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ings and wishes of mankind point . W $ have known Christians wha ha \* e been constrained by weight of argument to admit the total mortality of noan ^ shrinking in the time of bereavement from their o \ yn creed ; and we would submit it , as a question , whether
much of that dryness and hardness that has been sometimes complained of in Uaitarian preaching , may aot have been partly occasioned by sermons being accommodated to this doctrine , which is so little congenial
with human feeling in that season when religion is most eagerly resorted to for consolation ? The " lively hope " tlxat the generations past are not in a state of dead sleep , but of wakeful consciousness and enjoyment , and that death does not even for a time
de&tr&y existence but only change its form , shews itself in nearly all the Sermons before us , and , a& in the passage following , gives them a demonstration of spirit and of power /* Discoursing of tf the re-union of pious and good men in a future world , ( Serin . XXIT . of Vol . IV ., ) Dr . Rees
observes , cc season of our mutual separation will not be of long continuance . The whole interval that elapses between youth and the most advanced age , supposing life prolonged to its latest period , is
comprehended within very narrow limits , and , therefore , the longest term of separation , measured even by the extent of human life , is really of short duration . But in the ordinary cowse of events , it is only a small part of this momentary ljfe which Providence allots to one of our
friends more than to another , and all are removed by a very quick succession . In a few years we , and those we love , shall t ) e re-united . We are detained behind them by a very precarious tenure , and foi a very short period ; and though nature repines at parting , yet tjie conviction , that it is only a temporary separation , a
separation for a few weeks or years , should < U $ poae us to submit to the will of Providence , a ? nd to wait with patience an 4 . hope , till we are called to follow de € ? e # sed friends , and to join their society in the unseen state . This conviction should also dispose us even to welcome the approaches of death , though they should be more sudden than we have
reason , in the course of nature , to expect , and to regard him rather as a friend than Ai * enemy . We shall be the sooner removed to those whose friendship and
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converse constitute the chief happiness of ow present toeing ; to those whose ^ moval from us i& the occasion , of our regret and sprsow . We shall the sooner renew those connexions and that intercourse , the interruption of which is so
painful ; and , like meu whose best friends are transported to , a foreign clime , we shall welcome the waves and gales that cajrry us to thei »; ** or shall we regret the speed of ox& passage , when we reflect , that we shall fee the sooner united to those whom we love *
** We look around us , as we advance in years , and lament the departure of many of the friends of our youth or of © uc maturer days * We seek them in vaiu , and all the pleasures , which we enjoyed in their society among the
inhabitants of this world . Death alone can restore ii& to one another ; and since it brings with it this happiness , we cannot reasonably repine , we cannot reluctantly submit , though in the day and hour when we think not > the Son qf Mnn should come The same reflection must reconcile us to
the triaJL of parting with , those whom we leave behind us . They are under the full sail of time in pursuit of u& ; and we shall not long be landed on the happy shore , before we shall haye occasion to welcome their arrival . ' *—Pp . 412—414 .
With another striking passage from the same Sermon , also bearing in some measure upon , our remarks , we must close our extracts : * ' This subject should make us cautious and prudent in the selection of our friends . Friendship with persons of licentious principles and profligate
manners , though they may possess some amiable and engaging qualities , is extremely dangerous , and has often proved highly detrimental to those who have any concern for maintaining their integrity and virtue . But there is another consideration , which should alsd intake us
dread intimate and endearing attachments to such persons , —a consideration which the ingenuous mind must very sensibly feel . The duration of such friendship i » momentary and precarious ; it lasts only whilst we beJwld men with the inhabitants of this world ; death dissolves it , perhaps , for ever . It is a friendship which , if we
have any concern , for our own happiness , we can never wish to be revived beyond the grave * And can we think , without horror , of having now , for our chosen and intimate associates , those from whom we shall soon be separated , perhaps , for ever * —those who are enemies © f God , iwi 4 heiss of perdition ? I * an intijpate and coufideutial friendship , of such m ° l X
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682 Tl <; view + —~ Dr . Ree& ' s Practical Sermons .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1821, page 682, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2506/page/50/
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