And yet in this Affair, that might be of great advantage to us, we are exceeding faulty; for the reflections we make on the death of others, are usually very impertinent, and make no lasting impressions upon us. When Death comes and mows down our Acquaintance and Relations round about us, the Reflection that we usually make, is more upon the Loss that we have sustained by their Death, than upon the Example they are thereby made to us of our own Frailty and Mortality; and thereby, as God by his Providence hath deprived us of the Comfort we had in their Lives, so we deprive our selves of the Instruction and Benefit we might have by their Death. Or if some extraordinary Circumstance that appears in the Death of others, strikes us into serious Thoughts of our own; yet usually ⟨p. 26⟩they are but short-lived and fleeting; for a while, it may be, we think of humane frailty, and the mutability of our present State; but these Thoughts soon wear off, and we return to the same Vanity and wretched Security as before; for such dying Meditations of Death, are usually very unprofitable. It is with most men as it is with a Flock of Sheep that graze fearlessly till the Shepherd rusheth in among them, and lays hold of one of them for the Slaughter, and this presently frights them, making them leave their Food, and run scattering about the Field; but no sooner is the Tumult over, but they flock together again, and feed as securely, without Thoughts of death or danger as before. So truly is it with most men, when either the report is spread abroad that such or such a person is dead, and it may be suddenly, by some sudden and unexpected stroke, or when they are called to visit some dying Person, where they behold departing Pangs, distorted Eyes, quivering Limbs, wan and ghastly Corpse, the Image of Death in all its lively terrors; if they have any Remainders of natural Tenderness, it must needs ⟨p. 27⟩strike them into Pensiveness, to think that one day this must be their own Case, and that therefore it behoves them to be in continual preparation for this last and dreadful Change: But no sooner is the Dead interred, and the Grave filled up again, but all these sage and serious Thoughts vanish, and they return to the same excess of Sin and Pleasure as before: This is the brutish Folly and Sottishness of most men.
And yet in this Affair, that might be of great advantage to us, we are exceeding faulty; for the reflections we make on the death of others, are usually very impertinent, and make no lasting impressions upon us. When Death comes and mows down our Acquaintance and Relations round about us, the Reflection that we usually make, is more upon the Loss that we have sustained by their Death, than upon the Example they are thereby made to us of our own Frailty and Mortality; and thereby, as God by his Providence hath deprived us of the Comfort we had in their Lives, so we deprive our selves of the Instruction and Benefit we might have by their Death. Or if some extraordinary Circumstance that appears in the Death of others, strikes us into serious Thoughts of our own; yet usually ⟨p. 26⟩they are but short-liv'd and fleeting; for a while, it may be, we think of humane frailty, and the mutability of our present State; but these Thoughts soon wear off, and we return to the same Vanity and wretched Security as before; for such dying Meditations of Death, are usually very unprofitable. It is with most men as it is with a Flock of Sheep that graze fearlesly till the Shepherd rusheth in among them, and lays hold of one of them for the Slaughter, and this presently frights them, making them leave their Food, and run scattering about the Field; but no sooner is the Tumult over, but they flock together again, and feed as securely, without Thoughts of death or danger as before. So truly is it with most men, when either the report is spread abroad that such or such a person is dead, and it may be suddenly, by some sudden and unexpected stroke, or when they are called to visit some dying Person, where they behold departing Pangs, distorted Eyes, quivering Limbs, wan and ghastly Corpse, the Image of Death in all its lively terrours; if they have any Remainders of natural Tenderness, it must needs ⟨p. 27⟩strike them into Pensiveness, to think that one day this must be their own Case, and that therefore it behoves them to be in continual preparation for this last and dreadful Change: But no sooner is the Dead interr'd, and the Grave fill'd up again, but all these sage and serious Thoughts vanish, and they return to the same excess of Sin and Pleasure as before: This is the brutish Folly and Sottishness of most men.
