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world, and the flesh; confess him therefore before thy heavenly Father, and his blessed angels, to be thy servant. His sins, we confess, are great, for who is able to say, My heart is clean, and I am free from sin; but thy mercies, O Lord, are much greater : and thou camest not to call the righteous, but sinners unto repentance. To them that are diseased and overladen with the burden of sin, dost thou promise ease. Thou art that God who willest not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn and live. Thou art the Saviour who wishest all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of thy truth. Withdraw not therefore thy mercy from him because of his sins, but rather lay upon him thy saving health, that thou mayest show thyself toward him to be a Saviour. What greater praise can there be to a physician, than to heal the sick ? Neither can there be a greater glory to thee, being a Saviour, than to save sinners. Save him therefore, O Lord, for thy namc's sake. Again, let the law be no corrosive to his conscience, but rather give him grace, even in this extreme agony and conflict of death, to be fully persuaded that thou by thy death hast taken away all his sins, fulfilled the law for him, and by this means delivered him from the curse of the law, and paid his ransom; that he, thus being fully persuaded, may have a quiet heart, a free conscience, and a glad will to forsake this wretched world, and to go unto his Lord God. More. over, thou hast conquered him that had rule of death, even Satan ; suffer him not therefore to exercise his tyranny upon this our sick brother, nor to disquiet his conscience with the terrors of sin and pains of hell. Let not Satan or his infernal army tempt him further than he is able to bear, but evermore give him grace, even unto his last breath, valiantly to fight against the devil with a strong faith in thy precious blood, that he may fight a good fight, and finish his course with joy, unto the glory of thy name, and the health of his soul. O Lord, so work in him by thy Holy Spirit, that he, with all his heart, may contemn and despise all worldly things, and set his mind wholly upon heavenly things, hoping for them with a strong and undoubted faith. Again, let it not grieve him, O sweet Saviour, to be loosened from this vile and wretched carcase, which is now so full of sorrow, trouble, anguish, sickness, and pain, but rather let him have a bent and ready will, through thy goodness, to put it off. Yea, and

that with this faith, that he, at the last day, shall receive it again in a much better state than it is now, or ever was from the day of his birth; even a body incorruptible, immortal, and like to thy glorious body. Let his whole heart and mind be set only upon thee. Let the remembrance of the joys of heaven be so fervent in his breast, that he may both patiently and thankfully take his death, and ever wish to be with thee in glory. And when the time cometh that he shall give over to nature, and depart from this miserable world, vouchsafe, we most humbly beseech thee, O Lord Jesus, to take his soul into thy hands, and to place it among the glorious company of thy holy angels and blessed saints, and to keep it unto that most joyful day of the general resurrection, that both his body and soul, through thine almighty power, being knit again together at that day, he may for ever and ever enjoy thy glorious kingdom, and sing perpetual praises to thy blessed

Amen.

name.

A Thanksgiving unto God for the departure of the Faith

ful out of this World. O most loving Father, how can we render unto thee sufficient thanks for thine inestimable goodness toward thy faithful servants, whom thou, calling out of this wretched world, vouchsafest to place in thy heavenly kingdom among the glorious company of thy holy angels and blessed saints? Oh full precious is the death of the faithful in thy sight! Blessed are the dead who die in thee, O Lord ! For they are at rest from their painful travails and labours. The souls of the righteous are in thy hand, O God, and the pain of death shall not tonch them. In the sight of the unwise they appear to die, but they are in peace. They shine as the sparks that run through the dry reed bush. They glister as the shining of heaven. They are as the stars, world without end. They are as angels of God. They are clad with white garments, and have golden crowns upon their heads. They do service day and night before the glorious throne of thy divine majesty. They neither hunger nor thirst any more; neither doth the sun or any hcat fall upon them, for the Lamb, who is in the midst of the throne, governeth them, and leadeth them unto the living fountains of waters. They follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. They have such joys, as eye hath not seen, nor hath ear heard, neither is there any heart able to think them. Infinite and unspeakable are the treasures, O Lord, which thou hast laid up for them who die in the faith. For these thy fatherly benefits towards the souls of the faithful ; and for that it hath pleased thee to call our christian brethren and sisters from this vale of misery unto thy heavenly kingdom, we give unto thee most hearty thanks ; humbly beseeching thee that thou wilt take like care of us, and so govern us with thy Holy Spirit, both in sickness and in health, that we may live a good and godly life in this present world, and whensoever it shall be thy good pleasure to call us hence, we may with strong faith in thee, and in thy Son Christ Jesus our Lord, commend both our bodies and souls into thy merciful hands, and through thy goodness be placed in thy glorious kingdom, among thy faithful chosen people, and so for ever and ever praise and magnify thee our heavenly Father ; to whom, with thy dearly-beloved Son Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour, and the Holy Ghost, the most sweet Comforter, be all glory and honour, world without end. Amen.

THE POMANDER OF PRAYER. Another of Becon's tracts is entitled “The Pomander of Prayer," (a pomander was a ball made up of several sorts of perfumes.) It contains forty short prayers suitable for different stations and circumstances of life. "A specimen may be given.

For the true Knowledge of Ourselves. It is written in thy holy gospel, most loving Saviour, that thou camest into this world, not to call the righteous, that is, such as justify themselves, but sinners, unto repentance. Suffer me not therefore, O Lord, to be of the number of those who thus justify themselves, who, boasting their own righteousness, their own works and merits, despise the righteousness that cometh by faith, which alone is allowable before thee. Give me grace to know and to ac. knowledge myself, as I am, even the son of wrath by nature, a wretched sinner, and an unprofitable servant, and wholly to depend on thy merciful goodness with strong and unshaken faith, that in this world thou mayest continually call me unto true repentance, seeing I continually sin, and in the world to come bring me unto everlasti g glory. Amen.

SELECTIONS

FROM

THE SICK MAN'S SALVE,

WHEREIN FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS MAY LEARN BOTH HOW TO

BEHAVE THEMSELTES PATIENTLY AND THANKFULLY IN

TIME OF SICKNESS, AND ALSO VIRTUOUSLY TO
DISPOSE THEIR TEMPORAL GOODS, AND

FINALLY TO PREPARE THEMSELVES

GLADLY AND GODLILY TO DIE.

MADE

BY THOMAS BECON.

A. D. 1550

Come unto me all ye that are sick and diseased, and I wili com. fort you.—Matt. xi.

The object and design of the author is stated in the following extract from the epistle dedicatory, “ In this treatise, intitled “The Sick Man's Salve,' my mind is to shew unto the faithful christians, how they ought to make provision for their latter end, that they may depart in the faith of Christ, and be of the number of those of whom it is written, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Again : Precious in the sight of the Lord the death of his saints. For, what should it profit a man to win all the world, if at the last he loseth his soul. (Psal. xcvi. Matt. xvi.) Therefore in this my work I have declared, first of all, how the faithful christians ought to be. have themselves patiently and thankfully in the time of sickness. Secondly, how they should virtuously dispose their temporal goods. Thirdly, after what manner they ought to prepare themselves gladly and godlily to die. Finally, I have interlaced many comfortable exhortations unto the sick, and divers godly and necessary prayers ; some to be said of them that are sick, and some of others, for such as are diseased."

The Sick Man's Salve was one of the most popular of Becon's writings; several editions were printed during the sixteenth century, and even in 1612 it was among the publications of the Stationers' company, which shows there must have been a considerable demand for the work. It is in the form of a dialogue between Philemon, Eusebius, Theophilus, Christopher, and Epaphroditus the sick man, and may be considered as consisting of three parts. In the first, Philemon and his friends go to see the sick man, whom they find in much pain and uneasiness of mind, and expressing himself with impatience. They explain to him that sickness is the visita. tion of God, and by referring to many examples and precepts of scripture, encourage him to look to the Lord with confidence in his mercy, having humbled himself before Him. In the second part, is pointed out the duty of a christian when in dangerous sickness,giving the necessary directions concerning his affairs, and exhorting bis family to discharge the duties of their several stations, with ad. vice for their future conduct; the sick man alsu makes a clear profession of his faith. The third part exhibits the christian in his last hours, assaulted by the enemy of souls, but supported in and through his blessed Lord and Saviour, and departing in peace, having a foretaste of the joys prepared for him.

This excellent tract is too long to be included in the present volume, and would suffer from much abridgment; the selections here given are from the latter portion of the work, and contain the profession of faith and the last hours of the dying believer. Becon's design in compiling this tract, evidently was not so much to give an interesting narrative, as fully to point out the only source from whence support can be derived in the hour of suffering, both mental and bodily, and to show the world “how a christian can die."

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