_His kingdom ruleth over all_[b]; and there is _not_ so much as _a Sparrow that falls to the Ground without our Father, but the very Hairs of our Head are all number'd_[c] by him. Can we then imagine that our dear Children fall into their Graves without his Notice or Interposition? Did that watchful Eye that _keepeth Israel_, now, for the first time, _slumber and sleep_[d], and an Enemy lay hold on that fatal Moment to bear away these precious Spoils, and bury our Joys and our Hopes in the Dust? Did some malignant Hand stop up the Avenues of Life, and break its Springs, so as to baffle all the Tenderness of the Parent, and all the Skill of the Physician? Whence does such a Thought come, and whither would it lead? Diseases and Accidents are but second Causes, which owe all their Operations to the continued Energy of the great original Cause. Therefore GOD says, _I will bereave them of Children_[e]; _I take away the Desire of thine Eyes with a Stroke_[f]_. He changeth their Countenance, and sendeth them away_[g]. _Thou Lord turnest Man to Destruction, and sayest, Return ye Children of Men_[h]. And what shall we say? Are not the Administrations of his Providence wise and good? Can we _teach him Knowledge_[i]? Can we tax him with Injustice? Shall the Most High GOD learn of us how to govern the World, and be instructed by our Wisdom when to remove his Creatures from one State of Being to another? Or do we imagine that his Administration, in the general Right and Good, varies when he comes to _touch our Bone and our Flesh_[k]_?_ Is that the secret Language of our Soul, "That _it is well_, others should drink of the Cup, but not We; that any Families but ours should be broken, and any Hearts but ours should be wounded?" Who might not claim the like Exemption? and what would become of the Divine Government in general; or where would be his obedient Homage from his Creatures, if each should begin to complain, as soon as it comes to his own Turn to suffer? Much fitter is it for us to conclude, that our own Afflictions may be as reasonable as those of others; that amidst all the _Clouds and Darkness_ of this present Dispensation, _Righteousness and Judgment are the Habitation of his Throne_[l]; and, in a word, that _it is well_, because GOD hath done it. It suits the general Scheme of the Divine Providence, and to an obedient submissive Creature that might be enough; but it is far from being all. For, II. PIOUS PARENTS, under such a Dispensation, may conclude _it is well for them_ in particular,--because he, who hath done it, is their Covenant GOD.