A36322:173
The mourner directory, guiding him to the middle way betwixt the two extremes, defect,…The mourner directory, guiding him to the middle way betwixt the two extreams, defect,…
The mourner directory, guiding him to the middle way betwixt the two extremes, defect, excess of sorrow for his dead to which is added, The mourners soliloquy / by Thomas Doolittle ...The mourner directory, guiding him to the middle way betwixt the two extreams, defect, excess of sorrow for his dead to which is added, The mourners soliloquy / by Thomas Doolittle ...
London: printed by J.A. for Tho. Cockeril, 1693
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
1. The Death of such public Persons is a public loss. And the more general the loss is, the more general the sorrow should be. When a private Person dieth that was ⟨p. 113⟩godly, as he was a Praying Christian many are losers by his death, for he prayed for many while he lived, yea, for all Mankind in common, and for the Church of God in special; and therefore such a Man's death should be lamented by many; but when a Public Preacher dieth, many do lose his Preaching Labours, as well as the benefit of his fervent Prayers, and all that are losers should be Mourners.
1. The Death of such publick Persons is a publick loss. And the more general the loss is, the more general the sorrow should be. When a private Person dieth that was ⟨p. 113⟩godly, as he was a Praying Christian many are losers by his death, for he prayed for many while he lived, yea, for all Mankind in common, and for the Church of God in special; and therefore such a Man's death should be lamented by many; but when a Publick Preacher dieth, many do lose his Preaching Labours, as well as the benefit of his fervent Prayers, and all that are losers should be Mourners.
2. The death of such is a Spiritual Loss. Can we sorrow for the Temporal Losses that befall us by the death of private Persons, and shall we not sorrow for our loss in Spirituals by the death of such that in their Life were helpers of our Souls in our way to Heaven? Was he a Spiritual Father to many, and might have been to more? Is a Spiritual Birth a greater Mercy than our Natural Birth, And shall our Natural Parents be lamented when they die, and no sorrow for the other, when they can Preach to us, and Pray with us, and for us no more? How many Persons may one Minister instruct? What a number might such a one at once, and from day to day teach and direct in the way to Eternal Salvation? And when such a one dieth, what ⟨p. 114⟩