die as they have lived, immersed in their sins, without any true and inward communion with JESUS CHRIST, satisfied with a mere profession of the truth, and denying the power of it by their actions and in their most secret thoughts. How happens this? It would without doubt be easy to assign several reasons, but I am much deceived if the two following are not the principal: one is, that few know what it is to die well: the other is, that fewer still who know, take any pains to "practise what they know."

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The generality of men form an extremely false, or at least an extremely vague and general idea of a good death. They make it to consist in things which are common to those who die well, and to a far greater number of those who die miserably. They imagine that to die well is to have a pastor by whom their minds may be occasionally engaged in the consideration of divine things; to follow in thought the train of his conversation; to address the throne of grace in prayer, with a desire strong or feeble, that God will hear it; to ask the pardon of sins committed, joining to this prayer some sorrow for sin, and assuring themselves of success in the name and by the merit of JESUS CHRIST. Such is the idea which many have of a good death: but it is evident that this is a very imperfect idea of it, since

if it were just, nothing would be more ordinary than to die well, there being nothing more common than persons who die in a manner like this. In the meantime, as they imagine there is nothing necessary beside this to a good death, they make no effort to do any thing more. They are satisfied with what they consider sufficient; they are deceived in so considering it, and their error is fatal. I know there are those who, better instructed, conceive more distinctly what it is to die well, and who know what are the dispositions requisite for a departure in the love and favor of God. But among the number of these how many are there who do not what they ought, to acquire these dispositions, and bring themselves into this happy state. How many who neglect themselves in this and in many other respects, and who, notwithstanding all their light and their knowledge, live and die in their sins ?. These are then the most culpable; for the servant who knew his LORD'S will and did it not, shall be beaten with more stripes" than he who sinned through ignorance.

Three things are necessary to a good death.

I. To understand what it is to die, well; to know all the duties of a dying person; all he should do; all he should think, and feel.

II. To be instructed in what way he may attain to these acts, thoughts and dispositions.

III. To practise them.

The following pages will be devoted to a consideration of the first two of these heads. The work will be divided into two parts. The first will teach what a good death is, and will discover what is best calculated to make it so. The second will show whát must be done to put us in a proper state to die, and to acquire the dispositions necessary to a dying person. I shall undertake to illustrate the first of these points in the first book, and the second in the following. In respect to the third, which is the practice and observance of what is here recommended, it will be evident to the reader that this is his own concern. This depends solely upon the grace and operation of the Holy Spirit, who only can give efficacy to the truths here proposed.

All that I can do in this respect, is to pray the Supreme Master of hearts, "the author of every good and perfect gift,” to impress deeply in the hearts of my hearers, the truths which I undertake to illustrate in this work, and to make them conduce to his own glory, and the salvation of the souls of men. And this I beseech him to do of his mercy and goodness, through our Lord Jesus CHRIST.

CHAPTER II.

TWO KINDS OF DEATH. -- BY WHAT THEY ARE DISTINGUISHED.

To judge of death only by the light of nature, we shall find that it is nearly the same in all men. We shall find in it some minute diversities, which arise from various unimportant circumstances. But we shall observe that it is always the same thing in the end. It is always the extinction of life, the separation of body and soul, the overthrow and destruction of “this earthly taber. nacle," where now we have our habitation. So that in this respect those words are true and applicable which declare

66 There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not.”

To the eye of faith, however, a great diversity is to be remarked in this death, which appears thus similar and uniform. We shall see there are two very different descriptions; or more properly to speak, two kinds, diametrically opposed to each other. In the one, we are objects of the love of God; in the other of his hatred. The one is followed by infinite and eternal felicity; the other with extreme and everlasting misery. That

which precedes these two descriptions of death is not less opposite than that which attends and follows them. Three things conduce to this, the state of those who die in this different way, the manner in which they are occupied, and the sense of approaching death which is realized by the soul.

When the children of God come to die, death always finds them in that happy state which is called a state of grace. The wicked, on the contrary, die in a state of sin and condemnation. The children of God were actually engaged in their duty; they labored to serve God and to be saved, until death came to take them from the earth. The wicked, on the contrary, had other cares more or less criminal, but equally vain and useless. Finally, the approach of death excites faith, repentance, the love of God, and similar acts of a sincere piety in the soul of the true believer. With the others there are no such indications, but on the contrary dispositions at utter variance with them. It may

here be useful to remark that the third variety above mentioned, namely, the sense of approaching death realized by the soul, is not uniform. It does not apply to those who know with certainty they are dying, or that they are about to die; for in regard to those who are removed by unexpected accidents, who have not a