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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
very
day
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.