550 THE RELIGIOUS IMPROVEMENT 1. Here is the death of one of the greatest men upon earth : A king whose dominion was spread from sea to sea, and who reigned over several nations : A prince who held the balance of Europe, and determined the superio- rity to which side soever he inclined : One that was arbiter of peace and war among the potentates of the world. Yet behold he is subject to mortality and the common stroke of death ; Ps. lxxxii. 6, . " I have said ye are gods," because the power of magistrates bears some resemblance to that of the God of heaven : There- fore they are called' " the children of the Most High; but they must die like other men. It is the hand of the Lord bath Wrought this, he in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind ;" Job xii. 9, 10. The lesson that we derive from this view- of things, is, to " take heed lest we depend too much on the life of the best of princes." Though we derive many blessings through their influence, yet we must remember they are not immortal. Let God alone be the solid and ever -. lasting rest and refuge of our souls, whose life is eternity, whose kingdom reigns over all, and his dominion is for ever and ever; Ps. clxvi. 3, 4, 5. " Put not your trust . in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help ; his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that veryday his thoughts perish," and all our depen- dencies are vain and frustrate. " Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, and sea, and keepeth the truth for ever ; verse 6. Is. ii. 22. " Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of?" God alone is our immortal hope. 2. We may remark in this event, the sudden death of this great man in a journey to his native land. He set out from his palace in Great Britain in a state of health and vigour, with a firm constitution and strength above the proportion of his years : But ere he arrived at the place which he designed, he was smitten with a mortal faintness, and hurried away from the earth in -an unex- pected hour : He was arrested in his journey by a fatal messenger from the King of kings, ,a messenger whose game is Death, and whose commission admits of no.
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