them from all the abused possibilities of pardon. Men in health may die suddenly, and therefore in them it is folly to defer, but those in sickness cannot expect to live long, wherefore in them it is apparent madness not to begin to do that which must be done or we are eternally lost. And if we have repented, we live more safely, and shall die more comfortably, but not one moment sooner. When we are prepared for the worst, if it come, we shall not be surprised; but if we recover, it is no lost labour to repent and resolve upon a holy course, because these purposes are as necessary for one that is to live, as for one that is to die; and if we do not repent in sickness, we shall but recover into a worse condition, and live only to aggravate our condemnation, so that whether life or death be the event of this sickness, we must not defer our repentance. These considerations annexed to this prayer, if they keep us not from the assaults of Satan, will preserve us from being hurt by him; so that by this means we shall obtain the last petition also, and remain in perpetual peace and safety; if this enemy be not permitted to disquiet nor to harm the sick person, he shall be always in peace, and ever safe, no inward trouble shall molest him, no outward suffering shall hurt him, but whether the visitation turn to life or death, the event shall be blessed, and still he shall be quiet and safe; which being so very desirable to the sick man, and to all that truly love him, we beg both these and the necessary causes of them, most humbly and earnestly for JESUS CHRIST's sake. Amen.

On Second Collect for Sanctifying Affliction.

Hear us, Almighty and most merciful God and Saviour, extend Thy accustomed goodness to this Thy servant who is grieved with sickness. Sanctify, we beseech Thee, this Thy Fatherly correction to him. We are naturally so sensible of bodily evil, and so little affected with that which concerns our souls, that we are unwilling to purchase our spirit

ual good at the rate of a little outward smart; and therefore most men are apt to pray immediately for deliverance from their present grievances, before they have done them that advantage which God designed to effect by them. They are impatient to have their distemper removed, before it hath weaned them from the love of earthly things, or taught them humility and submission to the will of heaven; before it hath quickened their repentance, tried their faith, or exercised their patience, before it hath mortified their lusts, elevated their devotion, or confirmed their purposes of holy living; which unseasonable requests, it would be no mercy in GOD to grant, because it is no argument of His good will, nor no profitable method for us, to take off the plaster before the cure be wrought. If a child deserve and need correction, a prudent father will not spare for his crying. (Prov. xix. 18.) Nor will our Heavenly FATHER be so cruelly kind to us, to hear us when we pray for that which is hurtful for us. So that though the sick man may chiefly, and perhaps only desire our prayers for his restoration to health, yet the Church knows that those in sickness are not so competent judges in this case, since their sense of pain prevails above the rational expectations of the benefits that flow from thence; and therefore orders us in the first place to pray absolutely for sanctifying the affliction, and only in the second place, and conditionally for removing it. Nor will the sufferer dislike this way of proceeding, if he rightly and rationally consider it; for if his pain and trouble make him more holy, and (as S. Hierom speaks to his sick friend) if the distemper of his body become the cure of his soul, (as it will surely be if it be sanctified by Divine grace,) then it cannot be ill for him to bear it awhile. That is not really bad for us which certainly makes us better. David's experience made him say, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted," for then he learned God's statutes, and left off to stray from His commandments. (Ps. cxix. 67, 71.) Sickness sanctified improves good men, converts sinners, and reduces those whom prosperity had debauched. The heathen world wants

not examples of those whom diseases have brought to the love of virtue, and to a sound mind. Ælian informs us, that a long sickness brought Hieron the Sicilian, Ptolemy, and Theages, to the study and practice of virtue. And Zeno's shipwreck made him a philosopher; whereupon he was wont to say, "That shipwreck was the most prosperous voyage he ever made." But Christianity can produce more instances of such, who being first brought into CHRIST's school by this rod, have proved great proficients there; and have we not reason to pray this afflicted person may add to the number of those illustrious names? The sickness itself (I am sure) seems designed to that end, being so gentle and "fatherly "fatherly a correction.” When GOD strikes His utter enemies He cuts them off at once, and gives them no time to become better; but this is a lingering disease, mingled with lucid intervals and spaces of ease, on purpose to invite us to amendment, which cannot be the act of one that wills our destruction, but of an indulgent FATHER, Who wishes our sanctification, and endeavours to make us holy; and therefore no doubt He will be pleased when we ask in the first place that which He chiefly doth intend and desire. (1 Thess. iv. 3.)

That the sense of his weakness may add strength to his Faith, and seriousness to his Repentance. This brief, but significant clause, comprehends the two infallible signs of a sanctified sickness, viz. when the sense of a man's weakness makes him trust in GoD more firmly, and repent more heartily. There are some kinds of diseases which disable the faculties of the mind, and make the patient wholly insensible; which when they befall a good man, who was before prepared, may be reckoned among the best ways of dying, because such as live well cannot die ill; but to unprepared persons, nothing is so dangerous as to be so surprised, and because the greater part of men are not so well disposed as they ought to be, therefore it is very profitable, though more painful to be sensible of our weakness; and if our sense of the disease be sanctified, it is a desirable blessing. We confess, to unsanctified persons the apprehension of their ap

proaching death, fills them with terror and amazement, doubtings and despair, destroying their faith, and utterly discouraging their repentance; it being Satan's policy to terrify those at their death with the persuasion, it is too late, whom he flattered in their life with the fancy, it was too soon to repent. But when a sickness is sanctified, the sense of a man's weakness makes him more vigorous in his faith, and serious in his repentance. He is not so solicitous to preserve his body as to save his soul; nor is he afraid to die, but concerned to die well; the weaker he is in himself, the closer he cleaves to GOD, praying more earnestly for the aid of Divine strength when his own begins to fail. He trusted in GoD always, yet while he was encircled in plenty and prosperity, enjoying health and wealth, friends and honour, he could hardly forbear relying in part on these brittle supporters. since David himself fancied "in his prosperity he should never be moved." (Ps. xxx. 6.) But now when these deceitful stays are gone, he relies on GOD alone, and more firmly than ever he did before: the divine mercy is the only plank remaining after this boisterous sea hath swallowed all the rest. To this therefore he clings, knowing if he let it go, he shall perish in the waters; and thus his faith is strongest when his body is weakest. And S. Paul's riddle is a great truth, "When I am weak, then I am strong." And this which is their last, is their surest refuge, and the wisest choice in order to their safety; for when our God beholds we trust in Him alone, and declare that as we can have no help from, so we have no confidence in any other, then it is time for Him to help us, for "His strength is made perfect in our weakness," (2 Cor. xii. 9,) and His mercy is made illustrious by our necessity; wherefore it is our wisdom and our advantage to believe most firmly in Him, when we have no strength of our own, and it will oblige Him not to disappoint our expectations, when we have so noble an opinion of His goodness that we dare firmly rely on Him in our most desolate condition. Happy is that sickness therefore which thus confirms our faith, the distemper becomes its own

cure, while it strengthens our faith, and engages heaven to our assistance. The second sign of a sanctified correction is, when it adds seriousness to his repentance. When fear forces a hypocrite to put on the pretences of penitence, and the approaches of death extort some shows of sorrow for sin, it is not out of any dislike of the evil they have done, but out of a despair of all possibility of committing it any longer, and a sad prospect of the vengeance shortly to be taken for it; but all this while there is no change in their will, but only in their power to do evil; they do not repent sincerely or in serious earnest, as is evident, from their foul relapses, as soon as their restored health qualifies them for new offences, which they would never so greedily run into, but only that they never heartily lamented their former misdoings; nor is it any great wonder if men easily break those vows which they neither made seriously, nor ever intended really to perform. The sad experience of multitudes of these apostates doth show how necessary it is to pray, that sickness may bring us to speedy and full repentance. And indeed nothing will so certainly produce this effect as a sanctified correction. We have often been admonished by a Sacrament and a solemn time to begin our repentance; and when we did attempt it, we were too soon diverted by company, business, or recreation, so that as yet I doubt we have not been so serious as we ought in perfecting this great and necessary duty. But when our weakness is the harbinger to death and judgment, then we know we must either repent speedily and thoroughly, or remain unpardoned for ever; for after death, neither our own sorrow, nor the charity and prayers of our surviving friends can alter our estate, as both Scripture and Fathers do assure us. And the old Roman doctors themselves believed the same truth, though interest hath taught the latter champions of Rome to deceive men by expectations of a fantastical purgatory, and the feigned suppletory of too late expiations. Now since it is so certain, these few moments of life are the only seasons to obtain pardon, had we not need be serious