THE STATE OF THE DEPARTED SET FORTH IN A FUNERAL ADDRESS, DELIVERED At the Enterment OF THE RIGHT REV. BENJAMIN MOORE, D.D. BISHOP OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK, and RECTOR OF TRINITY CHURCH, IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. ON FRIDAY, the 1st Day of MARCH, 1816, IN TRINITY CHURCH, IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK. AND AN APPENDIX. This Address, with the Appendix, was first published in New York, in 1816. They are annexed, as more fully explaining and establishing the Doctrine relative to the State of the Departed, considered in the Sermon in the first Volume, entitled, "Christ preaching to the Spirits in Prison." THE STATE OF THE DEPARTED, SET FORTH IN A FUNERAL ADDRESS, &c. &c. PEOPLE of the congregation! the remains of your Pastor lie before you the beloved Pastor who so long fed you with the bread of life, and whose accents of persuasion you have so often heard in this sacred place. My brethren of the Episcopal clergy-we have long mourned the living death of our spiritual Father-his sufferings are terminated-he is at rest. When we contemplate that venerated corpse, it is natural to inquire, What has become of the spirit which so recently inhabited it? What will become of that tabernacle of clay which this spirit has deserted? Christian believers, these are inquiries deeply interesting to you. Soon each one of you will be, as he whose remains you now behold. What becomes of the spirit of the believer when it leaves its tabernacle of clay? Does it sink into annihilation? We must subdue all those feelings which constitute the perfection and happiness of our nature, before we can contemplate the extinction of being but with horror. There is not a power of his soul which man does not shudder at the thought of losingnot a virtuous enjoyment which he does not wish to carry with him beyond the grave—not an acquisition that ennobles or adorns him which he would not impress with the seal of eternity. The voice of the Creator speaks in the soul of the being whom he has made, and inspires the hope that he is immortal. But, alas! that voice is only faint and feeble. Immortality, an unmerited gift to a fallen creature, must be assured by the express promise of him who alone can bestow it. The word of the Author of our being must be the pledge, that this being shall not be extinguished. Blessed be God-this word we have-God hath spoken-"The spirit shall return to him who gave it." This, believer, is thy confidence and thy re |