him, "To-morrow thou shalt be with me," 1 Sam. xxviii. 19. And fo for the death of Caefar, the devil knew the confpiracy was firong against him, and the plot laid for that day; and fo it was both eafy for him to reveal it to the Soothsayers, and his intereft to do it, thereby to bring that curfed art into repu tation.

As for other figns and forewarnings of death, by the unufual refort of doleful creatures, as owls and ravens, vulgarly accounted ominous: Wall-watches, upon this account called death-watches; and the eating of wearing apparel by rats: I look upon them generally as fuperftitious fancies, not worthy to be regarded among Chriftians. God may, but I know not what ground we have to believe, that he doth commiffion fuch creatures to bring us the meffage of death from him. To conclude, therefore,

Let no man expect, or depend upon any such extraordinary premonitions and warnings of his change, and neglect his daily work and duty of preparation for it. We have warnings in the word, in the examples of mortality, frequently before us, in all the difeafes and decays we often feel in our own bodies; and by the figns of the times, which threaten death and defolation. Be ye, therefore, always ready, for ye know not in what watch of the night your Lord cometh.

Query 4. Whether feparated fouls have any knowledge of, or commerce or intercourfe with men in this life; and if not, what is to be thought of the apparitions of the dead?

1. By feparated fouls, understand the departed fouls, both of godly, and ungodly, indifferently, and not as it is reftrained to one fort only in the text; for of both it is pretended there are frequent apparitions after death.

2. By the knowledge fuch fouls are fuppofed to have after death, both of perfons and things in this lower world, we underftand not a general knowledge, which one fort of them have of the state and condition of the church militant on earth; for this, we think, cannot be denied to the fpirits of the just made perfect, feeing they are fill fellow-members with us of the fame myftical body of Chrift, and do behold our High-priest appearing before God, and offering up our prayers for us, and long for the confummation of the body of Chrift, as well as cry for vengeance against the perfecutors thereof, Rev. vi. 10. Nor do I think thofe words, Ifa. Ixiii. 16. repugnant hereunto: "Abraham is ignorant of us, and Ifrael acknowledgeth us not:" for I look upon the import of those words only as an humble acknowledgment of their defection, which rendered them un

worthy that their forefathers should own, or acknowledge them any more for their children; and not as implying their utter ignorance, or total oblivion of the church's flate on earth.

But I here underfland fuch a particular knowledge of our perfonal states and conditions, as they once had when they dwelt among us in the body; and this feems to be denied them by thofe fcriptures alledged against it in the margin ❤.

3. By commerce and intercourfe; understand not their interceffion with God for us, which the Papifts affirm; but their concernments about our natural, or civil interests in this world, fo as to be useful to our perfons, by warning us of death, or dangers; or to our eftates, by difquieting fuch as wrong us, in not fulfilling the wills and teftaments they once made; or by giving us notice, by words or figns, of the death of our friends, who died at a distance from us, or come to fome violent and untimely end.

The fenfe of the words being thus determined, and the que ftion fo ftated, I will, for the refolution of it, give you,

I. The ftrength of what I find offered for the affirmative. II. The general conceffions, or what may be granted. III. My own judgment about it, with the grounds thereof. I. Some there are, even among the learned and judicious, who are for the affirmative part of the question, and do with much confidence affert, that departed fouls both know, our particular concerns in this world, and intermeddle with them: confirming their affertion both by reafons to convince us that it may be fo, and variety of inftances that it is fo. I will produce both the one and the other, and give them a due confideration and cenfure.

The fubftance of what is pleaded for the affirmative, I find thus collected and improved by + Dr. Sterne, a learned phyfician in Ireland, in his book entitled, A Differtation concerning Death: where he offers us these four arguments, to convince that it is poffible for departed fouls thus to appear, and perform fuch offices for their friends on earth.

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Arg. 1. Angels by command from God, are ufeful and

Job xiv. 21. Ecclef. ix. 5, 6. John xix. 25.

+ Differtatio de morte, a p. 208. ad p. 214.

‡ (1. Angeli juffu Dei hominibus opitulantur, haudquaquam ambigitur; unde animas a corpore folutas fefe rebus humanis mif cere comprobari videtur. Sequela fundamentum duplex eft, prius, quol anima feparata angeli funt, faltem angelis æquales ; pofleVOL. III.

sf

rius,

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"helpful to men; they are the faints guardians, and it is pro"bable that each Christian hath his peculiar angel: whence "it will follow, that feparated fouls do mingle themselves with "human affairs, and that because they are angels, at least equal "unto angels, Luke xx. 36. Befides, they being spirits that were once embodied, must needs be more fit for this employment, than those who never had any tie at all to a body;" unless we can imagine them to have loft the remembrance of all that ever they did, and fuffered in the body; as also that they put off, and buried all their affections to us with their bodies, which is hard to think. Even as Chrift our High-priest is qualified for that office, above all others in heaven, because he once dwelt, and fuffered in a body, like ours, here upon earth; so separated fouls are qualified above all other spirits, who are unrelated to bodies of flesh.

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Arg. 2.

The church triumphant and militant are but ་ one body; and how much better the triumphant are than "the militant, by fo much the more propenfe they are to fuc "cour and help the other that ftand in need of it." This being the cafe, we cannot imagine but they are inclined to perform all good offices for us; for else they should do less for us now, they are in a state of the highest perfection in heaven, than they did, or were willing to do, in their imperfect state on earth.

"Arg. 3. A will, or teftament (as Ulpian defines it) is the juft fentence, or declaration of our minds, concerning "that which we would have done after our decease. These "teftaments have always, and among all nations, been religi oufly obferved, as the apoftle witneffeth, Gal. iii. 15. The

rius, quod magis idonei funt quibus officium generi humano fuccur◄ rendi demandetur, quam fpiritus inter quos et corpus nullus unquam interceffit nexus, &c.

* (2.) Ecclefia eft corpus unum, cujus membro quo meliora, eo magis ad aliis ejufdem corporis membris opitulandum funt propenfa; hujus autem corporis pars altera eft triumphans in cœlis, altera militans in terris: Illa melior, hæc opis magis indigna, &c.

† (3.) Teftamentum (Ulpiano definiente) eft voluntatis noftræ jufta fententia de eo quod poft mortem noftram fieri volumus. Teftamentum autem tanquam res facra ab omnibus gentibus religiose obfervatur, Gal. iii. 15. Ratio autem tam religiofe tamque univerfalis obfervantia eft, quoniam animas eorum qui Teftamenta condiderant, etiam fuam poft mortem, in eadem voluntate perfeve rare, ejus complementa curare, ac deinque ejus vel executrices, non præftita vindices effe præfumitur.

" reafons of this fo religious obfervance are a prefumption, that "those who made them when alive, continue in the fame mind "and will after death; that they take care for the fulfilling of "them, and revenge the non-performance upon the unjust ex"ecutors." For otherwife there can be no reason why fo great a stress should be laid upon the will of the dead, if they care not whether their wills be performed, or no. Why should we be follicitous and ftudious about it, and pay fo great a reve. rence to it, but upon this account?

"Arg. 4. The fcriptures forbid confultations with the "dead, Deut. xviii. 10, 11. This prohibition fuppofeth fome "did confult them, and received anfwers from them; which "muft needs imply fome commerce betwixt the living, and the "fouls that are departed:" And, confidering he had before forbidden their confulation with the devil, it appears that here we must needs understand the very fouls of the dead, and not the devil perfonating them only.

Thefe are the arguments of this learned author for the affirmative, which he clofes with two neceffary cautions: First, That this lays no foundation for religious worship, or invocation of departed fouls; thofe that are helpful to us, are not therefore to be worshipped. Secondly, That we must acknowledge ourselves to be under much darknefs, as to the way and manner of the converse of spirits with us.

The most acute and learned || Dr. More, I find of the fame opinion. He affirms, that departed fouls are capable of a vital union with an airy vehicle (or body) in which they can cafily move from place to place, and appear to the living; and act in their own affairs: as in detecting murders, rebuking injurious executors, vifiting and counfelling their wives and children, forewarning them of fuch and fuch courfes, &c. To which we may add, the profeffion of the Spirit, thus appearing, of beingthe foul of fuch a one; as alfo, the fimilitude of the perfon: And all this a-do is in things very juft, and ferious, unfit for a devil, with that care, and kindness, to promote; and as unfic for a good genius: it being below fo noble a creature to tell a Sf 2

(4.) In facris fcripturis confulere mortuos paffim prohibetur, ut Deut. xviii. 10, 11. Sed fi homines a mortuis non fufcitentur, legibus haud opus eft; et fi mortui rogati non aliquando refponderent, ab hominibus haudquaquam confulerentur. Stern, de Morte, ubi fupr.

Dr, More's immortailty of the foul, B. 2. c. 16.

lie. All these things put together, and rightly weighed, the violence of prejudice not pulling down the ballance, I dare ap peal (faith he) to any, whether it will not be certainly carried for the prefent caufe? And whether any indifferent judge ought not to conclude, if thefe ftories, which are fo frequent every where, and in all ages, concerning the ghofts of men appearing, be but true, that it is true, alfo, that they are their ghosts, &c. These are the strongest arguments I meet with, for the affir mative, that the matter is poffible, it may be fo; and then adding the credible inftances that it is fo, the matter feems to be. determined.

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To this purpose Dr. Sterne alledges feveral inftances out of fcripture; as that appearance of Samuel unto Saul, and the conference betwixt them; as alfo, the letters that were fent to Jehoram, by Elijah, after that Elijah was tranflated to heaven; as appears by comparing 2 Chron. xxi. 12. with 2 Kings iii. 11. in which it appears, that in Jehofaphat's time, who preceded this Jehoram, Elijah was dead; and yet, in Jehoram's time, who fucceeded him, he is faid to receive letters from Elijah. The appearance, and conference alfo betwixt Chrift, and Mofes, and Elias, upon the mount, in the prefence of fome of the dif ciples, confirms it, Matth. xvii. 3.

These are the principal fcripture-inftances, others are almost innumerable; from among that vaft heap, I will select some few, that are moft material, and of clearest credit.

"It is a thing (faith my author) both known and frequent, "that the inhabitants of the Scottish ifles, when their friends "are dying, come to them, and request them, that, upon fuch "or fuch a day, after their death, and in fuch a place, they "would meet them; which the dead accordingly do, at the "time and place agreed upon, and have fometimes difcourfe "with them."

Infinite examples of murders (faith Dr. More) have been difcovered by dreams, the fouls of the perfons murdered feeming to appear to fome or other afleep, and to make their complaints to them; giving us a notable example out of Baronius, of Marcilius Ficinius, who having made a folemn vow with Michael Mercatus, (after they had been pretty warmly difputing of the immortality of the foul, out of the principles of their master

Infularum Scoticarum incola ad agros, cum plo deploratis habentur, accedunt, et rogant, ut certo a morte die, locoque certo spfos conveniant; quod et mortui tempore et loco praftitutis pra Bant, Sterne. ibid.