Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

with ever so paffionately-for a few Hoursa few Moments only-to be thrown back from the opening Eternity; Thousands of Worlds would not be able to procure the Grant.

SHALL I, now, be induftrious to fhorten, what is no longer than a Span; or to quicken the Pace of what is ever on the Wing? Shall I fqander away what is unutṭerably important, while it lafts; and, when once departed, is altogether irrevocable! O! my Soul, forbear the Folly; forbear the defperate Extravagance. Wilt thou chide as a Loiterer, the Arrow that boundeth from the String; or sweep away Diamonds, as the Refufe of thy Houfe?

Throw

a Peal of fevenfold Thunder fpreads the Alarm; and prepares the Univerfe to receive his Orders.-To finish all; and give the highest Grandeur, as well as the utmoft Solemnity, to the Reprefentation; hear the Decree that iffues from his Mouth. He wears by HIM that liveth for ever and ever. In whatever Manner, fo majestic a Person had expreffed Himself; He could not fail of commanding univerfal Attention. But when he confirms his Speech, by a most facred and inviolable Oath ; we are not only wrapt in filent Sufpenfe, but overwhelmed with the profoundest Awe. He fwears, That Time fhall be no longer. Was ever Voice fo full of Terfo big with Wonder? It proclaims, not the Fall of Empires, but the final Period of Things. It ftrikes off the Wheels of Nature; bids Ages and Generations ceafe to roll; and with one potent Word, cofingns'a whole World over to Diffolution.-This is one among a Multitude of very fublime and masterly Strokes, to be found in that too much neglected Book-the BIBLE.

ror;

Throw Time away! Aftonishing, ruinous, irreparable Profufenefs! Throw Empires away, and be blameless. But O be parfimonious of thy Days; husband thy precious Hours. They go connected, indiffolubly connected, with Heaven or Hell*. Improved, they are a fure Pledge of everlafting Glory; wafted, they are a fad Preface to never-ending Confufion and Anguish.

WHAT a profound Silence has compofed the World! So profound is the Silence, that my very Breath feems a Noife; the Ticking of my Watch is diftinctly heard; if I do but stir, it creates a Disturbance.-There is, now, none of that confufed Din, from the tumultuous City; No Voice of jovial Ruftics, from the neighbouring Meadow: No chirping Melody from the fhady Thicket.-Every Lip is fealed. Not the least Whisper, invades the Air; nor the leaft

I remember to have feen upon a Sun-dial in a Phyfician's Garden at Nothampton the following Infcription; which, I think, is the most proper Motto for the Inftrument, that measures our Time; and the most striking Admonition, that can poffibly be prefented to every Eye.

AB HOC MOMENTO PENDET ÆTERNITÁS,

The weighty Senfe of which, I know not how to exprefs in English, more happily than in thofe Words of Dr. Watts;

Good God on what a flender Thread

[Or, on what a Moment of Time]

Hang everlafting Things!

leaft Motion, ruilles among the Boughs. Echo herself fleeps uninolefted. The expanded Ear, though all Attention, catches no Sound, but the liquid Lapfe of a distant murmuring Stream.

All Things are hufh'd, as Nature's Selflay dead.

IF, in the midst of this deep and universal Compofure, Ten Thousand bellowing Thunders fhould burft over my Head; and rend the Skies, with their united Vollies; how fhould I bear fo unexpected a Shock; It would ftun my Senfes and confound my Thoughts. I fhould fhudder in every Limb; perhaps, fink to the Earth with Terror.-Confider then, O Mortals! confider the nich more prodigious and amazing Call, which will, ere long, alarm your fleeping Bones. When the Tenants of the Tomb have flumbered, in the moft undifturbed Repofe, for a Multitude of Ages; what an inconceivable Confternation muft the Shout of the Archangel, and the Trump of GOD, occafion! Will it not wound the Ear of the Ungodly; and affright, even to Distraction, the impenitent Sinner? The ftupendous Peal will found through the Vast of Heaven; will shake the Foundations of Nature; and pierce even the deepest Receffes of the Grave. And how-O! how will the Prifoners of Divine Justice, be able to endure that tremendous

Sum

Summons, to a far more tremendous Tribunal? -Do Thou, my Soul, liften to the ftill Voice of the Gospel. Attend, in this thy Day, to the gracious Invitations of thy Saviour. Then, fhall that great midnight Cry lose its Horror, and be Mufic in thy Ears. It fhall be welcome to thy reviving Clay, as the Tidings of Liberty to the Dungeon Captive; as the Year of Jubilee to the haraffed Slave. This, this fhall be its charming Import; " Awake, and "fing, ye that fleep in Duft*."

รา

WHAT a general Ceffation of Affairs, has this dusky Hour introduced! A little while ago, all was Hurry, Hurry. Life and Activity exerted themselves in a thousand bufy Forms. The City fwarmed, with paffing and repaffing Multitudes. All the Country was Sweat and Duft. The Air floated in perpetual Agitation, by the flitting Birds, and humming Bees. Art fat prying with her piercing Eyes; while Industry plied her reftlefs Hands. But fee; how all this fervent, and impetuous Buftle, is fled with the fetting Sun. The Beafts are flunk, to their graffy Couch; and the winged People are retired, to their downy Nefts. The Hammer has refigned its founding Task, and the File ceases to repeat its flying Touches. Shut is the well-frequented Shop, and its Threshold no longer worn by the Feet of numerous CufVOL. II.

D

* Ifa. xxvi. 19.

tomers.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors][ocr errors][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small]

ng the boughs. Echo

te. The expended Ear, catches no Sound, but 2. a dlmik zermaring

Se Flay dead.

and univerial

360 ng Ibun

Sa: and rend
Ws; how
Jt: li would

Thoughts. perkups, tink ade then, 0 2 more pradigious

ere Long, a.arm

The Tenants of in the moft unMultitude of Ages;

I

Sister on moft the and the Tunt of GOD,

young the Ear of the

10 Diftration, mediupendous Pal will

[ocr errors]
« AnteriorContinuar »