Countess of Hertford to Dr Burnet, Occasion’d by some Medication the Doctor sent her, upon the Death of her Son Lord Beauchamp ——
Sir
I am very sensibly obliged by the kind Compassion you express for me, under my heavy Affliction — the Meditations you have furnished me with, afford the strongest Motives for consolation that can be offered to a person under my unhappy circumstances — The dear lamented Son I have lost, was the pride and joy of my Heart; but I hope I may be the more easily excused for having looked on him in this light, since he was not so from the outward Advantages he possessed, but from the Virtues and rectitude of his Mind — The prospects which flattered me, In regard to him, were not drawn from his Distinguished rank, or from the beauty of his person, But from the hopes that his example would have been Serviceable to the cause of Virtue, and would have shewn the Younger part of the World, that it was possible to be cheerful without Severity or Melancholy. His whole Life was one Uninterrupted course of Duty and Affection to his Parents! And when he found the hand of Death upon him, His only regret was to think on the Agonies which must rend their hearts; for he was perfectly contented to leave the World, as his Conscience did not reproach him with any presumptuous Sins, and he hoped his errors would be forgiven. —— thus He resigned his innocent Soul into the Hands of his Merciful Creator, on the Evening of his Birthday, which completed him Nineteen —— You will not be Surprised, Sir, that the Death of such a son should Occasion the deepest Sorrow; Yet, at the same time, it leaves us the most comfortable Assurance, that he is happier than our fondest Wishes and care could have made him, which must enable us to Support the The remainder of years which it shall please God to allot for us here, without Murmuring, or Discontent, and quicken our endeavours to prepare Ourselves to follow to that Happy place, where our Dear Valuable Child is gone before us —— I beg the continuance of your Prayers; and am Sir yours & ——
A Meditation in the Birth and Pilgrimage of our Saviour Christ, on Earth - - -
By Henry Wolton ——
To the Editors of the Christian’s Magazine –
Gentlemen
Accept of the following Meditation upon the approaching festival of Christmas, as a New years Gift from, your Constant Reader and Admirer,
Rusticatus
Essex, Dec. 8th
O Glorious Morning; whereon was Born the Expectation of Nations, and whereon the long desired Redeemer of the World did (as his Prophets Had cried) send the Heavens, and come down in the Vesture of Humanity: Thou, that by the Virtue of the Highest wert conceived in the womb of an Inviolate Virgin, of all Women the most Blessed; and yet more Blessed by being Thy Daughter and Thy Servant, than Thy Mother, Thou, at whose Birth the Choir of Heaven did sing Hallelujahs, and Angels made haste to acquaint even Shepherds with the News. —— Stay, my Soul, before I go farther, and crave leave of Thy Lord to ask some questions — Why wouldest Thou be first made known to the meanest condition of Men! Why are they sent to see their Saviour? Not in some Splendid Palace, but in the vilest Room of a common Inn! Instead of a Cradle decked with rich Embroidery, lying in a despicable Manger. Why didst Thou not chuse for the place of Thy Blessed Mother’s delivery, either Athens the learned, or Rome the Imperial, or Jerusalem the Holy City; Or, since poor Bethlehem; by Thy Prophets Predictions, must receive that Honour, why didst Thou not send Millions of Cherubims and Seraphims before Thee for Thy Harbingers! — No, my God, it was Thy Will, it was Thy Will (which is the highest of reasons) by Thy low beginning in the flesh to confound all pride, and to teach the glories of the Earth to blush — Yet, thus Born, and thus homely received, behold a New Star descending to Illustrate Thy Obscurity, and to Conduct the Wise Men of the East (how Wise indeed) with their choicest presents to Adore Thee; O strange Phenomena! Did ever Hipparchus, or the great Trismegist, or the greater Moses, or all the Egyptian Gazers contemplate before a Planet, so irregular, So Excentrical! As if the Celestial Lights had forsaken Their proper motions and positions to Welcome the Lord of all Nature into the World —— and now, in the course of Thy precious Life, what shall I first, what shall I most admire; all is depth, all is Wonder and Amazement, shall I first celebrate Thy ever Blessed Name, for Convincing the great Doctors of the Law in the twelfth years of Thine Age, when Thy Diving Essence began to blaze, which had lain before, as it were, slumbering in the veil of Thy Manhood; or shall I pass from this Miracle of knowledge to Thy Miracles of Charity, in healing the Blind, the Lame, the Dumb. Or shall I more insist upon the Acts of Thy power in checking the Winds, in raising the Dead in ejecting the impure Spirits; or shall I remain Stupified as all the learnedest part of the World were, which lay groveling in the Contemplation of inferior causes) that at Thy coming all their false Oracles and Delusions were struck mute, and nothing to be heard at Delphos or Ammon; Or shall I Contemplate That at Thy Passion all Nature did suffer, the Earth did shake, and the Heavens were darkened; Or lastly, after Thou hadst Triumphed over Death and Hell; whose keys are in Thy Hand, shall I Glorify Thy Assumption into the highest Heavens; Yes, Lord, all this, and much more there is, than the whole World can contain, if it were Written. Yet one Thing remains even after Thy Glorious Departure for the Comfort of our Souls, above all the Miracles of Thy Goodness of Thy power, that thou hast dispensed thy saving Doctrine unto curious Men, Not only by eloquent Sophists and Subtile Schoolmen, Such as have since distracted and torn Thy Church in pieces, but by the Simplest and Silliest Instruments. So as it must needs be Thy Divine Truth, since it was impressed by no means, for, suffer me again, my dear Saviour to demand, in the extasy and Admiration of one of Thy Divine Vessels. Where is the Wise? Where is the Scribe? Where is the disputer of This World? How should we have known; how should we have comprehended Thy Eternal Generation, if Thou hadst not been pleased to vouchsafe a Silly Fisherman to lean upon Thy Breast, and to inspire him to tell us, from his Boat, that, “In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God?” Therefore to Thee, Thou Incarnate Word and Wisdom of the Father. Thou only true Messiah, in whom all prophecies are Accomplished, and in whom the Will of God, and the desires of Men are fulfilled, Look down upon us, Thy unworthy Creatures, from where Thou sittest in Thy Glory; Teach us Thy Love, but such a Love as doth fear to To offend Thee. Teach us Thy fear, but such a fear as first doth love Thee; and endue us with Thy Grace Whilst, by Thy permission, we walk on this globe which Thy Blessed Feet have trodden, to solemnize this Season of Thy Nativity, not with Wanton Jollities, but with Hymns of Joy, and Meditations of Comfort — from the Christians Mag.
Thoughts on Eternity
Endless Duration on the Everlastingness of the Future State, is one of those Things beyond the power of Human Reason to fathom, the Mind, led thereto with an Eye of Faith, over the limits of Mortality, and grows dizzy with the reflexion, assured of the reality, from the Veracity of the Sacred Record; Yet puzzled with the attempt to reduce the Comprehension to the weak faculties of the human Mind, in this its Infant State —— The Soul, fond of resemblance, would fain frame some picture of the Place of its future residence, from the present Scene of fading inconstant Objects, and reduced the Happiness it contains to the limits of its most Ardent desire; Each according to the variety of Wishes, would have a Heaven of Their own, The Sensual Man Stamps on the piece the deep dyed Colours of Terrestial Joy, and pleases himself with the future Enjoyments of those Pleasures which at present so Strongly charm his imagination. If reason to such disallows the Idea, and reflexion Stamps the title of Folly on the Wish, yet the pleasures of Sense Strike so Strong on the tenderly indulged Mind, that They, on this side Jordan, take up their Habitation with a seeming preference thereto, and almost let go the Expectation of the future Canaan Since the pleasures thereof are Unknown! Yet unknown as they may be, we are told, that they are Inestimable, and so great as to exceed the Power of language to paint or express. For Eye hath not seen, nor Ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of Man to conceive the Joys which God hath prepared for them that Love Him —— To think we shall possess the same Desires we do at present, in an after State, is to plant ourselves, in Heaven with the World, its Allurements and Vanities round us still; nor can we imagine, when the false medium of imperfect Corrupted Sense through which we now behold every Object, shall be removed, that the same wishes will occupy a pure Spiritual Body, refined from all its impurities and Wrongly biasing passions, without the possession of one longing thought after or propensity to any Thing that may degrade its Nature, or of one wish, that shall not be granted to the full Completion of its Felicity — The Apostle, Speaking of the Body, often comparing it to a corn of Wheat, Says, It is sown in dishonour. How striking the emblem; it is cast into the ground, the common receptacle of Nauseousness and filth, Yet, through the Influence of Divine Power, it Springs up to Glory! Or, it is Stripped of all its comforts hopes, and Enjoyments, And thrown into the dark and loathsome Dungeon of the Grave; Yet, at the grand Year of Jubilee, when the Trumpet shall Sound through the Land. And the Redemption of Prisoners be proclaimed; It is to be raised to Glory; It is Sown a Natural Body,, having been attended with all the frailties that wait on Mortality, yet it shall be raised a Spiritual Energetick Body, in a much higher State of Perfection, Arrayed in Immortality, having left those tarnishers of its lustre in the Grave, and become like the Angels of God in Heaven — The Body is a Substantial mass of Matter, akin to Earth, and partaking of its Nature, The Soul, a Pure, Intellectual, Immaterial Being, and only from its close connection with the Body, capable of receiving any pleasure through the Channels of the Senses, at the pulling down, therefore of this its Earthly Vehicle, such Appetites will be destroyed. Yet, at their second Meeting, at the great day of the Resurrection, the Body, purged from all that is Earthly and perishable, shall be again joined to its Partner, and then partake of, or rather being grafted into its Nature, their Union shall be compleat And all their Enjoyments, such as are capable of Yielding Solid Satisfaction to their Divine Essence — What shall be our Employment in that Happy Place, we know not certainly, but are informed, that Part thereof shall be Praise, through an Overflow of Gratitude and Joy; Rev. v.13.14 and who, with a mind devoutly engaged, but has, in some happy Season, found a Secret and sweet transport kindled in his breast, and had a slight foretaste of this Heavenly joy, yet, tis Sufficient, that we have reason to think it shall be such as will be most pleasing to Our new Natures; for our Happiness shall there be compleat, nor ever meet with allay,, each pang, each fear, each doubt, shall be dismissed,, and God Himself, like a tender and Compassionate Father, shall wipe away every tear from the Eyes of His Children, which they shall know no more The House or Temple too of their Heavenly Father, Shall become their Settled Habitation, and His Presence the Summit and Everlasting Source and Foundation of their felicity, for, in this Presence, there is fullness of joy, and at His Right Hand there are Pleasures for Evermore ——
From the Christians Mag. For 1765
Copy
An Epistle
Dear Friends, and Brethren,
In that Love, which Exceeds all the Tyes of Nature, or Human Friendship We tenderly Salute You, Sincerely Desiring your Growth in the Truth, and firm Establishment on that Immutable Rock, against which the Gates of Hell shall never prevail; and as this is your Happy Experience, it will lead into a State of Watchfulness, and Holy Care, to preserve this Blessed Union and Communion with your God, Undefiled and Unbroken — Then will you know, that sure Foundation, and safe abiding Place, that alone can stand the Day of Tryal, and Direct you, in Safety thro’ every Probation, His Wisdom May Allot for your Portion. — But such is the Weakness of Frail, and fallen Nature, and such the Strength and Subtilty of our Souls Enemy, that we have Daily Need to seek to our Heavenly Father for fresh Supplies of Power and Wisdom to encounter and Overcome the many Temptations which Surround us thro’ the Wilderness of this World — Still fixing our Eye, — on our Glorious Leader our (Spiritual) Moses, who will never forsake the Sincere seeker, whose Trust is in Him. — But, will indeed be “as the Munition of Rocks” and sure Defence to the truly Dependant in Spirit, and altho’ the present Languid State of Religion amongst us, (as well as other Professors) may afford but a Melancholy Prospect, and the View of it, make many go on (as with “Weeping and Mourning”, while the lifeless Appearance of the Formalist, may be as a “Stumbling Block” in the Way of the Weak — yet be not too much Discourag’d for tho’ the little Streams in this time of Drought, may seem as Drawn dry, the Inexhaustable Fountain shall never fail.” — And tho’ Human Dependancies may be shaken or Remov’d, —The Father of Mercies, and God of all Consolation is still near to Direct the Humble seeker to His Rest, Here Then, and Here alone, Let us fix our Hope and confidence” Looking steadily unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of that Faith once Committed to the Saints” the encrease of which in our own Experience Will revive the Vital Life and Virtue of true Religion Amongst us. In its Ancient Beauty and Lustre — And as we have, not properly receiv’d or improv’d the Many Tender Mercies of a Gracious God, to us, may we now, in true Humility, submit to the Wise Physician’s Hand: Where the Wound is Deep and Dangerous, Corrosives must be used to Search and to Cleanse — before Senitives are Apply’d, to Heal, and as Infinite Wisdom Cannot Err, nor Infinite Love Chastise — but for our Recovery, — We earnestly entreat, that each of us may enter the Sacred Temple within, and Carefully examine, where the “Fault lyes” Where the “Accursed Thing” is hid, and of what Nature, so ever it be. —— “Whether the Babylonish Garment, or Wedge of Gold” — Whether in the Abuse of Lawful Things, Or use of Unlawful ones, let us, not, dare to screen, or allow in Ourselves, what we Condemn in our Brethren — Or Substitute a fair external, for that Deeper Work of Religion, Viz. the Subduing our Passion, and regulating our Wills. By the Divine will, Manifested within us —— But may you, with us, and we with you, Submit to bear the Scourge; Till all the Buyers and Sellers are turned out of that Spiritual Temple (the Soul of Man) and it is, in some Degree, made fit, for the Lord and Master to Dwell in, Then may we Humbly Hope, He will again Delight, To “revisit, his Temple, and make the Place of His Feet Glorious’ — Then may we Hope, that our Zion will become, “The Joy of Nations And Jerusalem the Praise of the Whole Earth.” — then shall “Her Glory, go forth as Brightness, And Her Salvation, as a Lamp that Burneth”, May the great and Good Husbandman, Thus revive, by Celestial Showers, His Vineyard again, and thus may the Shepherd of the Flock Lead the Lambs, and recover the stray Sheep. Till the Church, shall be as one Fold, under the Glorious Direction and Protection of one Leader, The Lord Jesus Christ, the Spiritual Shepherd, and Bishop of Souls, — That we may, thus, earnestly Labour, for the revival of Vital Life, again Amongst us, and by a “Patient Continuance in Well doing”, be made the Happy Partaker of it. is the Sincere Desire of your Friends and Brethren
1789 L
