on shore, and hug one's self in conscious security !* When a glut of waters bursts from some mighty torrent, rushes headlong over all the neighbouring plains, sweeps away the helpless cattle, and drives the affrighted shepherd from his hut; then, from the top of a distant eminence, to descry the danger we need not fear-how pleasing! Such, methinks, is my present situation. For now the sun blazes from on high; the air glows with his fire; the fields are rent with chinks; the roads are scorched to dust; the woods seem to contract a sickly aspect, and a russet hue; the traveller, broiled as he rides, hastens to his inn, and intermits his journey; the labourer, bathed in sweat, drops the scythe, and desists from his work; the cattle flee to some shady covert, or else pant and toss under the burning noon. Even the stubborn rock, smit with the piercing beams, is ready to cleave. All things languish beneath the dazzling deluge; while I shall enjoy a cool hour, and calm reflection, amidst the gloom of this bowery recess, which scarce admits one speck of sunshine.

Thus may both the flock and their shepherd dwell beneath the defence of the Most High, and abide under the shadow of the Almighty, Psalm xci. 1. Then, though the pestilence walketh in darkness,+ and the sickness destroyeth at noon-day; though thousands fall beside us, and ten thousands at our right hand, we need fear no evil. Either the destroying angel shall pass over our houses, or else he shall dispense the corrections of a friend, not the scourges of an enemy; which, instead of hurting us, shall work for our good. Then, though profaneness and infidelity,

* As Lucretius gave the hint for these observations, so he assigns the reason of the pleasure specified. It arises, not from the consideration of another's misery-this would argue the rankest malevolence-but from the agreeable contemplation of our own personal safety; which, while we view circumstances that are pernicious to others, but harmless to ourselves, is not a little heightened by the contrast. Suava mari magno, &c.

+ This was written, when a very infectious and mortal distemper raged in the neighbourhood.

far more malignant evils, breathe deadly contagion, and taint the morals of multitudes around us; yet, if the great Father of spirits hide us in the hollow of his hand, we shall hold fast our integrity, and be faithful unto death.

Let then, dearest Lord, O! let thy servant, and the people committed to his care, be received into thy protection. Let us take sanctuary under that tree of life, erected in thy ignominious cross; let us fly for safety to that city of refuge opened in thy bleeding wounds. These shall be a sacred hiding-place, not to be pierced by the flames of divine wrath, or the fiery darts of temptation. Thy dying merits and perfect obedience shall be to our souls as rivers of water in a dry place, or as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land; Isa. xxxii. 2.

But most of all, in that last tremendous day, when the heavens are rent asunder, and wrapt up like a scroll; when thy almighty arm shall arrest the sun in his career, and dash to pieces the structure of the universe; when the dead, both small and great, shall be gathered before the throne of thy glory; and the fates of all mankind hang on the very point of a final irreversible decision; then, blessed Jesus! let us be owned by thee, and we shall not be ashamed; defended by thee, and we shall not be afraid. O may we, at that awful, that unutterably important juncture, be covered with the wings of thy redeeming love; and we shall behold all the horrible convulsions of expiring nature with composure, with comfort! We shall even welcome the dissolution of all things, as the times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; Acts iii. 19.

There are, I perceive, who still attend the flowers; and, in defiance of the sun, ply their work on every expanded blossom. The bees, I mean; that nation of chemists! to whom nature has communicated the rare and valuable secret of enriching themselves without impoverishing others; who extract the most delicious syrup from every fragrant herb, without

wounding its substance, or diminishing its odours. I take the more notice of these ingenious operators, because I would willingly make them my pattern. While the gay butterfly flutters her painted wings, and sips a little fantastic delight only for the present moment; while the gloomy spider, worse than idly busied, is preparing his insidious nets for destruction, or sucking venom even from the most wholesome plants; this frugal community are wisely employed in providing for futurity, and collecting a copious stock of the most balmy treasures. And, oh! might these meditations sink into my soul ! would the God who suggested each heavenly thought, vouchsafe to convert it into an established principle, to determine all my inclinations, and regulate my whole conduct! I should then gather advantages from the same blooming objects, more precious than your golden stores, ye industrious artists! I also should go home laden with the richest sweets and the noblest spoil, though I crop not a leaf, nor call a single flower my

own.

Here I behold assembled in one view, almost all the various beauties which have been severally entertaining my imagination. The vistas, struck through an ancient wood, or formed by rows of venerable elms, conducting the spectator's observation to some remarkable object, or leading the traveller's footsteps to this delightful seat: the walls enriched with fruit trees, and faced with a covering of their leafy extensions, I should rather have said, hung with different pieces of nature's noblest tapestry: the walks, neatly shorn, and lined with verdure; or finely smoothed, and coated with gravel: the alleys, arched with shades to embower our noon-tide repose, or thrown open for the free accession of air, to invite us to our evening recreation: the decent edgings of box, which enclose like a plain selvage each beautiful compartment and its splendid figures: the shapely evergreens and flowery shrubs, which strike the eye, and appear with peculiar dignity in this distant situation :

the basin, with its crystal fount, floating in the centre, and diffusing an agreeable freshness through the whole : the waters falling from a remote cascade, and gently murmuring as they flow along the pebbles: these, added to the rest, and all so disposed that each recommends and endears each, render the whole a most sweet ravishing scene, of order and variety, of elegance and magnificence.

From so many lovely prospects clustering upon the sight, it is impossible not to be reminded of heaven, that world of bliss, those regions of light, where the Lamb that was slain manifests his beatific presence, and his saints live for evermore. But, O! what pencil can sketch out a draught of that goodly land! What colours, or what style, can express the splendours of Immanuel's kingdom! Would some celestial hand draw aside the veil but for one moment, and permit us to throw a single glance on those divine abodes; how would all sublunary possessions become tarnished in our eyes, and grow flat upon our taste! A glimpse, a transient glimpse of those unutterable beatitudes, would captivate our souls, and engross all their faculties. Eden itself, after such a vision, would appear a cheerless desert; and all earthly charms intolerable deformity.

Very excellent things are spoken of thee, thou city of God; Psalm lxxxvii. 2. Volumes have been written, and those by inspired men, to display the wonders of thy perfections. All that is rich and splendid in the visible creation, has been called in to aid our conceptions and elevate our ideas. But indeed no tongue can utter, no pen can describe, no fancy can imagine, what God, of his unbounded munificence, has prepared for them that love him. Seeing, then, that all terrestrial things must come to a speedy end; and there remaineth a rest, a blissful and everlasting rest, for the people of God; let me never be too fondly attached to any present satisfactions. Weaned from whatever is temporal, may I maintain a superior indifference for such transitory enjoy

ments; but long, long earnestly, for the mansions that are above-the paradise "which the Lord hath planted, and not man." Thither may I transmit the chief of my conversation, and from thence expect the whole of my happiness. Be that the sacred powerful magnet, which ever influences my heart, ever attracts my affections. There, are such transcendent glories as eye has not seen; there, are such transporting pleasures as ear has not heard; there, is such a fulness of joys as the thought of man cannot conceive.

Into that consummate felicity, those eternal fruitions, permit me, Madam, to wish you, in due time, an abundant entrance; and to assure you that this wish is breathed with the same sincerity and ardour for my honoured correspondent, as it is,

MADAM,

For your most obedient, &c.

J. HERVEY.