DEATH.

Death is an ordinance of God for the subjecting of the world, which is limited to his time for the correction of pride:  in his substance he is nothing, being but only ii deprivation, and in his true description a name without a nature.  He is seen but in a picture, heard but in a tale, feared but in a passion, and felt but in a pinch.  He is a terror but to the wicked, and a scarecrow but to the foolish; but to the wise a way of comfort, and to the godly the gate to life.  He is the ease of pain and the end of sorrow, the liberty of the imprisoned and the joy of the faithful; it is both the wound of sin and the wages of sin, the sinner’s fear and the sinner’s doom.  He is the sexton’s agent and the hangman’s revenue, the rich man’s dirge and the mourner’s merry-day.  He is a course of time but uncertain till he come, and welcome but to such as are weary of their lives.  It is a message from the physician when the patient is past cure, and if the writ be well made, it is a supersedeas for all diseases.  It is the heaven’s stroke and the earth’s steward, the follower of sickness and the forerunner to hell In sum, having no pleasure to ponder too much of the power of it, I will thus conclude my opinion of it:—­It is a sting of sin and the terror of the wicked, the crown of the godly, the stair of vengeance, and a stratagem of the devil.

FAITH.

Faith is the hand of the soul which layeth hold of the promises of Christ in the mercy of the Almighty.  She hath a bright eye and a holy ear, a clear heart and sure foot:  she is the strength of hope, the trust of truth, the honour of amity, and the joy of love.  She is rare among the sons of men and hardly found among the daughters of women; but among the sons of God she is a conveyance of their inheritance, and among the daughters of grace she is the assurance of their portions.  Her dwelling is in the Church of God, her conversation with the saints of God, her delight with the beloved of God, and her life is in the love of God.  She knows no falsehood, distrusts no truth, breaks no promise, and coins no excuse; but as bright as the sun, as swift as the wind, as sure as the rock, and as pure as the gold, she looks toward heaven but lives in the world, in the souls of the elect to the glory of election.  She was wounded in Paradise by a dart of the devil, and healed of her hurt by the death of Christ Jesus.  She is the poor man’s credit and the rich man’s praise, the wise man’s care and the good man’s cognisance.  In sum, finding her worth in words hardly to be expressed, I will in these few words only deliver my opinion of her:—­She is God’s blessing and man’s bliss, reason’s comfort and virtue’s glory.

FEAR.