But such ignorance and insensibility did not prevent him from being called to account; such forgetfulness of his latter end did not retard the evil day. He died—and was buried, we may conclude, with costly preparation answerable to the splendour in which he had lived. This however, was the last service which his riches were able to render him; and melancholy it was, when contrasted with the state, in which his soul was existing, while his treasures were employed in doing honour to the lifeless body. He found in that state, what he might have discovered before, that riches, if selfishly employed in purposes of vanity and pleasure, are a deadly snare; that earthly indulgences, if pursued with excess, to the neglect of duty towards God and man, instead of being a blessing, are paving the way to misery; he found, “what an evil and bitter thing it is,” to squander the favours of heaven without remembering “the author and giver of every good gift.” Perceiving therefore, by sad experience, his own deplorable condition, he is represented as being moved with a feeling of pity for his brethren: his first anxiety, indeed, was naturally for himself—for some alleviation, at least, of the wretchedness of his fate; but when he was informed that such desire was fruitless, that even the assuagement of his pain was impossible, that there was no means of conveying even a drop of water to cool the thirst upon his tongue, that the great gulf was finally and irremoveably fixed, he then hoped that something might be done for his brethren who were still surviving; they had not yet passed the boundary of life and grace; and therefore he entreats that, while the far-spent day was shining upon them, Lazarus might be despatched from his abode of bliss, to warn them of the untimely end to which they were hastening; and induce them effectually to repent before “the night should come, in which no man can work.” {117a} Abraham’s answer is, “they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear _them_.” A messenger from the court of heaven could tell them nothing new; they are already acquainted with their duty and the consequences of neglecting it: Jehovah has revealed unto them His blessed will, and clearly made known what is required of them, “to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with their God.” {117b} His covenant with their fathers, and the promulgation of His law, have been attested by a series of signal miracles, which they do not pretend to dispute; and in every page of their history are recorded God’s promised blessings to the good, and the execution of His vengeance upon the evil; and, therefore, in as far as knowledge is concerned, they have all the intelligence that can be desired.