in this Conflict I may be more than 6 a Conquerour. Lord, let nothing < feparate me from Thee, or caule me to doubt of thy Love and Fa

Lord, make my Pains tolerable, or furnish me with Fortitude to bear 'them, that I may not offend with my Tongue. Crucify, O Lord, the old Man, that the Body of Sin may be deftroyed, and I may rife again to a new Life.

Help me to wait with Patience, till my Change comes; continue thy wonted Mercy to thy poor Servant. Make Thou my Bed in my Distress and Mifery, that I faint not under thy Hand.

I have caft the Care of me, of mine, of all my Affairs, upon God; let him do with my Body as pleafeth him, fo it be but well with my Soul; I lament not my leaving the World. I have liv'd long enough in it, have made Trial of it, and find it is all Vanity and Vex•ation of Spirit.

To whom fhall I go for Help, O 'Lord? In whom is my Hope, tru ly in Thee? I defire to depart, and

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< to be with Christ; it is enough, Lord, receive now my Soul. When I leave < my Body to the Earth, I commit < my Spirit into the Hands of God who gave it. I know this Tabernacle cannot be diffolved without Pain: The Flesh muft fuffer and fall; but, it matters not, provided the Soul obtain new Strength, and I arrive at a better Place. Lord, ftrengthen me, and help my Infirmities; be not far from me in the Day of my Sor< row; fay unto my Soul, I am thy Salvation. Have pity on me, O God, and deal graciously with me; let Death be my Paffage to Life < eternal; I hope the Combat will not continue long; bring to pass, O Lord, that the End may crown the Work. Receive my Soul to thy felf; O Lord, I yield it into thy Hands, Thou haft redeemed it, Ó • God of Truth. The Lord fhall perfect that which concerns his Glory, and my eternal Salvation.

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'I defire and hope, that I fhall fubmit to God's good Will and Pleafure, and not wish to live any longer; when God calls, and my appointed Time is come, then will I

'call

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call on the Lord, and fay, I have waited for thy Salvation, leave me not. When my Heart fails, Lord, be Thou my Helper. Deliver my Soul from Hell, my Darling from the Power of the Lion. Let my Soul live, and it fhall praife Thee. 'Lord, loofe thefe Bands; how long, Lord Jefus, how long! Jefus, thou C Son of David, have Mercy on me; and receive my Soul! O happy Day, when I fhall depart out of this finful World, and go to Heaven! Lord, I feel my Strength failing me, this earthly Tabernacle; I am ready to depart, Breath fails, and Death appears ready to ftrike the laft Stroke; but I know I fhall rife ' again to behold thy Glory.

It is my Thoughts, that thefe poor Meditations may be useful and comfortable to me, when I le upon my fick and dying Bed; then I hope the Lord will in Mercy remember me, and take Pity on me, and accept of me and my poor Services, thro' Chrift my Saviour. Lord, if it please Thee, grant me that Favour, that when I lie a dying, I may have the Ufe of my Reafon. G. 4

of

Of his DEATH and BURIAL.

N these his Meditations of Death,

and Preparations for it, there appears fomething extraordinary; and one cannot but wish now to know, what was the End, the Exit of fuch a Converfation, and how he finifh'd his Courfe at laft; of which, take this fhort Account.

On Friday June 10. 1709. he rode to Cheerbrook, where he had liv'd about 30 Years, walked with his Son in the Gardens and Orchards; there he was taken with the Gripes, a Difemper he had been afflicted with fome time before; but he rode near two Miles after, defigned to have given his old Minifter at Wibunbury a Vifit; but his Pain increafing, he haften'd home, had a bad Night: In the Morning, when his Son came to him, he faid; I am very bad, but I am willing to die, having liv'd above the Age of Man; he expreffed his Hopes of Salvation through Chrift; he faid his Houfe was in order, and he hoped, his Soul alfo.

He

He would by no Means have any Phyfician fent for, but faid, it was Time for him to leave the World, and it did not become him at that Age to use a Phyfician. About Noon on Saturday, he was perfwaded to take fome Drops to ease his violent Pain, and had for a few Hours great Eafe; but at Night his Pain return'd again. On the Morning of the Lord's-Day, he spoke to his Wife and Son about his Burial, which he would have to be private, and ordered Matters, as if he had known that that must be his dying Day, as it proved, tho' they about him thought he might recover, or at least have continued many Days, being of a ftrong Body, and confidering his. Age, of a healthy Conftitution, and because he bore his Pains with fuch Patience, without Groan or Complaint; but when he was ask'd how he did, he faid, worse and worse, I cannot live long in these Pains.

At Noon, being the Lord's-day, he defired to be prayed for publickly, and called to his Son, to read to him the foregoing Meditations of Death, which he did at feveral Times; and