by the fear of death, prevail not with the just Judge. And if there is so much danger, even when tears are plentifully shed, what must there be, when, as it commonly happens, either the dulness and stupidity caused by the sickness, or the pains and agonies of the body and mind are so great, as to hinder any serious application of the thoughts to the greatest of all our concerns; for if a little headache is enough to hinder us from being able to pray with any devotion, what must the agonies of death be? No wonder then that the saints and servants of God make so little account of these death-bed performances: especially as we see by daily experience, that those who have made the greatest show of repentance, when they were in danger of death, have no sooner escaped that danger, than they are the same men they were before. O Christians, let us not then be imposed upon by the false and flattering discourses of men, who are so free in pronouncing favourably of all those, who, after a life spent in sin, make some show of repentance at their death. Let us rather tremble at the deplorable case of such souls; and remember that God's judgments are very different from those of men.
THE TWENTY-THIRD DAY.
On time and eternity.
CONSIDER how precious a thing time is, which we are apt to squander away, as if it were of no value. Time is the measure of our lives, and as much as we lose of our time so much of our life is absolutely lost. All our time is given us in order to gain eternity; and there is not one moment of our time in which we may not work for eternity; and in which we may not store up immense treasures for a happy eternity: as many therefore as we lose of these precious moments, so many are there lost eternities. This present time is the only time of working: it is the
