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12.29. Wicked Souls in Hell will be fenfible of this, which now they will by no Arguments be perfwaded to believe. Feeling will convince them, when to be convinced, and to be tormented will be all one.

2. That fo very sharp and intollerable, are the pains of wicked Souls departed hence, that the leaft degree of eafe and refreshment, would be accounted a very great kindness. Let us here think but well within our felves, what a very small thing in appearance it seems to be, that the Rich Man doth with fo much earneftnefs beg of Abraham, tho' all in vain. He is here fuppofed to cry, to call aloud; that is, with the greatest earnestneß he could ufe, to defire a kindneß from Abraham; and the better to move him, and to excite his bowels of compaffion, he ufeth the most endearing compellation, that of Father, Father Abraham, faith he, it is not poffible how wicked a Son foever I have been, that thou fhouldft forget what it is to be a Father; thou canst not have loft the nataral affection which all good natured Fathers are wont to have even for the worst of their Children. Tho' I have no goodneß left in me, for which thou cant now love me, yet, the very mifery I am in cannot chufe but move thee to pity and compaffion, and therefore, dear Father Abraham, I beseech thee by that great goodneß which is infeparable from fuch a Father, have mercy on me. A mercy, a great mercy I will take it for, if thou will grant my requeft. And now confider what is it wherein he defires, that Abraham would exercife his mercy towards him? 'Tis only this, that he would not come himself, but only fend poor Lazarus ; not with fuch a quantity of Water as might fuffice to extinguish the Flames wherein he was tormented,

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nor fo much as might afford his whole Body fome little refreshment, but only a little to cool his Tongue; yea, fo little that it is even next to nothing. Not fo much as would lie in the hollow of ones band; but only as much as Lazarus might dip not his whole Finger, but the tip only of his Finger in. Suppofe now we faw one lying in the midst of Flames, and all over Scorched and Burned with them; how little comfort or eafe can we imagine that fuch an one could receive from one drop of Water falling on his Tongue? Yet how glad now would this wicked Soul have been of fo fmall a thing as this? How great then must those torments be which make fo inconfiderable a refreshment feem very defirable? I fay, fo inconfiderable a refreshment, for we cannot conceive, that had it been granted him, he could at all have been fenfible of it..

How would this Rich Gentleman, when alive, have Swagger'd and worn at him, who fhould have offer'd him a cup of cold Water to drink, fuch Liquor as that, he was wont to leave to his Dogs; and it may be, what they had left and defiled, he might bestow on poor Lazarus; whilft himself drank Wine in Bowls. He that could never be fatisfied without faring fumptuously every day, now burns continually without any intermiffion or abatement, and would moft willingly give all the Riches he had been master of, with all his gorgeous apparel and fumptuous fare too, might he have the difpofing of them once again, for one fingle drop of cold Water, or for fo much eafe as fuch a cooler could give him. One drop for his Tongue would now be a feaft to him.

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But why for his Tongue, rather than for any other part doth he beg this Mercy? Why poffibly his torments were more for the Sins of that, than of any other part: that is, he might pollibly now feel the wrath of God hotteft upon him, for the Sins of that unruly Member. He might now remember, how no Meats or Drinks could fatisfie him, whatever they coft, or whoever was made pay for them, but thofe of the finest and most delicious relifh; nor would thefe go down without the daintieft Sauces, and moft generous Wines. The Gentleman is now made fenfible, what it was to blafpheme his Maker, and to mock his Redeemer, and to fpeak despitefully of that Holy Spirit, who should have been his Sanctifier. Now he remembers how boldly he was wont to profane the Sacred Name of God, what vollies of Oaths he used to send out, as it were to batter and rend the Heavens, how he curfed by that Holy Name every perfon and thing that difpleafed him; and thought he used his Tongue with the greateft grace, when in a piece of gallantry he curfed himfelf, and almoft at every other word dared God Almighty to damn him both Body and Soul. He finds that now he has nothing better than this bitter fruit of his own Lips to feed upon. Now he may call to mind how often he had with his Tongue abufed the Holy Word of God, and how often he had jeered, and exercised all this profane Wit he had, in abufing fuch as pious Lazarus for making it the rule of their Conversation. Now he fees the vanity of his glorious Lies, and feels all the Back-bitings, Slanderings and Revilings he was wont to diftribute among his Neighbours. He now feels the beat of that choler, which used to spend its felf in Angry and Bitter Words, and which he

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was wont to throw forth on others at every turn with much pride and paffion. Now he feels the Devil tearing him, whom he had called on so often to take him. All his vain Boaftings, his Hectoring and Braving, his Ranting and Domineering; his terrifying every poor Lazarus, and driving him away from his Gates with reviling and threatening Language, and his denying him the mercy of a crumb from his Table. All these Sins of his Tongue are fo many Flames to torment him. And oh now for fo much mercy, fo much eafe, as one little drop of cooling Water might give to a Scorched Tongue. But it is not to be had, as little as it is, that Tongue fet on Fire by Hell, and having so often helped to fet on Fire the whole World, hath left no Water of refreshment in ftore for it felf; but muft fry for ever in Hill Flames.

3. That the Rich Churl is now in Hell become a wretched Beggar; a Beggar in fo great want and mifery, that he is at his Wits end, and knows not which way to turn him. He would now beg of any Body, and be glad of any, the fmalleft relief that any hand can afford him. Hs was once too great to touch the Ground with his knee, or in any posture to pray to God, faying, Our Father which art in Heaven. He had been long full, and every day glutted with whatever his Soul longed for, and had wanted nothing of his Hearts defire. And for what fhould he pray? He had enjoy'd all the Lufts of the Flesh, and Eyes, and pride of Life, even whilft he forgot God, and had him not in all his thoughts; and to whom should he pray, who had all things within himfelf? Why fhould fuch Gentlemen be troublesome to God, when they have all things, as they think, without him? Let poor Leprous and

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indigent Lazarus, and fuch vile outcasts as he, who have nothing of their own to truft to, lie proftrate on the Ground petitioning God for daily Bread; this is too much below the Gentleman, whofe bufinefs it is to confume vainly what others labour for, and not to trouble his head about any thing elfe, but how to fpend and waft gentilely.

And yet pain or fear will fometimes make the Rich Man pray, and fend him even against his inclination to call upon God. Tho' he have no de fire at all of Grace, yet will he fometimes beg for Mercy. The Rich Man would fain be at eafe, tho' he hath no mind at all to be holy and good. He confiders not what muft fit him for a Life of Glory in Heaven, he's not yet willing to part with Earth for it; but what will help him to live gloriously bere, for bere he would fain live for ever. But, alafs, the Begging of Mercy, without praying heartily for Grace is Labour to no purpose. That one Grace of Charity, and fhewing Mercy to the Poor, would have done the Rich Man more good, than all the most earnest prayers that he can make for Mercy to himself either in Earth or Hell.

This we can easily believe, That wicked Men even in Hell, are very defirous of Mercy, whereby they might be either out of Hell, or more eafy in it. And therefore for Mercy the Rich Man prayeth, but to whom? To Abraham, Father Abraham have Mercy on me. He had been fo unmindful of God all the time that he lived in pleasure upon Earth, that it feems the pains of Hell will not yet awake him to a remembrance of him. Or by his obftinacy in Sin, and long contempt of God, he had fo highly provoked the Divine Majefty, that he durft not now call upon him, despairing of Mercy, and fearing more to feel his fiery indignation. Indeed,

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