MY reading this sad, but pious Passage, has no doubt excited your Apprehension of my Endeavour to help you, in improving the Loss of ONE of the best of Princes that ever raised the Hopes of the British Nations, and that by dying has left them in universal Sorrow.

But in the midst of our Mourning, the perfect Job, the greatest Man in his Day of all the East, who was now lamenting the sudden Death of his Children, and who had his Eye on the sovereign Hand of GOD therein, directs us, like himself, to raise our Views to the supream Ruler of Heaven & Earth in this bereaving Dispensation▪

[Page 2] In the pungent Sense of the Loss of his Offspring, he is led to the affecting View of the short and troublesome Life of the whole humane Race: And his Description is so lively, tender, and pertinent to the present Occasion, that I cannot forbear reciting some of the Passages.

For thus says that Arabian Prince in the Scene of his Sorrows— ‘Man that is born of a Woman is but of few Days and full of Trouble! He cometh forth as a Flower, and is cut down: He fleeth also as a Shadow, and continueth not!—His Days are determined, the Number of his Months are with THEE, THOU hast ap­pointed his Bounds that he cannot pass!—There is Hope of a Tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender Branch thereof will not cease: Thô the Root thereof wax old in the Earth, and the Stock thereof die in the Ground; yet thrô the Scent of Water it will budd, and bring forth Boughs like a Plant: But Man dieth and wasteth a­way; yea Man giveth up the Ghost, and where is he!—As the Waters fail’[which derive] ‘from the Sea, and the Flood decayeth and drieth up; so Man lieth down, and riseth not 'till the Heavens be no more:’ [i. e. 'till the Aerial Heavens about the Earth, shall be dis­solved, and pass away with a great Noise, and the Ele­ments melt with fervent Heat; as in 2 Pet. iii. 10, 12. 'Till then]'They' [or the deceased Children of Men] ‘shall not awake, nor be raised out of their Sleep!—THOU washest away the Things which grow out of the Dust of the Earth; and THOU destroyest the Hope of Man: [Page 3] THOU prevailest for ever against him, and he passeth: THOU changest his Countenance, and sendest him away!’

Thus this great and wise Ancient improves his Loss, to survey and bewail the universal Frailty & Destruc­tion of his Fellow-Race: And in the View beholds the sovereign Will and Agency of GOD, in causing them to change and pass away, and thereby destroying the Hope of Man, or his pleasing Expectations.

And here we see the Penetration of a true Philoso­pher.—He clearly sees the Will and Operation of GOD himself, in the common Actions of material Substances on one another: THOU washest away the Things which grow out of the Dust of the Earth: i. e. ‘By making that Impression, or giving that impressive Force we commonly call by the Name of Gravity, on the Glo­bules of Water; it is THOU that makest them collect in Floods, and 'tis thy Power put forth and acting in them, that washes away the Vegetables which grow out of the Dust of the Earth.’ And then by a beau­tiful transition, he goes on to ascribe the same divine Will and Agency in destroying the Hope of Man: As if he had said— ‘ As THOU washest away the Things which grow out of the Dust of the Earth, a lower and less important Operation of thine in the Course of Nature; so whatever may be the Means, it is like­wise much more THOU who destroyest the Hope of Man.’ And in discerning this, it only requires a little further Penetration.

[Page 4] And as the Scope of Job is plainly to show the Agen­cy of GOD in destroying the Life of Man, and thereby his Hope; He further illustrates his Intention in the following Words—THOU prevailest for ever against him, and be passeth: THOU changest his Countenance, and send­est him away. i. e. ‘THOU by thy constant Influence on natural Causes, art continually prevailing in every Age against every Child of Man, art continually wearing away his Constitution, changing his Counte­nance in every Stage of Life, and especially in Sick­ness and in the Time of Dying; when Thou sendest him away from the Living, and thereby destroyest the Hopes of Men, both of those who die and of those who survive them.’

But for our fuller understanding the Text, I shall briefly consider these three Things.

I. How GOD destroys the Lives of Men.

II. What is the Hope he thereby destroys.

III. Some of his wise Ends in these Dispensations.

I. How GOD destroys the Lives of Men.

Now, he may destroy the Lives of many by his immediate Agency; as by his immediate Agency he first inspired them. But he usually no doubt destroys them by Means of second Causes, both continually supported and over-ruled by him, & acting by and under his sove­reign Influence. He may destroy the Lives of many by employing Angels; as he employed an Angel in destroy­ing One Hundred and eighty five Thousand Soldiers in one [Page 5] Night in the Assyrian Army, 2 King. xix. And he de­stroys the Lives of Multitudes by Means of Men them­selves; as in voluntary Fights and Murders, as well as by many undesigned and incidental Actions. He de­stroys the Lives of many by Beasts, Fishes, Insects, Ani­malcula; as well as by Winds, Waters, Lightenings, Earth­quakes, Vapours, Cold, Heat, Poisons, and innumerable Kinds of instrumental Causes, we commonly call acci­dental, because unforeseen and unexpected by us.

But as the general Means of his destroying the Lives of Men, are of these two Sorts; (1.) His primary form­ing our Constitutions frail and mortal, and (2.) His act­ing on them by various elementary Substances round a­bout us, and entering in us; I shall chiefly consider his usual Agency in these two Sorts of Means: which are, under him of such fatal and universal Influence, that if never a Man were killed by an Angel, or humane or other Animal, or any other Kind of violent or acciden­tal Means; yet by our meer present Constitution, and the Influence of the material Substances we live and breathe in, the Death of the whole humane Race must unavoidably come on from Age to Age, in spite of their utmost Knowledge, Wisdom, Skill and Care, and the Power of every Kind of known Remedy.

What the original Constitution of our first Parents was, and what the State of the Air and other Elements before they sinned, I am utterly uncertain. Yet this we in general seem to be sure of, that there were no Princi­ples of unavoidable or quick Destruction either in their Constitutions, or in the Elements without them. Or if [Page 6] they might in a long Course of Years be mortal, or ca­pable of dying by any violent Means; yet they were some how or other secure from dying, during their pri­mary State of Probation, as the Representative & Head of their Offspring. Probably, besides their perfect Consti­tutions & the perfect Suitableness of all the Elements with­out them for their Health & Life, GOD or his beneficent Angels under his Direction, always with them, might constantly secure them from every mortal and hurtful Influence and Accident, both without them and within them, and continually repair their wasting Substance.

But since they sinned, such a divine and angelical In­fluence are justly withdrawn: and the Constitutions both of themselves and their Offspring are made frail and mortal. And thô the Firmness of their Constitutions and the remaining Suitableness of the Elements to them, might be the Means of lengthning out their Lives until the general Deluge in the Year of the World 1657; yet then by the breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep, opening the Flood-gates of Heaven, whether by Means of a Comet or otherwise, changing the Course of the Earth, and rendering the Seasons extreamly une­qual;—the Elements we live and breath in became so variable, disordered, poysonous and pernicious, as ex­ceedingly to weaken our Constitutions and shorten our Lives: Yea subject us to numberless Kinds of Pains and fatal Maladies, at different Times and in different Ages of Life; which no humane Knowledge can foresee or provide against, no humane Skill remove; and which renders the Life of every Man uncertain every Hour, yea every Minute.

[Page 7] I should lead you into too large a Field for our pre­sent View, if I were to show a hundredth Part, either of the exceeding Frailty and Mortality of our Constitutions, or the fatal Operations of the various Elements on them▪

I shall only observe,

1. With Respect to our Constitutions—That the Ves­sels and Membranes of the Brain and other Parts of the Body, needful to preserve our Lives, are so exceeding numerous, and so exquisitively fine and tender; that a a very small Degree of Force either without or within us, may either brake them, or strain them so as to de­stroy their Elasticity; either of which Events may be inevitably fatal.

When our Food in the Stomach is digested, it is turn­ed into the smaller Bowels for a further Dissolution, and there made fit for Nourishment: But so exceeding fine and thin are the slender Pipes conveying this Nourish­ment from them towards a Blood Vessel which goes down to the Heart, that when they are empty, they become invisible to the naked Eye; and their Mouths by which all our Nourishment enters, are so extreamly minute, that Keil informs us, they are not to be seen by the best Mi­croscopes: Yea they rise up into one small Pipe, which ascends nearly Perpendicular to raise the Nourishment into the Blood; and Dionis says, consists only of a sin­gle & very slender Membrane; is in dead Bodies empty and so very small and tender, that the Searcher need be very cautious, or 'twill readily break to Pieces; yea Boorhave says, when intirely empty, it disappears. What a continual Wonder then, that every Moment these ex­ceeding [Page 8] fine and tender Vessels are not either stopt by some trick or clammy Substance; or broken by conti­nual Impressions round them, or by Fermentations, Acids, Salts, or other pointed or corrosive Particles in them; or dried up by continual Heat, or spirituous or hot Li­quors; or by Accretions and Obstructions mortified, dissolved and consumed! Upon either of which Events, the Life wou'd quickly follow: And I cannot doubt but that by some of these Means, the Lives of Multitudes are made to fail; when none suspect it, and none could help it.

Yea every sudden Fright, or Start of other Passion, or Turn of our Bodies; yea while we are perfectly quiet ei­ther asleep or awake, the very Action of the Heart it self, of absolute Necessity to Life, may in some particular Cases, by a single Pulse, either brake, or swell, or strain, or stop some tender, vital Vessel, and in a Minute kill us. Yea, there is a mortal Frailty in every Nerve & Fibre, in every Vein & Artery, in every Gland which secretes the Fluids, in every Vessel and in every Membrane, which sooner or later will put an End to our Lives. And,

2. As to the fatal Operations of the various Elements on us—They by piercing the Pores or shutting them, or entering the Lungs, or passing into the Bowels, Blood or Brains, may either more or less swiftly or slowly, produce Obstructions and Impostumes, Consumptions, Putrefactions, Fevers, Appoplexies, or other effectual Causes of our Dissolution: Yea by only shutting the Pores on a sudden, they may suddenly destroy us.

[Page 9] But I must restrain my self in these Articles; as the constitutional and elementary Causes of Mortality & Death in the Course of Nature, are innumerable, and beyond Imagination.

But then in all those material Causes, Operations and Effects, a little Acquaintance with Nature and Penetra­tion of Thought, will soon discover the Acting of GOD, and the Truth of the Scripture in ascribing them to Him. They are only instrumental Causes in his sovereign Hands, who continually moves them to fulfil his wise Intenti­ons. For,

(1.) As to our bodily Constitutions;—The more we search into their inward Form, the more we see the a­stonishing Marks of an omnipresent and intelligent Be­ing: That even Galen an Heathen Anatomist of Per­gamus, above sixteen Hundred Years ago, could see the wonderous Traces of the divine Contrivance and Agen­cy therein with Rapture, and could not help ascribing them to GOD. And how much further the Discoveries of these have grown since the finding out of Microscopes and vast Increase of knowing of the Works of GOD, within these two Hundred Years, I must refer to the Draughts and Writings of the Learned common a­mong us.

By all our Discoveries of the Works of GOD in Na­ture, we clearly see they perfectly agree with Scripture, and conspire to show us, that he is the sovereign Former of our extreamly curious, but exceeding frail & mortal Bodies; and that in forming them, he has prepared the Way for his destroying them in his Course of Nature, [Page 10] or by his following common Agency by natural Causes: His Course of Nature being only his usual Way of acting in his Works of Nature. For,

(2.) As to the mortal Operations of the various Ele­ments or material Substances on our feeble Bodies;— Material Substances themselves have plainly no Intelli­gence or Will, no Design or Wisdom, no spontaneous Springs of Action; and yet they act as if they had: They act with a perfect and even universal Knowledge, and in a perfectly wise and regular Manner.—Thus, not only the whole Globe of the Earth, Air and Water, but even every Atom in them to the Center, acts as if it perfectly knew how much material Substance there is in the Moon, and how exactly both her Distance & her Mo­tion are and alter: For as the Moon moves farther or nearer, or on one Side or other; just as she varies, so every Atom in the Air, Water and Earth, will alter its Power and Tendency, and act accordingly in the most regular Manner.

The Power that moves them therefore is an intelligent Power, a Power every where always present and perfect­ly knowing; always awake, attentive and never weary; and even an intelligent Power that is one and the same, and at the same Time sees them all, has them always in his mighty Hand, and continually moves them all in such a corresponding, various and regular Manner: And this can be no other than the omnipresent, allseeing, allknowing, allwise, almighty GOD.

In short, the whole Compass of Nature is his own Creation, his absolute Propriety, and ever under his [Page 11] wise and actual Power and Government. And all those Attractions, Motions and Repulsions, Elasticities, Acti­ons and Reactions, Divisions and Cohaesions, Accre­tions and Obstructions, Relaxations, Fermentations, Putrefactions, and whatever other Powers and Opera­tions which seem to a superficial View, subsisting in material Substances, and are the various Causes of our Mortality and Death;—they are only the Actings of the Power of GOD in these material Substances, accord­ing to the Methods of his own Appointment. Even that ancient Athenian Plato, who lived about three Hun­dred and fifty Years before CHRIST was born, had so deep an Insight into the Works of GOD in Nature, that he clearly saw and taught, that what we call the Opera­tions of NATURE, are really the Operations of GOD him­self: Which the late most sagacious Sir Isaac Newton has so surprizingly and clearly shown, that we must be exceeding stupid not to see they are the Operations of a divine Intelligence: And by these he continually de­stroys the Lives of men.

Yea by such Means as these, he equally destroys the Lives of all Sorts of the Race of Men; younger and elder, weak and strong, poor and rich, ignorant and knowing, low and high; common People, Nobles, Princes, Kings and Emperors. But our,

II. General Head is to consider what is the Hope he thereby destroys.

Such is the present Circumstance and Nature of Man on Earth, that he cannot be intirely contented [Page 12] with his present State: But as GOD has given him Power to survey the World about him with the Course and Tendency of Things, & so, to look into probable Fu­turities; he cannot help employing his Powers to look on forward, to foresee some likely Good, and then en­tertain himself with the hopeful Prospect.

This is exceeding natural to the Race of Men, and their common Practice in every Nation, Country, Age and Family, yea in every Person capable of looking forward. The very Hope of future Good is so agreable to us, that it always gives us a Degree of Delight: it yields a great Part of the Pleasure of the present State: and in Proportion to the Greatness of the Good we hope for; so the livelier and more pleasing is our Expecta­tion, and when GOD destroys it, the more afflicting is the Ruin. But as the Ruin of our Hope by Death, is in itself irreparable, it is the greatest and the saddest Disappointment.

And the Hope of Man which GOD by causing Death destroys, may comprehend, both the Hope of the Man himself who dies, and the Hope of his Survivors also.

1. By GOD's destroying the Life of Man, he often destroys the Hope of the Man himself who dies.

This Hope is extensive to all Kinds of agreable Objects which a Man can desire, both Temporal & Eter­nal; and every Man alive has some agreable Thing in View, which he pleases himself in the Hope of, and which GOD by taking away his Life may utterly destroy.

[Page 13] CHRIST indeed in those who love him is the Hope of Glory; i. e. the sure Foundation of their Hope of the Heavenly Glory: and the righteous Man has a Hope in Dying, which GOD will never destroy: No! But by destroying his Life, will surely answer in a full Enjoy­ment, yea above his highest and most enlarged Imagi­nation. He shall have such Perfections and see such Glories in the Person of CHRIST, and in the Saints and Angels, yea in Himself, in the World above; receive such Revelations and enjoy such Happiness, so sublime, so various, so great, so exquisite, as in the present State he cannot raise his Mind to a Thousand Part of the full Conception. Yea his Excellencies, Powers, Revelati­ons, Visions, Pleasures, Wonders, will both continue and grow to Eternity.

And as to the Unrighteous Man and Hypocrite; GOD will, by causing him to die, destroy all his Hope both of Earth and Heaven, at once, for ever.

But it seems to be the Hope of temporal good Things, which our Text has a special Eye to: And these are either Pleasures, Riches, Friends, Relatives, Honours, Powers, good Deeds, or Usefulness; and are less or more in the View or Hope of Men, according to their various Constitutions, Ages, Ideas, Relishes, Powers, Places, and Relations to the People and Things of the Earth about them.

One has the Hope of enjoying sensitive, another of intellectual Pleasures: One of delightful Relatives, ano­ther [Page 14] of great Estates and sumptuous Houses: One of rising to gainful Offices, another to Titles of Honour: One of ascending to high Degrees of Dignity & Power, one to the hights of Principalities, another of King­doms: One to noble Actions and extensive Spheres of Usefulness, to the Delight and Respect of all about him; and another to some or more, or even of all these agreable Objects. But GOD by destroying his Life destroys his Hope of all these temporal Exaltations, Actions and Enjoyments.

2. When GOD destroys the Life of Man, he there­by destroys the pleasing Hope of his Survivors also.

When a Man is good, kind and beneficent, he inspires a Degree of Delight in all about him; and they can­not but please themselves with the Hope of further Happiness in him. This is more eminently the Case with those who have agreable Masters, Husbands, Fa­thers, as also of promising Sons, and Daughters, even of lower as well as of higher Families: and the Hope is yet more extensive, high and delightful, with Respect to such virtuous Persons of Princely Dignity and Heirs appa­rent to Principalities and Kingdoms. In the Prospect of their future Exaltation, the Hearts of their People, as well as their Princely Consorts, Children & Attendants, cannot but whenever they see him, dilate with Pleasure, and anticipate their Happiness.

But when God destroys his Life, he thereby destroys these delightful Prospects of his whole Family, and of [Page 15] his well-affected People: The Hope of his Royal FATHER, of such a Son to succeed Him, and give a fur­ther Establishment to the State of his Kingdom and the more firm Succession in his happy Line: The Prospect of his Princely CONSORT, of seeing Herself with Him ascending the highest Seat of Dignity, adorned toge­ther with Crowns of Glory, and enjoying together the regal Splendors and Felicities: The Expectation of his depending CHILDREN of seeing Him and Themselves advanced, and of their pleasing Safety under his fatherly and sovereign Care in their tender Age: The Hope of his glad Attendants, in the glorious Rise of their kind Master, and of their Promotions by him: and the plea­sing Hope of his affectionate People in having Him in Reserve to spread his benign Influence over them, and continue their Happiness.

In such sorrowful Respects as these the sovereign GOD destroys the Hope of Man, as we see at this Day!

III. and lastly, Let us briefly consider some of his wise Ends in these afflictive Dispensations.

And they may be such as these;—

That he may show his Displeasure with the whole humane Race, for our original revolting from him and Continuance therein from Age to Age, as well our sinful Natures and Propensities, as the Out-breakings of them; and with particular Persons, Families, Countries and Na­tions, for the various Offences indulged in them: that we may see the exceeding Evil of all, as directly con­trary [Page 16] to his holy Nature, Law, Authority and Honour; infinitely offensive to him, and corrupting, vilifying and ruinous to us: and that we may be moved to hate, renounce and forsake every Sin for ever.

That we may see the glorious Holiness, Justice, Truth, Sovereignty and Power of GOD, the awful Danger of his Displeasure, & may be excited to fear him and avoid offending him: that we may see the exceeding Value of his Favour, the Necessity of repenting and returning to him, the Need of a Mediator, and the Suitableness of CHRIST his Son in our sinless Nature to interpose and save us both from temporal and eternal Ruin: and that we may be happily drawn to embrace him hear­tily, and in him return to GOD in the highest Gratitude and Love, in intire Subjection and Obedience; and thereby may come to be fully forgiven and reconciled.

That we may see the utter Uncertainty of humane Life; and may allow of no Delay in those Affairs of eternal Moment; but make the greatest Haste and use the ut­most Diligence therein, that so we may be always ready for every Providence and for Death and Eternity.

That we may see the Emptiness and Insufficiency of the most desirable, earthly Enjoyments, that there is no de­pending upon them with any Security; that we may cease from placing our Happiness in them, & from trust­ing to their Continuance with us: That we may see our thrice Dependance on GOD for every Good, both the preserving what we have, and the giving us what we want both in this World and in the other: That we [Page 17] may clearly see our Safety and Happiness in HIM; that in CHRIST we may look to and seek him for them, chuse and give our selves to him in his well-ordered, sure and everlasting Covenant, comprizing all our Salvati­on and all our Desire, thô he take us hence or make not our House to grow; and confide in him to fulfil it perfectly for us.

That, in particular, by his destroying the Lives of Persons of high Dignity and Power, he may give us livelier Views of those his Admonitions in Psal. cxlvi. 3. &c. ‘Put not your Trust in PRINCES, nor in the [meer] Son of Man in whom there is no Help: His Breath goeth forth, he returneth to his Earth; in that very Day his Thoughts perish: Happy is he that hath the GOD of Jacob for his Help, whose Hope is in the LORD his GOD; who made Heaven and Earth, the Sea and all that therein is; who keepeth Truth for ever; who executeth Judgment for the Oppressed,—giveth Food to the Hungry,—raiseth them that are bowed down,—loveth the Righteous,—preserveth the Stranger,—relieveth the Fatherless & Widow,—[and] shall reign for ever.’

That he may abase our Pride and excessive Ambition of earthly Glories; humble us down to his Feet; bring us to submit to his Pleasure in the most afflictive Bereav­ments; and resign our selves with our dearest Enjoy­ments to his tender and almighty Care, and to his su­pream Disposal, and trust them with him.

[Page 18] That he may moderate our Love to all Things here below, and bring us chiefly to view, prize, seek and se­cure the heavenly and eternal Kingdom; the most exalt­ed Objects, Revelations, Visions, Joys and Glories there, which never fail or fade; and excite our earnest and continual Aspirations after them, and Labours to be ri­pening for them.

Lastly, that Survivors may be moved to imitate every Excellency in those whose Lives are taken away: may be quickned to fill up their Place of Service as much as possible: and excited to improve their remaining and uncertain Time and Powers, in bringing as much Glory to GOD and doing as much Good to Men as may be; increasing in divine Knowledge, growing & persevering in Faith, Hope, Love, Submission, Patience with Respect to GOD, Beneficence to Men, and every other Grace and Duty, to the Death; that so when GOD destroys the Life of the Body with all their earthly Expectations, he may ad­vance the Life of Grace to its Perfection, introduce their Faith into immediate Vision, put their Hope into full Enjoyment, and give them the unchangable Possession of a caelestial Crown and Kingdom that abide for ever.

Thus have we considered briefly our three General Heads, and shown the sovereign Agency and wise De­signs of GOD in destroying the Lives and Hopes of Men.

We now come on to some IMPROVEMENT.

And here I shall chiefly apply myself to consider his awful Hand upon the Royal Family and the whole Bri­tish [Page 19] Empire, in destroying the inestimable Life of the late PRINCE of WALES, the eldest Son of our most gracious SOVEREIGN, and the Heir apparent of all his Kingdoms, and other Dominions in Asia, Africk, Europe and America; and thereby destroying the principal Hope of these great Nations.

And that we may more clearly see the Greatness of our Loss, and Disappointment;—I wou'd first lead you back to some Review of our great Felicity in him while he lived, and of our delighful Hope concerning him.

He was the first Prince of WALES who died since Prince HENRY the eldest Son of King JAMES I. in 1612, in the 19 th Year of his Age, above 138 Years ago.

That Prince also was the Love and Hope of the re­formed Part of the British Nations in his Day: and as his untimely Dying was their general Sorrow; it was followed by Transactions fatal to Multitudes, & vexati­ous to innumerable more, both in that and the next Generation. For his Death made Way for his younger, arbitrary Brother to ascend the Throne by the Name of CHARLES I, in 1625: After which, under him and his two Sons CHARLES II & JAMES II, were scarce any other than continual Scenes of Tyranny and Cruelty, illegal Exactions, Quarellings with Parliaments, civil Wars and Blood, Confusions, Persecutions, Popish Plots and cutting off the Lives of the bravest Patriots of British Liberty, destroying of Charters, and promoting Popery and Slavery, for a Course of Sixty-three Years, till 1688: when the Nation cou'd no longer bare that Popish [Page 20] Branch of the Royal Family: But raising first the Prince and Princess of ORANGE, and after them the Princess ANN to the Throne; and they dying without Issue, then the Protestant Branch of the Royal Family in the illustrious House of HANOVER, in 1714: under whose wise, mild and benign Government in the Per­sons of King GEORGE the I, and II, we have enjoy'd such Happiness as the Nation scarce ever knew before: and in the perpetual Succession in their Royal Line, under GOD, appears in all humane Prospect to depend, both our Liberties, Religion, Territories, Safety; yea the Liberties of Europe and North-America, and the Protestant Religion in all the Earth.

But one of the happiest Prospects of this Continu­ance has been the rare and wonderous Fruitfulness, Vita­lity and Healthiness of this blessed Family. HIS PRE­SENT MAJESTY having two Sons and five Daughters all grown up and alive together till this great Bereave­ment: And This his eldest Son being born in January 1706-7; he in April 1736, to the great Pleasure of the Nation, married to the Protestant and most amiable Princess AUGUSTA, a Daughter of the eldest Branch of the Serene House of SAXONY, the first Protector and Incourager of Luther, and the Reformation in Europe, beginning in 1517: And her noble ANCESTOR for his brave Adherance to the Reformation and the Liberties of Germany, unhappily lost his Electorate, which was by the Emperor CHARLES V, cruelly given to a Cousin of a younger Branch of the Family, whom the ELECTOR [Page 21] had as a tender Father brought up: and from which younger Branch descends the present Popish King of Po­land, who now possesses that great and Protestant Elec­torate; which rather did belong to the very pious and generous Duke the FATHER, and now belongs in Equity to the noble Duke the BROTHER of This most virtuous PRINCESS.

However, as in 1620, the Protestant KING & QUEEN of Bohemia, espousing the same Religion, lost both that Kingdom and the Dukedom of Bavaria; and the sove­reign GOD in 1714 brought their Grandson King GEORGE I to the Throne of the British Empire: So THAT ELECTOR of Saxony for asserting the same noble Cause, lost his Electorate in 1546; and the same Pro­vidence in 1736, advanced THIS DESCENDANT of his to a Marriage-Union with THIS ELDEST GRANDSON of the same BRITISHMONARCH, and in two Years made her the happy Mother of the present Heir apparent to the same Empire.

From this united and exalted PAIR, thus descended from those suffering Princes, how exceedingly rejoiced have the KING and the reformed Part of the NATION been, almost every other Year, to see a new Accession to the Royal Family; till we beheld even Five Princes and three Princesses derived from them, all with their Parents alive together, as so many multiplied Tokens of the divine Favour, and so many growing Securities of every Thing dear to us and our Successors, both as Men and Christians!

[Page 22] Was there ever a British SOVEREIGN so happy as to see such a Number of his illustrious Children & Grand-children round his Throne, the Delight and Satisfaction of his People, and continually receiving their joyous Congratulations? And was the NATION ever so happy in seeing so many increasing Pledges of their continued Felicity?

And for THIS his eldest Son the late Heir apparent, in particular.

Being born at Hanover on January 20. 1706-7, he was brought up there for the first seven Years & half, of his Life, and received his earliest Rudiments of Know­ledge, Virtue and Wisdom under the Care of that most accomplished Princess HIS MOTHER: when upon the Accession of King GEORGE I, to the Throne, she soon after her Princely CONSORT came over to England. And this young Prince being there continued during his Grandfather's Reign; his Education was happily carried on under British Instructors, agreable to his high Birth and Priority of Descent and Prospects, in the best Maxims of private and publick Vertue and Polity, in the politer Accomplishments and Sciences, and in the Knowledge of the British History, Genius, Constitution and Liberties, which intirely suited his benevolent Heart and Temper.

On January 10. 1717-18, King GEORGE I, made him Duke of Glocester; on April 30. 1718, Knight of the Garter; and on July 15. 1726, Duke of Edinburgh. [Page 23] But HIS FATHER ascending the Throne in June 1728, when the PRINCE was in the 22d Year of his Age, and sending for him, he on December 3, arriv'd in England, to the Joy of all the Lovers of the Protestant Succession. On December 18, He was by His MAJESTY'S Com­mand introduced into the Privy-Council; on January 9, made PRINCE of Wales, received his Summons to Par­liament the next Day: And how pleas'd was the Nation to see his easy Air of Goodness, which seem'd to be natural, and appear'd to be genuine by the constant Tenor of his following Behaviour and Actions.

How sweet and candid his Disposition? How tender and compassionate his Heart? How humane, how cha­ritable, how generous? In the midst of all his Exalta­tions, how unelated, unaffected, condescending? How curteous, affable, engaging to all about him? How fond of civil and religious Liberty? How averse to all Kinds of Persecution and Oppression? And how dis­creet in his Conduct▪ so as to avoid the Displeasure of every Party; but rather more and more attract them to him.

When he came to be married, how affectionate and faithful to his Princely CONSORT? How exemplary in his well-ordered Family? How careful of the Educa­tion of his hopeful Children? and how concerned to accomplish them for the publick Service?

[Page 24] How sollicitous he grew for the Safety, Welfare and Glory of the British Nations in their wide Dispersions, even to the most distant Colonies? How improved in the Knowledge of their State and Histories? How in­quisitive to learn yet more of the Circumstances of those various and vast Dominions he had a natural Pros­pect to head and govern? What a great Encourager of their Manufacture, Fishery, Trade, Virtue, Learning, Ingenuity, Arts and Sciences? How abounding in beneficent Actions? And how increasing in their Affection every Day, and in his Pleasure in seeing their Discoveries of it?

His Esteem for the Marine appeared in his being at the Head of the Commissioners for building Greenwich-Hospital: His Concern for employing the Poor and promoting Trade—in his being at the Head of the North-British Fishery: He recommended the Arts and Sciences in being a Fellow of the Royal Society: And as the University of Dublin greatly honoured themselves in chusing Him their Chancellor, He highly honoured Them and Learning in accepting the Office; and I suppose was the only PRINCE of Wales that was ever at the Head of a University,—the highest Honour such a Body can well receive.

Among the other Dispersions of the British Empire, how mindful was he even of our own Country? What a Value has he expressed for us, especially for our heroick and successful Enterprize a Cape-Breton? Whereby he saw we exceedingly served our KING and NATION, and [Page 25] even EUROPE & AMERICA: How inquisitive to know more of us? How pleased to hear of our Attempts to christianize the Houssatonick & Mohawk Indians? and how concerned to promote the same? In the midst of Multitudes of Demands about him, how ready to offer Forty Pounds Sterling a Year out of his own Revenue for these distant Purposes?

One would be apt to think that those vast Interests of the Kingdoms and People near and about him, which must greatly employ his Mind and call for every Grain of Munificence, besides the Support of his numerous Family, wou'd have left him no Room to take Notice of an Affair so remote and small in Comparison, and nothing to his Political Advantage: But this therefore I conceive to be a very shining Instance of his enlarged Heart and pure Generosity, yea of sublime Christianity.

In short, in the affecting Consideration of our most gracious KING's declining Age and our Danger of losing Him, we had the supporting View of THIS his eldest Son to succeed him; arriv'd to the 45 th Year of Life, of so many suitable & proved Excellencies, and in full Ma­turity of Observation, Knowledge, Judgment, Ability to sway the Scepter and continue our Happiness▪ And as he every Year improved in every amiable Talent; he gave continual Instances of his generous Love and Concern for the Publick, grew in the Esteem of the Nation, and raised our Hopes yet higher and higher of Blessings in Him.

[Page 26] But now alass! The sovereign GOD has changed the pleasing Scene, and surprizingly destroyed this great and joyful Hope of the Nation!

By the accidental Blow of a Ball on his Side, as is supposed, about two Years since, some tender Vessels were pressed and bruised, some Fluids obstructed in their Circulations, and thence ferment to a Putrefaction:—The Vessels relax, enlarge, & the Putrefaction grows with Pain till they suddenly burst, and he fails back and dies! And thus the supreme GOD puts a grievous End to this important Life and our most raised Hope at once together! THOU prevailest against him, and He passes; THOU changest his Countenance and sendest Him away!

And O! the dismal Change and Horror of that Hour and Night in the surprized Family! See how the tender CONSORT, who, tho' pregnant, yet 'tis said had sat up seven Nights with him, now dissolves in Grief!—For GOD has taken from her at once, her Strength, the Joy of her Glory, and the Desire of her Eyes, as himself describes it; and with painful Sobs she thinks— ‘O my dear PRINCE is gone! mine Eyes shall see Good no more! the Eye of him that hath seen me shall see me no more! I shall see his Smiles no more! I shall hear his Voice no more! GOD hath stript me of my Glory, and taken the Crown from my Head! he hath destroyed me on every Side, and I am gone! and my Hope hath he removed for ever!’—The doleful Noise— [Page 27] ' The Prince is dead'—goes thro' the House!—The new Orphan Children throng about their lifeless Father, and distressed Mother, and their Sight and Cries aug­ment her Anguish! Her Grief is heavier than the Sand of the Sea,—her Words are swallowed up,—her Heart convuls'd with Pangs unutterable,—and none but GOD can help Her!—

The shocking Rumour runs to the Royal Ear and Family, thro' the Streets, the City, the Kingdom; and every tender Heart is struck with Awe, Surprize and Sorrow! It quickly roams over Seas and Oceans to every Region of the British Empire: And all its Nations and Tribes conspire to sympathize with the Royal Mourners, as to bewail their own vast & universal Loss, and the utter Ruin of their great and raised Expecta­tions!

To loose such a Prince as This—such a Son, such a Husband, such a Father, such a Brother, such an Heir apparent to such vast Dominions; of such an Age, of such endearing Qualities, and in such a Time as This—the Loss is boundless, most awful, and utterly irreparable to the passing Generation!

But O! 'tis the righteous GOD who has thus destroy­ed our Hope! and therein he shows his threatning Frown on these most ungrateful Kingdoms.

For when we consider further, this critical Conjunc­ture; the advancing Age of our most gracious SOVE­REIGN; the Youth of the present HEIR apparent, tho' [Page 28] of the most blooming Hopes, but about 13 Years, and his great Danger from mischievous Flatterers, and other selfish, vain, impious, immoral Persons crowding about him, trying to get into his Favour & to lead him astray; the Multitude, the Policy, the Activity, the growing Power of our foreign Enemies, and the siding of the KING of Prussia with them; the domestick Foes to the Protestant Succession; the melancholy Histories of di­vers of our minor Kings; the Difficulty of settling a satisfying and firmly united Regency, in Case HIS pre­sent MAJESTY shou'd soon unhappily leave us; ^‖ the Selfishness, the Passions, the Deceit and Fickleness of Men; with the provoking Ingratitude of these sinful Nations for many wonderful Deliverances, and great and abundant Blessings; their horrible Corruptions, their daring Impieties, their aggravated Guilt; the shining Day of Liberty and Grace we have long abus'd, the HOLY SPIRIT awfully withdrawn, & HIMSELF with the MEDIATOR ridicul'd; yea the Coldness and For­mality of the Religious among them in their Prayers for Mercy, and GOD in this tremendous Stroke against us; with his fearful Dealings towards his People of other Nations, both Israelites and Christians, and solemn Ad­monitions in his sacred Oracles;—It is enough to make us tremble, least our Measure of Iniquity be also [Page 29] quickly full, and we ripening apace for dreadful Devastations, except we soon repent!

Shall I not visit for these Things? said the LORD to the only People then on the Earth who knew Him; Shall not my Soul be avenged on such a Nation as This? Jer. v. & ix: And, YOU only have I known of all the Fa­milies of the Earth therefore I will punish YOU for all your Iniquities! Amos iii. Yea for a Warning to us he did so, in the most terrible Manner that was ever seen or heard of! And what is become of the natural Race of their Gentry, Nobility, Princes and Kings? Those of them not extinct, are Vagabonds over the Face of the Earth, and trampled upon by almost every Nation. Yea but 1200 Years ago, there was a magnificent Christian Empire of the greatest Extent and Power of any at that Time on the Earth; comprizing the most civilized Part of Asia, Africa & Europe: Whose EM­PERORS resided at Constantinople near the Center, having a Number of noble Families in every Province: Yet their degenerate Race are now the Footstools of the Turks & Moors, and treated as the Brutes they ride on.

But in our great Bereavement, we see, in the most gloomy Colours, the utter Uncertainty of all earthly Friends, Enjoyments, Hopes and Glories: that there is no Dependance on their continuing with us, or on our continuing here: But that in the Favour of GOD all▪ sufficient, supream, unchangeable, eternal, and in Him alone is our secure Dependance.

[Page 30] Here we also see the infinite Evil & Mischievousness of Sin, and GOD's awful Progress in his destroying Judgments!— Depredations in our West-India Trade—a most expensive War—the Loss of great Numbers of brave Men—the Nation involved in the heaviest Debts—a vexatious Rebellion—a wasting Plague among the Cattle—unusual Earthquakes in the Metropolis & other Parts of the Kingdom—and now in the Train—the Hearse of THIS beloved and most hopeful of Princes!—and what is next to follow?—

O! Here we see the Fearfulness of the Displeasure of GOD—the exceeding Greatness of our impending Danger—the strongest Reasons for our justifying Him, and for condemning and humbling ourselves before Him—the vast Importance of being speedily reconciled to Him thro' the Death and Mediation of CHRIST—and the urgent Necessity of our immediate repenting as in Dust and Ashes, of embracing that only Reconciler of Sinners to GOD, of returning to Him, and crying for Mercy.

And if This should be the general Issue of this chas­tizing Blow; it wou'd be a hopeful Token of Mercy to follow: But if we continue impenitent and refuse to return; we shall have Reason to fear a Course of grow­ing Judgments to our general and amazing Ruin. For such awakening Admonitions He gives even to every Nation in Jer. xviii. 6▪—17.

[Page 31] Repentance then is the most momentous, immediate national Duty to that ADORABLE BEING who universally corrects us;—the Duty of every one of every Order from the highest to the lowest throughout these wide Domi­nions. In the Practice of This we may expect Salva­tions: And for This it therefore highly behoves us in the most serious and earnest Manner, to stir up ourselves both to Pray and Labour.

To CONCLUDE.

With bleeding Hearts for our afflicted KING and his bereaved ISSUE, for the widowed PRINCESS and her orphan CHILDREN, yea for the NATION's unspeakable Loss as well as our own, Let us deeply mourn! Let us go on to mourn for all our Sins against the glorious GOD, and for this awful Sign of his high Displeasure! Let us heartily relinquish every Thing offensive to him, embrace his SON our Mediator; return to our DIVINE CORRECTOR, and then implore and hope for Mercy.

Let us pray more earnestly than ever, that in this increas'd Necessity, HIS MAJESTY'S most precious LIFE, the most important LIFE at this Day in all the Earth, with his Health and Abilities, may be lengthened out for many Years; that his Councils may be always wisely guided and greatly prospered; and that He may have the Joy to see his now Royal HEIR advanced to Matu­rity of Age and Wisdom, possess'd of the Love of the Nation, and fully accomplished to sway the Scepter after Him.

[Page 32] Let us most tenderly compassionate, and earnestly pray for the Support of the PRINCESS, under the most heavy Loss of her chief earthly Joy and Prospects: that She may have the divine Help and Blessing in nur­turing the Royal Offspring under her happy Care: and that the infinite GOD may be inexpressibly more to Her than even her indearing PRINCE, or the highest Title, brightest Crown, or greatest Empire on Earth.

Let us earnestly pray for the young HEIR APPARENT, on whom the Eyes of all the Nations round are fixed; that He may be safely preserv'd from Enemies, designing Flaterers, and every Vice and hurtful Prin­ciple; may have the wisest and most faithful Instruc­tors and Advisers; be most carefully educated for the regal Office; and grow in suitable Knowledge, Wisdom, Grace, Benevolence and every other Accomplishment to govern these vast Dominions; as also in Favour with GOD and Man; be adorned and beloved as his exem­plary FATHER, and live to reign over and bless them.

Let us earnestly pray that GOD Himself may be a tender Father to the Rest of the PRINCELY ORPHANS: and that this signal Instance of Death in the PRIME BRANCH of the Royal Family, may be duly impress'd on his illustrious BRETHREN and SISTERS by Blood and Marriage; to give them a livelier View of the utter Uncertainty and transient Nature of terrestrial Life and Glory; that tho' they are as Gods on Earth, they must die like the rest of Men, and fall like THIS one of the [Page 33] Princes; and that their highest Ambition may aspire to glorify the SUPREAM RULER of Heaven and Earth, while here, and attain eternal Life and Crowns in the immensely vaster and more glorious World above, hereafter.

Let us earnestly pray, that the PARLIAMENT, the Nobles, the Gentry and People throughout these Nations▪ may be duly affected with this dismal Stroke of Heaven; may universally turn to him who smites them; may be continually watchful against all Devices of Enemies, firmly unite to comfort and support the KING, and do their utmost to maintain the Throne in his blessed Line as long as the Sun endures.

Lastly, Let us supremely look and submit to HIM and trust in HIM, who is the PRINCE of the KINGS of the Earth, LORD of Lords and KING of Kings:—whose Dominion is universal, and eternal, and forever ordered in the most consummate Manner:—who directs every Change in the Universe for the harmonious Glory of the divine Perfections, and for the increasing & perpetual Happiness of all his cordial People:—who is gone forth among the Nations conquering and to conquer; not to tyranize over them, but to free them from all their Enemies, Sins and Troubles, to bring them into the glorious Liberties of the Sons of GOD, and to give them perfect, endless Happiness:—who will go on conquering, till he brings them all to be his joyful Subjects; and then he will make them Kings and Priests to GOD, and [Page 34] they shall reign first on Earth, and then in Heaven;—and There in Transports of grateful Joy cast down their Crowns before Him, and worship HIM, who died for them and rose to Life, and lives for ever and ever.