*

"elfe we fhall groan with Indignation, and "Regret, at your Abuse of our Services.-Ufe σε us, and welcome; for we are yours, if

ye

are CHRIST's. Crop our choiceft Beauties; rifle all our Treafures; accommodate your"felves with our most valuable Qualities, only "let us be Incentives to Gratitude, and Motives cc to Obedience."

HAVING gazed the fpacious Sky, and fent a Glance round the inferior Creation; 'tis Time to defcend from this Eminence, and confine my Attention to the beautiful Spot below.-Here, Nature, always pleafing, every where lovely, appears with peculiar Attractions. Yonder, the feems dreffed in her Deshabille; grand, but irregular. Here, fhe calls in her Handmaid Art, and fhines in all the delicate Ornaments, that the niceft Cultivation can convey. Those are her common Apartments, where the lodges her ordinary Guests: This is her Cabinet of Curiofities, whereshe entertains her intimate Acquaintance.-My Eye fhall often expatiate over thofe Scenes of univerfal Fertility: My Feet fhall fometimes brush thro' the Thicket, or traverse the Lawn, or stroll along the Foreft Glade: But to this delightful Retreat shall be my chief Refort. Thither will I make Excurfions; but Here will I dwell.

*Rom. viii. 22.

IF

IF from my low Procedure, I may form an Allufion to the most exalted Practices; I would obferve, upon this Occafion; That the celebrated Erafmus, and our judicious Locke, having trod the Circle of the Sciences, and ranged thro' the whole Extent of human Literature, at length be took themselves folely to the Bible: Leaving the Sages of Antiquity, they fat inceffantly at the Feet of JESUS: Wifely they withdrew from that immense Multiplicity of Learning; from thofe endless Tracts of amusing Erudition, where noxious Weeds are mixed with wholesome Herbs; where is generally a much larger Growth of prickly Shrubs, than of fruitful Boughs: They spent their moft mature Hours in those hallowed Gardens, which God's own Wisdom planted; which God's own Spirit watereth; and in which GOD's Own Son is continually walking: Where He meeteth thofe that feek Him, and revealeth to them the Glories of his Perfon, and the Riches of his Goodness.

THUS Would I finish the Remainder of my Days: Having had a Tafte of the politer Studies; may I devote my future Application to the lively Oracles! From other Purfuits, one may glean fome Fragmonts of fpecious Inftruction: From this I trust to reap a Harvest of the fublimeft Truths, the nobleft Improvements, and the pureft VOL. I. Joys *.

L

Joys*.-Waft me then, O! waft my Mind, to Sion's confecrated Bowers. Let my Thoughts perpetually rove through the awfully-pleasing Walks of Inspiration. Here grow those Heavenborn Plants, the Trees of Life and Knowlege; whofe ambrofial Fruits we now may take, and << eat, and live for ever." Here flow those precious Streams of Grace and Righteousness; whofe living Waters" whofoever drinks, shall thirst

no more." And what can the Fables of Grecian Song, or the finest Pages of Roman Eloquence→→→→ What can they exhibit, in any Degree comparable, to these matchlefs Prerogatives of Revelation? Therefore, though I fhould not diflike to pay a Vifit now-and then to my Heathen Mafters, I would live with the Prophets and Apostles. With the one I would carry on fome occafional Correfpondence; but the others fhould be my Bofom-Friends, my infeparable Companions, my Delight, and my Counsellors."

66

WHAT Sweets are thefe, that so agreeably falute my Noftrils? They are the Breath of the Flowers; the Incenfe of the Garden.-How liberally does the Jeffamine difpenfe her odoriferous Riches! How deliciously has the Woodbine imbalmed this Morning-walk! The Air is all Perfume.

Quicquid docetur, Veritas; quicquid præcipitur,

Bonitas ; quicquid promittitur, Felicitas.

Perfume,-And is not this another moft engaging Argument, to forfake the Bed of Sloth? Who would lie diffolved in fenfelefs Slumbers, while fo many breathing Sweets invite him to a Feast of Fragrancy? Efpecially confidering, That the advancing Day will exhale the volatile Dainties. A fugitive Treat they are, prepared only for the Wakeful and Induftrious: Whereas, when the Sluggard lifts his heavy Eyes, the Flowers will droop; their fine Scents be dissipated; and, instead of this refreshing Humidity, the Air will become a Kind of liquid Fire.

WITH this very Motive, heightened by a Representation of the most charming Pieces of Morning Scenery, the Parent of Mankind awakes his lovely Confort. There is fuch a Delicacy in the Choice, and fo much Life in the Defcription, of these rural Images; that I cannot excufe myfelf, without repeating the whole Paffage.Whisper it, fome friendly Genius, in the Ear of every one, that is now funk in Sleep, and loft to all these noble Gratifications !

Awake: The Morning fhines, and the fresh Field Calls you: Ye lofe the Prime, to mark how spring The tended Plants, how blows the citron Grove'; What drops the Myrrh, and what the balmy Reed; How Nature paints her Colours; how the Bee Sits on the Bloom, extracting liquid Sweets *.

L 2

Milt. Par. Loft, B. V. 1. 20.

How

How delightful is this Fragrance! It is diftri buted in the nicest Proportion; neither fo ftrong, as to opprefs the Organs; nor fo faint, as to elude them. We often fit cloyed and fated at a fumptuous Banquet; but This Pleasure never lofes its Poignancy, never palls the Appetite.-Here Luxury itself is innocent and refined; or rather, in this Cafe, Indulgence is incapable of Excefs. This balmy Entertainment not only regales the Senfe, but chears the very Soul; and, instead of clogging, elates its Powers.-It puts me in mind of that ever-memorable Sacrifice, which was once made in behalf of offending Mortals. I mean the Sacrifice of the Bleffed JESUS; when He offered up Himself to GOD, "for a sweet"fmelling Savour." For fuch the Holy Spirit ftiles that wonderful Oblation: as if no Image, in the whole fenfible Creation, was fo proper to give us an Idea of the ineffable Satisfaction ; which the Father of Mercies conceived from that unparallel'd Atonement, as the pleafing Sensations, which fuch rich Perfumes are capable of raifing. "Thousands of Rams, and ten Thousands of "Rivers of Oil," from an apoftate World; the moft fubmiffive Acknowlegements, added to the most coftly Offerings, from Men of defiled Hands, and unclean Lips; What could they have

* Ointment and Perfume rejoice the Heart.

Prov. xxvii. 9.