Page images
PDF
EPUB

PREFACE.

my

THE first of these occasional Meditations begs leave to remind readers of their latter end; and would invite them to set, not their houses only, but, which is inexpressibly more needful, their souls in order; that they may be able, through all the intermediate stages, to look forward upon their approaching exit, without any anxious apprehensions; and when the great change commences, may bid adieu to terrestrial things, with all the calmness of a cheerful resignation, with all the comforts of a well-grounded faith.

The other attempts to sketch out some little traces of the all-sufficiency of our Redeemer, for the grand and gracious purposes of everlasting salvation; that a sense of his unutterable dignity, and infinite perfections may incite us to regard him with sentiments of the most profound veneration, to long for an assured interest in his merits, with all the ardency of desire; and to trust in his powerful mediation, with an affiance not to be shaken by any temptations, not to be shared with any performances of our own.

I flatter myself, that the thoughts conceived among the tombs, may be welcome to the serious and humane mind; because, as there are few who have not consigned the remains of some dear relations, or honored friends, to those silent re-positories, so there are none but must be sensible, that this is the house appointed for all living; and that they themselves are shortly to remove into the same solemn mansions.-And who would not turn aside, for a while, from the most favorite ` amusements, to view the place where his once loved companions lie? who would not sometimes those apartsurvey ments, where he himself is to take up an abode, till time shall be no more?

As to the other little essay, may I not humbly presume, that the very subject itself will recommend the remarks? For who is not delighted with the prospect of the blooming E

creation, and even charmed with the delicate attractions of flowers? Who does not covet to assemble them in the garden, or wear them in a nose-gay? Since this is a passion so universal, who would not be willing to render it productive of the sublimest improvement?—This piece of holy frugality I have ventured to suggest and endeavored to exemplify, in the second letter; that while the hand is cropping the transient beauties of a flower, the attentive mind may be enriching itself with solid and lasting good.And I cannot but entertain some pleasing hopes, that the nicest taste may receive and relish religious impressions when they are conveyed by such lovely monitors; when the instructive lessons are found, not on the leaves of some formidable folio, but stand legible on the fine sarcenet of a Narcissus; when they savor not of the lamp and recluse, but come breathing from the fragrant bosom of a jonquil.

AMONG

THE TOMBS:

IN A

LETTER TO A LADY.

MADAM,

1

TRAVELLING lately into Cornwall, I happened to alight at a considerable village in that county; where, finding myself under an unexpected necessity of staying a little, I took a walk to the church. The doors, like the heaven to which they lead, were wide open, and readily admitted an unworthy stranger. Pleased with the opportunity, I resolved to spend a few minutes under the sacred roof.

In a situation so retired and awful, I could not avoid fall ing into a train of meditations, serious and mournfully pleasing; which, I trust, were in some degree profitable to me, while they possessed and warmed my thoughts; and if they may administer any satisfaction to you, Madam, now they are recollected, and committed to writing, I shall receive a fresh pleasure from them.

It was an ancient pile: reared by hands, that ages ago were mouldered into dust.-Situate in the centre of a large burial-ground, remote from all the noise and hurry of tumultuous life.The body spacious, the structure lofty; the

I had named, in some former editions, a particular church, viz. Kilkhampton; where several of the monuments, described in the following pages, really exist. But, as I thought it convenient to mention some cases here, which are not, according to the best of my remembrance, referred to in any inscriptions there: I have now omitted the name, that imagination might operate more freely, and the improvement of the reader be consulted, without any thing that should look like a variation from truth and fact.

whole magnificently plain. A row of regular pillars extended themselves through the midst; and supported the roof with simplicity and with dignity.-The light that passed through the windows, seemed to shed a kind of luminous obscurity; which gave every object a grave and venerable air.

The deep silence added to the gloomy aspect, and both heightened by the loneliness of the place, greatly increased the solemnity of the scene.-A sort of religious dread stole insensibly on my mind, while I advanced all pensive and thoughtful along the inmost aisle. Such a dread as hushed every ruder passion, and dissipated all the gay images of an alluring world.

Having adored that eternal Majesty, who, far from being confined to temples made with hands, has heaven for his throne, and the earth for his footstool;-I took particular notice of a handsome altar-piece, presented, as I was afterwards informed, by the master-builders of Stow:* out of gratitude, I presume, to that gracious God, who carried them through their work, and enabled them to " bring forth their top-stone with joy."

O! how amiable is gratitude! especially when it has the supreme Benefactor for its object. I have always looked upon gratitude as the most exalted principle that can actuate the heart of man. It has something noble, disinterested, and (if I may be allowed the term) generously devout. Repentance indicates our nature fallen, and prayer turns chiefly upon a regard to one's self. But the exercises of gratitude subsisted in paradise, when there was no fault to deplore; and will be perpetuated in heaven, when "God shall be all in all."

The language of this sweet temper is, "I am unspeakably obliged; what return shall I make?"-And, surely, it is no improper expression of an unfeigned thankfulness to decorate our Creator's courts, and beautify "the place where his honor dwelleth." Of old, the habitation of his feet was glo

* The name of a noble seat belonging to the late Earl of Bath, remarkable formerly for its excellent workmanship and elegant furniture; once the principal resort of the quality and gentry of the west; but now demolished, laid even with the ground, and scarce one stone left upon another-So that corn may grow, or nettles spring where Stow lately stood.

rious; let it not now be sordid or contemptible. It must grieve an ingenious mind, and be a reproach to any people, to have their own houses wainscotted with cedar, and painted with vermillion, while the temple of the Lord of hosts is destitute of every decent ornament.

Here I recollected and was charmed with Solomon's fine address to the Almighty, at the dedication of his famous temple. With immense charge, and exquisite skill, he had erected the most rich and finished structure that the sun ever saw. Yet upon a review of his work, and a reflection on the transcendent perfections of the Godhead, how he exalts the one, and abases the other! The building was too glorious for the mightiest monarch to inhabit; too sacred for unhallowed feet even to enter, yet infinitely too mean for the Deity to reside in. It was, and the royal worshipper acknowledged it to be, a most marvellous vouchsafement in uncreated excellency, to " put his name there.” The whole passage breathes such a delicacy, and is animated with such a sublimity of sentiment, that I cannot persuade myself to pass on without repeating it.* But will God indeed dwell on earth?

* 1 Kings viii. 27. But will-A fine abrupt beginning, most significantly describing the amazement and rapture of the royal prophet's mind!-God: he uses no epithets where writers of inferior discernment would have been fond to multiply them; but speaks of the Deity, as an incomprehensible Being, whose perfections, and glories are exalted above all praise-1) well: To bestow on sinful creatures a propitious look, to favor them with a transient visit of kindness, even this were an unutterable obligation: Will he then vouchsafe to fix his abode among them, and take up his stated residence with them?-Indeed: A word in this connection, peculiarly emphatical; expressive of a condescension wonderful and extraordinary, almost beyond all credibility.Behold intimating the continued or rather the increasing surprise of the speaker, and awakening the attention of the hearer. -Behold! the heaven: The spacious concave of the firmament, that wide extended azure circumference, in which worlds unnumbered perform their revolutions, is too scanty an apartment for the Godhead.Nay the heaven of heavens; those vastly higher tracks which lie far beyond the limits of human survey, to which our very thoughts can hardly soar; even these (unbounded as they are) cannot afford an adequate habitation for Jehovah; even these dwindle into a point, when compared with the infinitude of his essence! even these are as nothing before

« PreviousContinue »