thofe Palms, that flourish; that Crown, which glitters, in the well-imitated and gilded Marble?

How lov'd, how valu'd once, avails Thee not;
To Whom related, or by Whom begot.

Do

They found, at leaft in my Ears, like the Voice of
Sorrow, mingled with Admiration.
The Speaker

feems to have been loft, for a while, in melancholy Contemplation; fuddenly breaks out into this abrupt Encomium; then, melts into Tears, and can proceed no farther. Yet, in this Cafe, how eloquent is Silence! While it hints the univerfal Efteem, which attended, the Superiority of Birth, which diftinguifhed, the Deceafed; it expreffes, beyond all the Pomp of Words, the yearning Affection, and Heart-felt Diftrefs of the Hufband. Amidst a Group of monumental Marbles, which are lavish of their Panegyric, this, I think, resembles that incomparable Addrefs of the Painter; who, having placed, round a beautiful expiring Virgin, her Friends in all the Agonies of Grief; reprefented the unequalled Anguish of the Father, with far greater Liveliness and Strength, or rather with an inexpreffible Emphalis, by drawing a Veil over his Face.

If the laft Lines, are a wide Departure from the beaten Track of our modern Epitaphs, and the very Reverse of their high-flown Compliments,

A Heap of Duft alone remains of Thee:

'Tis all THOU art!--and all the PROUD Shall be!

they are not without their Precedent, and that of the most confummate Kind. Since they breathe the very Spirit of that facred Elegy, in which all the Heart of

D 2

the

Do they not, to the difcerning Eye, defcribe the Vigilance of her Faith; the Fervency of her Devotion;

the Hero, and the Friend feem to be diffolved; How are the Mighty fallen, and the Weapons of War perifbed! 2 Sam. i. 27.-They remind the Reader, of that awful Leffon, which was originally dictated by the fupreme Wisdom; Duft thou art, and unto Duft Thou shalt return, Gen. iii. 19.-They inculcate, with all the Force of the most convincing Evidence, that folemn Admonition, delivered by the Prophet; Ceafe Ye from Man, whofe Breath is in his Noftrils ; for wherein is HE to be accounted of? Ifai. ii. 22.

That no Reader, however inattentive, might miftake the Senfe and Defign of this Part of the fourth Line,

'Tis ALL Thou art !

it is guarded above and beneath.-Above, is an expanded Book, that feems to be waved, with an Air of Triumph, over the Emblem of Death; which we cannot but fuppofe to be the Volume of Infpiration, as it exhibits a Kind of Abridgement of its whole Contents, in those animated Words, Be YE NOT SLOTHFUL, BUT FOLLOWERS OF THEM, WHO THROUGH FAITH AND PATIENCE INHERIT THE PROMISES, Heb. vi. 12.-Beneath, that every Part might be pregnant with Inftruction, are those ftriking Reflections, worthy the deep Confideration of the higheft Proficient in Knowledge and Piety, yet obvious to the Understanding of the most untaught Reader; LIFE, HOW SHORT! ETERNITY, HOW LONG! May my Soul learn the forcible Purport of this fort Leffon, in the contracted Span of Time!

and

Devotion; her Victory over the World; and the celeftial Diadem, which the LORD, the righteous Judge, fhall give her at that Day?

How happy the Husband, in such a Sharer of his Bed, and Partner of his Fortunes! Their Inclinations were nicely-tuned Unifons, and all their. Conversation was Harmony. How filken the Yoke to fuch a Pair, and what Bleffings were twisted with fuch Bands! Every Joy was height ened, and every Care alleviated. Nothing feemed, wanting to confummate their Blifs, but a hope ful Progeny, rifing around them.-That they might fee Themselves multiplied in their little Ones; fee their mingled Graces transfufed into their Offspring; and feel the Glow of their Affection augmented, by being reflected from their Children. "Grant Us this Gift, faid their "united Prayers, and our Satisfactions are "crowned; We requeft no more."

and all Eternity will not be too long to rejoyce in having learned it.

As the Doctor has ordered a little Copper Plate of the Monument to be engraven, for a few of his particular Acquaintance; He has indulged me in the Liberty of prefenting my Readers with the Draught, at the End of this Part of my Work; to which therefore I refer them, for a farther Illuftration of the Defcription.

2 Tim. iv. 8.

ALAS! how blind are Mortals to future Events! How unable to discern, what is really Good! Give me Children, faid Rachel, or else I die t An Ardour of Impatience altogether unbecoming; and as mistaken, as unbecoming. She dies, not by the Disappointment, but by the Accomplishment, of her Defire. If Children are, to Parents, like a flowery Chaplet, whose Beauties bloffom with Ornament, and whofe Odours breathe Delight; Death, or fome fell Misfortune, may find Means to entwine themfelves with the lovely Wreathe. Whenever our Souls are poured out, with paffionate Importunity, after any inferior Acquifition; it may be truly faid, in the Words of our divine Mafter, Ye knew not what Ye ask.-Does Providence with-hold the Thing that We long for? It denies in Mercy; and only with-holds the Occafion of our Mifery, if not the Inftrument of our Ruin. With a fickly Appetite, We often loathe what is wholfome, and linger after our Bane. Where, Ima gination dreams of unmingled Sweets; There, Experience frequently finds the Bitterness of Woe. THERE

Nefcia Mens Hominum Fati Sortifque future! Turno tempus erit, magno cum optaverit emptum, Inta&tum Pallanta; & cum Spolia ifta Diemque Qderit.

+ Gen. xxx. I.

Virg.

THEREFORE, may We covet immoderately, neither this, nor that Form of earthly Felicity; but refer the whole of our Condition to the Choice of unerring Wisdom. May 'We learn to renounce our own Will; and be ready to make a Sacrifice of our warmeft Wishes, whenever they run counter to the good Pleasure of God. For, indeed, as to obey his Laws, is to be perfectly free; fo, to refign Ourselves to his Difpofal, is to eftablish our own Happiness, and to be fecure from Fear of Evil.

HERE, a small and plain Stone is placed upon the Ground. Purchafed, One would imagine, from the little Fund, and formed by the Hand, of Frugality itself. Nothing coftly not one Decoration added: only a very fhort Infcription: and that fo effaced, as to be fcarcely intelligible. -Was the Depofitary unfaithful to its Truft? Or were the Letters worn, by the frequent Refort of the surviving Family; to mourn over the Grave, and revive the Remembrance of a moft valuable and beloved Relative?-For I perceive, upon a closer Inspection, that it covers the Remains of a Father. A religious Father; fnatched from his growing Offspring, before they were fettled in the World, or fo much as their Prin ciples fixed by a thorough Education.