too great a value upon it, so they would by no means suffer them to contemn, much less hate, it; "Ne nimis amemus vitam, et ne nimis oderimus:" they had so many cautions and hesitations and distinctions about the abandoning of life, that a man may see that death was no pleasant prospect to them. He who would kill himself ought to do it with deliberation and decency, "Non fugere debet e vitâ, sed exire;" and above all, that "libido moriendi" was abominable. It must not be a dislike of life, but a satiety in it, that disposed them to part with it, The truth is, though they could have no farther reflections in this disquisition, than were suggested to them by a full consideration of the law of nature, and the obligations thereof, and could not consider it as a thing impious in itself as it related to heaven and hell, yet the difference that was in their view was very great between being and not being, and their little or no comprehension what was done after death or whether any thing succeeded or no, that many of them from thence valued life the more, and some of them the less.

The best Christians need not be ashamed to sharpen, to raise their own contemplations and devotions, by their reflection upon

the discourse of the heathen philosophers; but they may be ashamed if from those reflections their piety be not indeed both instructed and exalted: and if their mere reason could raise and incite them to so great

a

reverence for virtue, and so solicitous a pursuit of it, we may well blush if our very reason, so much informed by them, be not at least equal to theirs; and being endowed and strengthened with clear notions of religion, it doth not carry us higher than they were able to mount, and to a perfection they were not able to ascend to. We may learn from them to undervalue life so much, as not affect it above the innocence of living or living innocently; we may so far learn from them to contemn death, as not to avoid it with the guilt or infamy of living. But then the consideration of heaven and bell, the reward and punishment which will inevitably attend our living and dying well or ill, will both raise and fix our thoughts' of life and death in another light than they were accustomed to; neither of those Lands of Promise having been contained in their map, or in any degree been exposed to their prospect; and nothing but the view of those landmarks can infuse into us a just esteem of life. and a just apprehension of death. Christianity

then doth neither oblige us not to love life, or not to fear death, but to love life so little, that we may fear death the less. Nothing can so well prepare us for it, as a continual thinking upon it; and our very reason methinks should keep us thinking of that which we know must come, and cannot know when; and therefore the being much surprised with the approach of it is as well a discredit to our reason as to our religion; and beyond an humble and contented expectation of it religion requires not from us: it being im possible for any man who is bound to pay money upon demand, not to think of having the money ready against it is demanded; nor doth any man resolve to make a journey, without providing a viaticum for that journey; and this preparation will serve our turn; that "libido moriendi" is no injunction of Christianity; and we know in the primitive times, that as great pains were taken to remove those fears and apprehensions out of the hearts of Christians, which terrified them out of their religion, by presenting to them the great reward and joy and pleasure which they were sure to be possessed of who died for their religion; so there was no less to restrain them from being transported with such a zeal, as made

them, out of the affectation of martyrdom, to call for it, by finding out and reproaching the judges, and declaring their faith unasked, that they might be put to death; to be contented to die when they could not honestly avoid it, was the true martyrdom. We need not seek death out, it will come in its due time: and if we then conform decently to its summons, we have done what is expected from us. There are so many commendable and worthy ends for which we may desire to live, that we may very lawfully desire that our death may be deferred. St. Paul himself, who had been so near heaven that he was not sure that he had not been there, was put to a stand, and corrected his impatience to be there again, with the consideration of the good he might do by living and continuing in this world; "I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better: nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you," Phil. i. 23, 24. He knew well his own place there which was reserved for him, but he knew as well that the longer his journey thither was deferred, he should have the more company there; and this made his choice of life, even upon the comparison, very war

rantable. Men may very piously desire to live, to comply with the very obligation of nature in cherishing their wives and bringing up their children, and to enjoy the blessings of both: and that he may contribute to the peace and happiness and prosperity of his country, he may heartily pray not to die. Length of days is a particular blessing God vouchsafes to those he favours most, as giving them thereby both a task and opportunity to do the more good. They who are most weary of life, and yet are most unwilling to die are such who have lived to no purpose; who have rather breathed than lived. They who pretend to the apostle's ecstasy, and to desire a dissolution from a religious nauseating the folly and wickedness of this world, and out of a devout contemplation of the joys of heaven, administer too much cause of doubting, that they seem to triumph over nature more than they have cause, and that they bad rather live till the next year than die in this. He who believes the world not worthy of him, may in truth be thought not worthy of the world. If men are not willing to be deprived of their fortunes and preferments and liberty, which are but the ordinary perquisites of life, they may very justifiably be unwilling to be deprived of