have cherished them; and to be separated from objects on which we have fixed our hearts, must be attended with great pain and uneasiness. We should, therefore, accustom ourselves to resign freely to God those worldly objects from which death will inevitably snatch us, and gently to loose. the ties which bind us to the world, that we may have less pain when they are entirely broken. We should habitually endeavour to moderate our desires for the enjoyments of this world; and suppressing all ambitious and covetous desires, and retrenching at times our innocent pleasures, we should hold ourselves in readiness to part with what we love most; and committing all our concerns to the disposal of God, we should bear without murmuring, all the losses and afflictions that assail us. In this manner we may be said, in the language of the apostle, "to die daily;"" since we shall feel daily less fondness for life, less desire for its glories, less eagerness for its emoluments, less concern for its highest pleasures. Death will thus find us prepared to leave the world, and to enter on the joys of our eternal rest.

Q. Is not circumspection in spending our time also a necessary preparation for death?

A. Time is the invaluable talent entrusted to us by God, on the right use of which will depend our eternal destiny. To abuse it, or squander it away in dissipation, in idleness, or sensual indulgences, will be to prepare for ourselves misery and anguish at the hour of death, when we come to review our past lives. By diligence and faithfulness in the discharge of the duties of our respective stations, and by making our everlasting salvation the supreme concern of life, we shall so employ the time allotted us, that, at the hour of death, we may be able to look back upon it with humble satisfaction and pleasure.

Q. Is not the proper regulation and settlement of our worldly affairs also a necessary preparation for death?

A. The prudent and proper regulation and settlement of our worldly affairs should be attended to while we enjoy health and spirits for the work. The disposal of our estate requires time and consideration, so as to distribute it justly among our own families, friends, and dependents, and to appropriate a proper proportion of it to pious and charitable purposes. This important business, therefore, should not be left to our last moments, when the mind is disordered, and

u 1 Cor. xv. 31.

the body harassed by pain and sickness. The Church accordingly, in her office for the visitation of the sick, directs that "men should often be put in remembrance to take order for the settling of their temporal estates while they are in health."

Q. What will give us particular comfort upon a deathbed?

A. Works of mercy and charity, performed in the name of Christ, are the best proofs of the sincerity of our love to him, and will be the standard by which our future rewards will be determined: they, therefore, will afford us the most exalted consolation on a death-bed, inspiring us with confidence in the mercy of that Saviour, who hath promised to reward every act of beneficence done from love to him, as done unto himself.

Q. What are those holy dispositions with which we should bear the attacks of sickness ?

A. We should bear the attacks of sickness with patience and resignation, with firm trust and dependence upon God, with thankfulness for his mercies. We should also, as far as possible, exercise devotion on a sick-bed, imploring the grace of God to succour and console us.

Q. Wherein consists the exercise of patienve upon a sickbed?

A. The exercise of patience on a sick-bed, consists in carefully restraining all murmuring or discontent on account of our sickness; in watching against all temptations to anger, arising from the mistakes of our attendants, the unreasonable kindness of our friends, the disagreeableness of our medicines, and the preparation of our food; and in curbing all anxious fears and unreasonable solicitude.

Q. Wherein consists the exercise of resignation on a sickbed?

A. The exercise of resignation on a sick-bed, consists in resting fully assured, that what God chooses for us is much better than what we could choose for ourselves; in considering our sickness and our pains as correctives of our past follies, and as proper aids to our growth in grace; and in being willing to refer the continuance and event of our sickness to the good pleasure of God, who, as he first placed us in the world, is the fittest judge when we should go out of it.

Q. Wherein consists the exercise of trust in God on a sick-bed?

A. The exercise of trust in God upon a sick-bed consists in allaying the apprehension of future evil, by the consideration that we are in the hands of an infinitely good and gracious God, who will lay no more upon us than we are able To bear; and who will, in his good time, either remove what afflicts us, or give us grace to improve it to our spiritual welfare and happiness. Trust in God during sickness, should also allay our anxiety concerning our families; for, should we be taken from them, we leave them under the protection of the providence of God, whose blessing is the richest portion, and without which the best human provision is no security for prosperity or happiness.

Q. How should we exercise thankfulness on a sick-bed?

A. A thankful disposition will lead us to acknowledge that we suffer less than we deserve, and that our sufferings are the merciful visitations of God, who designs by them to awaken and cherish our spiritual graces and virtues: it will lead us to acknowledge the goodness of God, in all the particular comforts and attentions which we may enjoy in our sickness.

Q. What are the exercises of devotion proper for a sick-bed? A. When visited with sickness, we should endeavour to maintain a pious and devout frame of mind; sending up secret ejaculations to God, adoring his goodness, imploring his blessing on the means used for our recovery, and humbly beseeching him to inspire us with submission, and to strengthen and console us by the secret but powerful influences of his mercy and grace. Above all, we should seek the assistance of a minister of the Church, to offer up our prayers, and to administer to us the most comfortable sacrament of the body and blood of Christ; that, enlivened and strengthened by this divine Viaticum, we may be supported under all the pains of sickness, and joyfully pass, when God calls us, through the dark valley of the shadow of death.

Q. Wherein consists the happiness of the death of the righteous?

A. The happiness of the death of the righteous does not consist in their exemption from pain and sorrow, which assail them as well as the wicked. Lazarus, for whom was prepared a retreat in Abraham's bosom, ended his life in extreme poverty and wretchedness; while the rich man, whose luxury had kindled for him inextinguishable flames, dies in the midst of every wordly convenience and comfort. Blessed

martyrs expired in flames, and upon the rack; while their crue. persecutors often died a natural and common death. The happiness of a good man in death, therefore, must arise from a well-grounded expectation of a blessed immortality, through the merits of that Saviour whom he has sincerely, though imperfectly, served. This exalted hope makes him willing to leave the world, in which he has sojourned as a stranger and a foreigner, and with joy to look forward to that eternal home on which he is entering.

Q. What method should we take during the time of health, to prepare ourselves for the pious exercises proper at the approach of death?

A. During the time of health, we should set apart some stated seasons for the exercise of those pious dispositions which will be more particularly necessary and proper at the approach of death. Our minds being thus stored with devout and holy thoughts, we shall be able, at the approach of death, to engage in those pious and holy exercises, which will prove an effectual consolation and support at this awful period.

CHAPTER XXV.

EASTER SUNDAY.

A FESTIVAL.

Q. WHAT event does the Church this day commemorate? A. The Church this day commemorates the glorious event of our Saviour's resurrection. This festival, for antiquity and excellence, takes the precedence of all other festivals. It was observed from the very first ages; the only dispute being, not about the propriety of the festival itself, but about the proper day on which it was to be observed. The observation of Easter was at length fixed to one and the same day, by the great general Council of Nice.*

Q. What provision has the Church made for celebrating this day with proper solemnity and devotion?

A. The Church, supposing us eager to celebrate the joy. ful event of the Saviour's resurrection, begins her office of

* A. D. 325.

praise, as soon as the absolution is pronounced, with anthems proper to the day; exciting her members to call upon one another" to keep the feast; for that Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, and is also risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept." The psalms, the lessons, the collect, epistle, and gospel, are all appropriate to the day. Q. What have you to observe concerning the psalms for the morning service?

A. The psalms for the morning service, are the 2d, 57th, and 111th. The 2d psalm was composed by David, on his triumphant settlement in his kingdom, after the opposition made by his enemies; and is a prophetical representation of the inauguration of the Messiah, in his regal and sacerdotal office, after he had been persecuted and crucified. The 57th psalm was drawn up on occasion of David's delivery from the hands of Saul; and, in a mystical sense, celebrates Christ's triumph over death and the grave. The 111th psalm is a thanksgiving for the marvellous works of redemption, of which the resurrection of Christ is the chief.

Q. What have you to observe concerning the psalms for the evening service?

A. The psalms for the evening service, are the 113th, 114th, 118th. The first was designed to set forth the admirable providence of God, which was never more discernible than in the great work of our redemption. The second is a thanksgiving for the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt; an event typical of our deliverance from death and hell. The last was composed when David was in the undisturbed pos session of his kingdom, after the ark was brought to Jerusa lem; but it was secondarily intended to prefigure our Saviour's resurrection, to which it is applied both by St. Mat thew and St. Luke."

Q. What have you to observe concerning the lessons, epistle, and gospel for the day?

A. The first lessons for the morning and evening service, contain an account of the passover, and the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt; the one prefiguring Christ, who is our passover; the other, our deliverance from the dominion of death and hell. The gospel, and the second lesson for the evening, give us full evidence of Christ's resurrection; and the epistle, and second lesson for the morning, teach us what use we should make of it.

v Matt. xxi. 42; Acts iv. 11