Children of the Kingdom had nothing to do, but to eat, drink, and be merry; and that Mourning had no more place in this, than it is to have in the New Jerufalem; wherein, as the Evangelical Prophet tells us, All tears shall be wiped away from mens eyes, and there fhall be no more death, neither forrow, nor crying, nor any more pain, Rev. 21.4.

It is, indeed, moft certain, that Religion has its Joys and Pleafures; and that the Chriftian Religion has the most of any, and that they are fuch too as by far tranfcend all others; that the best Life is also the most pleasant Life; and that 'tis worth while to live well, if it were only for the mere pleafure of doing fo. And there is a great deal of Truth in that noble Saying of Hierocles, us uevov T xan, &c. The Comment. in good Man excels the wicked Man, na, p. 177. not only in Goodness, but also in

Aurea Carmi

Pleafure it felf; for whofe fake only, the other is wicked. Nay, farther; The Pleasures of good Men are not only greater than those of ill Men, but fuch as they cannot enjoy or relish, and have no manner of Notion of. As there are fome Things of God, fo there are Pleasures of Religion, which the Animal Man does not perceive: For the fecret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and the ftranger does not intermeddle with their joy. Nay, farther yet; No Man has any Ground or Pretence

for

for Rejoycing, but a good Man. 'Tis the moft ufurping and daring Piece of Impudence in the World, for an ill Man to laugh, or be merry. What has he to do with Mirth, who has the Wrath of God abiding on him, and Hell open to receive him? It does not belong to him, 'tis none of his Part. Mirth is the Reward of a good Confcience, the Prerogative of Innocence, and the peculiar Right of good Men: And they not only may be joyful and chearful, but are also commanded to be fo. Thus in the Law, Deut. 16. 11. Thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God, fays Mofes to the Jewish Votary. So again the Pfalmift, Pfal. 33. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous; for it becometh well the just to be thankful. Again, Pfal. 68. Let the righteous be glad, and rejoice before God: let them also be merry and joyful. And again, Pfal. 100. Serve the Lord with gladness. And fays our blessed Lord, in his Farewell-Difcourfe to his Dif ciples, Joh. 15.11. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. And we are exhorted to rejoice evermore, by the Apostle, 1 Thef. 5. who alfo reckons Joy among the Fruits of the Holy Spirit, Gal. 5.22.

Now all this is true; and I not only confefs, but also recommend the thing hitherto pleaded for. But then 'tis alfo to be confi dered,what the Wife Man fays, that to eve

ry

ry thing there is a feafon; and that there is a Time to weep and mourn, as well as a Time to laugh and dance, Ecclef. 3. And this not only from Natural, but alfo from Moral Neceffity: For the Circumftances of Human Life are fuch, as make it our Duty, as well as Fate, to mourn, and be forrowful. Religion has its gloomy, as well as bright Side; and there are to be Days of Darkness, as well as Days of Light, in the Chriftian Kalendar.

This is intimated to us by feveral Expreffions, and by feveral Examples, in Holy Scripture. Thus the Church in general is, in the Divine Song of Solomon, compared to a Dove; which, tho' confiderable for fome other Qualities, is yet for nothing fo remarkable as for her continual Mourning. So far was that Wife Man from the Opinion of those, who make Temporal Profperity, a Mark of the True Church. Again, fays the fame wife Preacher, It is better to go to the house of mourn ing, than to the house of feasting. And again, Sorrow is better than laughter. Where you fee, he not only inculcates the Practice of Mourning, but also exprefly prefers it before its Contrary. And he gives this Reafon for it, becaufe by the fadness of the countenance the heart is made better, Ecclef. 7. 3. And therefore he makes this the Measure of Wifdom and Folly, by telling us in the next Verfe, That the heart of the wife is in the house

of

of mourning, but the heart of fools in the house of mirth. This Practice of Mourning is every where inculcated in the Writings of the Prophets, but especially of the Prophet Jeremy, who has writ a whole Book of Lamentations. But, above all, ''tis remarkable what our Lord himself fays of Mourning, in the 16th. of St. John, where he seems to make it the great Mark of Difference between his Difciples and the Men of this World; Verily, verily, fays he, Ifay unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice.

I

Nor do there want Examples of this holy Mourning in Scripture. Thus the Devoti on of Hannah is expreffed by her being a Woman of a forrowful Spirit, 1 Sam. 1. 15. The Royal Prophet spent his whole Time almost in Mourning and Sorrow, which he also indulged and fomented with Mufic and Divine Hymns: And yet he was a Man wife and learned, and a Man after God's own Heart; and withal, a Man of great Business, and publick Occupation. Thus again the Prophet Jeremy was a great Mourner; a Man as infatiable in his Sorrow, as fome are in their Luxury. He was fo full of Grief, as not to be fatisfied with the natural and ordinary Ways of expreffing it: And therefore fays he, Oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night, Jer. 9. 1. More I might in

stance

ftance in, but I clofe all with the great Example of our Lord and Mafter Jefus Chrift, who, as the Text fays, was a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with Grief; and that not on ly in his last Paffion and Agony, when his Soul was exceeding forrowful, even unto death; and when, as the Author to the He brews fays, Heb. 5.7. He offered up prayers and fupplications, with strong crying and tears; but alfo throughout the whole Course of his Life. We oftentimes read of his Weeping and Sorrowing, as upon his Profpect of the City Ferufalem, at the Grave of Lazarus, and a lit tle after his last Supper, when, as the Text fays, Mat. 26. he began to be forrowful, and very heavy; and in the Garden, where he wept Tears of Blood. But we never read that he ever laughed. Once, indeed, 'tis faid, Luk. 10. that he rejoiced ; but then it was not with an outward, fenfitive and tumultuous Joy; but with an inward, fpiritual and filent Exultation: He rejoiced in Spirit. And what was it for? Not upon any Animal or Secular Account, but upon an Occafion altogether Spiritual and Divine. 'Twas for the abundant Grace of his Father, bestowed upon his Difciples; and for their good use. of it, and improvement under it.

I do not intend in all this, fuch rigid Meafures as are practifed and exacted by fome of the Religious Orders of the Roman Church; where

D