of physicians, the ftrength of guards, can neither foothe, nor bribe, nor terrify, nor elude that awful meffenger. How desirable is it then that we should be prepared to meet him with alacrity, and fortitude! Death, my brethren, is naturally a tremendous form, and we ftand in need of aid when called to encounter it. It will introduce us to a new and unknown country; and we shall figh for fome friendly conductor to take us by the hand. If in this ftruggle, and the scene that fucceeds it, the father could enjoy the company of his fon, the husband the society of his wife, and if brothers could lend each other affiftance, it might infpire fome courage. But nature forbids the intercourse. Yet the christian who relies on the promises of Jefus, knows that he shall not engage in that struggle, nor enter on that scene alone or unfupported. When he walks through the valley of the shadow of death, he will fear no evil, for the Lord, the fhepherd of fouls, is with him, his rod and his faff fhall comfort him. Recollecting the gracious declaration of Jesus, Whosoever doth the will of my Father who is in • Pfalm xxiii. 4. in Heaven, the fame is my mother, and fifier, and brother, his fluttering heart is inspired with courage, and elated with hope he departs in peace to his native land, trusting to the guidance and protection of his almighty Friend. Where now are ye, ye gilded profpects, ye gay delufions, ye pleasing dreams? Where now are all the boafted schemes and hopes of the covetous, the voluptuous, and the vain? Lo! They are vanished, they are nothing and a serene, a happy death is all in all. You cannot deny the doctrine; but do you doubt the power of the friendship of Jefus? Do you doubt that a consciousness of it is able to confer this compofure, and this felicity? Confult the apoftles: inquire at the martyrs: recollect the last moments of the best men whom you have known to die in the full exercise of their reason. Let them bear witness to them I appeal. r Matthew xii. 50. SERMON SERMON 2 KINGS viii. 13. III. And Hazael faid, But what, is thy fervant a dog, that he fhould do this great thing? IT happened that Ben-hadad king of Syria when he was fick, heard of the prophet Elifha's being at Damascus. Prompted by a curiosity about the future that seems natural to man, and anxious to know before-hand the event of his diftemper, he fends Hazael, one of his minifters and favourites, to inquire of the prophet whether he should recover or not? In obedience to his mafter's commands, Hazael went to execute his commiffion, and according to the custom of those days, took along with him a present of every good thing of Damafcus. In the most respectful manner he delivers his meffage; for he stood before the prophet and faid, Thy fon Benhadad king of Syria bath fent me to thee, faying, Shall I recover of this disease? The answer of Elisha was was myfterious, and probably not perfectly understood by Hazael. Go, fays the prophet, fay unto him, Thou mayft certainly recover; howbeit, the Lord hath fhewed me, that he fhall furely die. Then fixing his countenance steadily for some time, and exhibiting the most natural and striking figns of inward emotion and agitation of fpirit, he began to weep. Surprized at his tears, Hazael inquired the caufe, and he answered in these remarkable words: Because I know the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Ifrael; their firong holds wilt thou fet on fire, and their young men wilt thou flay with the fword, and wilt dafh their children, and rip up their women with child. Such barbarous and cruel deeds feemed fo fhocking, that in the words of our text, Hazael, in the strongest manner, expreffes his deteftation of them. And Hazael faid, But what, is thy fervant a dog, that he should do this great thing? It does not appear that this answer of Hazael was the effect of hypocrify, or any artful defign to conceal his real fentiments; it proceeded from the natural and immediate dictates of his heart. Yet from the atrocious crime he committed the very next day in murder murdering his mafter, we have no reason to doubt, that in the war which he afterwards carried on against the united armies of the kings of Ifrael and Judah, the prophet's prediction was fully accomplished. And, indeed, when we attend to what paffes in the world, we must be fenfible that the cafe of Hazael, though it may be uncommon in its degree, is far from being fingular in its kind. To trace, then, the causes of this aftonishing ignorance of ourselves, appears to be a subject of very general ufe and importance.— When the causes of a difeafe are diftinctly known, the application of proper remedies will prove more eafy and more certain. I intend, therefore, in the following difccurfe, to point out fome of the principal reasons, upon which the ignorance of wicked men, concerning themselves, and the strange partiality in their judgments as to their future conduct, are founded; and to conclude with a few practical inferences from what is delivered. In entering upon my fubject, I would remark, that ignorance of ourselves is of two kinds; ignorance with regard to our paft actions, and ignorance as to the future con duct |