. .A Funeral Sermon. ·, daily have the fame. 'Twill be no ereat miftake to account every Eune,ral we attcng on to be our own. Let us imagine our' fclves nailed up iQ., the Coffin, laid in th~ Grave, covered over with Earth 1 and putrifying to WPrms and Dirt i this is only but a few days to anticipate what fuall be. Not a Grave opens it$ mouth, but i~ pbinly fpeaks thus much, that we are mortal and pcriJhiQ.g: not a rottCn Bone, nor dead Scull is fcattcred about it, but tell us we muft lliOrtly take up our abode with them, in the fame-darknefs and corruption. And if uPon every fhch · fad occa(ion we make no particular application of tt to our felves, we not only -lofe--our ·Friends lives but their very deaths too, yet herein are we gencr~lly faulty: WhenGod fna~ch: eth them from us, we ufually reftet\: more upon th~ lofs, t}Jan the ex:ample; ·and ~hereby as he deprives us of the cqmfort we had in tl1cir li\'es, :fo we deprive our felves of the inftru~Hon and benefit we might have by their Deaths. There are in... ,deed few (unlcfs it be thofc who have quite divefted themfclves of human ity) but will fomctimes c~nfider their1 frail and mortal ftate; atleaft, when they (ee a pattern of it before their Eyes. When they fee departing Pangs,diftor ted Eyes, quivering Limbs, the wan and ghaftly Corps, the image of Death in all its Jively Tcrro\Jrs ·> if theY ha\•e any remainders of natural foftnefs left, it muft needs ftrik c them with Penfiverefs, to think that one day this muft be their own cafe ; f horrly all this mnft be aaed over .upon themfelves. But no fooner is the dead inter red, and the Grave 5\l'd, ~han all ~hefe fage and ferious thoughts vanifh, and they return again to the fame glut ofluft and pleafures as before. . 2. Let us .therefore confider (which was the fecond General propo~nded) whence it proceeds that Men are fo ftupidly irrational, that though they all know they !hall dye, yet fo few ferioufly prepare themfelves for it. Perhaps, upon enquiry, we fhall find the caufcs of it to lye in the!e following particulars. • Firft, Men are generally ro immerft in the bufinefs and plC.: fur~ of Life, that thefc fwallow up all ferious thoughts of Death, and preparations for it. They arc cm~,>loycd about other things: like an heap of Ants that are .bulily toiling to get in thelr provifion, without regarding the foot that's ready to crufh them. Such are th~ impertinent and vain cares of Men: one contrives how he may melt aw~y· his days iiJ luxury and ,plea(hre; how he may by. variety and choice.of invented delights imp the win~s of Time, ~nd.niake the .flow days and hoUrs roli.aw:ay faft~t over l)jm. 'Tis not likely thcfc Oionl<l entertain any fob~r thotlgMs of dying, who thus like Prodigals lavifh out their time, as if they c~uld never fee the bottom of it, iil1d their ftock c.ou)d never he exhaufted. The unconcerning vanities 9f Vifits and Complements di~id.e their dJys; and t4e only ufe they make of their time is to fl:udy h ow they may JXI(S it..: till their end comes l.'pon them tmthought of, and fowre Dear~ cuts them oJFin the mi~ft of all their foolilh pleafurcs. . Somearc bufily climbing up the.fteep afcent of Honour ~nd Dignity, and .arc .fo wholly engaged m getting Promot~on~ and new Titles, thatth~y forget their old frile of mortal Creatures. They fpend theii- live.s in ,Purfi1ing a puf fof J-Vind, an airy fantaftick thing, depending meerly upon the fond :md IrratiOnal Qpinion of the giddy multitude. As Counters, which as they are placed, f'tand for fc ores, ol;'hundreds, or thoufands; but are all of the fame value when hudled toge ther: fo . truly, the Honours which the ambitious and gallant Spirits of the World do fo Paffionately court, :Ire as fitl:itious as thefe, dependingmeerly upop. commonef teem. When Death comes to lhuffle and huddle the Noble and Ignoble together in the Grave, what be- comes ofall thediftance, and difference that was between them? Will the duft and alhcs of the one make obcyfance then, or pay refpctl: to theduft an darhesofthe other? Others are plotting, with the Fool, how they may grow rich, an~ lay up Goo:ls for nl.any Years, when yet they know not whether GOd will not U!ke away their Souls this very Night; and then what remainsto them ofall that w,.hic~,<t;hey ~ave fcraped together? Such Men, methink~, may be well compared to SumpJer-Horfes ·: they are laden with a rich Trea(nre,and attended wi~Q ~ OUVJCrou~Tfaifbqf.S~y.v~nts; but at Night when t~eir Load is ta~en off, what rema~s , ~o them of all _t~~r Car. riage, but only the ftripes'and weannefsof \he day l Va~~;l\1,en! arf t.~'ife1. #J~ great important things yoq• !et, your bear;~ upon l Mull tpf World ,dnnk up all your thoughts, and Deat,~ t~at , w1ll lhortly fn,atch you frQ"! all t)le EnJ9YIACn's ,of 1t be forgotten l Yet fo brutilh arc we become \hat though w~~~f2ever w,c ,~o)!),hcre be by · · the
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