( 350 ) DISCOURSE II. THE WATCHFUL CHRISTIAN DYING IN PEACE. OCPASIONED BY THE DECEASE OF MRS. SARAH ABNEY, DAUGH- TER OF THE LATE SIR THOMAS ABNEY, KNT, PREACHED APRIL 2, 1732. Dedicated to the Lady Àbney, Mother of the Deceased, and to Mrs. Mary and Mrs. Elizabeth Abney, her two surviving Sisters. MADAM, I Fsorrows could be diminished in proportion to the multitude of those who share in them, the spring of your tears would have been drawn almost dry, and the tide of grief have sunk low, by being divided into a thousand streams. But. though this cannot afford perfect relief to your ladyship, yet it must be some consolation to have been blessed with a daughter, whose removal from our world could give occasion for so gene- ral a mourning. I confess, Madam, the wound which was made by such a smarting stroke, is not to be healed in a day or two, reason permits some risings of the softer and kinder passions in such a season ; it shews, at least, that our heartsare not marble, and reveals the tender ingredients that are mould- ed up in our frame; nor does religion permit us to be insensible, when á God afflicts, though he dòth it with the hand of a father and a friend; 'Nature and love are full of these sensibilities, and incline you to miss her presence in every place, where shewas Wont to attend yon, and where you rejoiced in her, as one of your dearest blessings. She is taken"away indeed from mortal sight, and to follow her remains to the grave, and to dwell there, gives but a dark and melancholy view, till the great rising- day. Faith may discern the distant prospect, and exult in the sight of that glorious futurity; yet I think there is also a nearer relief, Madam, to your sorrows. By the virtues, which shone in her life, you may trace theascent of her spirit to the world of immortality and joy. Could your Ladyshipkeep the eye of your soul directed thither, you would find it an effectual balm for a heart that bleeds at the painful remembrance of her death. What could your Ladyship have asked as a higher favour of heaven, than to have bdrn and trained up a child for teat glorious inhe- ritance, and to have her secured bf the possession beyond all possible fear 'or danger of losing it. This, Madam, is your own divinest hope for 'yourself, and you are hastening on toward that blessed society, as fast as days and hours give leave. When your thoughts descend to this lower world again, thereare . two living comforts near you, of the same kindwith what you have lost : May your Ladyship rejoice in them yet many years, and they in you! And when Jesus, who hath the keys of death, and the -invisible state, shall appoint the hour for your ascent-to heaven, may you leave them behind to bless the world. with fair examples of virtue and piety among men, and a long train of services for the interest of their Redeemer. If I were to say any thin, young Ladies, to you in particular, it should be in the language of our Saviour, and his beloved apostle, " Hold fast what you have till the Lord comes, that none may deprive you of your
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