98

SANCTIFIED AFFLICTIONS.

SANCTIFIED AFFLICTIONS.

FLAVEL.

SANCTIFIED afflictions are prescribed in heaven for purifying our corruptions: "By this, therefore, shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin." (Is. xxvii. 9.) It is a glass to represent the evil of sin and the vanity of the creature, to imbitter the world, and draw thy affections from it. Fall in, therefore, with the gracious design of God; connect every affliction with prayer that God would follow it with his blessing. God kills thy comforts from no other design but to kill thy corruptions; wants are ordained to kill wantonness, poverty is appointed to kill pride, reproaches are permitted to destroy ambition. Happy is the man who understands, approves, and heartily concurs with the design of God in afflicting providences.

ON THE DEATH OF A SISTER.

ANONYMOUS.

ANOTHER of God's servants hath put on
The garment of salvation. Young, and loved,
And beautiful, as if this world of pain
Were not unangelled, she hath dashed aside

Earth's sweetest draught, and thirsting for the springs
Of a celestial fountain, hath gone up

To taste the coolness of the living stream.

- peace.

Peace to thee, sister-peace.
We weep
Hast left us thus alone; our fairest flower
Faded in spring-time beauty; our first star
Gone out at eventide. With thy soft smile,
And the glad music of thy gentle voice,

that thou

And all the spells with which thou'dst garnered love,
Thou hast passed from us; and in grief we tread
Life's desert pathway onward, sorrowing much

That thy beguiling ministry will cheer
Our weary steps no more. But O, for thee,
For thee, our sister, o'er a sinless heart
Folding a seraph's garment—to thy lip,
In the first thirst of an immortal thought,
Lifting an angel's chalice-who can weep?

Joy, joy for thee, sweet sister! Thou wilt feel
Life's bitterness no more. Thou hast put off
Earth's heavy raiment, and arrayed in white,

100

ON THE DEATH OF A SISTER.

Hast gone to tread in holiness and joy
The house of many mansions. Joy for thee!
The gifted and the mighty of old time
Shall win thee from thy solitude, and teach
Thy lip the hallelujah to our God,

And all the hymns of heaven; and thou shalt rest
Under the branches of the tree of life,

And bathe thy fingers in the living stream
Whose waters have no murmur, and shalt win
A compass and a mastery of mind

To fathom the deep mysteries of God,
And thou shalt soar with Gabriel, and tread
The mighty chambers of the vaulted sky,
Spanning the universe as with a thought.
And such shall be thy labor; but thy depth
Of blessedness, whose fountain is the light
Of God's eternal presence, who can tell?
Pray for us, sister, if a spirit's lip

May breathe a prayer in heaven,- that we, from whom
Thou'st parted for a season, may so tread

This veil of sorrow, that when life hath passed,
We may go up to thee, and claim thy hand,

To lead us where the living waters flow.

"SORROW NOT, EVEN AS OTHERS WHICH HAVE NO HOPE."-1 THESS. iv. 13.

REV. CHARLES WESLEY.

IF death my friend and me divide,
Thou dost not, Lord, my sorrow chide,
Nor frown my tears to see;
Restrained from passionate excess,
Thou bidd'st me mourn, in calm distress,
For them that rest in thee.

(I feel a strong, immortal hope,
Which bears my mournful spirit up

Beneath its mountain load:

Redeemed from death, and grief, and pain,
I soon shall find my friend again,
Within the arms of God.

Pass the few fleeting moments more,
And death the blessing shall restore,

Which death hath snatched away;
For me, thou wilt the summons send,
And give me back my parted friend,
In that eternal day.

9*

102

FEAR OF DEATH.

FEAR OF DEATH.

JEREMY TAYLOR.

DEATH is a thing that is no great matter in itself, if we consider that we die daily, that it meets us in every accident, that every creature carries a dart along with it, and can kill us. And, therefore, when Lysimachus threatened Theodorus to kill him, he told him, that was no great matter to do, and he could do no more than the cantharides could; a little fly could do as much.

Of all the evils of the world which are reproached with an evil character, death is the most innocent of its accusation. For when it is present, it hurts nobody; and when it is absent, it is indeed troublesome, but the trouble is owing to our fears, not to the affrighting and mistaken object; and besides this, if it were an evil, it is so transient, that it passes like the instant or undiscerned portion of the present time; and either it is past, or it is not yet; for just when it is, no man hath reason to complain of so insensible, so sudden, so undiscerned a change. If we be afraid of death, it is but reasonable to use all spiritual arts to take off the apprehension of the evil: but therefore we ought to remove our fear, because fear gives to death wings, and spurs, and darts. Death hastens to a fearful man: if, therefore, you would make death