shall be pruned.” No, they shall be utterly taken away in due season, and cast into the fire; but it is written, “Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” And, therefore, when affliction comes upon our beloved relative who has lived a most exemplary life, or when a painful death happens to an unusually gracious man, we must not judge the Lord unkindly, as though he were unjust, but see his loving hand in it all, and bless him that he deals with our beloved