Heirs to his paternal Inheritance; and inStead of entertaining the leaft repining thought for want of Iffue, he thanked God for the opportunity that was put into his hands, of teftifying his Love and Devotion towards him. And I believe there never was a Settlement of that kind made with greater Piety and Prudence ; the Qualifications of those who are to receive benefit by it, are ftrict Obligations to the Vertues of a Chriftian Life; he has laid down fuch Rules for the managing of it, as in humane Probability may attain their End; and has provided for all thofe Difficulties which might threaten to render it ineffectual; which was all the labour of his own Brain, and received only its form from the skilful in the Law; 'tis poffible the World may fee the whole at length, fince it may ferve to direct those whofe hearts God fhall touch with fuch charitable Difpofitions. Thus while the World laft's be will be clothing the Naked, feeding the Hungry, vifiting the Sick, (having made a yearly allowance for their Neceffities) inftructing the Ignorant, and powerfully perfwading the Poor to apply themfelves to the Service of God, by making it the means of their fupport to obey him. Happy Soul! Thy joy of doing Good will be still encreafing by the Bleed fruit thy Zeal Zeal will bring forth even after thy Death; and if in this Life where we fee through a Glass darkly, and where our beft Services are allayed with the Infirmities of our frail Nature, a good Man often thinks no Pleasure comparable to that of Glorifying God; what an unconceivable Happiness must it be in the next Life, where all the Excellencies of the Divine Being fhall be clearly discovered, and where Love is pure without the leaft mixture, and inflam'd to its utmost Capacity; to find that he still glorifies him whom he Loves, and continues to make him yet loved by others? And this his charitable Temper appeared not only in his Actions, but also in his Difcourfe, which was govern'd by favourable Interpretations of what others either did or Said; and where things were apprehended by him, fo apparently wicked and unrighteous, that they would not admit of his Candor, there he fhewed his Charity in judging fa vourably of thofe Difpofitions of mind wherewith they were done, afcribing them, if he could lay hold of any Colour and Pretence, to the most excufable Principles. He excelled in all the fuffering Vertues which are the peculiar Beauties of Christianity, and which the wife and good good Providence of God, called upon him tolexercife; as Patience, Meeknefs, Trust in God, dependance upon him for Succour, Self-denial, cheerfully taking up the Cross, forgiving Injuries, and doing good to those that defpitefully used him; and had he alwaies lived in a calm we could not have formed so just an Idea of his worth; for we must be in a fuffering ftate, and expofed to the weight of many and great afflictions, before we can be affured how patiently and contentedly, how cheerfully and couragiously we can undergo them; and agreeable to this 'tis remarkable that Plato to finish his Character of a Righteous man, makes him pafs through a Scene of Jufferings to justifie the principle of his vertue; fleeting pains of this fhort life well recompenced with everlasting joys. His conduct in the work of the Miniftry Sufficiently evidenc'd to the world, how truly he anfuered that important demand in Ordination; Whether he trusted he was inwardly moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him that Office and Miniftration? The conftant application of his time and pains to the discharge of his Paftoral Duties; the great neglect he always fhewed in folliciting Preferments, and his readinefs and chearfulness in parting with that Station Station he was placed in, when he apprehended the keeping of it inconfiftent with the peace of his mind, is a clear proof that the only defign he aimed at by engaging in the Sacred Function, was the Service of his Blessed Mafter, and the Salvation of the Souls of Men; and that he efpoufed his Profeffion as a happy Inftrument of doing good, rather than of being rich and great. The laft fcene of his Life, his Sickness and Death ftill maintained the character of ftrict Piety and Chriftian Devotion and when I fhall tell the Reader that his admirable Book of Death made Comfortable, the last effort of his Charity for the Salvation of his Brethren, was the fubjectmatter of his own practice, and the conftant exercife of his devout mind under that tedious and lingering fickness, which put a period to his days; he may be fatiffied, that he died the death of the Righteous, and that his latter end was like his. , 'Tis true, Good men alwaies die well becaufe qualified for that happy state upon which they enter; though the circumftances of their death be never fo fudden, and though the nature of their Difeafe deprives us of their edifying example, in the exercife of death-bed vertues; yet when God gives time, and the advantage of an undifturb'd understanding, the pious foul is carefull carefull to make use of such Blessings, for the fecuring a happy Eternity. In order to this purpose our dying Saint, whofe lamp was never without oil, thought his fickness a proper season to trim it, and to provide for the Bridegroom's coming; he prudently fettled all his temporal affairs, and after his large Legacy for charitable ufes, he acknowledg'd the kindness of his particular Friends by fome gratefull Remembrance, and rewarded the Services of his Inferiors by decent Gratuities. As to the concerns of his Soul, he carefully reflected upon all the Actions of his paft Life; diligently examined his Writings, whether they afforded any matter for Repentance, (a practice highly neceffary to be imitated, by those who have been ingaged in Controverfie)he heartily bewailed all his Mifcarriages, and made thofe folemn profeffions of his Faith, which the Church requires, and which have a great Tendency to strengthen and confirm thofe that furvive: he freely forgave all the world, and was ready and willing to make Compenfation for any wrong that could be charged upon him; he dayly joyned in the publick Prayers of the Church, and frequently received the Bleed Sacrament, once as the Viaticum of a dying Chriftian, with the benefit of Abfolution from |